That's why reporters take notes
Travel Memories and Amnesia
By Nathaniel Hoffman, 11-27-07
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| Caption: A young tour guide/buddy in Northern Lebanon's Tripoli | |
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About a year ago I spent some time in Lebanon. Toward the end of my stay I travelled to the north by bus with another reporter I had met in Beirut. She took notes all day.
I paid attention. I ate as much new food as I could. I talked to whomever I could. I barely pulled out my notebook except to write down new Arabic vocabulary words.
But a year later she comes up with this story about a kid we met that day. I barely remember hanging out with him.
That’s why reporters take notes.
Joanna’s story touches on something all travelers struggle with: what is the responsible way to dole out cash in foreign lands.
I have always felt that giving people money, especially when traveling, sullies the momentary relationships that you make wandering the streets of someone else’s city. I have been pretty successful doling out smiles and high fives and information.
But sometimes this does not work out as planned.
The extreme example was in the town of Lalibela in northern Ethiopia. When tourists get off the bus in Lalibela they are there for one reason only: to see the amazing 12th century underground churches. When my wife and I arrived there we were followed by 20 kids for several hours, all wanting to be our tour guides.
We decided to hire one of them so that the rest would give up and let us get on with our walk.
We picked the youngest guy and then negotiated a fair price for a tour in advance. A picture of us with our tour guide and his family hangs in my mother’s living room today.
And that is why I remember this story. From that picture. I should have taken better notes. So that one day, if nothing else, I could sell my memoir to the highest bidder. Like Eddie Kennedy.
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