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Comment by alteria | Hacker News Reader

I used to think like lqet, and my travel habits reflected that, traveling to obscure places (at least for an American) to "get away from the crowds."

But the more I thought about it, the less comfortable I was with that line of thinking. What IS wrong with taking a picture that isn't 100% original? Is taking a picture of Piazza San Marco just as bad as a landscape photographer getting that "perfect shot" of Antelope Canyon? or Mesa Arch? [1][2]

What if you are an American with very limited vacation time each year? Or you just want an "easy" vacation? Why is one style of travel better than the other? Does a place having a ton of visitors make it worse to visit? Or is there still value to going?

I'm just rambling at this point, but I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts since I'm not sure what to feel.

[1] https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0f/1b/ec/c6/... [2] https://www.johntrotto.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/IMG_27...

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> I used to think like lqet, and my travel habits reflected that, traveling to obscure places (at least for an American) to "get away from the crowds."

that seems odd to say the least. it seems highly probable to me that popular tourist attractions are popular because they're desirable to go to. sure, there's some marketing drum up in there but there's something seriously weird about going to less desirable places solely to get away from the crowds. it's almost as if you're signaling you're somehow superior or better by doing something other people aren't doing, even if that thing is objectively worse. value signaling made manifest via tourism or something.

Famous/extremely popular sights are often less rewarding because they are so famous/popular: for example, it's highly unlikely you'll be genuinely astonished by the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, because a) you've already seen it a million times and b) there's a jostling mob of other tourists five rows deep around it, so you can barely see the damned thing.

This is why the "traveller" (vs tourist) holy grail is to find places that are genuinely impressive and spacious enough to still be enjoyable.

that's fair, but i'm thinking more things like machu picchu which, while uber popular, are probably pretty hard to find in less amazing versions.

so yeah, while certainly only limited to a few places, i think there's a class of spots that one cannot necessarily reproduce in a lite version. so especially if one has limited travel opportunities, i think they're worth going to. venice is probably one of those although admittedly i haven't been.

La Ciudad Perdida, a not inca-version (for the amazing part I am not sure about that).

There are plenty of good things that haven’t been made attractions and put on the tourist map. See this a fair bit where places in Australia will have big car parks with tourist busses coming in and out all day, setup with foreign language signs. But then have similar places nearby with none of that.

I don't really think I understand the question. I usually make an effort on trips to avoid crowds. Why? Because I want to. It's not better. I don't like crowds.

I also drink coffee without milk. I drink matcha with milk. I wear a garish array of brightly-colored button-down shirts. I cross my z's when writing. None of these choices is correct. They are my choices.

No version of tourism is wrong unless it's contributing to a documented problem in which case it's obviously wrong. Tourism is recreation, no matter how eagerly it pretends to be education.

Well, since you asked... My thoughts are, feel what you feel. Nothing wrong with any feelings. It’s what you do with them that counts.

And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking the same picture other people took. If you liked it, you like it. You’re not harming anyone by taking a damn picture. Obviously as a tourist I try to be respectful and to learn a subset of the language while I’m there.

But hey, if you only have a week off there’s nothing wrong with going to the same place in Antelope Canyon as others went. It’s popular for a reason!

> I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts since I'm not sure what to feel

Do whatever makes you happy.

Agree and scientifically we remember by remembering. A photo on my phone is enough to remember the feeling of being there. Even if it was over crowded and i ended up paying 14 euro for a espresso.

14 euros for an espresso, seriously...?

Man, they are taking the piss. If they did that to an Italian, there would be fisticuffs.

Agreed. An expresso is <= 1 Euro in Italy. Cappuccino 1.50.

Yeah, you can stretch it to 2 or 2.50 in very nice places, but 14 is just fraud.

In Florian, the oldest European cafe, you're sitting where Casanova was and you can't expect to pay 1.5 € for a Cappuccino. https://www.caffeflorian.com/en/heritage/venice-triumphantto... In other places it's a rip off.

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