Tourists suck

[s0me0nesmind1]

I feel the same way about ATOT. This place used to be great, but the tourists have ruined it. All these cute women with huge tits keep posting on here and wrecking the scenery.....

I think I'm on the wrong forum then...

 

[IronWing]

I think I'm on the wrong forum then...

The technical forums are not what they appear to be.

 

[eng2d2]

I guess it just a matter of time when porn is next to you in the plane or the tourist attraction.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I guess it just a matter of time when porn is next to you in the plane or the tourist attraction.

Speaking of - most planes these days have streaming movies via wifi - or screens on the back of the seats with movies.

I noticed that as part of the movie selection, they very well do have ones that have nudity. I always figured they wouldn't do something like that since it could very well annoy the person next to you.... Because you know, looking the other way is just impossible.

 

[eng2d2]

Speaking of - most planes these days have streaming movies via wifi - or screens on the back of the seats with movies.

I noticed that as part of the movie selection, they very well do have ones that have nudity. I always figured they wouldn't do something like that since it could very well annoy the person next to you.... Because you know, looking the other way is just impossible.

Well I am talking about live porn hehehe. Trains in Europe might be a problem too. Been reading in the news people doing crazy things.

 

[pmv]

Guess you're being dead serious.

I don't even know if I'm being serious or not! I got tired of serious holiday travel quite quickly (and never really went in for flying).

But there are definitely big moral issues around the effects of travel, both environmental and social, and I do think just dropping in on distant places, having a look and leaving is kind of weird, and not consistent with how we evolved to be. It's not how travel worked for the vast majority of our ancestors. And it clearly isn't scaleable to the entire population of the planet, everyone jetting around all the time just for the sake of it.

I also dislike how it can turn into a status-competition as if having stood and gawped at the pyramids somehow makes you a better person.

Probably I am just being puritanical to an extent.

 

[eng2d2]

I don't even know if I'm being serious or not! I got tired of serious holiday travel quite quickly (and never really went in for flying).

But there are definitely big moral issues around the effects of travel, both environmental and social, and I do think just dropping in on distant places, having a look and leaving is kind of weird, and not consistent with how we evolved to be. It's not how travel worked for the vast majority of our ancestors. And it clearly isn't scaleable to the entire population of the planet, everyone jetting around all the time just for the sake of it.

I also dislike how it can turn into a status-competition as if having stood and gawped at the pyramids somehow makes you a better person.

Probably I am just being puritanical to an extent.

In some way you are a well informed person or could be a better person just how you approach or do the travel. The travel between an influencer versus rick Steve exploring travel there is a big difference. I think the evolution of selfie and access to travel ruined it too.

 

[KillerCharlie]

The social media aspect is getting ridiculous.

The biggest reason young people travel now is to take pictures of themselves to put on social media. It's all about getting the perfect picture of themselves then moving on to the next picture spot.

Then there's the set of people that (older) that only care about filming what they see and don't even care if they see it with their own eyes. I hate it when people just walk around holding up a camera and taking video the entire time.

No one actually stops to enjoy anything anymore - it's all about pictures.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

The social media aspect is getting ridiculous.

The biggest reason young people travel now is to take pictures of themselves to put on social media. It's all about getting the perfect picture of themselves then moving on to the next picture spot.

Then there's the set of people that (older) that only care about filming what they see and don't even care if they see it with their own eyes. I hate it when people just walk around holding up a camera and taking video the entire time.

No one actually stops to enjoy anything anymore - it's all about pictures.

Dopamine and shit yo.

Everyone is turning to this apparently.... All about likes, attention whoring, etc... Personally this is one of the reasons I love being introverted and I don't give two shits about social media attention.

(stares at Like counter in this forum)

 

[eng2d2]

You can blame YouTube and other platform. It’s all monetize and they are paying everyone. Everyone has a price unfortunately

 

[ponyo]

You always had crappy tourists. It’s just now more people are traveling than ever so there’s more of them. Airfare is extremely cheap with all the discount airlines. And with smartphones, internet, Google search, Google Maps, Google Translate, and Uber, it’s easier than ever to find and go to the popular landmarks. It is what it is and it’s just going to get worse. Things change and places you visited and loved in the past will be completely different in 10 or 20 years. It’s why you should try to travel as often as you can and see the places before they completely change. People should go to places like Budapest and other Eastern Europe cities now. Don’t wait 10 years from now. It will be too late and massively different. Same with Vietnam and Thailand. Go now before it becomes too Westernized. Those countries are already undergoing tremendous transformation.

Chinese tourists are taking over. They’ve pretty much taken over Thailand and South Korea already. Lot of them have no manners and the massive tour groups wreak havoc at popular destinations and airports. You should see the mountain of trash and empty boxes left at the airport by the Chinese tourists in Korea. I saw the massive trash firsthand as I was leaving Busan airport earlier this year. Piles of empty cosmetic boxes Chinese tourists just discard all over the airport floor. Disgusting behavior. But it’s hard to ignore the positive financial impact of Chinese tourists. Whether that outweighs the negative cons of Chinese tourists are for the cities and countries to decide.

 

[ponyo]

A lot of sad sacks in here who will never leave their little comfort bubble.

When I travel though I do like to get out of the huge tourist areas when possible too. That's why I always rent a car and don't stay at resorts the whole time. Most tourists are scared to rent cars and explore so once you get out of the resort you notice way less crowds at the different beaches and places that only cars can get to. Most people (at least Americans) think that there is nothing on these islands outside of the resort and never leave the resort. I couldn't imagine going to another country and staying in one place the whole time.

But when I went to Spain/France, it was nearly impossible to get away from crowds in the main areas. I have no interest in ever going back to Barcelona or Paris in my lifetime though. The other cities I went to (San Sebastian and Valencia) I have no desire to go back to just because it's nothing special and it's way too far for that. I'd much rather go to the Caribbean.

And the whole kid thing and not being able to travel is nothing more than an excuse. My son is 4 and he's been on an airplane and out of the country more than my entire immediately family combined. He even knows his way around the FLL airport and where the play area is.

I think your views are warped by old people you interact with on places like Tripadvisor Caribbean forums. Those old people go to island like Aruba to eat, gamble at casinos, and stay in their Palm beach resorts. Those old people are scared , have money, and set in their ways and don't want to drive. I really don't understand why they go to Aruba when they can go to cheaper resorts in the Dominican Republic or Mexico and do the same thing for cheaper.

The young people without much money stay in cheap AirBnB and get around. That's becoming more the norm. I do mix of both. I try to stay at cheap AirBnB when I can but sometimes I want the fancy resort pampering. I'm going to back to Aruba for a week and rented cheap AirBnB. I didn't go as cheap as I did last time but I still picked really low priced place on purpose. But I'm also going to Cabos next month and staying at really fancy all inclusive resort. It will be my first all inclusive resort stay. I had points to burn so flight on Delta and the resort hotel in Cabos are free. And flight to Aruba is free too. I could've used points to book free resort stay at Aruba too but I didn't want to hang around those boring Tripadvisor old people at Palm Beach in Aruba. I try to stay away from Palm Beach as much as possible.

 

[eng2d2]

The young people without much money stay in cheap AirBnB and get around. That's becoming more the norm. I do mix of both.

You always had crappy tourists. It’s just now more people are traveling than ever so there’s more of them. Airfare is extremely cheap with all the discount airlines. And with smartphones, internet, Google search, Google Maps, Google Translate, and Uber, it’s easier than ever to find and go to the popular landmarks. It is what it is and it’s just going to get worse. Things change and places you visited and loved in the past will be completely different in 10 or 20 years. It’s why you should try to travel as often as you can and see the places before they completely change. People should go to places like Budapest and other Eastern Europe cities now. Don’t wait 10 years from now. It will be too late and massively different. Same with Vietnam and Thailand. Go now before it becomes too Westernized. Those countries are already undergoing tremendous transformation.

Chinese tourists are taking over. They’ve pretty much taken over Thailand and South Korea already. Lot of them have no manners and the massive tour groups wreak havoc at popular destinations and airports. You should see the mountain of trash and empty boxes left at the airport by the Chinese tourists in Korea. I saw the massive trash firsthand as I was leaving Busan airport earlier this year. Piles of empty cosmetic boxes Chinese tourists just discard all over the airport floor. Disgusting behavior. But it’s hard to ignore the positive financial impact of Chinese tourists. Whether that outweighs the negative cons of Chinese tourists are for the cities and countries to decide.

The tourist you mention plus the East Asian when they come here and act civil is so unnatural. Lol. No matter how hard they try.

 

[purbeast0]

I think your views are warped by old people you interact with on places like Tripadvisor Caribbean forums. Those old people go to island like Aruba to eat, gamble at casinos, and stay in their Palm beach resorts. Those old people are scared , have money, and set in their ways and don't want to drive. I really don't understand why they go to Aruba when they can go to cheaper resorts in the Dominican Republic or Mexico and do the same thing for cheaper.

The young people without much money stay in cheap AirBnB and get around. That's becoming more the norm. I do mix of both. I try to stay at cheap AirBnB when I can but sometimes I want the fancy resort pampering. I'm going to back to Aruba for a week and rented cheap AirBnB. I didn't go as cheap as I did last time but I still picked really low priced place on purpose. But I'm also going to Cabos next month and staying at really fancy all inclusive resort. It will be my first all inclusive resort stay. I had points to burn so flight on Delta and the resort hotel in Cabos are free. And flight to Aruba is free too. I could've used points to book free resort stay at Aruba too but I didn't want to hang around those boring Tripadvisor old people at Palm Beach in Aruba. I try to stay away from Palm Beach as much as possible.

I'm talking about pretty much everyone I know and talk to and just what I hear from people. Everyone mainly talks about going to Bahamas, Dominican, or Jamaica and staying at resorts the whole time. Most people I know want AI. They want to be surrounded by other Americans and not scary foreigners because they feel out of their comfort zones.

Same thing with Caribbean cruises. Those are pretty much full of sheltered scared people who want to be hand held for 8 hours when they hit Turks and Caicos and then they come back from the Cruise saying how they are so cool because they went to 3 countries and all of them are just okay, yet all they did at them was a snorkel tour or a jeep excursion.

I've never stayed at Palm Beach the 5 times I've been to Aruba. I've stayed at Eagle Beach 4 times and then at a Villa another time that was in Malmok. Every time other than my first time there (which was also my first time out of the country) I have rented a car and drive all over the island. Every time in Grand Cayman (4x now) I've rented a car and drive around too. Pretty much everyone I've talked to is scared to drive in other countries especially where you drive on the other side of the road like in GC. I find it a fun experience and it lets us go where we want.

But in a country like Dominican or Jamaica I'd never rent a car just because I've heard it's not safe. But then again I have no desire to ever visit either of those places anyways.

 

[ponyo]

I'm talking about pretty much everyone I know and talk to and just what I hear from people. Everyone mainly talks about going to Bahamas, Dominican, or Jamaica and staying at resorts the whole time. Most people I know want AI. They want to be surrounded by other Americans and not scary foreigners because they feel out of their comfort zones.

Same thing with Caribbean cruises. Those are pretty much full of sheltered scared people who want to be hand held for 8 hours when they hit Turks and Caicos and then they come back from the Cruise saying how they are so cool because they went to 3 countries and all of them are just okay, yet all they did at them was a snorkel tour or a jeep excursion.

I've never stayed at Palm Beach the 5 times I've been to Aruba. I've stayed at Eagle Beach 4 times and then at a Villa another time that was in Malmok. Every time other than my first time there (which was also my first time out of the country) I have rented a car and drive all over the island. Every time in Grand Cayman (4x now) I've rented a car and drive around too. Pretty much everyone I've talked to is scared to drive in other countries especially where you drive on the other side of the road like in GC. I find it a fun experience and it lets us go where we want.

But in a country like Dominican or Jamaica I'd never rent a car just because I've heard it's not safe. But then again I have no desire to ever visit either of those places anyways.

If I could cancel my upcoming Aruba trip without penalty and go to all inclusive resort at Dominican Republic, I would. There are crazy cheap deals to AI resorts at Dominican Republic right now because everyone is scared to go to DR because of all the American tourists deaths at AI resorts in Punta Cana. Insane deals for hotel and airfare. I just checked vacation packages at Costco Travel and trips leaving this week are still available dirt cheap. I've read Delta is basically flying empty planes to DR right now as like 75% of passengers have canceled and all the AI resorts are pretty much empty due to all the cancellations. What a great time to go.

Rental car makes sense in easy driving and safe places like Aruba, Grand Cayman, and Turks and Caicos. But rental car is not necessary or is inconvenient in lot of Europe and Asian countries due to insane traffic and developed mass transit. It's easy to take buses and trains in major foreign cities because Google Maps transit maps are so good and accurate. And Uber is widely available in most places so that's great option too. Try driving in cities like Bangkok, Bogota, or Seoul during rush hour. It will make rush hour here seem like child's play.

 

[IronWing]

Seems timely.
https://www.dpreview.com/news/15508...re-risking-health-spain-toxic-monte-neme-lake

 

[Muse]

I don't even know if I'm being serious or not! I got tired of serious holiday travel quite quickly (and never really went in for flying).

But there are definitely big moral issues around the effects of travel, both environmental and social, and I do think just dropping in on distant places, having a look and leaving is kind of weird, and not consistent with how we evolved to be. It's not how travel worked for the vast majority of our ancestors. And it clearly isn't scaleable to the entire population of the planet, everyone jetting around all the time just for the sake of it.

I also dislike how it can turn into a status-competition as if having stood and gawped at the pyramids somehow makes you a better person.

Probably I am just being puritanical to an extent.

I like where you're coming from, and I get the aversion to driving everywhere. I drove 1250 miles in the last 12 months, and that's a little more than usual. Today I bicycled and skated, no car.

Modern aviation enabled tourism is a pretty strange thing when you think about it. The descriptions of things tourists do in this thread are pretty damning. I tend to take pictures, brought a camera and cell phone to the east coast, but I rarely take a selfy. I just don't think of it. Seems kinda narcissistic. I've never been on a cruise ship. I suppose I should work up some great fantasies about where I want to go and what I want to do. I should see the Grand Canyon. Do some hiking. Haven't left the USA since I was 2 years old.

 

[purbeast0]

I like where you're coming from, and I get the aversion to driving everywhere. I drove 1250 miles in the last 12 months, and that's a little more than usual. Today I bicycled and skated, no car.

Modern aviation enabled tourism is a pretty strange thing when you think about it. The descriptions of things tourists do in this thread are pretty damning. I tend to take pictures, brought a camera and cell phone to the east coast, but I rarely take a selfy. I just don't think of it. Seems kinda narcissistic. I've never been on a cruise ship. I suppose I should work up some great fantasies about where I want to go and what I want to do. I should see the Grand Canyon. Do some hiking. Haven't left the USA since I was 2 years old.

I drove 1250 miles in the past 3 weeks.

I don't think anything is weird about flying to see and do things you can't do where you live.

 

[Exterous]

Seems timely.
https://www.dpreview.com/news/15508...re-risking-health-spain-toxic-monte-neme-lake

I read about the same issue in Russia a few days ago. I guess poison lakes are the next hot thing on instagram
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/instagram-siberian-maldives-toxic-intl-scli/index.html

 

[pmv]

I like where you're coming from, and I get the aversion to driving everywhere. I drove 1250 miles in the last 12 months, and that's a little more than usual. Today I bicycled and skated, no car.

Modern aviation enabled tourism is a pretty strange thing when you think about it. The descriptions of things tourists do in this thread are pretty damning. I tend to take pictures, brought a camera and cell phone to the east coast, but I rarely take a selfy. I just don't think of it. Seems kinda narcissistic. I've never been on a cruise ship. I suppose I should work up some great fantasies about where I want to go and what I want to do. I should see the Grand Canyon. Do some hiking. Haven't left the USA since I was 2 years old.

This is also why I'm in a minority in this country when it comes to the common sneer that 'X% of Americans don't have passports'. Good for them, I say, I don't see anything wrong with that! There's much to be said for staying home and learning more about your own environment (and maybe trying to improve it) rather than whizzing around the world in a way that relies on the uncosted externalities of air-travel (and driving, to a degree).

And you don't have to repeatedly physically travel thousands of miles to have knowledge of the outside world, those are two different issues. Plus (warming to my topic) much of the world would probably have been better off if us Europeans hadn't travelled quite so much in the past. Just look at the horrendous damage done by the likes of Henry Stanley who murdered and enslaved his way around Africa, or the well-meaning missionaries who just served to unwittingly create lines of ethnic conflict for the future.

I think much of the problem of the social damage caused by travel would be dealt with if the environmental costs were properly accounted for. That would lead to people traveling more selectively and getting more out of it. I think there's an arms-race element to it, where people travel more just as part of a status-competition with other people. Not sure it really makes people objectively happier.,

 

[Muse]

I drove 1250 miles in the past 3 weeks.

I don't think anything is weird about flying to see and do things you can't do where you live.

TBH, I'm struggling with that. Basically, everyone I know that I know much about is more traveled than I am. I have a passport as of a couple years ago, but nobody has ever looked at it but me, and it's in a safe deposit box. People have been suggesting that I travel, I have the money.

I told someone (and it's true), I'm pretty worldly for a guy who hasn't left the USA since 2 YO. I'm sure I'll be surprised by some things if/when I travel, but not like most people. I don't think I'll experience as much culture shock as many. My favorite area locally is Oakland's Chinatown. That microcosm of Asian culture is catnip to me!

I don't figure to travel for the food. I'm eclectic in my eating, but not extremely adventurous. I don't have to taste everything. I won't be eating bugs willingly or squirming living creatures! I don't want to be a damn tourist, it's true. How to travel widely without being a tourist, well, is that a valid topic? I'd like to think so.

 

[Exterous]

This is also why I'm in a minority in this country when it comes to the common sneer that 'X% of Americans don't have passports'. Good for them, I say, I don't see anything wrong with that!

That's a bit of a pet peeve of mine even though my passport is fairly full, although it's a pet peeve for a different reason. The US has a huge range of environments. Rain-forest, desert, arctic, multiple mountain ranges, multiple islands in both oceans, massive amount of both freshwater and salt water shoreline etc. Driving from NYC to LA is the same distance as going from Paris to Istanbul. You'll see a ton of different landscapes, landmarks, food and tourist traps on both but one trip counts more because you've crossed 8 specific lines on a map instead of 0 for the other.

 

[purbeast0]

TBH, I'm struggling with that. Basically, everyone I know that I know much about is more traveled than I am. I have a passport as of a couple years ago, but nobody has ever looked at it but me, and it's in a safe deposit box. People have been suggesting that I travel, I have the money.

I told someone (and it's true), I'm pretty worldly for a guy who hasn't left the USA since 2 YO. I'm sure I'll be surprised by some things if/when I travel, but not like most people. I don't think I'll experience as much culture shock as many. My favorite area locally is Oakland's Chinatown. That microcosm of Asian culture is catnip to me!

I don't figure to travel for the food. I'm eclectic in my eating, but not extremely adventurous. I don't have to taste everything. I won't be eating bugs willingly or squirming living creatures! I don't want to be a damn tourist, it's true. How to travel widely without being a tourist, well, is that a valid topic? I'd like to think so.

My main drive and reason I want to travel are the crystal clear oceans. Whether it is diving, snorkeling, fishing, or hanging out under a tree on the beach sipping a beer, that is my primary motivation to travel. If I hop on a plane, that is usually the reason, and I usually do 3 out of those 4 every time, with fishing being the exception.

 

[gill77]

My main drive and reason I want to travel are the crystal clear oceans. Whether it is diving, snorkeling, fishing, or hanging out under a tree on the beach sipping a beer, that is my primary motivation to travel. If I hop on a plane, that is usually the reason, and I usually do 3 out of those 4 every time, with fishing being the exception.

I think of travel as necessary if you want a true experience, catch a fish, ride a wave.

Climb that mountain instead of being one of a zillion with a selfie with it.

 

[K1052]

That's a bit of a pet peeve of mine even though my passport is fairly full, although it's a pet peeve for a different reason. The US has a huge range of environments. Rain-forest, desert, arctic, multiple mountain ranges, multiple islands in both oceans, massive amount of both freshwater and salt water shoreline etc. Driving from NYC to LA is the same distance as going from Paris to Istanbul. You'll see a ton of different landscapes, landmarks, food and tourist traps on both but one trip counts more because you've crossed 8 specific lines on a map instead of 0 for the other.

Geographically speaking sure. Culturally speaking...eehhh.

I don't generally engage in this argument until somebody starts telling me that the rest of the world sucks or relating certain stereotypes and I find out that the farthest they've been is an AI resort in Cancun or a cruise (if that).