Consider wherever home is for you. It could be the place you grew up, the place you live now, or whatever place you feel you can call yourself a local in. It can also be at whatever scale you wish: a country, a province or state, a city, or even a neighborhood. Using either your own personal photographs or images from the Internet, select a few pictures to put in your journal that illustrate how you would choose to represent your home to people not from there. What sort of images do you feel best capture this place? Now think about how your home is represented for tourism (or how it would likely be represented for tourism if it is not currently a tourist destination). Discuss similarities (if applicable) and differences (if applicable) between how you would choose to represent your home and how it is (or would likely be) represented for tourism.
My home is the river. The river is the place where I’ve grown up, had my worst times, had my best times and spent the majority of my summers. I believe the river is the best place to center oneself and it should be more accessible in the minds of the public. In my representation I chose photos with others as the community that is built around rivers encompasses most of my life now. I believe that the experiences had on and beside these waterways have created the strongest friendships. I feel that the primary purpose of the river is reflection, the river makes one feel small while forcing them to be powerful.
I think much of the tourism in BC represents the river as a high intensity activity used for thrills or as a place to experience unique nature. I think the river is so much more than this. Without the personal development/reflection aspect of the river, people can not feel as if they have grown and call this home. I think this one side tourism view of the river inhibits true connection. This summer when I introduced myself as a river guide, most people’s reaction was to explain how dangerous was. I feel that this is diminutive and inhibits the potential tourist for experiencing the river the amazing restorative place it is. I think the beauty of the river is the only similarity the tourism industry shares with my perception of my home.