Note: Check out #ttot (Travel Talk on Twitter) to see what other people are saying about the topic of the week.
Welcome to week two of Gaba Travel’s blog posts focused on the weekly Travel Talk on Twitter topic. This week we are focusing on the differences and similarities between tourism and travel.
Conventional wisdom holds that tourists and travelers have distinct ways of exploring the world – with tourists focused on relaxing and seeing famous sites, and travelers emphasizing getting off the beaten path. The discussion over this distinction is especially heated online, where a quick Google search for ‘tourist vs traveler’ comes up with almost 1 million web page results. The topic has been covered by popular media (CNN, The Huffington Post, USA Today), but is particularly dominated by bloggers and other casual internet users.
Image Source: Wikipedia
A interesting point of the debate is its tendency to belittle tourism. Tourists are portrayed as being oblivious to local culture, only interested in seeing famous sites, and likely to complain more than travelers. Plenty of websites offer suggestions on how to be a traveler, rather than a tourist, or even how not to be a tourist.
Despite all of the talk about the topic, the dictionary definitions of ‘tourist’ and ‘traveler” aren’t too different from each other:
Tourist: a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure
Traveller: one who travels or has traveled, as to distant places
Bloggers and media outlets have picked up on the similar definitions, and on the fact that portraying a group of explorers so negatively is simply unfair. On The Traveling Philosopher blog, writer Spencer Spellman notes that “What’s important is not where you go, how many places you go, or how you experience it. What’s important is that you go.”
The idea behind his thinking is that travel, no matter what it is called by others, is an opportunity to see a new place. Whether that is the Eiffel Tower and Louvre in Paris or something a little off the beaten path, everyone’s travel plans are exciting and valuable in their own way. As the Roman philosopher Seneca said, “travel and change of pace impart vigor to the mind.” Regardless of where, how or when you go, and what people call it, travel the way the makes you happiest.
Image Source: Pixabay
Want to weigh in on the debate? Share your opinion in the comments below. Contact Gaba Travel for help planning your next trip!
Sources: Huffington Post, Merriam Webster, The Traveling Philosopher, CNN Travel, USA Today Travel Tips, Vagabondish, Wikihow
