There is something of a modern tradition of travel that dictates that we should see as many cities, as many sights and as many countries as we can in the course of our travelling lives. In the 60s and 70s when the backpacker cult kicked off, overland journeys from Europe to South Africa or India were common. The objective seemed to be to tick off as many places as possible. That tradition has continued to this day.
The world of organised travel in most cases is based on a notion of whistlestop visits to as many places as possible. Most of us will have undertaken some pretty hasty travel - trying to "do" a country in an absurdly inadequate time frame. I know I certainly have.
Photo: Mark BowyerThe clash of old and new in China is rivetting
But one of the special privileges of my twenty plus years of travel has been the opportunity to revisit many places many times. Almost always, return visits have been more enjoyable than the first visit - even if the first visit was immensely enjoyable. My fifteen years of living in Asia have enabled me to revisit places in Vietnam, China, Cambodia and Thailand on many occasions - each time my sense of belonging increased, even if from a very small base. In the last few years I have visited India on two occasions - I sense there will be many many follow up visits and I recently travelled to the Middle East for the first time - and I can't wait to return. My excitement about returning to cultures that I have scratched the surface of - the Indian and Islamic world at present - excites me more at this time than venturing in to one of the many cultures I have no experience of.
I have worked out that I would rather allocate travel time on the basis that a visit to a place is the start of a relationship rather than a one off encounter. Of course the world is too big for us to experience in its entirety - even on a superficial level. So it makes sense to me that we travel back to our favourite places often and reach out to new places when we feel the need.
In the same vein, it makes sense to spend longer periods in each place rather than very short bursts in many places.
Photo: Mark BowyerLuxor's ancient riches are overwhelming but it's hard to bond with the town
One of the interesting things about the lure of places previously visited is that they are rarely the places of iconic tourist sights. Unless the iconic tourist sights are a part of living cities such as is the case of Rome, Paris, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Delhi, Cairo and no doubt many other places, the lure of the icon is rarely an inspiration for a return visit. No, the cities that have the greatest lure are those that have managed to retain their connections to the past in cultural and architectural terms - even in the face of major challenges in city functionality such as Cairo - and continue as living cities.
In contrast, modern Luxor, home to some of the most important ancient sites in the world has been so comprehensively built around the tourist dollar, that its appeal as a return destination is diminished. Agra, home of the Taj Mahal and other iconic Indian sights similarly lacks the return visit magnetism for the same reason. Economies that are totally built around tourism seem destined to alienate both locals and travellers.
Return trips to the great Chinese metropolises Beijing and Shanghai are especially rivetting. The clash of the old and the new is unfolding in real time. And there is plenty of serious thought going into how this clash should happen. Like it or hate it, it is compelling stuff to watch.
It seems to me that in addition to historic or cultural assets, a city must seek to accommodate in modest ways, its visitors as locals in order to create an inducement for return travel. That simply means ensuring that visitors are able to engage with local life in restaurants, in the streets and markets and even at tourist sights. These exchanges add a real substance to the interaction with the tourist sights and create the magic that makes a place enticing for future visits.
So next time you're thinking about travel, don't rule out the idea of returning to a place you have fond memories of. I'm confident that the second and third visits will be even more fulfilling.
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