ANY FOOL CAN BE A TOURIST

"A traveler is active; he goes strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience.A tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him.He goes 'sight-seeing.'"Daniel Boorstin

I have written about this before so many of you already know that I love where I live in Traverse City, MI. I live in the woods on a peninsula - a thin finger of land that juts into Grand Traverse Bay - in a house overlooking the ever-changing blues of the lake.

I love this little town of 15,000 that hugs the coast of Lake Michigan. I love that the winters are long and the summers are short. I love the brilliant colors of autumn and the fresh greens of spring. I love the cold and snow of winter. I love that even at the height of summer, the temperature rarely gets anywhere near 90°.

Traverse City is home to many miles of beaches and dozens of vineyards with stunning views and award-winning wines. Lots of people love our beaches and vineyards. As a consequence, my quaint little town plays host to over 300,000 visitors every summer. I have mixed feelings about this: our economy depends on these visitors, but… well, you can imagine what happens when a town of 15,000 needs to accommodate 300,000 visitors. Today’s poem is a bit about that.

ANY FOOL CAN BE A TOURIST

People come here.
Summer people flood our town of fifteen thousand neighbors.
Traverse City, a sparkling gem that hugs the shoreline of Lake Michigan.
Three hundred thousand summer people come here.
A handful of travelers swallowed up by hordes of tourists.

They say they come here to relax.
They say they come here to refresh.
They say they come here to experience something different.
They say they come here to enjoy our quaint beauty.

Travelers do.
They pay attention.
They stop to see.
They explore and are not afraid of getting lost.
They see getting lost as an adventure; a chance to stumble on a treasure.
They go beyond their comfort zone and try local dishes in unknown cafes.
They do their best to blend with locals and ask questions to learn our history.
They bring money and spend it freely.

We smile.
We say “welcome.”
We cannot get enough of them.

Tourists don’t.
They do not pay attention.
They do not stop to see.
They are glued to iPhones as they indulge in selfies and ignore the scenery.
They crowd our streets and complain that our gaslights are too dim.
They tromp on our cobblestones and complain that our roadways are uneven.
They ignore our history as they indulge in fudge and gripe about the lack of Starbucks.
They bring money and spend it freely.

We smile.
We say “welcome.”
We cannot wait for them to leave.