Perhaps  you’ve never thought about whether a traveler or a tourist are the same thing, since both terms indicate traveling and seeing things that are not a part of your usual world.  But I’d like to point out potential differences and why being a traveler can be much more transformative and enriching than tourism.   A traveler usually takes local transportation or walks or bikes, but in any case is not part of a large organized group.  A traveler is subject to the vagaries of weather and local customs, and must come to terms with unexpected events and interact with locals.  A tourist is often in a group of people, herded from one place to another, checking off sites that one might have on a “bucket list”   “This is Thursday, it must be Rome,” is the quip that points to the superficiality of the travel, the speed, and the inability to take time to take in the feeling, customs, land, air and culture of a place.  These take time.   You might feel that they keep you from seeing things on your list.   But you would be surprised that , as you meet and interact from people in your destination , or on the road to the destination, you form friendships and acquaintances.   You solve problems. All of which make the travel the much more memorable, and transformative.

For example , a few years ago I traveled through France with some friends for 10 days.   We did not go very far in a day.  We had flat tires.  We had to figure out which bakeries were open and how to go to the grocery store.  We learned the slow pace of life and the “prix fixe” meal,  a low cost three course meal.   When we returned home, many of us decided to integrate this slow paced and rich meal time into our own lives.

Now I ask at the end of every major trip,  “How do you want this trip to change your life?