Are upper middle class family gatherings now just luxury travel pissing contests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

We also travel to nearby ritz or four seasons and go on hikes that are within driving distance. We also go to Disney, ski and go to the beach. You can enjoy them all.

[Anonymous]

If you can’t see a difference between going to a four seasons in Florida and a trip to Thailand, the conversation can’t go far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t see a difference between going to a four seasons in Florida and a trip to Thailand, the conversation can’t go far.

And if you can’t figure out how to discuss your trip in a classy and polite way, then we probably can’t help you anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

West Virginia is beautiful, but if you can’t see why someone would want to also hike in the Scottish highlands or on the Croatian coast, I can’t help you.

Sounds like you either haven’t really traveled or have only done resort travel, so you think that’s the only option.

I’ve been to 30 countries, lived in Russia and rural Thailand, and I’ve stayed in everything from a hut with no beds in a tiny Thai village to a Cambodian hostel to an overwater bungalow on Bora Bora.

It’s all amazing. Sad that you can’t appreciate what travel really can be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

West Virginia is beautiful, but if you can’t see why someone would want to also hike in the Scottish highlands or on the Croatian coast, I can’t help you.

Sounds like you either haven’t really traveled or have only done resort travel, so you think that’s the only option.

I’ve been to 30 countries, lived in Russia and rural Thailand, and I’ve stayed in everything from a hut with no beds in a tiny Thai village to a Cambodian hostel to an overwater bungalow on Bora Bora.

It’s all amazing. Sad that you can’t appreciate what travel really can be.

Oh and my Thanksgiving travel conversation was great.

My parents talked about hiking the mountains in New Zealand.

My friend’s parents talked about their biking trip down the Croatian coast.

I answered questions about what it was like to live with a woman and her daughter in St Petersburg, Russia. I told them what we used to talk about while watching Russian state TV and having tea and cookies.

People also wanted to know what it was like visiting Kyiv, Pskov, and Novgorod, navigating Russian public transportation, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

West Virginia is beautiful, but if you can’t see why someone would want to also hike in the Scottish highlands or on the Croatian coast, I can’t help you.

Sounds like you either haven’t really traveled or have only done resort travel, so you think that’s the only option.

I’ve been to 30 countries, lived in Russia and rural Thailand, and I’ve stayed in everything from a hut with no beds in a tiny Thai village to a Cambodian hostel to an overwater bungalow on Bora Bora.

It’s all amazing. Sad that you can’t appreciate what travel really can be.

Oh and my Thanksgiving travel conversation was great.

My parents talked about hiking the mountains in New Zealand.

My friend’s parents talked about their biking trip down the Croatian coast.

I answered questions about what it was like to live with a woman and her daughter in St Petersburg, Russia. I told them what we used to talk about while watching Russian state TV and having tea and cookies.

People also wanted to know what it was like visiting Kyiv, Pskov, and Novgorod, navigating Russian public transportation, etc.

I think OP’s cousin has joined us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t see a difference between going to a four seasons in Florida and a trip to Thailand, the conversation can’t go far.

And if you can’t figure out how to discuss your trip in a classy and polite way, then we probably can’t help you anyway.

I’m the pp Thailand poster. I didn’t talk about travel at all during thanksgiving. My dad is in poor health. My parents are just happy to see their grandchildren.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can’t see a difference between going to a four seasons in Florida and a trip to Thailand, the conversation can’t go far.

And if you can’t figure out how to discuss your trip in a classy and polite way, then we probably can’t help you anyway.

I’m the pp Thailand poster. I didn’t talk about travel at all during thanksgiving. My dad is in poor health. My parents are just happy to see their grandchildren.

My family has a lot of health problems too. Sometimes it’s nice to talk about experiences we’ve had, even if it’s years earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

West Virginia is beautiful, but if you can’t see why someone would want to also hike in the Scottish highlands or on the Croatian coast, I can’t help you.

Sounds like you either haven’t really traveled or have only done resort travel, so you think that’s the only option.

I’ve been to 30 countries, lived in Russia and rural Thailand, and I’ve stayed in everything from a hut with no beds in a tiny Thai village to a Cambodian hostel to an overwater bungalow on Bora Bora.

It’s all amazing. Sad that you can’t appreciate what travel really can be.

Oh and my Thanksgiving travel conversation was great.

My parents talked about hiking the mountains in New Zealand.

My friend’s parents talked about their biking trip down the Croatian coast.

I answered questions about what it was like to live with a woman and her daughter in St Petersburg, Russia. I told them what we used to talk about while watching Russian state TV and having tea and cookies.

People also wanted to know what it was like visiting Kyiv, Pskov, and Novgorod, navigating Russian public transportation, etc.

I think OP’s cousin has joined us.

Everyone has a cousin or friend who dominates the conversation with something you are not interested in. I would rather hear about the cousin’s hike in some obscure place that I have never heard of or want to go to than all the talk about gluten free this or what the functional medicine doctor told her not to eat. We actually have multiple people who can talk about their diet for hours. So annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

West Virginia is beautiful, but if you can’t see why someone would want to also hike in the Scottish highlands or on the Croatian coast, I can’t help you.

Sounds like you either haven’t really traveled or have only done resort travel, so you think that’s the only option.

I’ve been to 30 countries, lived in Russia and rural Thailand, and I’ve stayed in everything from a hut with no beds in a tiny Thai village to a Cambodian hostel to an overwater bungalow on Bora Bora.

It’s all amazing. Sad that you can’t appreciate what travel really can be.

Pp sounds really uncultured. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

This nails it. I get so bored of hearing about people's luxury hotel experiences in far flung places.

Now someone who stayed in budget chain hotel but then found a loophole that enabled them to use the pool at the 5 star resort down the street? That sounds like a fun story! Also happy to hear about weird and offbeat AirBnBs or the funky bed and breakfast you stayed in that was great except the hosts ate breakfast with you and you had to make small talk with your high school French to comical effect.

If your travel stories are all "we had lie flat beds on the plane and our suite had it's own lap pool and we ate at these three michelin starred restaurants," you are boring and I don't to talk to you. You may also be rich (or just very deeply in debt or have wealthy parents) but that doesn't make you interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

This nails it. I get so bored of hearing about people's luxury hotel experiences in far flung places.

Now someone who stayed in budget chain hotel but then found a loophole that enabled them to use the pool at the 5 star resort down the street? That sounds like a fun story! Also happy to hear about weird and offbeat AirBnBs or the funky bed and breakfast you stayed in that was great except the hosts ate breakfast with you and you had to make small talk with your high school French to comical effect.

If your travel stories are all "we had lie flat beds on the plane and our suite had it's own lap pool and we ate at these three michelin starred restaurants," you are boring and I don't to talk to you. You may also be rich (or just very deeply in debt or have wealthy parents) but that doesn't make you interesting.

I don’t know anyone who would talk about their first class plane experience as their vacation description. I’m a foodie and love hearing about amazing meals whether they are Michelin restaurants or hole in the walls. You sound like you know crappy people.

I would not want to hear about sneaking into a hotel pool. That doesn’t sound appealing at all. Shrug.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

This nails it. I get so bored of hearing about people's luxury hotel experiences in far flung places.

Now someone who stayed in budget chain hotel but then found a loophole that enabled them to use the pool at the 5 star resort down the street? That sounds like a fun story! Also happy to hear about weird and offbeat AirBnBs or the funky bed and breakfast you stayed in that was great except the hosts ate breakfast with you and you had to make small talk with your high school French to comical effect.

If your travel stories are all "we had lie flat beds on the plane and our suite had it's own lap pool and we ate at these three michelin starred restaurants," you are boring and I don't to talk to you. You may also be rich (or just very deeply in debt or have wealthy parents) but that doesn't make you interesting.

I don’t know anyone who would talk about their first class plane experience as their vacation description. I’m a foodie and love hearing about amazing meals whether they are Michelin restaurants or hole in the walls. You sound like you know crappy people.

I would not want to hear about sneaking into a hotel pool. That doesn’t sound appealing at all. Shrug.

It is extremely common for UMC and wealthy people to recount vacations but describing their flight, their hotel, and then list the expensive restaurants they visited and the designer items they bought. This is literally the premise of this thread. If you don't know people like this then you are not familiar with this demographic. This is how 90% of the parents at my kid's private school talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always thought travel was a safe topic. I love to travel. I love to hear my friend’s travel stories. I don’t enjoy hearing about boring beach trips to bald island but I love hearing about Asia or Europe. I’m always looking for new places to go with my family.

Talking about cool sites you saw in Asia is fine. "Humble" bragging about your $1k+/night hotel or dropping a reference to (or worse posting a picture of) your lay flat seats is not.

Pp here. I know what you mean when people are trying to show off. We actually do stay at the 1-2k hotels but I don’t talk about the hotel. There are some people who who can appreciate a nice spa or afternoon tea though. Maybe that is what OP is referring to. 95% of the time I would not talk about this but there are those 5% where I actually really enjoy the details of a very nice hotel, especially if the hotel is the destination. We recently went to marina bay sands in Singapore. My kids loved the hotel and the adjacent attractions.

Any comment remotely like this is exactly what OP is talking about.

+1. But I do like that PP distilled how superficial global travel has become: 20+ hour flight each way to be pampered at a luxury hotel. The same experience is available at any nearby Ritz or Four Seasons, but that wouldn’t be “exotic” enough or brag worthy at the next social gathering.

Similar to “low key” braggarts who travel to third world dumps half way around the world so they can boast about hiking there. You can do all the world class hiking you want in West Virginia, but Appalachia isn’t exotic for them, of course.

West Virginia is beautiful, but if you can’t see why someone would want to also hike in the Scottish highlands or on the Croatian coast, I can’t help you.

Sounds like you either haven’t really traveled or have only done resort travel, so you think that’s the only option.

I’ve been to 30 countries, lived in Russia and rural Thailand, and I’ve stayed in everything from a hut with no beds in a tiny Thai village to a Cambodian hostel to an overwater bungalow on Bora Bora.

It’s all amazing. Sad that you can’t appreciate what travel really can be.

Oh and my Thanksgiving travel conversation was great.

My parents talked about hiking the mountains in New Zealand.

My friend’s parents talked about their biking trip down the Croatian coast.

I answered questions about what it was like to live with a woman and her daughter in St Petersburg, Russia. I told them what we used to talk about while watching Russian state TV and having tea and cookies.

People also wanted to know what it was like visiting Kyiv, Pskov, and Novgorod, navigating Russian public transportation, etc.

I think OP’s cousin has joined us.

Everyone has a cousin or friend who dominates the conversation with something you are not interested in. I would rather hear about the cousin’s hike in some obscure place that I have never heard of or want to go to than all the talk about gluten free this or what the functional medicine doctor told her not to eat. We actually have multiple people who can talk about their diet for hours. So annoying.

What I think you don’t understand is that we all exchange stories about our trips. No one is dominating the conversation.