Oh Travel Snobs, Bless Their Cold Souls
Travel Snobs...
Chances are you know some, or you are one.
I'm in many online travel communities on social media; I see the same elitist rhetoric all the time:
"You need to spend at least a couple weeks in a country and visit multiple cities to really know a place."
"You only went to Paris that doesn't count"
"You were only in that country for a day; that doesn't count"
"You went to Canada that doesn't really count" (Heard this from many American travelers)
"Traveling to the Caribbean is basic" (Again, I heard this from many American travelers; Canadians may feel the same as well)
"I know what I'm talking about I've been to 50 countries"
"I'm a TRAVELER, not a tourist"
"Cruise stops don't count"
"Travel makes you more open minded than people who don't"
"London is a basic destination for noobs; I went to Malawi"
"Domestic/local traveling doesn't count"
"Staying at luxury resorts isn't 'real' traveling"
It seems like as traveling becomes more and more accessible to people the snobbier people get. Some people brag on how much of they're "better" at traveling than you kinda like how rappers rap about having more money, cars and hos than the next guy. In a way, one could argue that people are materializing their passport stamps.
I guess I'm easily amused, but I think it's so funny that there are people who are so concerned about how OTHER people travel. They act like they're the ones paying for the trip, and getting offended when people don't travel how they want to travel.
Where I'm from, most people don't travel. I'm happy to see anybody stepping outside of the familiar and going somewhere new whether it's a neighboring state, country, or across the ocean. There are beautiful gems all over this world including your own backyard.
Unless a person is disrespecting the culture and/or breaking the law, I don't see a problem and therefore there's no need to stick my nose into their business and condemn them for the way they're traveling.
Maybe that's just me. What are your thoughts? Have you been noticing the elitism and snobbery in the travel community?
Well yeah. The traveler vs tourist claim is understandable to a certain point. I've seen many people from my country (Italy) asking where to eat Italian food abroad or demanding Italian-speaking guides to take them around. Travel generally makes you open-minded but shouldn't be taken for granted.
About the staying a couple of weeks and visiting multiple cities, it is true. It's not some elitism, simply logic. Living 3 or 6 months in a place will give you a deeper understanding, 95% of the times, than staying 1 week in a place and just going around.