slow travel – Juniper and Daisies

Overtourism is Ruining the Charm of Travel

I have something to confess: I think I’m breaking up with Paris.

No longer does she woo me with her charm. No longer is the city invigorating and inviting to me. No longer does my heart sing and all my worries disappear. Instead, I’m left with dread, annoyance and confusion as to what my city used to be. While Paris has never been my place of residence, I’ve felt a deep connection to it, one that restores my hope and happiness.

Overtourism is killing everything around us. And, it’s not just affecting long line-ups, the environment and locals, it’s affecting me. And we all know that’s a real reason to freak out.

It’s not just Paris that I’m breaking up with, I’ve been thinking long and hard about my long-term relationship with travel and whether or not we should end it.

After my next trip that is being taken to visit a friend who has gone to live abroad, I’m thinking twice about big vacations. I’m wondering if they’re worth it and whether or not I should continue taking them. If it’s just crowded areas of tourists seeking the same thing, then why am I going? I don’t need to have snowflake unique vacations, completely different than everyone else, but when the vibe of the city, the whole reason you’re seeing a new place, is gone or altered because of tourists, then why be that tourist?

I’ve also wondered about posting travel tips on my old blog, and now stories here. Do I want to urge others to continue travelling? Is it really something people should still be doing so obsessively? I’m no longer impressed with someone moving away for a year or three to travel the world; who hasn’t done that in this day and age? But, then, I also think about how exciting it was to travel for the first time, the feeling of being totally on your own and figuring things out. This was a little harder as Google Translate didn’t exist and roam-as-you-go plans weren’t a thing yet when I started. I had to buy a phone and then pay-as-you-go cards, topping up in a different country as we moved and used up minutes, for my first month long trip. But, that was part of the fun, part of exploring a new city or new country; you didn’t know what the fuck you were doing and that was okay. The ambiance of the place shone through and you got lost in it.

Maybe it’s more than just stopping travel altogether (something I don’t think we should do or would work out). Maybe we become more respectful as a species. Maybe we start by going back to the way things used to be and only stay in Inns, B&B’s, hotels, or God forbid, hostels. Maybe we reserve apartment rentals for when we are really staying long period of time. Longer than a week, longer than a month. While I’m all for renting an apartment abroad and absolutely love heading to the market to make delicious dinners, I don’t like what it’s come to be. Apartments that changes the way the locals live, thus taking away the reason you rented that apartment in Le Marais in the first place: to feel like you’re living a stereotypical Parisienne life (although, the tiny apartment rentals keep you in that stereotype). This is the whole reason I, and many others, rent apartments abroad.

Maybe it’s best if we all stay home and explore the world around us instead of thousands of miles away. Maybe we take less trips and save more and splurge every so often, spending more on tourism in that country than we do now.

Will I be okay with that? Will I be okay simply going to our cabin and relaxing and hiking and exploring my beautiful country? Some days I think so. Then, when I feel like I’ve lost hope in the world, and know how restoring France is for me, I second guess it.

While I scream at the city for changing, for the new people in its life taking its attention away from me, I’m not sure I’ll actually break up with Paris, with traveling. This post has been full of maybes, quietly telling myself, and everyone else, that I’m not done with traveling, not yet.

Because even with the overtourism and the different vibe of the city, it still felt familiar, it still felt like home. I remembered those roads I would walk down to the market. I remembered the hardness of the green chairs in the Tuileries as I’d scribble down thoughts or read until the chill in the air was too much and I had to break for a café au lait. I still felt the excitement when coming across something new or driving through the winding roads of the South of France.

These feelings are the ones I remember when I think of traveling and I hope that they won’t be lost forever.

The New Way I’m Travelling

Slowing right down. Taking it all in instead of rushing around. Staying longer and relaxing.

Remember when you could travel and you weren’t connected 24/7? When you had to fumble through awkward language barriers because Google translate didn’t exist yet. When you needed a real map instead of your phone. When your phone wouldn’t work, not because it was expensive to operate while abroad, but simply because it wouldn’t work overseas.

When you’d wander around, not for Instagram shots, but to just feel the life breathing around you, the lives lived and lost inside and out of the walls surrounding you.

Remember when travel was more than just the 2,688,098 things you could see for free? When it was more than one-upping the faceless persons on the internet? When it didn’t matter if you saw the tourist attractions because you’d also find some gems, too, simply because you’d get lost on your way to seeing said tourist attractions. You’d stumble, and fumble, and fall right into that adorable cafe, or enchanting park. You’d explore a new neighborhood, taking your time because, well, you didn’t know where the fuck you were.

You didn’t worry about trying to have the most authentic trip you could, because you were already doing that. Yeah, you might have had a tour guide or two, and yeah, you might be seeing a lot of touristy stuff and paying quadruple, but you weren’t worried about that because you were exploring a new world to you.

I remember when staying in apartments was weird. I loved it. Loved it because it was cheaper than hotels. Loved it because I generally enjoy grocery shopping, and even more in a foreign country. Traipsing off to the markets to buy food I wouldn’t be able to at home, to peruse the snack section at a grocery store, to happily tuck a bottle of wine from the little corner store down from your apartment is what traveling is about. At least, for me it is.

But, just like everything that becomes too mainstream, it comes with a price. No longer is it exciting and fun to fall into new places and new experiences. It’s demanded of you. Why aren’t you staying in an apartment? Hotels, and their concierge services, are the scum of the Earth. Why would you stay in an apartment? It’s ruining the housing economy everywhere! Why would you ever pay a tour guide to bring you around a city? A cab? You must be joking…only true travellers walk everywhere. Why wouldn’t you live in a van and travel for a year? Everyone and their kids are doing it. You must, too! It’s authentic, don’t you know.

I’ve definitely given a few of these tips out myself. The finding the hidden gems (although my advice is always just walk and explore and hang out, letting the city/town soak into you). Staying in an apartment. Nixing some tourist attractions. My way of thinking has changed over the years, evolving with the giant tourism boom. I’m more worried about the environment, about the people who actually live in these places, about the stress I’m now feeling trying to have the perfect Instagram-worthy vacation.

Honestly, it’s more in my self-interest to change the way that I travel, that everyone travels. I’ve always been an advocate for doing what you want on a trip. Yes, staying in an apartment can be immensely better than a hotel. But, sometimes hotels are infinitely better. See: spa packages and as many pillows as you wish. Yes, it’s amazing that people are seeing more of the world, but have you seen the damn line-ups, recently? Not my cup of tea. It feels like all of the quiet haunts I used to love are now overcrowded as more and more people find them and tell everyone to go there. Simply for a like or two. It’s why I’ll often keep beautiful, quiet places to myself. Or, I’ll tell a friend who is visiting to check it out, but I won’t blast it over the internet. There’s something about keeping that hidden gem…hidden.

I highly doubt we will be traveling this year, and if we are, it will only be in our country. I won’t be stepping on a plane until things calm way down. I won’t feel comfortable, so why waste the money? I’ve gone back and forth over whether or not I like that I’m not traveling. Sometimes, I can’t wait to get out there and my hand starts inching closer to booking a vacation. But, I’m trying to tamp that feeling down. I don’t want to go on vacation just to go. I want to go because I miss the streets of Paris, because I want to relax on the beach and explore the rainforest, because I want to see and immerse myself in everything the country I’ve chosen for the next 3–4 weeks has to offer.

I’ve written about this before. Before the pandemic. At the start of the pandemic. Because our worlds were tipped upside down. I had enough of traveling, of being in an airport for hours upon hours. Of jet lag. Of overcrowded streets. I wanted to explore my own country, and that’s still true, but with a break in travel, I’m still reaching for more foreign pastures. And, that’s okay. Next time I go I’ll try to unplug, try to bring myself back to the way it used to be. When traveling meant figuring it out on your own, and finding a little bit of yourself along the way.