Are you a tourist or a traveller? Find out!

Well, recently you may have read some articles telling you the difference between a tourist anda traveller through various demographics, posters and what not. Reading these articles myself, I felt that somewhere people were being told that some specific things that you do when you go to a new place will differentiate you between a tourist and a traveller and that being a traveller is much more cool.

So being a traveller rather than a tourist and possessing some specific characteristics is not what I will tell you to do in this article. I am up for the fact that if you really don’t want to get out of your comfort zone while you are travelling to a new place then it is perfectly fine. Honestly, travelling doesn’t have to be about things you don’t actually want to do. Like, if you don’t fancy hiking through a trail then get some other means of transport which suits you. Travelling is supposed to make you feel better and not end up with you feeling shitty, doing things you never wanted to do in the first place.

We have created some notions which differentiate between a tourist and a traveller and I say that it is perfectly fine being either of them. Getting out of your comfort zone should be doing things you want to do but could not do earlier or couldn’t gather the courage to do it but it should be something you were willing to do and not something you don’t want to do. We get new experiences through everything we do.

 It won’t matter if you travel by a bus or an airplane or hitchhike unless you are enjoying what you are doing and you are happy . It is like you cannot live any moment twice so whatever you do this moment is a new experience for you and you don’t always have to put yourself in a difficult position thinking that it will be better for you. Sometimes taking the easy route also works. Go easy on yourself.

So if you don’t want to talk to strangers and just sit at a cafe and read books and enjoy good food and music, it is totally fine. If you would rather take a 2 hour flight than a 36 hour train journey, it is absolutely okay. If you take your selfie stick everywhere with you clicking tons of pictures, it is perfectly fine. If you want go to your favourite place in a city rather than exploring other places, it is perfectly fine too! If you want to go on a luxurious vacation rather than on a shoe string budget trip then you go do that! If you think being a traveller will make you happy rather than being a tourist or vice versa then try doing what actually makes you happy, it will do wonders!

Just like Salman khan says at the end of every Big Boss episode – “do whatever you want to do!” There’s no stopping you, really.

– Karanveer Monga

Edited by Mrinaal Datt

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