In the mid-nineteenth century, as new routes opened up, a new generation of travellers embarked on excursions to India, China and Japan. Globetrotters – leisure tourists with a keen interest in experiencing authentic culture – flocked to the East, casting aside preconceptions and gravitating towards what they hoped to be the unchanged landscapes and traditions of Eastern cultures. The relics of their travels – the food they consumed and the souvenirs they brought back – allowed globetrotters to distinguish themselves from common tourists. They proudly returned with accounts that presented a global East, challenging public assumptions about the cultures they had visited and charting a journey of self-transformation through travel.