Anthony Bourdain exhorts people to be a traveler not a tourist; meaning don’t be a sheep being lead around by what others say are the sites to see and things to do—instead, make your own journey. We mentioned Gatlinburg, TN in an earlier post. Such a place is for tourists who want to have their travel experience prepackaged and made available for them with a minimum of thought and effort on their part. The idea of tourism is to follow the crowds and do what they are doing; after all, is that not what one should do? Nearly every traveling destination has two layers. It is easy to find the top layer, the superficial one for the tourists. This is the lowest common dominator level encouraging people to aspire to mediocrity; a homogenized, prepackaged morass of restaurants, souvenir shops, faux museums, and other claptrap designed to separate a dumb tourist from their money. Every derisive meaning of the words “tourist” and “tourist trap” is appropriate.
The tourist experience is not an authentic experience. If you want to experience a place, you have to move past or around the tourist façade into where the locals are. Avoid “tourist guides” or pamphlet racks. Ask around as to where the locals go, shop, and eat, or just start walking around and explore. That’s where you will find an authentic experience of the place you are visiting. And isn’t that why you traveled all that way? Did you travel all of those miles just to eat at a TGI McFunsters (phrase copyrighted Anthony Bourdain) or Taco Bell? Get off the main streets and walk around the side streets to see more of how the locals live.
Another thing you may want to avoid are tours. Many tourist destinations, especially big cities have tours. If you are pressed for time or have difficulties getting around they may be a good option for you, but you can see so much more if you are out and about on your own. We have seen so many things that aren’t within sight of the tour busses. Plus, going on the tour means giving up control of your time. Not on the tour you can see the sights at your own pace and if you see something over there that interests you, you can go over and see it.
Ultimately it is a question of who controls your vacation. You are welcome to give your vacation over to the control of a tour guide or corporate tourism but you have so many more possibilities if you retain control yourself. The philosopher Antonio Machado said, “Traveler, there is no path. Paths are made by walking.” Make your own path. Be a traveler not a tourist.
