The first few paragraphs strike a chord, but don't propose a lot of answers, and the end is just a collection of destinations: Why do we travel? (Am talking about recreational travel, not business)
A friend of mine was mentioning incoming holidays, to which I asked an open "Anything planned?" question. In her answer there wasn't even the _mention_ of planning to travel, it seemed such an evidence that she just started listing potential destinations, to the point that I got a you're-such-a-party-pooper look when I asked if she considered something else from traveling. This, and a few other similar experiences with friends/colleagues who consume all their time off traveling.
Of course, these are just a few data points, and maybe there's no generalization to do (some people like to travel a lot, some less, fair enough). Also, I traveled a fair share too and generally enjoyed & learned from it, but so do I when I simply spend holidays staying in my hometown reading, socializing/partying with friends, spending time with loved ones, coding, gaming, and resting.
Now, focusing on the population subset that does feel this urge to always travel, what are the most common "why" for this? Difficulty to "disconnect" if still close to their daily routine? Pure habit? Social pressure? Fear of being unable to find anything meaningful to do and end up disappointed about themselves? Are globe-trotters simply better at feeling energized and reaping benefits from travel that I do?
As an aside, will we start to see these travel binges less leniently (and consider less fuel-y alternatives) when we start realizing their ecological impact?
I didn't take the end as "just a collection of destinations", but rather a selection of vignettes illustrating the various reasons one might travel to a particular destination. There are a multitude of reasons one might travel, and the author's pointing out some good ones, along with a personal reflection on that. The sections on the beach and the pumping station particularly spoke to me; the former because I'd previously seen a beach vacation as an indulgent waste of time (but have since come around), and the latter because, though it seems almost like a platitude, not enough people encourage others to make a trip planned around what they find particularly interesting.
To your latter point, I'd say that a lot of the time people embark on travel for the "wrong" reasons (some of which you mention, like boredom, social pressure, etc.) but end up discovering better reasons along the way (those illustrated in the destinations section). I think there is a stroke of admonishment in the article--asking the reader "why" _they_ travel. Personally, the more I demand myself to travel with purpose (as I have), the less I end up traveling. And my trips have been a lot more fulfilling as a result. But it's a little ironic in that, it's taken a lot of traveling to get to that point.
Fair question. I don't travel a lot. I live 1.5 miles from the centre of a city of a million in the UK. We have been staying for a week at a time at various seasons just outside a small town (2,500 population) in a national park a few hundred miles away for the last two and a half decades. Green fields outside the door and a river with (last week) a couple of herons hunting.
So I travel for contrast and to the same locus for continuity and to observe changes. The sudden appearance of disinfectant mats at the start of the foot and mouth epidemic, the slow turnover of farm transport from green Land Rovers to quad-bikes, a new generation taking over some of the older houses (micro-breweries and food pubs). The rise of serious bicycle riding as a local sport.
The ecological impact is a very important question actually that doesn't get as much attention as it deserves. Is there any way to travel currently while minimizing ecological impact?
After all, air travel causes a large percentage of greenhouse emissions.
Sewage treatment is important, fire dept is important, everything is important.
That's why we have people with jobs, taking care of these things. You do your part, I do mine.
The idea of a person who likes to travel, having to care about pollution is insane.
It is a lot like a cult that is so paranoid with not hurting anyone, that they watch every step they take - god forbid you step on an ant!
That's an extreme example of what you're proposing.
The only way to make things work (imho) is if most people do a good job and we actively discourage mediocrity. That way when I travel, I don't have to worry about the pilot screwing up, that's most important when I'm on an airplane but I don't want to care - most things I rely upon just work and when they don't - it's because people whose job it is to make it work suck, not because select individuals didn't individually make enough good decisions everywhere they went.
Thank you for confirming that I'm not alone in my curiosity as to why people feel the need to travel at every opportunity.
As a recent college graduate, I've watched a disproportionate number of my peers (willing to say ~75+%) default to traveling as their #1 form of recreation if given the opportunity. I guess I understand the college years are a time for people to "find themselves" but I also cannot find a good, common "why" for this fetishized trend of excessive travel.
I find this response to be rather strange, especially as someone who very much enjoys traveling. It's (obviously) not something everybody thinks is fun or worthwhile, but to conflate your peers' desire to see other parts of the world with a 'fetishized trend' that is 'excessive' is very hyperbolic.
If I had to guess, I would say a disproportionate amount of your peers travel during their college years because it's one of the few times that you are adult enough to travel on your own and are capable of taking sustained periods away from work/school, most people find themselves saddled with responsibilities once they enter the workforce. That being said, plenty of people continue to travel for their entire life, it's not something reserved for college students.
I could give a myriad of reasons why I enjoy it, but I don't think it would be helpful. Suffice it to say, I enjoy experiencing other cultures/foods/geography/people/climates and find it refreshing to be away from home for a period of time.
I wish I could say that I overstated my claim but that's honestly what it seems like to me.
I understand the desire to seek out novelty through exploration but from what I've witnessed it looks like social media prevalence is a strong driving force (for our generation at least).
The note about responsibilities during that time period strikes me as a valid reason I suppose.
One of the things I hate about travelling as "growth" is that you can't refute it unless you've done it.
So as someone who has traveled around the world for many years let me give you permission to never leave home. The truth is wherever you go, there you are. As someone above mentioned, there is a very common cross section of interests regarding humans.
In my own subjective experience I now see travel as the physical equivalent of channel flipping. It's the replacing of any kind of real introspection or work with novelty. Novelty can be very useful but it can also be acquired for a fraction of the thousands of dollars necessary to travel.
Speaking as someone more than a decade older than the average college graduate: I like to travel to see and experience things. Until this year I'd never been snorkeling (did that in Hawaii), and I'd never been to an opera in New York (did that on Valentine's Day).
Also, given that I work primarily from home, it's nice to take a break and not be where I work.
Younger people are just hungry for new experiences in general. Nothing wrong with that.
That most of your peers can afford traveling is curious - I guess they're ok with living with their parents or leeching off of them for quite some time.
That's the one dirty secret of travel nobody seems to talk about - how are you able to afford it exactly?
That's what I find hilarious is that the people I know who have travelled a fair bit - are still living with their parents or have gotten significant support from them.
So yeah, spoiled brats if you ask me :) Being broke would teach them more than travelling.
We have this wonderful world around us and I'm willing to bet that most people have not seen more than their hometown, its surroundings and maybe a few holiday spots. A large number do not have the means to travel, but if you exclude those a better question would be why not to travel? Even for the things you mentioned, why not do them at a place you have never been before? Are you not curious about the world? Do you not like to try new things?
Re-read my question, I think you're slightly misunderstanding my point. To quote my original post, "I traveled a fair share too and generally enjoyed & learned from it, but so do I when I simply spend holidays staying in my hometown reading, socializing/partying with friends, spending time with loved ones, coding, gaming, and resting."
I'm not excluding the occasional travel and am very much enjoying it and trying new things. What I am questioning is the extreme prevalence of travel in off-time for some people for whom travel seems to be the only way to spend holidays.
More poetically (but probably a bit patronizing, thus my original post which instead asks questions): traveling is cool, and staying at home is fine too. Next time you're planning holidays, what if you gave yourself the chance to appreciate your surroundings in a way you're not necessarily doing while in your regular job routine? You don't have to board a plane to see new things. Chill out. Meditate or try to build something if that's your kick. Go have a walk around the neighborhood. Take your time.
> What I am questioning is the extreme prevalence of travel in off-time for some people for whom travel seems to be the only way to spend holidays.
For myself, it's simply that vacation days are too scarce to waste on anything I could feasibly do during the evening or on weekends. It might be nice to take time off for the activities you mentioned, but it's not essential, I could do them at the weekend. Each year I have 240 working, 100 weekend, 10 public holidays and 15 vacation days. I have some "required travel" that uses vacation days too (e.g. I'm taking three days off next week to go to a friend's wedding and visit family), so I make sure I maximise my "pure travel" with the remaining days.
Personally, I like to travel whenever I can, but traveling for me does not mean getting on a plane. I much prefer road or hiking trips. If I stay home, I tend to fall into a routine. Activities like you mentioned are typical weekend things. If I have more time available, it doesn't make sense for me to stay home. I'd much rather go anywhere else and get back with a new experience.
> most people have not seen more than their hometown
I can easily see this in the United States, since any public transportation beyond the local level is so expensive it's a luxury for a big chunk of the population, and the distances between interesting places tend to be a lot bigger. For example, I could spend a couple of hundred dollars and take the train to the nearest other "big" city, but it would be a three hour ride and there's nothing to do there except go to the mall and watch a movie, or drink in a sports bar with a bunch of strangers. It's harder for me to imagine someone growing up literally anywhere in Western Europe and never traveling.
A friend of mine was mentioning incoming holidays, to which I asked an open "Anything planned?" question. In her answer there wasn't even the _mention_ of planning to travel, it seemed such an evidence that she just started listing potential destinations, to the point that I got a you're-such-a-party-pooper look when I asked if she considered something else from traveling. This, and a few other similar experiences with friends/colleagues who consume all their time off traveling.
Of course, these are just a few data points, and maybe there's no generalization to do (some people like to travel a lot, some less, fair enough). Also, I traveled a fair share too and generally enjoyed & learned from it, but so do I when I simply spend holidays staying in my hometown reading, socializing/partying with friends, spending time with loved ones, coding, gaming, and resting.
Now, focusing on the population subset that does feel this urge to always travel, what are the most common "why" for this? Difficulty to "disconnect" if still close to their daily routine? Pure habit? Social pressure? Fear of being unable to find anything meaningful to do and end up disappointed about themselves? Are globe-trotters simply better at feeling energized and reaping benefits from travel that I do?
As an aside, will we start to see these travel binges less leniently (and consider less fuel-y alternatives) when we start realizing their ecological impact?