Creating a travel list to places like the North Pole, India, Egypt and Tanzania can seem aspirational and fun. But bucket lists are also exacerbating overtourism and reducing meaningful travel experiences to vacuous, social media photo sessions.
with tourists. What does this mean for bucket-listers, aside from sore feet and time spent waiting in lines? It means they burn through vacation time in between bucket points.Avner Ofer, a fine art travel photographer, makes a case for experiencing a country through its less flashy moments. "For me, travel is about connecting with people and cultures — not about seeing a famous spot and leaving," he said.
In Panama, he flew to the Darién Gap with no plans. There he bumped into an indigenous kid who guided him to a local village. As it turned out, he was the first tourist to ever be there, and he spent four incredible days as a guest of the tribe. "If you don't take the time to meet people and get away from tourist areas, you are really missing on the cultural experience of travel," Ofer said.Wanaka treePhoto tourism has accelerated with the advent of social media, and recreating iconic travel photos has pushed Insta-trendy spots high on bucket lists. This fever —by photographer Tony Bridge as "a form of appropriation ...
"They hold special meaning to me, and I wanted to share them with others," he said. "Mongolia taught me autonomy; Ladakh, authentic compassion; and Kazakhstan, the beauty of cultural integration."He resists bucket lists because he finds experiences that allow one to be a temporary local much more rewarding. Travel through intimate experiences, such as meeting Tsaatan reindeer herders, is an opportunity for personal growth through authentic exposure, he said.
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