Unachievable Authenticity...

"It is found that tourists try to enter back regions of the places they visit because these regions are associated with intimacy of relations and authenticity of experiences." (589)

It is in my understanding that the reason people embark on journeys to foreign lands and want the experience of travel is due to the fact that these individuals want to become better acquainted with a culture far from their own. Whether we travel within our own country or cross major bodies of water, it is a journey we take in search of something "exotic" from our everyday lives and is something that makes us eager to engage in such experiences. 

Oxford Street

At least, for my own personal reasons, an extended travel was a major factor in my decision to study abroad in London. Rather than the typical week long vacation, I was given the opportunity to spend four months in a country that I had never visited before. This was a chance to immerse myself in a culture that was similar and yet vastly different than my own; a chance to find the truth behind the city. The four month long opportunity to live and study overseas was a way for me to actively engage in a different culture; a different way of living. 

Since not every person has the same opportunity to take an extended period of time and completely immerse themselves in a different culture, it is common that entering the "back regions" of a community is overly appealing to a majority of tourists.

"The 'front' [region] is the meeting place of hosts and guests or customers and service persons, and the 'back' [region] is the place where members of the home team retire between performances to relax and to prepare...A back region, closed to audiences and outsiders, allows concealment...that might discredit the performance out front..." (590-91)

In this explanation, MacCannell believes that what happens on the surface, what is directed at "outsiders" visiting a community is in fact a purposeful illusion made to "mystify" the onlooker, while in the back, the real people are hidden. It is like a performance that is happening on stage, and yet, it is happening right before the visitors eyes. It is thought that the "back regions" are home to the true essence of a culture; the "back region" is where the truth of the city lives, not in the "performance" that is given to the tourists that are visiting. And so, visitors make it a priority to gain access to this privileged way of living.

After living in London for three months, I have yet to find the truth or authenticity behind this city. I originally thought that four months was the perfect amount of time to acquire an intimate relationship with London, but I was mistaken. Even living in New York for as long as I have I cannot say that I know the truth behind the city. I don't know how I thought London would be different. Although it has been the place I have called "home" for three months, I still feel like a tourist looking for the authentic London.