The travel writer’s dilemma: Share or gatekeep?


In today’s overtouristed world, should a professional traveler broadcast his discoveries or hide them away? — Simon Bailly/The New York Times

AS soon as a secret gets widely distributed, it’s a secret no longer. That “hidden treasure” I’m so eager to tell you about becomes a lot less hidden, and less of a treasure, the moment I share it.

What’s a travel writer to do? The very premise of the job is to tell you about attractive possibilities that you might not otherwise know about. But as those little-known jewels become better known, readers grow understandably indignant (that quiet and reasonably priced cafe is suddenly unquiet and unreasonably priced), while locals wonder how much to curse the onslaught of visitors and how much to try to make the most of them.

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