Being not-a-snob

I had a thought that if anyone is ever introduced to me as an ancient historian, I will be privately glancing at their face for lines, to see if they truly are one.*

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Recently, I was exploring a thrift store and found some Lonely Planet travel guides. Likely they had been cast aside as they were editions from 2007 (Peru) and 2010 (Egypt).

Rumour has it that there exists a breed of people who delineate between “travellers” and “tourists”. They count themselves as the former and look down their noses at LP guides. Something about avoiding the commonness of mass tourism.

(By the way, I learnt that English word “vulgar” comes from the Latin word vulgus, meaning common people.)

I don’t have a problem with people having very particular tastes about things. Seems to me it’s about judging quality, which can be very useful for getting some opinions in choosing the better experiences/items to buy, or even honing a skill.

I went ahead and got the Lonely Planet books anyway, because:

a) I have visited <5 countries in my life and would not make a very good travel snob. Also,

b) the guides were $4, and

c) most importantly, each include chapters titled ‘History’ and ‘Culture’ at the beginning. I thought these chapters alone would be good introductory passages to read – especially to become acquainted with Peru, which is full of archaeological riches, but which I couldn’t have pointed to on a map before today.

And so I think they are useful, even if the books are outdated and the bread-and-breakfast hotels described in the later chapters have long disappeared.

I hope everyone is approaching a great weekend. Anyone have strong feelings about Lonely Planet, Peru/Egypt, interesting word roots, vanished businesses, snobby/plebeian tastes?

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* Scholars of ancient history have likely heard some form of this joke enough times, but I only recently thought of it so I’m putting it here.

Image credit: photo is mine, for once.