HIPSTERS TRAVEL BETTER
By Adam Groffman
Just kidding. I'm not *that* into "travel superiority". But there is a lot of hipster hate on the internet and, as a self-proclaimed hipster, I'm here to defend the boys in skinny jeans, the girls with bangs, the indy artists and "self-employed" unemployed.
To me, the word "hipster" is used as a catch-all. Yes, there's a certain type of hipster fashion (which, by the way, evolves every decade or so). Yes, there is often an inflated sense-of-self and the occasional airs of superiority. Like every sub-culture, hipsterdom (is that a word? why not!) has its ups and its downs.
But I do think hipsters who travel are a whole separate breed from those latte-sipping kids you find so annoying. Hipster tourists visit East London, the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin, Brooklyn in New York and Florentin in Tel Aviv. They spend weeks traveling (and sometimes never leaving) Lisbon, Buenos Aires, Portland, Philadelphia…even Bangkok. These cities, whether for social or political reasons, thrive on alternative cultures and creative populations. But these places aren't just appealing to hipsters. In many of these cities, exciting things are happening (often a high amount of developing industry and future potential) and where there are things, there are hipsters.
And that's what makes these cities so appealing to every type of traveller—especially hipsters. You see, those hipsters that end up traveling abroad are doing more than just looking for newest trends in coffee and clothing, but are also out there to learn something worth bringing back. Getting out there to learn about something so that they can then go home and share their worldly experience. Some may see this as vain, but anyone who makes a habit of learning something new is pretty special in my book.
It's why I travel—to see and learn new things. In fact, it's probably why many of us travel. And hipster tourists with an already-established interest in things such as art, culture or social issues, are learning other culture's trends when traveling. That's why I see hipster tourism as a positive influence on travel. And a positive influence on life.
What does hipster tourism mean to you?
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Adam