Inspiration #3 : Be a Traveler, Not a Tourist

I believe everyone likes to travel, and each and everyone of us have different interest, purpose and style of travel. Basically, we can 'classify' ourselves into two groups, which is Traveler and Tourist.

Wait... aren't those two the same?
Nope, not at all. In fact, there are do present some differences between them.

Tourist [toor-ist]

"A tourist can be defined as a person who travels for pleasure/fun. Tourism is travelling for purely recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel."

The common stereotype of tourist is the one who always with their hat on, put on shades, wearing a Aloha shirt, bermudas and flip-flop. You can easily spot them from far away due to their clothes bright colors.
And they do have a camera on their hands. They take photos of almost everything.

Tourist are guided by travel agency which plans everything down to the food you eat, and where you stop and pee. Commonly, they are in a large tour group, and they travel in a tour buses.




Traveler [tra-və-lər]

"A person who travels or has traveled in distant places or foreign lands. Someone who travels widely and often" 

When it comes to traveler, some may think of a backpacker. To them, the purpose of travel is to learn and experience new things. They like to blend into the local communities and interact with them. Staying low and observe the lifestyle of locals. These travelers often dress casually and comfortably because they have a long journey (and they do sweat a lot).
They like to bring along a light and small sized camera to shot on something interesting and recording the wonderful moment they had. Whenever they are taking pictures of
the locals, they do it in candid. 

Apparently, there are no clear definition for both tourist and traveler. These labels are given based on how people see themselves and interpretation based on their opinion.

Here are the comparisons of common traits between tourists and travelers

Tourist	Traveler
A destination is just a place.	A destination is a journey
The world is a catalog. These journeys are like a merchandise.  It's value is based on the how luxuries it is.	The world is a story book. There are different stories and experience in different chapter. And the people and culture makes the story.
To  See ,to Play, & to Spend	To Explore, to Experience, & to Learn
Usually in Large group. Follow tours, and guided by travel agency	Solo, Couple or Small Groups
Suitable for family with small kids, and elderly. And also honey-moon	Suitable for youth, friends, couples and single
Everything is well planned and prepared. No need to worry of everything	Self-guided. Sufficient Research is essential to make the trip possible. Have to be independent.
A handful of wealth ready to spend. Splurge for the best, Shopping for goods	Tight Budget          Every penny counts, only spend when it is necessary and beneficial.
Have limited time	Usually have a lot of time and energy
Lives in Hotels and resorts	Lives in Budget motels, Youth Hostels, Guesthouses and Couch-surfing
Visit only tourist landmarks and dine in recommended restaurants	Explore the city, go around the area to observe and experience the lives of local. Eat everywhere that looks favorable.
Tourist Bus, Private transport	Public transports, rented car and of course by foot
Prefer Luggage (can contain a lot of goods and souvenirs)	Prefer backpack (Pack Right, Travel Light)
Boast about their trip. Talk about what they had been, what they have done.	Share their travel experiences after their travels. Often discuss with other travelers about their journeys.
Snap and go.	Experience, inspire and shoot.

In my opinion, being either a traveler or a tourist, its up to you to decide. It's just merely a style of traveling. As long you enjoy your trip, that's for sure.  If you are planning to go to somewhere like Bali or any beaches, of course, it will be ideal to be a tourist to spend quality time with family and enjoy the getaway from the bustling city.

And if you planning to go explore and experience a new culture in a certain country. Be a traveler. Meet-up with different people and live the life of different hats.  That's where you will eventually explore deeper into yourselves. Giving you the confident to be comfortable with yourself and learn to grow up.

Never the less, despite of the differences, we should always embrace our curiosity, and always be open-minded. Besides, we should learn to respect differences, and learn to co-exists with each other. That is what adds value to your travels .

Realizing we don't only live in a corner of the world. The Earth as we know is so vast, so big that there is more than meets the eye.

Go! explore and see the beauty of the world as it is!

P/S:
Don't go to a destination just for sake of getting there and take a photo with it , then brag to the whole world you had been there. Gosh, you can do that in PS. =..=".
There is a saying in Chinese that goes like this...

"上车睡觉，停车撒尿，下车拍照，回去一问，什么都不知道~"
Shàng chē shuìjiào, tíngchē sāniào, xià chē pāizhào, huíqù yī wèn, shénme dōu bù zhīdào 

(Sleep on the bus, stop to pee, get off to take photo. Ask them something, and they don't have any idea) 

Well, please don't be like that... or not you will be wasting your valuable time and money. 
The destination ain't the final goal of traveling, but it is the process, the journey you had that makes the memory. :D