Five Things I Won’t Do on Vacation

In general, when I go on vacation, I’m a pretty laid back traveler.

I’m fairly adventurous when it comes to food. Sure people of Palau, I’m happy to try your fruit bat with coconut milk soup. And in general, I tend to prefer congregating where locals hang out as opposed to spending time at massive tourist attractions filled with hundreds of international travelers.

But I’m also OK with going with the flow.

Still, there are a few hard and fast rules with respect to things I absolutely will not do when on vacation. I’ve already written about the reasons why travelers should avoid programs that promote swimming with whales and dolphins, but here are five other things I won’t do while I’m on vacation.

Ride Elephants

In recent years there’s been a lot of talk about the harsh physical conditions elephants must endure in order to be “trained” to allow tourists to ride them. While I do believe that not all elephant programs are cut from the same cloth, I also believe it is very difficult to differentiate the legit operators from the shady ones.

Fortunately, it looks as if the travel industry is starting to agree. Last week animal charity World Animal Protection announced that it is collaborating with more than 100 travel companies, who are pledging to move away from “cruel elephant entertainment” programs.

"Leading travel brands see the value of animal protection," said executive director at World Animal Protection Canada, Josey Kitson. "Many of the companies we've engaged with in Canada like G Adventures, The Travel Corporation and World Expeditions, as well as those globally including Intrepid Travel, have welcomed the opportunity to stand with us to protect wildlife."

More info on the movement, can be found at www.standupforwildlife.ca

Visit an Orphanage

Sure befriending a cute little orphan kid for a couple of hours, or even weeks, can have an amazing feel-good effect on a so-called voluntourist. But in reality, orphanages can mean big business for many poor communities. Often those orphan kids you’re hanging with are “leased” from their parents by “orphan pimps.”

Even if the orphanage is legit, ponder this. The children housed within have ostensibly lost the two most important people in their lives. The last thing they need is to form temporary attachments to people who are 100 percent guaranteed to leave them.

What’s more, says an article at Matador.com, “…unless the agency you are volunteering with has done background checks on the lot of you, they are being superbly irresponsible in allowing you carte blanche to enter the institution and interact with the kids.”

Read Books Electronically

Lest you think all my travel is motivated by sustainable practices, one very non-eco-friendly activity I persist in is reading books the old-fashioned way. On paper.

On every trip I take, I usually carry five to ten paperbacks with me. And while I know that it would be lighter, cheaper and nimbler—not to mention better for the environment—to have those books encased in some form of e-reader, I just can’t get behind technology for that purpose.

Like many avid readers, I love the experience of paper. The anticipation of knowing the book Is coming to an end because the pages under my right hand are growing thinner and thinner. And one of the big joys of being on vacation is the experience of being able to lose myself in my favorite book for a couple hours. So leave the e-reader behind and get me another paperback.

Do Too Much

Per the aforementioned paragraph on reading while on vacation, I always try to plan some free time in my schedule to just decompress. Sometimes that means reading a book in my hotel room, sometimes it means people-watching at an outdoor plaza while sipping a fresh cup of coffee.

That might sound like crazy talk to many travelers, but I’ve never felt the need to check off as many “bucket list” items as I can just because a list somewhere tells me I should.

Creating an itinerary that is too exhaustive can mean the traveler ends up sitting in traffic, stressing about whether or not they’re going to finish their daily to do list before it’s time to get out of town and start the craziness all over again the next day in a new town. Doesn’t that sound a little too much like what you do at work every day?

Vacations don’t have to be about to do lists and accomplishing goals. They can just be about giving yourself some time to breathe, which may mean instead of just seeing the sights, you’ll also learn something about place you’re visiting, and even better, learn something about yourself.

Swim Up Pool Bars

A recent survey by Travelzoo found that 64 percent of Americans and 58 percent of Canadians surveyed admitted to peeing in the ocean or in a pool while on vacation.

So yeah, drunken tourists, swimming pool, alcohol. ‘Nuff said.

So what about you, readers? What are some things you absolutely won’t do when on vacation?

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