I Live Where You Vacation
Photography by Pallas Hayes
Growing up on The Big Island of Hawai’i, it's easy to feel like I’m on a neverending vacation. Going to the beach after school, visiting the volcano every year, and hearing a ukulele play everywhere I go have all become normal to me.
Many of the attractions and activities in Hawai’i are geared toward tourists. Because of this, there is little to satisfy the needs of residents. Considering that tourism makes up 21 percent of the economy in Hawai’i and is the largest supplier of jobs, it makes sense that activities in Hawai’i are geared toward tourists. However, this does not justify the negative impacts it has on residents. I always found it an interesting concept that I live where most people vacation, and this seemed to really shift the way I grew up and the way I interacted with my hometown.
There are many issues that arise when tourism is the main focus of the place you call home, things that those who come and go don’t have to deal with. The first is the feeling of alienation and the lack of belonging. Hawai’i is small; I find myself playing the “how many people can I recognize at Target” game every time I go. Yet, there is also a constant sense of having people around you that don’t seem to belong there. Sometimes, it feels like when your mom makes you give up your room for a family friend who is coming to visit for a couple of weeks. Business of creative enterprises major Laura Phillips ‘22 lives right next to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Philips experiences a variety of tourists in her hometown but feels differently about how this affects her sense of belonging. “I didn't really feel alienated or that I didn't belong because I don't think there was a culture that [tourists] were trying to stomp on. In other locations that are tourist destinations, I think that happens often and is unfair. As much as you want people to see the beauties of the world, you have to be more careful about it.”
Living in a place that people don’t tend to spend too long in makes everything feel slightly temporary. This modifies how young people, in particular, interact with their space. At times it can feel like your hometown is betraying you by catering only to these temporary people while you have been there all along. This is directly related to what things are accessible to you and what activities you partake in growing up. People come to experience certain things, and those things are usually unique and distinctive to that location.
That being said, I don’t find myself going out of my way to do touristy things. In fact, I try to avoid the commotion of certain beaches and parks simply because it feels like it was not made for me. This in itself is sad because many of those tourist attractions are popular for a reason; they are crystal clear beaches and historic landmarks that make Hawai’i what it is. Yet the ones who get to enjoy and experience these spaces don’t know much about the context and haven’t learned about them growing up. This also drastically limits what there is left to do for residents since there is so much attention on these tourist attractions. Things like hangout spots for young people and activities to do on the weekend seem to go unnoticed and unattended.
We are all tourists at one point in our lives. So what can we do to avoid alienating the residents of the place we are visiting? Visual and media arts major Elizabeth Apple ‘22 was a tourist on the island of Maui this summer. “As a tourist going to other places, you want to be respectful. A way to be respectful is not to expect foreign places to cater to your niche needs,” says Apple.
As tourists, we should acknowledge the historical and cultural value of the place we are engaging with and be cautious of how we interact with these spaces. We must also break the association cycle; correlating a specific life or experience to someone because of where they come from is dangerous. Philips says, “They think they know your experience growing up somewhere, but only you know your experience growing up somewhere.”