Philip Caputo: What do you think the difference is between a tourist and a traveler?
William Least Heat-Moon: I think the higher category is the traveler, in that the traveler makes a deeper penetration into the landscape and into people’s lives. The traveler probably is moving a bit slower, and many times on foot rather than with wheels. Wheels can turn a traveler into a tourist very quickly.
Philip Caputo: I think a tourist is usually someone who is on a time budget. A tourist is out to see sights, usually which have been enumerated for him in a guidebook. I think there’s a deeper degree of curiosity in a traveler.
To See America, Be a Traveler, Not a Tourist
A conversation between Philip Caputo and William Least Heat-Moon
Tourist vs. Traveler
http://travel.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/travel/a-conversation-between-philip-caputo-and-william-least-heat-moon.html?pagewanted=2&ref=travel