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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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.  [/quote]

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.)[/quote]

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

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. [/quote]

You've never done anything adventurous in your life.  You've just spent money.  [/quote]

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.

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