Travelers devote a lot of energy to observing other travelers

“In the long history of modern tourism one element is striking. The main tourist attraction tends to be those other tourists. We devote a lot of time and energy to observing and commenting on fellow travelers. At the beach or the café on the piazza we turn into amateur vacation sociologists. In the evening we will share our observations with our companion(s): “Did you see that German couple? Those Canadians were really…” This habit seems especially strong among the middle classes, which in the history of tourism form a vague and changing social category.”
–Orvar Lofgren, On Holiday: A History of Vacationing (1999)