When did this become the norm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s related to social media. Guaranteed, part of the attraction to taking all these bougie trips is posting the photos to Facebook and Instagram after.

I don’t post any trips on social media so that isn’t my personal motivation, but I do agree with this. It has also changed and influenced some destinations too - I have come across several places on my travels that seem designed entirely for instagram photo opportunities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s related to social media. Guaranteed, part of the attraction to taking all these bougie trips is posting the photos to Facebook and Instagram after.

I don’t post any trips on social media so that isn’t my personal motivation, but I do agree with this. It has also changed and influenced some destinations too - I have come across several places on my travels that seem designed entirely for instagram photo opportunities

So true. I’ve noticed that “nice” beach clubs inevitably have a random swing now for Instagram models to pose on lol

[Anonymous]

I agree with the more disposable income. Also, travel is much easier than it was 20/ 30 years ago. There are many more resources available for people who want to travel. You can look up rates and book with airlines directly instead of relying and booking with a travel agent. Discount airlines exist. AirBnb and VRBO exist in a space where there used to be hostels and hotels.

I also think COVID kept people home, and now they are doubling down on travel in a way no one has seen before. DH is m overseas, and after not having the ability to easily see family and home for a long time, will find ways for us to travel there.

I also don’t think the concept and role of social media isn’t a factor. So many people view themselves as potential influencers, and what are you if you’re not having exotic travel pics to share?

And my last thought it that people are always looking for ways to make their children “better” than their friends (cough cough seen as competition). They’re no longer getting ahead on tutoring and travel sports, so there is something left in international travel to make them (or the family) seem more worldly. I agree that travel makes s Peel more worldly, but what I often see is a ski resort in Colorado being set apart for two in France and Switzerland, even though the kids will never do anything other than fly in and ski.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even with all the inflation in housing/college/healthcare costs, the UMC is wealthier today than the UMC in the 80s-90s.

Really? I usually hear the opposite. Nowadays all I hear are people complaining about how much easier Boomers had it wrt housing, healthcare, education fees, etc.

Travel was much more expensive then. Airline prices were, adjusting for inflation, at least double the price. Also, interest rates were double what they are now so, yes, housing prices were low, but mortgage payments were still fairly high.

[Anonymous]

I feel like a lot of things are different from when we were kids. When we were kids: Less travel sports / kids activities, less travel, less dining out at restaurants.

I’m not really sure what accounts for the change. One thing I think is more working women and I like to go away when I can take time off. Get away from it all. I’ve tried to stay home, and I end up doing chores and doctors appointments, etc.

Another thing may be so much stress on parents to micromanage their kids these days even if you yourself try to fight it. There are a lot of different forces at play today that our parents didn’t have to deal with. I try for my kids to play around the neighborhood as much as possible etc but it’s not just like it was when I was a kid.

I feel like kids including my own struggle with being bored. They’re either on screens or in organize activities or I’m fighting with them to get out of the house and do something on their own and eventually they do and have fun but it’s a struggle to get them started on it.

Basically working moms today spend more time on childcare things than stay at home moms back in the day. I still walk my 3rd grade daughter to school because the other kids her age in walking distance near us are getting car rides to school and she’d rather not go alone. I don’t think my mom walked me once to school and neither did any other moms so we had a whole gaggle of kids to walk with.

[Anonymous]

I feel I didn’t totally bring that together at the end, but my point was I just sort of loop travel in with organized activities to keep kids entertained during break because they can’t do it on their own anymore.

[Anonymous]

Also because of social media, people are just more aware of how much others are traveling. Maybe some families traveled a lot when you were a kid, but how would you have known unless you were close friends with the family? Now people post every plate of spaghetti they eat on vacation, whether you want them to or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even with all the inflation in housing/college/healthcare costs, the UMC is wealthier today than the UMC in the 80s-90s.

Really? I usually hear the opposite. Nowadays all I hear are people complaining about how much easier Boomers had it wrt housing, healthcare, education fees, etc.

I think the people who complain don’t actually have a grasp on reality. People in the 80s did not have this much disposable income and did not travel and did not eat out so much. I watched a TikTok with a 50-year-old talking to the kids who complain these days and he was saying - it wasn’t all puppies and rainbows when we were kids! we didn’t even have air-conditioning in our bedrooms!

[Anonymous]

We love and prioritize travel. Dh and I both traveled some as kids but mostly related to visiting family abroad or far away. My parents were solidly umc but travel especially flights were expensive. We went to Europe 3 times while I was young and Mexico and Hawaii each once. I grew up in California so going to the Caribbean wasn’t really a thing. We took long weekend trips to go skiing in Mammoth or Big Bear.
Dh’s parents were teachers and middle class but they were both immigrants so traveled “home” every summer and stayed with family. He started traveling a lot in college when he studied abroad and then did a huge around the world trip with a group of friends after graduation.

Our kids have been to many more places than we had and they love travel too. We are wealthy and spend a lot on trips (though we fly coach and don’t stay in super luxury hotels except occasionally) because traveling as a family of 5 is expensive even for us.

I almost never post anything on social media and certainly don’t do it to garner envy from my friends and acquaintances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The rich are richer today.

Especially after covid windfall profits for elites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even with all the inflation in housing/college/healthcare costs, the UMC is wealthier today than the UMC in the 80s-90s.

Really? I usually hear the opposite. Nowadays all I hear are people complaining about how much easier Boomers had it wrt housing, healthcare, education fees, etc.

I think the people who complain don’t actually have a grasp on reality. People in the 80s did not have this much disposable income and did not travel and did not eat out so much. I watched a TikTok with a 50-year-old talking to the kids who complain these days and he was saying - it wasn’t all puppies and rainbows when we were kids! we didn’t even have air-conditioning in our bedrooms!

DP. I think the MC and UMC today are much better than similar families in the 60s-80s. But a lot of us millennials came of age in the 90s-2000s during a period of immense SES mobility and technology changes. We saw our parents able to achieve huge lifestyle increases with a single working parent. It set a new standard of living and it’s hard to be the generation that then has a downward trajectory or has to work harder (i.e. 2 incomes) to replicate the lifestyle you grew up with.

[Anonymous]

Ahh yes you’re reminding me that back in the day you literally had to go somewhere outside of the house to buy your plane tickets. Does anyone else remember STA travel?

I also had to wait in line in person to buy concert tickets too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s related to social media. Guaranteed, part of the attraction to taking all these bougie trips is posting the photos to Facebook and Instagram after.

I am one of these people who travel internationally three times a year and I have never posted a travel picture online. I am a very private person who happens to love travel. It’s really sad that some people can’t seem to under that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When do you think it become the norm for people to travel so aggressively? I feel like everyone we know travels for every school break and for long periods in the summer (like 2-3 weeks in Europe). These aren’t small driving trips either. The families we know go from very expensive ski vacations (have you ever added up the cost of flights, lodging, lift tickets, gear rentals, etc. for family of 4-5 to ski for a week in CO or UT? It’s nuts) in the winter to luxury beach vacations in the Caribbean for spring break. Or, if they want to “mix it up,” they’ll do Costa Rica for spring break and an African safari for their summer trip.

I looked up the price for the villa rental a friend stayed in and the private boat tour they did and it was not cheap. And again then add in flights, food, etc. for 4-5 people. Then like I said they’ll go on a long trip this summer too which will probably be even more expensive due to the length of the stay.

We live in an affluent suburb so I understand I live in a bit of a bubble. However, I grew up in a similar bubble and I really don’t remember this, do you? Back when I was a teen, people traveled much less. Even rich families stayed home more. They might take one “big” trip and then a less expensive beach trip drivable somewhere on the East Coast rather than 4 trips to international destinations.

Aggressive travel! Never change, DCUM.

PPs have given plausible reasons as to why people travel more or why travel is more visible to you.

But they aren’t traveling AT you, OP. They are doing it for whatever reasons they want to, so why do you care so much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s related to social media. Guaranteed, part of the attraction to taking all these bougie trips is posting the photos to Facebook and Instagram after.

I am one of these people who travel internationally three times a year and I have never posted a travel picture online. I am a very private person who happens to love travel. It’s really sad that some people can’t seem to under that.

I don’t think you have to take it so personally. A lot of people do it for the Gram. Not everyone.