In Defense of Tourists

Maya Bay in Thailand is filled with tourists — and that’s fine with this traveling duo. (Photo: Alesha Bradford)

By Jarryd Salem and Alesha Bradford

“Why do tourists hate other tourists?”

It was a pretty straightforward question from a middle-aged Burmese man my travel partner, Alesha, and I met at a small pagoda in Bagan, Myanmar. We piqued his curiosity when we asked him which temple wouldn’t have a lot of foreigners around for sunset. To him, our desire to avoid other people seemed crazy. What’s crazier is that when I tried to think of an honest, decent way to explain our mindset, I struggled to come up with a logical answer.

Is it because tourists ruin culture? Is it because tourists don’t show respect? Is it because tourism drives up prices? Is it because tourists wear Hawaiian shirts? When I still couldn’t answer the question, I realized why: It seems hypocritical to say that I want to avoid tourists because I am actually a tourist myself.

What’s the difference between travelers and tourists?

Alesha and I are deeply rooted in the backpacking world, in which, unfortunately, there is a big backlash against “tourists.” Backpackers can be quite egocentric, and many actually believe that one person’s method of traveling can be less worthwhile than others. That if your pack is bigger than someone else’s, you’ve got it all wrong, and if you stay in a hotel rather than on a local’s floor, you missed out on seeing the “real” country. These egocentric people believe that if you are visiting a place for pleasure, you are a tourist, but if you are traveling often, and just to travel, then you are a traveler.

If you ask me, the whole “traveler vs. tourist” debate is BS. They are one and the same.

What makes someone a better traveler than someone else? And why is it a competition anyway? A “proper” traveler will tell you that he or she is different because he immerses himself in the culture, eats the local food, and catches public transportation. But is a tourist someone who doesn’t do these things? Do experiences not count if you didn’t hitchhike through a war zone to get to them? Is your Vietnamese noodle dish less delicious because you paid $10 for it instead of the $0.50 someone else paid? Does sleeping on the dirt floor of a Namibian family’s mud shack make you more extreme than the humble traveler who paid for a comfortable private room?

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We had the beach to ourselves in Vietnam, but going somewhere so remote isn’t for everyone. (Photo: Alesha Bradford)

Travel means different things to different people. For some, the idea of a 10-day all-inclusive vacation is a dream come true. And you know what? Great. That is awesome. Good for them for getting out there and doing what they want to do. For others, travel is life, and that’s great, too. I happen to belong to the second group, but that doesn’t mean I think for one split second that I am doing things the “right” way.

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The fact that there were thousands of tourists at Angor Wat didn’t make this sunrise any less beautiful. (Photo: Alesha Bradford)

The avoidance trap

Many people travel with a deeply rooted desire to get off the beaten path, to explore places that are not seen as often. It’s why we take detours down little-known back roads, why we go trekking to isolated regions. But here’s the important part: When we visit an attraction or destination that is known for being a touristy hotspot, we cannot become jaded.

Tourist attractions are popular for a reason. If you decide to avoid the Pyramids of Egypt because you don’t like stones piled on top of each other, that is your own personal inclination. But if you skip them because you fear there will be too many people there, you may be looking too far into the situation. To me, it’s ironic to travel to a tourist destination and then complain that there are too many tourists there.

Tourism infrastructure has been built to make it easier for us to get around. If you want to avoid tourists, go to places where that infrastructure does not exist. Ride your bike across Siberia. Go camping in the Darien Gap. Go to Central Africa. But if you make the choice to visit a place that has all of the things set up to make your traveling life easier, then you have to accept that you will see other people. It’s that simple.

Related: The Truth About ‘Tourist Apartheid’ in Cuba

Going down the road less traveled in Southeast Asia. (Photo: Alesha Bradford)

I met someone who hated the Taj Mahal because it was packed with people. Did he really think it wouldn’t be? It is the Taj Mahal. Did he believe that he deserved to have one of the wonders of the world all to himself? The bigger point: It shouldn’t matter that there are tourists there. We are all sharing this beautiful world together. We are all exploring incredible locations together.

Alesha and her motorcycle on one of the back roads that we took in Vietnam. We went five days without seeing another foreigner. Is that really what travel should be about? (Photo: Jarryd Salem)

One of my good friends reminded me recently that all need to keep the “one love” policy in mind when we travel: one world, one people, one love. We are lucky enough to be able to globetrot in the first place, so we should not be upset when other people take the opportunity to do the same. The important thing is that people are traveling in the first place. It doesn’t matter how long you travel for, or where you go — the fact that you’re out there seeing the world is fact enough.

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