Are you a travel snob? Digging up the past

I recently stumbled across a piece I contributed to back in 2010 in response to the question:

Travel snobbery. Does it exist? If so, how would you define it?

I paused to read our collective responses. From fellow writers who are still friends today five years later. I also read my response and wanted to share it again here considering how today, travel is being bragged about like it’s the only novel way to existing and how accumulating travel stamps and counting countries is the new social wealth, regardless of personal debt.

Excerpt from 2010:

Travel snobbery has certainly been exacerbated by that never-ending clichéd debate of Tourist versus Traveler. Stepping off a half-sinking wooden canoe versus a cruise liner onto the same Thai beach somehow makes the canoe rider a “more authentic” traveler?

Exploring a place in the traditional sense (sampling local cuisine, enjoying cultural activities) is no longer enough. One must trek through treacherous jungles even locals avoid, eat poisonous foods off endangered species lists, and constantly place-drop at parties and get-togethers.

“What? You can’t bargain in Quechua? Tskk”

The travel snob aims to elevate their travel experiences at the expense of devaluing yours. It really is ironic that many travelers who themselves explore other cultures to learn, grow, and become more open-minded to various aspects of the world build an internal caste system.

Want to know if you’re a travel snob? If a friend shares their experience riding a Cambodian rickshaw and you retort with “Bah! I actually rode backwards on a motorbike with three other passengers in Vietnam!”

You just might be a travel snob.

After reading these thoughts I shared five years ago, I still feel the same way but the main difference is – I simply do not lose sleep over how others choose to travel.

I didn’t lose sleep then but I don’t fight it as aggressively now. Some count countries. I personally don’t. Some rush through sights. I personally slacken my pace.

Provided people are traveling with utmost respect first and foremost for the communities they are visiting. As long as they are leaving their backyards, traveling outside their comfort zones, truly learning, and being enriched by their experiences.

After all, every travel experience should be a learning opportunity… one where you gain more insight into the world around you and into yourself as a person and how you fit into this larger context. That should be your personal gauge.

As for dealing with travel snobs?

Lack of engagement works wonders.