Get off the tour bus!

By Whitney Robosson

Sometimes it seems that travelers are incapable of going anywhere without being a “tourist.” There’s nothing wrong with being a tourist as in someone who visits places away from home for pleasure. Everyone needs a vacation every once in a while. But it bothers me that people allow themselves to be sucked in by the highly advertised, flashy (and usually motorized) attractions. Then they buy a magnet or keychain in the gift shop so they can say, “Hey, I’ve been there!” But what are they really experiencing? I say take the flashy tour if you want to, but then try to get lost. Literally just start walking and see what you can find. If you’re in a foreign country, try to find an area where no one speaks English.

If that scares you a little, it’s completely understandable. I would never leave Munich to “get lost” because I have absolutely no understanding of navigating the German countryside. That’s just not very intelligent, especially because I don’t speak any German. At least try to get away from the main part of the city. For example, the city of Munich revolves around this one church. Right around the church are hundreds of shops, restaurants, bars, museums, etc. Many of the Germans who live and work in this area are almost required to know English because there are so many American tourists But right beyond the central city are small neighborhoods where the people speak little to no English and go about their daily lives.

To get away from the hectic city center, Kelly and I set plans to go to the zoo. We both love zoos, so we were very excited to see the animals. However, I felt a little weary that maybe this isn’t the best use of my time while in Germany. Zoo animals are the same everywhere, right? I was pleasantly surprised. Although the animals were the same, the zoo was definitely different. I’m not going to go in detail (please read Kelly’s blog and check out our video), but I felt like I was doing something that I was interested in without being smothered by tourists. The zoo is something the people of Munich enjoy, not the masses “just stopping in.” There were people riding bikes, playing on playgrounds, walking dogs, pushing strollers –- just being themselves. It was the first time on this whole trip that I didn’t feel like an outsider looking in.