Is There a Difference Between a Tourist and a Traveller?

Many people try to make a clear distinction between tourists and travellers, but the demarcation is value-laden. It is often a way for people to create a hierarchy of travel, whereby self-identified travellers can feel assured that they are travelling in a more adventurous, exciting, and authentic way. (I recently covered the topic of authentic…

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Our Search for Authentic Travel: The Tourist Gaze and the Commodification of Culture

Authentic travel experiences: these are what we all seem to be after when we go abroad. When exploring new locales and relaying our experiences to others upon our return, there’s often nothing more self-satisfying to talk about how authentic a particular experience was. I have written previously about how this concept of authenticity can feed…

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How to Make Digital Nomadism a Long-Term Lifestyle

Digital nomadism – the combination of travel with remote work – is an increasingly popular trend. Many bright-eyed millennials see it as a way to ditch the drudgery of a boring and uninspiring 9-to-5 while at the same time satisfying their hunger for travel. Yet despite all of the travel bloggers and YouTubers who ‘sell’…

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Travel and the Kindness of Strangers: An Unexpected Day in Puebla City

One of the most memorable and fulfilling aspects of travel is the kindness of strangers. Travelling solo in a new country can be accompanied by feelings of anxiety and vigilance since you recognise that you are, a lot of the time, in a vulnerable position: you’re struggling to get from place to place (and might…

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A Stoic Perspective on the Urge to Travel

The urge to travel is ubiquitous. It’s something we all experience, from time to time. Often, we may get an itch to pack up and leave the country when we feel bored with our routine, burdened by the stresses of everyday modern life, or simply because we cannot shake the enticing prospect of new and…

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