Traveler vs. Tourist

Broken down in a little village in Southern Tanzania.  Just another adventure! Photo circa 2007.

One of the greatest gift of cruising to a place via sailboat is the fact that you are - almost always - viewed as a traveler, and not a tourist.  The other night our new friend Dee made this distinction - and I thought it interesting enough to share...

What's the difference?

The tourist can be found at the all-inclusive resort.  The traveler will be found at the local coffe shop.  The tourist will emerge from an air-conditioned tour bus where they will frantically snap a bunch of photos and rush back into the bus to head to the next site.  The traveler will be jam-packed into public transportation, potentially alongside live animals and might even have someone else's child thrust into their arms...

The tourist will only eat at the 'white' establishments deemed "safe" by their resort.  The traveler will dine on local cuisine, in local cafeterias among local people (Montezuma be damned!).  The tourist complains in a nasally voice that no one speaks English.  The traveler tries to communicate in the local dialect (mostly unsuccessfully (wince) - but not for want of trying!)...

The tourist bounces from trinket shop to trinket shop buying shell boxes, woven wallets, and little shot glasses that say "Viva la ____" while the traveler collects momentos from the beach or from the locals' whom they have befriended.  The tourist has a detailed agenda and schedule, the traveler has intentions and flexible plans...

What the tourist despises, the traveler loves:  Broken down busses, roadside riots, sudden strikes, flat tires, wrong turns, flash floods, taking the wrong train to the wrong town (whoopsie!)..etc...  To the tourist these are major inconveniences (even catastrophes) - to the traveler they are recipes for adventure...

Where the tourist sees an obstacle, the traveler sees an opportunity...
Where the tourist sees dirt and disgust, the traveler sees a simple beauty...

The difference is in the mindset.  The traveler seeks to learn more about the world around him, whereas the tourist is looking for an escape.  The traveler tries to understand a new culture, the tourist prefers to see only what is appealing...

For the traveler - it's the journey that counts, for the tourist it's the destination...

While both Scott and I have had moments where we have been both tourists and travelers - we have learned that being a traveler provides a much richer experience.  Locals have more respect for you, they're more likely to view you as equals and see you as people and not just dollar signs.  Yesterday I hitched a ride to shore on a local fishing boat who's friendship we have made here in Luperon;  I offered him a few pesos as a "thank you".  He simply looked at me with a beaming smile, closed my fingers over my open palm and said, "I like you more than I like money".

You won't be hearing that at the local Sandals resort.

The traveler sees what he sees.  

The tourist sees what he has come to see.  

~G.K. Chesterton

Love,
Brittany & Scott