While enjoying my daily scroll, I encountered a fascinating question, “What common piece of travel advice do you purposefully ignore?” So here are the top-voted travels tips people tossed out of their itineraries.
1. Taking Bus Tours
“Sometimes, when you are short on time, a lame bus tour to Pompeii or the Acropolis is better than planning it yourself. It's great to be a fantastic and savvy world traveler, but occasionally, it is acceptable to do the lame tour bus thing,” one user replied.
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2. Staying In Hostels
Another responded, “A standard piece of advice is to stay in hostels, and if you say you don't like hostels, people will insist that you get a private room in a hostel to experience ‘The best of both worlds.' I happily ignore that advice while enjoying my fluffy robe and nice sheets in my hotel room.”
“The funny thing about those private rooms is a lot of the time they cost more than an ok/medium level hotel,” a third user replied.
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3. Don’t Eat Fresh Fruit
Someone answered, “Don't eat any fresh fruit. Why do you think I even came here?!” After people said they didn't understand, one person said, “Uncooked, and possibly washed using local tapwater. So technically, it's more dangerous. But screw it, I go to tropical places to eat the unimported fruit!”
“I didn't know this was a thing,” another admitted. “Five continents later, I can say I've only been sick once after eating street meat off a dodgy cheesesteak vendor in Philadelphia.”
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4. Live Like The Locals
One person volunteered, “You should seek authentic experiences — to live like the locals. No matter what I do, I will not truly live like a local as a temporary visitor.”
‘So putting a bunch of effort into trying to do that has never made sense to me. I do the things I'm interested in doing. If those things are what local people do, so be it. I'm not too concerned, so long as the things I'm doing aren't harming anyone.”
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5. Try To Blend In
“Depending on where I am, I'm just not going to blend in. The people travelers are most worried about being noticed by are the least likely to be fooled by any attempt to remain unnoticed. So as long as I'm not doing something offensive to the local culture, I do not make any particular attempt to be anything but myself while traveling.”
“I remember being told that I had to wear heels in Paris or they would see I was a tourist. I don't speak French, so this would have been obvious, but the only people wearing high heels were tourists. Locals wore sneakers and flats,” another replied.
6. Do It ALL and See It ALL
“I don't take travel advice from the do it and see it all crowd. It's fun to immerse yourself in a new culture, but don't exploit people. Just because there's a guided tour to visit the favelas in Rio or an African tribe in Kenya doesn't make it appropriate.”
“People are people, not an exhibit. So I Look for ethical excursions that celebrate or assist people, and I make sure to find out the appropriate customs and cultural nuances from a dedicated guide,” someone shared.
“One of the most horrifying attractions I've ever seen was in Thailand. They had this mock village with seven or eight tribes all on exhibit. It was a human zoo,” another explained.
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7. Trying To Find The Secret Spot
“Trying to find something secret and no other tourist has gone to,” one said. “Good things generally get written up about and discussed with the internet.” “As someone who lives in Hawaii, I hate this.”
“Our island has been run over by tourism so much that there are spots that only locals can enjoy. And when someone posts these secret spots, they get overrun with tourists.”
“So many spots get overcrowded with people who don't respect the landmark and leave it trashed, or they hurt themselves and ruin it for everyone. So now, when I travel, I stick to touristy spots. I'd hate to ruin an area that locals enjoy and have it overrun with tourists,” another confessed.
8. Avoid Touristy Landmarks
“Avoid touristy landmarks. There's a reason specific sites become touristy landmarks,” someone shared. “Why would I deny myself what is clearly, a fascinating experience?”
9. Eat Local Food Only
“I remember telling my parents about how cool it was to go to a Chinese restaurant while living in Rome, and they scoffed at the idea. But, of course, I'm in Italy. So I should have Italian food!”
“But seeing Chinese food through Italy's lens was cool and exciting.
So now I always try to hit up different cultural restaurants from the places I visit,” replied one.
Another agreed, “My wife and I always try Mexican food when we see it in various countries. Each country is unique in its interpretation. The best we've had so far is, hands down, Vietnamese-Mexican food.”
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10. Animal Tourism
“Anytime anyone suggests animal tourism of any kind. I'm sure some animal tourism is responsibly run, but the vast majority is abusive in some way or another. It is especially true regarding wildlife, but even animal tourism with domesticated animals can be problematic.
“I was in Egypt years ago and saw tons of tourists happily get on painfully thin camels and horses and be led around the pyramids in the blazing heat all day.”
“Of course, if you saw animals in that condition at home, you would probably call the police or a shelter, but tourists seem to lose all common sense regarding animal tourism and hop right on—the same for swimming with dolphins places in the tropics,” a final person commented.
We hope you enjoyed this Reddit picks list of common pieces of travel advice that people choose to ignore.
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This article originally appeared on The Impulse Traveler.
