Be a Traveler, Not a Tourist

And a wise woman on a rant once said:

“Be a traveler, not a tourist. Learn; don’t think that things elsewhere are weird and wrong. Realize that you are the foreign one, not that you are in a foreign country. Don’t let your comfort levels prevent you from gaining all that can be gained from the experience.”

That person was not only my best friend, but also the co-author of this very blog. Gen and I spend our days chatting and sending each other fun links in between our busy lives, and between those, we come up with some pretty good plans and decent ideas. This is the only way we’ve been able to stay sane while waiting to embark on our next big adventure. We plan spontaneous adventures (little weekend trips, or overnight quests) to satiate our desire to roam and wander. However, we’ve come to realize that we need longer and more meaningful trips too. We’ve traveled with a big group in a short amount a time to multiple countries; we’ve traveled with a moderate amount of people in one country for a moderate amount of time; and now we plan on being just a few people for our next trip, which happens to be one country, and for two weeks.

It’s good to get a taste of all kinds of travel experiences to be able to discover which ones you prefer. I enjoyed the first option, but it only peaked my curiosity instead of quenching it. I learned that I like to immerse myself in a culture and take full advantage of what’s available. I really enjoyed the second option too. I made new friends and really got to dive in deep into the country’s culture and environment. We were eight people in total with two cars as we road-tripped through Iceland, and those numbers allowed us to stick together, or split up depending on the activity we wanted to do. Finding places to stay, to eat, or to visit weren’t that difficult and it really helped cut down the cost of the overall trip. And finally, I’m looking forward to seeing how travelling with one or two other people will be; one place for half a month will give us just enough time to really get a good feel for it. It’s important to go with people you get along with (because, let’s be real, that’s a no-brainer) and that also share similar values. Gen and I really like the authentic experience. In Iceland, we went to these “hot tubs” that were fed by a natural hot spring in the middle of a field in a village that only had two restaurants and a gas station. That was the real local experience instead of spending big bucks to go to the lagoon so many people longed for. We had a great time, a great experience, and we’re always trying to find a way we can go back for a little while longer. We stayed in hostels, did our own groceries and did a lot of eco-tourism (as in, hikes and visiting natural phenomenons) because that really fit well with what we wanted to get from the trip.

We like to go off the beaten path.

It’s important to see things and do things you really want to see and do when you travel (no matter how strange or unconventional they may seem) because you also get to meet great people who are looking for the same things as you are. I’m not antisocial (though I don’t like people very much), but when I’m traveling, I become so much more open to the world and I find myself enjoying conversations with complete strangers. You discover new people, and places and faces you never knew you’d see. You become more opened and coincidentally, new paths and experiences open themselves up to you. It all rests in your willingness to let yourself be changed by the lands you explore. Travel countries, don’t tour them. You’ll see more. You’ll learn more. You’ll become much more than you could have imagined.

Kyla