Yeah, I said it.

It sucks. There is literally nothing good about it.

Before you ask me why I write about travel so much and why I've chosen to spend the next 9 months of my life abroad, consider this:

I didn't say being abroad sucks.

I didn't say traveling sucks.

I just said that being a tourist sucks.

How to differentiate a travel experience from a tourist experience? A good metric might be the following:

If the most meaningful experience you had while traveling was something that shows up on TripAdvisor's top 15 things to do in a city, then you were probably a tourist in that city.

If the most meaningful experience you had was something off the beaten path, an interaction with a local or fellow traveler, or something that changed your worldview, then congrats! It's likely that you dug beneath the tourist traps to find something cool.

Living the Tourist Life

It's honestly been years since I've felt like a tourist, but I was pretty confident that I would probably be one for the next three days as I touched down in Istanbul, Turkey.

I was tired from Mt. Kilimanjaro, looking ahead to Metz, and focusing on working out more than one should while traveling. I didn't feel compelled to go out of my way to discover something cool, which is lame, but I had my priorities.

Nonetheless, I had high hopes that being a tourist would actually be alright when I arrived.

I mean, I've probably seen thousands of people post pictures of themselves being tourists on Instagram and they looked happy!

My conclusion after two days: this sucks so much.

Sights of Istanbul

I'll give you the rundown of how my first 48 hours went:

• I saw the Hagia Sophia Mosque. It was cool.
• I visited Sultanahmet Square. Also cool. Very crowded with tourists.
• I went inside the Basilica Cistern. I was very confused as to why the tour provided almost no historical context for the Cistern. I guess we were supposed to figure it out on our own.
  
  Or they just wanted our money and didn't care.
• I walked to the Galata Tower but didn't go up because they were charging too much money and there were too many tourists.
• I walked along the Bosphorus Strait. It was pretty. Great views along the river

• I went to the Asian–less touristy–side of Istanbul (the city is situated right between Europe and Asia), and walked up to the highest point in the city, Camlica Hill. It's 245m! A little shorter than Kilimanjaro.
  
  I also took this photo there because I thought I was cool:

Well, I just named about 6 of the top 15 things to do in Istanbul, but honestly, I wouldn't recommend traveling halfway across the world to do what I did. Go look up photos online instead.

There you won't be overheating, sunburnt, crowded in with people trying to take photos in front of every building possible, and heckled to buy every little trinket imaginable.

Maybe I needed this experience to remind me of how meaningless it is to be a tourist when I travel. If it was like this every time, I would just stay home.

To be fair, Istanbul in August is probably a severe encapsulation of this sentiment. It draws crowds from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, and it was the height of the tourist season, so this was probably as bad as it gets.

Off the beaten path

I didn't have the highest hopes for my experience given where my head was at, but I was fed up.

I searched for something away from the crowds and on my last day in the city I decided to head to an island called Buyukada, about two hours by boat from the city center, for a little day trip.

I ended up going with a new friend from Australia named Connor.

On our way to the boat, this guy recognized that we were speaking English and it turns out he was going to the same island. His name was Adim and he was from Algeria.

I was shocked to learn that this was his first time leaving his country at the age of 34. It wasn't for a lack of trying–he has applied for a visa to countless countries ever since getting a passport. However, Turkey was the first place that granted him one.

I've seen passport privilege before, but this one felt different. Adim was like a kid in a candy store. He was so excited to see the world beyond Algeria's borders and was soaking it all in. Honestly, I felt rejuvenated by his presence.

He also spoke great English and French and passionately explained to me the political and economic situation back in Algeria. It was fascinating to hear about their regional dispute with Morocco–something that has never garnered international media coverage but is incredibly relevant and important to him and his country nonetheless.

I was also so surprised by his kindness. Within 5 minutes of meeting him, he told me that if I ever traveled to Algeria, I would be welcome at his house, no questions asked.

The hospitality in the Arab world is truly unmatched.

Slow Day on Buyukdada

After getting to know each other on the boat ride, Connor, Adim, and I decided to spend the day together on the island. We found this restaurant that was completely local–they literally grew the produce in their backyard and changed the menu every day based on what the owner felt like cooking.

Couldn't get more traditional than that. I had some amazing food in Turkey but this meal topped all of them.

Following that, we spent the rest of the afternoon on the island at a little private beach spot with a gorgeous view.

Between spending time swimming, sleeping, and swapping stories about our countries, I felt re-energized talking to Adim and learning how I shouldn't take my passport(s) for granted.

It's crazy how where you are born can dictate so many things about your life, but one of the most unfair things is how it can literally prevent you from seeing the world.

He's also a great example of why travel is awesome, but tourism sucks.

As a tourist, you wouldn't get to meet Adim and you wouldn't be able to gain a new perspective from his vastly different life experiences.

We should strive to use travel as a means to meet people different from us and learn from those differences.

When you travel, don't just go sightseeing.

Don't just take Instagram photos.

Don't just follow the herd.

Move with a purpose, and find those hidden gems. Like Adim :)