To the editor: I was also part of the problem of overtourism. (“Tourists have turned Europe into a nightmare. I was part of the problem, but I won’t be again,” Opinion, July 26)
For 45 years I made travel films. Like Rick Steves, my message was to just hop on a plane and go. But I could never have imagined the explosion of travel.
In 1985, I made a film about an Alaskan cruise that two ships with 600 passengers each made every week. Even then, the small port towns were packed with people. Today, at least 20 ships make the trip weekly, many with a capacity of 3,000 passengers. The charm has worn off.
In 1974, I spent eight weeks in Venice, Italy, shooting a film. To say it was magical is an understatement. Today, St. Mark's Square looks more like Times Square.
But the saddest thing is that no one looks at what they came to see. On my first trip to Paris, in 1968, I stood in front of the Mona Lisa and enjoyed the moment. Today, no one looks at the Mona Lisa; they are too busy taking selfies and never take a moment to look at the painting itself.
Yes, the Mona Lisa is Instagram-ready. But what did you see? What did you learn? How did it move you?
Doug Jones, Los Angeles
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To the editor: We are both octogenarians and have been travelling the world as tourists for most of our lives. Last month we toured Scandinavia, a place neither of us had ever been.
We started in Bergen, Norway, arriving two days before the tour started. We like to explore destinations on our own for a few days and get over jet lag, so we walked all around Bergen.
We like to see how people live in the cities we visit. We eat at local restaurants, talk to locals and walk around, discovering what life is like “off the grid.”
The rest of our trip, an organized tour that included Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Estonia, allowed us to get to know the life and culture of that part of the world in depth. Yes, there were a lot of tourists in the usual places, but going out on foot on our own allowed us to have wonderful experiences in places we had never been before.
When we can no longer make those far-flung trips, we will always venture out to learn something new, even in our own wonderful city.
Frima and Michael Telerant, Westwood
