Tumbrella

We all like to think we’re individuals. But we’re not that different.

Travellers: different, different, but same?

Us hobos are mostly looking for the same sort of things from travel.
And, whether it’s escaping the tyranny of the rat race or trying to “find ourselves, man” (oh look, I was here all along), we’re mostly running from similar things. We’re going to the same places and coming back with the same photos.

So although we’d swear blind we’re all markedly different to the bloke sat next to us on the bus, we still fall into some broad groupings, stereotypes, or clichés if you will. Here are three traveller stereotypes:

Mr Competitive Traveller
This is the guy – and it is always a guy – who’s annoying quick to point out that wherever you’ve been and whatever you’ve done, he’s done it better. The bloke that springs most readily to mind I met in a Costa Rican hostel kitchen. I was reading my book, minding my own, when he started talking to me, almost entirely about himself. He would ask where I’d been, then with the first few words abrely out of my mouth, tell me he’d been there for much longer, got to know more – and more fascinating – people, for much less money. In summary, he’d had a much more authentic experience. For example, Venezula was his favourite country in Latin America (most travellers don’t go there, it’s dangerous and daunting and those who do don’t talk highly of it). And Colombia? He hadn’t eaten out much there because, “I mostly ate with locals, in their homes”. Why did he irritate me so much? Well, I suppose it’s because I’m kind of a little bit like that too…

The Travel Snob
A not entirely unrelated stereotype, the Snob doesn’t ever appear to be enjoying himself – and again they’re rarely women. He certainly won’t enjoy any famous attractions, because “there are too many tourists”. He’ll take the very cheapest transport, he’ll intentionally walk through the toughest neighbourhoods, he prefers the hostel with the bed bugs and drug dealers. In fact, he came to this country seven years ago and it was much better (because the busses didn’t work back then). He’s only happy when he has food poisoning or gets robbed.

The Freshie
Fresh off the boat, this is the start of their first trip and they’re wide-eyed and a little out of their depth. Their backpack is bright, shiny and new, their clothes freshly ironed and they’ll spend a lot of time in hostel communal areas hoping to befriend people (without actually initiating conversation) and only ever leaving the hostel to find an internet café. Okay, so I’m taking mostly about myself when I first landed in Brazil in 2002 having barely left Blighty previously… But those first few weeks of a first big trip can be daunting.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s excellent Backpacker blog talks about traveller clichés. A couple of his are:

The Boozer
Boozers don’t mind which country they travel to, as long as the beer’s cheap, there are bars playing live football matches, and the beer’s cheap. They don’t do temples, they don’t do cathedrals, and they don’t do mornings. And they have a ball.

The Box-Ticker
Box-tickers have a list of travelling priorities, and they’re going about the business of ticking them off. They’re a “been there, bought the T-shirt” type traveller. If a city doesn’t have a world-famous monument or attraction, you probably won’t bump into them. If you do though, be prepared to hear them run through the list.

If I’m anyone on the list, then I’m the Tight-Arse. What about you?

The prolific Normadic Matt has a semi-related recent blog about how he’s evolving from backpacker to flashpacker. He says:

…things are changing. Maybe it’s age. Maybe it’s income. Whatever it is I feel that my travel style is slowly changing and that the worst part is that I know it. I’ve already upgraded myself to flashpacker. One of those travelers who has a little more means and a lot more fancy electronics.

There’s some personal and really interesting stuff. Worth a read.