It’s not about how many countries you have been to
Something I can relate to, having &quot;done&quot; 85 countries myself (yes, I&#x27;m one of those &#x27;shallow&#x27; travelers who counts countries).<p>This article is right in some ways. It&#x27;s right in that deep travel experiences are almost always more memorable than shallow ones; that traveling by hitchhike will get you more face time with locals than traveling by rent-a-car. If you travel to truly understand a place, you need to spend real time there (I define &#x27;real time&#x27; as at least 2-3 weeks, which is an eternity in travel world, since you really fully immerse yourself in the place during that time).<p>But it&#x27;s wrong to try to define a right way to travel, as if there is some authentic travel nirvana that all travelers could or should reach.<p>First of all, it depends on what kind of traveler you are, and why you travel. If you travel to learn about as many places as possible, because you crave exposure to new experiences and cultures, and you know that every time you go someplace new you learn something new that you never would have known if you hadn&#x27;t gone, travel has to be somewhat of a quantity game--unless you are a full-time traveller and have the luxury (or the tolerance for nomadship) to live on the road.<p>But most of all, there really is no &#x27;wrong&#x27; way to travel.<p>There will always be people who criticize Club Med-goers and cruise-takers for only dabbling in &#x27;tourist traps&#x27;, glampers for not doing &#x27;real&#x27; camping, backpackers for living like &#x27;hippies&#x27; without jobs and &#x27;vacationing&#x27; in other peoples&#x27; poverty, hostel-stayers for hanging out too much with other tourists, expats for isolating themselves from the countries they live in, students abroad for not making friends with locals, homestayers for not learning the language, peace corps volunteers for being neocolonial, missionary trips for dressing a vacation as charity...at the end of the day, every traveler is trying to explore their horizons at their comfort level, and no one who travels is truly ever &quot;authentic&quot; in their experience, no matter how many chickens they pluck themselves or squat toilets they use.<p>All travelers are just visitors, and before long they will leave, and everyone who knows them on their journey knows that their stay is temporary, whether it is 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months or 3 years. The best you can do is learn as much as you can in the time you have, be open minded, and take your lessons with you when you go home, or to the next place.<p>Unless you&#x27;re moving to a place permanently, starting a family and plan to die there, you&#x27;re a transient, and you have no right to criticize how other people choose to be transients in their own way. Every traveler is better off for the experience and the world is better off for the cultural exchange and greater global understanding facilitated by travelers.