S/O of destinations that jumped the shark - has travel jumped the shark for you?

[Anonymous]

Let be emphasize how much I hate cities. I just arrived in Toulouse, and in less than 20 minutes someone who looked like they were strung out on drugs approached me for money, and two drunk men were fighting outside some kind of shelter.

😫

One must always be in a defensive poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with y’all is you’re just too busy, too poor, or too particular to travel well - typically all three.

You need to take your time, schedule three or four times as much as is recommended for a given place, go off season, go off the beaten track, not stay in luxury hotels or fancy all inclusives, relax a little — and LIVE. Very few of you do that based on what I read on this website. You’re too busy trying to check boxes off. And when you’re older — as some of you appear to be on this thread — all of that gets just plain tiring.

I hear ya, but most Americans simply can't take a month long vacation, so they are kind of stuck being in tourist mode vs travel mode. I travel as you described, with an open itinerary and at least three weeks to do as I please. But you also really need have an interest in the culture and speak the language to really enjoy that type of travel.

And many Americans (striver/career obsessed) I think are wired to focus on completing tasks and achieving goals vs enjoying an experience in a natural way. I really can't travel with a lot of my family and friends because it's as if they are forcing you to have a good time and it just feels fake.

thank you for understanding. finally someone gets it.

No but you just have to LIVE LAUGH LOVE don't you get it

(oh yeah and have the trust fund to support that travel and no responsibilities/kids back at home)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:lol. Half of you think your me conde nest lifestyles of the rich and famous four seasons in bora bora types, and other half think you’re Anthony bourdain making friends with the locals getting invited to their house for dinner after their showed you the traditional ways to raise livestock in their culture.

heehee
And in both cases they are clueless Americans being mocked/fleeced and they don't know it.

[Anonymous]

I've always hated travel. I don't know why it's become one of those things people feel guilty about for not doing enough of. I'm 100% happier spending my time off at home relaxing.

[Anonymous]

We used to do it a lot but it's such s hassle now in airports or on planes, yuck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Traveling just to see sights is of course lame. The point of traveling is to meet people and get to understand viewpoints on life that are different from your own. The things I always remember aren’t the things I saw, but the people I met.

Why do you get to define the point of traveling?

I am happy to meet Greeks or Italians or Germans, but I travel because I absolutely want to walk in places where important historical events took place, or soak in the atmosphere where my ancestors lived. You do you, but you don't get to decide what is "lame."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with y’all is you’re just too busy, too poor, or too particular to travel well - typically all three.

You need to take your time, schedule three or four times as much as is recommended for a given place, go off season, go off the beaten track, not stay in luxury hotels or fancy all inclusives, relax a little — and LIVE. Very few of you do that based on what I read on this website. You’re too busy trying to check boxes off. And when you’re older — as some of you appear to be on this thread — all of that gets just plain tiring.

I hear ya, but most Americans simply can't take a month long vacation, so they are kind of stuck being in tourist mode vs travel mode. I travel as you described, with an open itinerary and at least three weeks to do as I please. But you also really need have an interest in the culture and speak the language to really enjoy that type of travel.

And many Americans (striver/career obsessed) I think are wired to focus on completing tasks and achieving goals vs enjoying an experience in a natural way. I really can't travel with a lot of my family and friends because it's as if they are forcing you to have a good time and it just feels fake.

thank you for understanding. finally someone gets it.

No but you just have to LIVE LAUGH LOVE don't you get it

(oh yeah and have the trust fund to support that travel and no responsibilities/kids back at home)

so you don't disagree. you're just jealous?

[Anonymous]

OP here.

This thread has for sure jumped the shark.

Thanks to those with thoughtful responses. I gained some new perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But India is amazing !

[twitter]
https://x.com/zhao_dashuai/status/1949446981094645799?s=61
[/twitter]

Their biggest export is their own children on H1B.

What a culture !

[Anonymous]

« I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life. »
Fitzgerald F. Scott, The Great Gatsby

He nailed the feeling for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly how I felt upon returning from an international trip last summer. Travel has definitely jumped the shark for me. I stayed home this summer for the most part and I’m glad.

Same here. My home life is very enjoyable and comfortable, and as I’ve gotten older, I feel more stressed by the whole travel experience. The planning, the ever growing crowds, the cost, the risks (ie flight issues, bedbugs) all start to wear on me. I’m noticing a feeling of diminishing returns on my travels.

I travel less often and am very intentional nowadays with where and how I do choose to travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Traveling just to see sights is of course lame. The point of traveling is to meet people and get to understand viewpoints on life that are different from your own. The things I always remember aren’t the things I saw, but the people I met.

Hate to burst your bubble, but those people don’t care and don’t remember you. I’m not saying this to be unkind.

It may seem like a life altering illuminating transformative experience for you, but to the natives you’re just another tourist treating them like some sort of interactive living museum. Those people are living their life and facing their own struggles and joys of daily living wherever they live. Their lives are not transformed just bc you spoke to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with y’all is you’re just too busy, too poor, or too particular to travel well - typically all three.

You need to take your time, schedule three or four times as much as is recommended for a given place, go off season, go off the beaten track, not stay in luxury hotels or fancy all inclusives, relax a little — and LIVE. Very few of you do that based on what I read on this website. You’re too busy trying to check boxes off. And when you’re older — as some of you appear to be on this thread — all of that gets just plain tiring.

Yes and no.

Part of your comment makes me wonder if you are one of the posters who tells people not to bother going to X if they only have a week (or whatever). The reality is most people can have a fabulous day (or two or five or whatever) in a place and there's no right way or wrong way to "enjoy" a visit to any destination.

RE: going off season - Sure. I guess. But the Amalfi coast or similar destinations really aren't best visited off season. It's better to enjoy dinner and drinks outside on a warm summer night after spending the day lounging on a private boat all day in the sun...hence all the celebs posting pics on yachts in the Med this summer (and every summer)(or Kris Jenner's annual summer trip to Portofino...I mean, there's really no reason to go to Portofino in November).

"Off the beaten track" is where I agree with you. But I still see value in going to popular tourist destinations like Rome. These places are popular for a reason (many, actually). But you can have a blast in Rome without setting foot *inside* the Colosseum (it's actually gorgeous around 9:30 or 10pm at night and it's rather magical wandering around it up close and bit further away when there aren't any crowds; ditto for the Vatican and all the other usual suspect spots).

RE: all inclusives - don't knock it, pp. Some are really nice (and fun). And there are plenty of luxury and mid-range spots that include breakfast and lunch that you might not even consider an all inclusive (several boutique resorts in the caribbean and europe offer such things but you would never know unless you stayed there).

In short: go live your life and have fun...whatever that means to you. I've never had a bad vacation...probably because I make sure I have fun wherever I go. (I basically try to "be the party" ... even if the party is mostly in my own head as I lazily lay out in the sun all day.)

The Amalfi coast? Some all inclusives are good? Lol. You’re not living. You're being a tourist.

Curtain Bluff is a fabulous AI on Antigua. Candidly, I don’t think anyone who spends a week or two in the Caribbean is a “tourist.” There’s not a lot of touring involved. You relax and enjoy your vacation.

Caneel Bay wasn’t referred to as an AI but they offered prepayment of meals on what I believed they referred to as a European plan. Fun fact: I stayed in the best cottage on the fabulous property before Madonna and Brangelina used it. Hardly boring. In fact, it was amazing.

And yes, the Amalfi coast is gorgeous! I loved every place I visited during a month-long trip up and down both sides of Italy. Our boat was amazing and the villas were quite lovely. I didn’t bother buying tickets to anything though, so I wasn’t the typical tourist. I mostly soaked in the vibe and enjoyed some fabulous sites that you wouldn’t read about online or in travel guides.

Anyway, travel isn’t a competition…it’s just a verb. I’ve traveled, and you’ve traveled. And I’ve never had a bad experience…just a helluva lot of fun.

You've never done anything adventurous in your life. You've just spent money.

I see we've encountered someone who firmly believes they are a *traveler* while everyone else is a tourist. I have bad news for you: you're a tourist too. I've been to some really off the beaten paths and experienced some very rustic places, but guess what, I was still a tourist. Just like you.

I'll echo what others have said. Common themes are aging and the hassles of travel involving long flights and transit times and the constant on the move and shifting from one strange hotel to the next just isn't as much fun when you're in your 40s. I'm also in my peak career years, which means a demanding job, and the concept of a demanding vacation doesn't appeal to me any more. Other common themes are the increased homogenization of the world. Every major city is more or less a clone. Hip Berlin is the same as hip LA and hip Tokyo and hip Melbourne. The crowds in the popular places. Growing up in 1980s/1990s midsize city America, going to France and Italy was a culinary revelation because you just did not get the croissants or cappucinos or pastries found in corner Italian or French markets in most American cities. But today? The food and coffee are quite often better in the US and I have no shortage of excellent bakeries and just about every world cuisine nearby. I don't need to go to China for the novelty of seeing Chinese supermarkets when there's a large one a few miles away!

I still travel for specific pleasures, we're doing a long hiking trip in the Alps this August and I'm looking forward to nearly two weeks free of the laptop and being offline. But I do increasingly appreciate the notion of going back to a favorite beach or mountain every year rather than seeking the strange and exotic.

[b]


The bolded confirms that you're a tourist and not a traveler. I've never had that kind of experience in my entire life, and I've been to every continent on the planet.

Sure, fellow tou...ahem, cough cough, traveler whatever makes you feel better.

-been to every continent except Antarctica. Been to remote Indonesia requiring multiple ferry rides. Been to a dozen African countries. Been to deepest central Asia.

clap clap clap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But India is amazing !

[twitter]
https://x.com/zhao_dashuai/status/1949446981094645799?s=61
[/twitter]

Their biggest export is their own children on H1B.

What a culture !

+1 I would not return.

[Anonymous]

I don't go where the DCUM hoards go. I go to cool places. I'm not gonna say where because I don't want them to become the next Costa Rica.