America Makeover

i travel a great deal and wont visit the US (at present) for the reasons mentioned. I think it it naive to say that polotics and travel dont need to mix, for me they come as a package. For me to travel to the US would mean I support the policies of its government, and that coudltn be further from the truth.

Current's offices in Los Angeles are clustered in a part of Hollywood best known to locals as the trans-gender street hustler capital of L.A. County. But a few blocks north, throngs of tourists trudge along Hollywood Boulevard, buying t-shirts or whatever. That particular stretch of road might not be what most L.A. residents love best about their region, but tourism is an important part of the economy here, so, welcome! But the numbers are down, and as Adam as written on this page, why they are down is part of a larger decline that he's been tracking around the globe. Growing worldwide antipathy to the U.S. government is one of the forces that Americans will have to deal with in coming years. However, it's one thing to listen to Egyptians in Cairo who are angry about the Iraq War. It's more of a challenge to your self-image as an American to think that everyone around the world might not be desperately eager to come here any longer--Hey! We're friendly folks! It's a great country to visit! Along with their unique film making style, Max and Jason's credentials as totally friendly Americans made them the perfect ones for Tracey and I to follow with our cameras on the trail of the missing tourists.

Not too long after Mitch, Tracey and I traveled to Egypt and heard various perspectives and perceptions of the U.S., Americans and the adminstration, Mitch and Tracey decided to drive half a mile north of our office to look into the domestic manifestation of those opinions from abroad.

Foreigners backpacking through America.... this is a fun pod, but also kinda sobering... people aren't coming to America to visit in the ways they visit the rest of the world... just what exactly that says about our image abroad is quite interesting... see what you think!