Travel the World is a TikTok page dedicated to exposing top tourist attractions around the world for what they really look like. Spoiler alert, it’s not always that great. Racking up hundreds of millions of views across 14 videos, Travel the World helps people manage their tourism expectations by contrasting curated social media posts with crowded and dirty videos from real life. This is the traveler’s version of Instagram vs. reality.
“The more I see these, the more money I save,” one TikTok user commented on the video above, which begins with Expo 2020 Dubai’s underwhelming waterfall. Other people felt like offering their own travel advice. “You’re going in the wrong seasons.”
But despite watching the videos, many people weren’t crossing any places off their bucket list. “A lot of these are still pretty cool,” one person commented. “Literally every single place still looks like an incredible experience.”
Everybody should know by now that social media isn’t reality, and nobody should base their traveling expectations off of it. Still, it’s helpful to get a realism shot in the arm every now and then. “The places are beautiful. It’s the crowds that ruin your vacations.”
“Don’t let any of these videos dissuade you,” one person assured. “You’ll stumble on plenty of beautiful spots with nobody around.” Memories are made in person, not through a phone, and “life doesn’t have filters.”
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