Travel More - You Won't Regret It

Travel has been such a huge part of my life, playing a big role since I was just a pint-sized lad.

Over the past couple of years though, I've started to look at travel in new ways - approaching it as a photographer and explorer instead of a tourist. Tourism is great, but I personally get tired of tourist traps, tourism scams, and honestly, I think I'm getting tired of tourists as a whole.

• Tourist - according to Merriam-Webster: one that makes a tour for pleasure or culture
• Tourist trap - a place or section of town that is popular with folks who don't live in that country
• Tourism scams - ill-willed or deceptive practices that revolve around disguising an activity as normal tourist activities with the goal of getting money or goods from tourists

I often look at tourists as people who go somewhere to escape normal life, I often think of someone who travels to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico or the Caribbean.

I encourage everyone to start traveling as a traveler/explorer instead of as a tourist. Travelers/explorers go somewhere new to experience life, not escape it. This might include someone who goes to a country and stays with locals instead of at a hotel, eats local food instead of corporate chains, or goes to smaller towns instead of big cities.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's acceptable to play tourist once in a while, but I think if you just live your normal life in a new country or city, you're missing out. You learn more about the world and yourself when you talk to new people, eat new food, sleep in new places, and support local.

As you read this I want you to write down your answers to these questions and properly deep dive into this your relationship with travel.

Let's start out with a couple questions:

• When's the last time you traveled?
• For this one you could think about the last time you traveled, or if you travel a lot, let's pick one of your trips.
• Where did you travel?
• Who did you travel with?
• Why did you travel?
• What was the highlight of your trip?

There are no right or wrong answers (yet).

I'll walk you through one answer that I have –

1. I last traveled in September 2023
2. I traveled to Egypt 
3. I went with my travel companion and friend, Thad. We went for 2 weeks.
4. My company at the time flew us all out to Egypt for a company retreat, but we extended the trip by 10 days to see more of the country.
5. While we saw the pyramids, Valley of the Kings, and other tourist hotspots, my personal favorite part of the trip was when I was walking around downtown Cairo and got lost walking toward another "sightseeing place".
• I ended up in a back alley. There were no tourists, just locals. The city streets had turned to dirt and dust. The attractive new buildings of modern Cairo became decrepit, dilapidated homes. Everyone in this back alley was super friendly, one guy even offered me a Coca-Cola. While on this walk, I saw a group of kids around 10 years old playing billiards on a pool table that had patchworked felt on it made from different materials. These kids were having the best time of their life and they were ecstatic when I asked if I could take a picture of them.
• The pyramids were incredible. It was really cool being around that much history and the views were unreal. BUT, there were people bombarding me every five minutes offering postcards and to take photos for me; kids asking for money for food; and thousands of other people milling around making it feel overwhelming and over-crowded.

If you've had any experience similar to that, you might recognize that the tourist spots are typically the safer, more convenient, and easier to adapt to locations, but the areas off-the-beaten-path will make you feel more connected with the locals and will give you more stories to tell.

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Now that you've written down those answers, let's move on to a few deeper questions.

1. What activities do you normally do on vacation?
2. Who do you interact with on these trips?
3. What do your conversations typically entail?

I'll let you do this yourself, but I do want to share a quick story about how chatting with locals has impacted my life.

One of my favorite conversations was with one of the tour guides from the Sapa Sisters in Sapa, Vietnam. Thad and I were staying at their home with them during a trek through the countryside and after dinner we were drinking rice wine (happy water, as they called it) and I asked her if she'd ever traveled. She said she hadn't, but surprisingly followed up with "That's the beauty of being a trekking guide in Sapa. While I haven't been able to see other places in the world, people come to me and I get to meet unique, interesting people. It makes me feel like I'm seeing the world by hearing their stories and seeing their pictures. I still want to travel but I'm not missing out as much as I would otherwise."

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We should all be like her and listen to others' stories. We may never get to see the biggest tourist sights but we can still experience it thirdhand.

I don't want to come across as though I'm preaching - I want everyone to live their favorite life. As our lives become more "interconnected" through the internet, I want people to make sure they're experiencing life and not just copying their favorite influencer. 

When you travel next, don't just go on vacation - make it a trip. Start traveling more and taking the time to learn about different cultures and people. Take the path less traveled, you won't regret it.