8 - Concluding

Summary

We began with Sergio Ramazzotti and his collection of beer labels, souvenirs representing his travel encounters. Many of the narratives explored in this study are constructed around a collection of interesting individuals encountered, like a contemporary cabinet of curiosities. At a time when leisured travel has become a mass pursuit and there are few refuges for those who wish to distinguish themselves and return home with a story unique enough to be worth telling, the encounter seems an ideal way of guaranteeing originality. Encounters contradict many of the stereotypes of tourism, which constructs an image of antisocial sheltered travellers, avoiding all contact with the unfamiliar and especially unfamiliar people. Encounters coincide with decelerated methods of travel, both motivating and resulting from the slower journeys that allow more of the time that interaction requires. Encounters are always new; even when the world seems overexplored and homogenized, when places are papered over by their reproducible image, individuals always remain to be discovered. Encounters enable authenticity, through the mediation of travellees who provide information and access, as well as the authenticity of interaction, when genuine relations develop between travellers and travellees. Perhaps the best antidote to the commercialization and mediatization of travel destinations and experiences is spontaneous contact with an individual. Encounter goes to the heart of ethical questions about how one should travel, because how we interact with others is central to ethics and because travel is a highly valued cultural pursuit.