I don’t understand why people who have extra money to afford overseas travel, feel obliged to become tourists. There is something blazingly irksome when travel becomes a status symbol. People who travel without any love, desire, passion or preparation for the journey are simply blind.
A tourist will pick the most popular, fashionable destinations, book a tour, be guided around without knowing where he’s been or where he’s going, complain about the food and constantly mention how things are so much better at home. A tourist will take hundreds of random photos of things he will never recall, buy too many souvenirs, pay excess luggage and return home with an experience that has meant nothing to him.
A traveller will meticulously plan out a trip, track down long lost family, back pack, stay in youth hostels, travel alone or in a small group of friends or family, visit places they have read about in books, pour through museums. A traveller will try out and hunt down the local language and cuisine, take pictures of the people he meets, attend local festivals and connect to his destination so as to have a meaningful journey that will remain in his memory forever.
Please, try to be a traveller.
Unwilling Expat
