Disclosure: I’ve traveled and I’ve lived abroad in two different countries and been dozens of places outside of my ‘home’.
But I don’t get this obsession people have with travel being the uber alles thing you can do and how if you don’t do it all the time or as much as possible you are a ignorant incurious person. I don’t see my travel as being this amazing thing… it was just a nice thing that I did and frankly I don’t remember very much about it and what I do remember I don’t think is a more important memory than lots of other things I did in life.
I don’t think I am superior or ‘worldly’ because of it compared to someone who has never traveled abroad. But it is an extremely common belief/attitude I encounter on a regular basis and it confuses the hell out of me. I’ve met plenty of people that just go on the attack when you don’t want to ‘exchange amazing travel stories’ with them or daydream with them about all the places you’d like to go. There are some places I’d like to go, but again, it’s not a big deal to me that I see it as some big important part of my life and I certain do not condescend towards people who aren’t as ‘well traveled’ as I am like it’s some contest or achievement.
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The point is that after you’ve travelled yourself, you will no longer believe anyone who tries to tell you that people on the other side of the border are evil flesh eaters.
Maybe you wouldn’t have believed this before either, in which case travelling wasn’t as transformative for you as it has been for others, but that’s the primary reason.
The more I travel (37 countries on four continents) the more I realize everyone is the same. For me, it’s like a mini-version of the overview effect.
Everyone has a hand wrap (pita, taco, wrap, sandwich).
Everyone has their customs that bleed into public life (religious, secular, religious-cum-secular)
Everyone has to take care of children
Everyone has a grocery store
Everyone likes to drink a hot liquid out of a mug. Everyone likes to drink a cold liquid out of a glass
Everyone has their pockets of disengaged youth who lash out at society, “normalcy” and the status quo
it’s not a weird, scary world. We are all people. We all live here. The content of my pita might be different from what’s in your taco, but it’s basically the same thing. The difference between my town and one a few kilometers away is not that much larger than one on the other side of the world. We are all people living our lives.
The environnement is quite different though. That’s what a lot of people are after. Environment and architecture. Those vary greatly.
Drinking warm beer is not normal
Heh I meant coffee or tea
Human variation…
Some people are cool anywhere.
Some freak out when they leave home.
Some have to leave and never come back
And some have to ping pong all over the damn place constantly.
If everyone was the same we’d never have made it anywhere close to this far.
Some of it might depend on where you’re from. I live on a Scottish island, but have travelled extensively and can’t recommend it highly enough.
Me and a young guy I worked with, here in my hometown, were once out on a tech support job. We passed an old quarry and the kid said “man, that’s so cool and massive”. He’d literally never been anywhere, so from his perspective this shitty (and actually rather small) quarry was impressive.
Travel gives you perspective. Dismissing travel for me is like dismissing art, or learning. You’re willingly limiting your lived experience and that’s not, to my mind, anything to be celebrating.
As for the kid, he’s currently in Vietnam on a career break. Keen to hear how the sites he’s seen compare to that quarry when he gets back.
Yeah, I’m kind of with you and people are very snobbish about where one travels to. In my mind where you travel to, should only be where you enjoy going.
Two very dear friends of mine love doing Disney… I don’t get it, but I accept that they love it…
Me, I love going to New York City. I take a train. I get off the train at Madison Square Garden jump on the subway drop my shit off at the hotel and then I have the most powerful amazing city in the world to play in.
I’m an indoorsy kind of guy
I try to visit much every year or two and it can be anything I’m bit indoorsy. Let’s start with walking everywhere. I’m not sure you have to even go farther: because if walking everywhere I’m outdoors and physically active far more than when I’m home.
Then you have all the parks and walks …… my kids Scout troop did a campout in NYC! They found a campground on Staten Island, took the ferry in, and did their hike up the west side of manhattan!
To be fair, as someone who lives in rural Scotland, New York City sounds amazing. It’s one of the biggest in the world and understand it’s packed with variety and culture.
A while back I went to my high school reunion and met up with the guy who had been my best friend. He admitted to having never been more than 50 miles from where he was born …. And was exactly the same as in high school. No growth, no personal development. I had moved to a large city, which was totally alien and frightening.
Obviously there are degrees and most people aren’t this bad, but visiting other places and other people can really open your eyes. I don’t know if lack of travel is cause or effect but it really seems like people who have never been anywhere tend to be very small minded, have a very narrow view of people and the world.
Well if you come from such small brain community…
When I was more active on dating sites in my 20s, I encountered a lot of people who held up travel as this big, important thing in their lives. I recall at least one profile where a guy said, “Love of travel is a must.”
At first, I was annoyed - travel takes money and time, which I don’t have. Why limit potential dates in that way?
But then I realized, maybe that’s the point? Someone with the leisure time and spending money can easily filter dates to just those in their socio-economic status by making frequent recreational travel a requirement. My poor ass never had a chance.
I think there’s people who look at ‘traveller’ as an identity, much like a lot of folks do with other interests. I’d argue there’s some classism involved as well, as travel is a status symbol. However, there’s also the (frankly true) idea that travel can broaden your perspective as you meet people from different cultures living life slightly (or dramatically) differently than you do at home.
Ultimately, people who deride people with little travel experience are rude. A better approach is to encourage people who voice an interest in travel but seem uncertain. There’s also something to be said about a solid knowledge and appreciation of one’s own backyard and community.
Travelling show you that “normal” at home is not normal.
Travel Europe for a few weeks and get back to the US and realize just how sick and fat Americans are. And Europeans walk after dark, while Americans rarely walk, and never after dark.
Part of it is a different signaling of wealth. Goods outside of real estate get cheaper all the time while experiences don’t.
Part of it is a way to signal willingness to experience the world differently. Saying that you’ve been in a place and experienced it gives greater authority on that place even if the trip is a curated experience.
Because its about the experience.
Whatever you buy now, you won’t give a shit about in 5 years time. But you will remember the experiences.
Counterpoint: buy a motorcycle.
Whatever I buy now has a good chance of improving my day-to-day life.
I’m not saying buying things can’t improve your life.
I’m saying if you’ve got the financial freedom and you have a choice between an experience or a thing, personally I’d choose the experience
I’ve thought about this a bit and think it comes down to mental wiring. Some people focus more on “peak” experiences, while others focus on average day-to-day life.
Go to bjj classes, that is also a new experience
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
travel is expensive and cumbersome and energy intensive. if your worried about the roof over your head travel is the last thing on your mind and it gives pause for those up us trying to maintain a small energy footprint.
Apart from the perspective others have mentioned, it also resets my life when I’m in a rut.
Finally someone like me. I’m going through these comments reading things about wanting friends in other countries, having an experience, whatever.
And I’m like, I worked so hard to be comfortable at home, why would I spend 4 figures to leave? I absolutely have bought things 5 years ago that I still use and enjoy.
I’m lucky enough to live in a city with tonnnnns of museums, food from all over, and cultural hotspots in different neighborhoods.
Life is so absolutely chaotic these days that I’d rather just relax at home with the things I worked hard to get.
And of course, all that said, I am going on vacation in a week to a place further away than I’ve ever been before, so, ya know. Maybe once every few years is fine, but I’m not going to foam over it the whole time between.
For me, travel is a luxury. Even if it’s not luxurious, it’s still more expensive than being at home. I’m not rich by any means. So, it’s special.
