Travelers or tourists?

Since travel has existed, there has been a dispute between a true traveler or a simple tourist. I wondered if it was really possible to find a solution to the dilemma.
Admitting that we feel like travelers, we should never judge the decisions of people we don't know well: it is therefore ethically wrong to label those who approach their travels differently from ours as mere tourists.

But then, is there really a measurable difference between traveler and tourist? Personally I think so, but browsing the various travel blogs, it seems to emerge that the real traveler does everything by himself, even saving a lot, while the tourist would be the one who goes to a travel agency, spending much more. Another parameter that seems to act as a watershed is the destination, the more distant the destination to reach, the more one is authorized to define himself as a traveller. What really makes the difference is the behavior and the approach to the "different" that people have when they travel, not only linked to mankind, but also to food or more generally to customs and traditions.

If what we are going to encounter during our journey is different, we experience it as a value, then we will be travellers, if vice versa we feel annoyance, we will probably be tourists. There is nothing wrong with looking for things that make us feel good even when we are away from home. For us Italians, for example, finding a good coffee almost seems an absolute necessity when we travel. The really important thing is that this doesn't become a reason for frustration, but instead turns into the possibility of trying new drinks like tea in Asia or new coffees in Africa.

Whether you are travelers or tourists, to fully enjoy the experience you have purchased, you should avoid consuming the places you visit, trying instead to accept the unexpected, respecting the environment, the traditions and the people you meet.
Only in this way will we be able to define ourselves as travelers and return home better and richer than when we left.

Roberto Cristaudo
Mind the gap
NP August / September