While I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that tourists are ruining many of the world's great locations, quite a few of the 'reality' photos are deliberately making places look worse than they actually are.

shocking..... ehm, not really

Travel - touristic travel died during my life time. I remember the snake temple in Penang when I was a little boy. Stunning, surrounded by jungle in isolated magnificence. Today it is surrounded by an industrial estate. Still there though, still full of snakes.

#13 my wife and I went to San Juan, Puerto Rico a few years back. There is a bioluminecent bay there we were really excited to go to. Unfortunately, it was closed at the time. That blue shine comes from plankton in the water. When they hit something or something hits them they glow. But, it's really stresses them out. And people go there and swim, kayak, dive, and do anything they can to get a great picture, even though they're told not to. So, instead of just enjoying the light produced naturally from the waves, they get in the water and stress out all the plankton and it dies. The one person I talked to said they closed it down in an attempt to let the plankton get back to normal and reproduce but they weren't sure if it would ever come back due to how damaged the eco system was. If there is a place on your bucket list, chances are it's in billions of other people's too and they will absolutely ruin it. Even "hidden gems" all it takes is a couple well known blogger/influences and soon that gorgeous hidden spot will be a tourist trap. We went to Rome, and the historical part of town is like walking around an amusement park. Long lines, rude tourists, high prices. Gorgeous historical sites surrounded by ugly groups of people. It's so disappointing. I still had a blast, but tourism is ruining a LOT.

Another good thing to remember when traveling, don't go to some place that it's only appeal is how pretty it looked in a picture. Because 99% of the time it's edited, only works at the right time on the right day, of the right month, in one very specific spot. Go somewhere that the beautiful spot is the cherry on top of a great experience. Like going to Rome for the history, or machu pichu for the hike, or the Caribbean to sip fruity drinks on a beach. If you're just going somewhere that looks pretty, stay home and look at the pretty pictures. It's cheaper and the real thing will almost never hold up to the heavily-edited photo taken while the site is closed off by a professional photographer at the precise time of year.

#12 isn't even the same angle

It's all about lighting and perspective.