Does Travel REALLY Make People Interesting?

[omni550]

But fortunately, I don't feel like I need to travel since I'm always doing interesting things locally. In May, will be attending a jazz concert, a jazz festival, an arts festival, two tours of new local parks, an outdoor movie, two hikes, a chamber music concert, starting tai chi classes, an afternoon where the streets of the city are closed and you walk/bike along and stop to do various physical activities. That's in addition to the daily two classes at the gym daily (Zumba, yoga, pilates, step, kick boxing, weights, water aerobics), lots of cooking, reading, watching foreign films (okay, I'm an armchair traveler), socializing, etc. If I should ever get bored locally and I become less tight with our money, then maybe I will consider it. In the meantime, if people write me off as being uninteresting because I don't travel, so be it.

tangomonster,

To me you sound like an interesting person simply from the things you enjoy and partake of.

omni

 

[jimnjana]

Good grief. People who travel, travel because they like to travel. Most don't give a rats bottom what others think of them. Pretty much sounds like sour grapes. Really, if you don't like to travel stay home.

 

[Ronstar]

Several above have alluded to the fact that travel itself is not interesting, it's the local culture, etc that the traveler experiences and then conveys to others that makes the traveler interesting. We've been to some interesting places, but it seems like people enjoy hearing our experiences where we have connected with the locals.

My niece and her husband travel a lot. But I was intrigued last week with her story of her visit to a nautical shop in Florida where the owner sold nautical artifacts from all over the globe. She told us of her chat with the shop owner where he described how he travels in search of these artifacts, and how he buys them, gets them back to the US, and the people he sells them to. It's travel stories like these that I find interesting.

 

[audreyh1]

I don't think travel makes people more interesting, but I do think that having a wide variety of experiences in their lives, including (more than superficial) exposures to other cultures can make a person much more interesting.

 

[keegs]

I served in the Navy for four years in the mid seventies and traveled quite a bit overseas. After marriage we traveled to Europe a number of times, Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, Ireland. I think travel made me interested in how others live, their cuisine, their music, their politics, customs...etc., how they see the world and how they view the US. I don't know if that experience makes me a more interesting person but I think it's made me somewhat more informed.

 

[tangomonster]

Sounds like you shouldn't travel. Is someone pressuring to do so?

Kind of. When people find out we are retired, the immediate question is "So do you travel a lot?", followed by surprise/disappointment that we don't. And I've actually had friends who say they could never be interested in a potential romantic partner who hasn't traveled a lot.

I can usually beg out of travel by telling people that our retirement is completely self-financed without pensions (and no SS yet) and that we are paying $1700 a month for health insurance. But I am getting to the point where I feel comfortable telling people I just don't care to travel...but I do love learning about/experiencing other cultures through reading, watching foreign films, attending ethnic festivals, interacting with people from all over (my community and gym is very diverse), going to ethnic restaurants, etc.

 

[travelover]

......... But I am getting to the point where I feel comfortable telling people I just don't care to travel.........

For me, one of the most liberating things about FIRE is the ability to ignore other people's expectations. (DW excepted, of course). In fact, as I perfect my curmudgeon status, I almost enjoy telling people that I don't particularly care what anyone thinks. YMMV

 

[tangomonster]

For me, one of the most liberating things about FIRE is the ability to ignore other people's expectations. (DW excepted, of course). In fact, as I perfect my curmudgeon status, I almost enjoy telling people that I don't particularly care what anyone thinks. YMMV

You are absolutely right! It is incredibly liberating to not have to live up to other people's expectations (usually they are way too confining/unhealthy/
boring/not fun/uncomfortable). When I worked, I had to try (usually unsuccessfully) to fit in. Now I understand the difference between fitting in and belonging. Still on the quest for the latter. I feel a sense of belonging while still being me at the gym (of all places!) and in some of my Meetup groups.

 

[audreyh1]

Kind of. When people find out we are retired, the immediate question is "So do you travel a lot?", followed by surprise/disappointment that we don't. And I've actually had friends who say they could never be interested in a potential romantic partner who hasn't traveled a lot.

I can usually beg out of travel by telling people that our retirement is completely self-financed without pensions (and no SS yet) and that we are paying $1700 a month for health insurance. But I am getting to the point where I feel comfortable telling people I just don't care to travel...but I do love learning about/experiencing other cultures through reading, watching foreign films, attending ethnic festivals, interacting with people from all over (my community and gym is very diverse), going to ethnic restaurants, etc.

Don't worry Tangomonster. When I retired, we started traveling immediately, so people wondered where we had been. A few expressed disappointment that we hadn't already been to Africa on safari during our first few months. People have their own fantasies of what they would do once retired, and are disappointed when folks don't live their dream right away.

 

[ERD50]

... When people find out we are retired, the immediate question is "So do you travel a lot?", followed by surprise/disappointment that we don't.

.... But I am getting to the point where I feel comfortable telling people I just don't care to travel...

You shouldn't feel that you have to make excuses for your choices, just explain your preferences and let it go. We are not all cookie-cutter, travel (or fill-in-the-blank) isn't for everyone.

As far as the original question, I'd say it's a double edged sword. Some people can bore you with their travel stories, so travel makes them boring. If the travel brings some insights that they are good at communicating, it can be very interesting.

But certainly the implied converse is not true - that if you don't travel you must be boring. There are many things outside of travel that are interesting. And I bet that some people who study an area or civilization in depth through reading, films, or some in-depth conversations with people from that region could provide more interesting insights than the traveler who saw the tourist sights and never went any deeper.

A couple things I like to ask interesting travelers, and think about myself on my limited travels are:

1) What did you observe that was very different from what you expected (it doesn't have to be a 'big' thing, just some funny little thing is interesting to me).

2) What did you observe that you didn't expect, it wasn't mentioned in any guide or from other travelers (again, could be some small detail)?

3 What did you expect to observe, but didn't (some stereo-type that just didn't pan out)? This might overlap with #1

4) What did you think you would never see, but did?

On a business trip to Korea, two things like that stick out for me. One was that teenage girls would walk hand-in-hand or arms around each other as they walked around the city. As one of the locals explained 'It's not what you think - it is just friendly'. Just different from what you would see here, and nobody ever mentioned it to me.

I had heard a lot about the food (seems people either love it or hate it - I loved it). There are many shared side dishes with the meal - but what I wasn't prepared for was all the 'double-dipping'. Everyone's chopsticks went from mouth to shared dish to mouth to next shared dish. I'm with George Constanza on this, so I just had to grit my teeth and take the "when in Rome..." approach.

In Budapest, a local started a conversation with us on the bus when he heard us speaking English (he spoke a little English). When we said we were from the Chicago area, he said "Oh, Al Capone!". Cracked me up - I know it's a stereo-type that people associate Chicago and Al Capone, I was surprised to actually hear it in these times (though this guy was probably in his 60's).

I hope I didn't bore you with that little story

-ERD50

 

[Marc]

Both my wife and I lover to travel; we have been to all seven continents in last seven years. We have lived overseas both in Asia and Europe. Are we more interesting people; not necessarily. If we are interesting to listen to; it is just because the listener also shares a love of travel. Regardless, we travel because WE find travel interesting.

Marc

 

[JakeBrake]

For some reason this thread reminds me of the refrain from Clint Black's song: "Wherever You Go"

"Wherever you go there you are
You can run from yourself but you won't get far
You can dive to the bottom of your medicine jar
But wherever you go there you are"

 

[Chuckanut]

I suppose if one only stays in big American branded hotels, eats only at restaurants with a big English menu posted outside, mainly talks to fellow Americans overseas, and avoids unnecessary contact with the natives, travel won't change her much.

 

[haha]

Who would you rather have known-Wallace Simpson, or William Faulkner? One hardly ever stopped traveling, the other left Oxford Mississippi once, to go to Hollywood. He hated it, and quickly returned.

Nobody gives a whit about your travel experiences, unless you are female and you slept with 2/3 of the men you met, or you are a jewel thief or a Casanova Con Artist. Otherwise, a story about your most recent rabbit hunt is usually more interesting. As is often the case the most interesting things are either disreputable or illegal.

Ha

 

[tangomonster]

Well, yeah, Chuckanut, it always cracks me up when people travel and seek out places like Hard Rock Cafe (yes, I know people collect the T-shirts---again I never got that showing off about places you've been) or Friday's.

ERD, your stories were fun because it was about your quirky experiences and observations, not your ego (that self-congratulatory thing). And I share your enjoyment of Korean food! (Even though I live in Atlanta, we surprisingly have a large Korean community, so I get to be immersed in the culture, especially the food, without jet lag).

I was amused today at an outdoor festival to see a T-shirt that said "My life is better than your vacation." Again, kind of snarky and full of ego, but I can at least think it if someone is being too overly sympathetic/horrified about my lack of travel. sadly, Mark Twain, whom I admire, would be one of those people, with his quote:

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.”

But again, I question whether that holds as much nowadays as it did in his time.

 

[ERD50]

ERD, your stories were fun because it was about your quirky experiences and observations, ... And I share your enjoyment of Korean food! (Even though I live in Atlanta, we surprisingly have a large Korean community, so I get to be immersed in the culture, especially the food, without jet lag).

Glad you enjoyed the stories. And since you love Korean food, let me share a few more things I thought of.

I have read that Atlanta has a large, active Korean community, as does Chicago. I don't get out to the Korean places in Chicago as often as I should, but from my experience, the food really is very similar to what I had in Seoul. Other than the 'excitement' of seeing waiters carrying buckets of hot coals to the table, and setting them on the wooden stairs (something no fire codes would allow in the US), the experience isn't all that different ( the more common places used gas grills, similar to most of what you see in the US).


And in that 'unexpected' category - in Seoul, among the various side dishes (Banchan) of kimchee, pickled radish, eggplant, dried fish, garlic shoots, and who knows what, they served plain old American-style potato salad - just bland potatoes, celery, mayo - the kind you'd get at the deli counter of any US grocery store. It seemed so out of place with all these flavorful dishes that I thought they did it to make us feel at home. But apparently, it is something they picked up and enjoy, so it is a part of their meals. Totally unexpected to me.

You don't have to travel to Seoul for great Korean food - enjoy! And yes, the 14 hour plane ride, even in Business Class, is a killer (for me at least).

-ERD50

 

[sailor]

Other than the 'excitement' of seeing waiters carrying buckets of hot coals to the table, and setting them on the wooden stairs (something no fire codes would allow in the US), the experience isn't all that different ( the more common places used gas grills, similar to most of what you see in the US).
-ERD50

Traditional Korean restaurants in Atlanta suburbs still use coals. Bulgogi just tastes better this way
From what I glanced they have high-tech vents over the tables as well as expensive fire systems (I think using "Clear Agent" similar to what IT businesses have in their computer rooms)

Tangomonster, any favorite Korean places you can recommend? Have you been to Hae Woon Dae?

 

[Dancer373]

For me travel brings alive the things I've only read about or seen in a documentary. A three week trip to China and Tibet made me realize how much we in the U.S. have compared to a lot of the rest of the world. The overabundance of "things" we have here aren't necessarily things we need to be happy. Just saying......

 

[tangomonster]

ERD, I've also had potato salad at Korean restaurants. It's like they want to do mostly traditional ban chan, but then throw in something Americanized.

Sailor, I'm the wrong one to ask about Korean restaurant recommendations since I'm vegan. I do like Cho Sun Ok on Buford Highway. Not the best food in the world, but a bargain for lunch: the buffet at Cho Won in Gwinnett. I enjoy Korean hot pot places. Even like the food court at H-mart.

 

[ls99]

Travel in foreign places can be a major drag if no attempt is made to learn at least the basics of the culture and ways of the various places to be visited. IMHO guided tours are horrid. Much of my travel experiences were w*rk or service related.

Alway preferred to get at least a basic ability in the local language beforehand or asap. Getting about is infinitely easier when with a modicum of understanding of the language and customs. Many locals around the world are multi lingual, and will soon switch to a language we both can understand and speak, even if not fluent. Makes for fast accepance as opposed to expecting everyone to speak English.

In fact in many places never initiatated conversation in English. Alway tried the local language first. To street urchinns and other beggars alway spoke Russian. They quickly left me be. Recall a a night dive in Angola, a mixed bag of Iranian sailors, Russians, some South Africans, the odd transvestite trolling, besides the usual collection of night flies. Over the bar was a huge beer stein. German buxom barmaid. I ended up ordering in German, she was grateful to practice native language. By the way, she did speak fluent English and several midlle eastern, some Chinese, Japanese, Togalog haltingly.

I enjoyed the world exposure, here at home rarely ever talk about it to anyoone. Most of the memories are wonderful movies in my head, which I can play at any time and smile.

Would that meke me interesting, doubt it. Since no one would know unless someone who knew me well told them, or some aspect of the travel experience ended up relevant to some conversation.

 

[HFWR]

I'm not that adventurous these days, so Sarah will have to cross Eurasia in a bus without me...

Travel certainly "can" make one more interesting, or more boring, depending on their propensity to take pictures of "me standing in front of X" and "me standing in front of Y"...

 

[redduck]

Does Travel REALLY Make People Interesting?

I don't think so. People can be interesting or not, it's how they tell their stories and how they relate to whomever they are talking with that makes them interesting (or, not so interesting).

I remember back in high school, first day of our senior year, two guys told stories: The first guy had gone to Europe for 2 months with his family. Very, very wealthy. Stayed in the best hotels, had drivers, went all different well-known places and not-so-well-known places, met politicians and royalty. But, he was boring (always was), so boring that half-way through his story I felt like hanging myself (easy, easy, there). Anyhow, the second guy told his story of walking one block to the corner drugstore. Nothing eventful happened during his walk--but, he just told a interesting (and funny and perceptive) story about his 10 minute journey. I think "interesting" has to do with personality more than with experiences.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I'm not that adventurous these days, so Sarah will have to cross Eurasia in a bus without me...

Travel certainly "can" make one more interesting, or more boring, depending on their propensity to take pictures of "me standing in front of X" and "me standing in front of Y"...

Don't sell yourself short--musicians are always storytellers, in one way or another. Be afraid that we'll show up in that damn bus next May in front of your house!

I guess I travel to MEET those interesting people. I love getting perspectives from non-US sources, although sometimes their perspective on the US are startling. I like folks that lead interesting lives, and who give good reasons for their experiences. And I might even like crazy people, who might be more like me than I'm willing to admit.

It's okay if you don't like to travel, tango. Neither does W2R, and she's good with that. If everyone did, then the planes would be too crowded for us to get good deals on award travel!

 

[HFWR]

Don't sell yourself short--musicians are always storytellers, in one way or another. Be afraid that we'll show up in that damn bus next May in front of your house!

In which case I might just jump on...

 

[Meadbh]

RTravel made Chris Hadfield interesting.....or was it both ways? Safe home tonight, Chris!

http://youtu.be/KaOC9danxNo