While many of us use the words “tourist” and “Traveller” in the same context, there is a vast difference between the two. Which exactly are you? Tourists are typical people who can be spotted clicking selfies in front of the pyramid or the Taj Mahal while a traveller will be taking pictures of it. It isn’t that you can’t be both where you can enjoy a trip with family as a tourist and then savor the culture of a place as a traveller the next. If you own a selfie stick and love staying in posh hotels, then you most probably are a tourist.
What sets a traveller apart is the definition of the experience. While tourists are busy enjoying themselves in a new location, the traveller enjoys the location itself, the sights and sounds of streets, marketplaces and local areas. A traveller soaks in the culture and history of a place hiking to inaccessible areas and sleeping in an atmosphere that gives one the ethnic experience. Travellers discover and explore. These 12 images to define the difference between a traveller and a tourist is enlightening and humorously interesting too.
A tourist doesn’t want to waste time getting to a location. It will be either by a cab or tourist taxi or simply follow the street signs; a traveller of course would take the road less travelled, getting adventurous in the bargain and taking an unknown path just to see where it leads you too.
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A tourist as mentioned will be seen taking selfies in almost every place they go. Selfies with family, with friends with the camel near the pyramids, with locales and just about everything that fits in a cellphone camera frame. A traveller will take aesthetic shots of a monument, scenery, interesting sights and sounds, the street and market life all because she may be wanting to integrate the photographs in a travelogue or for the experience and memories or I could be for a photo blog too.
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For a tourist, it’s all about fun, fun and more fun. Moreover for a tourist, fun wouldn’t be travelling alone so it’s all about a group because you can’t really party alone can you? A traveller on the other hand will always invariably travel alone or at the most with a partner. There’s no partying or group events and activity here.
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A tourist will in every instance travel by car along a road that is the shortest and most common route to a place. But a traveller will inevitably take to trekking when it concerns hill locations and natural spots. Trekking builds confidence and even takes you back to nature.
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For a tourist, it’s all about suitcases, bags and loads of luggage packing everything except the kitchen sink. A traveller on the other hand will use a rucksack or a backpack taking just the bare essentials to get along.
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This is one typical difference between a tourist and a traveller. A tourist will rather return with a T-shirt or even wear one while sightseeing. A traveller will prefer a souvenir or artwork of a place that reflects its culture and history.
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A tourist would never think of waking to locations all because most tour vacations are rushed trying to pack as many locales within a short day/night package. Thus it’s always a taxi. A traveller will trek or go for walks in the city, town or village of a foreign country just for the new cultural and social experience.
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Who would want to sleep in the outside in a tent? No tourist will want to give up the comforts of a bed. A traveller would love roughing it by sleeping in a hammock.
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For a tourist, it’s all about swanky guest houses and hotels. No tourist would be adventurous enough to camp outside in the open. A traveller of course would love it and wouldn’t mind sleeping in a tent for that matter.
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A tourist has not a moment to spare rushing everything to the point of not really having a meaningful holiday. Thus it’s always hiring a cab from airports to hotels and back. A traveller doesn’t really rush to get things done, public transport or hitchhiking is always preferred.
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This is how a tourist reacts before going on a holiday, it’s about the excitement, the booking of hotels and organization simply because time is limited and that is what restricts you from the richer experience. A traveller just packs a rucksack and goes.
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Tourist envisions a nice comfy hotel because a hotel too has its own charms with lobbies, spas swimming pools and shopping raced. A traveller just wants to trek to the highest spot on the mountain or to a lake in the woods maybe
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A tourist will invariably take a package road or sightseeing trip taking in the sights in a restricted guide book style fashion. A traveller may just go hang gliding or Paragliding.
For tourists its always about enjoying as much within a rushed timeframe, a tourist will see which swanky restaurant to go to, where to get a hair spa or even a fashion house a traveller will see the country side, the libraries, the museums and the natural beauty.
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