I think it's less applicable now that the world is getting more homogenous - i.e. you can go to almost any country and spend most of your time in your American

I think it's less applicable now that the world is getting more homogenous - i.e. you can go to almost any country and spend most of your time in your American hotel, drink coffee at Starbucks, shop in American-style mall and even speak English to lots of locals. Of course, you can go out of comfort zone and interact with local culture, but in the past it was a necessity and now it's an effort you need to consciously make. Not to mention that a lot of the local "authentic" "experiences" you can stumble upon are actually a show for the tourists, so you need to make an extra effort to filter them out.