Why “Off the Beaten Path” Is a Myth
If you’ve hung around in travel circles, read travel blogs or joined any travel forums, you’ll be very familiar with the phrase “off the beaten path.” Everyone wants to get off the beaten path these days. But what does that even mean? And more importantly, does it even exist?
The beaten path is beaten for a reason
So for there to be an area that is off of the beaten path, that means there has to be a beaten path to begin with. The beaten path, aka the tourist trail, is full of a place’s best known activities that all of the tourists flock to. It’s the must-sees and must-dos. It’s the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Taj Mahal in India and Times Square in New York.
Usually, a path is beaten for a reason. Sure, some things on the beaten path seem incredibly overrated and I’m not sure how they got there (Mona Lisa, I’m looking at you). But others, like Toronto’s CN Tower or Vancouver’s Stanley Park, are beaten for a reason. They’re awesome places that deserve to be visited.
And you are not a lesser traveller for wanting to visit these places or for enjoying them. There’s no shame in saying that you loved the London Eye or a canal boat ride in Amsterdam. Hold your head high and proclaim your love for *insert popular tourist attraction here.*
Why is off the beaten path better?
So why is there shame in enjoying things on the beaten path? Why do us travellers think we’re so much better if our trip is full of hidden gems and undiscovered areas?
Truth time: we’re not better. You’re not a better traveller if you skip the Louvre. There’s no award given out for refusing to look at Big Ben. And no one is judging you for wanting to see the Pyramids.
So why then do we think it’s not a good trip or we’re not good travellers unless we do something no one else has ever done? Why are we obsessed with getting off the beaten path?
Is anything actually off the beaten path anymore?
Back in the day, if you went to a restaurant that wasn’t attached to the hotel where you were staying, people would say you were going off of the beaten path. Or if you attempted to take local transit instead of a taxi, you were really leaving the beaten path behind. But these days, things have changed.
If you’re asking for suggestions in a travel forum or reading about a place on a travel blog, it’s not actually off the beaten path. Sure, it may be a little less well-known, but it’s still touristed. Don’t believe me? Remember that it is being suggested to you by fellow tourists!
Plus, “off the beaten path” is completely relative. To some people, anywhere outside of North America or Europe is off the beaten path. And to others, you’d have to find a place that Google Maps can’t even reach for it to be considered “off the beaten path.”
So unless you visit a completely remote place that is off the grid – and you discover it all by yourself – you’re really not leaving the official beaten path. At least, not completely. And it is very hard in this day and age to find a place like that. Furthermore, most travellers don’t actually want to find a place like that.
You know what would be really off the beaten path for Vancouver? Coming out to my neighbourhood in Surrey. We have a grocery store, a bank and a few needles lying around in the local park. Is it off the beaten path? Absolutely. Would you want to spend much time here as a traveller? Absolutely not.
It’s starting to sound like we don’t actually want to stray that far from the beaten path after all…
Why you should go off the beaten path
Even though “off the beaten path” might not actually exist, let’s say you still want to go there. Or you at least want a place that’s farther from the beaten path and less touristed. That’s totally fine! In fact, I often feel the same way.
Here are some valid reasons to seek the path less travelled:
- You’re sick and tired of fighting with crowds of other tourists
- And you’re even more sick and tired of dealing with their iPads and selfie sticks
- You’re craving a more authentic and local experience
- You’re following something you’re genuinely interested in, like your love of street art or passion for live theatre
- You want to wander and stumble into something wherever you end up
Why you should NOT go off the beaten path
But here are (in my incredibly self-righteous opinion, of course) some reasons why you should not go off of the beaten path. If the only reason you want to leave the path is one of these, you may need to rethink your route:
- You want to be the first or only person to discover something
- You want to get a photo with no one else in it for Instagram
- And you want to brag about a bar/cafe/park no one has heard of on your blog
If you want to be the first or only person to discover something, I hate to break it to you (actually, I don’t mind): you’re not the first or the only. I guarantee you some other traveller has been there before. And, more importantly, there is likely a community of local people who frequent that area every day. So no, you didn’t discover that restaurant or this viewpoint. It might be time to ask yourself why being the first or only is so important to you.
When it comes to bragging about finding some place that no one has heard of, I get it. I’ve been there. I’m sure you can find a direct quote on this blog of me saying, “And then we just stumbled into this little pub that we found…” But the truth is, we went to that one pub one time and it just happened to be adorable. We didn’t discover it and it isn’t a hidden gem to the countless other people who go there regularly. Plus, there may have been a million other pubs that were even cuter, but we didn’t take the time to find out. So do I really have anything to brag about?
What’s the path forward?
This whole rant post was inspired by a podcast I was listening to. The people on the podcast were saying that they don’t want to go to Iceland, even though they have never been, because everyone has been and they don’t know what would be left to discover. Um, seriously!?! Iceland – that’s what would be left to discover! The beautiful and awe-inspiring country that you haven’t seen with your own two eyes.
Why is Iceland only worth visiting if no one else has been there? Why would you only want to go somewhere if you could be the first/only? You’re not a better traveller for going somewhere no one else has been. And if that attitude causes you to miss out on Iceland? Well, that just sucks for you.
Travel is becoming more accessible and our world is becoming more connected. Places that were once off the beaten path, like Iceland and Bali, are now tourist hot spots. Of course, there are pros and cons to this (overtourism, anyone?) – but we’ll save that for another blog post!
So what’s the path forward? Your path. Whether it’s beaten or not so beaten, you should have the trip that you want for your own reasons.
Plan an itinerary that honours your interests. If you love art, then of course you should head to the Louvre in Paris or Vatican City in Rome. Sure, they’re not exactly hidden gems, but they are awesome spots for art. And then you might visit an obscure art museum that many tourists skip. Choose places to visit that you will love – not ones that will look best on social media or that will give you “bragging rights” among other travellers.
And if you do end up on the beaten path, do so without shame. You’re there because you want to be. And you can do the beaten path, or any path for that matter, in your own way.
That’s what will always make your trips unique – the fact that you’re on them, seeing and doing things for yourself – whether that’s exploring famous Angkor Wat or hanging out on a small Vietnamese island.
What do you think about everyone wanting to get “off the beaten path?” I would love to hear your thoughts. Leave me a comment below!
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Good points. I don’t want to miss the highlights/touristy areas but it is nice to get away from the tourist areas & chill w/ the locals if appropriate.
Totally! I think it’s nice to do a mix of touristy things and less touristy things.
I loved this! Riana dropping some hard truths (“It might be time to ask yourself why being the first or only is so important to you” – get it, girl!). I’m all for anything that helps empower people to travel how THEY want to travel, not how they feel they should to do it “right.” I’ve been away from blog reading for a while but am super glad that my first post back was this one 🙂
Thanks so much, Gwen! Loved seeing your name pop up in my comments. Totally agree that it’s all about people travelling the way that is right for them. I also have fallen behind on my blog reading, but will have to catch up soon, starting with yours. Hope all is well with the family!
Love this post, Riana! Straight to the point! Although I do consider myself ‘loving the off-beaten path’ more kind of person, sometimes I still wanna see the touristy places even though I hate how busy it gets.
During our travels we didn’t have signal, couldn’t rely on Google Maps and we found some places that weren’t even on Google Maps and I’m not in rush to be adding them there or sharing the locations just because of the mass tourism. Sometimes we all just need to get lost 😁
Thanks so much, Karina!
Great post. While I tend to go places that are out of the way, it’s definitely not something new. There are ALWAYS local tourist there (I write about Japan). My focus I try and switch to “for the love of God, Kyoto and tokyo are great but there are 45 other great prefecture too!”. And it makes the locals soooooo happy to have people visit their hometowns.
Thanks so much for checking out the post, Kristen! Totally love the idea of bringing travellers to new places that are under-touristed and where locals are wanting new visitors. Great way to have a more authentic (and less crowded!) experience.
Hello Riana,
My blog is all about “off the beaten path” but for none of the reasons you mentioned. Mass tourism has a negative impact on the environment, it raises crime and encourages gentrification. I think “Off the beaten path” is not a myth but rather a sustainable way of traveling. Not only that, many small local communities can still benefit a lot from tourism income as opposed to bigger international conglomerates who benefit from the beauty or resources of a place. For me “The beaten path” can equate to a human footprint and surely I also like to visit main landmarks (as you say, they exist for a reason) but there are also ways of visiting them and not be “on the beaten path”. Travelling offseason for example.
I think in the end you agree with the ideas behind it and rather dislike the attitude of certain people (I dislike it too!) who brag about finding a place on Instagram (and hence killing the actual essence of a place). For me, these are not travellers but instagrammers. I would happily go to your town if that would give me a better feeling of what it is to be a local in your town than to hang out by a starbucks in the city center. I 100% agree with “find your path” but I found the title a bit misleading for people trying to do better when it comes to travel.
(No shade here, just giving a different point of view 🙂 )
Hey Ana! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. I think we are on the same page. I totally believe in curbing the negative impacts of mass tourism on local economies, the environment, etc. And I have seen firsthand how positive thoughtful tourism can be for smaller communities. And yes, offseason travel is my favourite time! I think if I were to rewrite this post again in 2020, I’d add in more of these thoughtful points I have learned over the years. And my intention with this post is certainly not to increase harmful tourism practices. Like you said, it’s more to call out the theory that “off the beaten path” is this elite status and that people who still go to well-known cities are lesser travellers. Apologies if the title is misleading but if it helped to encourage you to read the post and leave this awesome comment, I’m happy about that!
Oh Riana, I love this, again you’ve managed to impress me with your eloquent and very constructive wy of sharing criticism and opinions. Love, love, love it! To me “off the beaten path” triggers an eyeroll. I understand people want to explore less known and less busy areas but the term “off the beaten path” or even “hidden gem” is so overused and connotated with a slight snobbish undertone that I can’t hear it anymore. I’m all for live and let live, so if people want to see popular sights (as you rightly say they are popular for a reason) or stay in the bush is completely up to them. As long as it gets them out of the house and experience something different all should be good.
Thanks, Carolin! Really appreciate you checking out this post and totally agree with your opinions 🙂
If you’re still ranting or thinking about this topic, watch The Beach (again). I recently rewatched it and one of the main themes in the movie is comparing tourists to parasites and contemplating what it means to find something off the beaten path. Let me know what you think!
Thanks for the recommendation, Tammy!
Love this! I agree, there’s a reason that the path is well-beaten to these places and I’m quite fed-up with the “hidden gems” trope . I live in one of those places oft-described as a “hidden gem” and every time I read that, it feels condescending. My neighbours and I have wondered how we’ve been hiding…
The top tourist sites are often what draws me to the destination. Darned tootin’ I’m gonna see the Akropolis, Colosseum, and Eiffel Tower but my love of gardens and Monet also led me to Giverny — maybe less-visited but not hidden by any means.
Sometimes I think there is some sort of competitive traveller badge program that I’m not aware of — it’s the only reason I can think of to explain judging others’ travel choices.
Thanks so much, Lyn! Yes, the competitive nature of travel can get really ugly.
Yes!! When folks tell me “I hate the touristy stuff ” I tell them they’re not doing it right. Places are often touristy for good reason. Just choose when to go. Try early mornings or shoulder season.
The Camino is crowded? Do it in November …etc
How can you “hate touristy stuff” and stay at all inclusives or on big cruise ships? 😆
Do what YOU like when travelling. I’m not a fan of museums and art galleries but love to walk and hike natural sites. Not because I want “off the track” but because that’s what I like
I also don’t care about some Michelin star restaurant. Give me local street food.
Point is, travel is personal!!
Thanks, Jodi! Truly all about doing what you want when you travel and not worrying about the judgment. I think I have another post on that topic and if I don’t – I should!
You left this link for me on Twitter ages ago and I’ve just now read it. I love it. I think everything you say is spot on and will only become more true with the explosion of social media travel content – nowhere is really undiscovered! And the concept of only travelling to do something no one else has done is…really weird? The only thing I’d add to the list of good reasons to get off the beaten track is to give the bigger destinations a bit of a break!
Thank so much for checking out the post! Very good point about giving bigger destinations a break – I’ll definitely need to include that when I update this post.