I worry […] that travel is becoming more a form of consumerism, whether you live in Santa Monica or Shanghai, than a real exercise in curiosity, and that, as the world grows more open and available, going to another country will seem more like going to a cool ethnic supermarket or trendy restaurant than a true journey into shock or difference. I worry, in other words, that the tasting menu will replace the true unsettledness of being lost on the streets of Calcutta or spooked by a witch doctor in Haiti; that people will seek to become plusher versions of themselves when they travel rather than different versions. That comfort will seem a more essential part of the travel experience than challenge, not so different from shopping online, and that the selfie will become a more central part of our experience than the detailed portrait.
