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One person at work goes to foreign countries, locks themself inside a gated resort, and never leaves except to go to and from the airport. Another person like to see the sights and sounds of the country's culture, food, people, etc. Both will tell you they had a great time.
Do you consider the first type of person a "traveler" or a "vacationer?" I consider them the later. There is nothing wrong with either one, but I think they have different mindsets and expectations. If I am going to spend a butt load of money to get to a foreign country, I don't want to lock myself up in a compound; I want to see the country -- not just a small part of the beach. Others, obviously, don't feel that way.
I apologize if this has been discussed before; I don't spend a lot of time on this forum..
No offense to either camp; I'm just contemplating some trips and thinking out loud.
it is obvious the first type is a vacationer and the second is a traveler.
The difference is primarily a vacationer goes to a place to "relax" - so seeing exotic culture, contacting local people and even sightseeing is not of primarily concern. The focus to stay in a place and spend a few comfortable or even luxury days to get away from the routine life which can be boring or stressful.
The second type of people don't go to a new place to relax but rather to experience as much new as possible. They tend to move a lot from place to place, trying to communicate with local people and culture, as well as seeing a lot of attractions given the limited time. Often the trip is more physically tiring than their normal life at home.
I definitely belong to the second type. So far I haven't been to any "resort", or taken any cruise, and none of my trips evolved a lot of beach - two hours tops sitting by the ocean. I get bored after that. I will try to visit places requiring more physical strength when I am still young and fit, and consider those lazy vacations in the distance future. My life is not stressful either, so there is no point for me to fly to a different country to sit or lie somewhere to relax. I have enough relaxation at home.
It depends. Some gated resorts are gated to keep people not staying there from using the facilities as opposed to for safety. IN those cases I think most guests do leave the gates to explore the region. For the places like in Jamaica where they pick you up at the airport and you never leave the resort, that's vacation. For places like Canaves Oia, guests are travelers, as most get out and explore the island as well. Additionally I would think most (non-Euro) visitors to Santorini also visit other parts of Greece while they are there.
One person at work goes to foreign countries, locks themself inside a gated resort, and never leaves except to go to and from the airport. Another person like to see the sights and sounds of the country's culture, food, people, etc. Both will tell you they had a great time.
Do you consider the first type of person a "traveler" or a "vacationer?" I consider them the later. There is nothing wrong with either one, but I think they have different mindsets and expectations. If I am going to spend a butt load of money to get to a foreign country, I don't want to lock myself up in a compound; I want to see the country -- not just a small part of the beach. Others, obviously, don't feel that way.
I apologize if this has been discussed before; I don't spend a lot of time on this forum..
No offense to either camp; I'm just contemplating some trips and thinking out loud.
Both people are both travelers and vacationers. I don't see the need to differentiate. Unless there's some sort of need to feel superior, which seems silly to me.
I guess I see both sides of it as usual (I've been called contrary for not being polarized on matters)...
On the one hand, I think there is a type of tourist who is ok with a sort of fantasy experience on vacation because they're just there for the sun and the beach or whatever. That's fine, but it can be limiting if you never take the time to see any of the real parts of the land and culture around you. I would not recommend choosing someplace that sounds like an adventure and then sitting in a resort the whole time. The two things are inherently opposites, no matter how many times the resort/crusieline uses the word 'adventure' in their ads.
On the other hand, I don't see traveling to places on your own and avoiding resorts as some sort of badge of honor that needs its own special term to differentiate you from other types of travelers. I'm pretty sure the locals see a white person with a camera and think 'tourist' whether you're in their town square or on the beach at an exclusive resort. In fact, if you're in a really rough area, they might just think, 'What is HE doing here? Is he crazy? Or just one of those people who wants to experience us?"
So, in short, it's good to do both at times. But you also have to realize that a lot of people may have traveled to someplace in a more adventurous way when they were younger and are ok with just sitting in a resort now. I think this is especially true in places like Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe that a lot of people travel to repeatedly.
One person at work goes to foreign countries, locks themself inside a gated resort, and never leaves except to go to and from the airport. Another person like to see the sights and sounds of the country's culture, food, people, etc. Both will tell you they had a great time.
Do you consider the first type of person a "traveler" or a "vacationer?" I consider them the later. There is nothing wrong with either one, but I think they have different mindsets and expectations. If I am going to spend a butt load of money to get to a foreign country, I don't want to lock myself up in a compound; I want to see the country -- not just a small part of the beach. Others, obviously, don't feel that way.
I apologize if this has been discussed before; I don't spend a lot of time on this forum..
No offense to either camp; I'm just contemplating some trips and thinking out loud.
It depends. Some gated resorts are gated to keep people not staying there from using the facilities as opposed to for safety. IN those cases I think most guests do leave the gates to explore the region. For the places like in Jamaica where they pick you up at the airport and you never leave the resort, that's vacation. For places like Canaves Oia, guests are travelers, as most get out and explore the island as well. Additionally I would think most (non-Euro) visitors to Santorini also visit other parts of Greece while they are there.
Right, but OP clearly stated:
Quote:
One person at work goes to foreign countries, locks themself inside a gated resort, and never leaves except to go to and from the airport.
in this scenario, the person is just a vacationer, but for me more like a "prisoner"...
One person at work goes to foreign countries, locks themself inside a gated resort, and never leaves except to go to and from the airport. Another person like to see the sights and sounds of the country's culture, food, people, etc. Both will tell you they had a great time.
Do you consider the first type of person a "traveler" or a "vacationer?" I consider them the later. There is nothing wrong with either one, but I think they have different mindsets and expectations. If I am going to spend a butt load of money to get to a foreign country, I don't want to lock myself up in a compound; I want to see the country -- not just a small part of the beach. Others, obviously, don't feel that way.
I apologize if this has been discussed before; I don't spend a lot of time on this forum..
No offense to either camp; I'm just contemplating some trips and thinking out loud.
I do both. I go on golf trips to play golf and that sometimes takes me out of the USA. Other times, I go to experience and see another country. Then I usually rent a car and drive to a variety of places. Neither are vacations for me since I'm retired.
I interpreted "gated community" to mean some kind of all-inclusive resort. To me it seems a waste to not go off the resort - I've been to the Riviera Maya a couple times for example and stayed at a resort but rented a car to take my own tours of several Mayan ruins each time. I liked the convenience of not having to search for food for all meals and on alternate days when not "touring" I was enjoying the water and all included drinks! So it seemed the best of both worlds and I didn't regret missing a few free meals by going off on my own.
So to me, not going off-property would have been a huge waste of airfare - most are very similar and it makes little sense to travel any distance if that is all you're after.
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