Anyone else lost excitement for travel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I agree with much of what you said, and I'm a travel veteran of 40+ countries along with 12 years of expatdom. And I'm typing this while on vacation in Germany right now. The older I get, the more I find the travel logistics a hassle, including dealing with airports, jet lag, rushing from station to hotel and killing time till check in at 3 PM. And walking through local streets to find them crowded with the same Thai/Vietnamese/Lebanese/pizza/Italian restaurants you now find globally. I've seen so many museums that I can't get excited by them any more unless it's a truly special exhibition like the Vermeer exhibition in Amsterdam earlier this year. And it's true Europe has lost a great deal of its distinctiveness in the last 20 years, becoming both more global and with more immigrants everywhere.

There are still a few places on my bucket list but I am increasingly attracted to some kind of activity as the focus, such as a hiking or cycling trip with a day or two at the end in a city or even forsaking cities altogether. And, frankly, I'd rather spend two weeks each summer in my favorite New England coastal town just relaxing and swimming.

I wouldn’t call 40 countries “a veteran,” but I guess perspective varies.

lol get over yourself. Do you realize how obnoxious you sound. Pretentious travel snobs are the worst.

+1. It makes me laugh. You would think that traveling to so many different places would give people a reality check and perspective. Which is why I call BS on the whole travel to broaden your horizons. Some people have that without vacationing around the globe. Others-like the PP you are replying to-will have their heads up their bums no matter how many places they visit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Silly question, but super crowded + super expensive, more than ever before, how are all these other people getting $$? Where are they all coming from?

"Travel hacking" with credit card points is a popular strategy nowadays. You can easily cover the cost of flights and hotels, and just have to pay for food, activities, etc.

[Anonymous]

Most of the PPs lack originality, that’s why they have bad trips. The same is true in life generally, most people just can’t think outside the box. Go to kore obscure places if you can think of any, and no, I don’t mean Antarctica and Easter Island.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Silly question, but super crowded + super expensive, more than ever before, how are all these other people getting $$? Where are they all coming from?

Alot of people, particularly the younger ones, put the $$$$ on credit cards and live paycheck to paycheck. Or maybe they aren’t broke but they have no savings or retirement whatsoever, and just spend everything they make.

Remember this is the same group that quit their jobs during and after the pandemic and complain they can’t afford a house or pay back their student loans. They also are so special they can’t bear to return to working onsite at an office.

YET the have no problem blowing money to be in airports and hotels all the time to travel the world. Go figure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silly question, but super crowded + super expensive, more than ever before, how are all these other people getting $$? Where are they all coming from?

"Travel hacking" with credit card points is a popular strategy nowadays. You can easily cover the cost of flights and hotels, and just have to pay for food, activities, etc.

The explosion in tourism is in large part driven by the massive growth in the global affluent classes. Tourists now come from all over the world. I remember when I went to Kazakhstan (talk about off the beaten path) and encountered a family group from Brazil. Brazil! Airfare is as cheap as it's ever been when adjusting for inflation. When you go to any of the popular global tourist destinations, Americans are only a small minority of the total tourist population. When I remember back to the 1990s, most tourists in Europe seemed to be either Europeans, Americans or Japanese. But now they are really from all over the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a difference between travels now and back in the day when it wasn't a zillion people somewhere. When I look at Rome's Trevi Fountain OMG. Just OMG. I was there this summer with my kids and I didn't want to be. I was there as a student years ago and it was amazing. you can't even see the fountain in the sea of people now!!

As for going to places not a tier 1 or 2 town - I mean part of travelling is to these tier 1 or 2 towns for the beauty and something that makes it a tier 1 or 2 so I'm not sure why you would only go to the places nobody goes to? Sure, sometimes you find a diamond but there is a reason why people go to Paris. There was a year I did Paris 3x just because I had the opportunities. Now, I wouldn't take my kids there. You can see it better online. I would go to Normandy and travel the N towns. I would go to Mt St Michel in the off season.

I don't know how you see anything unless you go in the offseason to some of these amazing destinations. As for the road less travelled, it would of course be amazing to see Antarctica but I struggle at the morality of disturbing a place where it's actually awesome because people aren't there LOL!

I just think there are WAY to many people travelling these days and it makes everything suck. The only thing I prioritize now is going to places where my kids likely won't be able to enjoy in 10-15 years because of global changes.

That's the thing, thouhh. If we all do this, then those places are going to disappear sooner. As in, I am kicking myself that I didn't make the effort to see Glacier National Park 16 years ago when I was in Montana.

I silently judge people when they post photos on social media to places like Patagonia/Anaratica, in their expensive gear that they will maybe only use once or twice more after the trip. Do I want to go to Patagonia? It's been on my bucket list since I was 12 years old. But now I don't know it is necessary for ME (or my kids) to go in the grand scheme of things (burning planet).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Meeting people in other cultures isn’t something Amazon can replace.

But I do understand.

Those people do not care about meeting you. What does meeting strangers for a few moments, that you will never see or speak to again do for you or your children?

If you want to visit new places and see the world, that’s fine and well. But people make me cringe when they talk about “going where the locals go”, “meeting the locals”. The inhabitants of other places and cultures are not there for our entertainment.

I agree that it’s cringe. Do some think Germans vacationing in the U.S. impress others by going where “the locals are?” Instead of going to NYC, L.A, Grand Canyon, they go to Gaithersburg, Indianapolis and Little Rock so they can interact with “real” Americans!!!

Agree. How often do you interact with foreign tourists in Arlington, VA? Abroad how many locals do you interact with besides restaurant and hotel staff?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a lot of PPs are just getting older, more set in their ways, and less tolerant of deviations to their set routine. The concept of travel wasn’t magically better when you were in your 20s, you were just more open to new experiences and less curmudgeonly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a lot of PPs are just getting older, more set in their ways, and less tolerant of deviations to their set routine. The concept of travel wasn’t magically better when you were in your 20s, you were just more open to new experiences and less curmudgeonly.

BS. It’s totally different. Way more expensive and crowded. So much more crowded. How can you even say it’s the same?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a lot of PPs are just getting older, more set in their ways, and less tolerant of deviations to their set routine. The concept of travel wasn’t magically better when you were in your 20s, you were just more open to new experiences and less curmudgeonly.

This is very true. I have become a curmudgeonly 43 yr old. I own that.

[Anonymous]

Another curmudgeon here, I guess. I love the comforts of home. Travel, while
Interesting, is also stressful. I’m happy to take interesting short jaunts for a change of scene. Lost all interest in big international destinations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a lot of PPs are just getting older, more set in their ways, and less tolerant of deviations to their set routine. The concept of travel wasn’t magically better when you were in your 20s, you were just more open to new experiences and less curmudgeonly.

BS. It’s totally different. Way more expensive and crowded. So much more crowded. How can you even say it’s the same?

But it was crazy crowded in the popular places 20 years ago as well. And expensive too. And the travel was a hassle. In fact, I dealt with way more lost luggage and delayed/missed flights back then than I have in the past 10 years. And we didn’t have Apple air tags! Or convenient little cell phones and unlimited calling plans and data to help track stuff down and deal with travel issues. Or Google maps.

I remember when it was normal to circle in the sky for HOURS before landing bc there weren’t any open runways or gates at the local airport. I haven’t encountered that in years.

Air travel is still a hassle but it is much improved. Especially now that there’s wifi and in flight entertainment. We didn’t have that 20+ years ago. Imagine how kids entertained themselves on international flights back then, lol. Parents these days have it far easier.

Back then I visited Paris, Rome, Amalfi coast, London etc. Those places were tourists hotspots and hella crowded 20+ years ago too. Long lines to see the sites in Italy, France etc. Amsterdam was crowded, all the little coffee shops and museums.

Travel has changed but the crowds and popularity and expen$e are as much an issue to deal with nowadays as it was back in the day. It’s kind of a form of mass hysteria. People want to go see what others have deemed is important. No one wants to miss out on these places. And the more they are talked about, the more people want to go. The travel beast feeds itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another curmudgeon here, I guess. I love the comforts of home. Travel, while
Interesting, is also stressful. I’m happy to take interesting short jaunts for a change of scene. Lost all interest in big international destinations.

Ditto that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No I haven't gotten sick of it because I grew up poor and didn't travel a lot. I traveled some in my 20s with dh and loved it. Then we had kids and it was costly and had kids who were not good travelers so we took some breaks. Now my kids are old enough to travel well and we have done an international trip but it's getting so expensive and we have to save for college. I'm envious of people who have enough money to do international travel frequently.

How to tell someone grew up rich: saying they are sick of travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another curmudgeon here, I guess. I love the comforts of home. Travel, while
Interesting, is also stressful. I’m happy to take interesting short jaunts for a change of scene. Lost all interest in big international destinations.

And that’s fine. Just own it. You don’t have to love the things you loved in your 20s, but also, no need to infer that travel is objectively worse for the average person.

If anything — technology and an eye towards accessibility for people with mobility issues, female solo travelers, BIPOC travelers — have made it easier and more enjoyable for most. If you don’t love it now, then why force it?