sharing the world

How we see the world

To be literal, we see the world together as well as with friends and family. While we freely admit to being jaded by the amazing sites and history available to us on a daily basis, it is not completely without shame. We could and should take better advantage of what is at hand, but life tends to get in the way. However, when faced with opportunities to experience new cultures and see first hand what we've only read about, we're as giddy as a child on Christmas morning. There's no better way to learn and understand than direct experience. 

We try not to act like tourists, but rather make an effort to be a visitor. The difference, to us, is that a tourist tends to skim the surface while a visitor makes an effort to immerse themselves in the experience with a sense of curious anonymity. For example, on a recent trip to London our 19 year-old daughter was walking down Piccadilly to the Green Park tube station, in lock-step with a local businessman. An American family stopped unexpectedly (and unnecessarily) in front of them at a crosswalk and they split to go around, one to the left and the other to the right. When they met on the other side of the street the Londoner muttered under his breath "Bloody Americans" to which my daughter replied in her finest southern-belle voice "I know, right?" - leaving the gentleman slack-jawed and smiling. 

By all means see the sights, but ​eat the local food, drink the local drink, and talk to the local people. Do your homework before departure to avoid any obvious faux-pas and always maintain awareness of your surroundings, but come out of your shell and soak it all in!

Haute

​Tourist