On Winning a Free Trip to Costa Rica: Making My Case for Inadequacy

I want this trip for the same reason I’m traveling around the world: I want to see as much of it as I can, while we’re both still here, and to learn how to move through it while leaving the smallest possible trail.

We live in an interesting era: modern air travel has made it possible for nearly anyone to travel the world. What was once reserved solely for the uber-rich is now available to a poor boy like me.

At the same time, however, this increased accessibility and global communications networks are rapidly destroying our cultural differences – languages are dying and cultural traditions are degenerating into mere stage shows for tourists. On my first trip abroad, I checked into a hotel in Madras, India, only to hear Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” pouring out of my neighbor’s room at full volume. I love Willie – don’t get me wrong – but that’s not one of his best tunes.

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