Dutch travelers in the United States. A tale of energy and ambivalence

Abstract

HE title of this paper indicates, more accurately than I had initially expected, what it really is about. It is about travelers that we are talking, not about tourists. Let me try to define the difference between the two. The purpose of the tourist is to escape from reality, to find peace in some dreamlike landscape, some Shangri-La. The traveler, on the other hand, is on a voyage of discovery; it is not a dream he is looking for, but a new reality. The tourist wants to comprehend his world, encompass it, store it somewhere, preferably in his camera. The traveler is overwhelmed; he sees only a part, his quest