#the way he says majorca drives me insane

[art--harridan]

[Image description: A digital painting of Colin and Mark from the film Meantime. The brothers are huddled together, staring blankly at the lit match that Mark is holding. Both of them have unlit cigarettes in their mouths. Colin's hood is up. The piece is comprised of mainly blues and greens - with Colin's clothing predominantly green and Mark's predominantly blue - except for their skin and the match, which is the brightest point of the piece. The piece is textured with grain areas and hatching. They sit in front of a light blue wall.]

Inktober - Day 19 (Ridge)

Film - Meantime (Mike Leigh, 1983)

[slothgiirl]

shadowplay part 7

"This is bloody insane," Sam comments as you search through your drawers for a bathing suit. California. You might need it. 

Now if only you could decide between all the clothes you'd tossed on your bed. Sam sitting among them, phone in hand as she continued to tell you how out of hand this whole thing had gotten. 

"Now, don't get me wrong if I could land a sugar daddy I'd quit my job in a second," Sam goes on, "feminism be damned. But I don't know what this is! Do you?"

You shrug. The weather said it might be raining. Your barbour jacket would probably do. You doubted you'd need a thicker coat and you could alway layer. You were trying to limit yourself to a carry on. Maybe you only really needed some sneakers and sandals but what sandals. Loafers might be better.  

It would help if you knew how outdoorsy the cabin where you'd be staying was. 

"It's just Alex," which was true. And you were used to him. Barely even gave thought to his career or the whole fame thing. There were time's of course when you were out that he was recognized but it was never a big deal the way it seemed to be for like the kardashian's with their security. 

Just a quick selfy and maybe an autograph. Sometimes it was just covert glances. 

"We've hung out loads of times," you said, trying to be reassuring. It wasn't sharing a room with him that had you nervous. He'd slept over a few times and being your friend, you'd never let him sleep on the couch, even if this was a friend that you might like a little too much. 

It was the fact that all his friends were probably going to be judging you and watching you all under false pretenses. 

Fuck. 

"Yes, but not pretending to date because apperently he's a bloody coward!" You roll your eyes. "Like you didn't use to run and get mail to hide your grades when you failed Samantha."

"Yes well, my parents were and continue to be idiots. At least I've never lied about dating someone."

You smile, remembering all her antics, "we're going to break up after.

"And remain friends?"

"Yeah," you sigh, still unsure how you were going to sell that to his friends but Alex seemed to think it would work and he knew them best. It was only his friends that thought you were dating after all. 

"Wipe that dumb smile off your face," she groans, "you're going to have to pretend to be dating all day and all night not just for an hour or two."

"It'll be fine. Like I've already said, it's Alex." 

Sam rolls her eyes, "just don't catch feelings. It's all fun and games right now when you have him all to yourself but what happens when he goes on tour and-"

"He's not-I. He's not my boyfriend Sam. I'm very aware of that and I know he doesn't owe me anything more than friendship if he wants. It's. I'm good okay."

"Oh god," she gasps sitting up and knocking over the pile of shirts you were sure of, "you've already caught feelings!"

"I have not!"

"You have! Oh," she's grinning and having way too much fun at your expense, "when did that happen? Does it make it easier or worse?"

"It's not that big of a deal. So I like him a little too much. Who hasn't had a crush on their friend?"

"Well I hope you get over it before you have your feelings hurt. I mean this all did start with basically saving face in front of his ex girlfriend didn't it?" Samantha notes, folding the clothes all over again. 

You decide against the sandals and figure leather loafers will be fine. And comfortable on the plane. 

"Yes. And I'm not going to get hurt or anything. It's Alex. I trust him." He'd stopped when you'd pulled away, even drunk as he was. He always took care to make sure you were feeling all right. You didn't see how another country could change that. And you couldn't lie about how excited you were to go to the states for the first time.

"If you say so. But def keep me updated. I've always wanted to fight someone," Sam admits. 

"Please don't do that," you urge her with a shake of your head. 

"I just think it would be neat."

"And we're going to land in Los Angeles and stay there for a few days before driving up to North California so I'm sure I'll at least be used to his friends by then. And Matt's wife's going so it's not like I'm the only girl there."

"Just don't forget to bring me back something."

"I'll get you a keychain," you assure her, "maybe even two keychains. Bought at the airport right before I leave."

"No," she complains, "keychains are what you get an aunt you don't particularly like. Not me. I deserve like something very bougie and nice. Money does count here!"

"It's the thought that counts," you snip back, starting to put everything in the suitcase, leaving enough room to be able to bring back gifts. You were only going to be there for eight days. Not a week. That's what you kept telling yourself to limit the amount of clothes you packed.

"Not when your rockstar friend is paying your flight! Do tell me how first class is!"

"I think we're actually flying business class," you reply, "do you think I'll need a bathing suit?"

"Yes and take the one we got in Majorca! It's sexy. And not as faded as the pink one."

"No! I keep feeling like my tits are going to fall out in that one," you protest. "And my tits aren't even that big."

"Like I said, sexy."

"No."

Samantha grins, "and while you're at it, don't you dare take any m&s underwear or bras!"

"They're comfy and you can't beat the price at 10 pounds!" You still got those packs that came in plastic pouches anytime they were on sale. 

"And what my mother wears."

Laughing, you reply, "You're terrible."

"I know," Sam grins, "and you love me for it. Just take the knickers I got you in paris."

"You mean what you made me get in paris. you were all like just come with me so I don't have to go alone . . .and then made me buy knickers along with you!"

Sam laughs, "the french are right about underwear. And you made me spend a whole day at the louvre. my legs were aching."

"I told you not to take heels."

Sam protests, "who needs an entire day at the louvre. You just need to get a selfie at the mona lisa and bounce. Everything else you can google. Or not care about. Just pick one."

"You were much happier clubbing."

"I'm always much happier clubbing," Sam states, especially ones where men buy me free drinks."

"No one ever buys me free drinks," you pout.

"That's because you come off too cool and confident while I look like an easy lay. . .which I am!"

You snort, laying down next to her, "just say I'm boring and move on."

"You're not," she assures you, "I'd be intimidated to approach you. Like woah thats a ten and I'm a toe."

You snigger, "I love you so much."

Samantha winks, "right back at you babe. Also who's leather jacket is that I'm spying in your closet." 

You look over, already knowing the answer, "Alex let me borrow his jacket the other day. We met up after work and it got cold." You don't mean to blush, but you can feel your face heating up. 

"Did he," Sam laughs. "How much do you think it'd sell for on ebay?"

"Shut up!"

[travelguy4444]

Overtourism: How You Can Help Solve This Worldwide Problem

Posted: 9/6/2018 | September 6th, 2018

Years later, I returned to the scene of the crime: Costa Rica. It was in that country that I first fell victim to the travel bug, a disease that would infect me for the rest of my life and lead to where I am today. There was no place I was more excited about revisiting than Manuel Antonio National Park. Its wild jungles, deserted beaches, and bountiful animal life was the highlight of my first visit and I couldn’t wait to relive it all in this seaside town.

But then wonder turned to horror.

The quiet road to town was lined with endless fancy resorts. Hotels lined the park’s edge. Tour groups cluttered the once peaceful park. They fed the wildlife. They littered. The abundant troops of monkeys had vanished. So had the colorful land crabs. No deer roamed. And the beaches were a sea of bodies.

It was my first experience with seeing a destination shift into “overtourism.”

Overtourism is the term used to describe the onslaught of tourists who take over a destination to a point where the infrastructure can no longer handle it.

While not a new problem (that trip to Costa Rica was in 2011), this “trend” has been in the news a lot the past few months (heck, there’s even a Twitter feed about it) as many destinations have started to push back against the onslaught of visitors inundating their streets, communities, and overtaking their natural resources.

“Stay home!” they scream to visitors. “You’re no longer welcome!”

I believe travel can change the world. Done right, it expands people’s minds, fosters understanding, makes you a better you, and provides an economic boost to local communities.

But, thanks to cheap flights, the sharing economy, and (let’s be honest) an explosion of Chinese tour groups around the world, destinations have gotten a bit crowded lately.

I see it everywhere I travel these days.

There’s the Palace of Versailles, where years ago, I was able to film a video free of crowds. Now, it’s wall-to-wall tour groups slowly shuffling from room to room in the most insane queue ever. Its hard to even enjoy the experience!

There’s Tulum, once a quiet Mexican town, now awash with Westerners trying to turn it into the new Bali (which is also overrun with tourists and where “digital nomads” can float from yoga studio to cafe to retreat to wherever without ever actually having to interact with locals). There’s Iceland, where Reykjavik’s main street, complete with a Dunkin’ Donuts, is now a sea of people, and the city’s roads are cluttered. (Don’t even get my Icelandic friends started on this subject. They are none too happy about all the tourists.)

There the crushing crowds in Prague, Barcelona, Paris, Venice, Edinburgh, the Gili Islands, Ko Lipe, Chiang Mai, and Queenstown, where tourists are overrunning locals, acting idiotically, and littering.

Sure, crowded destinations are simply a by-product of a globalized world where travel has become attainable for more and more people. The number of international tourist arrivals is expected to increase by 3.3% worldwide each year until 2030 when it will reach 1.8 billion. And, on balance, that’s a good thing if you believe in travel as a transformative tool.

Yet the very things that make travel cheaper — budget airlines, Airbnb, ridesharing, etc. — have also made destinations unable to cope with all the visitors — and pushed out locals in the process.

Now they are starting to push back.

Barcelona is no longer allowing new hotels and is limiting the number of cruise ships. Dubrovnik is floating the idea of putting limits on the number of tourists. Chile is curbing the number of tourists to Easter Island and how long they can stay and Ecuador is doing the same for visitors to the Galápagos. Venice is trying to restrict Airbnb and the number of tourists (after restricting cruise ships). Paris is also restricting Airbnbs in the city. Iceland wants to limit the number of foreigners who buy property. Amsterdam is launching a campaign to reign in the partying in the city. Majorca has had continuous protests against tourists.

The world is saying “enough!”

And I, for one, am all for this.

Of course, I don’t think people intentionally try to “ruin” places. No one is saying, “Let’s go overcrowd Iceland and piss locals off!”

Most people just don’t even think of their actions causing harm.

Which makes education and these initiatives even more important.

Because there definitely needs to be a better balance between visitors and residents. Overtourism doesn’t help anyone. No one wants to visit a crowded destination – and no one wants to live somewhere that’s overrun with tourists.

While no one is talking about banning tourists outright, there should be better ways to control their numbers and the problems overtourism causes.

Take Airbnb. It’s one of the biggest problems in travel today (which is a shame, because I love the service).

It started out as a way for residents to earn money on the side and get travelers out of the hotel/hostel dynamic and into a more “local” way of life.

But that original mission has been perverted. As rentals have become more lucrative, Airbnb has turned a blind eye to the fact that real estate companies, property managers, and other individuals can list as many properties as they want. These companies, tapping into tourists’ desire to have a home away from home, buy up properties in the city center, which then decreases the supply of rental properties for locals, increases rental prices, and forces residents out.

Driving locals out defeats the purpose of using the service! Too many town centers have been decimated by Airbnb. While a man’s home is his castle, I do believe there should be some restrictions on Airbnb because it’s driving people out of city centers. That’s not good for anyone, especially the locals who live there and, since Airbnb won’t do anything about it, local governments need to step in and start cracking down. Personally, I’ve started to only rent rooms in an Airbnb (instead of an entire property) so I know there’s a local there benefiting from my stay.

“But what about social media?” you may ask.

One can’t deny YouTubers, Instagram “influencers”, and bloggers like myself have helped popularize travel and made it more accessible to the masses by destroying the myth that it’s an expensive thing only a few can do. We’ve shed light on destinations around the world and gotten people to visit places they might not have otherwise.

I don’t feel bad about that.

More people should travel.

And there’s always been the idea of that travel media “ruins” a place. The Lonely Planet effect. The Rick Steves effect. The Bourdain effect (which I experienced first hand since he came to my hometown).

I mean people have been opining about mass tourism for decades. Once it’s in the Lonely Planet, a place is dead, right?

But social media has an amplifying effect that didn’t exist in the past. It makes it easier for everyone to find – and then overrun a destination.

Do I really think my one article on (insert destination) created a crush of people like there is some Nomadic Matt effect? No.

But social media and blogging leads one person to a place and then another and then another and then suddenly everyone it taking a picture of themselves with their feet dangling over Horseshoe Bend, sitting on that rock in Norway, or having breakfast with giraffes at that hotel in Kenya.

Everyone wants to do what they see on social media so they can tell all their friends how cool and well traveled they are.

This is also one of the downsides of the Internet. For me, travel is an act of discovery – and respect – and we constantly talk about being a respectful traveler but, for many influencers and bloggers, they don’t balance their actions and influence with responsible travel (I mean you had Fun for Louis rationalizing his North Korea propaganda movies) and try to educate their audiences to become better, more respectful travelers.

After all, we are as much a part of the solution as we are part of the problem. There are ways to mitigate your impact and create a mutually beneficial relationship between you and the local population.

Here are seven ways I think we can help mitigate the overtourism crisis:

1. Skip Airbnb homes – Airbnb is one of the biggest villains in this whole drama. Don’t rent an entire Airbnb home unless you can be 100% sure that you are renting from a real human who is just on vacation. Look at the photos, talk to the host, ask them if they live there. If this is a rental company or the person has multiple listings, skip them. Don’t contribute to the emptying of communities. Rent a room instead!

2. Spread your travels around – Don’t stick to the most popular areas in a destination. Travel outside the city center. Visit the smaller neighborhoods. Get out into the countryside! Getting off the beaten path not only means fewer tourists but also spreading the benefits of your tourism around. There’s more to Italy than Venice, more to Spain than Barcelona (seriously, nearby Costa Brava is amazing), more to Iceland than Rekyavik, more to Thailand than Pai, more to everywhere than where everyone is posting photos from! Get out there and find those hidden gems!

3. Visit in the shoulder season – A corollary to the above is to not visit during peak season. If you visit a place when everyone else does because “it’s the best time to go,” you’re just contributing to the crowds (plus facing peak-season prices). Travel during the shoulder season, when the crowds are fewer, the prices lower, and the weather still (mostly) nice.

4. Don’t eat in touristy areas – If you eat where all the other tourists are, you’ll pay more for lower-quality food. Open Google Maps, Foursquare, Yelp, or your guidebook and find restaurants where locals eat. Follow my five-block rule: always walk five blocks in any direction and cross the invisible line most tourists don’t. You’ll get away from the crowds, spread your tourism dollars around, and enjoy a more authentic experience.

5. Be an informed traveler – Read up on the destination before you go. Learn its customs. Learn its laws. Learn its history. The more respectful and knowledgeable you are, the better it is for everyone involved!

6. Don’t be a drunk idiot – Part of the growing pushback against tourists is not just their sheer number but their disrespectful behavior too. Heck, that is part of why the folks in Amsterdam are upset — they’re tired of drunk tourists! If you’re going someplace just to party, don’t go! You can get drunk back home. Don’t treat a destination like it’s your playpen. People live there after all! Treat them with kindness. You’re a guest in their home.

7. Be environmentally friendly – Finally, don’t waste a place’s (limited) resources. Don’t leave the lights on. Don’t litter. Don’t take long showers. Don’t involve yourself in environmentally dubious activities. The more you can preserve a destination, the longer it will last and the more the locals will want tourists like yourself there. After all, if you ruin it, how will you ever be able to go back? Here are some resources on the subject:

Is eco-tourism really eco-friendly?

How to balance tourism and the environment

How to ethically volunteer anywhere in the world

***Overtourism has been written about a lot lately (see the plethora of links from above) and it’s an issue I’ve been thinking about by another name for years and especially this summer as I jostled through the crowded streets of Amsterdam and my home away from home of New York City.

I think we’re going to see a lot more destinations limiting the number of visitors and placing restrictions on the travel industry. People are just fed up – and they have every right to be.

Let’s not love places to death. Just like it’s important to protect animals and the environment when we travel, so too is it important to protect residents and the destinations themselves.

Do I think lots of tourists are suddenly going to go “Oh, I didn’t realize we were doing this! Let’s change our ways!”?

Nope.

I think tourist behavior will, for the most part, continue as before. I think tourists are still going to act stupid. I think people will still be short-sighted.

But I’m glad this subject is being talked about. I’m glad there is more action around the issue.

We’re the cause – and part of the solution – to this problem and, the more responsible we act, the better it is for everyone involved.

Overtourism is a problem that can only be solved by residents and tourists together.

The post Overtourism: How You Can Help Solve This Worldwide Problem appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

source https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/overtourism-solutions/

[tamboradventure]

Overtourism: How You Can Help Solve This Worldwide Problem

Posted: 9/6/2018 | September 6th, 2018

Years later, I returned to the scene of the crime: Costa Rica. It was in that country that I first fell victim to the travel bug, a disease that would infect me for the rest of my life and lead to where I am today. There was no place I was more excited about revisiting than Manuel Antonio National Park. Its wild jungles, deserted beaches, and bountiful animal life was the highlight of my first visit and I couldn’t wait to relive it all in this seaside town.

But then wonder turned to horror.

The quiet road to town was lined with endless fancy resorts. Hotels lined the park’s edge. Tour groups cluttered the once peaceful park. They fed the wildlife. They littered. The abundant troops of monkeys had vanished. So had the colorful land crabs. No deer roamed. And the beaches were a sea of bodies.

It was my first experience with seeing a destination shift into “overtourism.”

Overtourism is the term used to describe the onslaught of tourists who take over a destination to a point where the infrastructure can no longer handle it.

While not a new problem (that trip to Costa Rica was in 2011), this “trend” has been in the news a lot the past few months (heck, there’s even a Twitter feed about it) as many destinations have started to push back against the onslaught of visitors inundating their streets, communities, and overtaking their natural resources.

“Stay home!” they scream to visitors. “You’re no longer welcome!”

I believe travel can change the world. Done right, it expands people’s minds, fosters understanding, makes you a better you, and provides an economic boost to local communities.

But, thanks to cheap flights, the sharing economy, and (let’s be honest) an explosion of Chinese tour groups around the world, destinations have gotten a bit crowded lately.

I see it everywhere I travel these days.

There’s the Palace of Versailles, where years ago, I was able to film a video free of crowds. Now, it’s wall-to-wall tour groups slowly shuffling from room to room in the most insane queue ever. Its hard to even enjoy the experience!

There’s Tulum, once a quiet Mexican town, now awash with Westerners trying to turn it into the new Bali (which is also overrun with tourists and where “digital nomads” can float from yoga studio to cafe to retreat to wherever without ever actually having to interact with locals). There’s Iceland, where Reykjavik’s main street, complete with a Dunkin’ Donuts, is now a sea of people, and the city’s roads are cluttered. (Don’t even get my Icelandic friends started on this subject. They are none too happy about all the tourists.)

There the crushing crowds in Prague, Barcelona, Paris, Venice, Edinburgh, the Gili Islands, Ko Lipe, Chiang Mai, and Queenstown, where tourists are overrunning locals, acting idiotically, and littering.

Sure, crowded destinations are simply a by-product of a globalized world where travel has become attainable for more and more people. The number of international tourist arrivals is expected to increase by 3.3% worldwide each year until 2030 when it will reach 1.8 billion. And, on balance, that’s a good thing if you believe in travel as a transformative tool.

Yet the very things that make travel cheaper — budget airlines, Airbnb, ridesharing, etc. — have also made destinations unable to cope with all the visitors — and pushed out locals in the process.

Now they are starting to push back.

Barcelona is no longer allowing new hotels and is limiting the number of cruise ships. Dubrovnik is floating the idea of putting limits on the number of tourists. Chile is curbing the number of tourists to Easter Island and how long they can stay and Ecuador is doing the same for visitors to the Galápagos. Venice is trying to restrict Airbnb and the number of tourists (after restricting cruise ships). Paris is also restricting Airbnbs in the city. Iceland wants to limit the number of foreigners who buy property. Amsterdam is launching a campaign to reign in the partying in the city. Majorca has had continuous protests against tourists.

The world is saying “enough!”

And I, for one, am all for this.

Of course, I don’t think people intentionally try to “ruin” places. No one is saying, “Let’s go overcrowd Iceland and piss locals off!”

Most people just don’t even think of their actions causing harm.

Which makes education and these initiatives even more important.

Because there definitely needs to be a better balance between visitors and residents. Overtourism doesn’t help anyone. No one wants to visit a crowded destination – and no one wants to live somewhere that’s overrun with tourists.

While no one is talking about banning tourists outright, there should be better ways to control their numbers and the problems overtourism causes.

Take Airbnb. It’s one of the biggest problems in travel today (which is a shame, because I love the service).

It started out as a way for residents to earn money on the side and get travelers out of the hotel/hostel dynamic and into a more “local” way of life.

But that original mission has been perverted. As rentals have become more lucrative, Airbnb has turned a blind eye to the fact that real estate companies, property managers, and other individuals can list as many properties as they want. These companies, tapping into tourists’ desire to have a home away from home, buy up properties in the city center, which then decreases the supply of rental properties for locals, increases rental prices, and forces residents out.

Driving locals out defeats the purpose of using the service! Too many town centers have been decimated by Airbnb. While a man’s home is his castle, I do believe there should be some restrictions on Airbnb because it’s driving people out of city centers. That’s not good for anyone, especially the locals who live there and, since Airbnb won’t do anything about it, local governments need to step in and start cracking down. (Personally, I’ve started to only rent rooms in an Airbnb (instead of an entire property) so I know there’s a local there benefiting from my stay.)

“But what about social media?” you may ask.

One can’t deny YouTubers, Instagram “influencers”, and bloggers like myself have helped popularize travel and made it more accessible to the masses by destroying the myth that it’s an expensive thing only a few can do. We’ve shed light on destinations around the world and gotten people to visit places they might not have otherwise.

I don’t feel bad about that.

More people should travel.

And there’s always been the idea of that travel media “ruins” a place. The Lonely Planet effect. The Rick Steves effect. The Bourdain effect (which I experienced first hand since he came to my hometown).

I mean people have been opining about mass tourism for decades. Once it’s in the Lonely Planet, a place is dead, right?

But social media has an amplifying effect that didn’t exist in the past. It makes it easier for everyone to find – and then overrun a destination.

Do I really think my one article on (insert destination) created a crush of people like there is some Nomadic Matt effect? No.

But social media and blogging leads one person to a place and then another and then another and then suddenly everyone it taking a picture of themselves with their feet dangling over Horseshoe Bend, sitting on that rock in Norway, or having breakfast with giraffes at that hotel in Kenya.

Everyone wants to do what they see on social media so they can tell all their friends how cool and well traveled they are.

This is also one of the downsides of the Internet. For me, travel is an act of discovery – and respect – and we constantly talk about being a respectful traveler but, for many influencers and bloggers, they don’t balance their actions and influence with responsible travel (I mean you had Fun for Louis rationalizing his North Korea propaganda movies) and try to educate their audiences to better, more respectful travelers.

After all, we are as much a part of the solution as we are part of the problem. There are ways to mitigate your impact and create a mutually beneficial relationship between you and the local population.

Here are seven ways I think we can help mitigate the overtourism crisis:

1. Skip Airbnb homes – Airbnb is one of the biggest villains in this whole drama. Don’t rent an entire Airbnb home unless you can be 100% sure that you are renting from a real human who is just on vacation. Look at the photos, talk to the host, ask them if they live there. If this is a rental company or the person has multiple listings, skip them. Don’t contribute to the emptying of communities. Rent a room instead!

2. Spread your travels around – Don’t stick to the most popular areas in a destination. Travel outside the city center. Visit the smaller neighborhoods. Get out into the countryside! Getting off the beaten path not only means fewer tourists but also spreading the benefits of your tourism around. There’s more to Italy than Venice, more to Spain than Barcelona (seriously, nearby Costa Brava is amazing), more to Iceland than Rekyavik, more to Thailand than Pai, more to everywhere than where everyone is posting photos from! Get out there and find those hidden gems!

3. Visit in the shoulder season – A corollary to the above is to not visit during peak season. If you visit a place when everyone else does because “it’s the best time to go,” you’re just contributing to the crowds (plus facing peak-season prices). Travel during the shoulder season, when the crowds are fewer, the prices lower, and the weather still (mostly) nice.

4. Don’t eat in touristy areas – If you eat where all the other tourists are, you’ll pay more for lower-quality food. Open Google Maps, Foursquare, Yelp, or your guidebook and find restaurants where locals eat. Follow my five-block rule: always walk five blocks in any direction and cross the invisible line most tourists don’t. You’ll get away from the crowds, spread your tourism dollars around, and enjoy a more authentic experience.

5. Be an informed traveler – Read up on the destination before you go. Learn its customs. Learn its laws. Learn its history. The more respectful and knowledgeable you are, the better it is for everyone involved!

6. Don’t be a drunk idiot – Part of the growing pushback against tourists is not just their sheer number but their disrespectful behavior too. Heck, that is part of why the folks in Amsterdam are upset — they’re tired of drunk tourists! If you’re going someplace just to party, don’t go! You can get drunk back home. Don’t treat a destination like it’s your playpen. People live there after all! Treat them with kindness. You’re a guest in their home.

7. Be environmentally friendly – Finally, don’t waste a place’s (limited) resources. Don’t leave the lights on. Don’t litter. Don’t take long showers. Don’t involve yourself in environmentally dubious activities. The more you can preserve a destination, the longer it will last and the more the locals will want tourists like yourself there. After all, if you ruin it, how will you ever be able to go back? Here are some resources on the subject:

Is eco-tourism really eco-friendly?

How to balance tourism and the environment

How to ethically volunteer anywhere in the world

***Overtourism has been written about a lot lately (see the plethora of links from above) and it’s an issue I’ve been thinking about by another name for years and especially this summer as I jostled through the crowded streets of Amsterdam and my home away from home of New York City.

I think we’re going to see a lot more destinations limiting the number of visitors and placing restrictions on the travel industry. People are just fed up – and they have every right to be.

Let’s not love places to death. Just like it’s important to protect animals and the environment when we travel, so too is it important to protect residents and the destinations themselves.

Do I think lots of tourists are suddenly going to go “Oh, I didn’t realize we were doing this! Let’s change our ways!”?

Nope.

I think tourist behavior will, for the most part, continue as before. I think tourists are still going to act stupid. I think people will still be short-sighted.

But I’m glad this subject is being talked about. I’m glad there is more action around the issue.

We’re the cause – and part of the solution – to this problem and, the more responsible we act, the better it is for everyone involved.

Overtourism is a problem that can only be solved by residents and tourists together.

The post Overtourism: How You Can Help Solve This Worldwide Problem appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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