At the end of the previous chapter an important question was raised, concerning the pursuit of the real, or rather, the pursuit of what is perceived and deemed to be the real. This chapter examines whether the pursuit of the real is the central question raised by the traveller. In other words, does the traveller, in an act of self-definition against the tourist, pursue what is claimed to be the real?

Jan Morris' claims for the traveller combine the superiority of the outsider with the necessity of writing first and foremost for herself. Such a claim serves to position the pursuit, encounter and observation of the real as that which can only be truly undertaken by modern, atomized individuals. Such individuals will locate themselves as outsiders not only to where they venture, but also, more implicitly, as outsiders to their home location. Such dispositioning occurs as part of the self-reflexivity that is one of the central, base standards of modernity and the modern person (as individual). Self-reflexivity is here directed not only against the new context viewed by the traveller, but also against the home society that forced the move away towards the new, “other other.”

This move can be seen as part of the secularization of modernity and identity. Traditionally the individual's identity was located in relation(ship) to the other who is God. In this case, we could say that the relationship was traditionally perceived as a vertical one (where God is traditionally located in the heavens).