Recent research has proven what we’ve known for years, travellers like to tell a few fibs now and then, to make themselves look better to their friends, and other travellers. In fact 17% of people have lied about travel, and that’s just the percentage of people who have admitted it.
What are they lying about? There are plenty of lies which you can tell about travel to make yourself look better, however before lying, it’s important to ask yourself why you feel the need to lie, whether you’re likely to be found out, and if you’re willing to be exposed if someone realises you’re telling a porker.
The most common lies seem to be about traveling “authentically”, and “getting off the beaten path”. No one wants to admit they’ve only had street food once, while they’ve been in Thailand for two weeks, or that they actually prefer Mc Donalds over Pad Thai. Plenty of people also lie about never eating Western food while traveling, in order to “immerse themselves in the culture”, while they’re secretly stocking up on M&M’s and toasties in 7/11.
While backpacking it can be easy to get caught up in the countries game. Someone will casually drop into the conversation that they’ve been to 40 countries, and 6 continents, and all of a sudden you’ll find yourself telling a dirty lie about how you’ve actually been to 50 countries, and found Antarctica to be underwhelming.
It’s also not unheard of for travellers to lie about which countries they’ve been to. After all, Tunisia sounds cooler than Italy, and Kenya has much better bragging rights than South Africa. While you’re fibbing about countries, you’ll want to check if the person you’re lying to has been there, or you’ll quickly give yourself away when they press you for information, or want to compare experiences.
Many of the lies about travel aren’t truly lies at all, they’re just huge exaggerations. Sure, you may not have fought off four muggers single-handedly, and in reality you screamed like a girl and gave them everything you had, but that doesn’t make for a good story.
Exaggerations are especially popular while playing drinking games at hostels, when stories get bigger and bigger the more you tell them. It’s best to leave before fellow travellers begin comparing your stories, and picking holes in them.
Activities are another thing that travellers like to lie about, and these are somewhat easier to get away with, and harder to disprove. Many people like to lie about adventure activities, and claim they’ve been skydiving or bungy jumping to make themselves look more fun, and adventurous.
One of the easiest things travellers lie about are the events they’ve been to. Coachella and Burning Man are so big it’s a simple matter to claim you were there, and major sporting events are also a popular lie, with people saying they’ve been to the Olympics, or Football World Cup.
One of the most common lies is that you’ve been arrested or spent time in a cell while overseas. This is popular because it’s so intriguing, and people immediately want to learn more about what happened.
Many people lie because they feel that they’re not interesting enough by themselves. This is a mistake, and it’s better to be remembered as a genuinely nice person, than someone who couldn’t be trusted.
