NewbE

On second thought, I would add that sometimes frequent travelers offer too many off-the-beaten-path suggestions. They are understandably unimpressed with Times Square, or the Eiffel Tower, or Buckingham Palace, but surely a first time visitor wants to at least eyeball the iconic sights!

limmy

Is that what that contrived and cliched "live like a local" notion stems from, snowflake syndrome? I never thought of that but it makes sense. But is it only millennials that subscribe to the "live like a local" nonsense?

NewbE

<But is it only millennials that subscribe to the "live like a local" nonsense?>
No, you're right, it can rear its head at any age!

tower

Traveling the wide world since I was 17 (70 years), I suppose I did it all wrong. Never lived like a local (had no reason or desire to), saw most of the tourist "things", but never used the word "touristy"...in fact never heard or read the word used until joining Fodors ten years ago.

Result: neither of my two late wives nor I ever had any regrets for the exciting, frequent, sometimes adventurous, traveling we did. And because we were incurable tourists, I have a stash of 1,000's of pictures (scanned and digital) that now serve as blessed, precious memories for this old man.

Gee, maybe I should do it all over again and get it right the next time!

PalenQ

. They are understandably unimpressed with Times Square, or the Eiffel Tower, or Buckingham Palace, but surely a first time visitor wants to at least eyeball the iconic sights!>

this is endemic with Fodorgarchs - watching the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace is kitsch - Madame Tussauds is a waste of time and money and on and on...

Fodorgarchs often forget what it is like to be a first-time traveler wanting to do things they've dreamt about doing their whole lives.

suze

<checked quickly so may have missed it, has MallyG even commented or checked back here in the last few days?>

Nope. The regulars are just philosophizing amongst themselves.

tower

Suze...good observation! Better to philosophize than to sharpshoot, wouldn't you say? The frequency of OP's who post, then disappear, has become endemic to Fodors.

Regards, Stu

suze

Stu, I just don't find some opinions being expressed very helpful or appropriate:

<Millenials have a yen for the unusual, the artisanal, the curated, the off-the-beaten-path, because they all believe they are special snowflakes and require their experiences to be as unique as they are.>

If those are the kind of replies I received about my perfectly legitimate travel questions, I wouldn't come back either.