Wherever I May Roam - What Works Better, Traveller or Tourist?

There is little doubt that experiences as a Traveller are far greater than those as a Tourist. Simply because of the freedom, luxury of time and the opportunity to connect with the culture; for more details check an earlier post. Having said that, by no means would I say that being a Tourist is not the best way to travel or something I would never do. Ultimately, it is always the experience that counts and which is what you have forever to cherish!

Taking a Travellers path can get you to some very interesting locations that are not frequented by other people. For more such interesting photos, click here.



I have seen both worlds and have come to a conclusion that you should consider a few points before deciding which way to go, that is, if you ever want to take a Travellers’ approach. The top points for consideration, for me, would be:

• Occasion and Purpose of Travel: Congratulations, you’ve got married. No matter what, you (or at least your spouse) probably would not want to do a backpack or gruelling honeymoon. On another day, you’re drained out and desperately need a break; probably again a better idea for someone else to take the headache and set out for a more comfortable trip.
• Destination: You’re off to a location you’ve always wanted to go to but neither do you follow any of the languages spoken in that region nor do you fancy the food; more common with the Asian continent. Alternatively, you could be off to a destination that has some unrest or is notorious for having left unpleasant experiences for visitors. In these cases, again you might be better off as a Tourist.  
• Time on hand: So you’re destination is set but for some reasons you’ve had to cut it down in terms of days but the show must go on! Here again, if you haven’t made your bookings already, it might be worthwhile to get hold of a tour operator to manage it for you so that you at least cover all the ‘must see/do things’ at ease. Also, there are scenarios and cases that even while doing the trip as a Traveller, you do a portion of it as a tourist. A recent example, from my own trip, – you’re in Hong Kong and have an extra day on hand and wouldn’t mind doing Shenzhen, which is across in China. You’re you can get a take the train and get there and discover the place yourself, but it would make more sense to get hold of a local tour operator for that day – saves a lot of time and energy, and may be money as well, and the experience over a day may not be too different as a Traveller or Tourist.  
• Travel company: You’d normally only travel with people of choice but you’ll need to be considerate of the entire groups’ opinion; the Travellers style may not go down well with all. Also, the fact whether you have you parents or kids; though I’ve surely seen Travellers with little kids as well. 
• Budget/Costs: Before, making a final call, it is never a bad idea to check some early bird and/or last minute online deals, after you’ve worked out the costs. Often, you get some good discounts or companion pays 50% – in short some excellent bargains. They may not cover all you had originally chalked out, but worth weighing the options, or adding extra days apart from the Tour if possible.

At times, it is good to be on a guided tour, especially, if language can be a barrier. You can always travel like a Traveller and just opt for a one-off Local tour. For more photos, click here.

These are my recommendations, which you may want to consider the next time you plan out a trip. Moreover, it is also probably a good idea to mix and match the two, in proportions you’re most comfortable with to work out that best case scenario for yourself.

Wherever I May Roam - Traveller or Tourist?

So you like travelling? And, you’ve already been to more than a dozen countries and a hundred cities across the globe. Needless to say, you’ve posed in-front ever possible monument, shopped from the streets and stores and stayed at the nicest sounding hotels, and yes, took photos of those too!  

On the other hand, you do love travelling, but have been on a budget leash or despite the budget, you never fancied most of the decorative mentioned earlier. You’re one who sticks within a budget, would explore more, take pictures but not necessarily with you posing in it. You’d shop, but not give a damn about the stores and settle for something cultural right off the street in a bargain deal.

What we have are tourists and travellers! There must already be over 456,123 articles online on this, tips and why being one’s better than the other, so here’s the deal in five short points –

Tourist:

• Very conservative and play it safe – will generally go via a guided tour and preferably with a group
• Will want the very best of comforts so as to not make it very tiring; after all ‘I’m on a holiday’
• Literally have a schedule to follow, of the guide, and stick to that
• Will rarely know more about the place apart from what the guide would show and tell; and probably won’t bother for things outside it
• Are always forced to see/do what the guide says or the larger group of people want to do

A Tourist hot-spot - The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For more photos of the Petronas Towers, click here.

Traveller:

• Love the thrill element and will plan an itinerary for themselves; but along with the tourist attractions, they would end up seeing a lot more interesting places
• Will travel light and wouldn’t mind putting up in basic accommodation; after all ‘I’m here to see and explore the place and not sleep and rest’
• Have a schedule and plan in mind but are flexible and open to deviations
• Would have done some homework about the place, people and culture and would probably strike up a conversation with locals to know and learn more
• Would generally keep a spare day or two to allow the freedom and luxury to move at their own pace – so it was a waterfront with a monument beside and people spend normally spend 20-30 minutes; I loved the surroundings so much that I sat for a couple of hours at the nearby café!

En Route Manikaran - The scenic beauty and religious spots at Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh, India, is something rarely covered in a standard Tour. For more photos on Manikaran, click here.

Being only a slightly better than novice traveller myself, my personal observation is that people from the West are a lot more independent and end up being Travellers. On the other hand, people from the East don’t prefer or fancy this way of seeing places and go the old school Tourist way. I can only attribute that this trend is largely because of the fact that people from the East (and I happen to be one of them) are brought up in a conservative manner and lack that great degree of dependence. To add, we tend to play it safe and do not take unwarranted risks. Finally, communication and food forms a great barrier forcing people to take a conservative approach. The largest groups that one sees during their journeys are those that have Indians (largely due to food habits, being vegetarians) and Chinese (largely because of the language barrier).

Having said that, I’ve come across and known people from this side of the planet, whose travel journeys could impress the best from the West. Nonetheless, at the end it’s not West vs East nor is it Traveller vs Tourist. It’s the journey you embark upon and the experience you keep forever. 

Still confused what’s better – Traveller or Tourist? Read more here.