Together with the active process of globalization, the topic of tourism and tourist experience has become especially relevant. Whilst previous attempts to investigate the experience of a tourist focused primary on the tourist/Other dichotomy, the perception of a host culture as ‘primitive’ culture, and on the notion of space as an objective concept that does not depend on cultural definition and social construction, today new approaches of understanding tourism are more complex (Wearing, Stevenson & Young, 2012). Specifically, the focus has shifted to the unique formation of ‘self’ of a traveler in the process of acquiring new experiences. The relatively recent changes in tourism brought about the respective changes in the English vocabulary. Specifically, given the new demand, words related to traveling also ‘traveled’ to English and have been quickly adopted by English speakers.
One example of this phenomenon is the word ‘fernweh’. ‘Fernweh’, regardless of being introduced into English relatively recently, has already become quite popular among tourists and population at large. The word originates from German words ‘fern’, which means ‘distant’, and ‘wehe’, which means drift. In other word, the term refers to the feeling of longing for distant places and traveling, and can be used as an antonym for the word ‘homesick’ (Fun with Words, 1998). It represents the desire to travel and the nostalgy that a former traveler experiences when remembering their journeys. A similar word that ‘traveled’ from German to English is ‘wanderlust’. ‘Wanderlust’ refers to a strong and impulsive desire to travel the word. The word ‘wandern’ in German means ‘to wander’, whilst ‘lust’ refers to desire. It is important to note that although the two words might seem identical, they have different tinges of meaning. Specifically, the word ‘fernweh’ has the embedded notion of nostalgy and sadness, while ‘wanderlust’ only indicates desire. Another example of a word that also relates to traveling and was adopted by English only in 1960s is ‘petrichor’. This word is used to describe the smell that typically accompanies rain after the long period of dry weather, especially in the dry climate of Africa. As to the origin of this word, it presents a mixture of the suffix ‘petro’, which means ‘relating to rocks’, and ichor.
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It is important to note that the above-mentioned words, regardless of being used foremost by active travelers, are the representation of the respective cultural themes. Specifically, they represent the increased popularity of traveling and demonstrate the importance of developing the respective vocabulary. Although some of the words mentioned above, including ‘fernweh’ and ‘wanderlust’, are not new to German and trace back to Old High German, they have been adopted by English speakers relatively recently, given the new demand. A traveler today is perceived as an interacting choraster who encounters new spaces and identities in order to extend their everyday life experience and expand their understanding of cultures. Traveling has become a new mechanism of developing one’s personality and language starts to reflect these new experiences of travelers in the era of globalization.
In conclusion, together with the active process of globalization, the topic of tourism and tourist experience has become especially relevant. Today tourism business has shifted its focus to the unique formation of ‘self’ of a traveler in the process of acquiring new experiences. Given the new demand, words related to traveling, such as ‘fernweh’, ‘wanderlust’, or ‘petrichor’, also ‘traveled’ to English and have been quickly adopted by English speakers. These words indicate new cultural themes and cultural phenomena, such as the fact that traveling has become more popular in the era of globalization and gives new experiences to travelers.
- Chengjun, W., & Junhong, M. (2015). Localization, Globalization, and Traveling Chinese Culture. Clcweb: Comparative Literature & Culture: A Wwweb Journal, 17(1), 2-7.
- Fun with words. (1998). Calliope, 9(1), 44.
- Wearing, Stevenson, and Young (2012). Tourist Cultures: Identify, Place and the Traveller. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
