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This is IMPRONTE VIVE, the monthly newsletter for those who want to resist travel FOMO, learn how NOT to be a tourist 🧢🤳 and discover their inner activist (el fuego dentro)!
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We travel, but we never go on vacation
No, this isn’t a claim for digital nomads or globe-trotting freelancers, nor a flex of our workaholic mindset. It’s the reason why we started ORMA. What does “vacation” mean? Let’s start with the definition:
vacation /va·ca·tion/
Interruption of one’s usual activities for a period of several days for the purpose of ‘rest, relaxation, leisure.’
And so far, nothing wrong with that, right?
Except that what for many is a little getaway—taking selfies in front of the Sagrada Familia and checking off two or three spots from their bucket list—is an actual nightmare for locals.
The tourist-on-the-run game — The Guiri
Let’s play a game. Imagine this scene: you’re walking along the seaside and suddenly, you spot him—unmistakable.
Do you recognize him? We’ve all seen him. Maybe you even know him. Maybe, at some point, you were him. But hey, nobody’s perfect. The important thing is realizing it.
There he is, sitting in front of a pitcher of sangria—red as a bell pepper, scorched by a sun he’s not used to. He’s rocking the classic shorts, the inevitable flip-flops, and perhaps a hat or fanny pack he would never have dared to wear back home.
Spaniards call him guiri—a walking cliché, yes, but also a living reminder of how we don’t want to travel: just ticking off bucket lists without ever stopping to truly understand what’s around us. Like, for example, the gentrification taking over so many tourist-heavy cities (we suggest a book below if you want to learn more).
How do I AVOID being a guiri?
Simple: don’t escape your daily life for an Instagrammable exotic getaway—travel to broaden YOUR horizon. Learn through traveling and turn this experience into real action. That’s exactly what we do at ORMA: each itinerary is designed with expert educators and sustainability activists, and created in collaboration with local associations and communities. If we’ve sparked your curiosity even a little, take a look at our past trips to get an idea.
But if you really want to be a guiri, just know that…
- You could be one of the 32 million tourists who make life harder and more frustrating for 32% of Spaniards (48% in Catalonia) every year.
- You might be part of the reason why Spain has decided to ban new Airbnb listings starting in 2029.
- If you had visited Barcelona last year, you might have been among the unlucky tourists hit by anti-tourism water guns.
🎨 Anti-tourism artwork of the month
📚 This month’s book recommendations:
