I have always loved travelling and visiting new places. It excites me, inspires me, and honestly makes me feel alive. But one thing I have noticed again and again is how travellers quietly judge other travellers. It happens more often than we admit.
There are usually two types of travellers. One group travels mainly for a break — a proper vacation with rest, slow mornings, and easy days. The second group travels to explore — to fit as many places as possible in a short time, even if it becomes hectic. I fall closer to the second group. When I travel, I want to see everything I can. New places pull me like a magnet and I enjoy soaking in every bit of it.
But here is the funny part. The explorer travellers often look down on the vacation travellers for being “too slow”. And the relaxed travellers think the explorers are “doing too much”. So who is right? Honestly, neither.
The same judgment happens with food. Many travellers scoff at people who crave Indian food while abroad, especially vegetarians. They say you should try the local cuisine or you are not a “real” traveller. But having lived in the Philippines for two years, I can tell you it is not easy to find pure vegetarian food everywhere. Sometimes it is tiring. Sometimes your body just wants the comfort of dal, roti, rice or something familiar. And why not? Indian food is the best anyway.
The truth is very simple. There is no one way to travel. There is no formula that everyone must follow. Each person has their own life, their own comfort zone, their own needs and their own way of experiencing the world. Travel is meant to make you happy. It should not become a competition.
Some people want to relax. Some want to explore. Some want local food. Some want Indian food. None of these choices make someone less of a traveller.
The moral of the story is this. Travel the way you want. Enjoy what feels right to you. And let others do the same. No judgment. No pressure. Just pure, personal experience.
At the end of the day, the world is too big and too beautiful for us to waste time criticizing how someone else chooses to enjoy it.
