Traveller or tourist?

After reading the entries posted by travelbloggers, I can say I feel more than identified with some of their opinions.

The recurring idea that lies in these statements is that tourists are people who go to a certain destination with the intention of getting fun and relaxation, while the traveller is the person who is avid of living new experiences with the omnipresent concept of ADVENTURE, both in the means and destination of the journey.

As I wrote above, I can't help feeling identified with the opinion expressed by Aaron Joel Santos when he says: "who is the traveler to say that the tourist does not experience anything real or vice-versa?"

From my own experience, I have travelled to diverse locations and in varied means of transport, alone, with friends, family and even students, in a wide range of accomodation, from 5-star hotels to a campsite, and exploring and discovering new cities with tight or loose plans.  However, I have NEVER considered that my experiences were better or worse than what other people have lived their own way, whatever they are called (tourists or travellers).

In fact, I don't see any difference between a traveller or a tourist; what I think is that it all depends on the attitude of people towards travelling, and the attitude of people to judge everything you do, especially in your private life.  Who has not ever listened to the typical comments: "oh, if you did not go there, it is not the same!", or "did you do this or did you visit that?"
In other words, the way you live your journeys is absolutely unique and personal, and is as valid as the way anybody else has, no matter what they say to you.  I would consider myself a blend of both concepts: a travelling tourist, I would call it.

And if we continued categorising and putting labels, and if I even wanted to be a persnickety, then the next question would be: what is adventure for you? or what level of adventure would you consider in a journey?, but I won't go beyond these questions.

The proof that we learn about cultures and the world through travelling, as it is expressed in the article, is that people usually feel what German people call "Fernweh", the opposite of homesickness, i.e., the feeling of missing being abroad.  I wonder whether there is an English word for that, but one thing is for sure: I sometimes have "Fernweh", and I will not probably be the only one.

To sum up, I would tell you that you should travel your own way, without having the superiority of feeling you are the only person in the world, or feeling inferior or little just because you stayed in a hotel or visited a city just during five days.  If I had to define travelling, there is one quote by St. Augustine that says it all for me: "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page".