From Lucerne, I made my way down through northern Italy and ended up in Florence for a few days with a couple little excursions out into the Tuscan countryside. Upon entering the city, it’s pretty clear why it’s such a popular destination- the city is a stunner. Renaissance art, incredible architecture, some of the best food on the planet and a damn good coffee game. What’s not to like?
While absolutely stunning, something in Florence felt ….. off. Walking around the city, I immediately thought “Do people actually live in the central part of this city or is it just a playground for tourists?” Group tours fill the streets, English spoken on every corner, a carbonara with cream and bacon in it?!…something was awry. And I say this while painfully self aware that I am not outside of the problem. This notion of over-tourism is on the forefront of every conversation it seems when it comes to travel these days and I’d feel remiss if I didn’t comment on it. Airbnb, the issue with affordable housing, respect of locals, pricing locals out, and neighbourhoods feeling like open air museums…none of this feels great.. And it certainly doesn’t feel sustainable or conducive to the best part of traveling for me - breaking bread and finding connections with people all over the world. The issue is certainly nuanced, but the more I think about it, the more a common denominator becomes clear - for me at least. There’s a pretty big difference between mass tourism and traveling to experience other cultures. I’m not going sit on a high horse by any means, and any traveling is better than being insular with no world perspective, so take this for what it is - just a slice of my perspective based on a short time here. I’m sure I’m missing key points and I’d love to be schooled on them. That being said, participating, interacting, immersing into a culture is the exact opposite of the petting zoo type scenario you see with mass tourism. It’s like people’s sense of empathy has been replaced with grabbing a photo for the ‘gram or ticking a box on a list of destinations.
I also realise I don’t have the answer to this on a macro level, and I don’t want to be one of those folks that just points out a problem and goes back to exactly what they were doing. I do know I have control over my own actions and can only move in ways that I feel are respectful and empathetic. The more I ponder it, the notion of being a participant in something rather than merely taking up space becomes a differentiation in all of this for me. Certainly, policy level decisions on housing, numbers of tourists, and a myriad of other things need to be addressed, but some personal responsibility on the shoulders of travellers and tourists is definitely in order. A split second of thinking “what if this was my home? Would I act this way if this was my front yard?” If the answer is no, don’t be that guy.
In the images below, it’s not super obvious at the sheer number of people in the city, but I’m a creature of habit, and waking up early to go shoot is pretty normal in Vietnam for me. Putting it lightly, folks don’t rise as early in Florence as they do in Vietnam. Not by a long shot. It made for some quiet, peaceful morning walks and completely confirms my feelings on waking up early and exploring a place while it wakes up is the way to go. Miss the chaos, catch the beautiful light, and watch the world wake up.
For my photography friends, these were all shot on the trusty little fuji x100v. Fast and light.
