We see it a lot on travel blogs, the author travels to an off the beaten path because it’s less touristy. They are looking for that opportunity to do something that nobody else has done. That want experiences that they consider original and so they can tell people back at home “only we did that.”
I have to admit that I use to want to be like that. Reading about others travelers I wanted new places to talk about and some authenticity. But is it really necessary to escape from mass tourism to find what some tourists call true travel. If there is a well-tested touristy site, shouldn’t we as travelers respect that? I mean we can’t always find places that few would ever venture and be the first one to experience it.
When I was booking my trip to Europe this year many of the stops were to places deemed “too touristy.” Out of all of them Bruges was probably considered the most because the city only survives on tourism. I looked on many travel blogs, forums like on TripAdvisor and there was a debate on which cities tourists must go to, Ghent, Bruges, or Brussels.
Brussels is the capital of Belgium but there wasn’t that much to do, so that was off the list. Ghent was called the more “authentic” city because it’s bigger than Bruges. Bruges was considered the more beautiful city between the two and has great historical value since most of the city was left in tact during the war. This argument alone made me wanted to go to Bruges but many fellow travelers felt that if they went to Bruges they would be volunteering to go somewhere with too many tourists. Therefore their experience would be lessened and cheapen.
Just because the city is popular and there is mass tourism, it shouldn’t stop other travelers from coming. It shouldn’t stop tourists who are always looking for the proverbial better, unique and more unknown off the beaten path. I think these people are obsessed with discovering parts unknown that they risk missing places that are genuinely great.
Off the beaten path fanatics should also know that if a city is beautiful and still retains its documented charm, they should give it a chance. For me your off the beaten path traveling experiences will be decided not by traveling to touristy places or not but how you spend your time traveling. Authentic experiences can also be made in tourism hot-spots because people forget that the connection with locals, other tourists and their attitude towards traveling is what make the experience. In short, the off the beaten path isn’t always far away destinations, instead tourists make up their own off the beaten path experience with their mind.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are times when traveling off the beaten path is exciting, new, maybe a little dangerous and hell of an adventure. But it’s also a lot of other things like exhausting, tiresome, boring, expensive and sometimes not even worth it. Yes trekking in the Himalayas or meeting a culture with limited human contact is exciting and a great story but that dream is always easier and better than the most of the reality.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t test our limits and explore, that’s for the tourist to decide. But consider this, sometimes the excitement, culture, and everything you would want from an off the beaten path experience can be found in some of the most touristy places, surrounded by lots of tourists. Imagine that!
image by: chris, shawnvoyage
