Anyone else lost excitement for travel?

[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?

This post just has a “kids these days” vibe all over it.

[Anonymous]

I hate traveling now it's such a production.

[Anonymous]

Social media taking away the sense of discovery and makes everything feel monetized
Globalization leading to blandness - places feel all alike
The crowds
And yes, whatever we want to call the over-stimulation that is current culture, the remaining exhaustion and hostility from the pandemic, all of it - I do not want to escape somewhere else, I want to retreat.

[Anonymous]

I’m sick of how expensive it is just to travel anywhere worthwhile. Last time we travelled it cost us $12k for the four of us with tickets, hotel. Food, excursions, etc. We were gone for three weeks, but still…

[Anonymous]

Traveled a ton when I was younger. Now in my 50s and travel is a hassle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Traveled a ton when I was younger. Now in my 50s and travel is a hassle.

That makes me sad for you.

[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.

When I was in my 20s, I lived in London and went to the British museum often, and sometimes shared the Rosetta stone room with just a handful of other people. I went to the Louvre and wandered around the room with the Mona Lisa and got right in her face - no queues. I collected pieces of the falling Berlin Wall. I sat on the waterfront in Venice watching the boats go by before the city needed to impose entry charges.

I think it was magically better when there were fewer tourists, and I was lucky to be young before tourism grew to current proportions.

In later years I took my kids to some of these places and they were overcrowded and nasty.

Nowadays I tend to go to places not on any "top ten places to see" lists. That might be a small town in West Virginia or a war memorial museum in a small French village or a bird sanctuary.

[Anonymous]

You're probably just getting old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

I traveled in the 80s before the Internet and emails and cellphones. I collected mail from designated American Express offices once a month. I didn't know where I was going to sleep when I arrived in a town. It was an adventure. I met some very interesting people on trains and in hostels.

I think technology has removed a large part of the adventure. People staring at their phones and not being forced to ask locals questions or directions, has reduced interactions.

[Anonymous]

There are so many places that aren’t crowded, if you don’t like that vibe. I don’t, and there are lots of options. They also tend to be very inexpensive for hotels and food.

You can watch a Nat Geo on the Louvre and not get anything additional seeing it in person. They get to go a lot closer usually.

Do you have a hobby? I am an avid scuba diver, so I tend to dive for a week or 2, then visit whatever I can find for one day on the way and one day before I am cleared to fly. Last time I hiked a random volcano — it was delightful and basically deserted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are so many places that aren’t crowded, if you don’t like that vibe. I don’t, and there are lots of options. They also tend to be very inexpensive for hotels and food.

You can watch a Nat Geo on the Louvre and not get anything additional seeing it in person. They get to go a lot closer usually.

Do you have a hobby? I am an avid scuba diver, so I tend to dive for a week or 2, then visit whatever I can find for one day on the way and one day before I am cleared to fly. Last time I hiked a random volcano — it was delightful and basically deserted.

Diving and hiking volcanos is not something the average individual, couple or family can do nor want to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are so many places that aren’t crowded, if you don’t like that vibe. I don’t, and there are lots of options. They also tend to be very inexpensive for hotels and food.

You can watch a Nat Geo on the Louvre and not get anything additional seeing it in person. They get to go a lot closer usually.

Do you have a hobby? I am an avid scuba diver, so I tend to dive for a week or 2, then visit whatever I can find for one day on the way and one day before I am cleared to fly. Last time I hiked a random volcano — it was delightful and basically deserted.

Diving and hiking volcanos is not something the average individual, couple or family can do nor want to do.

Really? I don’t see why not. My kids dive and would have loved the volcano. We have hiked all over the world.

Enjoy Disney and museums with loads of other miserable people then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

This post just has a “kids these days” vibe all over it.

Except many of us visited these places years ago and have revisited with our kids and can observe the differences.

[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.

When I was in my 20s, I lived in London and went to the British museum often, and sometimes shared the Rosetta stone room with just a handful of other people. I went to the Louvre and wandered around the room with the Mona Lisa and got right in her face - no queues. I collected pieces of the falling Berlin Wall. I sat on the waterfront in Venice watching the boats go by before the city needed to impose entry charges.

I think it was magically better when there were fewer tourists, and I was lucky to be young before tourism grew to current proportions.

In later years I took my kids to some of these places and they were overcrowded and nasty.

Nowadays I tend to go to places not on any "top ten places to see" lists. That might be a small town in West Virginia or a war memorial museum in a small French village or a bird sanctuary.

That pay toilet near the Louvre that charges like five bucks just to poop!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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?

This post just has a “kids these days” vibe all over it.

In what way? I am not talking about air travel being a hassle. I am talking about places being more crowded.