BE A TRAVELER NOT A TOURIST

Philia Tounta, the manageress of the Art Deco Hotel in Kalyves, Crete, gives some excellent advice to all travelers, no matter where you roam.

To Travelers: Talk to each other, spend time with your children and play with them, swim, read, and act spontaneously. Talk with the locals as much as possible, instead of listening a tour guide, interact with locals a gesture can be a start for everything!! Avoid stereotyping your travel experience; does it really matter if you don’t see all the sights and miss the tourist gift gimmicks???? Be prepared to feel the historical, social and cultural life instead of emphasizing you have been somewhere by showing the pictures of all the famous places to your friends. Your friends can see all that online; go and find the unique, the truly unusual, and CONNECT. YOU ARE GOING FOR HOLIDAY FOR YOURSELF NOT TO IMPRESS PEOPLE. It is difficult ‘tourists’ to embrace these ideas but I believe that they will soon realize that life is short and they have to take risks and look Beyond what is right in front of them. BE A TRAVELER!!!!