March 2, 2007

Travellers and Tourists

"The traveller sees what he sees. The tourist comes to see what he has come to see."
-G.K. Chesterton

I thought this elaboration on Chesterton's observation found in the introduction to the 2007 Traveller's Guide to Newfoundland and Labrador was well stated:

"You see, tourists know what they're looking for long before they know what is
really here. An experience that is knowable and containable and packageable. But
these are mere parts of the puzzle.

A traveller, on the other hand, seeks the truth of a place, the essence that can only be appreciated by seeing the puzzle as a whole."


I believe I'm a traveller.

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