Hat Generation Weltreise das Reisen zerstört? Ein Film über eine Reise durch Indonesien.

Hat Generation Weltreise das Reisen zerstört? Ein Film über eine Reise durch Indonesien.

What has happened to travel – once the most beautiful escape from everyday life? When did we begin consuming experiences like products? Why do more and more places feel like stages and people like actors? What went so wrong that locals are now protesting on the streets against visitors? Are we the problem? For seven years, we’ve been traveling the world, searching for freedom and adventure, for exchange and encounters, and somehow also for ourselves. Have we destroyed something beyond repair? Today, more people travel than ever before. At the same time, those who live where others vacation seem to be benefiting less and less. Nowhere are these developments so concentrated, so contradictory, so exemplary as in Indonesia. Hardly any other country tells us so much about the tourism of our time. So we visited the world’s largest island nation. On Bali, Lombok, and Flores, we got to know places that couldn’t be more different. We spoke with immigrants and locals, with winners and losers. And we asked ourselves what travel means today. Is the magic still there? Or has it long since been sold off? Along with the paradises of this world. Bali, Indonesia. Population: 4.3 million. Tourists: 6.3 million. Notes from the road. Music . And what are your feelings about Bali? Do you feel that something has changed? Yes, definitely a lot has changed. But we were in Bali for the first time in 2016, that was 9 years ago, and 9 years ago Germany was different too, and the whole world. And Bali hasn’t been spared from this change. Bali has changed in its own way. And back then there wasn’t such a widespread discussion about how much tourism is harming Bali. Hmm. You know? Although the visitor numbers were actually just as high back then as they are now. Yes. So I don’t think that it was some kind of beautiful, perfect world back then and now everything has gotten worse, but rather that now people are simply talking about certain things. Hmm. And many more people have a medium, so to speak, through social media to draw attention to certain things. This includes locals, but also visitors who come here. I think many more travelers are reflecting now, you know? Hmm. Yes, some more, some less. Exactly, some more, some less. But there are these simultaneous developments. There’s just so much more going on; it’s all become much more widespread. What do you think? How do you feel? Yeah, I don’t know. I think coming to Bali always feels good and familiar, even though some things change, but a lot also stays the same, you have to say. Mm. I think that’s the same in Germany, and in other countries too. The things we like about Bali stay the same, and I think that’s a good thing. And that’s why people always like coming back here. Yes. Bali is more than an island. It’s a symbol. For freedom, nature, spirituality. For everything we hope for from traveling and for everything we destroy in the process. Few places have been so romanticized and so overrun. Few places embody so many longings. And few places demonstrate so clearly what happens when too many people chase after them in the same place at the same time. Bali was a myth and is now a commodity. Despite seven years of traveling the world, we’ve still been here four times. Because the Island of the Gods has become a kind of home port for us in Southeast Asia. Why? Because it’s convenient and affordable. A little exotic, but never too foreign. The people are friendly, the food is good, the internet is fast. And despite all the changes, Bali preserves a deep, unique culture. That’s probably why not only we come, but everyone else too. Some to surf, others to meditate. Some for nasi goreng, others for smoothie bowls. Some work with their laptops by the pool, others found startups. The dream of the digital nomad was born here. Healing journeys like Eat, Pray, Love begin here. And here, an entire generation, in search of self-realization, staged itself. Places like Canggu today seem like a caricature of travel, a caricature of our times , and unfortunately, a caricature of Bali itself. The island is changing by the minute, and not every change is necessarily bad. Nowhere in Indonesia is the GDP per capita as high as in Bali, the poverty rate as low, or the life expectancy as long. This boom attracts not only foreigners but also people from all over the country who see opportunities here that they can’t find elsewhere. This is one of the reasons why Bali is bursting at the seams. Overtourism and overpopulation go hand in hand on the Island of the Gods. But no matter who we talk to these days, what really bothers the Balinese isn’t the crowds, the garbage, or the congested streets. It’s the lack of respect. It’s bare chests and half- naked buttocks roaming their streets. It’s scooter riders who speed recklessly along sidewalks , insulting and spitting at anyone in their way. It’s the increase in stress and violence on an island where harmony is paramount. Is this the price of progress? Destruction, alienation, sell-out? In search of answers, we meet Jing. Originally from the US, he has lived on the island for 20 years and is married to a Balinese woman. He has built a thriving business, a company that manages 156 villas. ” When I first came here, this was a quiet, remote area. Now there’s a highway in front of my door. So probably I would say one of the biggest things that happened was the internet. The internet changed a lot of what Bali eventually became. For the good part, I think the internet democratized the economy. Because before the internet, all economic control was in the hands of the ultra-large capitalists, the people who had mega-bugs to spend on hotels, on, you know, these gigantic restaurants, and so you needed capital in order to start a business. You would need to have a location on the side of a freeway on the most expensive land. ” But now you can be in the middle of nowhere and popular on Instagram or any other social media platform, people will find you. So the internet has changed that a lot. And then there was this transition to work remotely. Well if you can work remotely why not just working in the best place to work remotely that already had all this infrastructure built up? So then Bali became a really hot choice and we had a massive number of digital nomad immigration. And the island needed this talent. Because there was no middle class here before. Your career options I think in Bali, lets say having grown up in a village, were limited to: you can get a job and work on a cruise ship or you can get a job and work in a five star hotel. And maybe if you’re really lucky, you’re really committed and 30 years later one out of 100,000 will become the general manager. But now there’s a whole kind of nexus of people who are now versed in all kinds of western craftsmanship, that are highly skilled labor. There are people who can now become very excellent content creators because they learned from a foreigner. There are people who are excellent bakers, because they learned from a foreigner how to make croissants. So we’re hiring data scientists, we’re hiring data analysts, we’re actually drawing this kind of talent to to Bali. Half our property owners are typically Balinese people who have decided that they don’t want to miss out and now they’re building villas or building guest houses, they building apartments. If you look at the actual statistics, the actual facts, about 60 to 80% of properties, this is just raw count, across all Bali are Balinese owned. Gentrification is not a problem here. Let’s say Canggu. Canggu was a rice farming village for a very long time. And so the maximum a family could possibly expect out of let’s say 100 square meters in land is maybe something on the order of $200 a year in terms of the rice crop. Now they can expect that in one day because now someone will pay $200 a day to stay in a villa on their land. The most charming countries I’ve been to, and perhaps you guys will reflect, are the places that haven’t changed at all. A civilization that’s so charming because it’s locked into a kind of a vision of the past, right? But that’s not good for the people there, I’m sure, right? The people are locked into poverty and their job is not to entertain us and be caricatures of some lost society just so that we can see people wander around in traditional costumes and traditional buildings. You know, they they have their own lives, have their own I think goals and and uh and perhaps if they all agree that’s the direction they want to go in then fine. But if they want to participate in globalization, if they want to participate in capitalism, then I feel guilt about saying “no, we got to stop you from being rich, just so that you know, we get to look at rice patties now instead of uh you know concrete buildings.” Ironically enough, maybe westerners need to educate themselves on Balinese principles. Tri Hita Karana. It’s principle of like whatever you do is okay but make sure it’s harmonious with other people, harmonious with nature and make sure it’s harmonious with the divine. And as long as Westerners and Balinese can both believe in those principles, I think we have harmony. I don’t think anyone wants to see paradise lost. So I’m staying positive about that. Staying optimistic about that. Music . Bali isn’t just Ubud, not just Canggu, not just Uluwatu. Not just smoothie bowls and sunsets in infinity pools. In 2022, we drove around the entire island, by scooter, taking our time, with open eyes. Far from the tourist hotspots, we got to know a more authentic Bali, but also a significantly poorer one. It was shortly after the pandemic, and especially in the remote corners, we felt the joy that tourists were finally returning. Where tourism hadn’t yet arrived, people longed for it. Because here, it’s not just a business, but a promise of change. Of course, it brings new problems to the island, but it also washes away existing ones. It brings jobs, money, opportunities. And yes, like every system in capitalism, it produces winners and losers. But those places would still exist even if no more visitors came overnight. Many travelers miss the “authentic” Bali. But what exactly is that supposed to be? A wooden hut overlooking rice paddies, from which we sip coconuts and watch people toiling for pennies? What is authentic Germany? A village dying because no one wants to live there anymore? Most of the tourists who yearn for authenticity here come from modern, international metropolises themselves. Perhaps that’s why they want to cram places like Bali into time capsules. But can we expect the Balinese to preserve something we’ve long since abandoned? Music , music , music , music , music. Lombok, Indonesia. Population: 3.4 million. Tourists: 2.5 million. There were many locals on the boat who came from Lombok and had been working in Bali for a while and were now heading back. And it was interesting how happy they all were to be returning to Lombok. Yes, almost everyone without exception, I mean, everyone I ‘ve spoken to. And I’ve spoken to quite a few people, and I always jokingly asked, “Do you prefer Lombok or Bali?” And they said, “No, Bali ‘s too busy.” Yes. Yes, I’m really looking forward to exploring Lombok a bit now, because the last time we were here was shortly after the earthquakes. The atmosphere was completely different then, and it was kind of… out of place. Yes, definitely. Yes, especially since that was the beginning of our world trip. Yes. And we were really in backpacker mode. Yes. And people were really struggling at that time. Yes. It was also strange back then, driving to the beach and passing these camps where people had lost their homes. There was one near Kuta, right? There was a tent camp, wasn’t there? For the people, the people who somehow lost their homes in the interior, and you yourself go to the beach to chill. That was kind of… Yes, it was truly absurd. Even though the people were happy, That we were there because those who lived off tourism were happy that people were coming at all. And they even said things like, “Hey, how can you support us so that you keep coming and don’t just stay away?” But yeah, it still felt kind of strange. Yeah, normal. Yeah, but Lombok is really something else, even though it’s only a five-hour ferry ride or two and a half hours by speedboard from Bali, it’s still a completely different world, right? Yeah, so if you compare Bali and Lombok, they could be two different countries. They belong to the same country, but they’re completely different. Yeah. So, Anna’s just getting ready. I’ve already organized a scooter. We’re about to head out to explore Lombok a bit. We’ve already packed our backpacks, and yeah, good backpacks are worth their weight in gold when traveling, and our solution is called TomToc. TomToc is a design-oriented brand, specializing in high-quality bags for digital equipment. Functional, protective, and thoughtfully designed down to the smallest compartment. They offer backpacks, shoulder bags, and laptop sleeves, all at really fair prices. For example, we use a 40-liter backpack for longer trips and flights, and the smaller 28-liter backpack as a daypack for the beach, but also for work. We’re conducting an interview, for instance, and I need to take my laptop with me to back up the data immediately afterward, and the backpack is simply ideal for that. Both backpacks open 180° in a clamshell style, just like a suitcase, providing an enormous amount of storage space and a truly practical layout. I also always take this small, practical shoulder bag with me. It’s perfect for my phone, documents, and a power bank. Definitely the ideal everyday companion. So, if you’re looking for really good backpacks at unbeatable prices, we highly recommend TomToc. As always, you’ll find the link in the video description. Use our code “Notizen10” to get 10% off on Amazon. So definitely check it out, and yes, thanks TomToc and thanks to everyone for watching. 95% of all tourists visit only 5% of the world. Is that good or bad? And above all, for whom? How does an inconspicuous spot become a magnet for millions? Who benefits from it and who gets left behind? Lombok has everything that makes a tropical paradise: white beaches, green palm trees, towering volcanoes. And yet, the mass tourism industry has largely bypassed this island in the Indian Ocean. Lombok is predominantly Muslim. The island lives off fishing, mining, and above all, agriculture. A little tobacco, a little chili, a little rice. Per capita income is low, the poverty rate high. Many visitors love precisely that about Lombok: that hardly anything here looks like an Instagram backdrop. That much of it is reminiscent of a long-faded image of Bali. But is that good for the people who live here? No one who can afford to fly from Europe to Indonesia lives in poverty. And yet we romanticize it when we drive through villages where three generations live under a single corrugated iron roof and then convince ourselves that this is “authentic.” Yes, the children here wave and smile when Westerners like us chug past. But when we stop and ask them for money, they know that €1 is nothing to us and as much as their fathers earn in a day. Of course, it’s wonderful to have a beach all to yourself. But is it also wonderful for the women who wander through the sand day in and day out because their only prospect is selling a sarong to one of us? The people of Lombok dream of upward mobility and, because there’s no other significant industry, of increased tourism. This dream seems to be coming true. The only problem is that it’s being realized without its dreamers . A conglomerate of politics and business has been trying to transform the island into the next Bali for several years now . Especially in the south, there’s a lot of construction, a lot of sales, and above all, a lot of destruction. We’re going to Tanjung Aan, a beach in the south of the island. For decades it was considered one The most beautiful beach in the entire country. Small warungs, or informal restaurants, lined the white sand, and surf schools lured locals and foreigners alike into the turquoise water. But because a luxury resort is planned for construction here, the entire beach was cleared, dozens of warungs demolished. Everything that made this idyll what it was, razed to the ground. This afternoon, we meet a man standing before the remains of his life’s work. ” I’ve been living in Tanjung Aan for almost 10 years. Yeah, I just run from the main village because I’m lying down to stay there. Yeah, because I’m jobless and I already have a family. So, I come to the beach here to do a small business. Sometimes I don’t even have a single cent of rupiah . Yeah. First, I do something like a small gazebo, and then we just sell snacks, just snacks like this. Yeah. From the first time I came here, I heard about the issue, that one day the government could build something.” Then we know they really want to make like a five star hotel there. So we think it’s fine. My position is still okay. We still can like keep going. The police come, like police, army, like many departments also was coming. Maybe around like, about like 700 or 1000 people. It’s like a shock that time. There was like this really really poor family there was like a first that this position. And they like “You have to leave from here”. Not one hour everything was clear. And then my neighbor is they fight. Because I see the people the problem like that so I’m really uh like talking good. Because my building is, I think I was like renovation two months ago. Yeah. Yeah. And then I was make good one. Why do I make good one? Because I was thinking just until there and then I was hopefully when it’s like was no building there so I can get like more customer here. I was spending money about like maybe 150 million. 2 months ago you spent 150 million and then everything was destroyed? Yeah, everything gone. The situation now? You can see here. Yeah. Right now really really we don’t have planning. So we just like doing my day every day. II don’t have like many options to look at the future. We are small people. We don’t have really really good education like European people, western people. We cannot do too much. We just like doing with my energy, like manual things. We cannot do working on the laptop or anything. We cannot like stop modernization. You cannot stop. If you can follow the competition, can follow the situation, yes you can get the money. But I was like worried is like that everything is so instant. Like the knowledge of the people here is not balanced with the situation. I mean, people come from outside, take jobs. So the people from here just like watching the movie. Yeah, I was like hoping the government can be really really like look at this situation, not just like fair for rich people. They have to look for small people too. For example like us here. When they close my small business here – what can I do? Who or what destroys the soul of a place? Is it capitalism that transforms beauty into profit and doesn’t rest until even the last horizon bears a price tag? Is it globalization that forces every place into the same mold and smooths culture like a beach after a storm? Is it corrupt governments that sell off their country like junk but betray those they actually work for? Is it influencers who reduce every spot to a backdrop for content and every person to an extra? Is it tourists who arrive expecting to be waited on, looked after, and entertained, content with an illusion of paradise and suppressing reality? Or is it us, the backpackers, who shell out thousands of euros for flights but haggle with taxi drivers over pennies? Who tell themselves they’re looking for real life but really just want cheap food, cheap accommodation, cheap travel? Who forget that even the smallest things can be a lot. In places where the smallest things are everything. They say all people are equal. But anyone who travels the world quickly realizes: no one is the same. Not in your passport, not in your wallet, not in the power to control things. to change and have the freedom to come and go as you please. We don’t live in the same reality. We live in parallel worlds. We who travel. And they who stay. It has very much changed in Selong Belanak. Here before is very quiet brother, very quiet. No hotel, no home, no electricity, no signal. This is very, very not good. More better now. Now we have internet, have wifi, have a handphone. Long time ago no television, just had radio. And then my mom never goes to school, cannot read, cannot write. And then my father same like that one. When I go to school some people buy some food and then me? Just nothing. Yeah. But in my home I have many tree mango. I take the mango, I bring to school and some my friend buy it to me and then this is the money for buy some food. I finish senior high school and then I go to university. Just one year. 5.1 million. My mom just borrows the money from the neighbor. Then I go to Bali for school, I take computer and then when finish this one and then take the work in Bali one year. I work in a supermarket. After one year I will be home here. After one year already married and then I have son. And then some people come to my home “you need job?”. Yes, I need it. And “okay, where is CV?”. And then I make CV and send to the company. Selong Belanak bungalow. And then first time working at night there is party. So many ladies, something like this drink, drunk, something wow. For me first time. Because I was in Islamic school. Never see like that one. But it’s okay. This is for my wife and for my son. And then I work that one start in the morning until the night. I all worked that one: waiter, reception, housekeeping. Do you know how much the salary? 700k maybe. After 3 months like 1 million. I have three jobs now. Kamala in the morning for service the breakfast and then for the booking.com. And then come after 12 move to Kayuma. Make the reception and then for the pool attendant. And then the other one just check full something, like that. 4,900,000 salary that one. When I sit by myself I think this one: How to get more good for me in the future? I want my son to be happier than mine. Because it’s very hard long time ego. Like sugar farm. When he cut and then was thrown to the rubbish, I take this one for eating brother. Really. Because I don’t have money to buy. I’m happy my son, Alhamdulillah, not like me be poor. I’m happy like when I give money to my wife, she is happy… That’s enough for me. Flores, Indonesia. Population: 1.8 million. Tourists: 0.5 million. We left Lombok yesterday and flew to Flores. We had toyed with the idea of ​​actually taking a boat trip from Lombok to Flores, but the reviews there weren’t that good. Yes, the boats are sometimes very overcrowded, and there have been quite a few accidents. That’s why we decided against doing that. We’re in Labuan Bajo now. It’s a small town in the far west of the island. I think it’s developed a lot for tourism in recent years. There are lots of Western restaurants and hotels. Yes, but we’re leaving the town soon. We’ve rented a bigger scooter and are going to take a little road trip south. Anna is a little worried about the road conditions and the route, but I’m optimistic and think it will all be easy. Yes, I’m really looking forward to it. Is this the last paradise in Indonesia? As we ride the scooter through the green heart of Flores, across this island whose name sounds like a flower, we feel like we’ve stepped back in time. The roads are bumpy, the glances curious. The air is filled with the scent of damp earth. Coast, mountains, rainforest, volcanoes. And in between, the feeling that modernity capsized somewhere off the coast on its way here. Nearly 2 million people live here, as many as in Hamburg, spread across an area the size of Thuringia, with an average monthly income of €150. Yes, the people here are poor, but their poverty does n’t look like misery. And somehow, Flores feels like one big opportunity. The chance to do better. For centuries, the people here have fought against foreign invaders. First Portuguese missionaries arrived, forcing the word of God upon the godless savages. Later came Dutch colonial rulers, who, armed with rifles and treaties, took what didn’t belong to them. And today, it’s foreign investors who lure with the promise of progress, but in reality are only interested in their own land. Yet somehow, Flores seems more resilient than many of its neighbors. More serene, more modest, more rooted. Yes, the island stands at a crossroads, and it’s still unclear which direction it will choose. It’s uncertain whether tourism will dictate the path or merely accompany it. But it seems as if the island could not only be about selling, but also about shaping the future together. The story of Waerebo, a remote village in the south of the island, high in the mountains, shows how this can work. No road, no electricity, accessible only after a two-hour trek through the jungle. A place where people have lived for over 20 generations. Ten years ago, the village was on the brink of collapse. Life was too hard, too few prospects. The young ones moved away, the old things fell apart. But one of the villagers didn’t give up. He knew that if they wanted to save what they were, then they couldn’t sell it. But don’t hide either. So he showed it. First to a curious Dutch woman, then to UNESCO and finally to the world. I have experience abroad. I studied there and I still chose to come back. Why am I coming back? Because I really need to help the people here, especially my village. I always say to my children that in the future when you have your better life don’t forget to help the local people of Waerebo. Waerebo is the root of us. Actually there is a big change there. When I was childhood our daily food was cassava and yam. The food is very limited and of course the situation is very poor that time. Very very poor. Now is very easy for people to get money, very easy for people to go somewhere and to buy rice. Not hard anymore. The access of tourism in the village of Waerebo it really improve the economic of the local people. When the guest they have a good knowledge, let’s say when the guest is teacher, English teacher. They also learn local people there. They teach the local people English. When the guest also they know how to cook, they also share the knowledge with people. What I always said to the guest that the local people of Waerebo need helping. Not to bring money but please bring your knowledge to them, bring your experience to them, so they can also improve the life of them. And that one is really helpful. In Waerebo we have no school, no church, no market, no hospital. No one of the people of Waerebo who live only in Waerebo. Because we need to go out to find something. We enjoy our life in two different sides. Little bit little bit primitive in Waerebo. Little bit modern in combo. So when we want to watch television we come down to Combo. When we want to enjoy our tradition we should go up to the village of Waerebo. After improve of the economic we were able to support the children of us to come to university. After they finish the study of them they come back to the village of Waerebo to help, to work there. And also those who have their job outside before, after Waerebo survive lot of the tourist came there and they also come back, choose to come back to the village. We work together. All the money will go to the community. And we need to support each other. For Flores itself really big hope of me for this island: keep it. Do not change the traditional one to the modern one. Not too many visitors come for tourism. We should make it limit. And then when the Flores keep like this one of course harmony stay there. Because it’s so common here help each other. Love each other. Tolerance. That’s why my point is: Keep Flores like what we have now. When tourists too much of course they will destroy Flores. What’s left of traveling when there’s nothing left to discover? When even the most remote places have long since been found and the last secrets have long since been told? We wake up early this morning. The air is humid, the fog lies heavy over the hills. We pack our backpacks, hop on the scooter, and set off. Past steaming fields. and waving children. We park somewhere in the middle of nowhere and set off on foot. A narrow path winds through the jungle, deeper and deeper into what feels like a living breath. The silence is broken only by birdsong, dripping water, and the crunch of our footsteps in the damp undergrowth. We’re on our way to Waerebo, a village that sounds like a myth. And perhaps it is. The evening before, Martin explained to us why no road leads to the village. And why there must never be one. “This jungle,” he said, “is the palace of my ancestors. If it is cleared, they will die. And with them, I will die too.” There are still 196 uncontacted tribes worldwide. In 10 years, many of them could be history. The biggest threats: deforestation, missionary work, markets. And people like us: travelers. Or more precisely, those who make money from traveling. Travel used to be about exchange, curiosity, encounters. Today, it’s increasingly about reach, extremes, attention. Cultures are exploited, not understood. People are visited like animals in a zoo. Not out of interest, but for clicks. We also make videos, we too live off stories. We too must constantly ask ourselves: What are we telling? What are we showing? And above all: Why? In Waerebo, there is no show, no spectacle. You arrive, you are greeted. There is a small ceremony. You pay €10 per person and are allowed to stay. To sit and observe. Nothing more, nothing less. So what are we looking for when we travel in 2025? And what do the people who live in the places we visit want ? How much tourism is healthy, and when does it become destructive? The last few weeks in Indonesia didn’t provide any easy answers. Travel was once a privilege, a luxury that only the elite could afford. Today, the world is open to more and more people. And that’s a good thing. Because travel can connect people, break down the barriers between “us” and “them.” But travel can also build new walls. Perhaps this most beautiful pastime in the world isn’t as innocent as it once was. Perhaps it never was. And perhaps none of us can open a door without tearing it down, no matter how gently we knock. Do you think tourism is destroying Indonesia? I wouldn’t put it that harshly. Tourism certainly has an impact, both negative and very positive. And for me, on this trip, the positive aspects somehow outweighed the negative. What do you think? These days, travel behavior, as it has developed, is rightly viewed more critically than perhaps even 10 years ago. Hmm. And, um, rightly, people in Europe are taking to the streets against a form of overtourism. Yes. But I think that what might be true in Europe—you know, what overtourism does there and the negative effects it has on the local population—I don’t think that automatically applies to every other country in the world. Yes. I think tourism is a very complex issue. So, like almost every problem in this world, it’s very complex when you really delve into it. And I think it’s the same in Indonesia. We initially asked ourselves: Are we the problem? This generation of world travelers, who are often digital creators in some way. Are we exacerbating certain negative impacts that tourism has perhaps always had? Well, I don’t think so. Digital nomads usually stay in one place longer. They also usually get to know more people and the local culture, and have more time to share their knowledge with the locals . There’s much more exchange than if you’re only traveling for two weeks. In two weeks , I—well, not me, but people—go to a resort. We don’t do that, and neither do digital nomads. That’s why I don’t think we’re a problem. Sure, we contribute to certain things being lost, but certain things are also gained. So, what’s your take on it? There are all sorts of people. I think some Influencers or some digital nomads come to places mainly because it’s cheap. They earn European or Western money there. That means they get more out of their income, and then they just hang out with their Western bubble. Yeah, you know what I mean? And they hardly interact with the locals, but rather have this opportunistic mindset. So, I was talking about the best-case scenario. Yeah, sure. But that exists too. There’s this and that. So, it’s a fine line. You don’t have internet right now, and it’s nice to switch off, so to speak. You could say you’re just adapting here. But I’ll tell you quite honestly, the more tourists come here, the greater the demand for stable internet will be. Because these people have been living here for many, many years, and there’s still no internet. That means either the voice of the people isn’t being heard, or they simply do n’t have any need for it. And the question is, for example, if a resort is built here, will it adapt to the existing conditions? Or will it change things? And will these changes be good or bad? That’s a question the locals have to answer for themselves. Sometimes they’re not even asked. Yeah, you see what I mean? Most of the time they’re not asked; it just happens. Yeah, it’s a question of how much you, as a traveler, make demands, so to speak. Hmm. Or not. Yeah, you know, and whether these demands will initiate necessary developments that might also be desired by the local population, you know? Yeah. Through their white privilege existence, or whether, on the contrary, they’ll implement modernity without anyone asking for it. Except for us.

Was ist nur geworden aus der schönsten Nebensache der Welt – dem Reisen? Wann haben wir begonnen, Erlebnisse zu konsumieren wie Dinge? Warum fühlen sich immer mehr Orte an wie Bühnen – und Menschen wie Darsteller? Was ist so sehr aus den Fugen geraten, dass Einheimische auf die Straßen gehen, um gegen Besucher zu protestieren? Wie viel Tourismus ist gesund – und ab wann wird er zerstörerisch?

Mit diesen Fragen im Gepäck haben wir ein Land bereist, das so viel über die Tourismusindustrie unserer Zeit verrät wie kein anderes: Indonesien. Auf Bali, Lombok und Flores lernten wir Orte kennen, die unterschiedlicher nicht sein könnten. Wir sprachen mit Einwanderern und Einheimischen, mit Gewinnern und Verlierern. Und wir haben uns gefragt, was Reisen heute bedeutet. Ist der Zauber noch da? Oder ist er längst verkauft worden, zusammen mit den Paradiesen dieser Welt?

Damit viel Spaß mit unserer letzten Reportage aus Fernost. Was euch erwartet? Authentische Eindrücke und persönliche Einblicke. Eine Reisedoku fernab glatt gebügelter Travel Vlogs.

Wie immer freuen wir uns auf einen Austausch in den Kommentaren – und danken euch von Herzen für eure Unterstützung!

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