I've been multilingual since I was young, with three fluent (or nearly fluent) languages under my belt, like many Malaysians. I also self-studied Japanese from a young age. Recently I delved into learning French after conversing with native speakers (in English). I was fascinated to understand why French-speakers articulated things the way they did in English, by matching the vocabulary and structure to their native French. I also learned about idioms and phrases through language podcasts. I've only visited a few cities in France — however learning the culture through the language made me feel like I'm actually experiencing the country. Does anyone else feel the same about language-based tourism?

Sharing a short essay that arrived in my inbox today, courtesy of Dense Discovery — a newsletter about design, tech, sustainability and urbanism curated by Kai Brach, based in Melbourne, Australia. Do we travel for transformation or validation? It's always interesting to hear what thought leaders "outside" the travel industry have to say about the state of tourism, so I'm sharing Kai's article with his permission. There's a few good points in this piece, including how touristic travel (e.g. mass tourism) can import more culture to a destination than it exports. I also agree that seeking validation on social media is drowning out good quality travel content. There's some truth to Kai's point about escapism. Consider this: the biggest competitor to a travel agent is the electronics shop, where consumers can instead buy a new 50" flatscreen TV. In this scenario, which "escapism" is worse? Buying a new TV or booking a trip on a cruise ship? 😅 However, I don't believe that all trave...