“Are you a tourist?” There is no better question to wake the wrath of travelers faster than that. We are no tourists, thank you very much! We are travelers, adventurers, wandering free spirits, exploring the sights and people the world has to offer. So much more following in the footsteps of Magarete Mead than in search of the biggest Sangria bucket on Mallorca. Whatever you do, don’t call me a tourist, because I become more local than the locals quicker than it takes you to get up the Eiffel Tower. The world is not only my oyster, but my home. Needless to say I don’t know homesickness only wanderlust and far-sickness. Or so I would like to think…
I recently did a Friends re-run marathon and watched the one episode where Monica and Chandler have to take a small-town girl from Ohio sightseeing in New York. Especially the idea of going up the Empire State Building irks Chandler, because isn’t it more like cattle being driven from one point to another? So he deems it perfectly acceptable to utter an occasional moo at others. However after the day, he returns covered in NYC memorabilia and in love with the Empire State Building to which Monica just points out how much nicer things are if you are part of the excited crowd and not the grumpy person who moos.
Sometimes we travelers like to moo at tourists. We frown upon the best sights, the top tens, and the people who flock them. We ditch a restaurant with a beautiful view and great food for a dingy alleyway hole, because we know that the dingy alleyway holes are always more authentic, and more authentic is always better. We take the occasional Delhi belly for it gladly as long as we can say we had an authentic experience. We admired Leonardo di Caprio sense of adventure in The Beach yet snub the very same beach in reality these days, because others liked him too and wanted to follow him into an unknown paradise and boom! – a tourist attraction was born. Nothing lost or hidden anymore about Koh Phi Phi and so we have moved on to find new paradises that are still untouched.
I too am looking for new paradises frequently and so, I prefer to think of myself as a traveler rather than a tourist. Tourist screams Reisegruppe Sauerland (for the non-Germans: this is a phrase for a particular bad kind of group tour, usually lead by an annoying person with a big umbrella so nobody gets lost), Wiener Schnitzel in Asia, and souvenir shops with snow globes of the Taj Mahal (I just made that up, I have no idea if they make snow globes of the Taj Mahal, but if they do I’d want one – in an ironic sense of course!)
But here is a thought – is something immediately better because it is non-touristy and off the beaten path? And mind you, that phrase is quite a beat itself, is it not?! Is there not a reason why the most crowded tourist attractions are that crowded? The views from the Empire State Building are unsurpassed and I think they are worth the crowded elevator rides and insane lines. While I did think the Mona Lisa is overrated, I would have never known for sure without seeing it myself and on the other hand Michelangelo’s David literally brought me to my knees I was so in awe.
Tourist attractions became that for a reason, just as it happened with Koh Phi Phi, as they have something attractive to offer. And whether you care to stick a label on yourself and be called a tourist or not, some may just attract you too. But of course with everything in life different people like different things. Central Park is as much a tourist attraction as Machu Picchu, the Golden Gate Bridge or Rene Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen. Tourist attractions come in all shapes and sizes and while not all might be for you, neither is every thrill seeking experience or off-the-beaten-track insider tip. Just as one shouldn’t follow every fashion trend, one doesn’t need to see every tourist attraction, but maybe it is time that we stop and check what we would actually like to see when going on a trip without judging before we have even gone?
Another notion that always strikes me as a bit odd is that some seem to think that real travel needs to be challenging in order to be rewarding. My new travel heroine Lisa Lindblad says rightly that in this day and age very few travels are still truly challenging. The times of James Cook and Roald Amundsen when traveling entailed hardship, danger, and unknown shores are long gone. Very few undiscovered places remain hidden today, and I dare say that any place that offers some wifi and a chicken bus doesn’t offer the same challenges that those explorers had to face.
So, I think we need to look at our very own definition of today’s world before we cast the first stone towards those not challenging themselves enough when it comes to travel. And let’s not forget the obvious: we all have our own definition of comfort zone, certain things that come easy to some, make others hyperventilate. If you have never left home it might be enough newness to eat some Thai food at a fancy five-star resort to get your kicks on instead of trying the dingiest street food kitchen. And even if it ain’t a challenge – who declared travel has to be? I declare that as soon as you leave home and your comfort zone just a little, positive effects of travel set in: you will see new things, experience new things, and hopefully broaden your horizon just a bit in whichever way. Who am I to judge whether that happens in a remote village of Mongolia or overlooking the skyline of Singapore, Singapore Sling in hand? Personally I like the idea of both.
Mind you, being both seems to be an impossible feat; overhearing conversations of some travelers you can get the feeling that we are two different species entirely, tourists and travelers, with nothing in common and no lines ever being crossed. Obviously travelers are superior to the tourists in every way that matters, that’s the group you want to belong to. Tourists are not taken very seriously, they are no competitors, because how could they be deemed worthy to compete in the games of who saw the fewest people, got the most foreign disease, and got by with the smallest amount of money? These games are for real travelers only. Mind you that is a kind of snobbery I really dislike and it seems to come from one camp only. I have yet to hear a tourist complain when a traveler tells tales; they are usually happy to listen, get inspired, and ultimately decide for themselves if they are content with their all-inclusive resort or may want to venture a little further down the rabbit hole.
I personally want it all. I want to see the sights and find a lonely beach, have my cake at table with white linen and eat it too while sitting on a plastic stool on the road side. I want to speak to people, locals and foreign, and be alone with my thoughts. I will take a hop on/hop off bus and a chicken bus, I want travel with a group and I want travel on my own however my mood strikes me. I will be fancy with my cashmere blanket on the plane and rough it up if this means I get to hang out with elephants. I declare myself a traveler and a tourist and you can judge me if you dare!
But maybe don’t. Instead of judging each others’ decision on how we travel, isn’t it time to applaud anyone who goes out into the world in whichever way they seem fit and can afford? Isn’t it time to take a look at how we travel, to make sure it is responsible, sustainable, and respectful towards cultures, nature, and other people? Isn’t time to blur the lines and become one species again? Just a species of humans that likes to go out into the world, cautiously or bravely, in flip flops or in Prada heels, venture near and far with a fresh sea breeze in our hair to find new horizons whatever that may mean for us.
All photos by Annika & Kathi
This post was written by Annika Ziehen who was a Travelette until 2019. Originally from Germany, Annika has lived in New York and Cape Town and now travels the world full time. She considers herself a very hungry mermaid and writes about her adventures, scuba diving and food on her blog The Midnight Blue Elephant. You can also find her on Instagram here!
Hey Annika,
Me too I think some travellers are being so snobbish, sometimes they do more harm searching for that undiscouverd spot then tourists do who are staying in their all inclusive resort. Sometimes I feel ashame and prefer people calling me a tourist. (alltough they will often tell me I'm a special kind of tourist haha)
I think that's quite rude, and you're generalising unfairly. I am a tourist, but only because I don't have the means to be a traveller. I am a traveller in my heart though, because I WANT to do all those things.
I don't know, maybe I just got the wrong idea from the (otherwise very cool) article.
But I'm a bit sad that I get looked down on just because someone THINKS they're better than I am, because of the kind of 'adventure' I'm on.
Anyway. Ciao.
Although having said all that, I don't normally do the touristy things. I normally like to go off the beaten track, albeit not to unexplored places. So maybe we're on the same page after all. :)
Thanks Annika, I couldn't agree more with your words.
After a short time of reading travel blogs I soon got tired of the contempt with which some self-proclaimed "travellers" wrote about "tourists". I am a firm believer that people should travel and visit what attracts their own interests regardless the tags. As the greeks said, nobody steps in the same river twice, and even the most visited place in the world will offer a different experience to different people -or even to the same person in a different time-.
Let's just forget about the tags and live the world ;)
SuPer awesome post and I couldn't agree more. Both ways of travel have their perks. For example, I just went to koh phi phi with 5,000 other tourists and then the next day a bike trip around koh Yao noi island where almost no tourists exist. Both were special in their own way. Plus, my roughing it backpack days are fast becoming a thing of the past as a great experience but I'm loving the comforts I can afford now!
Great post, Annika! I believe that people slap on labels on themselves or on each other so that they could pass judgments easily and assume the holier-than-thou status. Who's to say what a tourist experiences in his tour group isn't as awesome as someone roughing it on Komodo islands? How we travel is always a personal experience and I say, everyone should find out their own ways and preferences.
Yesss i couldn't agree more with this article! During traveling (or touristing?) Half of the times i'd meet someone i'd get sick of them within the hour because of all the bragging they did about all the 'super special anti tourist stuff' they did. Who cares? Just do whatever you feel like and give others that same freedom! Im emberrassed to say that i had this little internal struggle as well- is it cool enough to climb the eiffeltower or hop on a tour bus?- but as soon as i stopped caring and behaved like a traveltourist instead of just one of the two options, my travels became much more fun! Nicely written article annika!
Yay! Table Mountain in the background. My home stomping ground! :)
Amen! :) I do not consider myself to be either and at the same time I'm both. It's pretty much useless to use labels,because all travellers are tourists in principle :) everyone's style of travel is different and what really matters is as you say - if they travel with respect and responsibility towards their destination - may it be a Mongolian steppe or New York
I couldn't agree more Annika! As I read this, I was reminded of the scene from The Inbetweeners 2 movie, where the boys are classified as "tourists" at the "travellers" backpackers in Byron Bay, not the best in film making, but I think they nailed it on the head. I try to express on my blog that travel is all about finding balance, challenging yourself, but rewarding yourself as well (I guess that can be applied to life as well)!
Fantastic post
Once again a lovely read. Thank you :)
I recently wrote a really similar post about the Traveller vs. Tourist debate (and why it needs to stop) - you can check it out here http://bit.ly/1zPbM1N
I'm so happy I'm not the only one who feels this way!
I have had the same discussion with many a traveller and tourist. In the end I decided I don;t care what label you wish to use. We are all travellers through life, we all journey differently, as we do for holidays and travel lives. Not everyone wants to or can travel for long periods. For some they find group travel to be such a wonderful way to see new things and meet new people. They love how they are taken to the best there is to see and learn so much . Good on them. I have met the self titled traveller who moves from one cheap location to the next, cheap so they can drink lots of beer and lay for hours in the sun…temple…what temple. I loved reading your story as it took me back to sitting on plastic chairs, in night markets, with strangers, eating fiery soups, discussing travellers V tourists, and realising that we are all really, just voyeurs.
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