Are YOU a travel snob? From the smug 'know-it-all' to the irksome authenticity hunter, tourists reveal their least favourite type of holidaymaker

  • Reddit users have criticised the travel tribes they find most smug and annoying
  • Tourists who are searching for authenticity or spiritual experiences under fire
  • Digital addicts, hedonists and budget travellers also riled other holidaymakers
While travel can introduce you to new friends and thrilling experiences, for some these encounters just provide a fresh source of irritation.
Veteran travellers can easily stray into a self-satisfied terrain of one-upmanship, whether it's to smugly inform holidaymakers that they haven't explored the 'real' heart of a destination or to relentlessly compare a spot to home.
From the spirituality seekers to the friend collectors, frustrated tourists from across the world have taken to an online forum to reveal the travel tribes they find the most irksome.
Authenticity-hunters
Tourists always searching for the most authentic experience bothered seasoned travellers who said chasing authenticity is like 'hunting for unicorns' (file image)
Members of the Reddit community, responded to a thread to reveal the travel snobs that irritate them the most, citing authenticity hunters, especially those without cultural sensitivity, as one of the most obnoxious.
Karenet from Ottawa explained: 'My least favourite type of travellers are those who somehow feel like they are the "real" travellers and everyone else is an impostor.'
She added that in Japan she met a Western man who kept complaining about all the other Westerners everywhere.
Double-dog-doctor described tourists who liked to go to a 'primitive' village in Indonesia to get a taste of 'authentic' Indonesian living.
He added: 'Then they got electricity, and tourists complained that it wasn't authentic anymore.'
On this theme, strangeenchanted addressed the problem inherent in the quest for authenticity. They said: 'It bothers me that some travellers seem to think that other countries "owe" them the experience of an "exotic" culture.
It bothers me that some travellers seem to think that other countries 'owe' them the experience of an 'exotic' culture.
'Cultures don't exist to provide you with "exotic" entertainment. And wanting to deny people running water and other modern amenities just so you can have your "authentic" experience... it's narcissistic is what it is.
'Rapid modernisation does have troubling effects on many cultures. But somehow I don't think that's what's on these travellers' minds.'
Several Reddit users further criticised tourists for gazing at villagers and taking photos like they were a spectacle rather than sharing a meaningful interaction.
Poster double-dog-doctor surmised: 'You're a tourist. You will inherently be treated differently than someone who was born and raised in the culture of the place you are visiting.
'And that's okay! That doesn't make your experiences any less meaningful or extraordinary; it just means that [seeking] authenticity is like hunting unicorns.'
Jaded know-it-alls
A spin-off from the authenticity hunters are those who have been everywhere but complain that it's changed beyond recognition and isn't worth a visit.
Some warned that outsiders who lament that somewhere is no longer 'quaint' really mean it's no longer impoverished.
Describing a seasoned traveller's condescension, toastbutteryum said: '[He would] talk about how it was all different now, and how it really wasn't worth going anymore.
'The implication was always that he had seen the world when it was unspoiled and wild. Now that it was civilised or overrun with tourists, well, he guessed you could go. But why bother when it wouldn't be the same as when he was there?'
Friend collectors
People who brag about the number of friendships they've made while overseas annoyed the online community.
American panniculus explained his dislike: 'People who collect people/countries like they're Pokemon and love to brag about how many countries they've been to or how many acquaintances of other nationalities they have.'
Concerned that locals might not be interested in meeting tourists, saskatchewanderer added: 'What makes you think the locals are just waiting for you to show up and enrich their lives with your friendship?'
Digital addicts
Bloggers, photographers and those unable to disconnect and live in the moment annoyed fellow travellers (file image)
Bloggers and shutterbugs were high on the irritation list for ruining a experience by forcing those around them to capture them ‘enjoying it’.
Irish tourist quantumsheep said: ‘I've seen people that visit places and they don't even look around or explore or take in the location - it's just a backdrop for their ever-more-ridiculous photos and selfies.’
The 'nothing compares' tribe
Being in a foreign land can be overwhelming and home will understandably be a point of reference to make sense of the world, but voicing this can be particularly annoying, claim fellow travellers.
Greenkey901 criticised 'The ones who compare a current activity or trip to some other "better" experience.'
Dwithinad complained about a fellow American who would end every statement with 'but that doesn't happen in Boulder, where I'm from'.
The budget traveller
Travelling on a shoe-string budget is impressive but for most people their gripe was not with the frugality but having to hear about it. Mithee2001 called it ‘arrogance cloaked in fake-modesty'.
American Flashnash said: ‘I try not to be judgemental and I know everyone's different, I just have a hard time relating to that type of travel. I want to be comfortable, I want good food - that's the whole reason I'm taking the trip!’
Noedel from the Netherlands shared a story of a pair of tourists in South America spending their days making bracelets and illegally camping just so that they could stretch their budget for a longer trip.
He said: ‘They kept going on and on about how they negotiated EVERY f****** thing they bought, from hostels to bus prices to food. I understand why you would negotiate tours, or hostels if you stay for a while, but at a certain point you just become an a******.’
In this vein, tourists who rate every country by the price of the beer were also criticised.
The hedonists
There are several ways to have fun, insist holidaymakers annoyed by the inebriated travellers that they've encountered (file image)
For some it was the party animals that riled them abroad.
US-based Mofoz shared his annoyance at ‘the ones who tell you that if you aren't raging every night, you're not doing it right’. He said in Belgium a hostel mate insisted Europe is just about getting drunk.
Dutch local jippiejee added that marijuana tourists bothered him the most. He said: ‘You travel to the other side of the world, your chance to see the real van Goghs and Rembrandts, instead you spend four days smoking weed in a coffeeshop of course.’
Spirituality seekers
Anti-materialist travellers forking out a fortune on a spiritual quest also came under fire.
Oax Mike from Mexico said: ‘My least favourite type of travel snobs are the "spiritual" sort... the ones holding their forehead against the rocks at Machu Picchu and making humming noises while paying some "shaman" $100 to wave a feather in their general direction.’
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