Little things annoy me, they always have. I started my travel blog nearly 4 months ago and it’s been an interesting experience. I love most things about it, and I’ve interacted with some great people so far, but the travel blogging world (and the wider travel world) is home to some fairly annoying terms and trends, and I can’t bite my tongue any longer.
Do/don’t date a boy/girl who travels
Ah, these are the worst. If you read travel blogs, or Facebook, or have had a pulse for the last few months, you will have seen these posts. They make travellers out to be these whimsical, magical people who are vulnerable yet strong, “fiercely” independent yet willing to let the right one in. They are the best (or the worst; they are too good for mere mortals) people to date, but don’t try and cage-up a traveller because you will lose them forever. It sounds like I’m writing my own version here so I’ll stop; you can already see how annoying these posts are.
Digital Nomad
I’ve always thought of nomads as Mongolians on horses, moving with the seasons, living in yurts, drinking yak’s milk and enjoying none of the comforts of the modern world. It’s hard to now use that term when talking about corporate drop-outs who decide they don’t want to work, but would rather travel the world staying in decent guesthouses, lying on beaches and maybe settling down for a few months in Chang Mai. There are no yurts (and very few horses) in sight, and most modern nomads would consider an iPhone or Laptop far more important than their goat or yak. I’m exactly like the person I just described (or I will be very soon,) but I won’t be referring to myself as a digital nomad.
Proper digital nomads
Authentic Travel
As soon as a traveller is present, a place instantly loses its authenticity. Sure, you can look for less touristy spots but the fact remains; if you are there everything changes. Also, tourists complaining about other tourists has to be the most inane thing around (I know all of us have been guilty of this from time to time though), and don’t even get me started about the tourist/traveller arguments – everyone who travels is a tourist, and every tourist is a traveller; no one has the right to say they are doing it better than anyone else.
Sunset Sunday, Foto Friday etc
I should really embrace this one; it’d make it a lot easier to churn out my goal of 3 posts a week if I could just post an old photo of a sunset every Sunday (or Saturday).
Motivational quotes from the likes of Ghandi, Saint Augustine, Russell Crowe, Aristotle and Mel Gibson
OK, at least 2 of those people have probably never said anything motivational in their lives, except when reading off a script, but you know what I mean. I don’t mind a bit of motivation from time to time, but it has gone into overdrive lately. I would much rather people try and come up with their own quotes rather than continually recycle other people’s!
“The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world… uh.. I mean…They may take our lives, but they will never take..OUR FREEDOM”
Photo essay
This should be called “I took a lot of photos but can’t be bothered writing anything about them” but I guess “Photo Essay” sounds more important. I’ll probably get to this stage in the near future; I better make sure I name mine something else after rubbishing them in this post.
Travel hacking
This means getting cheap flights, hoarding air-miles and doing anything it takes to get stuff cheaper. Maybe if I was an American I’d be more into this; I think it’s pretty much impossible to “travel hack” effectively in New Zealand, but surely there could be a better term for what is essentially just trying to get a good deal.
Responsible Travel
I still don’t know exactly what this means, but it sounds important, like people who travel responsibly are better than the rest of us. I’m guessing it means trying to leave a small carbon footprint and not mess up wherever you are going, in which case you should just stay at home, because travelling has to be terrible for the environment (and often society in general), especially in developing countries. I always throw trash in bins and try and respect the culture and environment I’m in; this doesn’t make me a responsible traveller, just a human being.
Do any travel terms and trends annoy you? Let me know!
Jon Algie
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jennifer
Friday 3rd of October 2014
I hate "travel hacks" To me, hacking means you are breaking into some database, so thereby "travel hacking" should be someone broke into kayak.com and reprogrammed everything so that all transatlantic flights were a dollar.
The "Do/don't date a boy/girl who travels"thing, I just can't.
I did a photo post recently and I properly advertised it as "I am too lazy to write so here are some photos" No falsely labeled "essay" required!
Jon Algie
Friday 3rd of October 2014
I actually saw that you did that, I was impressed!
Pedro @travelwithpedro
Sunday 21st of September 2014
What really annoys me is the whole discussion about being a tourist and a traveller. Each one to their own!
Jon Algie
Thursday 25th of September 2014
Yip that's really annoying!
Sandra @ Tripper
Friday 19th of September 2014
Travel hacking does not work in Portugal. At all. I continue to write about my experience of the places I visit - "tourist" mode or "traveler" mode. One more term is "off the beaten path" or "off the beaten track" (have to check if I mentioned that in any of my posts btw) -- when you read in the same week four posts about the exact same place by different bloggers, makes you wonder how "secluded" those places really are... Now you're making me wonder what I DO write about lol Damn! (Maybe it's just too early in the morning for this)
Jon Algie
Sunday 21st of September 2014
Travel hacking doesn't work in Asia either - but I'd still dislike the term even if it did!
Michelle
Thursday 18th of September 2014
Ah! These are so great! I pretty guilty of some of these... especially the tourist v traveler issue. But in the same vein, I'm starting to hit the term "off the beaten path" and other similar clichés. I would much prefer something either more creative or more direct. Shouldn't we have learned to drop the cliches in high school?
Jon Algie
Thursday 18th of September 2014
You'd think we would have learnt, we're all guilty of them though!
Sandra (@SandalsDownUnda)
Tuesday 16th of September 2014
Love it, love it!! I unfortunately did one photo essay post when I first started my blog, also 4 months ago, but quickly realized it wasn't an IN thing to do. Although, I did write about it so I kind of feel that I made up for it a bit. I agree with some random stupid posts just for the sake of posting being a dumb idea, especially if it's just a photo and doesn't say anything. ..I do have a photo of the week post that I do, but then my blog is about travel AND photography so I feel it's justified (and again, I explain what the photo is about). I'm loving reading your posts. ...keep up the great work!!
Jon Algie
Thursday 18th of September 2014
Thanks Sandra! I've done some pretty photo heavy posts in my time too haha, maybe I was naive when I wrote this!