Do You Really Like to Travel?

[athena53]

They talked about doing this for a long time, and when they finally did it, came back disappointed. They did not care about the foreign food, the culture, scenery... Nothing. They said it was the 1st and also the last time they went to Europe, because it cost so much for what they got out of it. They lost weight on the trip because they could not eat. I don't know what to say.

Yeah, some people are like that. When a coworker went to Montreal for a conference and took his wife with him, I raved about Montreal. I suppose it helped that I loved Europe and was fluent in French, but when they got home he reported that his wife "couldn't get out of there fast enough."

I also think sometimes people idealize a place- they see the pretty pictures in the guidebooks but when they get there reality hits. Food is more expensive, it's fatiguing to try and find your way around when all the signage is in a language you don't understand, you go down an alley that smells of pee, you're pickpocketed in the subway. DH and I have had all that happen but we could still treasure our trips for the good experiences., but if you want it to be exactly as you imagined form the pictures you'll be disappointed.

 

[audreyh1]

I just thought of something else. To parallel the travel activity, I wonder if spectator sports are "inter-subjective".

You see, I believe I have an innate desire to travel, but watching spectator sports bores me out of my mind.

To this day in my life, I have never watched a ball game, basketball, football, soccer, baseball, you name it, nor tennis nor golf, to its completion. I'd rather go watch grass grow while contemplating the meaning of life.

LOL! Yep! Love to travel, can't abide watching spectator sports.

Folks are wired differently.

 

[brett]

About the only spectator sports that I like are hockey and horses. Football, golf is lost on me. A complete bore.

 

[gerntz]

I get tired of being home.

 

[braumeister]

I've loved to travel all my life and still love it now in my 70s.

Best situation ever:
Back in 1976, the USAF loaned me out to Pan Am for a year to help them solve a logistics problem that was costing them big bucks. The actual job took me only about three months to solve, but I was there for a year, stationed at JFK airport.

Pan Am couldn't have been nicer to me, and they gave me a pass that let me go to the head of any standby line on any plane.

The down side was that the Air Force would not approve any leave (vacation) days for the entire year, so all my travels were restricted to weekends. (Let's hear it for four days at Thanksgiving and the other three day holidays!).

At quitting time (5 pm) on Fridays, I would get up from my desk and go over to the terminal and get on a plane. In those days, Pan Am flew 747s all over the world. At whatever destination, I rode the shuttle with the crew to the designated hotel (at a hefty discount rate). On Sunday I reversed the process and returned to NYC.

Back then, the planes typically flew half empty so I could stretch out in the back across four seats and sleep soundly during the overnight flights. It was the most amazing year! I got to visit a dozen countries, some more than once, and had a fabulous time at very low cost. I seriously doubt that anyone else has ever lucked into such an amazing deal.

 

[brett]

The big difference for us when traveling since retirement is that we often have a blank page. We book air, sometimes open jaw, sometimes not, a few nights at our destination and a night at our departure airport. We typically bookend the trip with an air reservation home. But even then was always try to buy an airline ticket with a fare code that permits change for a fee.

After that we just go where we want to. We often have a general idea of the itinerary but it is very much subject to what happens during our travel and what travel offers we discover while travelling. We have found that there are substantial savings to be realized by doing this rather than pre booking everything on an itemized itinerary.

 

[W2R]

DW loves travel. Her siblings love to travel. Some of my best friends wander the four corners of the globe at every opportunity. Not me.

I used to get excited about traveling, but I don't any more. It's uncomfortable, expensive and exhausting. I can't remember a discretionary family trip over the past thirty years that wasn't accompanied by either major inconvenience or just plain disaster.

When I was young and ingenuous, I was eager to see new places, taste new foods, feel new sensations, learn new languages, hear new sounds, sniff new smells and meet new people. I looked at travel as an opportunity to fill my empty memory banks with data. So I traveled.

Eventually, however, I had gathered a fair amount of data. Some patterns began to emerge, such as one crowded metropolis looks, sounds and smells a lot like the previous crowded metropolis. Many foreign comestibles are wildly different from my habitual fodder, but only a tiny fraction of them were in any way better. Most foreigners spoke English better than I could speak their tongue, so my efforts to learn were wasted.

New people turned out to be exactly as human as every other individual on earth. They struggle through life with the same collection of merits and flaws as we all do. Some were friendly. Some were jerks. Most were wrapped up in their own lives and weren't at all interested in anyone else including me. Within a year I remembered having met them but had long since forgotten their names.

Getting sick or lost or arrested in foreign territory was unquestionably MUCH worse than suffering the same setback on my home turf.

The sum of my data indicate that travel provided me with data, nothing more. Most trips were net negatives. None of them resulted in the life-changing, miraculous enlightenment that travel purports to yield.
[....]

+1

Every time I read this thread, I think about this post which I completely agree with. But I never gave it the obligatory "+1", so I'm doing that now. I think you described several of the (many) reasons why to me, the thought of travel is so underwhelming.

I never felt that learning other languages was time wasted, because to me beginning a conversation in the local language is just so much more polite and considerate than starting out in English (even if his/her English is excellent). Likewise, I use local expressions and pronunciations here in New Orleans, even though to me they sound pretty ignorant.

For those of us who spent over half of our formative years being shuttled from one country to another, no sense of "normal" or "usual" or "the way things always are" seems to become established. It is difficult to regard any of these countries to be any more interesting or different or foreign than the place where one happens to reside. I enjoy the ongoing experience of learning about New Orleans and New Orleanians, as much as I might enjoy learning and experiencing anywhere else.

 

[Nemo2]

Travel can, however, often allow one to put things into perspective; during the buildup to the First Gulf War, the media were issuing cataclysmic prognostications, and highlighting the manpower in Saddam's military.......a friend, resident in Vancouver at the time, was a little [-]nervous[/-] apprehensive.....until I said to him "Hey, I've seen the Iraqi army".

 

[kcowan]

+1
(Oh, aside from women's beach volleyball, that is.)

You mean like this?

 

[kcowan]

The big difference for us when traveling since retirement is that we often have a blank page...

I love the fact that there is no command performance to see everything in a particular location. We relax and enjoy it like locals. If there are more things to see that we must see, we will return. It is that "No Hurry" attitude that makes us truly enjoy travel now.

When we were w*rking, it was like there was no tomorrow. Such stress!

 

[W2R]

[...]watching spectator sports bores me out of my mind. [...]

Me too, especially when it comes to team sports such a football, basketball, or soccer. I think the main reason these sports are so popular is the associated gambling that goes on.

Occasionally I enjoy watching sports that focus more on the individual, such as gymnastics, ice skating, and boxing. Nobody gambles on which female gymnast will do the best on the uneven parallel bars.

 

[athena53]

I never felt that learning other languages was time wasted, because to me beginning a conversation in the local language is just so much more polite and considerate than starting out in English (even if his/her English is excellent).

Even though I'm self-conscious about trying to form sentences in French and German, language skills have served me well. I found an exhibition of Slovenian impressionists (who knew there were Slovenian impressionists?) at Le Petit Palais, a small museum in Paris that was a refreshing change from the chaotic D'Orsay, by watching a French news podcast. I've learned of local events and issues (sometimes with the help of a dictionary) by reading billboards and newspapers.

When I was with my then 6-year old son in Montreal, I placed our order at a Burger King in French and the young woman responded in English. My son asked why she responded in English. I thought quickly and responded "Because her English is better than my French".

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Back then, the planes typically flew half empty so I could stretch out in the back across four seats and sleep soundly during the overnight flights. It was the most amazing year! I got to visit a dozen countries, some more than once, and had a fabulous time at very low cost. I seriously doubt that anyone else has ever lucked into such an amazing deal.

That sounds like it was an amazing opportunity.

 

[kcowan]

When I was with my then 6-year old son in Montreal, I placed our order at a Burger King in French and the young woman responded in English. My son asked why she responded in English. I thought quickly and responded "Because her English is better than my French".

Good answer. I think it is a sign of respect. They acknowledged your effort but decided to communicate. We get that a lot in foreign countries.

 

[Aerides]

I dislike greatly the "active" part of traveling:
Packing, driving to airport, waiting....flying coach...customs/immigration checking in/out. And all other travelers and their kids - all terrible people.

I intensely love: being in an exotic locale, when the biggest decision is beach or pool, or which site to see that day, where to go for an intriguing dinner, absorbing a new culture, seeing something I've never imagined, etc.

And no matter how great any trip has been, I also greatly enjoy arriving home.

 

[Aramis]

"Fernweh". My existence is defined by Fernweh. I cannot think of anything else yet I remain trapped as a consequence of the somewhat pitiable means I have managed forage to date.

I pray my health lasts....

 

[Scuba]

When I travel to a place where English isn't the native language, I make an attempt to learn a few phrases (Good morning, hello, please, thank you, etc.) and open with those. It makes a big difference in how one is treated compared to just starting out in English.

+1

 

[Scuba]

I am in the "love travel" camp. I spent my formative years in one smallish town. I traveled outside of the US for the first time at age 24 and went to Europe, Asia and Australia. It was a life-changing experience for me to realize how big the world really is. I was impressed by how many Europeans my age were very well-traveled, spoke several languages, and knew more about American politics than I did (let alone European politics). Ever since then, I've enjoyed expanding my horizons through travel, especially outside of the US.

Fortunately DH shares my love of travel. We are divers so many of our trips revolve around exploring different dive destinations. We've already seen a lot of Europe, but would like to see several places we've not been to. SE Asia and South America are also appealing to us. We both hate cold weather so we're willing to pass on very cold destinations no matter what we're missing.

Now that we've ER'd, we like booking one way tickets and staying in an apartment or condo. Cruising on a private boat is also great.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

For those of us who spent over half of our formative years being shuttled from one country to another, no sense of "normal" or "usual" or "the way things always are" seems to become established. It is difficult to regard any of these countries to be any more interesting or different or foreign than the place where one happens to reside.

This sums it up pretty well for me as well. I am much more interested in places here in the US that I haven't been able to see over the years. Overseas? Meh, been there, done that...not impressed anymore.

 

[brett]

The other thing we like about travel is the surprises. Places you either stop at, or end up in for a night or a few days that were not on your radar but provided you with a wonderful experience. Same with different, interesting people that you meet along the way.

In our experience, often the unexpected, unanticipated can bring the most enjoyment and the best memories. And they seem to occur when you least expect it.

 

[travelover]

As my moniker indicates, I enjoy travel, but I've long since given up trying to see "everything" in a given local. It is much more enjoyable, for me, to get there in the least stressful way and just stay in one location until ready to move on, as opposed to a forced march from attraction to attraction. I've also quit taking so many photos. I realized that carefully documenting my travels was more of a neurotic burden I was carrying than a source of pleasure.

This is my preference and not a criticism of others' preferences.

 

[audreyh1]

The other thing we like about travel is the surprises. Places you either stop at, or end up in for a night or a few days that were not on your radar but provided you with a wonderful experience. Same with different, interesting people that you meet along the way.

In our experience, often the unexpected, unanticipated can bring the most enjoyment and the best memories. And they seem to occur when you least expect it.

Yep - serendipity is a big part of the appeal. And even though I tend to be super prepared when we travel, there are still plenty of surprises. Often good ones - the prep helps avoid many bad ones. And we are usually able to adjust plans or switch priorities on a dime because I've researched enough to have a clue about alternatives.

 

[Nemo2]

"Fernweh". My existence is defined by Fernweh.

Zehr gut...Ich bin weis.

I cannot think of anything else yet I remain trapped as a consequence of the somewhat pitiable means I have managed forage to date.

If you can't go big, be like Steve Martin and "Get Small".

I pray my health lasts....

A common condition I can assure you. Good luck!

 

[sengsational]

I just thought of something else. To parallel the travel activity, I wonder if spectator sports are "inter-subjective" [...]

Spectator sports seem like a pretty good example of an "imagined order". I was waiting for something about spectator sports in the "Sapians" book, but there was nothing. The book talks about how many of history's most potent drivers are inter-subjective imagined orders (law, money, gods, nations), and how without this common imagined framework, humans couldn't cooperate to do all the stuff we have done.

I recall an epiphany I had as a little kid watching the Minnesota Twins when they were in the World Series. I learned that there were people on that team that weren't even from Minnesota, much less Minneapolis or Saint Paul. That was it. I was done with spectator sports. The team continues to live-on, important in the shared imagination of millions, but not with me.

As I read through all of the posts here, it was fun to try and tease apart the reasons people like travel into what might be a spectrum of true enjoyment/fulfillment to just going through the motions for some other purpose.

On the extreme, I wonder if there are those who travel only because they want to show others they've been somewhere exotic. And then there's the avoidance of cognitive dissonance..."I've spend all this time, effort, and money on travel over the years, I'm not going to admit now that I didn't really like it". But it seems like many of those posting here have found authentic reasons to like travel...that chance encounter, getting out of the at-home routine, appreciating the good things at home when you get back, and all of those things that didn't come from the marketing department of some seller of travel.

 

[Elbata]

Found this interesting. Wonder what most international travelers think about this:

https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/american-comfort/