Just a moment ago I was getting some samples from this odd YouTube video & it made me wonder if, when I traveled, I was a traveler or a tourist. For example, it says that travelers eat the local cuisine, while tourists seek out stuff that is familiar (I guess, like fast food from an international chain). It also says that travelers strike out on their own, while tourists go on tours with other tourists.
But what if you're a mixture of the two? I don't eat fast food in the States, why would I eat it abroad? But I also don't mind a tour if I think it might be fun - like the ones we took in Edinburgh & in Sydney. There was no chance of us renting a car in the short amount of time we had so hopping on a tour bus was the best option available to see large parts of the area. But before & after that, we explored both cities mostly by foot. I remember looking at my health app on my iPhone at the end of the day in Edinburgh & I had walked like ten miles & had over twenty thousand steps.
One supposes that "tourist" has negative connotations, which I hadn't considered when I thought about doing this show. I also found myself remembering I had done shows previously about holidays as well as travel, & of course the recent souvenirs*. They all seem to be of a piece with one another. I guess they could all be some mega-radio show, over eight hours long. A workday of radio about travel!
Anyway, the point is, except for a couple of snotty songs, I don't think this week's Self Help Radio will look down upon the tourist. Not intentionally. Because I don't think, generally, you're simply one or the other - I think you're often a mixture of both. At least by the definitions in that odd YouTube video. At least for me.
* One of my collaborators, Jon, made me feel bad about having a show about tourism so soon after souvenirs, so I delayed the show for three weeks.
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