Local Traditions: Respect them or don’t go!
The traditions & customs of particular countries or regions make travel an attractive prospect. It’s the same story as the food & drink of a region being dictated by what grows there. It all adds to the experience, after all who wants to visit a place that is exactly like home? Not me. It does, however, consistently amaze me how many people seem to to disregard the local customs when travelling. I’ve seen it time & time again. Bikinis worn on local beaches throughout the Maldives; photos being taken of shrines & worshippers in Japan; people not making any effort to speak even basic phrases in the local language, instead talking louder in their mother tongue; the list goes on.. In my opinion, it’s shows a lack of respect. I may not believe in the different scriptures or value systems but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t respect those who do. If the boot was on the other foot, I would hope people would respect my wishes.
I know most of these indiscretions are acts of naivety, but others are conscious decisions. I recently met a man, from Canada originally but now lives in India, who claimed to only respect cultural traditions if they are “thousands of years old”. He seemed to think the age of a particular custom is directly proportional to its value in society. He said just because something was new, relatively speaking, it was not worthy of his regard. It’s an argument that doesn’t really stack up in my opinion as everything is new at some point & things wouldn’t age at all if people disregarded them from the beginning.
The unintended consequences of not adhering to the local customs is what I believe most problematic for anyone travelling. People may not be as helpful, or you may be perceived as unapproachable because you’re not adhering to their rules. You may feel like you’re being given a wide-berth or see glances or odd looks whilst somewhere new & not understand why. Well now you know. Also, it’s not always obvious if you’re offending anyone. A lot of the locals are quite reserved, shy & quiet. It would be unusual if they spoke out against someone who weren’t adhering to the customs of their country, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t offended.
I do, however, see the opposite argument. I accept people want to retain their individuality; make a stand against a system which they do not agree with; or not want to change their actions based on outside influences, everyone is an individual at the end of the day. However, I believe you get much more out of travel if you experience the culture, traditions & way of life rather than just being in a new location. Additionally, by travelling to these locations you are actually supporting their way of life and, by extension, their traditions. If you were to choose not to travel to, or spend your dollars in, a country you make more of a stand against these things. Tourism is the main, or only in some cases, industry in a lot of countries around the world. If this wasn’t the case a lot of the world would be very different to how it is today. If you’re that opposed to the cultures, do not spend your money in that place. If enough people have the same view, that may affect change. In my opinion this would be a bad thing. As I mentioned previously, who wants to visit somewhere exactly like home!?