Regina Simmons, a 38-year-old US citizen resident in Las Vegas, Nevada, traveled with her family to Italy in late May, with the aim of meeting various tourist destinations. Accompanied by her family, the visitor revealed to have been surprised by her travel destination, according to the British newspaper The Mirror, and not for the expected reasons.
The family chose to include Positano, an emblematic destination of the Amalfitana coast in Italy, in the script after watching shared videos on social networks, particularly at Tiktok, which showed calm streets, stunning landscapes and local markets. However, the terrain experience turned out to be quite different, with visitors facing crowded streets, saturated spaces and an environment that they have classified as “chaotic”.
Social networks create unreal expectations
Regina explained that the online videos presented the village as a calm and practically empty place, a scenario that was not confirmed at all.
The tourist states that the shared images seem to have been manipulated or captured outside the high season, contributing to a wrong perception of fate.
The stay in Positano took place on June 1, integrated into a wider circuit that also included Sorrento and Rome. After a flight of about ten hours from the United States, the group was looking for an authentic cultural experience, but came across a flood of visitors.
Tourist stocking makes mobility difficult
As the source mentioned above, the tourist described the experience as a “shoulder to shoulder” with other travelers in the narrow streets of the village, which made circulation difficult and prevented any quiet appreciation of stores and landscapes. The influx was such that, he reported, it was necessary to take strategic breaks to reorganize the route due to tourist pressure.
As popular as they congested
During the visit to Positano, the intensity of the tourist flow eventually transformed the family experience into an exercise in resistance. Regina Simmons described the scenario as highly congested, making it difficult to enjoy the local environment. “We were overwhelmed with the amount of people. We had to hide in a restaurant and draw a plan. Positano has these alleys tight and everyone walks at the same time. Half people climb, the other half go down. It was a complete chaos. Everyone touched, shoulder with shoulder,” said the tourist.
The significant presence of US tourists also contributed to the feeling of removal from local culture. Despite attending Italian classes, Regina said she had not had any opportunity to use the language as English dominated commercial and restoration communication.
Destination remains popular, but raises doubts
The experience led the family to consider new alternatives for future vacation in Europe. Although they recognized the natural beauty of the village, the strong tourist component and overcrowding will have conditioned the overall perception of the trip.
According to the British newspaper, this situation is not isolated, being aligned with other recent criticisms of visitors who expressed frustration with the discrepancy between the online images and the reality observed during the high season.
At the end of the interview, Regina left a direct warning to other tourists: “If it’s fashionable on social networks, everyone wants to do the same. I included. But you can’t believe everything you see on the internet.”
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