The other night at a party, I fell into a conversation with a young Spanish woman sitting in a wheel-chair. I didn't catch her name, but started the conversation off with the usual opener: "So, what are you doing in Delhi?"
The woman said, "Nothing really. I'm just staying here until I decide to move on. See, I've been traveling around the world for the past 7 years without any money. So, when the opportunity opens itself to me to move on, I will."
My first thought: Traveling around the world for 7 years without any money? Hmmmm.
My second thought: Wow, you must get sexually assaulted all the time.
I said, "Traveling around the world without money? How do you eat?"
The woman responded, "Oh, it's actually really easy to get food for free. Especially in India-temples will feed you, restaurants will give you the stuff they don't use. It's never a problem."
Now, anyone with eyes looking around Delhi can tell that malnutrition is in fact a huge problem here. For example, most of the grown men you see in subsistence-type jobs--like water jug delivery guys, rickshaw bicyclists, cart vendors--have the slim frames of teenage boys.
So, I rejoined, "Actually, malnutrition is endemic in India. I'm not sure why you are able to find nutritious food so easily while the rest of Delhi's poor can't" though I have some theories that involve the fact that you're white, "but it really can be a struggle for lots of slum and pavement-dwellers here. But anyway, if finding food is easy, what do you think is the hardest part of traveling around the world without money?"
She smiled, "Nothing is difficult about it. It's actually really easy as long as you have patience."
I was just about to ask a follow-up question, when another friend joined us: "Oh, hey Kate! I see you've met Albert. Yeah, he's staying with me while he's in Delhi. Such an interesting guy, no?"
Oooooh, this woman I'm talking too is actually a dude. Interesting.
"Yep," I said, "Albert has just been convincing me that traveling without money is really easy."
Ok, let me stop my narrative here to explain several of the conflicting thoughts that were racing through my head during this exchange. I've actually met a few people before who were traveling around the world without money, which was always presented in a kind of romanticized way like, Oh, the people you meet! The kindness you encounter! The adventures you have, the truth you seek, the materiallessness you find! Anyone can travel without money, as long as you lose your ego and embrace the spontaneous adventurer within.
To which my response has always been, You jerks. How nice that you have the luxury to live in poverty, because for some incredibly high percentage of people in this world poverty is not some kind of romantic adventure. Traveling around the world without money actually just means freeloading and imposing yourself on others, which is a kinda shitty thing to do. Plus, how great for you that you can easily find food at a nearby temple, but in a world of finite charitable resources for the poor, doesn't that really mean that you're getting the bowl of food intended for the street child standing at the end of the line? Jerk.
I am aware, however, that I am probably in the minority of people that have this reaction to penniless travelers. In fact, having spoken to my friends here that met Albert (and the two other guys that were traveling with him, also without money), everyone seemed quite impressed by the bravery and excitement of their way of life. So, I find it particularly annoying that the constant feedback which is given to those whom I refer to as poverty tourists is "Wow, So cool!!!! Tell me about some of your adventure!"
Having said all of that . . . Albert was in a wheelchair. Even with pocketfuls of money, traveling around the world, and especially traveling around a place like Delhi (where just rolling down the street is impossible in a wheelchair) must be incredibly challenging; I honestly do not know how he does it without funds. Albert later talked about camping out for a few days by himself on the Indian border because he didn't have the money to pay for a visa until finally the Indian guards took pity on him and let him through--how the hell did he pitch camp by himself in a wheelchair? On the one hand, perhaps being in a wheelchair provokes more sympathy and makes it easier to access charity and free goods and transportation--on the other hand, my god, what perseverance this man must have!
Especially a man who looks like a woman. The very next night three of my friends who had also met Albert confessed to me they had also thought he was female until someone told them he was male. Surely, a person with the appearance of a disabled woman, must come off as a particularly easy victim to predators (and, in fact, the numbers to sadly show that disabled women have staggering rates of rape and sexual assault). Perhaps the revelation at whatever point in time that Albert is a man might save him from certain kinds of violence--but one imagines that he must have to put up with a fair share of harassment, if not straight up assault, anyway.
So, needless to say, my thoughts on Albert, the handicapped penniless tourist are quite mixed. (Noting of course, that I only spoke to the man for about 10 minutes, and I'm sure there's much more I could learn about his background that might color my views for better or worse. In fact, it seems a documentary movie was made about his travels--click here for the trailer--so perhaps I should watch that before firming up my opinion). I can't help but admire the grit that it must take him to travel (for 7 years! Since he was 15!) without money, but I also can't help but disdain the freeloading and charity-sucking nature of poverty tourism.
What are your thoughts?
The woman said, "Nothing really. I'm just staying here until I decide to move on. See, I've been traveling around the world for the past 7 years without any money. So, when the opportunity opens itself to me to move on, I will."
My first thought: Traveling around the world for 7 years without any money? Hmmmm.
My second thought: Wow, you must get sexually assaulted all the time.
I said, "Traveling around the world without money? How do you eat?"
The woman responded, "Oh, it's actually really easy to get food for free. Especially in India-temples will feed you, restaurants will give you the stuff they don't use. It's never a problem."
Now, anyone with eyes looking around Delhi can tell that malnutrition is in fact a huge problem here. For example, most of the grown men you see in subsistence-type jobs--like water jug delivery guys, rickshaw bicyclists, cart vendors--have the slim frames of teenage boys.
So, I rejoined, "Actually, malnutrition is endemic in India. I'm not sure why you are able to find nutritious food so easily while the rest of Delhi's poor can't" though I have some theories that involve the fact that you're white, "but it really can be a struggle for lots of slum and pavement-dwellers here. But anyway, if finding food is easy, what do you think is the hardest part of traveling around the world without money?"
She smiled, "Nothing is difficult about it. It's actually really easy as long as you have patience."
I was just about to ask a follow-up question, when another friend joined us: "Oh, hey Kate! I see you've met Albert. Yeah, he's staying with me while he's in Delhi. Such an interesting guy, no?"
Oooooh, this woman I'm talking too is actually a dude. Interesting.
"Yep," I said, "Albert has just been convincing me that traveling without money is really easy."
Ok, let me stop my narrative here to explain several of the conflicting thoughts that were racing through my head during this exchange. I've actually met a few people before who were traveling around the world without money, which was always presented in a kind of romanticized way like, Oh, the people you meet! The kindness you encounter! The adventures you have, the truth you seek, the materiallessness you find! Anyone can travel without money, as long as you lose your ego and embrace the spontaneous adventurer within.
To which my response has always been, You jerks. How nice that you have the luxury to live in poverty, because for some incredibly high percentage of people in this world poverty is not some kind of romantic adventure. Traveling around the world without money actually just means freeloading and imposing yourself on others, which is a kinda shitty thing to do. Plus, how great for you that you can easily find food at a nearby temple, but in a world of finite charitable resources for the poor, doesn't that really mean that you're getting the bowl of food intended for the street child standing at the end of the line? Jerk.
I am aware, however, that I am probably in the minority of people that have this reaction to penniless travelers. In fact, having spoken to my friends here that met Albert (and the two other guys that were traveling with him, also without money), everyone seemed quite impressed by the bravery and excitement of their way of life. So, I find it particularly annoying that the constant feedback which is given to those whom I refer to as poverty tourists is "Wow, So cool!!!! Tell me about some of your adventure!"
Having said all of that . . . Albert was in a wheelchair. Even with pocketfuls of money, traveling around the world, and especially traveling around a place like Delhi (where just rolling down the street is impossible in a wheelchair) must be incredibly challenging; I honestly do not know how he does it without funds. Albert later talked about camping out for a few days by himself on the Indian border because he didn't have the money to pay for a visa until finally the Indian guards took pity on him and let him through--how the hell did he pitch camp by himself in a wheelchair? On the one hand, perhaps being in a wheelchair provokes more sympathy and makes it easier to access charity and free goods and transportation--on the other hand, my god, what perseverance this man must have!
Especially a man who looks like a woman. The very next night three of my friends who had also met Albert confessed to me they had also thought he was female until someone told them he was male. Surely, a person with the appearance of a disabled woman, must come off as a particularly easy victim to predators (and, in fact, the numbers to sadly show that disabled women have staggering rates of rape and sexual assault). Perhaps the revelation at whatever point in time that Albert is a man might save him from certain kinds of violence--but one imagines that he must have to put up with a fair share of harassment, if not straight up assault, anyway.
So, needless to say, my thoughts on Albert, the handicapped penniless tourist are quite mixed. (Noting of course, that I only spoke to the man for about 10 minutes, and I'm sure there's much more I could learn about his background that might color my views for better or worse. In fact, it seems a documentary movie was made about his travels--click here for the trailer--so perhaps I should watch that before firming up my opinion). I can't help but admire the grit that it must take him to travel (for 7 years! Since he was 15!) without money, but I also can't help but disdain the freeloading and charity-sucking nature of poverty tourism.
What are your thoughts?
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