Key Takeaways
- Recently, a reader of the blog left a comment on my post. It stopped me in my tracks:
- I do wonder after so many years of travel [that] you don’t seem to have been to that many places, and I would have to say also that many of your desti
- I told him we all go where we most desire to go, and my destinations are based on that. This turned into a debate about giving travel advice, what mak
Recently, a reader of the blog left a comment on my post. It stopped me in my tracks:
I told him we all go where we most desire to go, and my destinations are based on that. This turned into a debate about giving travel advice, what makes an authentic traveler, and a few other subjects. In one of his last comments, he said:
Having now traveled the world for over a decade, I’ve met a lot of travelers who disparage the route others take.
I’m going to be honest: I can’t stand it.
Yes, Route for Less will give you suggestions and tips on what to see and do in Berlin. We’ll share practical advice on how you can travel affordably, based on real-world experience. We’ll reflect on the nature of travel and explore personal perspectives—not as prescriptions, but as invitations to think more deeply. If you want to read along and comment, all the better.
But we’ll never make accusations about where you decide to go.
That’s your own personal choice.
We find it extremely condescending when travelers talk down to others because of their destination choices. We see this all too often on the backpacker trail. Personally, we don’t believe there’s any such thing as “must-see” or “must-do” when you travel.
Because you travel for you—and we travel for us.
We go to destinations based on the order in which we want to see them.
We skip some towns and countries because it makes us happy.
We disliked our time in Vietnam. Yet other travelers absolutely loved their time there.
We eat sushi around the world because it brightens our day. You may hate sushi—or prefer to cook your own meals while you travel.
We don’t go to some countries because we don’t feel like it. Maybe you do.
We hang out in hostels with other travelers because we enjoy it. Yet other travelers will prefer hotels, resorts, or Airbnb.
And yes, even we visit cheesy tourist attractions sometimes!
Travel is a highly personal experience.
We don’t care where you go or what you choose to see or skip.
We don’t care if you went away for a year but never got past your first destination because you simply fell in love with it—or someone there.
And we couldn’t care less if you boozed it up all through Southeast Asia and the closest you got to seeing a local was the guy serving you beer.
It’s not what we would do, and we may write a post about why we think you shouldn’t either. But that’s our opinion—and if you decide to do it anyway, good for you.
Because at the end of the day, the only thing about travel that matters is that it makes YOU happy and brings YOU joy.
As Mark Twain is wrongly credited with saying (it’s actually from the book P.S. – I Love You),
Even if that just means spending a week drinking at a resort in Cancún or getting wasted on the beaches of Ko Phi Phi.
