I am someone who loves to travel in an “off the beaten path” kind of way. I like to experience the things that locals like about an area. That makes me feel like I’m getting to the heart of a new place. However, over the years I’ve learned that there’s a lot of value in also checking out the major tourist attractions of the destinations that I visit.

I learned this lesson the hard way. I used to think that all tourist attractions were just traps to get your money and show you the surface of an area. Because of this, I skipped a lot of them in my early travels. I now regret that because there are amazing things that I failed to see as a result of my stubborn beliefs. For example, the Via Rail Canadian Rockies ride is a really popular Canadian Rockies train ride that I didn’t do because of its popularity. I’ve always regretted that. Who knows when I’ll get the chance to do it again?!

I do think that it’s great to see the things that locals love in an area. I think it’s good to check out the off-the-wall stuff that appeals to you in places where you travel. I think that you should buy from local markets and skip the souvenir stores. But I don’t think that you should skip all of the major tourist attractions because a lot of them are popular purely because they’re worth checking out.

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