Having undergone the recent personality transplant that inevitably arises from having spent the previous semester abroad I’m running out of victims in my personal life to terrorise with anecdotes of my ‘life-affirming’ time spent in another English-speaking, Westernized country. Consequently, it’s time to make that everyone else’s problem by repurposing my monologues as the topic for this month’s column; In Celebration of Being a Tourist.
Self-deprecation aside, I truly believe there’s value in succumbing to the garish hilarity of tourist traps, but it seems to be one of those things that have always gotten a bad rep. For years, self-proclaimed ‘free spirits’ have shunned the tourist identity, assuming a pretended local influence from an area they’ve never stepped foot in before and potentially never will again. Hordes of us have heard the phrase “I found this really authentic local place” susurrated out of the mouth of someone’s effortlessly cool older sibling as children, setting us up for a lifetime of dragging our friends into dingy bars abroad, hoping that we’ll stumble across some diamond in the rough that we can boast we discovered sans Trip Advisor.
Now, admittedly, there’s some value in scorning tourist traps. Touristy activities are frequently expensive, crowded and over-hyped. Despite this, I’ve found they can still be extremely fulfilling. In October I visited Niagara Falls for the first time and was suitably awed. Embarking on the ‘Voyage to the Falls’ boat tour I experienced the sort of childlike wonder that arises from seeing something of such a monumental scale. The jets of water cascading from the falls created an endless supply of rainbows, and I, alongside the rest of the boat, was delighted to be soaked to the skin by them. The sound was deafening, acquiescing me to the mundanity of existence, and everyone was laughing and taking pictures. Overall, a once in a lifetime experience. Although my spiritual awakening was immediately dashed against the rocks by a visit to ‘Clifton Hill’, Niagara’s very capitalist hellscape conceptualised in the form of a theme park, the contrast between that and the natural marvel that was the falls was incredibly funny (if not vaguely horrifying).
In general, there’s nothing I despise more than theme parks. As a veritable roller coaster hater, I can think of no worse way to spend a day than queuing for some cardboard-tasting food and two rides that make me feel like I’m going to die. However, the slogan of this trip was “When in Rome” so off we went to lose our souls somewhere between Tim Hortons and Frankenstein’s mansion. Surprisingly, it was enjoyable, we ate all the food we were told to try, drank all the stereotypical Canadian drinks and brought maple syrup for everyone we knew. It was undeniably naff, yet it was engaging and memorable in its divergence from my daily life and settings.
Our reluctance to embrace tourism may have some basis in our societal obsession with appearing cultured. When traveling to new places it’s often difficult and scary to confess to the gaps in our knowledge. Looking like a tourist potentially makes you more susceptible to being scammed or taken advantage of, thus it’s natural to use assimilation as a protective barrier. However, being an obvious tourist can attract as much good as bad. People are more eager to offer recommendations and share their go-to spots if you make it apparent that you’re utterly out of your depth. Resulting in the ‘discovery’ of a local gem more often than the times I’ve attempted to bluff my way through a conversation concerning a country I know absolutely nothing about. However, if people think you know what you’re doing, they’re disincentivised to share their own experiences which they assume you’ll understand. So, embrace being a bit of an idiot and if anyone genuinely thinks you’re uncultured, so much worse for them.
To conclude, although you may not want your next trip to Paris to exclusively revolve ping-ponging between the Eiffel Tower, Louvre and the Notre-Dame, tourist attractions can be a helpful starting point when planning a trip abroad. If you start with a few ideas of things you’d like to see, you can fill the rest of your trip scouring overpriced jazz bars, walking around aimlessly and avoiding anywhere recommended by a food blogger on TikTok like the plague. Accept that sometimes, things are popular for good reason. Embrace having unpretentious fun every once in a while, and if you hate it, at least you can regale your mates with tales of how much you despise the tourists visiting a place you’re not even from.
By Severine Bernard
@eviebernard
(In Celebration Of is a monthly column by Severine Bernard, exclusive to qmunicatemagazine.co.uk. Stay tuned for more installments!)
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