I used to think I was too cool for tourist spots. Times Square? Forget it. Pike Place Market? Hard pass. I’d been to New York, Washington, and a dozen other states multiple times and somehow never did the obvious things.

And I thought that was something to brag about. Like it made me somehow above the crowd, and as if I had better taste than the masses.

Ultimately, it didn’t make me cooler. It just made me miss stuff.

No One Cares About Your “Coolness”

No one is watching you that closely. People aren’t secretly rating your travel choices. They’re not keeping score of whether you did the fish throw at Pike Place or took the photo with a life-size movie character in Times Square.

All that anxiety about looking basic? It’s invented. It exists only in your head. You’re the only person suffering from it.

I’m not saying you have to do everything. I’m saying don’t skip things just to protect an image you built for yourself.

Do It for the Memory, Not the Story

Go watch the fish fly at Pike Place. Walk through Times Square after cocktails at Magic Hour. Take the photos. Laugh at the chaos. Do it because it’s an experience, not because it looks Instagram-perfect or because it’s “expected.”

Sometimes tourist spots surprise you. You go for the landmark and stay for the tiny cafe around the corner. You go for the spectacle and end up with a story that actually sticks.

Sometimes it’s loud, messy, crowded, and overpriced. And sometimes that’s exactly what makes it worth it.

The Cool Factor Is Overrated

I prided myself on avoiding tourist traps for years, thinking it made me somehow more authentic. The reality? I was just scared of looking like everyone else.

I was letting an imaginary audience dictate my choices. I was missing out on experiences because I thought they were “stupid” or “basic.” And the worst part is, those things aren’t stupid. They’re fun. They’re messy. They’re real.

The people who care the least about what you think are usually the ones having the most fun.

Travel Shouldn’t Feel Like a Test

Travel isn’t a competition. It’s not a badge of taste or sophistication. It’s a chance to see things you haven’t seen, feel things you haven’t felt, and maybe, just maybe, laugh at yourself a little.

Do the touristy thing. Walk around, get lost, try the weird food, take the ridiculous photo, and move on.

The only person you’re cheating if you skip experiences out of fear? You.

Life’s already too short to be worried about looking cool in places designed to make everyone feel like a tourist.