Appalled at You Travellers!
This rant has been brought to you by Lindsay Hogg. You’re welcome.
Just to be clear, this post is not directed towards any travel blogger or post in particular. It has been written for months and has been in the back of my mind since I started reading blogs, but I feel it is now time to share it.
Your blog is a good place to vent. About the people, places and things that annoy you. But sometimes people just need to chill out. What I’m getting at, is the ‘types of backpacker’ judgements. How going to a resort is not ‘real’ travel. That backpackers who just drink their way through countries aren’t ‘doing it right’. My opinion? WHO CARES?
Me as a backpacker? Ya I’ll spend a week partying every night and sleeping all day. See a few things and move on. Ya I DO other stuff. Ya I DO immense myself in the culture and make local friends. For Christ sakes, I got arrested because I was hanging out with some crazy locals at their home. And you know where I met them? AT A BAR…. wait for it… while I was with OTHER TRAVELLERS! Oh no!
I have a great time dipping in both worlds.
Boobs Are Fun Too!
I understand when people don’t like specific hostels or a cliched type of backpacker or traveller. People are annoying. People annoy me all the time. As you may have read on here, I don’t like travel mooches. But seriously, I don’t care if you’re more travelled or know more about a specific culture than others. Woo-f&^%ing-Whoo for you. People don’t have to travel to the most remote spots on earth to be a true backpacker. Don’t tell me I’m not ‘doing travel right’ because I spend too much time drinking, with other travellers, or seeing touristy things. I do the remote spots and hang out with locals too – but even if I didn’t, WHO CARES?
You’re not my mom and you don’t know what’s best for me.
Look at this asshole, he’s SO happy drinking his beer. Just leave him be!
If someone thinks the best time of their life is getting wasted in a hostel bar, passing out in a hammock,then doing it all over again the next day… kudos to them. Are they enjoying themselves? Yes? Then leave them alone.
As travel bloggers, aren’t we supposed to encourage ANY sort of travel? Aren’t we supposed to be the most open minded? Why bloggers gotta be hatin?
Stop your whining and go hug a drunk/ gap year/ lazy traveller.
This is not a game of ‘who’s the better traveller’. It’s people’s lives and they will do what they enjoy, lay off them! Accept people and places for what they are.
66 Comments
Ferrr reeeeeal!! i don’t read a lot of travel blogs, but i have come across these opinions in a lot of different places and they’re usually being spewed by someone who’s trying to posture themselves as the best and most worldly traveller. i like to hear about peoples travels – their stories, their observations, the sights, etc. but i don’t want to hear about “how” you travel and how much more “authentic” you are because you hang out with locals/don’t go to touristy spots/spent a year backpacking/whatever. all of those things are really cool, just don’t be a douchebag about it and tell me how much better you are than other travellers for doing them. cuz that makes you lame. HOLLA!
WORD SISTAH!
Hahahaha excellent rant. I haven’t come across judgmental backpackers…yet. But hey, when i was in Spain, I drank 4-5 days a week for 12 weeks, hung out with locals, and did whatever the hell I wanted LOL. I had the time of my life. Tell the haters to put the Hater-ade down!
Exactly! You did whatever YOU wanted. Not what other people would expect you to do!
I hate judgemental backpackers. Travel bloggers are the worst at it – somehow it’s a dick measuring contest who can have the craziest/luxurious adventures on the cheap versus traveling to enrich themselves and to have unique adventures.
HAHA yes, it could be compared to penis size contests
I only be hatin’ on the people who don’t travel. That or the one guy who wants to visit every country in the world and only spends 2 days in the capital city driving in taxis and eating McDonalds and complains about how hard it is to travel. That is not travel, that is visiting every McDonalds in the world. Different story.
Everyone else can do what they please as long as they actually get out of the country or state or province. My way of travel is right for me, so get off my back about it. [Not directed at you Hogga].
Oh it best not biznatch. Cause I got a fist full of angry cats with your name on it!
XO word to your mother.
I don’t know you, but I love you. Please come to St. John’s so we can get super drunk and be sucky travellers.
And I love to be loved and love in return. love. beer. love.
What St.John’s we talking about here?
Yah, I pretty much agree with you, and I wrote a similar post around this time last year. While I’m not a huge party traveller, people can travel however they wanna do it, and as long as they aren’t hurting anyone it’s a-ok with me. I can’t stand it when people try to turn travel into a pissing contest over who is doing it “right.”
That said, after a few months in Asia I have seen every single incarnation of the disrespectful traveller. Being rude to the locals, wearing inappropriate clothes and one guy even pissed on the floor of our hostel! They are the ones I do have a problem with.
Haha ya, pissing on hostel floors and being rude to locals are not people I would be to fond of either. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of travel douchebags out there, but as you said… as long as their not hurting anyone (or anyones property) they are all good.
*CLAPS! Bravo! I stumbled across this post through twitter and I couldn’t have said it better myself. I also agree with Candice, come to LA and shots are on me 🙂
Haha thanks Sheryll… don’t offer me things like that. I’m one of those people that will actually show up…. did you say FREE SHOTS??? word. I’m there.
hahaha yessss, it’s so true. Some people can be quite judgmental. Good job on calling them out :]
I think I’ve been on both ends of the “party spectrum”, be that passing out on some random Italian beach, or being the one that is trying to sleep in the noisy hostel to make an early flight.. either way, I NEVER complain about the other travelers, and neither should they!
It’s true. I can sleep through anything after travelling haha.
I actually like seeing touristy things; they are touristy for a reason – because they are cool. No one would want to see them if they sucked. I met this one traveller who, when asked why she wasn’t taking photographs by her mother, mocked the really cool trees at a tourist spot in Florida. LOLOL I’M THE FUNNIEST!
HAHA… shut up mandar! They weren’t ‘tourist trees’
Ahhaha I loved this post…especially the caption of the drunk *asshole*! Hilarious! I totally agree-to each his own! And if you don’t like it, then move on!
Who says there is a right way to travel? herro? Just don’t piss/barf on my hostel bed, please.
Trust.
Ya its actually a pic of my friend so I’m allowed to say that. I’m actually surprised I’ve never witnessed a traveller barfing in the room!
Yassss! Perfect, perfect post! I live in Barcelona, one of the biggest tourist traps in the world, and I can safely say ALL TRAVELERS ARE ANNOYING! Every single one of them! Crazy to me that some believe they are better than others when we all know expats are the *real thing*… Ha!
(that was sarcasm, before I get myself in trouble.)
HAHA! Yes, we are all annoying. Lets accept it
Hehe so true but we all know locals can be goddamn annoying too. Let’s face it. Fuck other people! You alone are the only person that matters. hehe. I kid, I kid. That’s life huh?
I like this side of you Annie haha
AMEN, sister! *said in Ricki Lake audience member stylee* Seriously, I agree 100% with everything you’ve said above cos I’ve felt it myself in the past. There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to travel – just do what makes you happy and enjoy it. And then write an honest account of it and we’ll read it. But the preachers and the haters? They can get lost. How can anyone judge anyone else? It shouldn’t be allowed.
WORD! *said in Jerry Springer audience member style*
Oooh ouch you totally called me out!
Okay yeah I’m one who did write a hater post. But in my defense the point of the post was that I thought I was all ‘oh yeah everyone should do their thing’ and then I got into a hostel I shouldn’t have been in and was hating everyone.
Agree with you though, if you just want to hang in the hostel bar and drink your way through countries, do your thing, but I won’t be there.
HAHA! I didn’t call you out. There’s been a lot more ‘i hate this type of traveller’ posts lately. But I wasn’t referencing yours… Like you said, your post was about hating the hostel and that type of travel is not for you. It wasn’t against that type of traveller itself, you werent saying those travellers should travel the way you do. Just that you had been mislead as to what the hostel would be like and was annoyed.
If I was calling you out specifically I would have egged your house.
You totally hate me for hatin’
Admit it hater 🙂
I love you for hating but hate hate and hate. I like kittens.
I agree with you when you say… “Who cares!?” It doesn’t matter to me how people travel as long as they are not inconsiderate to other people who don’t travel the same way.
Yes I should really include that in the post – that as long as they aren’t harming anyone, their good. Because if they are you should throw sticks at them.
Absolutely! Hardcore travelers can be such snobs. You’d never think that someone who just washed his underwear in the sink would be in any position to look down on anyone else, but you see it all the time.
HAHA… well played my friend…
great post. The Snobs have got to go.
Can we burn them like people burned witches back in the day?
errr too far?
well this is awkward…
Love your photos and captions!
Wow, THANK YOU for saying exactly what I’ve been thinking for, like, EVER. It’s not like every trip has to be this huge, soul-searching expedition. Sure, some trips will be, and that’s great. But it’s not like I didn’t really TRAVEL because I hit up an uber-touristy Absolut Ice Bar while you ZMOG BUILT YOUR OWN IGLOO WITH YOUR BARE HANDS or something.
I should write about things that anger me more often
I totally agree with you, it’s always something. If travelers aren’t too lazy then they go and see the same sites as everyone else so then they’re not original. No one seems to be good enough for some people. Then some of those people write posts about how much they hate traveling, hate certain cities or hate other people. Aren’t those like the points of what we are doing? Not that you have to like every city you see but I assume you should like a few of them, otherwise you might be in the wrong ‘profession’ or, rather, hobby. 🙂
yeah, I’m gonna start writing a hate column about people who hate stuff…
One of the more blunt posts that I have seen on this same topic recently, but well-stated nonetheless! I’m with you….”you’re not my mom and you don’t know what’s best for me!”
haha my mom is a bossy pants. She always knows ‘what’s best’
[…] and Hogga do not 100% agree on this topic, click here to read Hogga’s […]
Boobs are great.
true story
Followed the trail over here from Margyle’s uninteresting people who travel post. I think this post captures the reason most people travel – to have fun. Perhaps it doesn’t make them interesting or wise, as you would have believe from all of those vacuous travel quotes posted on Twitter, but who cares, when you are enjoying yourself?
Exactly! I always enjoy myself! Even when I’m hungover napping in a hammock all day haha
here here! people are just people – so long as we don’t hurt others i see no problem with being a stereotypical gap-year backpacker 😀
Cheers to you, girl! I think everyone is entitled to experience the world as they wish to do so. Who is allowed to judge? This just says to me that those casting stones haven’t seen enough of the world to understand why it doesn’t matter.
Stay strong! And let’s grab a pint one day. =)
I like beer
I suppose I have been guilty of talking about a certain type of traveler myself…;)
I just get annoyed at the people who say they love traveling and they spend all their time abroad going to full moon parties and hanging out with people from their home countries. Then they act like they are all deep and worldly.
But as you said, to each his/her own.
Yeah, if they are acting like they did something they didn’t that’s a different story.
I love it, I love it, I love it – this is so true I travelled up the east coast of Australia in a bus with other backpackers and got wasted out of my mind every day – and I had the best time of my life, f**k the judgmental douchbags, do what you want.
Hogga,
I found your site through a comment that you made on my blog and I CAN’T BELIEVE I HAVEN’T BEEN HERE BEFORE! Seriously! Way to go, girl! I love your tongue in cheek writing style. 🙂 Thanks for some highly entertaining reads. I’ll be back!
Maybe we can finally be best friends…
I agree with you to a certain extent. While most points are valid, it does irk me is when travelers go abroad and completely destroy a place and/or are completely disrespectful to the local culture–inconsiderate drunks if you will. I guess there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed. So long everybody is merry and happy, nobody messing up somebody else’s surroundings, then it’s all good!
-Maria Alexandra
Word. I totally agree with that.
I’m late to this post, but glad I found it. Completely agree! The fastest way to become friends with someone while traveling I’ve found? Have a drink together. And all that “touristy” stuff? It’s usually based in a lot of history and culture…which is why everyone wants to see it / do it! Loving your blog. 🙂
Oh why thank you! Yes, the two things I like most. Beer + New Friends makes for a happy Hogga.
I think you are right in much of what you say. I had fun partying as I travelled and have scars and photos to prove it and many happy memories. Hell I even spent 3 months in one hostel just enjoying that time.
It doesn’t however bode well with me when I see people partying and getting drunk where it isn’t such a done thing, where the local culture isn’t about drinking and partying. Travel how you want to travel, but be respectful of where you are.
I 100% agree with you!
[…] also believe everyone should be free to travel how they wish but when travelling we should also follow some simple rules. After contemplating some of my own […]
The bloggers and travellers you are on about are boring people in the first place, the kind of people who talk a lot of shit and claim to be some sort of superior backpacker because they think they only do things that nobody else does.
They are boring, their blogs are boring, their lives are boring and all the fun backpackers who like to drink and let go just avoid them.
Late to the game, but this is fantastic. I thought I hit the jackpot when I started traveling for a living – then I was like Oh God, should I not accept this free fancy trip? What if I miss this top attraction? Does it count if I have a guide? HAVE I SOLD OUT?!
It’s all dumb, obviously. Get out there and have fun. Why does it have to be more complicated than that??
I have noticed that travel bloggers are associated with constant partying and drinking, not respecting foreign culture and staying at the beach all day long with a pint of beer! That’s so frustrating. Nobody even knows how adventurous we are and how hard we work while being on the road :(. Well! Nobody said it was gonna be an easy life 🙂