We’ve all had dreams of seeing the Trevi Fountain, the Louvre or the Great Wall of China, only to finally get there and be unable to get within 10 metres of the Mona Lisa due to all the bloody tourists jam-packed into our dream spot.
If only there were fewer tourists in the world’s best, er, tourist spots.
Or if only we could discover other places to visit that would scratch that travel itch. Maybe we’re ready for the concept of mundane travel.
It’s clear that overtourism has been a problem for a while now, with increasing numbers of destinations looking for ways to reduce visitor numbers without damaging their tourism industry.
On Drivetime, travel writer Thom Breathnach introduced us to the notion of mundane travel. And he started by articulating something that many of us might immediately agree with:
“We’ve crossed that Rubicon now with social media – we’re all a bit too exhausted with clichéd posts, the idea of travellers in full fashion shoot attire over these famous beauty spots seems almost, like, passé now. And I guess travellers now are almost seeking the antithesis of that now.”
If increasing numbers of travellers are, as Thom puts it, looking for the “opposite of conventional tourism experiences,” where should they be looking? Or what should they be looking for, exactly?
“They’re looking for those every day – the beauty and the pleasure in those every day destination experiences.”
Despite the recent trend towards mundane travel, Thom says, there’s still an element of quirkiness that’s driven by social media:
“So, people, even though they’re still going to less-celebrated areas, it’s still to kind of, I guess, stay, at least for Gen Z or maybe younger travellers, to still have an online flex and show that they’re still socially relevant.”
According to Thom, one of the major mundane travel trends to kick off on TikTok is Japanese convenience stores.
It doesn’t sound quite as impressive as the likes of Sagrada Familia, but travel influencers are all in on it. So, if you are heading to Japan, forget about Mount Fuji or those Japanese temples, head for the nearest 7-11 instead.
“Now the whole celebration is the simplicity and the wow factor, you know, from a bottom level up, going to a Japanese 7-11 or Family Mart.”
But – just supposing you did pivot from that city break in Florence to head for suburban Kyoto – what would you do when you got to that convenience store?
Well, apparently, the tamago sandwich, a traditional Japanese egg sandwich, has, Thom tells us, “broken the internet.” And that’s something you can get in a convenience store in Japan, but there’s plenty more:
“You also have your, you know, quirky snacks, you know, the snackification of society, tofu protein, and they also offer this insight into culture where in a Japanese 7-11, you can pick up an emergency business suit or tie.”
Then there’s the otherness of mundane places abroad, like pharmacies in the US, where many things are available over the counter that might be prescription-only in this part of the world:
“When you walk into a CVS in the States, they’re like living anthropology museums. They’re 24 hours, they’re carpeted, they always have this smell of Tylenol and Lucky Charms or fascinating faces and you get all those things that you perhaps don’t get at home.”
The Eiffel Tower might still shade it for most, I suspect. You can hear about more mundane travel – including the joys of petrol station tourism – by tapping or clicking above.
