5 Tacky Travel Trends We Can Leave Behind In 2019

If you follow just about anyone on social media, especially anyone who works for a ‘health’ based pyramid scheme, you’ve probably heard that there’s a new year and a new decade approaching. I thought now would be a good time to make a list of some of the tacky travel trends we can go ahead and leave in this decade. These are just some of the things I notice in the travel world that unfortunately seem to be common.

5 Tacky Travel Trends We Can Leave Behind In 2019

Blaming a country for your own unpreparedness

I’ve seen this one come up a lot with females in particular, who didn’t do their research before a trip as far as the dress code was concerned.

In the times where I’ve seen this, they have gone to a conservative country dressed inappropriately, attracted the wrong sort of attention, had a bad time, then blamed the entire country, labeling it as not worth visiting for female travelers.

The idea of not being able to see that for what it is and take responsibility for it blows my mind.

It’s always the traveler’s responsibility to do their research before the trip. If you chose to ignore the recommendations, that’s on you but it doesn’t make an entire country not worth visiting.

And if you made a mistake and missed that during your research, then it’s all good. Mistakes happen. But own it, don’t spread bad press about a country for your own mistake.

Pissing contest of counting countries

This is one of the most common tacky travel trends that I see with influencers and non-influencers alike.

It’s insecurity dialed up to 1000 where people compete in a pissing contest of who has visited the most countries.

To me, it’s the same tacky, superficial, keeping up with the Joneses type competition as comparing over a flashy car, how many square feet in a house, or a job title.

You would only do it if you’re not secure about who you are and what you’re doing. I.e. you’re doing things to impress others as opposed to doing it for your own interests.

And look, if you count for your own personal reasons that’s fine. But the second you’re posting with captions like ‘I went to 9 countries this year, how many did you go to?’ or anything like that, then it’s not for your own personal count, is it?

Elitist travel attitudes

Any time you fall into the thinking that there is only one way to travel, especially if it has anything to do with being a ‘real traveler’, you’ve fallen into the elitist travel attitude trap.

Maybe it’s time to take a step off the high horse and come to terms with the fact that people enjoy traveling in different ways and it doesn’t make their experience any less valuable than yours.

Some people like to rough it, stay in hostels, eat street food, and/or avoid tourist activities. And that’s all great if that’s what you enjoy.

But others might just want a break from their 60 hour work weeks and want to chill out with some cocktails by the hotel pool. Or others might like to join a tour or get a coffee from Starbucks.

None of them are right or wrong. It’s all a matter of preference. As long as you’re visiting somewhere new, you’re a real traveler.

There’s room for everyone in the travelsphere.

Traveling for the ‘gram

‘Instagrammable locations’ has to be one of the ickiest of the tacky travel trends.

I know there’s a lot of debate about whether it’s better to have photos with people in them or of the destination alone when traveling, but I think a bit of both is a good balance.

When you’re traveling somewhere for a photo of you there and not the experience though, there’s not much balance.

And if you’ve traveled anywhere recently, you’ve probably seen it. I know I have. It’s easy to spot because the people that do this usually have the same look.

I feel like I’ve seen just about everything from people complaining and acting miserable during tours only to jump up and get a ‘happy, candid’ Instagram shot before going back to complaining. I’ve seen people walk through a site taking a series of selfies and not look at the landmark itself.

I’m all for getting a cool photo but at least keep it real, and if you’re not interested in where you’re traveling to, then why go?

Abusing privilege

Unfortunately, there can be such a sense of entitlement in travel sometimes.

You would think that as people travel and get exposed to others living in much worse conditions, that they would recognize how fortunate they are and want to give back in some way. But that’s not always the case.

Some people get woke, some are still a little sleepy.

The peak example for me is when you see travelers visiting a poor country and haggling with a market stall owner over $10 or something small like that.

That $10 usually means much more to the market owners than you since you have the money to travel across the world after all, so try to have a little generosity and not be so greedy.

Do you have a pet peeve travel trend?

If you do, share it in the comments or on social media.

I hope you have a happy and safe new year wherever you are in the world and I hope we can bring back a little more kindness, compassion, and realness into travel.

Other posts you might enjoy

• Bad Travel Advice That You Should Probably Just Ignore
• Traveling Won’t Change You – Bursting The Social Media Bubble
• 30 Trips To Take Before You Turn 30 – The KSB Edition

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