Taking the Bus Doesn't Make You a Traveler. It Makes You Someone Who Took the Bus.

Hi there, and welcome to another episode of Kultura Travel's podcast, where we go off track on purpose. My name is Kiara, and I am your podcast host and also the creator of Kultura Travel. Today we're going to talk about what it means to be a traveler versus a tourist. And this may be something you're familiar with, maybe it's something you've never heard of, but we're here to break it down for you.

Your first question may be, there's a difference? Yes. They're not just interchangeable, exactly, but they define the way you move through the world, and it says a lot about your mindset, values, and your travel goals. Understanding the difference could make a completely different impression on your travel destination and your travel journey. And I'm sure you've always heard, "oh, those tourists are so annoying." Well, guess what, if you watch this episode you're going to learn how to counter that by saying, "good thing I'm not a tourist, I'm a traveler." It's time that we change the conversation and reframe our travel to being a traveler and not a tourist.

What is a tourist? That's the term we're usually familiar with, let's clear that up right here, right now. Tourists are usually visitors who are traveling based off of those guidebooks, or maybe the more conventional way now, travel blog recommendations, bucket list spots, and those destinations and travel adventures recommended by the travel influencer industry. What's more about convenience and seeing the highlights of where you're visiting, rather than going beyond the surface level. But the most common way to describe this is to think crowded locations, tour buses, resort packages, famous landmarks, and photo ops. And don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that, it's just not what we're about here at Kultura Travel. We want that deeper and more meaningful travel experience.

So now let's break down what it means to be a traveler. Travelers are all about the deeper connection to the place they're visiting, and immersing into the local culture, language, and history. They want to understand the place, the people, and the culture that they're in. They don't just want the highlights. Signs that you may be a traveler, not a tourist, is that you're taking those detours to chat with the locals, going to these more in-depth cultural tours to learn about the culture and history of where you're visiting, instead of just taking the quote-unquote perfect photo. And you may find yourself leaving with new perspectives, or as a different version of the person you were before you arrived, and that's one of the best feelings ever. I think the simplest way to say it is that travelers chase stories and experiences, not just selfies. Of course, that's always a plus too, right?

Which one are you? Maybe you are still just getting into travel, so falling more into the touristy side as you get more comfortable. Maybe you've been traveling for many years, and you're looking to change something up because you haven't been finding your travel meaningful, so that's where you might want to start to go into more of a traveler approach. Or maybe you're happy with a comfortable medium in between the two. That's all good.

But to help you break this down even further, let's take a little bit of a checklist back and forth to decide if you are a traveler or a tourist. So are you ready to level up your travel mindset? Let's find out. If you stay in major hotel chains or resorts, then you are a tourist. If you opt to use public transport, or maybe take the walking path, traveler. Eating in places with English menus, tourist. Eating at the local spots that don't necessarily fit the most Instagrammable location, traveler. Following popular tourist itineraries and maybe snapping pictures of the places before bouncing off onto the next spot, tourist. Staying in homestays, guest houses, or small local hotels, while also learning a couple phrases in the local language, traveler.

These are just a few examples of the differences between being a tourist versus a traveler. Most of us are a little bit of both, and that's okay. The point of this episode is for you to familiarize yourself with these two different terms and to evaluate where you are in your travel journey, or maybe consider trying a new approach to your travel, such as becoming a traveler, engaging in cultural travel experiences, rather than just checking off the list and going off of the travel influencer recommendation.

And in the world today, with so much AI-generated content coming up, whether this is photos, videos, narrations, it's going to be difficult to discern what is authentic versus what is generated content. And this is why it's going to be more important to learn how to differentiate authentic cultural travel from those curated tourist videos, authentically marketed tourist traps. Remember, we're all at different points in our travel journey. If you're ready to travel a little bit deeper and more meaningfully, be sure to check out Kultura Travel.