Travel and Migration. By Harold Armitage. My wife has an all-consuming interest in parrots which includes visits to (usually third world) countries where they originate. This involves going to the more remote places and staying in some unusual accommodation. All made possible with travel guides such as the “Lonely Planet”. The expensive bit is getting to these countries. Once there, everything is cheap. Accommodation, £2-£3/night. Meals, £1. We prefer family “hotels” and even private houses. There’s lots of parrots in South America, our favoured destination. There’s lots of extreme poverty too. Once there, interaction with the locals is unavoidable. Always remember, tourists invariably ultimately destroy that which they’ve come to see. It’s fine to stay in these remote places for a few days but permanently live there? Never! (Heat, cold, humidity, filth, disease security.) If you are English and want to learn a language there’s a problem; which language? If you’re foreign and want to learn a language, no problem, it’s English. The disparate foreigners often have to communicate between themselves in English. This means that if you’re English, the locals want to talk to you, even in the most remote places, both to improve their English and to satisfy their innate curiosity about you and where you come from. They want to know about where you come from, your house and your lifestyle. In short, your economic circumstance. One can often detect an air of incredulity. eg, You have not one car but two. All your neighbours have several cars. Even OAPs!!! (But there you are with all your bling, living proof!) At one time, all they had was word of mouth and maybe a few pix, if you happen to have any with you. Things have truly changed with spreading technology. The local bar might well have TV or even an internet connection (to lure in the drinkers), all this can be verified. This leads to dissatisfaction with their lot in life. Result, many remote villages are de-populated. The young have departed to local towns and cities where they imagine the streets are “paved with gold”. As they have few skills and little education, they usually end up in trouble/crime. Meanwhile back home, the aged try to till the fields and scrape a living in their traditional fashion. At tourist “hot spots” the young of both sexes gather, to improve their English and, in the case of the young and attractive, to entrap a tourist of the opposite sex who will take them to nirvana. (UK, USA, Australia, it matters not.) Women are routinely maltreated in third world countries, doing most of the drudgery for little money and no say about anything. In some places, they are still bought and sold. If you are young, pretty and speak English, why not find a foreigner who will treat you like a princess? In one market I was offered a pretty, well educated, English speaking girl for the equivalent of £800. (Wife did not approve, so, no deal!) In most third world countries, democracy is a nebulous thing. There is virtually no middle class, you are rich or you are poor. The government exists to maintain the status quo. Socialism is considered by the rich to be a dangerous thing to be suppressed at all costs including extreme violence. The point of this diatribe? Herein lies the main reason for the floods of migrants in many parts of the world from the poor places to the rich. The information age has revealed to them just how much they are missing out. The poorest can’t afford to travel but they may club together to finance one adventurous individual who is then supposed to send back money or pave the way for others. A dubious alternative these days is they borrow money from people traffickers which must be paid back when they arrive at their destination. Family left behind become hostages. Interesting times ahead!