# Anyone else despise the modern obsession with 'travel?' **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 1, 2019, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093 "2019-10-01T11:16:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/61 "2019-10-01T21:08:46Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > And no,I don’t pay for prostitutes… So, were you lying in that thread or are you lying in _this_ thread? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/62 "2019-10-01T21:37:35Z")
Or has something changed? Anyway, chalk me up as another “I enjoy travel” vote. Yes, it’s a luxury. So was that delicious chocolate contraption I just ate. I suspect travel is better for me that rich food. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/63 "2019-10-01T22:21:42Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > There are times when someone digs up an old thread and you wonder ‘what the hell did that have to do with this discussion’, and there are times when you read it and say ‘it does not surprise me at all that the person posting this thread posted that thread’. This one is the latter, and with the context it doesn’t seem to me that the complaint is really about the travel. Oh, this thread isn’t about travel. It’s about an axe to grind. Essentially, “Why do _those people_ do something I don’t approve of?” It’s not like the OP was talking about seniors on a fixed income taking those horrible-looking European river cruises advertised on the Ben Gay Nostalgia Movie Channel. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/64 "2019-10-01T22:52:25Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > If you fly first class to Dubai and stay in a four- or five star-hotel, you haven’t really experienced anything particularly unique. For that matter, coach and in a hostel wouldn’t exactly impress me either. The point is, g-you are traveling to tourist spots and remaining in spheres that tend to be occupied by similarly suited individuals. Sure, if that’s all you do, I agree. It’s easy to just “go places.” My idea of traveling includes getting to know the local culture as best I can given my constraints. For me, that’s what traveling is about: getting glimpses into different cultures and different worlds. I’ve been doing that as a child, since my parents were Polish and behind-the-iron-curtain travel to Poland and staying with relatives and living life for a month or two at a time did give me a broader perspective of the world. And that’s carried on to my current life, and what drew me into journalism and living abroad and traveling for the majority of my 20s. I feel I’ve learned a lot in those travels. And it doesn’t have to be international travel. Even here in the US, when I go places, the first thing I do is research the local culture, the local foods, the local watering holes, and try to get into the mindset of the local culture and find out about it. I’m not saying that I’m a better person than others who have no interest in that, but, for me, that’s one of the most interesting parts of being a human being and being alive. I’m a very curious person by nature, and nothing thrills me more than learning and experiencing places and peoples different than me; and, yeah, it’s not always a pleasant experience, but I’m still interested. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/65 "2019-10-02T01:10:29Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > So? You’re still travelling. “Travel” doesn’t need to be international. My family’s vacation plans of one week in one place, two in a different one (one beach, one interior) were always in Spain, but we certainly were travelling a lot more than people who never went more than 96km from home (96km away or less being the distance to the two nearest larger towns). My point was about the size of the U.S. And to be fair East Coasters often think things out west are a lot closer together than they are. I spend a lot of time explaining to them that no, Sedona isn’t an easy day trip and no, they won’t be back in time for an early 5 Pm dinner. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/66 "2019-10-02T07:40:14Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > . . . it doesn’t seem to me that the complaint is really about the travel. As I mentioned above. The OP is looking at the Instagram posts from this questionable website where people are posting pictures abroad, and somehow draws the conclusion that because of social media and spiritual emptiness, traveling has recently become some kind of new obsession for all young women, (who surely must all be going deep into debt because of it), and furthermore implies that by extension this new obsession somehow corroborates his claim that travel in general is worthless. Seriously? Only now young people are taking up this totally new, idle fad–this shallow, decadent practice? Because they have nothing better to do? This sounds like something you hear from the guy who’s been sitting at the end of the bar all night if you make the mistake of sitting too close to him. He’s mad about something, but he’s not exactly sure why. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/67 "2019-10-02T11:13:23Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > consider the difference in scale, though. as the crow flies, the distance you travel to get to Spain will get me from where I live to Kansas. If you add on the additional distance it takes you to get to Greece, it’ll still only get me to the other side of Kansas. The nearest other country I can reach w/o a long-ish flight is Canada, and (no offense to Canadians) it’s so culturally similar to the US I might as well still be in the US. Oh, I’m agreeing with you, that’s why I made the point (about UKers hopping over to Spain) - it’s easy for us, so everyone does it, so it’s not seen as anything special. So it’s also not particularly boast-worthy - it’s just another way we use weekends. I get that it’s different in the US. I just don’t see the original gripe - if you don’t like travel, why care? And why criticise people who do? It’s just their chosen method of spending money. We don’t all want to spend $30k on a car. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/68 "2019-10-02T11:58:59Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Oh, I’m agreeing with you, that’s why I made the point (about UKers hopping over to Spain) - it’s easy for us, so everyone does it, so it’s not seen as anything special. So it’s also not particularly boast-worthy - it’s just another way we use weekends. I get that it’s different in the US. > > I just don’t see the original gripe - if you don’t like travel, why care? And why criticise people who do? It’s just their chosen method of spending money. We don’t all want to spend $30k on a car. I don’t. I’m criticizing the people who criticize people who don’t (or rarely) travel. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/69 "2019-10-02T12:58:11Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Oh, I’m agreeing with you, that’s why I made the point (about UKers hopping over to Spain) - it’s easy for us, so everyone does it, so it’s not seen as anything special. So it’s also not particularly boast-worthy - it’s just another way we use weekends. I get that it’s different in the US… Not really. It’s just that the beaches that we hop over to for the weekend are in the same country, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/70 "2019-10-02T13:27:28Z")
In the past year I’ve been on a safari in Africa, a week in South Carolina, another week in Virginia, four days in LA, ten days in Sydney Australia, probably two weeks total in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and a week in London, England. I took on no debt to do it. I will be one of those snobs - I do feel some pity for people who never get the chance to travel. Travel broadens your horizons. It allows you to experience History (my favorite part of travel) in a way that you can’t from books. It allows you to meet people with life experiences unlike yours - as well as understanding how alike we are. This Fall I spend three hours looking at some of Da Vinci’s sketches - it isn’t the same in a book or on the internet. I get people who don’t enjoy it or choose to do it - my son would rather just stay home and seldom goes with us. But for those that would like to and never get the opportunity - due to cost or some other restriction - yeah, that sucks. And travel doesn’t have to be expensive. Some of these trips this year were expensive. But my trip out to Virginia was a road trip with a few hundred in gas and tolls, and a cheap hotel. Our trip to South Carolina was staying with a friend - cheap airfare. That’s still out of reach if you are living paycheck to paycheck - but that’s a different problem. And young women who hook up with older guys and want to travel? I suspect that there is a chicken and egg problem there - they want to travel and see hooking up with an older guy as a way to do it. The older guy wants a hot young thing, and the cost is taking her to the beach. Much of my travel has been tagging along with my husband on business - he was speaking at a conference in Sydney, so I got a free hotel room and a chance to visit Australia for the cost of airfare. That’s my annual London trip as well…bargain airfare, hotel paid for by my husband’s company, and the British Museum is free. (I married him 25 years ago when he was bankrupt and underemployed, and he’s only 10 months older than I am - it isn’t like I married him for his frequent flyer miles). ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/71 "2019-10-02T13:28:22Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > If it’s not within a 250 mile radius, I’m not interested in going there. You missing out on a lot, but that doesn’t seem to matter to you. Fine. May I just ask you how you decided on the 250-mile cut-off and not 249 or 251 ? > [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > Fernando Pessoa said something along the lines of (I’m paraphrasing heavily here) “a wise man doesn’t need to travel, he can know the entire world from his chair. Only extreme poverty of imagination justifies the need to travel.” That’s pure, arrogant BS. I don’t care who said it (and I know who Pessoa is), it’s still pure, arrogant BS. I don’t have much respect for people who always say that the grass is greener elsewhere and I despise the tourism industry. But I’m not impressed with your opinion either. Both are based on snobbishness. Two sides of the same coin. ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/72 "2019-10-02T13:35:16Z")
I can’t stand traveling anymore. I’ve been all over the place and I swear to god once I retire in a million years I’ll never step foot in another airport. I’ll never stand in another hot crowded line carrying all my shit. I’ll never have people telling to do this and that and remove this or that. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/73 "2019-10-02T14:39:46Z")
Both ways for me. I was fortunate to have worked in jobs that took me all over the world and that allowed me to live there and travel. I wouldn’t trade the experiences for anything. Now that I’m retired, however, the thought of sitting on a plane and in airports for 10-12 hours or more defeats any notion that I might have of visiting other countries; so other than my once-a-year trip to see my kids, our short RV trips are plenty. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/74 "2019-10-02T14:56:33Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > it isn’t the same in a book or on the internet. This. Example, standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and seeing it on TV are two vastly (no pun intended) different experiences. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/75 "2019-10-02T15:30:58Z")
Yeah, you fall into the TV and you’re out a television set. You fall into the Grand Canyon, and, well… can I have your television set? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/76 "2019-10-02T15:31:42Z")
In the next 12 months I’ll be travelling Florida for a wedding, a short cruise to the Bahamas, hiking in the Adirondacks, NYC for a Broadway show, a week in Morocco, 10 days to the Azores and Portugal, and business trip to India with a layover in Qatar on the way home. If we can fit it in, we’ll add a long weekend in London. I love travel. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/77 "2019-10-02T16:34:24Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > In the next 12 months I’ll be travelling Florida for a wedding, a short cruise to the Bahamas, hiking in the Adirondacks, NYC for a Broadway show, a week in Morocco, 10 days to the Azores and Portugal, and business trip to India with a layover in Qatar on the way home. If we can fit it in, we’ll add a long weekend in London. > > I love travel. But have you ever seen the man-sized butterflies of San Real? They weep tulips and bleed roses. You can’t go more than a couple blocks without coming across one of their carcasses nailed to a wall, and mobs of tourists posing for selfies all around. Oh, the martyrdom of butterflies! so terrible, so beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/78 "2019-10-02T17:19:08Z")
**Moderator Warning** > [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > And no,I don’t pay for prostitutes, why would I do that when I got your mom and your sister working for me? Do not attack others outside of the Pit. This is an official warning. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/79 "2019-10-02T17:20:49Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Well maybe if you didn’t [spend so much money on prostitution](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=852369), you’d have saved up enough to travel. Do not bring up issues from other threads unless they are relevant to the current thread. In this instance, this comes across more as an attack on the user than a relevant link to a previous discussion. If you have a problem with another user, take it to the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093/80 "2019-10-02T19:34:47Z")
> [@Marcus\_Flavius](#): > > What prompted me to make this thread was signing up for a Seeking Arrangements account (simply out of curiosity) > … > How are these girls in their early-mid 20s, working low wage or entry level jobs, affording trips to Barcelona and Paris seemingly every few months? Holy disconnect here, man. You are talking about women looking for and getting sugar daddies and then wondering how they are paying for things? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-despise-the-modern-obsession-with-travel/841093.md?page=5)