Traveler or Tourist

“One can only really travel if one lets oneself go and takes what every place brings without trying to turn it into a healthy private pattern of one’s own and I suppose that is the difference between travel and tourism.” —Freya Stark, 1959

Sue read this quote to Curtis on February 4 while we sat in the cockpit at anchor in Bahía San Pedro. “Are we tourists, then,” asked Sue, “because we bring our own home with us and fill it with devices, food, and other items that we like?”

Curtis made a face as he thought about it. Sue tried to answer her own question, “I suppose we are tourists in that sense. But we come out here to study the natural world, and nature has no cultural divides, no break at borders. Maybe traveler versus tourist is a false distinction, because it’s not just about us and our experiences.”

“There are many travelers in the natural world,” suggested Curtis. “We travel so we can cross paths with them.”

A mournful call rang out from the shadowed side of the bay. Sue looked around, puzzled by the sound. “Loon!” said Curtis. “A traveler from up north.” And he started a bird list for the anchorage:

Birding at Bahía San Pedro

Common Loon

Brown Pelican

Blue-footed Booby

Great Blue Heron

Osprey

California Gull

Heermann’s Gull

Yellow-footed Gull

Canyon Wren

Violet-green Swallow

Northern Mockingbird

Curve-billed Thrasher