The world is shrinking. Every year innovations in
transportation and technology make the world a smaller place. When I first went to china in 1996, I was one
of the few people who had witnessed the holy places of Southwestern China and
Tibet. Yet today, everyone with the
internet and the slightest inclination has seen the temples in Lhasa.
This experience has created a new breed of traveler. Where once it was okay to simply visit a
place, where a picture and the right to say, "I was there," was
enough, this new generation of traveler demands something more. Whereas my
father was ecstatic to even touch a tiger in Thailand, my brother lamented at
the passivity of a safari at Governor's Camp. My generation has been bombarded
with images of these places since childhood. To them, observing is no longer
sufficient; they want to participate.
To meet this new evolution of the traveler, a new paradigm
in travel writing is required. More and
more travel guides will need to provide conduits to a deeper experience of a
place. With the help of this scholarship,
my vision is to help pioneer this new age in travel writing.
