We don't deign to define “real travel” at Sphinx Moth Travels.  

We do assist with independent travel planning.The distinction is that the term “independent travel”   means having your own travel ideas and working out your own travel plan, without undue influence from those who are not traveling with you. It does not necessarily mean solo travel, or not taking any guided tours, or not seeking help when you need it.  Other people will almost always be involved in your travel to some degree unless you own your own vehicle, AND produce your own fuel for that vehicle, AND grow your own food to take with you on the journey, AND build your own highways, train tracks, harbors or airports.  Attempts to define “real travel” usually skew towards the most adventurous kinds of travel with high complexity scores on the Sphinx Moth Travels Complexity Matrix (and if you don’t know what this is, get on your way to registering for our Independent Travel Demystified course today!).  Not everyone is equipped to travel this way due to family, budget, or logistics constraints, and that’s fine.  

Some say that cruises aren't real traveling.  Of course they are.  It's a different kind of travel from booking your own transport, hotels, and restaurants, but as long as you're leaving your home, it's travel.  I have no illusions that we were immersed in pure Mexican culture at our cruise port stops in Costa Maya and Cozumel about a year ago, but the trip was still traveling.  We still enjoy exploring and visiting less touristy areas on many of our trips, but chose to take a different kind of trip that time, and we don’t need to apologize for it.    

A lot of well-known TV journalists, chefs, and other media personalities have an air of arrogance in their programming, claiming that they visit areas most travelers do not and thus they have a deeper experience of the local culture.  They claim they are engaging in “real travel” that others do not.  Guess what?  Most travelers aren't supported by major media network budgets and full camera crews, with on-demand first aid, interpreters, makeup artists, and bottled water whenever they need it.  It generally takes more planning and preparation to visit non-touristy areas of countries if you are not familiar with the local language, culture, or customs and have no local support.  If there ever could be a definition of “real travel”, it would be the kind of traveling everyday real people want to do, not celebrity travel.  But we don’t deign to define real travel at Sphinx Moth Travels.