I had the opposite reaction - it's like a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of contemporary travel writing. It's honest. Sometimes you're not visiting a pl

I had the opposite reaction - it's like a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of contemporary travel writing. It's honest. Sometimes you're not visiting a place to engage deeply with humans, but to take in the natural landscape and the historic sites, or simply to exist for a short time somewhere that's not like home. Sometimes while travelling (especially while travelling!) you have limited time and need to have a quick bite and keep moving, because long meals and deep conversations are not your priority. Sometimes it's ok to say "here's my brief impression of this place, and here are its highlights and its faults from my perspective" because at least that's expressing an opinion. I don't need another Instagrammer making the most vague statements about a foreign place, telling me how beautiful/resilient/spirited the people are despite their circumstances, and saying noting more concrete, because anything more specific will be met with offense that the traveller could never possibly understand the context of this people or that country, and is just a spoiled westerner.