Tourist or Traveler by Lea Cruz
In the fall of September 2013, the author Lea Cruz visited Europe for the first time on a bonding and adventure trip with her brother. In this piece, she explores the pull between being a tourist and a traveler.
I’ve done some traveling but not a whole lot. Out of the 100 items in the Travel List Challenge, I’ve only been to 18. There’s still so much to see and so much more to learn.
I went to Europe with my brother last September 2013. It has been over a year ago but I still remember everything clearly, including the lessons I learned and realizations I had.
There are a lot of online articles on the differences of a tourist and a traveler. Truth be told, I’m a bit of both. While I’d like to say that I’m a true blue traveler, that’s not really the case. I remember my brother asking me which places I’d like to see in Europe. Just like any first timer, I said Paris. Seeing the Eiffel Tower is like a rite of passage after all. And just like any tourist, I took an obligatory shot there.
Lea in Paris
We did other touristy things too. We went to the Louvre and copied this epic shot from Da Vinci Code:
A la Da Vince Code at the Louvre
Visited the canals of Venice …
In Venice with Lea’s brother Glen
Had our photo taken at the I Amsterdam monolith.
I Amsterdam
And went on top of the Milan Cathedral among many other things.
At the top of the Milan Cathedral
But we also did other things that made me feel less of a tourist and more of a traveler.
Just a few minutes of leisurely walk from the famous Seine River, you’ll find Canal St. Martin. It’s like an escape from Paris in Paris. Its iron footbridges and tree-shaded quays give it a quaint look. It’s like a throwback in Paris from maybe 50 or 100 years ago.
Strolling down Canal St. Martin
Then there’s the lovely Lake Como in Italy and its picturesque 18th century villas. Time seemed to stop while we were there and I was grateful for it. Who wouldn’t want to stay longer in such a lovely, peaceful place?
At Lake Como
Just a train ride from Prague, you can visit Kutna Hora and check out the Sedlec Ossuary, a small chapel where 40,000 to 70,000 skeletons were used as decoration.
Sediec Ossuary in Kutna Hora
Then there’s Cesky Krumlov, a small city in the South Bohemian Region of Czech Republic. It’s like a pocket-sized, less touristy Prague that was able to keep its Medieval charm. No wonder it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
At Cesky Krumlov
I can go on and on about the touristy things my brother and I did and some adventures (and misadventures) we had as travelers but I guess my point is this: tourist spots are crowd favorites for very good reasons. Cheesy as it may sound, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
On the other hand, just going through all the touristy motions won’t give you the real pulse of a place. You’ll always see it through the eyes of an outsider instead of a local.
So be both a tourist and a traveler. Go see Versailles and take a photo with Arc De Triomphe as background but don’t miss the chance to walk the peaceful banks of Canal St. Martin; visit Milan and ride a gondola in Venice but also take time to experience the beauty of the less visited Lake Como; visit Prague and stand in awe of the Charles Bridge but go just slightly out of your way to see Kutna Hora and Cesky Krumlov.
Strike a balance. I think that being both a tourist and a traveler is the best way to see the world.
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