tourist vs traveller quote

The 26 Most Inspiring Tourist VS Traveller Quotes

Are you looking for some inspirational travel quotes, especially tourist vs traveller quotes ?

We are big fans of slow travel with your family. There are many definitions around the slow travel movement. But for us, slow travel is the best way to break free from becoming a “tourist” and the best transition from “tourist” to “traveller”, where you really get to experience a new location. When you slow travel and become a “traveller”, you get to know the local community, local markets, and local people.

It’s why we are sharing with you a few of our favourite tourist vs traveller quotes in the hope to inspire slow travel and become a “traveller”!

All the following tourist vs traveller quotes will make you pack your bag, board a plan and slow travel. But you can also check our road trip quotes article .

Our Favourite Tourist vs Traveller Quotes

Those are all eye opening quotes and should inspire you to become a traveller, not a tourist.

1. “Please be a traveler, not a tourist.” ― Andrew Zimmern

2. “The best traveler is one without a camera.”  ―  Kamand Kojouri

3. “Be a true traveller, don’t be a temporary tourist.” ― Unknown

4. “A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. It is better to travel well than to arrive.” ― Benjamin Disraeli

5. “Travelers never think that they are the foreigners.” ― Mason Cooley

6. “When I travel, I feel more like a nomad than a tourist.” ― Mohsin Hamid

7. “A good traveler leaves no tracks. Good speech lacks fault-finding.” ― Lao Tzu

8. “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

9. “The tourist was the great conservative who hate novelty and adored dirt.” — Henry Adams 

10. “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” ― Paul Theroux

11. “Tourists went on holidays while travellers did something else. They traveled.” — Alex Garland 

12. A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. — Lao Tzu

13. “Travel not to find yourself, but to remember who you’ve been all along.” — Unknown

14. “We did all the tourist crap, but I just wanted to sit in a cafe and watch people.” — Sara Shepard

15. “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” — Gilbert K. Chesterto

16. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” — H. Jackson Brown Jr

17. “I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ― Mary Anne Radmacher

18. “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.” — Martin Buber

19. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. ― Anthony Bourdain

20. Life–and travel–leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks–on your heart and on your body –are beautiful.  ― Anthony Bourdain

21. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. ― John Steinbeck

22. “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” — Mark Twain 

23. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” — Neale Donald Walsch  

24. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” — Jack Kerouac

25. “Sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails, explore, dream, discover.” ― Mark Twain

26. “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ― Jawaharlal Nehru

Final Thoughts: The Best Road Trip Quotes

As we mentioned earlier in this post, we love slow traveling. It’s the perfect way to get to know a new culture, meet amazing people along the way and to transition from “tourist” to “traveller”.

I hope those 26 tourist VS traveller quotes inspired you to travel, but most importantly to become a traveler, and not a simple tourist on vacation.

Let us know which one if your favorite and don’t forget to download all our 1000+ short travel quotes.

Emilie is the founder of Love Life Abroad. She helps moms plan epic road trips and outdoor adventures with their families. Because who said adventuring had to stop once we have kids? She’s based in the Canadian Rockies and shares her love for the region as well as other unique places in Canada & USA. She works with tourism boards and outdoor brands to inspire families to experience new unique destinations and outdoor activities.

What is the difference between tourist and traveller?

This post contains product affiliate links. These are mainly on items/hotels/tours that I personally endorse & love. I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, but at no extra cost to you.

It’s time for that age old debate – what is the difference between tourist and traveller? For me, it all comes down to one very important thing.

Tourist vs traveller. Is there any real difference between the two? Does it really matter? And why do people care?

I don’t know why, but arguing the difference between tourist and traveller is something that happens a lot more than you’d think when backpacking and travelling.

Everyone’s got an opinion on this one, and after years of being on the road myself, I thought I’d finally break my silence and wade into the debate. I’ve always found this such an interesting topic, and I’m really interested to hear what you guys think too.

Quoting Alex Garland , author of The Beach , he said:

I had ambiguous feelings about the difference between tourists and travelers – the problem being that the more I traveled, the smaller the differences became. But the one difference I could still latch on to was that tourists went on holidays while travelers did something else. They traveled.

That quote has always resonated within me, but the more and more I travel myself the more and more I believe it boils down to one fundamental difference; travellers care.

Travellers care more than you’ll ever realise

Travellers care about the culture and societies they are visiting. Travellers care about the people they are meeting, both locals and foreigners alike. Travellers care about the way they travel, they want to discover and explore but in a sustainable way. Travellers just care.

A lot of people argue one of the main fundamental differences between a traveller and tourist is education. Not in your own personal education, but the education of travelling. People use travelling as a way to learn about themselves as much as about their surroundings, whereas tourists use travelling as an escapism, a way to forget about themselves as much as the surroundings they’ve left behind.

The way I travel is I completely immerse myself in a country and a new culture. I make the effort to learn as much of the language as I can, I speak to the local people and ask about their background, the local history, the local politics. I try and leave as good of an impression of myself and the country I come from as possible while not being quick to judge theirs.

I do all of this not because I need to but because I want to, because I care.

It’s a pretty broad brush to tarnish all tourists with by saying they don’t care, but I just don’t think a lot of them do.

Is there really a difference between a tourist or traveller though?

This isn’t some pretentious middle class debate, and this isn’t travel snobbery.

I, personally, do think there is a difference between travellers and tourists (unlike a lot of people out there).

Gary Arndt from Everything Everywhere , one of the biggest professional travel bloggers out there, once responded to the same question stating:

There is no difference. It is a distinction used by pretentious people to make themselves feel superior to others. To the locals, no matter how long you’ve been traveling or whatever your mindset is, you are still a tourist. After two years on the road, I’m still a tourist when I show up somewhere new.

This isn’t about feeling superior to anyone. I actually agree; travellers often get high and mighty about being a ‘traveller’, and to a degree this itself is anti-travelling.

However, if there is a difference between travellers and tourists, then it is down to personal perspective, what the individual thinks. Obviously this is my opinion, this is what I believe.

Travelling is such a personal experience, so what other people do, what they see, where they go, it shouldn’t affect what you do or how you feel about travelling. So long as they care.

Tourist and traveller difference: My life as a traveller

In my opinion, more often than not tourists are only ever interested in seeing a country’s sites and attractions as opposed to seeing the people within it, often just to say they’ve been to a particular place, and I think that’s sad, and at times completely contradictory to what tourism is supposed to do, what tourism is supposed to be about.

As I write this I have just come from the beautiful and historic town of Kotor on the coast of Montenegro . It’s a place teeming with tourists and travelers alike.

The town is so small I feel I could kick a football over its walls, yet every single day a new cruise ship moors up and thousands of passengers swarm within the walls, cluttering and clogging up the small side streets of Old Town.

At one restaurant I asked the waiter what he thought of the cruise ship passengers. He said: “They do nothing for the restaurant culture in Kotor. 99% of passengers have already eaten before they’ve left the ship, and they are all told to carry water with them, so they are not interested in restaurants. If anything, the large groups of them walking around Old Town put people off from dining outside.”

Walking around, you will see clusters of passengers all with a guide from the ship. They don’t use local transport, they don’t interact with the local people, and they rarely spend anything of notable worth. All in all, they just don’t care.

Kotor in the early morning and evening is a completely different place compared to the afternoon. Without the tourists, it is tranquil and charming. With them, it is something else entirely. I know which one I prefer.

The real impact of tourists

One night, after everything had closed down, including all the bars, I found a group of locals celebrating the opening of a new shop.

Confident on rakia, the local fiery spirit, I finally asked them what they all thought of the type of tourists Kotor attracted.

One guy, Nikola, said: “They do more harm than good, but it is not their fault, it is the local council’s for allowing them to come in the first place.

“10 years ago, we were all happy. Everyone stayed up late and interacted with each other; a part of that culture has died.

“The local council was only interested in making money, and then the cruise ships came.”

According to local fisherman, fish stocks and with it their way of life and earning a living are down 10 times than what they were just a few years ago.

Also, a particular type of fish has become so rare it is thought to be extinct. It doesn’t take much to deduce the correlation coinciding with the arrival of the cruise ships and the pollution they bring, both in the forms of human pollution and environmental pollution.

This is a problem for both travelers and tourists.

Traveler vs tourist quote

If there’s one quote to sum all of this up, it’s this one by Andrew Zimmern, a famous food writer:

Please be a traveler, not a tourist. Try new things, meet new people, and look beyond what’s right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in.

Perhaps the hardest thing to deal with is as travellers there is very little we can do about tourists.

I guess the only thing we can do is to keep on being ourselves, to keep on travelling, to keep on caring. Or maybe it just doesn’t matter…

What do you think is the difference between a tourist and a traveller? I would love to hear your opinion so make sure you let me know in the comments below.

Also, make sure you read the truth about solo travel in Honduras and El Salvador and the world’s worst value tourist attractions for your next coffee break.

Like this blog post? Then make sure you Pin it!

About the Author

Macca Sherifi is the founder of the multiple award-winning blogs An Adventurous World and the Great British Bucket List. Every month he inspires over 200,000 avid readers to travel the world.

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16 thoughts on “What is the difference between tourist and traveller?”

‘Tourist’ comes from the word ‘tour’ which is something which is organised. Package holidays and excursions are for ‘tourists’, where meals are provided for, or a local representative is available 24/7. A traveller is willing to step outside of his/her comfort zone and to immerse themselves in a different culture. Mass tourism (there’s that word again) has a negative impact on it’s environment and very often no positive impact at all (think Venice for example), whereas travellers contribute more to local economies by eating at local restaurants and staying at independent hotels. As author Robert Louis Stevenson once said… “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” Travellers love the feel of motion under their feet. Tourists can’t wait to arrive at their destination.

Ah Scott, you’ve nailed it. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks for the comment – I really appreciate it!

I love the quote from Gary Arndt. If we venture outside of our hometown, we are essentially “tourists” at some point – whether we like to admit it or not! I always ask why are things “travellers” value automatically “better” than what “tourists” do? There are lots of overlaps and I believe we shouldn’t have to be defined as one or the other. Thanks for sharing your views on this topic!

Oh I agree with you. I was being extremely facetious when I wrote this post (a couple of years ago now!) There’s such blurred lines between being a traveller and a tourist and I think fundamentally they’re the same thing. Expanding on your point, you get just as many annoying travellers as you do tourists! Always a good debate though!

“There is no difference. It is a distinction used by pretentious people to make themselves feel superior to others.” I don’t think that tourist is something humiliating. It is just two different meanings of the describing of someone who is going to the different city, country, anywhere. You may feel the difference only in the comfort that someone has and another refuses.

Yeah, safe to say we agree with this one completely! As mentioned, we feel this is perfectly summed up in “The Beach” by Alex Garland. Always an interesting debate though!

Kudos to a nicely written article. I agree with you that there are differences between travelers and tourists. But I don’t think that these differences are as clear cut, black and white. There are tourists who care, and travelers who don’t. There are many ‘travelers’ here in Southeast Asia who come to get drunk, and have ‘tourist’ mentality you’ve described. I’ve been traveling for over 10 years and lived in many countries; I enjoyed learning about new culture, picking up new languages, and growing with each experience. I don’t think I’m a tourist, but I’m not a traveler either, as ‘travel’ connotes a destination.

Thanks for the comment Noel; I really appreciate it. I completely agree with you and it is not clear cut black and white. At the end of the day, we’re all people doing the same thing, we’re all trying to see a country in our own way. It doesn’t really matter whether that’s for a few days, a few weeks or a few years, as long as we’re doing it, you know?

Yes this is your opinion and of course your entitled to it, but Gary is right. Here is the problem; you say your are not pretentious but you certainly sound pretentious.

Definition:

To be pretentious is to make a claim or put on an act to:

A) Fit into a group.

B) Appear “better” than you are or than others.

So you are a “traveler” not a “tourist” and travelers “care” and tourists don’t. Kind of nails the definition, doesn’t it?

Fair play Rob! I can’t really argue with that definition. I really didn’t mean to come across as being pretentious; it was just a point of view that I wanted to express and to spark (another) debate. This is a subject that is quite close to my heart and I have found people’s comments fascinating. At the end of the day, there really isn’t much difference between the two. As long as people are travelling and they are enjoying it, who’s to say they’re one thing over the other.

I actually resonate more with Gary’s definition (sorry!). To say that travellers care implies that tourists don’t. Sure, some tourists don’t care, but there are many that do (and, I suspect, many travellers that don’t). A difference in care is not the distinction in my book, and I’m not really sure there is a major difference between tourists and travellers – it all just boils down to semantics IMHO.

No worries Paul! When I took the stance “travellers care, tourists don’t”, I knew it was a very broad brush to use, but I decided to go with it anyway. I completely agree with you though. I have met so many travellers who don’t care, and tourists who do. Perhaps that’s why there really isn’t much of a difference between the two. As you say, it all boils down to semantics.

Having spent the past 9 years as both a tourist and traveler, I’ve found myself caught up in this debate more times than I can count. At this point, even the words in the argument have lost their meaning. A traveler is always a tourist; even if he/she becomes “localized.” A tourist is always a traveler, because the very act of not being at home means they’re traveling.

The issue, in my opinion, is trying to put word-based labels on a lifestyle choice; and getting offended when someone calls you the wrong one. The words have lost their meaning but the sentiment remains the same. Instead of arguing tourist vs traveler, we should all embrace whatever form of travel works for us. For many of those people on the tour ship, that’s the only way they will ever feel comfortable enough to see the world. And sure, they see a very limited, fake slice of it, but at least they got off their couches. (not that I’m defending cruise ships or their impact on local communities)

Anyway, now I’m rambling… maybe that means I should write my own article on the topic. Thanks for the inspiration, and thanks for making my brain work this morning 🙂

Thanks for your comment Greg, and I’m glad I got your brain working in the morning! Always a hard task! I actually couldn’t agree with you more. As long as people are travelling, and as long as they’re enjoying it, that’s the most important thing in my eyes. Let me know if you do write an article on the topic; I’d love to see your point of view.

Great post. I couldn’t agree more. For me, travelling is really about getting under the skin of a country, knowing its people, customs and culture. I’ve seen so many photos from other Travellers and they label a picture ‘a nice temple in …’ with little other info, like they don’t know what it means to be there.

Thanks for the comment and support Abbi! I agree with you, travelling is all about getting under the skin of the country. Too many people pass through a country like a ghost; in my opinion, it’s so much better to really immerse yourself in different cultures and societies.

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150 Best Travel Quotes To Inspire You To See The World

We’ve been putting together some of our favorite inspirational travel quotes as we continue to travel the world and experience new places and things abroad.

What follows is a complete collection of 150 of the best travel quotes, complete with adventure travel quotes from famous figures like Anthony Bourdain, John Muir, and Mark Twain.

Warning: some of these quotes may give you the travel itch! In any case, I hope you’ll find some of these short travel quotes inspirational for your own journey!

Table of Contents show 150 Best Travel Quotes • Famous Travel Quotes • Mark Twain Travel Quotes • Funny Travel Quotes • Short Travel Quotes • Misc Travel Quotes • Inspirational Travel Quotes • Travel With Friends Quotes • Adventure Travel Quotes • Solo Travel Quotes • Anthony Bourdain Travel Quotes More Travel Content & Tips  

150 Best Travel Quotes

• famous travel quotes.

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. — Unknown

Take only memories, leave only footprints. — Unknown

Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world. — Gustave Flaubert

Not all those who wander are lost. — J.R.R. Tolkien

Every man dies, but not every man really lives. — William Wallace

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. — Oscar Wilde

Life is a journey. Make the most of it. — Unknown

I’ve traveled every road in this here land… I’ve been everywhere, man, I’ve been everywhere. — Johnny Cash

Paris is always a good idea. — Audrey Hepburn

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer. — Unknown

Collect moments, not things. — Unknown

Today is your day, your mountain is waiting. So get on your way. — Dr Seuss

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. — Unknown

I’m shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I’m gonna see the world. — George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life

It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to. — J.R.R. Tolkien

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. — Lao Tzu

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. — John Muir

The mountains are calling and I must go. — John Muir

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. — John Muir

To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give, to roam the roads of lands remote: To travel is to live. — Hans Christian Andersen

Oh the places you’ll go. — Dr. Seuss

I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. — Robert Frost

When one is alone at night in the depths of the woods, the stillness is at once awful and sublime. — John Muir

Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own. — Charles Dickens

• Mark Twain Travel Quotes

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one’s lifetime.

To do something, say something, see something, before anybody else — these are the things that confer a pleasure compared with which other pleasures are tame and commonplace, other ecstasies cheap and trivial. Lifetimes of ecstasy crowded into a single moment.

It is the loveliest fleet of islands [ Hawaii ] that lies anchored in any ocean.

No alien land in all the world has any deep strong charm for me but that one [ Hawaii ], no other land could so longingly and so beseechingly haunt me, sleeping and waking, through half a lifetime, as that one has done. Other things leave me, but it abides; other things change, but it remains the same.   For me the balmy airs are always blowing, its summer seas flashing in the sun; the pulsing of its surfbeat is in my ear; I can see its garlanded crags, its leaping cascades, its plumy palms drowsing by the shore, its remote summits floating like islands above the cloud wrack; I can feel the spirit of its wildland solitudes, I can hear the splash of its brooks; in my nostrils still lives the breath of flowers that perished twenty years ago.

• Funny Travel Quotes

Airplanes may kill you, but they ain’t likely to hurt you. — Leroy Satchel Paige

Two great talkers will not travel far together. — George Borrow

I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them. — Mark Twain

I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine. — Caskie Stinnett

Did you ever notice that the first piece of luggage on the carousel never belongs to anyone? — Erma Bombeck

Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore. — Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz

• Short Travel Quotes

Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before. — Unknown

Better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times. — Asian Proverb

Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. — Ibn Battutah

We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. — Unknown

One travels to run away from routine, that dreadful routine that kills all imagination and all our capacity for enthusiasm. — Ella Maillart

Half the fun of travel is the esthetic of lostness. — Ray Bradbury

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. — Marcel Proust

There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign. — Robert Louis Stevenson

Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. — Neale Donald Walsh

I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list. — Unknown

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. — Louis Armstrong

They say travel broadens the mind, but you must have the mind. — G.K. Chesterton

Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow. — Anita Desai

Life is short and the world is wide. — Unknown

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land. — G.K. Chesterton

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. — Lao Tzu

If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere. — Vincent van Gogh

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. — John Muir

A wise traveler never despises his own country. — Carlos Osvaldo Goldoni

You know more of a road by having traveled it than by all the conjectures and descriptions in the world. — William Hazlitt

I love to travel, but hate to arrive. — Albert Einstein

And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. — John Muir

A great way to learn about your country is to leave it. — Henry Rollins

Live your life by a compass, not a clock. — Stephen Covey

Some experiences simply do not translate, you have to go to know. — Kobi Yamada

I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world. — Mary Anne Radmacher

At its best, travel should challenge our preconceptions and most cherished views, cause us to rethink our assumptions, shake us a bit, make us broader minded and more understanding. — Arthur Frommer

Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage. — Paulo Coelho

Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost. — Erol Ozan

Travel far enough, you meet yourself. — David Mitchell

The journey itself is my home. — Matsuo Basho

Live, travel, adventure, bless and don’t be sorry. — Jack Kerouac

The saddest journey in the world is the one that follows a precise itinerary. — Guillermo del Toro

A good traveler leaves no tracks. — Lao Tzu

It’s in those quiet little towns, at the edge of the world, that you will find the salt of the Earth people who make you feel right at home. — Aaron Lauritsen

It is better to travel well than to arrive. — Unknown

The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life. — Agnes Repplier

• Misc Travel Quotes

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. — Albert Camus

To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world. — John Muir

When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty. — John Muir

I’m in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana, it is love. — John Steinbeck

Yosemite Park is a place of rest, a refuge from the roar and dust and weary, nervous, wasting work of the lowlands, in which one gains the advantages of both solitude and society. — John Muir

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever. — Jacques Cousteau

The Mediterranean has the color of mackerel, changeable I mean. You don’t always know if it is green or violet, you can’t even say it’s blue, because the next moment the changing reflection has taken on a tint of rose or gray. — Vincent van Gogh

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. — John Burroughs

No pain here, no dull empty hours, no fear of the past, no fear of the future. These blessed mountains are so compactly filled with God’s beauty, no petty personal hope or experience has room to be. — John Muir

On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it. — Jules Renard

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. — Albert Einstein

Lighthouses are not just stone, brick, metal, and glass. There’s a human story at every lighthouse. — Elinor DeWire

To almost every man and woman there is something about a lighted beacon which suggests hope and trust and appeals to the better instincts of all mankind. — Edward Rowe Snowe

• Inspirational Travel Quotes

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. — Helen Keller

Never let your memories be greater than your dreams. — Douglas Ivester

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible. — Lawrence of Arabia

Do not dare not to dare. — C.S. Lewis

Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. — George Adair

Wherever you go, go with all your heart. — Unknown

It seems to be a law of nature, inflexible and inexorable, that those who will not risk cannot win. — John Paul Jones

This is what holidays, travels, vacations are about. It is not really rest or even leisure we chase. We strain to renew our capacity for wonder to shock ourselves into astonishment once again. — Shana Alexander

I beg young people to travel. If you don’t have a passport, get one. Take a summer, get a backpack and go to Delhi, go to Saigon, go to Bangkok, go to Kenya. Have your mind blown. Eat interesting food. Dig some interesting people. Have an adventure. Be careful. Come back and you’re going to see your country differently, you’re going to see your president differently, no matter who it is. — Henry Rollins

Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing your lawn. Climb that damn mountain. — Jack Kerouac

For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly; to come down off this feather-bed of civilization, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints. — Robert Louis Stevenson

Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. — Ray Bradbury

We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place. We stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there. — Pascal Mercier

Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to. — Alan Keightley

Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground. — Judith Thurman

Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey. — Pat Conroy

No man is brave that has never walked a hundred miles. If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet. — Patrick Rothfuss

It is always sad to leave a place to which one knows one will never return. Such are the melancolies du voyage: perhaps they are one of the most rewarding things about traveling. — Gustave Flaubert

The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to experience an exotic landscape, to risk the unknown. — Paul Theroux

Although I deeply love oceans, deserts and other wild landscapes, it is only mountains that beckon me with that sort of painful magnetic pull to walk deeper and deeper into their beauty. They keep me continuously wanting to know more, feel more, see more. — Victoria Erickson

• Travel With Friends Quotes

A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles. — Tim Cahill

You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place. — Miriam Adeney

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend. — Robert Louis Stevenson

• Adventure Travel Quotes

Adventure is worthwhile in itself. — Amelia Earhart

If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal. — Paulo Coelho

Most of us abandoned the idea of a life full of adventure and travel sometime between puberty and our first job. Our dreams died under the dark weight of responsibility. Occasionally the old urge surfaces, and we label it with names that suggest psychological aberrations: the big chill, a midlife crisis. — Tim Cahill

Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter. — John Muir

Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. — Edward Abbey

Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless.   We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations, brass-bound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Only when this is recognized can the blown-in-the glass bum relax and go along with it. Only then do the frustrations fall away. In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. — John Steinbeck

What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies. — Jack Kerouac

A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for. — J.A. Shedd

It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any. — Hugh Laurie

Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the Earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white. — Mark Jenkins

The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. — Christopher McCandless

Adventure is allowing the unexpected to happen to you. Exploration is experiencing what you have not experienced before. How can there be any adventure, any exploration, if you let somebody else – above all, a travel bureau – arrange everything before-hand? — Richard Aldington

Be careful because Cambodia is the most dangerous place you will ever visit. You will fall in love with it, and eventually it will break your heart. — Joel Brinkley

• Solo Travel Quotes

To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world. — Freya Stark

Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. — Unknown

I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can’t reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses. — Bill Bryson

The true fruit of travel is perhaps the feeling of being nearly everywhere at home. — Freya Stark

When you’ve managed to stumble directly into the heart of the unknown – either through the misdirection of others, or better yet, through your own creative ineptitude – there is no one there to hold your hand or tell you what to do. In those bad lost moments, in the times when we are advised not to panic, we own the unknown, and the world belongs to us. The child within has full reign. Few of us are ever so free. — Tim Cahill

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. — Lin Yutang

He travels the fastest who travels alone. — Rudyard Kipling

Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection. — Lawrence Durrell

When the traveler goes alone he gets acquainted with himself. — Liberty Hyde Bailey

The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready. — Henry David Thoreau

I think one travels more usefully when they travel alone, because they reflect more. — Thomas Jefferson

Loving life is easy when you are abroad. Where no one knows you and you hold your life in your hands all alone, you are more master of yourself than at any other time. — Hannah Arendt

Personally I like going places where I don’t speak the language, don’t know anybody, don’t know my way around and don’t have any delusions that I’m in control. Disoriented, even frightened, I feel alive, awake in ways I never am at home. — Michael Mewshaw

I can speak to my soul only when the two of us are off exploring deserts or cities or mountains or roads. — Paulo Coelho

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road. Healthy, free, the world before me. The long brown path before me leading me wherever I choose. — Walt Whitman

• Anthony Bourdain Travel Quotes

If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.

Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks — on your body or on your heart — are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.

It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu , for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about.   For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and what’s happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there — with your eyes open — and lived to see it.

Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.

I’m a big believer in winging it. I’m a big believer that you’re never going to find the perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I’m always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary.

Do we really want to travel in hermetically sealed popemobiles through the rural provinces of France, Mexico and the Far East, eating only in Hard Rock Cafes and McDonalds? … I know what I want. I want it all. I want to try everything once.

It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.   Maybe that’s enlightenment enough – to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.

I think food, culture, people and landscape are all absolutely inseparable.

Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.

Southeast Asia has a real grip on me. From the very first time I went there, it was a fulfillment of my childhood fantasies of the way travel should be.

I wanted adventures. I wanted to go up the Nung river to the heart of darkness in Cambodia . I wanted to ride out into a desert on camelback, sand and dunes in every direction, eat whole roasted lamb with my fingers. I wanted to kick snow off my boots in a Mafiya nightclub in Russia. I wanted to play with automatic weapons in Phnom Penh, recapture the past in a small oyster village in France, step into a seedy neon-lit pulqueria in rural Mexico. I wanted to run roadblocks in the middle of the night, blowing past angry militia with a handful of hurled Marlboro packs, experience fear, excitement, wonder.   I wanted kicks – the kind of melodramatic thrills and chills I’d yearned for since childhood, the kind of adventure I’d found as a little boy in the pages of my Tintin comic books. I wanted to see the world – and I wanted the world to be just like the movies.

Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund.

If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.

Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.

More Travel Content & Tips

That’s a roundup of our favorite adventure travel quotes! I hope you’ve found these travel quotes inspirational for your own journeys.

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160 Inspirational Quotes That Will Change The Way You Travel (With Photos!)

I used to think all quotes were cliché. People would always mention them like overused pieces of advice to throw their wisdom at people. The thing is, all the quotes you keep hearing over and over don’t resonate with you. You need to find phrases that will inspire your heart and motivate your mind. You have to keep the ones that you can relate to and discard the ones you disagree with. Now I use quotes as an inspiring way to tell someone to follow their dreams.

As cliché as it sounds, life is short. Even if you always say that you want to travel, time gradually creeps up on you. So I hope that my favorite travel quotes will make you want to travel today because now is the time to pursue your travel goals.

In a hurry? Pin this post for later!

Famous Travel Quotes

Travel quotes that will fuel your wanderlust, brutally honest travel quotes, motivational journey quotes, tourists vs travellers quotes, inspirational quotes about travelling the world, my favorite travel quotes.

Those quotes will show you that travel changes you. Not always in the way you would imagine. Travel can be uncertain, even lonely. But overall travel experiences are unlike anything else. Because travel has the power to transform your life . That being said I hope the following quotes will impact you as much as they impacted me.

All of those quotes (more than 150!) are also perfect for Instagram captions so do not hesitate to get some inspiration with those travel quotes for Instagram!

1. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” ―  Marcel Proust 2. “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” ― Susan Sontag 3. “He who must travel happily must travel light.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupery 4. “Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.” ― Lewis Carroll 5. “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it is lethal.” ― Paulo Coelho 6. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ― 老子 (Laozi) 7. “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” ― Henry Miller

8. “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled.” ― Mohammed 9. “Take only memories, leave only footprints.” ― Chief Si’ahl 10. “Great things are done when men and mountains meet.” ― William Blake 11. “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” ― Dr. Seuss 12. “Not all those who wander are lost.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien 13. “It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.” ― Asian Proverb 14. “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” ― Gustave Flaubert

15. “Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret.” ― Oscar Wilde 16. “Jobs fill your pocket. Adventures fill your soul.” ― Jaime Lyn Beatty 17. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ― André Gide 18. “I’m in love with cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met.” ― John Green 19. “Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” ― Roy M. Goodman 20. “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” ― Aldous Huxley

21. “Make voyages. Attempt them. There’s nothing else.” ― Tennesse Williams 22. “Every one of a hundred thousand cities around the world had its own special sunset and it was worth going there, just once, if only to see the sun go down.” ― Ryū Murakami 23. “If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.” ― Anthony Bourdain 24. “If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.” ― Anthony Bourdain 25. “Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.” ― Anthony Bourdain 26. “Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.” ― Anthony Bourdain

27. “The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” ― Christopher McCandless 28. “Never hesitate to go far away, beyond all seas, all frontiers, all countries, all beliefs.” ― Amin Maalouf 29. “To travel is worth any cost or sacrifice.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert 30. “Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” ― Frank Herbert 31. “Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” ― Ray Bradbury 32. “To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world.” — Freya Stark

33. “We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” ― John Hope Franklin 34. “Travel brings power and love back into your life.” ― Rumi 35. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” ― Jack Kerouac 36. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr. 37. “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” ― Jawaharlal Nehru 38. “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” ― Jeniffer Lee

39. “Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself. It is not far. It is within reach. Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know. Perhaps it is everywhere – on water and land.” ― Walt Whitma 40. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” — Muriel Strode 41. “Human beings are more alike than unalike, and what is true anywhere is true everywhere, yet I encourage travel to as many destinations as possible for the sake of education as well as pleasure.” ― Maya Angelou 42. “The universe is a sort of book, whose first page one has read when one has seen only one’s own country.” — Louis Charles Fougeret de Monbron 43. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” — Mark Twain 44. “All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own, and if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.” ― Samuel Johnson 45. “I travel because it makes me realize how much I haven’t seen, how much I’m not going to see, and how much I still need to see.” ― Carew Papritz

46. “It is a bitter-sweet thing, knowing two cultures. Once you leave your birthplace nothing is ever the same.” ― Sarah Turnbull 47. “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comforts of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things. -air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky. -all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” ― Cesare Pavese 48. “We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.” ― Pascal Mercier 49. “Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty – his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.” ― Aldous Huxley 50. “The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to experience an exotic landscape, to risk the unknown.” ― Paul Theroux 51. “Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” ― Paul Theroux 52. “The farther you go, however, the harder it is to return. The world has many edges, and it’s easy to fall off.” ― Anderson Cooper

53. “The value of your travels does not hinge on how many stamps you have in your passport when you get home — and the slow nuanced experience of a single country is always better than the hurried, superficial experience of forty countries.” ― Rolf Potts 54. “Travel is the only context in which some people ever look around. If we spent half the energy looking at our own neighborhoods, we’d probably learn twice as much.” ― Lucy R. Lippard 55. “When one is traveling, everything looks brighter and lovelier. That does not mean it IS brighter and lovelier; it just means that sweet, kindly home suffers in comparison to tarted-up foreign places with all their jewels on.” ― Catherynne M. Valente 56. “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” ― Samuel Johnson 57. “Adventure is allowing the unexpected to happen to you. Exploration is experiencing what you have not experienced before. How can there be any adventure, any exploration, if you let somebody else – arrange everything before-hand?” ― Richard Aldington 58. “All this hurrying from place to place won’t bring you any relief, for you’re traveling in the company of your own emotions, followed by your troubles all the way.” ― Seneca 59. “I have wandered all my life, and I have traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” ― Hilaire Belloc

60. “Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation.” ― Elizabeth Drew 61. “It is always sad to leave a place to which one knows one will never return. Such are the mélancolies du voyage : perhaps they are one of the most rewarding things about traveling.” ― Gustave Flaubert 62. “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” ― Bill Bryson 63. “I’m a big believer in winging it. I’m a big believer that you’re never going to find perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I’m always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary.” ― Anthony Bourdain 64. “It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn. Maybe that’s enlightenment enough – to know that there is no final resting place of the mind, no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom, at least for me, means realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go.” ― Anthony Bourdain 65. “As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.” ― Anthony Bourdain 66. “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” ― Miriam Beard

67. “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” ― Dagobert D. Runes 68. “People don’t take trips—trips take people.” ― John Steinbeck 69. “When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” ― Clifton Fadiman 70. “Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.” ― Wendell Berry 71. “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. ” ― Lin Yutang 72. “Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” ― Mark Jenkins 73. “And then there is the most dangerous risk of all – the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” ― Randy Komisar

74. “Your comfort zone is a place where you keep yourself in a self-illusion and nothing can grow there but your potentiality can grow only when you can think and grow out of that zone.” ― Rashedur Ryan Rahman 75. “All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.” ― Paul Fussell 76. “Travel makes a wise man better, and a fool worse.” ― Thomas Fuller 77. “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” ― Terry Pratchett 78. “What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do — especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” ― William Least Heat Moon 79. “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might better stay home.” ― James A. Michener 80. “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign” ― Robert Louis Stevenson

81. “The trouble is, you think you have time.” ― Jack Kornfield 82. “Adventure rewrites the routine of our lives and wakes us sharply from the comforts of the familiar. It allows us to see how vast the expanse of our experience. Our ability to grow is no longer linear but becomes unrestricted to any direction we wish to run.” ― Josh Gates 83. “You can’t control the past, but you can control where you go next.” ― Kirsten Hubbard 84. “The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” ― G.K. Chesterton 85. “A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” ― Moslih Eddin Saadi

86. “Journeys are the midwives of thought. Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than moving planes, ships or trains.” ― Alain de Botton 87. “Travellers understand, instinctively and by experience, that travel and adventure change and elongate time, even while navigating the deadlines of airline and train departures.” ― Paul Sheehan 88. “A journey, after all, neither begins in the instant we set out, nor ends when we have reached our doorstep once again. It starts much earlier and is really never over, because the film of memory continues running on inside of us long after we have come to a physical standstill. Indeed, there exists something like a contagion of travel, and the disease is essentially incurable.” ― Ryszard Kapuściński 89. “Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” ― Pat Conroy 90. “I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.” ― Lillian Smith 91. “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.” ― Anatole France

92. “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey! ” ― Barbara Hoffman 93. “Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness.” ― Ray Bradbury 94. “A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” ― 老子 (Laozi) 95. “The journey is part of the experience – an expression of the seriousness of one’s intent. One doesn’t take the A train to Mecca.” ― Anthony Bourdain 9 6. “Everything I was I carry with me, everything I will be lies waiting on the road ahead.” ― Ma Jian 97. “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” ― John Steinbeck

98. “Traveling outgrows its motives. It soon proves sufficient in itself. You think you are making a trip, but soon it is making you – or unmaking you.” ― Nicolas Bouvier 99. “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin 100. “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” ― Robert Louis Stevenson 101. “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” ― Anais Nin 102. “The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.” ― Norton Juster 103. “Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” ― Greg Anderson

104. “I love to travel, but hate to arrive.” ― Albert Einstein 105. “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” ― Jack Kerouac 106. “To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote, To travel is to live.” ― Hans Christian Andersen 107. “It is not the destination where you end up but the mishaps and memories you create along the way!” ― Penelope Riley 108. “For me, becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.” ― Michelle Obama 109. “You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.” ― Joss Whedon 110. “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” ― Martin Buber

111. “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travellers don’t know where they’re going.” ― Paul Theroux 112. “Those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.” ― Rick Warren 113. “Tourists went on holidays while travelers did something else. They traveled.” ― Alex Garland 114. “Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” ― Lawrence Block 115.  “The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.” ― G.K. Chesterton

116. “Whenever you go on a trip to visit foreign lands or distant places, remember that they are all someone’s home and backyard.” ― Vera Nazarian 117. “Anyone who needs more than one suitcase is a tourist, not a traveler” ― Ira Levin 118. “Move to a new country and you quickly see that visiting a place as a tourist, and actually moving there for good, are two very different things.” ― Tahir Shah 119. “A tourist can’t help but have a distorted opinion of a place: he meets unrepresentative people, has unrepresentative experiences, and runs around imposing upon the place the fantastic mental pictures he had in his head when he got there.” ― Michael Lewis 120. “It makes a difference how you feel on this planet Earth: a citizen, a temporary tourist, or an exotic cast-away.” ― Talismanist Giebra

121. “A mind that is stretched by new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” ― Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. 122. “I can speak to my soul only when the two of us are off exploring deserts or cities or mountains or roads.” ― Paulo Coelho 123. “Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art.” ― Freya Stark 124. “Surely, of all the wonders of the world, the horizon is the greatest.” ― Freya Stark 125. “The man who goes alone can start today, but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” ― Henry David Thoreau 126. “Maybe you had to leave in order to miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.” ― Jodi Picoult

127. “Wherever you go, you take yourself with you.” ― Neil Gaiman 128. “There’s something about arriving in new cities, wandering empty streets with no destination. I will never lose the love for the arriving, but I’m born to leave.” ― Charlotte Eriksson 129. “No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be.” ― Chuck Thompson 130. “I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side.” ― Roman Payne 131. “I travel a lot. I hate having my life disrupted by routine.” ― Caskie Stinnett 132. “Traveling is not something you’re good at. It’s something you do. Like breathing.” ― Gayle Foreman

133. “We travel initially to lose ourselves; and we travel next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe where riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again – to slow time down and get taken in, and to fall in love once more.” ― Pico Iyer 134. “It is not down on any map; true places never are.” ― Herman Melville 135. “Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.” ― Judith Thurman 136. “Travel teaches toleration.” ― Benjamin Disraeli 137. “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” ― Mark Twain 138. “Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.” ― Benjamin Disraeli

139. “Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel’s immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way.” ― Ralph Crawshaw 140. “Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” ― Michael Palin 141. “I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ― Mary Anne Radmacher 142. “If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.” ― Glenn Clark 143. “The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life. ” ― Agnes Repplier 144. “Maps encourage boldness. They’re like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible.” ― Mark Jenkins

145. “Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.” ― Erol Ozan 146. “Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.” ― Lovelle Drachman 147. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” ― Mae West 148. “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” ― Maya Angelou 149. “Being exposed to the existence of other languages increases the perception that the world is populated by people who not only speak differently from oneself but whose cultures and philosophies are other than one’s own.” ― Maya Angelou 150. ”Don’t let your luggage define your travels, each life unravels differently.” ― Shane L. Koyczan

151. “Travel empties out everything you’ve into the box called your life, all the things you accumulate to tell you who you are.” ― Claire Fontaine 152. “Traveling is more than having a destination in mind; it’s discovering a place in your heart.” ― Mark Amend 153. “Travel sparks our imagination, feeds our curiosity, and reminds us how much we all have in common.” ―  Deborah Lloyd 154. “And if travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” ―  Pico Iyer 155. “Travelling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.’” ―  Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

156. “Travel is like knowledge. The more you see, the more you know you haven’t seen.” ― Mark Hertsgaard 157. “Wanderlust is incurable.” ― Mark Jenkins 158. “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” ― Anthony Bourdain 159. “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” ―  Tim Cahill 160. “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” ―  Anita Desai

I truly hope these travel quotes have given you some inspiration to travel and explore the world. Do you have any favorite quotes? What about travel quotes? Share with me your favorites in the comments down below!

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Traveller vs Tourist: Exploring the Essence of Your Journey

Feb 13, 2024 | Feature | 0 comments

Do you enjoy immersing yourself in the local culture or prefer to stick to well-planned tours? This is often the basis for debating whether you are a traveller or a tourist.

The main difference between these two exploration styles is their impact on the individual and the places they visit.

In this article, we will delve into the details of each approach, examining how they can positively impact the world while providing fresh perspectives and experiences for those who embrace them.

Discover whether you align more with the spontaneous explorations of a traveller or the structured sightseeing of a tourist as we explore their impact on the places they visit and the experiences they cherish.

Traveller vs Tourist: Exploring the Essence of Your Journey.

Key Takeaways of the Traveller vs Tourist Debate

• The difference between tourists and travellers often lies in their approach: tourists may follow an itinerary and prioritize comfort, while travellers seek authentic experiences and local immersion.
• Engagement with local culture, such as learning the language, eating local cuisine, and respecting customs, can significantly enrich travel experiences and contribute positively to the community.
• While enjoying the journey, mindful accommodation choices and the impact on local economies are important, and labels like ‘tourist’ and ‘traveller’ should not overshadow the personal nature and authenticity of one’s travel experience.

Traveller vs tourist mindset.

Exploring the Traveller and Tourist Mindsets

While both tourists and travellers explore the world, their approaches often differ. Tourists and travellers differ in their mindset and approach to exploring new places. Tourists often use travel as escapism and comfort, sticking to the itinerary and ticking off lists of iconic sights. On the other hand, travellers seek to enrich their experience by soaking in experiences and discovering off-the-beaten-path locales.

Regardless of their engagement styles, which some people argue about, both parties significantly impact the local economy of the places they visit.

The Quest for Authenticity: Traveller Makes an Effort

Travellers often go the extra mile, literally and metaphorically. They demonstrate a commitment to understanding and respecting local culture by investing time in research and engaging in community host programs. Their journey is marked by an effort to genuinely connect with local traditions and heritage, reflecting their quest for authenticity.

Sightseeing vs. Immersion: Tourists Stick to the Itinerary

Tourists tend to prioritise visiting famous landmarks, sticking to structured travel plans centred around these popular attractions, which can be considered tourist sites. This approach to travel, rooted in historical travel patterns, offers a curated experience of a destination, with scenic and themed journeys emerging to cater to this preference.

Comfort Zone Boundaries: Tourist or Not a Tourist?

However, it’s worth noting that the distinction between a tourist and a traveller isn’t always clear-cut. While travellers might venture outside their comfort zone more frequently, an appreciation for familiar amenities doesn’t preclude a tourist from embracing new experiences.

Travel abroad and partake in volunteering programs worldwide to give back to the communities.

Cultural Engagement: More Than Just a Visitor

To be more than a mere visitor, one must actively engage with local culture, respect societal norms, and uphold environmental responsibility. Here are some ways to do so:

• Learn the local language
• Participate in local farming and crafts
• Support local businesses and artisans
• Respect cultural traditions and customs
• Minimize your environmental impact
• Form lasting bonds with the communities you visit

By following these guidelines, travellers can contribute to the preservation of cultural heritage and respect for cultural norms, leading to a more meaningful and responsible travel experience.

Language as a Bridge: The Effort to Speak Local Words

Mastering even a few local language words can significantly enhance the overall experience. It allows travellers to:

• Connect genuinely with the community and its culture, fostering more meaningful and authentic experiences
• Become more independent and confident
• Open doors to honest conversations with locals
• Bridge cultural gaps

By speaking the local language, travellers can make the most out of their trip, create lasting memories, and connect with local people.

Dining Like a Local: Why a Traveller Eats Local Food

An integral part of travel is relishing local cuisine, which is closely linked to the cultural experience and offers a glimpse into the local heritage. Trying local dishes is a form of cultural immersion, providing insight into the place’s way of life and history.

Eating at small, local restaurants also ensures your money goes directly into the community, providing an authentic culinary experience.

Cultural engagement and exploration.

Accommodation Choices: Where You Stay Matters

Your choice of nightly accommodation can significantly shape your travel experience. From glamping to staying in traditional local housing, your choice of accommodation can set the tone for a truly unforgettable vacation or business trip. After all, understanding your personal accommodation needs is crucial in finding the perfect place to stay.

Beyond the Hotel Experience: Finding Local Charm

Opting for alternatives to traditional hotels can offer deeper insights into local life. Choosing accommodations like Spanish villas, Airbnb, or even boutique hostels can provide a unique and personalized stay, enhancing the authenticity of the travel experience.

Safety and Comfort: Balancing Adventure and Well-being

Undoubtedly, while seeking adventure off the beaten path, safety and comfort remain supreme. Considering the following factors is crucial for a positive and memorable stay:

• Safety features of accommodations
• Access to transport
• Access to cash
• Access to communication

Shared experiences from other travellers can provide insights into finding safe and comfortable accommodations in less explored areas.

. Accommodations like Spanish villas, Airbnb, or boutique hostels can provide a unique and personalised stay.

Economic Impact: Supporting the Community You Visit

Travellers can positively impact local economies by supporting small businesses and local organizations. Increased visitor spending results in higher sales tax revenue, which can be reinvested into the community, leading to economic growth in the areas they visit.

The demand for better infrastructure and expanded service offerings due to tourism serves the visitors and improves the quality of life for residents.

Tourism Industry Realities: The Double-Edged Sword

Yet, it’s critical to remember that tourism can have positive and negative impacts. It can exacerbate local issues such as overcrowding, poor infrastructure, and living conditions, leading to an uneven income distribution, increased consumption of natural resources, and substantial negative ecological impacts.

But the coin has another side: tourism can contribute to cultural safeguarding and revitalization, foster mutual respect, and improve international relations.

Making Conscious Choices: How Your Money Talks

By making mindful decisions, travellers can actively contribute to positive change. Here are some ways to do so:

• Consuming local food
• Staying in eco-friendly accommodations
• Supporting female-owned enterprises
• Donating to local charities

Every decision can help promote social responsibility and empower local communities.

The positive economic impact of travel.

Navigating New Territories: Instincts Over Google Maps

Transitioning from economic implications to exploration, it’s worth discussing how to navigate unfamiliar territories. While Google Maps may be handy, relying on instincts can lead to more spontaneous and explorative experiences.

Intuition can serve as a vital tool for safety, and choosing to navigate without technological assistance can enhance engagement with the local environment and culture.

Discovering the Uncharted: A Traveller’s Joy

Embarking on a journey off the beaten track can be a thrilling experience. Exploring lesser-known locations often leads to more meaningful experiences, new friendships, and transformative experiences. Plus, the anticipation and delight of discovering hidden gems before they gain popularity give many travellers a sense of pioneering and the pleasure of sharing these finds with others and immersing themselves in a new culture.

The Reliance on Technology: When to Put Away the GPS

However, determining when to rely on technology and when to trust our instincts can be a challenge. Avoiding using GPS for navigation can prevent travellers from being confined to well-trodden paths, enabling more unexpected and personal discoveries.

The challenge of finding one’s way without a GPS can boost a traveller’s confidence and foster reliance on one’s abilities to navigate.

Navigating New Territories: Instincts Over Google Maps.

Social Dynamics: Solo Exploration vs Group Excursions

The social interactions during travel play a significant role in shaping the overall experience. Whether you prefer the flexibility of solo travel or the social experience of group travel, each has distinct advantages and opportunities for personal growth.

The Power of Solitude: Personal Growth on the Road

Solo travel offers a unique set of advantages, including:

• A personalized itinerary
• Improved self-awareness
• Enhanced decision-making abilities
• Independence and confidence
• Deepened engagement with the culture and environment

The Group Tour Debate: Convenience vs. Authenticity

Conversely, group tours provide ease and potential cost savings for large groups. They handle all transport, accommodation, and tickets for attractions, making group travel generally cheaper than individually. However, the structured nature of group tours may limit opportunities for personal exploration and authentic experiences.

Social Dynamics: Solo Exploration vs Group Excursions.

The Label Debate: Rejecting Travel Snobbery

However, it’s essential not to get entangled in the terminology. The distinction between ‘traveller’ and ‘tourist’ often leads to a sense of elitism and superiority in travel, which can overshadow the true essence of journeying. After all, travel motivations are varied and should not be subjected to the narrow classifications imposed by travel snobbery.

Why Labels Don’t Define Your Journey

Whether identifying as a tourist or traveller, it’s vital to remember that these labels don’t necessarily reflect the real difference a traveller makes in the quality or authenticity of the travel experience. Each individual has interests and comfort levels that should not be deemed superior or inferior.

After all, travel experiences are personal and cannot be judged by labels.

From Instagram Feed to Real Life: Staying Present

In today’s digital age, it’s tempting to focus primarily on capturing ‘Instagrammable’ moments during travel. But the real adventure lies in the present moment, beyond the camera lens. Navigating without technology can enhance engagement with the local environment and culture, leading to more profound, authentic experiences.

A Summary of a Traveller vs a Tourist

From the characteristics of travellers and tourists to the impacts of travel choices, we’ve explored the essence of journeying. Whether you’re a traveller, a tourist, or a bit of both, remember that the joy of travel lies in the experiences and memories you create, not the labels you wear.

The beauty of exploring new territories, engaging with different cultures, and stepping outside your comfort zone is a universal aspect of travel that transcends these definitions. Each trip offers unique opportunities to learn, grow, and see the world through a new lens.

So, pack your bags with an open mind and a heart ready for adventure, and let the journey transform you as much as you impact the destinations you visit.

Related Content to Fair Dinkum Traveller!

• Budget Airlines vs Major Airlines: Is Budget Always Cheaper?
• Hotels vs Camping: Who is Your Winner?
• Holiday Apartment vs Hotels – What is your preferred Holiday Option?

Which a you, a traveller or a tourist?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a traveller and a tourist.

The difference between a traveller and a tourist is that a traveller goes to different places and may not return to the previous place. In contrast, a tourist temporarily visits a new place for leisure. So, essentially, a traveller is more about the journey, and a tourist is more about the destination.

Is every tourist a traveller?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the terms “tourist” and “traveller” are nearly the same, as both involve making a trip or journey for pleasure or culture. Therefore, every tourist is essentially a traveller.

What is the traveller vs tourist debate?

The debate between “traveller” and “tourist” revolves around the image they evoke; a traveller is seen as brave and visiting fewer mainstream places, while a tourist is perceived as following guidebooks to well-known sights.

How can travellers support local communities?

Travellers can support local communities by spending money at small businesses, getting involved with local organizations, and making thoughtful spending decisions. This helps to contribute to the local economy and community positively.

Why is it beneficial to navigate without technology?

Navigating without technology allows for more spontaneous and explorative experiences while boosting confidence and independence in one’s steering ability. It can lead to a deeper connection with the environment and self-reliance.

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95 most inspirational travel quotes ever penned

Our favourite inspirational travel quotes have encouraged us to travel with abandon over the years. Perhaps they will do the same for you…

For us, there is no such thing as luxury travel; travel is, by default, a luxury. It is a privilege provided by the country of our birth, a privilege that many are not as fortunate to enjoy.

Sometimes, we have to pinch ourselves at just how ridiculous our lives have become: an ex-teacher and jobbing writer travelling the world for a living. It is absurd, it is astonishing, it is luxury.

When I first went travelling at 21 years old, my father gave me this quote scrawled on a piece of card.

It infused me with wanderlust. It encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone, make the most of my time, see the world and enjoy the freedom that comes with being on the road. It remains one of the most inspirational travel quotes I’ve read (even if Twain did not actually say it).

Today, 20 years and almost 100 countries later, it’s still in my wallet. Despite its tattered and dishevelled appearance, it’s every bit as important to me now as it was then.

With that in mind, we’ve collated our most beloved inspirational travel quotes to encourage readers to “explore, dream and discover” for themselves.

inspirational travel quotes

1. “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

2. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

3. “Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage.” – Paulo Coelho

4. “With age, comes wisdom. With travel, comes understanding.” – Sandra Lake

5. “When overseas you learn more about your own country, than you do the place you’re visiting.” – Clint Borgen

6. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

7. “Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the moon.” – Paul Brandt

8. “The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau

9. “The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” – Rudyard Kipling

10. “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

11. “When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” – Susan Heller Anderson

12. “No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be.” – Chuck Thompson

13. “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

14. “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

15. “There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner

16. “A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships were built for.” – John A. Shedd

17. “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux

18. “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J. R. R. Tolkien

19. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. “Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli

21. “Once a year, go somewhere you’ve never been before.” – The Dalai Lama

22. “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

23. “What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re travelling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon

24. “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

25. “Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” – Paul Theroux

26. “A traveller without observation is a bird without wings.” – Moslih Eddin Saadi

27. “Your true traveller finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.” – Aldous Huxley

28. “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

29. “All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.” – Samuel Johnson

30. “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.” – Anatole France

31. “I can’t control the wind but I can adjust the sail.” – Ricky Skaggs

32. “We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfilment.” – Hilaire Belloc

33. “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” – Dagobert D. Runes

34. “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

35. “The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson

36. “You don’t have to be rich to travel well.” – Eugene Fodor

37. “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou

38. “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber

39. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost

40. “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

41. “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

42. “Once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” ― Michael Palin

43. “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

44. “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

45. “When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman

46. “There are far, far better things ahead than we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis

47. “Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art.” – Freya Stark

48. “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” – Aldous Huxley

49. “All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveller learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.” – Paul Fussell

50. “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain

51. “The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

52. “Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation.” – Elizabeth Drew

53. “People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck

54. “Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” – Ray Bradbury

55. “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert

56. “The journey not the arrival matters.” – T. S. Eliot

57. “Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator.” – Robert Orben

58. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

59. “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” – Oscar Wilde

60. “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

61. “If an ass goes travelling, he’ll not come home a horse.” – Thomas Fuller

62. “Travelling tends to magnify all human emotions.” – Peter Hoeg

63. “To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote: To travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Andersen

64. “To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark

65. “I am not the same having seen the moon shine from the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

66. “I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on earth. Then I ask myself the same question.” – Harun Yahya

67. “I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.” – George Bernard Shaw

68. “A wise traveler never despises his own country.” – Carlo Goldoni

69. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide

70 “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

71. “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin

72. “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

73. “The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

74. “A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place.” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

75. “He who would travel happily must travel light.” – Antoine de St. Exupery

76. “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

77. “The more I travelled the more I realised that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine

78. “Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” – Stephen Covey

78. “Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” – Lawrence Block

80. “Take only memories, leave only footprints.” – Chief Seattle – or Si’ahl

81. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller

82. “It is not down in any map; true places never are.” – Herman Melville

83. “We live in a world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

84. “The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself” – Wallace Stevens

85. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch

86. “Paris is always a good idea.” – Julia Ormond (although it is often wrongly attributed to Audrey Hepburn)

87. “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the trip.” – Babs Hoffman

88. “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

89. “Jobs fill your pocket but adventures fill your soul.” – Jaime Lyn Beatty

90. “It is in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown. The only true failure would be not to explore at all.” – Sir Ernest Shackleton

91. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” –  Jack Kerouac

92. “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things can not be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain

93. “Live with no excuses and travel with no regrets.” – Oscar Wilde

94. “Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” – Roy M Goodman

95. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain (or possibly H Jackson Brown Jr )

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The Lonely Planet Ultimate Travel List is the definitive wish list of the best places to visit on earth – the perfect accompaniment to our selection of inspirational travel quotes.

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Every Travel Quote Ever

Say goodbye to scouring the internet in search of inspirational travel quotes to keep you focussed on saving for that next big trip. Instead take a read through our list of every travel quote ever. We dare you to try and not be inspired.

Are we missing one of your favs? Share your own travel quote in the comments and we might just include it!

Inspirational Travel Quotes

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Unknown

“I am not a great book, I am not a great artist, but I love art and I love food, so I am the perfect traveller.” – Michael Palin

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

“He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” – Moorish proverb

“People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck

“The best journeys in life are those that answer questions you never thought to ask.” ― Rich Ridgeway

“To travel is to evolve.” – Pierre Bernardo

Take the first step, the rest will follow. Book the ticket, apply for the job, send the email, jump into the water. The rest gets easier from there. – Abi from http://www.insidethetravellab.com/

“A person does not grow from the ground like a vine or a tree, one is not part of a plot of land. Mankind has legs so it can wander.” ― Roman Payne, The Wanderess

“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

“You don’t have to be rich to travel well.” – Eugene Fodor

“He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him.” – Dutch Proverb

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain

“He who would travel happily must travel light.” – Antoine de St. Exupery

“Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.” – Anatole France

“It is not down in any map; true places never are.” – Herman Melville

It’s never too late to have a life you love. Don’t ever feel like you’ve missed the boat, don’t have what it takes or can’t achieve your dreams. Instead of removing your dreams, remove the doubts and fears keeping you from them. It’s never, ever too late. – Phoebe from https://littlegreybox.net

“Without travel I would have wound up a little ignorant white Southern female, which was not my idea of a good life.” – Lauren Hutton

“I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself.” – James Baldwin

“I was not born for one corner. The whole world is my native land.” – Seneca

“Travelling — it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” — Lawrence Block

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Scott Cameron

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” – Oscar Wilde

“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” – Rudyard Kipling

“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” – Alan Keightley

“Tourists visit. Travellers explore.” – Unknown

If you don’t do it now, when will you do it? -Monica from http://thetravelhack.com/

“Travelling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.'” – Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

“I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on Earth. Then I ask myself the same question.” – Harun Yahya

“Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.” – Ernest Hemingway

“Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.” – Unknown

“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

“NOT I – NOT ANYONE else, can travel that road for you, You must travel it for yourself.” – Walt Whitman

“You don’t choose the day you enter the world and you don’t chose the day you leave. It’s what you do in between that makes all the difference.” – Anita Septimus

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends… The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” ― Clifton Fadiman

“I haven’t been everywhere but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag

“Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” – Roy M. Goodman

Adventure Travel Quotes

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.” ― Steve McCurry

“The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine

The biggest addiction a person can have is discovering the unknown. Once it takes hold, there is no getting out and the only way to get your fix is by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and exploring new horizons, cultural, and places. – Stephen from A Backpacker’s Tale 

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”― Andre Gide

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

“If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” ― Unknown

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” ― John A. Shedd

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ― Mark Twain

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.” ― Martin Buber

“May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home.” ― Trenton Lee Stewart

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

“Make voyages! Attempt them… there’s nothing else.” – Tennessee Williams

“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” ― Freya Stark

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” ― G.K. Chesterton

The more borders you cross, the more your mind opens — Paul from Global Help Swap

“One travels to run away from routine, that dreadful routine that kills all imagination and all our capacity for enthusiasm.” – Ella Maillart

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

“When overseas you learn more about your own country, than you do the place you’re visiting.” – Clint Borgen

“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

“Every man can transform the world from one of monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure.” – Irving Wallace

“A traveller without observation is a bird without wings.” — Moslih Eddin Saadi

“I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine.” – Caskie Stinnett

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” – Unknown (thanks to Melissa Bond for the contribution!)

“Investment in travel is an investment in yourself.” – Matthew Karsten

“It is better to travel well then to arrive.” – Buddha

“Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aristotle

“We all become great explorers during our first few days in a new city, or a new love affair.” – Mignon McLaughlin

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin

“Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” – Mohammed

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

“Adventure without risk is Disneyland.” – Doug Coupland

“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.” – Cesare Pavese

“How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.” – R. Buckminster Fuller

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” – Rosalia de Castro

“I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment” – Hilaire Belloc

“If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey most of us would never start out at all.” – Dan Rather

“The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson

“Airplane travel is nature’s way of making you look like your passport photo.” – Al Gore

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travellers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux

“It is not fit that every man should travel; it makes a wise man better, and a fool worse.” – William Hazlitt

“You develop a sympathy for all human beings when you travel a lot.” – Shakuntala Devi

Which is the best tourism quote?

Pick your next destination on TourRadar.com !

Which is the best marketplace for travel tours?

It is TourRadar.com , that with more than 40,000 tours and 2,500 operators is the best place where to find your next destination.

Which is the best tour pic caption?

Why should i touring.

“With getting time away from work and your ‘normal’ life becoming more and more difficult, your time off is more valuable and precious than it’s ever been. Absolutely nobody has time for mediocre experiences and modern-day touring has adapted to fit these requirements. Nowadays group tours can be anything and everything: what you do, depends solely on you.”

Travis Pittman, TourRadar co-founder and CEO

Which is the best nature travel quote?

Find all our nature tours on TourRadar.com!

Jackie is a travel-addicted Canadian who currently resides in Vienna, Austria. When she’s not writing travel guides or reading her new favourite book, she’s planning her next weekend getaway somewhere in Europe.

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50 inspiring travel quotes

By Rebecca Males

Sometimes all it takes is the written word to lift your soul from the humdrum of everyday life. These are the wordsmiths that can take you by the hand and induce the most severe sense of wanderlust, taking you to the edge of the world - and back.

'Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.' Ernest Hemingway

'A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.' John A. Shedd

'A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.' Lao Tzu

'People don't take trips… trips take people.' John Steinbeck

'Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.' Lawrence Block

'Once a year, go somewhere you have never been before.' Dalai Lama

' Paris is always a good idea.' Audrey Hepburn

'Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.' Jack Kerouac

'Not until we are lost do we begin to find ourselves.' Henry David Thoreau

'Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.' Benjamin Disraeli

'Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled.' Mohammed

'A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.' George Moore

'All that is gold does not glitter; just as not all those who wander are lost.' JRR Tolkien

'Travel is the only thing you can buy that makes you richer.' Author unknown

'I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.' Oscar Wilde

'If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people , you might better stay home.' James Michener

'It is better to travel well than to arrive.' Buddha

'Travel makes a wise man better, and a fool worse.' Thomas Fuller

'I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.' George Bernard Shaw

'All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.' Martin Buber

'Journeys end in lovers meeting.' William Shakespeare

'Great things are done when men and mountains meet.' William Blake

'If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.' Cesare Paves

'He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him.' Dutch Proverb

'The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land.' Gilbert K. Chesterton

'Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.' Ralph Waldo Emerson

'This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England .' William Shakespeare

'There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.' Robert Louis Stevenson

'He who does not travel does not know the value of men.' Moorish proverb

'Curiosity is the one thing invincible in nature.' Freya Stark

'The most effective way to do it, is to do it.' Amelia Earhart

'No one realises how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.' Lin Yutang

'For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.' Robert Louis Stevenson

'One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.' Henry Miller

'A traveller without observation is a bird without wings.' Saadi Shirazi

'A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.' Tim Cahill

'As a woman I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.' Virginia Woolf

'The Earth is what we all have in common.' Wendell Berry

'To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.' Aldous Huxley

'Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.' Paul Theroux

'The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.' Rudyard Kipling

'No, no! The adventures first, explanations take such a dreadful time.' Lewis Carroll

'It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.' Ursula K. Le Guin

'Every man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not.' William James

'A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.' John Steinbeck

'We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies, and the sand out of our belongings.' Erma Bombeck

'Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.' Greg Anderson

'Adventures do occur, but not punctually.' E.M. Forster

'Vacation: a period of travel and relaxation when you take twice the clothes and half the money you need.' Author unknown

Like this? Now read: Books that make you want to travel

Ambassadors recommend one book to read before visiting their country

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Tourist vs. Traveller... Is There A Difference?

Hello again Travellers!  👋🏻 ,

Happy Tuesday!  We hope your week has been great so far. 🤩

It’s business as usual here at SimsDirect, and as we immerse ourselves within October, it’s time for us to wrap things up with Q3 as we transition into the year's final quarter. 🗓

Which reminds us, for those of you residing in the ACT, NSW, SA, TAS, and VIC - Make sure all of those clocks are adjusted! Yep. It’s that time of year again; daylight savings is upon us. 😎

Which makes us wonder, how do you personally feel about daylight savings? We will admit it initially feels strange when the sun is still out at 7 pm! Well, here in Sydney, at least. 😅

While we’re on the subject - did you know that for 76~ days a year, the sun never sets in Norway?! Pretty crazy, right? Also known as ‘The Land of the Midnight Sun’, where the sun never actually sets from May to late July. ☀️🤯

Have you ever been to Norway and experienced this eerie yet captivating sight?  

Anyways , moving on, this weeks topic is:

The difference between a traveller and a tourist

Ahh, yes, it’s an age-old question, one for the history books, and, as a business within the travel space, a question that we get asked a lot more often than you think.

But tourist vs traveller , does it really matter? And why do people care so much? Is there even a fundamental difference between the two?

It seems like almost everyone has an opinion on this one, so, we thought it would be fitting to take it into our hands and really break it down.

By definition , taken from Oxford Languages, both read as follows:

Tourist - a person who is travelling or visiting a place for pleasure.

Traveller - a person who is travelling or who often travels.

Hmm… Strikingly similar, it seems… You could swap the definitions around, and it would still suit the word at hand.

We need to go deeper .

Perhaps we could analyse a quote from Alex Garland’s novel, ‘ The Beach ’.

“I had ambiguous feelings about the difference between tourists and travellers – the problem being that the more I travelled, the smaller the differences became. But the one difference I could still latch on to was that tourists went on holidays while travellers did something else. They travelled.”

That kind of makes sense; maybe what he’s trying to convey is the fact that travellers care ; they have a desire to learn about the history, indulge in the culture, and become a part of the place they are visiting, as opposed to simply needing a break from real life.

Could that be it?  

Did we, SimsDirect, solve one of life’s greatest mysteries ? A key question answered that’ll potentially go down as a critical component in defining the characteristics of human existence.

Okay, maybe not . 😂

It’s much of a muchness really. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♀️

Tourist, Traveller. Tomato, tomato. (Pronounced: tuh-may-toe , tuh-mah-toe .) 🍅

But if you made it this far, thank you for reading the Simify  rendition of Mythbusters.

Adios amigo ! 🤞🏻

Have a great day and we will catch you next week. 🥰🧡

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What’s the Difference Between  tourists and travelers

You need not even listen, just wait…the world will offer itself freely to you, unmasking itself. Franz Kafka

If you’ve traveled much, I know you’ve seen them. I mean, we’ve all seen them. And I’ve never met a fellow traveler who doesn’t find them annoying.

Even the word ‘tourist’ gives me shivers.

“But it’s called the Travel and Tourism industry” I hear you say. “What’s the problem?”  Doesn’t everyone have ‘a right’ to travel, see the world, and expand their world view?

No. Not assholes  tourists.

Let me explain: A tourist spot is a place of interest that the locals are already familiar with or have understood the history behind. They believe that the history (sometimes good, sometimes bad) should be preserved for future generations – either to keep its great natural beauty, as a lesson to future humans (be it a warning or a reminder), or of some historical interest.

Related: What Makes a Bad Traveler

Invariably, you will need to travel to get to the tourist spot.

Now, dear reader, I am going to tell you a little secret.

There are two types of people who visit tourist spots (and travel to get there) – there are TOURISTS and there are TRAVELERS.

“They’re the same!” I hear you say!

No, they are NOT. There is a big difference between tourists and travelers.

And here’s why…

A TOURIST… saves up their money, decides to go on holiday, listens to what their friends and family say and then book something exactly the same as their friends did so that they too can do exactly what everyone else has done. A TRAVELLER… saves up their money, decides to go on holiday, and books to go to a place that THEY are interested in because they feel a connection or interest to that place. They are going for themselves, not to brag about going there.

A TOURIST… thinks they know the history and culture of the places they are going to. A TRAVELLER …researches their destination’s history and culture and factors things like religious holidays, languages, lifestyle etc into their travel plans.

A TOURIST … wears inappropriate clothing and carries their most expensive jewelry to remote destinations. They also pack more bags they can manage and expect someone else to carry them for them. A TRAVELLER. .. packs only what is necessary and potentially hand washes, if necessary.

A TOURIST … chooses their accommodation based purely on wi-fi capabilities. A TRAVELLER … chooses accommodation based on the location.

A TOURIST … goes to places, takes selfies in ridiculous poses and moves on. A TRAVELLER … goes to places, takes photos and reflects on the historical/cultural significance of the place they visit while being there.

A TOURIST … loudly vocalizes their opinion or disapproval about other cultures in front of people from that culture, and constantly reiterates how much ‘better’ their own nationality/religion/culture is. A TRAVELLER. .. keeps their opinions to themselves and remains open to new ideas and cultures.

A TOURIST … expects the world to speak their language. A TRAVELLER. .. takes the time to learn a few key phrases in the language of the country they are visiting and download Google Translate.

A TOURIST… expects every country in the world to accept their currency (because its better) A TRAVELLER.. . exchanges their money into the currency of the country they are visiting and they also don’t carry around large denominations of the currency.

A TOURIST… eats at international fast-food chains like McDonalds and KFC (and then go on to complain that the menu is different) A TRAVELLER… eats local food and tries local dishes.

A TOURIST… buys a few souvenirs and culturally misappropriates the clothing, hairstyles and items. A TRAVELLER… buys a few souvenirs and treasures them.

A TOURIST… expects the location to change for them A TRAVELLER… happily changes for the location

So what’s the real difference between a tourist and a traveler? Whether you are young or old, have a lot of money or just enough; choose to travel alone or in a tour group, backpack or take a cruise – it doesn’t matter. Being a tourist or traveler is all about your attitude.

Take your time, plan your holiday, find out about the culture and history of the country you are visiting – learn, grow and most importantly – experience it all! You may never get another chance.

Just please, do me one small favor.

Be a traveler – not a tourist.

About Lauren Meyer

Lauren enjoys travelling, photography, single malt whiskey, history, deep sarcasm and dark humour. Her idea of a perfect vacation is hiking through the Scottish Highlands – but staying overnight somewhere with a flush toilet and a shower. Never one to shy away from her opinion, Lauren will keep you entertained with stories of life, love and travel. You’ve been warned…

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One response to “ The Difference Between Tourists and Travelers ”

Absolutely stunning destinations! These travel experiences are truly inspiring. Dare2Gear ( https://dare2gear.com/ ) seems like the perfect choice for adventurers seeking unforgettable journeys. Can’t wait to embark on new adventures with them!

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Tourists Vs Travellers: 12 Differences Revealed In Minimalistic Illustrations

Are you a tourist or a traveller? Apparently, the distinction is important! And here’s a Holidify illustration series showing the differences between these two groups of cosmopolitan vagabonds. It seems that tourists prefer cultural sights and easy accommodations while travellers travel light, sleep wherever they can, and are lone rebels (probably without a cause).

The illustrations were prepared by Holidify, a company hosting an app for all those traveling in India. If you want to see more fun “vs” posts, you can click here to see the difference between how designers and regular people see the world. Or you can learn about the differences between British and American English here .

More info: holidify.com  | facebook  | twitter  (h/t: brightside )

Martynas Klimas

Writes like a mad dervish, rolls to dodge responsibility, might have bitten the Moon once.

Got wisdom to pour?

The implication is that if you stay in a hotel, visit a big city, travel with a group, you are a tourist. Disagree. I love museums and the buzz of cities such as London, Hong Kong, Sydney and Beijiing. I explore using mass transit as well as walking. Eat in local restaurants, cafes and food stands. Buy local and absorb the culture as well a cultural activities. That does not make me a tourist.

I seems to be on both sides.. so does that makes a tourist of traveller? =P for example: i usually travel alone and I bring dslr, laptop. I climb mountains but also stay in hotel, hostel, climb mountains yet also visit local sights..

this is just a simplistic way of looking at things.. not accurate at all.

So what? Being a tourist is something to avoid and a traveller is cool uh, wannabes? Read a good book and stop being such an idiot

Don’t necessarily agree with all the comparisons, yet it’s a nice infographic to get you thinking.

As I wrote a post on my french blog about that, I can tell you, we’re never 100% Traveller or Tourist but we’re a good mix of both.

I’m a traveller enjoying a good museum, all the vibes coming from a city ( love to be in the middle to Times Square with a ton of people on Black Friday ).

So take this kind of post sparingly.

No matter how achingly boho and individual you try to be, the people of Paris, Delhi, Jaffna or Timbuktu only see a tourist, so can we stop with this childish tourist vs. traveller crap?

Awesome. I want to be Traveler

Simply stunning..

excellent !

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Tourist vs Traveler: What’s the Difference? Mindset.

by  Annie  

Published:  June 20, 2022

Tourist vs traveler is a conversation that’s been around forever in the travel space. Some people use these words interchangeably, but there are differences between the two groups. I’m sure you’ve noticed them yourself when you’ve been traveling! At the core, it comes down to mindset. 

The major differences between tourist and traveler are in how approach the act of leaving their home and venturing out into the world. It’s in the way they think about travel and the purpose behind their trips. In this article, I’ll share a handful of the fundamental contrasts I’ve noticed while out adventuring. 

My intent is not to pass judgement but to simply highlight the different approaches these two groups take when they’re out traveling. It’s just my two cents on the traveler vs tourist debate. And yes, I would love to see more tourists turn traveler!

*** This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using the link, I receive a small commission at no additional charge to you. This helps me keep the lights on around here. 🙂 I ONLY recommend products and services I personally use and love. ***

Who Benefits from Tourists?

Photo by Sean Pollock on Unsplash

Let’s start with how travel has been presented to the masses, especially here in the US. Travel has been pitched as a commodity, a product to be consumed. Have you ever noticed that we’re told to take a vacation rather than live an experience? There’s a huge difference between those two ideas! 

We’ve been seeing these messages since childhood. Unless you’ve intentionally taken the time to examine these ideas or had people in your life to provide an alternative, it’s easy to assume that this is just what it means to travel. 

Who is really benefiting from the “tourists”? Big businesses selling cruises, generic group tours, and all-inclusive resorts. Sadly, you can even find locally run businesses in some destinations selling exploitative activities like paying to ride an elephant. These organizations care about profit, not the individuals (or animals) who work for or travel with them. 

Tourist vs Traveler: Vacation or an Impactful Experience

Being the only two people walking along the abandoned bobsled track from the 1984 Olympics is an experience to be lived not some item to check off a list!

Tourist vs Traveler Question: why do you travel?

Tourists  travel to “get away” from life. They want to check out. They want to be catered to and entertained. Tourists don’t really want to work for the experience. They just want to show up and someone else makes it happen. This also means they don’t thing much about how those experiences come to be and the impact they have on local communities or the environment. 

Travelers want to go feel fully alive! They want to be present. They’re looking to explore and learn. Travelers are willing to work for it. They’ll talk to the locals to find out where to find the best food or a unique cultural experience. They take matters into their own hands and engage the world around them rather than trying to escape from it. They tend to be more thoughtful about how their presence and the activities they participate in affect the destinations they visit.

Tourist vs Traveler: Iconic Sights or Hidden Gems

Thanks to a conversation with locals, the adventure partner and I found our way to Mons Kilt in Denmark. We wouldn’t have known about otherwise since it only got a paragraph in our guide book!

Tourist vs Traveler Question: What do you do in your destination?

Tourists travel to sightsee. Their main goal is checking off a list of iconic sights. They’re perfectly fine with being shuttled from one place to the next and back to their hotel without really ever getting to see or know their destination beyond what’s popular.

Travelers will also visit the iconic sights (they’re iconic for a reason, after all!) but also seek out places the locals love. They’ll ask their servers or bartenders what else to see in their destination. Travelers want to get a sense of how locals live and spend their days. They want to better understand what it’s like to exist in the place, not just consume it.

Tourist vs Traveler: Perfect Photos or Being Present

Over the course of six-weeks, I only took about five pictures with me in them. I wanted to look back and remember what I saw in that moment, like this view from a quiet secluded spot in Salzburg, Austria!

Tourist vs Traveler Question: How do you capture the moment?

Tourists are more concerned with documenting the moment than living it. You can find them taking multiple selfies, trying to get the perfect Instagram photo. Once they’ve taken all those pictures, they’ll still be staring at their phone trying to choose the best one or sharing it on social media rather than basking in the wonder of the actual experience. 

Travelers soak it in. They revel in the moment! You can often see them standing in gape-mouthed in wonder, totally speechless. Once they’ve had their fill, they will snap a few photos, knowing the images will never do the place justice but hoping to be transported back to that moment when they look at them again.

Tourist vs Traveler: Inside or Outside the Comfort Zone

A six-week solo trip through Central & Eastern Europe was so far out of my comfort zone, but I wanted the experience so I did it anyway. This photo was from my first day in Prague.

Tourist vs Traveler Question: How far outside of your comfort zone are you willing to go?

Tourists look for ways to travel that are the most comfortable. Visiting new places always puts you outside your comfort zone a little bit but how far do you stretch? For example, on a cruise ship everything is comfortable and nothing unexpected really happens. The experience is curated.  For only a few hours at a time do they have to go and experience a place that’s very different than home. Tourists tend to look for familiar experiences like eating at McDonalds instead of trying the local cuisine or getting their coffee from a Starbucks rather than the café down the street. 

Travelers understand that the most memorable and impactful experiences happen outside their comfort zone. They’re willing to try speaking a few words of the local language (usually badly!) and wander off the main tourist track. You’ll see them asking about the best places to try the local dishes and challenging themselves to try something new.

Tourist vs Traveler: Big Business or Local Economy

Choosing to stay in a cabin room at this campground in Shkoder, Albania was so much more fun than a generic chain hotel! I got to meet the family who runs it and hear some of their stories.

Tourist vs Traveler Question: Where do you spend your money when you travel?

Tourists look for the familiar in a new destination which is usually provided by big, global or regional corporations. They’ll stay in a Marriott rather than a local boutique hotel because they know what to expect. 

Travelers want to support the local economies. They’ll choose accommodations and restaurants owned by locals. If they choose to take a tour to better understand their destination, it will be owned and operated by people who live there and can share their knowledge and insight.

Wrapping it Up

This is one of two pictures I have of myself from my very first overseas trip in 2008. I had no idea what I was doing but quickly learned that I wanted to be a traveler, not a tourist.

Until my first international trip, I didn’t understand much about how to be a traveler rather than a tourist. I’d seen a few episodes of Rick Steves show on PBS growing up and dreamt of backpacking around Europe but had no idea how to actually do it. That first trip was for work and I operated more like a tourist (except for food -- I’m always down for the local eats!) because I didn’t know what else to do. BUT while on that trip, I saw the possibilities of a more authentic and exciting way to travel. 

If you’ve felt called out for being a “tourist”, use this as your opportunity to do something differently on your next trip. Of course, you don’t have to change a thing, but I believe there are incredible benefits to being a traveler. You learn so much more about the world around you and yourself! There are magical moments that come from indie travel that you just can’t get any other way.

Additional Resources

The long-term vision for Into the Bold is to provide a place for indie travelers to find all the knowledge, resources, and inspiration they need to create more authentic, exciting, and impactful experiences for themselves. Below you’ll find a few other articles to help you get started on your next journey!

• Indie Travel Explained: What it Is, Why it Matters, and How to Do It
• What Type of Traveler Are You? Discover Yours to Create Trips You’ll Love
• How to Plan a Travel Budget + Tips to Save Money on Independent Travel

If you enjoyed this article, I’d love to stay in touch! You can sign up for the newsletter which is a weekly email with inspiration, tips, and resources to help you travel smarter and save money. You can also find me over on Instagram or Facebook , if you’d like to connect there!

Now get out there. The world is waiting for you!

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Fun Lover. Food Eater. Bold Explorer. Big Dreamer. Annie is a fiercely independent traveler who loves to create unique and interesting experiences. She thrives on finding the magical moments and hidden gems waiting around every corner. Her passion for helping others make their travel dreams come true fuels her work as a travel planner, consultant, educator, and community builder.

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For diverse perspectives on sustainable tourism & responsible travel ... because travel & tourism is everyone's business., tourist vs traveller: what’s the difference.

What is the dif­fer­ence between a tour­ist and a traveller? 

How do the beha­viours and atti­tudes of tour­ists dif­fer from those of trav­el­lers when inter­act­ing with people and places?

Your cor­res­pond­ent put these tour­ist vs trav­el­ler ques­tions to “GT’s” diverse net­work of travel & tour­ism stake­hold­ers — “GT” Insight authors, “GT” Part­ners, and their invit­ees — and invited emailed writ­ten responses of no more than 300 words. 

Thanks to those who chose to par­ti­cip­ate. Their answers appear in the order received. 

Click/touch a name to go to their answer:

• Saverio F Ber­to­lu­cci  — Dif­fer­ent modes and motiv­a­tions for travel
• Zohreh Khos­ravi  — Tour­ist vs trav­el­ler : Be respons­ible, regardless
• S Fate­meh Mosta­favi Shirazi  —  The dif­fer­ences are narrowing
• Jim Butcher  — For some, ‘mor­al and cul­tur­al status’ matters
• K Michael Hay­wood  — Tour­ist vs trav­el­ler: Is it relevant?
• Peter Richards  — Leave that bag­gage at home
• Geof­frey Lip­man  — Tour­ist vs trav­el­ler? ‘The plan­et doesn’t care’
• Dorji Dhradhul  — In Bhutan: A ‘vis­it­or’ when plan­ning, a ‘guest’ upon arrival
• Steve Noakes  — Will AI influ­ence beha­viours, attitudes?
• Dav­id Jar­ratt  — ‘The des­ig­na­tion is tem­por­ary, flu­id, and, ulti­mately, flawed’
• Sudip­ta K Sarkar  — Tours can be ‘cre­at­ively recre­ated’ to be more like travel
• Ivana Dam­njan­ović  — Bet­ter to focus on adject­ives, not nouns
• Edwin Magio  — Dis­tinc­tions are ‘used to make people feel inferior/superior’
• Ha Phan  — What mat­ters is a happy exper­i­ence for all concerned
• Susan Eardly  — ‘It doesn’t mat­ter as long as you’re see­ing the world’
• Elisa Spamp­inato  — ‘The pre­cious bag­gage of meaning’
• Chat­G­PT  — Trav­el­lers ‘tend to have a more pos­it­ive impact’ than tourists
• What do you think?

Pre­vi­ous “GT” Insight Bites:

• The heads of fin­ance, oper­a­tions, and PR walk into their boss’s office … 
• Yes, Tour­ism Minister
• What are tourism’s biggest chal­lenges & threats over the next five years?
• ‘Tour­ism is built on the back­bone of white suprem­acy’. What do you think?
• Really, what’s the dif­fer­ence? ‘Sus­tain­able tour­ism’ vs ‘regen­er­at­ive tourism’
• Want a career in tour­ism? Import­ant things you should know
• Diverse per­spect­ives on travel & tour­ism and a fairer world
• Diverse per­spect­ives on eco­nom­ic degrowth and tourism
• Diverse per­spect­ives on vis­it­or dispersion

Different modes and motivations for travel

Saverio francesco bertolucci , administrative assistant,  alcambarcelona , spain.

Tour­ists and trav­el­lers are not exactly the same. 

I describe the trav­el­ler as a sub­type of tour­ist who is ded­ic­ated to mak­ing journeys. 

Trav­el­lers invest time and money to see many dif­fer­ent des­tin­a­tions using all trans­port means possible. 

Trav­el­lers’ aim is to get an over­view of many dif­fer­ent places, there­fore they do not prop­erly settle down in an area, but rather move quickly from one des­tin­a­tion to anoth­er. The most fam­ous cluster of trav­el­lers is rep­res­en­ted by globetrotters.

In gen­er­al tour­ists’ needs and wants are more pre­ten­tious and their impact on the loc­al eco­nomy can be more powerful. 

Tour­ists often select a spe­cif­ic des­tin­a­tion for the dur­a­tion of a trip, vis­it­ing many cul­tur­al and nat­ur­al her­it­age sites, res­taur­ants, and oth­er attrac­tions. They rarely organ­ise more than one day trip away from that destination.

Dif­fer­ences can be defined also on a char­ac­ter-based ana­lys­is: Trav­el­lers are free spir­its who wish to make a con­nec­tion with their inner selves, while tour­ists look for mes­mer­ising exper­i­ences to increase their know­ledge of a place and/or enjoy its goods and services. 

It is import­ant to note that these are gen­er­al traits. There are always exceptions.

Back to menu ^

Tourist vs traveller: Be responsible, regardless

Zohreh khosravi ,  content strategist , iran.

Everything hinges on the atti­tude and beha­viour of tour­ists or trav­el­lers in their inter­ac­tion with the host com­munity and the des­tin­a­tion, regard­less of their category.

It is bet­ter to use the term ‘respons­ible tour­ist’ or ‘respons­ible trav­el­ler’ than simply tour­ist or trav­el­ler, because respons­ible people are ulti­mately what any des­tin­a­tion wants to attract. 

For sim­pli­city I’ll refer to tour­ists … respons­ible tourists.

Respons­ible tour­ists place great value on the des­tin­a­tions they vis­it. From the moment they arrive they con­sider them­selves involved in the improve­ment of the des­tin­a­tion and the well-being of its people.

They plan and con­duct their trips in such a way that res­id­ents bene­fit, as well as themselves. 

When meet­ing res­id­ents, respons­ible tour­ists don’t feel sep­ar­ate or super­i­or, but con­sider dif­fer­ences in life­style and cul­ture as learn­ing oppor­tun­it­ies. Respons­ible tour­ists hon­our the loc­al identity. 

Respons­ible tour­ists prefer to stay in sus­tain­able accom­mod­a­tions and simple eco­lodges instead of chain hotels and inter­na­tion­al resorts. 

Rather than eat­ing in chain fast foods and inter­na­tion­al res­taur­ants, respons­ible tour­ists prefer the exper­i­ence of eat­ing in simple, clean, and cosy loc­al cafes; per­haps even observing and par­ti­cip­at­ing in the cook­ing process. 

Sim­il­arly, such a tour­ist does not go to lux­ury and brand stores. 

When buy­ing souven­irs to take home, they look for real products that come from the heart of the loc­al cul­ture; arts and crafts that are actu­ally pro­duced by locals. 

This sort of respect is what sep­ar­ates the respons­ible tour­ist and respons­ible trav­el­ler from simply the tour­ist or the traveller.

Tourist vs traveller: The differences are narrowing

S fatemeh mostafavi shirazi , visiting scholar, iran.

On Feb­ru­ary 7, I put “What is the dif­fer­ence between a tour­ist and a trav­el­ler” into Google. It returned 69,800,000 res­ults in 0.62 seconds. 

The attempt to dif­fer­en­ti­ate the ‘tour­ist’ from the ‘trav­el­ler’ has a long his­tory. Authors with dif­fer­ent cul­tures, back­grounds, and per­spect­ives have writ­ten about the sim­il­ar­it­ies and dif­fer­ences between tour­ists and travellers. 

It mainly comes down to the pur­pose of travel. 

For example, were many early trav­el­lers in fact “proto-tour­ists” , as Crick described them in 1985?

Gov­ern­ments like to keep track of who is com­ing and going, and why, which makes defin­i­tions import­ant for statistics. 

From that per­spect­ive, in 2008, the Inter­na­tion­al Recom­mend­a­tions for Tour­ism Stat­ist­ics (IRTS) described a trav­el­ler as “someone who moves between dif­fer­ent geo­graph­ic loc­a­tions, for any pur­pose and any duration”. 

A tour­ist? “A vis­it­or (domest­ic, inbound or out­bound) is clas­si­fied as a tour­ist (or overnight vis­it­or) if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day vis­it­or (or excur­sion­ist) otherwise.”

Undoubtedly, it is an ongo­ing debate as authors define tour­ist and trav­el­ler from dif­fer­ent points of view. Some do believe there are dif­fer­ences along­side many sim­il­ar­it­ies, and some do not. 

The dif­fer­ences between these two terms are nar­row­ing in the digit­al age, as the speed and turnover of inform­a­tion and know­ledge is increasing. 

When we move to a dif­fer­ent place (travel), or vis­it attrac­tions, quer­ies come to our mind that we look for answers to. Tech­no­logy offers the oppor­tun­ity to see new places and their attrac­tions and get answers to our quer­ies without travelling. 

But, the human sense of mov­ing (travel) to and through a phys­ic­al des­tin­a­tion is quite dif­fer­ent from the vir­tu­al envir­on­ment. Without a doubt, the vir­tu­al exper­i­ence is not the same as a real exper­i­ence in a phys­ic­al destination.

Ulti­mately, our con­cern is peoples’ move­ment from one phys­ic­al loc­a­tion to another. 

For some, ‘moral and cultural status’ matters

Jim butcher , reader,  canterbury christ church university , uk; tourism’s horizon ; politics of tourism.

The main dif­fer­ence is that most tour­ists would nev­er worry about such questions. 

Trav­el­lers might. 

For some of the lat­ter, mor­al and cul­tur­al status, expressed through con­spicu­ous con­sump­tion, matters. 

Tour­ists are after a holiday. 

The 18 th cen­tury aris­to­cracy sent their off­spring trav­el­ling around Europe; part of their induc­tion into the elite of their day, through the acquis­i­tion of cul­ture and ‘civil­isa­tion’. 

Today travel can play a com­par­able role. 

A gap year teach­ing Eng­lish abroad, or a stint as a volun­teer tour­ist in a Cam­bod­i­an orphan­age, is a right of pas­sage for middle class youth seek­ing entry into the pro­fes­sion­al mana­geri­al class ; the new elite of experts, poli­cy­makers, and NGO employ­ees with the author­ity to decide much about oth­ers’ lives.

Tour­ism as we know and love it arrived with indus­tri­al­isa­tion in the 19 th cen­tury, and became increas­ingly avail­able to a grow­ing work­ing class. 

Thomas Cook defen­ded ‘travel for the mil­lions’ in 1850s Bri­tain; pho­to­graph­er Har­old Fein­stein cham­pioned the joy­ful human­ity of New York’s teem­ing tour­ists 100 years later; while Black­pool, Coney Island, Rimini, and the Costa Del Sol wel­comed the masses on their hol­i­days at vari­ous stages throughout. 

But an anti-mass sen­ti­ment is ever present. Even today it is expressed through a desire by some to sep­ar­ate their cul­tur­al pur­suits from those of the lower orders. 

To be a trav­el­ler has often been a way of dif­fer­en­ti­at­ing one­self from the mass tour­ist. But travel need not be infused with the snob­bery of those who sig­nal their vir­tues over the sun seek­ing majority. 

Jack Ker­ou­ac, icon of post 1945 travel, wrote in The Dharma Bums : 

“I saw that my life was a vast glow­ing empty page and I could do any­thing I wanted.”

A worthy pae­an to youth­ful free­dom for our risk-con­scious, reg­u­lated age, for trav­el­lers and tour­ists alike.

Tourist vs traveller: Is it relevant?

K michael haywood , professor emeritus,  university of guelph , canada.

I loathe the word ‘tour­ist’. 

It has become a pejor­at­ive term used unfairly to describe a deluge of out­siders (many trav­el­ling or arriv­ing en masse) unsure of their sur­round­ings and, there­fore, will­ing to remain aloof and observe from afar. 

In anoth­er sense, it has become a descriptor reflect­ing neg­at­ively not only on the industry (that can add value to com­munit­ies), but on those of us who, by nature, are curi­ous introverts.

Ref­er­ence to ‘trav­el­ler’ as being a more enlightened and respect­ful jour­ney­er or adven­turer is sim­il­arly misrepresentative. 

We’re all con­stant trav­el­lers, many of us con­tent to be mobile sight­seers, not neces­sar­ily the type of people who are always seek­ing self-ful­fil­ment or cul­tur­al awareness.

Now, it is being said that the age of the post-tour­ist is upon us. To those of us attent­ive to the nuanced evol­u­tion of travel & tour­ism, we know there is noth­ing new here at all. 

Unfor­tu­nately, though, we’re deal­ing with anoth­er equally ambigu­ous char­ac­ter­isa­tion that’s gen­er­at­ing indis­crim­in­ate advocacy for de-growth , itself far from being a trans­form­a­tion­al panacea. 

As a baseline descriptor I’m con­tent with the more benign term, ‘vis­it­or’, know­ing full-well that most des­tin­a­tions these days are dis­cern­ing as to the desired types of vis­it­ors they seek. To this end, demo­graph­ic and psy­cho­graph­ic seg­ment­a­tion has been the norm for dec­ades, as in Canada’s Explorer Quo­tient Pro­files .  

And yet, while I may be an explorer part of the time, I doubt that I fit neatly into any par­tic­u­lar pro­file. Depend­ing on the time and cir­cum­stance, we all travel for mul­tiple motiv­a­tion­al reasons. 

Cer­tainly our desires and inclin­a­tions can be influ­enced through bet­ter and more eth­ic­al psy­cho­lo­gic­al tar­get­ing , but as strangers wel­comed in the midst of those places we decide to vis­it we must remem­ber: We have oblig­a­tions to act and behave responsibly.

Leave that baggage at home

Peter richards , project manager, switch-asia tourlink , thailand.

I’ve wit­nessed the often judge­ment-laden tour­ist vs trav­el­ler debate for years, and met vis­it­ors in both camps who have some­times been insight­ful and caring, oth­er times incred­ibly selfish.

There may pos­sibly be some use­ful dis­tinc­tions between a ‘tour­ist’ and a ‘trav­el­ler’.

Per­haps a con­scious decision to jour­ney as a ‘trav­el­ler’ rather than as a tour­ist can lead to very dif­fer­ent, more raw, and in some cases rich­er experiences. 

How­ever, when con­sid­er­ing which kinds of vis­it­ors are truly more of a bless­ing or a bur­den to loc­al places and people, I don’t think that these dif­fer­ences are as import­ant as the more fun­da­ment­al dif­fer­ence between being a friendly, polite, and fairly humble vis­it­or; or being an arrog­ant, demand­ing, and highly self-absorbed visitor. 

I would sug­gest that wheth­er one is on a two-week poolside break from crazy career busy­n­ess, or one is lucky enough to be tak­ing a year-long jour­ney of (self) dis­cov­ery, the more that we can leave the bag­gage of our expect­a­tions and rel­at­ive self-import­ance at home — includ­ing over-think­ing the kudos of our travel cre­den­tials — the bet­ter the exper­i­ence is likely to be for everyone.

Tourist vs traveller? ‘The planet doesn’t care’

Geoffrey lipman , president & co-founder,  sunx malta  .

The plan­et doesn’t care. Cli­mate change will hit tour­ists and trav­el­lers alike. 

It will kill their kids and grandkids if travel & tour­ism doesn’t play its part fully in the glob­al response. And it will hit the poorest first; par­tic­u­larly the least developed coun­tries and small islands vul­ner­able to sea level rise.

Humanity’s very sur­viv­al is at stake.

Our ment­or at SUNx, the late Maurice Strong, called this out in 1972 at the first Earth Sum­mit that he led in Stock­holm; and in the second that he led in Rio 1992; and in the Earth Charter that he launched in 2000 with Mikhael Gorbachev, call­ing for a pact between people and planet.

The IPCC has said that to get to the safe space of Par­is 1.5 by mid-cen­tury, human­ity has to peak green­house gas emis­sions in 2025, cut them in half by 2030, and hit Net Zero by 2050. 

Human­ity includes all people: Tour­ists and trav­el­lers, vis­it­ors and the vis­ited, and all the people in travel & tour­ism who facil­it­ate that.

Please note “peak in 2025”. Our sec­tor’s silence on this is deafening. 

This is what’s behind the concept of Cli­mate Friendly Travel: Our sec­tor respond­ing to the exist­en­tial threat — keep­ing that simple fact at the top of our minds — as we nav­ig­ate through crowding, intensi­fy­ing elec­tron­ic conversations.

It’s why this ques­tion of tour­ists or trav­el­lers reminds me of the Church in the Middle Ages debat­ing “How many angels can you get on the point of a pin?” 

Cor­rect answer: Who cares?

Wheth­er trav­el­ler or tour­ist, we need to help peak emis­sions now. 

Two real questions: 

• How do we all keep trav­el­ling and tour­ing, and organ­ising and man­aging travel and tours, while peak­ing emis­sions in 2025?
• What is our plan B to save our kids?

We need answers now.

In Bhutan: A ‘visitor’ when planning, a ‘guest’ upon arrival

Dorji dhradhul , director-general,  tourism council of bhutan.

In Bhutan’s trans­formed tour­ism policy, which came into effect on Septem­ber 23, 2022, we are subtly yet delib­er­ately repla­cing the word ‘tour­ist’ with ‘guest’.

We believe she is a ‘vis­it­or’ when she is plan­ning to vis­it our coun­try. The moment she arrives, the vis­it­or becomes our ‘guest’.

A guest is more per­son­al and bey­ond business. 

And a guest leaves our coun­try as our friend and fam­ily with a renewed wish to return or stay con­nec­ted for life. 

So, I believe the word ‘trav­el­ler’ has no place or space in our tour­ism approach.

This is being influ­enced by our tour­ism policy and prac­tice of “ high-value low volume ” aptly backed up by the prin­ciple that tour­ism is bey­ond rev­en­ue and receipts in Bhutan.

Will AI influence behaviours, attitudes?

Steve noakes , chair,  binna burra lodge , australia; founder,  pacific asia tourism.

I decided to see what Chat­G­PT might say in answer to your ques­tion. It told me:

“… a tour­ist gen­er­ally seeks a more famil­i­ar and com­fort­able exper­i­ence, while a trav­el­ler is more inter­ested in explor­ing and immers­ing them­selves in new cul­tures and experiences.

“How­ever, it’s import­ant to note that these are gen­er­al­isa­tions, and many people may con­sider them­selves both tour­ists and trav­el­lers, depend­ing on the cir­cum­stances of their trip.”

So then I thought about how arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence (AI)- gen­er­ated inform­a­tion might impact on the beha­viours and atti­tudes of a tour­ist or a trav­el­ler and the way in which they inter­act with people and places.

Well, it’s hard to say at this early stage of the new tech­no­logy, so, I thought I’d ask Chat­G­PT to improve this text I have just written.

This is what it told me:

I made a few minor edits to improve the clar­ity and flow of the text:

“I was curi­ous to see what Chat­G­PT would say in response to your ques­tion, and it provided the fol­low­ing explanation:

‘A tour­ist gen­er­ally seeks a more famil­i­ar and com­fort­able exper­i­ence, while a trav­el­ler is more inter­ested in explor­ing and immers­ing them­selves in new cul­tures and exper­i­ences. How­ever, it’s import­ant to note that these are gen­er­al­isa­tions, and many people may con­sider them­selves both tour­ists and trav­el­lers, depend­ing on the cir­cum­stances of their trip.’

“This got me think­ing about how the inform­a­tion gen­er­ated by arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence may influ­ence the beha­viours and atti­tudes of tour­ists and trav­el­lers, as well as the way in which they inter­act with people and places. It’s dif­fi­cult to say at this early stage of the tech­no­logy’s devel­op­ment, but it will be inter­est­ing to observe how AI con­tin­ues to shape the way we travel and exper­i­ence new cultures.”

‘The designation is temporary, fluid, and, ultimately, flawed’

David jarratt , senior lecturer in tourism management, the university of central lancashire , uk.

I’m not sure that there is an object­ive dif­fer­ence, rather the term ‘trav­el­ler’ refers to how some tour­ists see them­selves and/or the type of exper­i­ences they consume. 

This dis­tinc­tion hints at exclus­iv­ity and can be con­sidered an attempt to set one­self apart from the ‘masses’. 

This is per­haps best summed up in a quote by Water­house (p18) :

“I am a trav­el­ler, you are a tour­ist, he is a tripper”

He points out that such dis­tinc­tions, which emerged in the 19 th cen­tury, are largely mean­ing­less as trav­el­lers are fig­ments of their own ima­gin­a­tions or, altern­at­ively, they are simply tour­ists with a bet­ter brand image! 

The self-declared Trav­el­ler may seek seem­ingly authen­t­ic cul­tur­al exper­i­ences and describe them­selves as sens­it­ive, dis­cern­ing, adven­tur­ous, or inde­pend­ent; for travel allows us not only to amass cul­tur­al cap­it­al but it can be seen as reflect­ing one’s life­style and per­son­al qual­it­ies (see Munt for more on this). 

So Ego is a sig­ni­fic­ant ele­ment of the tourist/traveller distinction.

To be clear, in my view, if we are using the tour­ism infra­struc­ture — air­lines and hotels for example — then we are tour­ists. How­ever, I do not use that term in a derog­at­ory fash­ion nor do I have a spe­cif­ic group in mind, rather tour­ism reflects the move­ment of people for a mul­ti­tude of dif­fer­ent reas­ons; busi­ness, vis­it­ing fam­ily, pil­grim­ages, sport, edu­ca­tion­al vis­its, and, yes, holidays. 

‘Hol­i­days’ are increas­ingly wide­spread and var­ied, reflect­ing cul­tur­al and per­son­al inclin­a­tions; their vari­ety is a part of their appeal. I myself enjoy cul­tur­al breaks, out­door adven­tures, and beach hol­i­days in equal measure. 

In real­ity, con­sumers often move between dif­fer­ent types of tour­ism products and tour­ist typo­lo­gies. So, even if one does dis­tin­guish between trav­el­lers and tour­ists, then the des­ig­na­tion is tem­por­ary, flu­id, and, ulti­mately, flawed.

Tours can be ‘creatively recreated’ to be more like travel

Sudipta k sarkar , senior lecturer in tourism management,  anglia ruskin university , uk.

A tour­ist can be referred to as a vis­it­or on a struc­tured vis­it­a­tion plan in which key ele­ments like trans­port, accom­mod­a­tion, culin­ary choices, sight­see­ing, and exper­i­ences are pre-arranged and con­sumed with­in a spe­cif­ic time period. 

A trav­el­ler gen­er­ally moves through a des­tin­a­tion in a less struc­tured way in which most of the ele­ments are determ­ined on the spot. 

A tour­ist may look for more ser­vices and exper­i­ences that are (rel­at­ively) famil­i­ar, com­fort­able, and safe. 

For example, Chinese or Indi­an tour­ists — rep­res­ent­ing some of the fast­est-grow­ing out­bound inter­na­tion­al tour­ist mar­kets — often only dine in food out­lets that offer pre­ferred cuisines. 

Apart from hav­ing pop­u­lar sites on top of their buck­et list, tour­ists may also enjoy exper­i­ences that con­nect with them culturally. 

The Xu Zhimo Memori­al Garden at King’s Col­lege in Cam­bridge, UK, is pop­u­lar among Chinese tour­ists, for instance. (Xu Zhimo was an early 20 th cen­tury Chinese poet.) 

Sim­il­arly, Indi­an tour­ists often like to vis­it the shoot­ing loc­a­tions of pop­u­lar Bol­ly­wood films, such as those in Switzer­land or London. 

Fur­ther­more, tour­ists’ inter­ac­tion with loc­als is gen­er­ally minimal. 

Many of the above fea­tures have become linked to ‘mass tour­ism’ in recent years.

Con­versely, trav­el­lers are more likely to engage with loc­al exper­i­ences; meet and chat with fel­low pas­sen­gers of loc­al trans­port; spend more time at pop­u­lar and off­beat spots in dif­fer­ent immers­ive ways, includ­ing deep­er engage­ment with com­munit­ies; sleep at inform­al accom­mod­a­tion out­lets; and try unfa­mil­i­ar culin­ary options. 

Tour­ist exper­i­ences can be cre­at­ively recre­ated to be more like trav­el­ler exper­i­ences by provid­ing oppor­tun­it­ies for genu­ine and deep­er inter­ac­tions with loc­al elements. 

Better to focus on adjectives, not nouns

Ivana damnjanović , vice-dean for international cooperation,  singidunum university , serbia.

The words ‘tour­ist’ and ‘trav­el­ler’ might have dif­fer­ent mean­ings mani­fes­ted through dif­fer­ent (even oppos­ing) mind­sets, atti­tudes, and beha­viours, as often stated. 

‘Tour­ist’ car­ries the notion of travel that is pre-pack­aged, and the neg­at­iv­ity of (mass) tour­ism. It might be a per­son who travels to escape, to tread the same crowded paths in a rush to check long lists of must-see places. An ama­teur traveller. 

‘Trav­el­ler’ might denote some­body spon­tan­eous; will­ing to step out of their com­fort zone to immerse in dif­fer­ent cul­tures, to learn, and to see the hid­den and the unseen. Some­body who cares. An exper­i­enced tourist.

Does this mean that all trav­el­lers are caring and responsible? 

Isn’t vis­it­ing a secluded place dan­ger­ous when the place is not will­ing and/or pre­pared to wel­come visitors? 

Aren’t nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al val­ues again turned into resources? 

Con­versely, can’t travel be pre-organ­ised for a group of people who share an interest in doing good, like volun­teer­ing and cit­izen sci­ence, or trav­el­ling inten­tion­ally to trans­form pos­it­ively not only the extern­al world but their inner world as well? 

Offi­cial dic­tion­ar­ies do not recog­nise such differences. 

I’d like to sug­gest a dif­fer­ent perspective:

• Stop focus­ing on the nouns and the nuances in their mean­ings. In the (travel & tour­ism) world there is already much divi­sion, enti­tle­ment, silo­ing, sep­ar­a­tion, segreg­a­tion, dif­fer­ence-emphas­is … In such a con­text we would fare bet­ter using words to cre­ate unity and part­ner­ship; a ‘we’ that is hol­ist­ic instead of divided.
• Focus instead on adject­ives that emphas­ise the pos­it­ive power of tour­ists and trav­el­lers; the atti­tudes and beha­viours that are respons­ible, eth­ic­al, sus­tain­able, regen­er­at­ive, mean­ing­ful, trans­form­a­tion­al … The list goes on. 

Let’s worry less about what we call ourselves; more about how we express who we are.

Distinctions are ‘used to make people feel inferior/superior’

Edwin magio , commonwealth scholar,  leeds beckett university , uk.

Many art­icles have been writ­ten to explain the dis­tinc­tions between tour­ists and trav­el­lers. The major­ity are based on “who is good and who is bad”. This, in my opin­ion, is used to make people feel inferior/superior. 

Many por­tray tour­ists as mis­be­hav­ing or caus­ing problems. 

To behave badly or well is simply a mat­ter of choice, regard­less of wheth­er one is a tour­ist or a traveller.

That being said, it makes no dif­fer­ence wheth­er you’re a tour­ist or a trav­el­ler; as long as you’re a respons­ible trav­el­ler or tour­ist, you’re on the right track. 

A respons­ible trav­el­ler or tour­ist con­siders the con­sequences of their actions and helps to pre­serve loc­al com­munit­ies, cul­tures, eco­nom­ies, envir­on­ment, and wildlife.

The Respons­ible Tour­ist and Trav­el­ler , based on the World Tour­ism Organ­iz­a­tion’s Glob­al Code of Eth­ics for Tour­ism , is a prac­tic­al guide to becom­ing more responsible. 

Instead of focus­ing on dif­fer­ences, our emphas­is should be on encour­aging tour­ists and trav­el­lers to fol­low the guidelines to make travel more reward­ing for every­one, includ­ing the people they meet and the places they visit.

What matters is a happy experience for all concerned

Ha phan, partnership officer, asset‑h&c , vietnam.

I would say: a tour­ist goes on hol­i­day and a trav­el­ler goes travelling. 

From my wan­der­lust per­spect­ive, they are quite dis­sim­il­ar in their approaches before their trip, as well as in their beha­viours in the places they visit. 

When I think of tour­ists, I see them going in large groups or fam­il­ies or book­ing via a tour agency. They may be will­ing to enjoy lux­ury accom­mod­a­tions or spend money on high-end services.

Tour­ists love vis­it­ing all the remark­able sights and attrac­tions in a short time. As such, the sched­ule will be tough, with no time to con­nect with loc­al people.

Mean­while, I see trav­el­lers spend­ing more time explor­ing the cul­ture or place or even learn­ing a bit of the lan­guage to con­nect with the loc­als. They are open-minded to new exper­i­ences and in deep­en­ing their under­stand­ing of the destination. 

Trav­el­lers often prefer quiet places, nature, and rich cul­ture like the coun­tryside and are will­ing to stay in homestays and try loc­al specialties. 

Trav­el­ler trips might be longer than tour­ist itin­er­ar­ies, but they are not neces­sar­ily slower because there is time for unex­pec­ted activities. 

Wheth­er a tour­ist or a trav­el­ler, what mat­ters is that their exper­i­ence is a happy one for all concerned. 

In case a tour­ist or a trav­el­ler to South­east Asia is inter­ested in adding social impact to their trips, ASSET‑H&C mem­bers wel­come all at their hotels, res­taur­ants, cof­fee shops, baker­ies, and spas. 

ASSET‑H&C mem­ber schools provide high-qual­ity voca­tion­al train­ing to equip stu­dents with pro­fes­sion­al prac­tices and soft skills for their suc­cess­ful integ­ra­tion into the hos­pit­al­ity and tour­ism industry, be it in a 5‑star resort or their own cof­fee shops.

I hope both tour­ists and trav­el­lers will join hands to con­trib­ute to their des­tin­a­tions’ sus­tain­able development.

‘It doesn’t matter as long as you’re seeing the world’

Susan eardly , founder,  serene vacations , sri lanka.

Tour­ist or trav­el­ler, it doesn’t mat­ter as long as you’re see­ing the world!

Take your time, plan your hol­i­day, and find out about the cul­ture and his­tory of the coun­try you are visiting. 

Try new things, meet new people, and look bey­ond to under­stand this amaz­ing world and nature we live in.

Exper­i­ence it all! You may nev­er get anoth­er chance.

The beauty of travel is a per­son­al exper­i­ence. A true explorer will ask ques­tions and seek answers. 

Being a tour­ist or a trav­el­ler is all about attitude.

A trav­el­ler is someone who often travels, while a tour­ist travels for pleas­ure and/or sight­see­ing with a guide.

Trav­el­lers will research and study their des­tin­a­tions before leav­ing. They focus on the cul­ture of the coun­try they are vis­it­ing and con­nect with loc­als to exper­i­ence it.

Many trav­el­lers try to learn the loc­al lan­guage, dress like a loc­al, and use pub­lic trans­port, while sup­port­ing loc­al com­munit­ies by avoid­ing buy­ing souven­irs at tour­ist shops.

What is a travel & tour­ism trend for 2023?

‘Mind, body, and soul’ well­ness will go to the next level in 2023, with more people seek­ing mind­ful­ness get­aways. Many people want to find peace at a silent retreat and/or are keen to go on a break that focuses on men­tal health.

‘The precious baggage of meaning’

Elisa spampinato , travel writer and community storyteller, traveller storyteller.

Words carry the pre­cious bag­gage of mean­ing, and although that is use­ful and neces­sary, some­times they can also become dan­ger­ously limiting. 

One of those cases is the clas­sic dis­tinc­tion between the mass tour­ist — the escap­ist who loves spend­ing the entire hol­i­day relax­ing and unplug­ging in their bubble — and the adven­tur­ous trav­el­ler — the open-minded and curi­ous indi­vidu­al that uses travel as a gate­way to new worlds and cultures. 

Accord­ing to the clas­sic pic­ture in our mind, tour­ists seem to look at the hol­i­day as an oppor­tun­ity to com­pletely relax, unplug from their routine lives, and indulge in lux­ury or com­fort that seems denied or unob­tain­able in their daily context. 

The feel­ing of being ‘Kings and Queens for the day’ — exten­ded for the dur­a­tion of the vaca­tion — is usu­ally accom­pan­ied by a self-centred focus where everything revolves around them, sup­por­ted by a tour­ism industry built to serve the customer’s every need.

On the oth­er hand, the trav­el­ler­’s atti­tude seems to be more open, by nature, to any­thing that is unfamiliar.

They are not look­ing for the com­fort to escape ordin­ary dis­com­fort — per­haps because their life is already com­fort­able and fully sat­is­fy­ing — but rather are inter­ested in the fresh exper­i­ences that a new place can offer. 

Embra­cing the spir­it of trav­el­ling as an adven­tur­ous dis­cov­ery, they go on their jour­ney to bring back home new and rich­er memor­ies, new names, faces, and exot­ic stories.

As with all dicho­tom­ies, the two terms exist in their pure form only in the the­ory of books and aca­dem­ic studies.

How­ever, if approached as a tool, these two types can encour­age reflec­tion on our atti­tudes and beha­viours when trav­el­ling, and they can help change our actions, so that tour­ism can become an oppor­tun­ity to grow, con­sciously aware of our impact and the poten­tial bene­fits of our activities.

Travellers ‘tend to have a more positive impact’ than tourists

Chatgpt feb 13 version.

The dif­fer­ence between a tour­ist and a trav­el­ler lies in their motiv­a­tions and beha­viours when explor­ing new places.

A tour­ist is someone who travels for pleas­ure or leis­ure and is motiv­ated by the desire to escape from routine and exper­i­ence some­thing new.

Tour­ists typ­ic­ally fol­low a pre-planned itin­er­ary, stay in hotels or resorts, and engage in activ­it­ies mar­keted towards visitors.

On the oth­er hand, a trav­el­ler is someone who seeks out new exper­i­ences, inter­acts with loc­als, and immerses them­selves in the loc­al culture.

Trav­el­lers tend to explore off the beaten path, stay in loc­al accom­mod­a­tions, and try loc­al food.

Tour­ists and trav­el­lers also dif­fer in their atti­tudes and beha­viours when inter­act­ing with people and places. Tour­ists may be seen as pass­ive observ­ers, while trav­el­lers are more engaged and curious.

Tour­ists tend to stick to their own cul­ture and lan­guage and may demand ser­vices and accom­mod­a­tions that cater to their needs.

Trav­el­lers are more respect­ful of loc­al cus­toms and tra­di­tions, mak­ing an effort to learn some of the loc­al lan­guage and adapt­ing to loc­al norms and behaviours.

Research sug­gests that the atti­tudes and beha­viours of trav­el­lers may have a more pos­it­ive impact on loc­al com­munit­ies and eco­nom­ies than those of tourists.

Trav­el­lers tend to spend more money on loc­al products and ser­vices, while tour­ists may con­trib­ute to the exploit­a­tion of loc­al resources and cultures.

In con­clu­sion, tour­ists and trav­el­lers are two dis­tinct types of trav­el­lers with dif­fer­ent motiv­a­tions, atti­tudes, and behaviours.

Tour­ists seek to escape routine and exper­i­ence some­thing new, while trav­el­lers seek authen­t­ic exper­i­ences and inter­ac­tions with locals.

Trav­el­lers tend to have a more pos­it­ive impact on loc­al com­munit­ies and eco­nom­ies, mak­ing an effort to learn about and respect loc­al cul­tures and customs.

What do you think? 

Share your own thoughts about the tour­ist vs trav­el­ler debate in a com­ment below. Or  write a deep­er “GT” Insight . 

The “Good Tour­ism” Blog  wel­comes diversity of opin­ion and per­spect­ive about travel & tour­ism, because travel & tour­ism is everyone’s business.

“GT” is where free thought travels.

Fea­tured image  (top of post): Tour­ist vs trav­el­ler: What’s the dif­fer­ence? Image by Jan Vašek (CC0) via Pixabay .

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50 Best Travel Quotes of All Time for Traveler

Good sayings for traveler can be a motivation to explore new places. When you will get bored of your job or life, read these 50 best quotes for traveler to energize yourself and start your journey to the new destination in your life.

1. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Lau Tzu

2. Not all those who wander are lost. – J. R. R. Tolkien

3. There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign. – Robert Louis Stevenson

4. It is not down in any map, true places never are. – Herman Melville

5. We can’t choose where we come from, but we can choose where we go from there.

6. I’d rather have a passport full of stamps than a house full of stuff.

7. Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.- Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland)

8. Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled. – Mohammed

9. Once a year, go somewhere you have never been before. – Dalai Lama

10. Great things are done when men and mountains meet. – William Blake

11. A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. – Lao Tzu

12. If you can dream it, you can do it. – Walt Disney

13. If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

14. Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow. ― Anita Desai

15. Travel brings power and love back into your life. ― Rumi Jalalud-Din

16. Travel far enough, you meet yourself. ― David Mitchell

17. The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. ― G.K. Chesterton

18. I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there. ― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

19. Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. – Martin Buber

21. Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail – Ralph Waldo Emerson

22. Two roads diverged in a wood and I — I took the one less traveled by. – Robert Frost

23. Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey. – Pat Conroy

24. To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. – Aldous Huxley

25. To travel is to live. ― Hans Christian Andersen

26. I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world. ― Mary Anne Radmacher

27. Wherever you go, you take yourself with you. ― Neil Gaiman

28. Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost. ― Erol Ozan

29. I knew then that I wanted to go home, but I had no home to go to--and that is what adventures are all about. ― Trina Schart Hyman

30. I've come to realize that sometimes, what you love most is what you have to fight the hardest to keep. ― Kirsten Hubbard

31. The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it. – Rudyard Kipling

32. A wise traveler never despises his own country. – Carlo Goldoni

33. People don’t take trips, trips take people. – John Steinbeck

34. The best journeys in life are those that answer questions you never thought to ask. ― Rich Ridgeway

35. You don’t have to be rich to travel well. – Eugene Fodor

36. It is not down in any map; true places never are. – Herman Melville

37. You don’t choose the day you enter the world and you don’t choose the day you leave. It’s what you do in between that makes all the difference. – Anita Septimus

38. Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends… The mind can never break off from the journey. – Pat Conroy

39. When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable. ― Clifton Fadiman

40. I haven’t been everywhere but it’s on my list. – Susan Sontag

41. Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination. – Roy M. Goodman

42. May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home. ― Trenton Lee Stewart

43. When overseas you learn more about your own country, than you do the place you’re visiting. – Clint Borgen

44. Adventure is worthwhile. – Aristotle

45. We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls. – Anais Nin

46. How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else. – R. Buckminster Fuller

47. You haven't really been anywhere until you've got back home.― Terry Pratchett

48. Never hesitate to go far away, beyond all seas, all frontiers, all countries, all beliefs.― Amin Maalouf

49. To get the best view of life, you have to reach heights above the life. ― Amit Ray

50. It is not the destination where you end up but the mishaps and memories you create along the way! ― Penelope Riley

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Tourist Vs. Traveler: What's the Difference, And Which Travel Type Is Right For You?

Contrary to what one might believe, there is a difference between a tourist and a traveler - so, which one should you be?

Tourist or traveler - what's the difference and which is better? For the purpose of this discussion, a tourist is someone on a short trip (up to around four weeks) that is just taking annual leave from work. A traveler is someone who has quit their job, become a digital nomad, or has taken an extended leave off work to travel for much longer.

These modes of travel offer very different perspectives and benefits. Traveling full time is not for many people, but for others, it's a dream come true!

If one is a tourist, then one is on a holiday. With this style of travel, one will typically pick one or two specific countries or locations to visit. One will normally want to make the most of one's time and so will plan one's trip carefully. Or one will just stay at a beach resort and enjoy sunbathing and cocktails.

• Tourist: On Holiday - Often two Weeks
• Budget: Much Higher
• Daily Schedule: Packed With Things To See and Do
• Pics: Tons Of Pics Every Day

The daily budget of a tourist is generally much higher. This is the time to have a good time and live it up. One is likely to stay at nice accommodation, go and see expensive attractions, and enjoy various activities. This is the good life and time to spend and enjoy life.

Related:  10 Dream Jobs For People Who Love To Travel, Revealed

A traveler is someone traveling for an extended period of time. This can be done in many ways. One can take a "gap year" - after finishing high school and before entering university, just travel for a year. Alternatively, it is common to take the gap year after finishing university but before starting a job. This is often on a shoestring budget. The trip can be financed by volunteering in countries around the world. This is often where one is hosted by a family, business, or farm and does some amount of work in extend for bed and board. It is an awesome way to enjoy a cultural exchange.

• Budget: Managed To Last Long Term
• Gap Year: Take A Year Off And Do Something Completely Different Somewhere Else In The World

Often travelers will quit their jobs for a year and travel. This is very common in Europe, but perhaps less common in America. Often employers will reluctantly agree that as they are good workers, their job will be there when they get back.

• Options: Living Off Savings, Volunteering, Working And Traveling, Digital Nomad

One can also become a digital nomad and work online. In theory, any job that can be done from home on a laptop can be done remotely, if it can be done remotely, it can be down anywhere where there is internet (depending on the security and timezones, etc. of the company). Just move one's home office to Bora Bora in Tahiti or to an Air BnB on the Greek islands!

Other travelers look for freelancing work that can be done online - they look for work just made for traveling. This can include data analyst, software engineer, online English (or other) tutoring, content management, online forum community management, proofreading, and much more. There are many ways of making money while traveling .

• Online Jobs: Opportunities Online Are Limitless Now!

Travelers are typically traveling at a much slower pace and will often spend days to months just working or chilling somewhere in the world. They may rent an Airbnb in a country for a couple of months. Or work on a farm for a couple of months. But the pace is different as is the budget.

While a tourist may be spending well over $200.00 daily, a traveler may only be spending $50.00 daily (or even $20.00 or zero for savvy backpackers). This of course varies wildly.

Another difference is that whereas a tourist will often choose a place and see it superficially in a short time period. A traveler will choose a region and will often get to know it much better.

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Which is For You?

Which is better is entirely a matter of opinion and circumstance. A tourist is settled in their own country and just wants a break and to see something different. They are settled and have a family or otherwise are happy where they are.

A traveler seeks traveling to be a lifestyle - a way of life (at least for a while). The road can be someone's home. That is of course not for most folks. Most folks want a sense of a place to call home. One compromise that many travelers come to is choosing a country to live in for a year or two, and then move to another.

This is the lifestyle of many NGOs (non-government organizations - normally non-profit charity and development organizations in developing countries). Other people often in this category are workers for the United Nations seeking international postings, and embassy staff seeking international postings.

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