BANI AMOR on Tourism and the Colonial Project /234
A discarded plastic rubbish bag suspended eerily, almost fish-like, underwater above a darkened coral reef presenting a hazard to local marine life; by whitcomberd.
On this week’s episode, we explore the evolution of the travel narrative and the exported white occupation of global spaces under the banner of “tourism.” Bani guides us through an exploration of how travel writing as a genre is rooted in colonization and how this colonial undercurrent continues to inform how we talk about travel today. Bani discusses the fetishization of land and lifeways and how tourism facilitates ongoing cycles of domination creating unstable economies, and rendering local communities vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Bani urges us to ask questions that aren’t really encouraged in the travel space including: how can we have a connection to place that isn’t based on escapism and domination?
Bani also invites us to explore the different ways in which we discuss migration, relocation and the ability to move in the world freely. For example, how are refugees and immigrants characterized vs. expats and digital nomads? Through this discussion we’re offered a gentle reminder about finding peace at home and about trying to hold ourselves back from the lore and lust of wandering so that we can actually be at home where we are and let people be at home where they are. We don’t have to go far away to engage with our connection to the Earth and to find rest.
“Even through story, we’re consuming place...”
Photo of Bani Amor by Danny Bruno
Bani Amor is a gender/queer travel writer who explores the relationships between race, place, and power. Their work has appeared in CNN Travel, Fodor’s, AFAR, and Teen Vogue, and in Outside the XY: Queer Black and Brown Masculinity, and the upcoming Where We Stand: Brown and Black Voices Speak the Earth. Follow them on Twitter @bani_amor and on Instagram at @baniamor.
♫ The music featured in this episode is “Hirang” by Juan Torregoza, “Tiptoes in the Parlor” by Peals, and “El Coqui’s Dream” by Fabian Almazan Trio.
Episode References
Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World
Reading Recommendations
Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World
Detours: A Decolonial Travel Guide to Hawai’i
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For The Wild is a slow media organization dedicated to land-based protection, co-liberation, and intersectional storytelling. We are rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth, and consumerism. As we dream towards a world of grounded justice and reciprocity, our work highlights impactful stories and deeply-felt meaning making as balms for these times.