why the phobia?

"Stop acting like a tourist." "We don't want to go to the touristy places; we want to find the local places."

I want to know why it's so uncool to admit that you are a visitor in a cool place and that you're investing in investigating the area.

In other words, a tourist.

Perhaps it's the word. The connotation of "tourist" seems to be a Where's Waldo personnage: bright, loud clothing, wielding a camera in one hand and bottle of sunscreen in the right and- chief of sins- a belt-pack. A person who bumbles along, consulting his map, or driving too slowly down International Drive, looking for his turn.

So the word has a bad rap. But why throw out the proverbial small son with the suds?

I like tourists; they bring money and thus create jobs. In Florida, where I am from, the chief industry is tourism. It's a good thing, and our economy suffers when people stop taking trips.

The let's-go-native approach appears, on the surface admirable. But I think that it's self-deceptive and a little petty. You are not a local, you're belittling your own status by trying to pretend otherwise. Besides, locals are notoriously bad at seeing things in their own town.

I'm a visitor, and I want to see the town. Why pretend?