Are you a tourist or a traveller? Will you see the sights, lay on the beach or visit a world famous museum? Or are you after something different? Another culture, a different outlook on life or just want to roam around and see what you can see? Maybe a little of both?
After lots of googling and checking with our friends and family, we have discovered a few observations that separate a tourist and a traveler. Which one are you?
A TOURIST: OBSERVES the sights
A TRAVELLER: IMMERSES themselves within a culture
A TOURIST: Brings PRECONCEIVED stereotypes with them
A TRAVELLER: Approaches with an OPEN MIND
A TOURIST: Makes COMPARISONS to their own country
A TRAVELLER: Embraces and respects the DIFFERENCES
A TOURIST: Will SEE & DO what’s expected
A TRAVELLER: EXPERIENCES & LEARNS from the unique
A TOURIST: STANDS OUT from crowds
A TRAVELLER: BLENDS IN and makes new friends
A TOURIST: Collects interesting SOUVENIRS
A TRAVELLER: Collects lifetime MEMORIES
What if you turned this all around and went in for a new holiday trend as a TRAVELLER. It may sound the same, but trust me, it’s not. As a TRAVELLER it’s so much more than “just” a holiday. Try this – rather than going off to the most popular destination where everyone is heading to, choose somewhere a little different, a bit more exotic and off the beaten track. Start small… instead of eating in a hotel, go forth into the streets to try local specialities – whatever they are. Succulent & spicy chicken skewers from a street vendor in Vietnam. Garlic snails and fresh-made sugar crepes in France. Deep fried spiders in Thailand (only for the VERY brave amongst us). Smokey chestnuts from the fire in London. Snake or poke or smoked fish… whatever it is the locals are eating, go on give it a go.
Yes, there are still amazing sights to see wherever you may be, but we say take a few days out to relax, to meet the locals, or to fully explore a home, village, town, city with all of its temples, palaces, museums, landscapes and art galleries. Ask yourself this… is this an “everyone does this” moment? Or a unique, once-in-a-lifetime moment. Or an “everyone has this photo” or even “everyone has this memory”. It’s all about perspective, how you see the world, how you choose to be… and we all know that there’s so much more of the world we want/need/should see, hear, smell and totally, fully immerse, all in, 100%experience.
What if you really went Travelling!
Interacting with the local people, immersing yourself in their unique cultures, fully experiencing a whole new way of life and more. Travelling the world is all about sharing a meal with someone of another faith and respecting to their opinions. Helping to dig a well or build a schoolhouse or becoming part of a community – even if only for a short while. Enjoying the differences and experiences that travel brings, and making lifetime friends along the way. Travelling is about looking for the unique and interesting within our world and making that an integral, intrinsic part of ourselves. Travelling is about sharing the world around us, and… maybe more importantly… it’s about sharing ourselves with the world.
Inspired to travel?
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