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People travel for different reasons, and that's OK. Chris' reasons are stated in his post: "This style of travel, of aiming to be a local, isn’t for everyone.

People travel for different reasons, and that's OK. Chris' reasons are stated in his post: "This style of travel, of aiming to be a local, isn’t for everyone. I’m blessed with a lot of free time, and it’s best done in weeks, not days." And "Traveling is my education, so I treat the question like choosing which course to take. What do I want to learn about this semester? For me, currently that’s faith and religion. So I’ve been trying to go to places of deep faith, and ones different from what I’m familiar with. To see faith as it’s practiced by the average follower, not by the high priests, or the most sacrosanct. The local mosque rather than the Blue mosque" He really does want to create relationships with the people in the places that he visits. And he's done that for years. His book Dignity chronicles a lot of his writing about the differences between the "front of the classroom" and the "back of the classroom" people. He focuses on trying to just listen and understand how other people live rather than sitting back and judging them based on tiny snippets of their worlds that you see in places like the news. So this is very much on brand for him, and I applaud him for sharing how he does what he does with us. And FWIW he did come from a very Western elite background as well: PhD in particle physics, bond trader on Wall Street before escaping that life at considerable personal cost to live this life of trying to show us how others live.

elif 4y ago
>He really does want to create relationships with the people in the places that he visits. i really appreciate that idea as well. that's why I read the article, seeking ways i could develop more relationships with locals. only, I couldn't appreciate any single piece of advice. I've been to soccer matches and museums and bars, none of them led me to local parties, invitations dinner, sailboat excursions, etc.s for instance i can come up with a few from my experiences: - Hitchhike, even when you have money and there is a bus route, is a great way to make an excuse to have a long conversation with a local. It also allows them the opportunity to feel like they're a good person doing a good thing. - if exploring and you think someone is curious about you, don't keep just walking. take a seat, exaggerate how hot you feel, etc. and often that person will approach and offer you tea or water. - look for local conventions or clubs that are meeting, and spend a few days learning that subculture and attend as a novice. even if its a totally new field for you, people love evangelizing to newbies at conventions.
- localhost 4y ago
  I've wondered how he does this too. He alludes to it "go back to the same place every day for weeks at a time". But he doesn't really go beyond this. I need to remember to ask for an article that goes into more detail about his approach. It could be that he's just very gregarious with strangers - don't really know.
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elif 4y ago

>He really does want to create relationships with the people in the places that he visits. i really appreciate that idea as well. that's why I read the article, seeking ways i could develop more relationships with locals. only, I couldn't appreciate any single piece of advice. I've been to soccer matches and museums and bars, none of them led me to local parties, invitations dinner, sailboat excursions, etc.s for instance i can come up with a few from my experiences: - Hitchhike, even when you have money and there is a bus route, is a great way to make an excuse to have a long conversation with a local. It also allows them the opportunity to feel like they're a good person doing a good thing. - if exploring and you think someone is curious about you, don't keep just walking. take a seat, exaggerate how hot you feel, etc. and often that person will approach and offer you tea or water. - look for local conventions or clubs that are meeting, and spend a few days learning that subculture and attend as a novice. even if its a totally new field for you, people love evangelizing to newbies at conventions.

localhost 4y ago
I've wondered how he does this too. He alludes to it "go back to the same place every day for weeks at a time". But he doesn't really go beyond this. I need to remember to ask for an article that goes into more detail about his approach. It could be that he's just very gregarious with strangers - don't really know.

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