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> If you want to avoid unpleasant tourist traps, go off the beaten path to smaller towns and villages. That only works until someone with a sufficiently large

> If you want to avoid unpleasant tourist traps, go off the beaten path to smaller towns and villages. That only works until someone with a sufficiently large follower base promotes it on instagram. Instant tourist influx. Many of the tourist traps started out as hidden treasures.

yorwba 8y ago
The trick is not to look for "hidden treasures". Don't try to find something special that nobody else has discovered yet. Just go to ordinary places which are nonetheless different from what you're used to. Sure, someone might promote precisely the completely ordinary place you have selected and cause it to be overrun, but given the number of places you can choose from, that's not very likely. Of course that only works if you don't travel to see unique and famous sights, but in that case you can never avoid other tourists anyway. If you just want some new experiences, the selection is effectively unlimited.
overcast 8y ago
Actually being one of those influencers, I can tell you that most people in this world don't care what someone on Instagram says. Those that do pay attention are there for the fantasy, and not actually jumping on a plane to a remote location because one of us posted a pretty picture. The rest of the planet is going to see the Taj Mahal, and Fontana de Trivi, because that's what you're "supposed" to do when visiting a foreign land. It doesn't take much effort to find a quiet home outside of a major city, and see what's really going on. There are nearly infinite places on this Earth to go, only a handful are being 'promoted' because they are already popular. btw, the Taj Mahal is indeed beautiful, but it's a very small oasis in the literally the most vile city(Agra) I've been to in all my travels. Absolute filth. The best thing to do is drive there, see it for an hour, and then drive back to the place you came from.
grecy 8y ago
> That only works until someone with a sufficiently large follower base promotes it on instagram. Instant tourist influx. Many of the tourist traps started out as hidden treasures Or go really off the beaten & easy path. I just spent a year traveling North to South in West Africa, I can count the number of tourists I saw on two hands. It is breathtaking and well worth the visit, but it's also very difficult and demanding.

yorwba 8y ago

The trick is not to look for "hidden treasures". Don't try to find something special that nobody else has discovered yet. Just go to ordinary places which are nonetheless different from what you're used to. Sure, someone might promote precisely the completely ordinary place you have selected and cause it to be overrun, but given the number of places you can choose from, that's not very likely. Of course that only works if you don't travel to see unique and famous sights, but in that case you can never avoid other tourists anyway. If you just want some new experiences, the selection is effectively unlimited.

overcast 8y ago

Actually being one of those influencers, I can tell you that most people in this world don't care what someone on Instagram says. Those that do pay attention are there for the fantasy, and not actually jumping on a plane to a remote location because one of us posted a pretty picture. The rest of the planet is going to see the Taj Mahal, and Fontana de Trivi, because that's what you're "supposed" to do when visiting a foreign land. It doesn't take much effort to find a quiet home outside of a major city, and see what's really going on. There are nearly infinite places on this Earth to go, only a handful are being 'promoted' because they are already popular. btw, the Taj Mahal is indeed beautiful, but it's a very small oasis in the literally the most vile city(Agra) I've been to in all my travels. Absolute filth. The best thing to do is drive there, see it for an hour, and then drive back to the place you came from.

grecy 8y ago

> That only works until someone with a sufficiently large follower base promotes it on instagram. Instant tourist influx. Many of the tourist traps started out as hidden treasures Or go really off the beaten & easy path. I just spent a year traveling North to South in West Africa, I can count the number of tourists I saw on two hands. It is breathtaking and well worth the visit, but it's also very difficult and demanding.