Until last week, I understood over-tourism to be an urban problem, limited to cities like Edinburgh, Rome, Paris, New York, Sydney, or Barcelona. I was forced to re-evaluate in the most unlikely of locations—a beautiful beach on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, about as far away from the likes of a global metropolis as you could possibly imagine.

Every day in every famous museum, there is a swarm of visitors mobbing a single piece. The David. Primavera. The Sistine Chapel. And in Paris, the Mona Lisa. Tempers flare as visitors vie for position to get the best view or the perfect selfie for Instagram. And as I observe the madness, I have to wonder, why are we doing this?