Just what do you look for when you travel to those distant and "exotic" places? Is it important to you to really interact with local people of different cultures? Do you try to learn the languages of the places you go to? Do you have particular expectations of life-styles you will see?

I am working with my wife on a project to support sustainable tourism in Thailand. We would love to learn what kinds of information about Thai culture we could help provide, and in what ways we could help visitors really interact with local communities, and provide benefits to local communities.

-- Natapon Buranakul (beartai@bkk.loxinfo.co.th), October 18, 1998

Answers

Sounds like an exciting project. Personally, the best travel experiences I've had include study or work. Language barriers can be difficult to overcome, but ultimately it is rewarding to see how it reflects that partcular culture.

I also enjoy learning more about the enviroment in the area (I try to hike a lot). You might look into integrating volunteer work for the community into a travel package. Set long term goals with the locals about how they would like people to visit their community. Student travel packages (that are also open to anyone with time and money on their hands) including education and volunteer work would be exciting to me. Check out http://photo.net/for more travel dis

-- Walter T.E. McGinnis (wem@olywa.net), October 18, 1998.