Even in the most touristy places, it’s simple to avoid tourists.

Throwaway, because I got a bit of backlash for my last post.<br><br>I complained about how annoying tourists were in the Scottish Highlands. <br><br>A lot of people responded with things like “oh I’m not gonna travel now, I don’t wanna be an asshole and disrupt the place.”<br><br>Being a tourist doesn’t mean you *have to* be an asshole. <br><br>We recently visited Japan, which is an extremely touristy place, but we found it to be *extremely* easy to avoid tourists.<br><br>There are tons of articles online about where to avoid in Japan, which is great if you want to have real experiences.<br><br>Mainly, we just used maps to avoid major cities and followed bike or hike paths. We also avoided pre-booked tours. By doing this, we were able to have an amazing time, eat and stay in real local spots and have the best food we’ve ever had. We only encountered a few other english or german speakers our entire trip, which was great.<br><br>Be mindful when you’re traveling. Take the time to do some research and look into real local spots. Talk to real people. Don’t be afraid to try new things. It will make your travels and the people around you so much better.<br><br>Edit: just to say, I do think it is important to have some self-awareness while traveling. I love to travel and I think it is an important part of life, but that doesn’t mean I can just do whatever tf I want in other countries.