Hum this in your head to Madonna’s tune, Like a Virgin: Like a tourist in awe for the very first time!

It’s great that people want to see attractions and the tourist part of an area. There are some exciting, beautiful, and wondrous sites to see. And people even choose to live in those areas because they enjoyed themselves so much or found the atmosphere to be relaxing or what they’ve been looking for. But I’m not sure that living like a tourist is really living.

I was watching an HGTV program where people shopped around for homes in international places because they either found work there or had vacationed and found the place to be to their liking. Before that I was googling about living in other places. What I found was the information and the viewpoints all sounded like a different version of tourism.

For example, when talking about the average cost of living in an area and the expenses you might incur, the expenses always included maid service and entertainment. I certainly am not looking for anyone to clean up behind me, but I’m not against entertainment, of course. The entertainment that was usually in a narrative, however, sounded like a tourist brochure. And the communities that were encouraged were for ex pats. So the places where they move to fit the lifestyles they are used to or have always dreamed of. But they also become new little Americas.

I’ve been to a lot of places as a visitor and as a resident, and I have yet to see a tourist attraction. The exception of course has been Disney World and Universal Studios. Oh yeah, I did go to Mardi Gras (the first time), but after that first visit, I went everywhere else in New Orleans. I worked behind the White House but had never seen any of the monuments except in passing. And when I lived in South Carolina, my children were the only ones who went to Myrtle Beach. Never went to the Empire State Building or Times Square but I did ride the subway … I could go on, but….

I’ve always liked to walk the streets, ride the buses and trains, go to regular stores – just to get a feel for the real place. Once in Chicago someone stopped to ask me for directions, and I had no idea what to tell them, but I guess it looked like I lived there. And when I wanted to live somewhere, I got to know the neighborhoods, schools for my children, etc. the same way.

What is shown to tourists is always the best that a place has to offer because tourism is either the largest source of income or a big part of it. And encouraging people to move to the areas allows them to have a more permanent source of income which is good for their economy. And even in this country when people are touring they never really see the places. Because there is another world usually behind the scenes. The people who work the attractions and live in the real parts of the area are the experts on living in the area.

The danger in this is that people are naïve to what is surrounding them. The number of tourists in New York, for instance, who find themselves in dangerous predicaments. This happens because they are visiting like tourists and can be spotted from a mile away by the residents. And I remember once being warned about going to Mexico because of the danger – but that danger only occurred for people who acted like tourists.

You will never know what a place is like if you choose it for your home if all you do is live like a tourist.