Ways to avoid being a shit traveler
Just because you're visiting doesn't mean the locals have to hate you
We all love travel. But maybe we’re not very good at it.
Perhaps, unintentionally, you’ve been a shit tourist/traveler/digital nomad/whatever you call yourself.
Luckily, we can simply stop being shitty when we travel, if we know what not to do.
I’ve put together this helpful list. So y’know, the locals don’t hate you.
1. Don’t be a crying Karen.
I got this term from Imani Bashir (@sheisimanib) and I think it’s great. We’ve all seen the crying Karens in their home countries, but they are *surprise surprise* even more insufferable when they leave their home countries to visit other places.
They’re often complaining about everything and comparing things to what they’re used to back home (which are always better, apparently) and insisting on doing things the way they’re done “back home”.
You’ll hear them complain about things like:
The Food:
- It’s too spicy!
- It has too many condiments!
- It’s cooked a different way than the one particular place I always visit in my hometown of 12,000 people that has nothing to do with this country!
- Why don’t people eat XYZ dish from a cuisine/culture that has nothing to do with this particular place I’m visiting?
- Making ridiculous requests (that have nothing to do with food allergies or inability to consume certain ingredients) like can you take the rice out of paella, I don’t eat carbs for my diet.
The Weather:
- It’s too hot.
- It’s too cold.
- It’s too humid.
- It’s too windy.
- It’s too sunny.
- It’s not sunny enough.
- It’s not perfectly adapted to my very specific preferences and I obviously didn’t do any research about this place I’m visiting before arriving with a huge suitcase full of dismally-inappropriate clothes and gear.
The People/Language/Entire Country:
- Why are there so many X people in X Country? i.e. Indians in India, Mexicans in Mexico, you get the drift.
- Why don’t people speak English?
- Why don’t people here do things exactly the same way I’m used to back in my country/city?
- Why is this country/city not exactly the same as the place I came from?
I’m probably missing more here, but the point is — a crying Karen finds things to complain about…everything.
Don’t be a crying Karen.
2. Don’t impose your preferences on the local context.
Recently, gringos (folks from the US & Canada, mostly, but white folks in general) made the news in Mexico for complaining about banda music in Mazatlan, Sinaloa.
Banda is a type of music that is widely enjoyed in many parts of Mexico but is typical of the North of Mexico, particularly Sinaloa. It involves a lot of brass instruments and percussions and has been around since the 19th Century.
Some shitty tourists who visited Mazatlan didn’t like the banda music that was being performed on the beaches and complained (idk to who but they found some way to complain about it to people in charge) and they banned banda on the beach!
What the actual f.
There have been protests and marches but ultimately (as far as I could gather — this is an ongoing situation at the time of writing), they’ve decided to limit the number of bands that can play on the beach and gave them a timeframe within which to operate.
The level of entitlement that these people bring to the places they visit — that’s a sign of a shit traveler.
Don’t be this person.
You’re the visitor. You have to change/adapt/get uset to things — do not expect your host country and people in the host country to adapt to your needs. They have no need to do so, and you have no right to demand it of them.
3. Don’t engage in practices that destroy the local economy, culture, and ecosystems.
Okay, this is a big one and possibly maybe impossible to do except by staying at home.
But we can be less shit travelers by being aware and mindful of our negative impacts and taking steps to reduce that impact.
What do I mean?
Let’s look at it in sections:
Don’t engage in practices that destroy the local economy:
Gentrification is a huge and growing problem in many popular tourist destinations around the world.
As affluent tourists/travelers/digital nomads start arriving, local residents get pushed out of their neighborhoods as wealthy developers convert homes into more lucrative AirBnBs or other types of accommodation for the transient visitor.
I wrote a little bit about reducing harm on this front in a previous essay but not destroying the local economy extends beyond simply being mindful of the accommodations you choose when you travel.
One of the biggest contributions of visiting foreigners to any place they visit is their investment in the local economy. By buying locally made products, eating at local eateries, spending their $$ in tourist attractions and other local establishments. Wonderful.
But in recent years, with such massive globalization taking place, it is more likely than not that you will find some if not all of the same brands that you are used to back home.
McDonalds, Starbucks, Burger King, Coca Cola — all of these brands have taken the world by storm and they are now available in just about every tourist destination. But why would you leave your home, leave your country, hop on a flight (or 3) to go somewhere far removed from your local context simply to seek out the exact same things that you’re used to back home?
Yes, I get that there is comfort in familiarity but our demand for products that we’re used to is killing the local economy. So the next time you go somewhere, don’t be a shit visitor: seek out and support local brands, eat at local establishments, buy from small local producers.
Speaking of supporting local businesses, in many economies, tipping is not standard practice. But with the arrival of North American tourists and travelers who tip like they would “back home”, economies are shifting to accommodate this.
I recently visited Nanciyaga, a natural reserve on the shores of Lake Catemaco in the Tuxtlas region of south Veracruz, Mexico. Despite charging a pretty hefty entrance fee (120 pesos) for access to the reserve, visitors are not permitted to walk the trails on their own. Instead, they have to be accompanied by a guide on a set path, a tour that lasts about 45 minutes.
All that is well and good, except the guides are not paid by Nanciyaga. They are considered “volunteers” and what they earn is entirely based on tips. In a country where tipping is not common practice, to see this implemented in a fairly touristy place that attracts a good number of Western tourists is appalling.
Yes, I know this is a symptom of a much bigger problem than tourists who tip (it’s really a reflection of the exploitation that has become normalized across many industries because of capitalism) but I don’t doubt that we have contributed to the problem as well.
Don’t engage in practices that destroy the local culture:
Food is a huge part of the culture of many, if not all, countries. There is so much to be learned about a place simply by eating traditional foods.
But in many tourist destinations, food vendors are adapting their offerings to cater to the unrefined tastebuds of entitled tourists and travelers who can’t handle their shit.
In Mexico City, for example, taqueros (people selling tacos) have started making not-spicy salsas to cater to tourists. (In some places that still get local traffic, if you ask them nicely, they might have a Mexican-level spicy salsa they might offer you, but in many places, they’ve simply stopped making the spicy stuff because it’s not worth it.)
I mean, can you imagine?
I’ve seen this in many places, particularly with spice and condiments — curry with fewer condiments in India, un-spicy salsas in Mexico, super mild coconut curries in Thailand — food without flavor, all to cater to the shit tourists/travelers who insist that food be prepared according to their liking.
So when you go somewhere, don’t be a shit and complain about the spice level or how seasoned the food is or the fact that they eat grasshoppers (they are delicious with beer and sucks to be you if you can’t appreciate that).
Of course, culture goes beyond just food and a lot more can be said about being mindful of cultural practices, but we’ll revisit that some other time.
Don’t engage in practices that destroy local ecosystems:
Yes, it looks amazing in a video when you’re diving and surrounded by hundreds of colorful fish, but if you’re achieving that effect by feeding the fish biscuits and bread, you’re being a shit traveler and destroying local ecosystems for your selfish gain.
Yes, the conch shell would look gorgeous on your coffee table back home but you’re causing irreparable damage to the marine life and coastal ecosystems just so you have a cute souvenir.
Yes, it makes for a great story to say you tried [insert exotic meat here] but at what cost? A moment on the lips, forever on the ecosystem. Just don’t do it.
Is there a way to travel without a negative impact?
My personal view? No.
We need to take a second here to recognize that tourism and traveling inherently cause a massive negative impact on so many things.
Local cultures, people, ecosystems, ways of life, economies etc. — all of it is affected by the influx of tourists and travelers and digital nomads who show up and act like they’re god’s gift to the world.
We’re talking about the construction of hotels and other amenities for visitors. We’re talking about shifting economies away from their traditional sources of sustenance to cater to tourists. We’re talking about human presence in pristine areas that affect the activity of animals, insects, and birds in the area.
All of this destroys habitats, ecosystems, and more.
More people also means more carbon emissions from vehicles, increased use of natural resources, and more waste being generated and more.
To be honest, we fuck a lot of things up when we travel. No two ways about it, really.
But travel also has so much to offer us and we can do it in a way that is mindful and intentional and reduces our harm to the places and people we visit.
If you found some value in this article, please consider showing your appreciation by making a small one-time contribution below.
Interested in working with me in a 1:1 capacity? Some new options are available: Check them out here. Or reach out via email. Custom packages available (and I offer non-travel-related coaching too!)