Along with the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, tourism has become one of the world’s dominant drivers of global, national, and local economic growth. At last tally, “the industry” – an aggregate of airlines, hotels and a slew of service businesses ranging from tour guides to street food vendors – employs a staggeringly high 200+ million...

The goal of many vagabonders is to blend in with the locals so well that they become invisible. Although the color of our skin sometimes makes that impossible, it's still fun to try. The Life magazine website had a great slideshow called How New Yorkers Can Spot a Tourist . Some of the points are...

"I hate looking at monuments. I hate waking up in the morning and thinking, 'Oh! Today we're gonna visit this abbey.' We don't do it at home, why should we do it abroad? The only thing I'm interested in is people, views, restaurants, and a clean, warm place to crap, as What's-his-name said. You never...

It's an ironic practice: criticizing other travelers. We're all foreigners to the place we're visiting, but we can't help but try to differentiate ourselves from the standard tourists. This MSNBC.com article discusses the 5 types of travelers that are killing tourism . As an American, I couldn't help but feel a bit stung at the...