Gathering Moss

 “The End of Tourism?”

Driving in the U.S.

Take a long-distance drive across the U.S. someday. What do you see? Here's what I dealt with on one heading south. I drove through Chicago at 3 a.m. to avoid the traffic and got through town from top to bottom easily. If you've driven through Chicago's rush hour or even on a Saturday afternoon, you'll know the horrors awaiting. This prompted the very early start. The toll attendant on the Chicago Skyway was startled to see my lone car at 3:45 a.m. I entered Indiana and was immediately confronted by a construction truck blocking the tollway as it trundled down both lanes at 5 miles an hour. So I and the truckers sat in the block for a period of time. Construction at 4 a.m.? WTF?

The early bird gets no traffic in Chi Town

Then the accidents. In Indianapolis an accident block caused a miles-long backup on the other side of the interstate. All those cars and trucks are trapped with barely any outlet. On my side it was slightly less miles full of gawkers – a gawker's block. In southern Indiana a car hit the meridian just before I went by, so there was no backup yet, nor was I involved or hit any debris. Escape!!  Kentucky was normal, passing Breonna Taylor's former home town, bourbon distilleries, the Kentucky Derby site, Mammoth Cave and Fort Knox.

Nashville, a fast growing metro area, was its usual slow slog, as 3 interstates come together over about a 5 mile stretch. There is no way to avoid this as there is no bypass. It was noon, so rush hour had not started. Coming into Chattanooga, Tennessee there was a miles-long backup on the interstate, trucks and cars stop-and-going after crossing the Tennessee River. There was no discernable reason, so probably the result of a much earlier accident. Then the endless construction project south of Chattanooga's Missionary Ridge led to another miles-long backup through town. I was tired of driving on the interstate as you might imagine, especially with the trucks.

In Georgia I planned to cut cross-country instead of driving into Atlanta just at early rush-hour. I made the stupid decision of driving through the wooded, winding, exurban landscape of north-east Atlanta – Gwinnett County. I imaged these edge areas to be relatively quiet, verdant and bucolic. No! These exurbs are full of cul-de-sacs, outdoor malls, sprawling 'towns' and a few larger roads connecting them – all of which were completely full of commuters at every traffic light in all directions. I got lost as my highway disappeared (poor signage) and eventually, after too long where even the GPS was confounded, I found the road into Athens, Georgia. It was now nighttime and it was full of red lights from commuters crawling for miles after several accidents and one construction area.

Is this transport system sustainable? At this point, it seems a failing system – too many accidents, construction, traffic, rush-hours, sprawl, lack of public transport and the like. For instance, poorly paid and exploited truckers, including owner-operators, have to drive huge 18-wheel rigs through these conditions every day. They are the main transport method in the U.S. Are you kidding me?

Acapulco after Hurricane Otis

Traveling Outside the U.S.

Going outside the U.S. is always a journey. We chose Costa Rica because of its nature reputation. We encountered a problem that tourists and travelers will increasingly face. In this case, weather issues. Specifically, rain on and off for days. Costa Rica is located between two huge bodies of water – the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. This helps provide a huge source for storms, humidity, mists, clouds and rain. With global climate change, Costa Rica will probably get wetter and wetter in some places, killing their tourist industry. Or dryer and dryer, killing their famous and varied vegetation, as it is already slowing the Panama Canal, just south. Now the 'cloud' forest on the Pacific side of the continental divide around Santa Elena no longer has many clouds. The cone-shaped black Arenal Volcano, on the other hand, on the Caribbean side of the divide, is obscured by clouds. Yet both had rain.

Weather and labor strikes cause airplane delays that can totally mess up a tourist schedule – and they will increasingly occur. That is mild compared to the Cat 5 hurricane that hit Acapulco, knocking out the tourist hotels that line their beach. Huge flooding in the reactionary bourgeois citadel of Dubai a few weeks ago probably put a dent in their tourism. Atlas mountain villages in Morocco were destroyed by an earthquake not connected to climate change. But that ends sojourns to those areas by tour groups. Fires in Spain, France and Greece this summer chased tourists out of those areas. The choking smog and smoke in Mumbai and Delhi will deter visitors. Huge rain storms disrupted the English countryside several weeks ago. Just this week Caribbean cruise ships had to find a port due to a massive storm. A people's rebellion against a conservative coup in Peru shut down Machu Picchu. The people of the Canary Islands are protesting over-tourism and environmental damage because of it. Dubai airport was closed due to heavy flooding.  Even ex-pats will be shaken from their comfortable beds, as places like Ecuador become more dangerous. Examples could be multiplied, but you get the idea. Traveling will be more and more like playing Russian roulette with a 'carbon' loaded gun.

And oh yeah, traveling to Russia has slowed to a trickle. And whose going to Israel!?  Failed states, warfare and crime are increasing as the capitalist world wobbles, so wandering around it will become increasingly fraught.

Then there is over-tourism, damaging cities like Barcelona, Venice, Amsterdam, Florence and others with gentrification, privatization and commercialization. Tourism in Peru at Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail has now been limited due to this problem. Massive tour ships idiotically dump hundreds of tourists out into the streets of small Caribbean islands for several hours. Bali is thinking of limitations or instituted them, as is the Grand Canyon and others. The Boundary Waters canoe area in Minnesota already limits visitors.

Tourist and civilian airplane flights impact the world carbon level, as any frightening look at a website that shows planes crowding the skies tells you. In the U.S. airplanes have replaced buses and trains as long transport, which would have to be rethought in an eco-socialist society. Yet this is only a small part of the overall airplane usage. Military planes, cargo planes, executive and billionaire jets and business travelers make up the vast majority of airplane fuel use. This is the real problem.  A tourist or civilian can buy 'offsets' – but the impact of these purchases are much in doubt or fraudulent. A recent study showed 94% of the credits were bogus. It's part of the capitalist 'carbon trading' boondoggle that allows expansion or maintenance of carbon production.  Some ocean or sea cruises are estimated to be 8 times more carbon intensive than flying and a hotel.

Pesticide Use in Costa Rica

Pura Vida

In Costa Rica, they have high prices. Their claim is quality, and supposedly designed to attract boojie tourists. But they may find themselves pricing themselves out of business. Certainly they are pricing their workers out of business, as the minimum wage is about $2, while unions are forbidden to strike.  When the news gets out that Costa Rica is also becoming less of the eco-paradise it markets itself as, the national brand will suffer. Their national tourist slogan “Pura Vida” ('pure life') reminds me of the Italian branding - “La Dolce Vita” - and both turn the whole country into a commodity.

The Guardian has just come out with a story about the limitations of Costa Rican environmentalism as the pressure of right-wing capital grows politically. Gasoline imports have increased heavily, as wind, solar, thermal and hydro power slow down due to droughts in key areas. Formerly these 4 supplied almost all home energy. I counted one railroad near the airport, so most everything seems to flow on diesel-spewing trucks. Electric boat, cycle, bike and car motors are technically difficult to work on so far, as no one is trained. That option is not possible at this time.

Most Costa Rican water is clean and healthy, rare in this part of Latin America, but one section of the country is now struggling with pesticide and fertilizer runoff in their water, so water has to be trucked in. Costa Rica is one of the highest users of pesticides in the world, oddly enough. Given their toxic effects, this does not fit the picture of agro-ecology. So their bland national diet is not as benign as imagined. Their world-famous national parks are under threat from development. This all proves that nothing is set in stone. “Progress” doesn't always last, especially in a privatized context.

Of most import is what it does to tourist workers – the maids, bus drivers, ship hands, guides, restaurant staff, touts, Uber drivers, peddlers, service workers, etc. that work in the tourist economy – especially in poorer countries. In Costa Rica, 70% of the population are now in services and industrial enterprises, including tourism. Human relations are replaced by commodification in a tourist scenario. Tip seeking and getting the most out of tourists is upper-most, even in countries like Italy. There are no unions in most of these sectors. The worker must have two attitudes – aiming to please and irritated at being a sort of servant. Their low wages subsidize the local capitalist class, which is why 'tips' are key.  That is the exploitative nut at the heart of it all and its depressing to watch.

I'm a traveler and have left the U.S. almost 50 times to visit other countries. I've visited 49 of 50 states. But there is 'something in the air' that will slow tourism and travel and perhaps eventually stop it on a mass scale.  Are we reaching peak tourism?

Prior blog reviews of this issue, search on blog at upper left, using these terms to search our 16 year archive: “Balinese Political Art,” “Oh, Canada – Reflections on Canada,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Left in London,” “Last Train From Zona Verde,” “On the Streets of St. Petersburg,” “La Dolce Vita,” “Open Veins of Latin America,” “American Made,” “The Trials of Traffic,” “A Minnesota Yankee in King Trump's Court,” “TexAss.”

The Cranky Yankee

December 18, 2023