Comments on: Somebody explain travel to me?

By: A tranquil Suffolk weekend away « Simple Living in Suffolk

A tranquil Suffolk weekend away « Simple Living in Suffolk — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:01:05 +0000

[...] of my way to choose dates and times to avoid other people! I don’t know if I’ve been ruined like ERE by travelling reasonably widely in the 1990s for business, but I am amazed at some of the [...]

By: S

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:33:18 +0000

I traveled very little when I was a child (almost never out of state) and as an adult came to feel like there was a lot I didn’t understand about the world without going to *see it*. Since then I’ve traveled to western Europe and India. Both seemed very different to me and in fact did make me examine beliefs I took for granted. How much stuff do I really need to live a good life when I see these 50 guys sleeping in their rickshaws every day and doing ok? Is outsourcing really wrong when there are people in other countries that are just as smart as me who will work for 1/4 as much because cost of living is so much cheaper there? How do you communicate without speaking the same language? Is the US really the center of the universe?

That said, I could see how there would be diminishing returns. Once you’ve seen people living in the 3rd world conditions you previously thought unlivable and also been to another wealthy country that is not your own, maybe there’s not much more you need to travel to see. Also, maybe you can get some of that from books, movies. I find traveling to be thought-provoking beyond just taking photos of famous landmarks.

By: Insurance Izzy

Insurance Izzy — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:55:02 +0000

Growing up in a small town, I grew up very multiculturally bereft. There were about 10 African Americans at my 1000 student high school. Everybody else was white. I enjoyed traveling just to see other cultures and see the multiculturalism of big cities. Just going to NYC was a big experience for me.
I also majored in history in college, so travelling abroad was the best possible vacation ever. I got to see the places where history happened, not just look at them in pictures. Its an amazing feeling to stand in the place where a riot happened or to see the sites of other countries.
Finally, I’ve also found developed countries to be much different than others. South America is its own unique experience in comparison to developed Europe, but each has its own sites and experiences to offer. I travel to see the historical sites, to meet the people, to experience the culture, and sometimes most importantly, to look at primary sources, which are very difficult to find anywhere else.
Did I convince you?

By: skunk1980

skunk1980 — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:47:32 +0000

Why people travel:

1 – Getting away. The forest is very different from the city. Ah… nature.

2 – Status. Travel means money means popular and sexy. Take that, Joneses!

3 – Memories and novel experiences. This is related largely to #4.

4 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liminality

This last one is very key. When traveling time is different. You bond with people. You might find yourself (or hope to). New sites affect how you feel and can change who you are. Travel is a kind of hoped for spiritual pilgrimage.

By: jc

jc — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:44:18 +0000

Not sure travel is something that can be explained. One either develops a taste for it, or not.

At 59, I done a fair amount of it in both 1st and 3rd world contries. As someone mentioned above, traveling the 3rd world is a very differnt experience.

At the moment, my wife and daughter are in East Africa. 1st on safari and then to Zanzibar so our daughter can see where her mom grew up.

I choose not to go for three reasons. I’ve been there, I like having the month alone and sitting on an airplane/in airports for 24 hours has lost its charm. It would take me a week to recover.

That said, I am very glad to have done the traveling I’ve done and very glad I did it when I was young.

Of course, I’m snobbish enough to think there is travel (tours and cruises) and then there is travel. Back in the 70s I was riding my bycycle around Ireland and had paused to enjoy an especially specatular view from a little hill looking out over the Atlantic.

After an hour or so a tour bus pulled up. The tourists piled out, snapped pictures and were on their way in about 10 minutes. Not sure they reall saw it until the got their developed pictures back home.

We certainly agree, Jacob, on traveling slowly. We spent three weeks on our honeymoon in Scotland and lost track of the number of people who asked “How can you spend all three weeks in one country?” We could spend three years there and barely scratch the surface.

Next step, once we get tired of being where we are and doing what we are doing, is to slowly migrate around the world. 6-18 months or so in a spot to settle in, sip coffee in local cafes and see how the world drifts by place to place.

By: frugalscholar

frugalscholar — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:39:17 +0000

The “Your Money or Your Life” authors say–re vacations–”what are you trying to vacate?” Something like that.

My family loves travel–we are culture vultures.

By: Concojones

Concojones — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:22:44 +0000

Like some of the above commenters I thrive on novelty and adventure, be it travel or interesting ideas. Jacob, I’m actually surprised that that doesn’t apply to you, because you do seem to love interesting ideas – so why not places? Because they’re all the same? I agree as far as cities in the developed world are concerned, but what about SE Asia or just landscapes that are unlike anything we’re used to?
In addition to travelling, I would also like to live and work in different countries. I’ve actually started to do this. I should have done this way earlier.

By: Kay O. Sweaver

Kay O. Sweaver — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 17:04:34 +0000

My greatest travel experience was in Cambobodia, and I think that was largely due to the fact that Cambodia has only recently been a “safe” destination. As a result the tourist “poison” has yet to sink in. They’re genuinely glad you’re there, curious about you and want to share what they have. From such a destitute and scarred people this is extrordinarily humbling.

When I’ve travelled recently I’ve used http://www.couchsurfing.com where you stay for free with a local host. Not only does it save a lot of money, but it totally circumvents the tourist traps by embedding you in the lives of the locals. I can’t imagine travelling any other way.

Standard tourism is exactly as you describe it, slight changes of scenery but basically the same play.

My next big travel plan is to go volunteer in some humanitarian or natural disaster zone.

By: Kevin M

Kevin M — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:50:03 +0000

We recently went to Boston and Cape Cod, MA. Two reasons:
1) a life long friend of my wife was getting married in Cape Cod

2) we had never been to Boston and thought it would be a good time to go.

We both love history, so a chance to go to Boston was right up our alley. To actually see places that were around for our Founding Fathers was awe-inspiring. To walk on the USS Constitution and listen to the Navy tour guides talk about the battles and imagine what the crew went through. To see the gravestones of Paul Revere, Sam Adams, John Hancock and the victims of the Boston Massacre was something I won’t forget. Sometimes reading about it on the internet and books just isn’t enough. I guess the moral of my story is we usually try to learn something wherever we travel. Also, it is fun for me to “get away” and not deal with work, email, and day to day home life, etc even though I do enjoy my work.

By: Retired Syd

Retired Syd — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:42:18 +0000

For me, traveling wakes me up. I love where I live, so I do tend to see all that my area has to offer, the sights, the hiking and biking trails, the local culture and activities.

Every year we travel to Manhattan for a month. I enjoy many of the same things I do at home, but I’m more AWAKE. From the moment we arrive in that city, all my senses are awakened. We have to work harder to participate in the local scene, and that harder work also heightens my senses. Then when I get home, that heightened-awareness carries over for a bit back in my home town. (And this applies if instead we spend a few weeks cycling through a small part of Italy–working just to figure out the words to order lunch really adds to that hyper-awareness!)

I had to laugh when you said that part about not knowing a place unless you go get a job there, etc. There was nothing so mind-numbing for me as having a job, the LAST thing I would want to do is go to another city and get involved in that mind-numbing grind! I want to experience all the OTHER stuff, not the auto-pilot living!

By: Dreamer

Dreamer — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:16:08 +0000

Theres so much more to greece than the food. Its the culture, the ambiance, the flavor, the people, for me its so very very different from where I live. Yes I can go to the shop and buy greek food or go to a greek restaurant where I live but I cant eat it by the edge of the sparkling agean sea, watching the greek fisherman playing with their worry beads muttering “yassas” to passers by, listening to the fishermans boats clinking, or eating in pine clad mountains smelling the pine cones and observing the simplicity and authenticity of greek island life.

By: prodgod

prodgod — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:16:45 +0000

“Who is going to deny their children the ‘unforgettable’ vacation to Disney? Or London, Paris?”

Answer: Me. :-/

By: Moneyblogga

Moneyblogga — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:15:38 +0000

Travel is a form of escape. It’s exciting and fun to escape the everyday mundane. Whether for personal enrichment, a break from the common, or the need to quiet the gypsy in the blood (which I ‘suffer’ from), going different places and seeing different things keeps life interesting. Things would get pretty boring otherwise I think.

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:27:56 +0000

I’ll agree with you about the vacationing vs. traveling distinction. Those overnight buses in Yunnan last year were a pain at the time, but man did it make you keep your eyes open for the experiences…

By: mockum

mockum — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:57:49 +0000

You have come to this perspective after the extensive traveling and overseas living that you have done. Imagine, though, someone that has never left the US or maybe even their state; they won’t have any first hand perspective of the rest of the world. I have traveled abroad 6 times and because of it I feel I have learned more about the world and US citizens. And it’s not just travel abroad; a year ago I spent some time in Manhattan. Being from smaller cities, I really had no idea what Manhattan is really like. Sure, I see it featured on television and in movies, but that’s not the same as being there.

By: Debbie M

Debbie M — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:15:57 +0000

I travel for the geography, the plant life, and the architecture. My country is big enough that it has examples of most types of geography. But the architecture is relatively limited. There’s a lot of plant life, but going to other continents makes a big difference.

Also, I learn things that should be obvious but aren’t. Like that it’s really cool to live someplace where the bottom floors of everything are stores and the top floors are housing and then you can walk everywhere.

It’s also good to travel to escape the weather.

I do prefer to go to one place for my entire trip and make day trips from there rather than going to several places. And I also sort of like the idea of moving every year to a new place and making day trips from there, except that I’ve found a place I really like where I have good friends.

matt g–sometimes I do the opposite. An opportunity to visit a place I never would have thought of comes up (because a friend or relative moves there for a while and invites me to visit), and then I have the fun of researching which cool things I want to try to do while I am there. Actually, most of my travel is like that, so I’ve seen Seattle, Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Brussels, Paris, and Lausanne (Switzerland). And sometimes friends invite me to join them on their vacations, so I’ve seen the Grand Canyon, Disney World, Big Bend State Park, London, central Vermont, and parts of the Caribbean. There’s nothing like going someplace with an enthusiastic friend. Oh, and I’ve also centered vacations around conferences and thus seen Northwestern New Mexico, Northwestern Arkansas, and San Antonio.

Come to think of it, I am not sure I’ve ever picked out my own place to travel. Weird.

As for why travel is so popular, I don’t know. I do know that some people like to do things and other people like to relax. I’ve never understood traveling to relax, but it makes sense if you find beaches relaxing but your town is landlocked or something like that. Wouldn’t it be better to just go to some fancy hotel nearby?

I think travel is not popular among some groups because twice when my boyfriend had a low-paying sort of job (like call center worker) and we went off somewhere crazy (Switzerland, Belgium), he got the cold shoulder when he returned. They decided he was too good for them somehow. They explained that they could never afford such a thing when the had the exact same income. They just spent their money on bars and things instead.

By: Spork

Spork — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:50:43 +0000

I think this has as much to do with your circumstances as anything. I am a poor example because I telecommute, the downside to telecommuting is that you can’t leave work and go home, work is always in the next room or just around the corner. I find that any time away from my home/office is a “good thing”, even a trip to the grocery store is a treat. So I make an effort to “travel” (get out of the office) every day, it is usually a 15-20 mile bike ride. And on weekends I often feel the need to completely change my “view”, so I go for a hike in the mountains in summer and the desert in winter.

I’m not sure what will change when I retire early, but I suspect that I will be less likely to feel the need to “travel” when my time at home is my own.

By: alyssa

alyssa — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:43:20 +0000

Is modern tourism just yet another consumer experience?

I think you have nailed it right on the head!

What a stupid reason to travel to see sights that really dont interest you, only beacause they are famous landmarks and ‘everyone’ else does.

If your going on a vacation ask yourself “Why is it that i am doing this?” Is it because ‘everyone’ else is doing it or you are personally want that experience.

I definetly do not want to travel half way aroung the world to go to the shops, eat in a resturant, sleep in a motel and then return home with souvenirs that just collect dust and clutter my house. Cant think of anything worse.

But that is what alot of modern tourism entails

I will though one day travel to Ethiopia and visit my sponsor child. Im sure that will be an experince i would never forget and the type of travel i would never regret.

Travel is definetly worth it for the right reasons….Travel for the journey not the destination.

By: I prefer to stay home

I prefer to stay home — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:18:50 +0000

generally speaking:

traveler=extrovert
homebody=introvert

all things being equal, such sufficent money to travel. There are some exceptions, such as introverts who travel for special purposes, such as specialized nature vacations. Or maybe an introverted husband travels for the benefit of his more outgoing wife and children. Who is going to deny their children the “unforgettable” vacation to Disney? Or London, Paris?

By: Executioner

Executioner — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:25:18 +0000

Jacob, your entry focused mainly on people and cultures, including food and shopping. I guess you’re not as interested in seeing the natural world? There is only one Grand Canyon. There is only one Yosemite Valley. There is only one Niagara Falls. My wife and I personally travel to see the varied beauty of the world.

Getting away from throngs of people whenever possible is a nice side benefit. Last summer we went to Isle Royale National Park (in Lake Superior). It was great to spend a week in a landscape nearly devoid of any permanent man-made structures. Wilderness, which connects our modern species to our ancestral history (when we lived wholly off the land), is vanishing at an astonishing rate. Go see it while you still can, and recover a piece of your own humanity in the process.