How to Be a Respected Traveler

Gaining respect as a traveler is not easy, mainly due to the fact that so many tourists have clouded the opinions of locals throughout the world. Tourists are known for their bad behavior, their loud voices and for generally being obnoxious. Not many people want to be around tourists and locals will generally take great steps to avoid them. Even though a city may rely on the tourist trade, they are typically considered nuisances that must be endured for the sake of commerce.

No one really wants to be considered a nuisance and luckily, there are many ways that you can become a respected traveler, no matter where your next excursion will take you. Whether you plan to travel to another state, or another hemisphere, these tips will help you break the tourist mold, blend in with the locals, and get a lot more out of your vacation. These tips are based on common sense, but it is all too easy to let that fly out the door when you’re on a trip. By taking the time to go over them now, you’ll be able to learn how to become a respected traveler and these lessons will stick with you.

The first part of being a respected traveler is learning how to gain the respect and admiration of locals. They won’t be fawning all over you when you get off the plane, and you’ll need to seek them out and earn that respect. That’s right – respect is not a given in any society. It must be earned and you’ll have to put in a little bit of effort to accomplish this.

Being respected stems from being respectful. You can’t constantly deride a culture and expect them to greet you with open arms. If you are obnoxious, you’ll be avoided, it’s just that simple. By learning more about a culture before you arrive, you can develop a respect for them that comes from a greater understanding about what makes these people tick.

You can compare this to how you feel when you invite guests into your home. If they complain loudly, look down on you, or leave a mess, chances are you’ll never want them in your home again, and you certainly will lose respect for them. This is the exact same way that locals will feel if you act like a tourist. They are no different than you and they have the same impression about annoying and rude people.

Next, you’ll want to work on learning a little of their language and you may even want to take part in some of their festivals. By taking the time to at least try to speak the language, you’ll instantly be viewed as someone that is trying, not someone that expects everything to be handed to them on a silver platter. By getting out of that tourist mindset and into the mindset of a global traveler, you’ll be able to earn the status of being a respected traveler.

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This post involves:

admiration, aga, bad behavior, common sense, excursion, fly, hemisphere, little bit, locals, loud voices, mold, nuisance, nuisances, sake, stems, taking the time, tourist trade, tourists, traveler

... and focuses on:

Learn the Language, Localyte, Meet the Locals, Tourist Types

Posted by Localyte.com Team on December 11, 2008