The Naked Tourist In Search of Adventure and Beauty in the Age of the Airport Mall

Sick of producing the picturesque bromides of the professional travel writer, Lawrence Osborne decided to explore the psychological underpinnings of tourism itself by taking a six-month journey down the so-called "Asian Highway"a swath of Southeast Asia that, since the Victorian era, has seduced generations of tourists with its manufactured dreams of the exotic Orient. And like many a lost soul on this same route, he ends up in the harrowing forests of Papua, searching for a people who have never seen a tourist. What, Osborne asks, are millions of affluent itinerants from the West looking for as they wade through endless resorts, hotels, cosmetic-surgery packages, spas, spiritual retreats, sex clubs, and "back to nature" trips? What does tourism, the world's single largest business, have to sell?The Naked Touristis a travelogue into that heart of darkness known as the Western mind. Lawrence Osborne has written forThe New York Times Magazine,The New Yorker, and other publications, and is the author of four previous books. Born in England, he lives in New York. Sick of producing the picturesque bromides of the professional travel writer, Lawrence Osborne decided to explore the psychological underpinnings of tourism itself by taking a six-month journey down the so-called "Asian Highway"a swath of Southeast Asia that, since the Victorian era, has seduced generations of tourists with its manufactured dreams of the exotic Orient. And like many a lost soul on this same route, he ends up in the harrowing forests of Papua, searching for a people who have never seen a tourist. What, Osborne asks, are millions of affluent itinerants from the West looking for as they wade through endless resorts, hotels, cosmetic-surgery packages, spas, spiritual retreats, sex clubs, and "back to nature" trips? What does tourism, the world's single largest business, have to sell?The Naked Touristis a travelogue into that heart of darkness known as the Western mind. "'We're flying to the most godforsaken place on earth. Compared to Wanggemalo, Wamena [Indonesia] is like Manhattan,' observes Osborne of a dense rain forest in Western Papua. Having an aversion to the homogeneity created by the global tourist industry, Osborne set off on a six-month journey to that remote part of New Guinea. En route he visited Dubai, the Andaman Islands, and Bangkok before meeting up with an adventure tour operator in Bali who took him and a few others on an expedition into Western Papua. While all the places Osborne visited are exotic, he manages to put a new spin on more familiar tourist haunts by focusing on some intriguing aspect of their culture, like the spa and cosmetic surgery facilities in Thailand. But the apogee of Osborne's travels is reached in Western Papua, where he eats mouse hinds for breakfast with natives who have never seen a white man. As compelling as the narrative are Osborne's literate ruminations on travel and the writings of anthropologists. This Bruce Chatwin readalike is highly recommended for armchair travelers."Ravi Shenoy, Naperville Public Library, Illinois,Library Journal "'When a neighborhood is described as 'seedy' by someLonely Planetprude,' Osborne declares, 'I immediately head there.' But even the boldest of travel writers can become jaded by visiting locales that have recreated themselves in romanticized 'exotic' images, making one feel one is merely playing the role of a tourist rather than seeing anything new. So Osborne sets out to visit a tribe in Papua New Guinea that's had barely any contact with Westerners. Instead of heading straight for the jungle, however, he embarks on a lengthy trek along 'the Asian High

Lawrence Osborne has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and other publications, and is the author of four previous books. Born in England, he lives in New York.