Eight Annoying-As-Fuck Things New Travelers Do, Part 1 of 2
Numbers 1–4
The astute reader will take note that this is about “new” travelers, not “young” travelers. Sure, that’s a Venn diagram with serious overlap — but this is not meant to just dunk on young travelers. It is meant to dunk on new travelers of all ages who are just getting their travel legs. This list doesn’t exactly correlate with whether you have a TikTok account. It has far more to do with the slow blossoming of awareness that all new travelers go through and some of the key lessons learned. So, let’s get into my top 8 things that new backpackers often do, which are annoying as fuck (at least to this veteran of the trail). Let’s start off hot HOT HOT with the one that first inspired me to write this list…
1. Constantly complaining about how there are “too many tourists.”
I now live in Puerto Escondido, where I’ve been for about a year and a half with María and Rue (partner and pup, respectively). We live in La Punta Zicatela, Puerto Escondido’s fastest-growing neighborhood. It’s a beautiful, bohemian surfer’s paradise. We live on the second floor of a concrete box in the middle of La Punta’s main street, and in the evening we sit on our balcony and watch hordes of humans wander barefoot in search of mezcal and new memories. I end up…