Monday, May 19, 2014

Why I hate the Tourist vs Traveler Debate




I was browsing photos on Instagram and there's this one post that ticked me off so much that it deserves all my thoughts be put in one blog. I dare not confront the person behind it for I clearly know the gravity of the air volume this person has in his/her head. (sorry, I wouldn't also specify if that person's a girl or boy.)

Now the pondering question gets me: How does one truly define a tourist and/or a traveler? 

Say, if were both in one place and you see me in my usual shutter happy mode, you call me a tourist; then you, who was busily observing whats around define yourself a traveler? Or, if I had a full list of places to go, I'm a tourist while you, the self-defined traveler wanders around without any destination in mind? Mind you, these samples were just derived from the most common scenarios where someone could tell which one which. Whatever actually.

I just started to think that it's all about perspective and a matter of choice. I hate that debate of definitions and comparisons for both worlds. I hate how we unchalantly judge someone's preference. It's like putting a label on how a person goes places. We were all born differently, so why judge how someone sees the world? 

It doesn't matter if you choose to see the world as a tourist or seek adventures as a traveler. We are just walking under the same sky, seeing the same world, just in different perspective --and that's something everyone should respect at all costs.

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