Rolf Potts on the tourist/traveler distinction

“In reality, travel is not a social contest, and vagabonding has never represented a caste on the tourist/traveler hierarchy. Depending upon circumstance, a sincere vagabonder could variously be called a traveler or a tourist, a pilgrim or a satyr, and victor or a victim, an individual seeker or a demographic trend. Indeed, the main conceit in trying to discern travelers from tourists is that you end up with a flimsy facade of presumed insiders and outsiders. By the vacuous standards of fashion, insiders and outsiders are necessary — but in the realm of travel (where, by definition, you are always a guest in foreign places) such a distinction is ridiculous.”
–Rolf Potts, Vagabonding (2003)