Go Away Alex Travel Design

People who want to work with me on trips don’t have a specific demographic. I don’t limit myself to honeymoons or family trips or solo travel. I also don’t limit myself to any destinations. What all my clients seem to have in common is that they want to travel somewhere new, immerse themselves in culture, and get off the beaten path. They want an experience, but not “touristy”.

What IS touristy? Why is it “bad”? And how do we avoid it?

The truth is, it’s hard to avoid. If you want to see the wonders of the world, unesco heritage sites, or great city sights like the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal, you’re going to experience “touristy”. It will be inevitable despite your best efforts. Touristy isn’t always bad. Touristy can mean different things to different people. Examples of touristy characteristics include: crowded with people, lots of vendors trying to sell you things, difficult to get into because of lines no matter the time of day. To me, touristy places mean you should:

How do we fully avoid “touristy”?

Go somewhere that might not be on your radar! Have you ever been to Slovenia? Macedonia? Chile? Namibia? Not to say that you couldn’t find “touristy” places in these countries, but they’re certainly less touristy than your average Rome, London, Cancun, or Egypt. People often think that these places are hard to get to, and of course while some of them are…some of them are a quick flight/train away from a major airport. I had the pleasure of visiting Slovenia in June. I loved that in our experience of Ljubljana, Lake Bled, and a cave tour, nothing was overcrowded. It was an easy country to navigate by car, and Ljubljana was easily walk-able with great food and shops. I consider non touristy places to have attributes like: calm, serene, easy to navigate, and safe.

If you must see the wonder of the world, at least make sure you balance it with somewhere less traveled! That’s my other tip 😉 Go see the Parisian sights, and then take a train to Provence or Rouen or Menton. Go to Venice Italy, and then go to Ljubljana Slovenia!

How should you actually narrow down where to go?

Really consider your time frame, your budget, and what you WANT to get out of your trip. If you have only a week, I don’t think a 2 leg flight that’s over 20 hours is worth it. If you have a tight budget, you probably don’t want to go to Scandinavia or NYC or Australia/New Zealand. If your main goal is to immerse, I encourage you to find somewhere unique and less traveled! Look at a globe and see what you really know about certain areas. If your main goal is to connect with your travelers (family/partner,etc), then maybe you pick a place that can tick boxes for all parties. And when all else fails, ask Alex! 🙂

Less traveled=less touristy

Every region of earth has something worthy of witnessing, I promise. Sometimes, we’ve heard about Paris our whole lives and finally get there and feel disappointed. It’s often the places we’ve never heard of that surprise us the most.

If you already know where you’re going, and want to find some off the beaten path ideas for things to do; I often check websites like Atlas Obscura for ideas. They offer obscure travel stops and are regularly updated with user experiences.

Surprise, it’s touristy…

A touristy story from a whiny empath (me)

I’ve given some thought to this blog post since I was recently in Indonesia. Sometimes, you just don’t know that it’s going to be “touristy”. I spent many days of our month long trip exhausted from being bombarded by sellers. Getting off an 8 hour flight to hundreds of people shouting “taxi” into my ear, following me showing me their price was “the same” as a Grab Taxi, berating me for opting for a rideshare called from my phone… who wouldn’t be exhausted?

“If they only knew that pressure makes me say NO faster,” I commonly think to myself.

I know they’re just trying to make a living. I know they depend on tourism and this is how they get people to take their taxis, I know. I can’t help my defenses. And it didn’t end at taxis. It was every day, people trying to sell you their goods on the beach, right outside your hotels, on the drives IN the taxis! How can one relax?

To be fair, sometimes it was helpful. Sometimes, we did need our driver to offer us a tour for the next day. But when we would politely decline and say that we already had plans, they would continue to offer us a ride to dinner, a ride to the airport, a ride etc etc. It truly made me wonder why people enjoy going to such popular places like Bali. I think if you had everything planned out for you from beginning to end, it might have been different. But if you’re on a budget and trying to do things on the fly, it can be quite overwhelming.

Also, the sheer amount of tourists in Ubud left something to be desired. I was extremely grateful that our hotel was outside the city a little bit. It felt like a small city of tourists, for tourists, by tourists. There were a few things that felt unique and cultural–but it was mostly tourist markets/tourist bars/and tourists!

I get it. I’m also a tourist. I’m contributing. I’m the problem, it’s me. But this trip really made me want to dig deeper into research before I commit to a place. Sometimes, it’s hard to know what the vibe is until you’re there. Even, Lombok. I’m sad to report. We chose an island next to Bali to make sure we get an impression of Indonesia that’s not just Bali. While, Lombok was lovely and we experienced an awesome tour guide, I still left feeling exhausted by declining things. Maybe it’s a muscle I need to build or a perspective I need to shift.

On the bright side, I’m doing the recon for you, so you don’t have to! And when you tell me, but not “touristy,” I can give you some solid personal experiences. Another bright side, I don’t regret Indonesia at all. I actually loved my visit there and it was truly unique. Every time I travel, I learn new things about the world and about myself (even if it was touristy).

I would love to know if others feel similarly about touristy areas like Ubud, Bali or Lombok (among many others)… What do you do to combat the exhaustion or the constant “declining” overwhelm?

I’ve been having some writer’s block with blogs this year (as you might have noticed) so please comment some ideas! What do you want to read about? More travel how tos? Travel news? Personal stories?