I looked at this distinction as a part of my research paper, and while it applies in some circumstances, it’s less applicable in others. When both are traveling for a short period of time, I don’t think there’s much of a distinction. Neither is getting much of an understanding of the host environment, its culture or the people. It’s what I prefer to call an overview – you get a taste of the country. Hopefully, this taste is enough to draw you back for a longer visit if time and finances allow. This was exactly the case on my first trip to Australia: three weeks led to eleven months.

Over the course of a longer trip is where the distinction can become more obvious. I think there’s a difference, I’m just not certain whether traveler/tourist adequately covers it. What I see as the difference is between psychocentric and allocentric travelers. Do I think all allocentric travelers need to seek out every experience? No, of course not. As Litvin pointed out when he sought to revisit Plog, there are factors that pull people at either end toward the middle.

What is important to recognize is the different goals the groups are striving for. There’s a huge difference in a visitor’s view of a country if he or she has spent time interacting with the locals or if he or she has ‘seen it’ from the inside of an air-conditioned tour bus. There’s nothing necessarily good or bad about either, it’s all about personal preference.  I definitely agree with Timen and the sentiments at The Lost Globe that each person thinks he or she is doing it the ‘right way’. It’s human nature.

Personally, I think there’s something special to be gained by truly seeing a country. While I wouldn’t go to the extremes that the authors did in Cold Beer and Crocodiles and The Roads to Sata (Travel Reading), I think the authors saw a lot more than the average traveler did because of the means of travel. It ties back to personal preference – this was what they wanted to gain from their trip. I wanted to see Australia at a more indepth level than plane travel would allow, so I went for Greyhound because I had time time to spare. I really need to dig up and import some of those old posts: there were some gems. My general thoughts on the experiences connected with traveling.

Speaking of experiences, I can’t wait to read Knockabout Girl, which I just got on a bookring last night. Anyone want to find me a 25th hour in the day to get more reading done?