Avid traveler here. I travelled plenty as a kid (not affluent but Dad's job gave tickets for visiting our home country), and on my own as an adult. We've begun traveling with our elementary-aged kids now.

I agree that travel isn't the same in this instagram/tiktok/influencer era. Every destination has the same tourist traps and tour guides will tell you how to recreate the same poses. (e.g. the Bali swing, breakfast in a pool, etc)

Anonymous wrote:So many posters on here wanting to pull the ladder up behind them. Visiting Europe was fine back when they did it, but now everyone else should just skip it. How nice that you got to go in your teens and twenties. Some of us didn’t and would still like to go.

You do you. I’m just pointing out that visiting Europe “back then” was a better, more fulfilling and enriching experience, having done it both then and this year. That’s not pulling up any ladders, that’s just expressing why I have lost excitement.

I grew up in the 1970s-1990s. I have traveled and lived abroad more than most people but much less than people who can claim it as a significant part of their identity. My family moved around the country frequently when I was a child and we traveled a few times a year. If I found out I was terminal tomorrow, I would not have regrets over not having seen enough of the world.

We flew to L.A. with our two teenagers earlier this year. They were easy to travel with but everything was just so very crowded and ordinary things were so expensive. People everywhere looked stressed, struggling and hooked on their smart phones. Our teens had a good time so it was worth it, but I would not go again.

I have a virtual reality headset that I sometimes use to "travel" to different places. I also have a projector that I use to beam images and videos of places around the world to a giant wall in my home. Last night, my son and I projected a detailed video of one of the places we saw in L.A (W.B. Studio Tour). I don't know what to make of my reaction and how technology has changed travel.

In person, there were so many people and no one talked to each other. The tour was a few hours long, it was sort of chilly outside and I lost interest after an hour. Timing of bathroom breaks were decided, understandably, by the tour guide. I felt self-imposed pressure to take in what I was seeing because I'll never be back and we paid something for the tickets.

The projected video version from my home was two-dimensional but so gigantic I sort of felt like I was there again. There were no crowds. I could not socialize with the guy who was giving the tour on video, but I didn't really socialize with the in-person tour guide. I could pause the video, look at details I did not notice before and exit the tour when I felt I had enough. I had full control over the experience.

Interestingly, memories of in person vs. virtual vacations linger in my memory--but in person vacations are just more vivid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Traveled and lived extensively with 3 kids in tow in my 20s-40s. One was born in Europe. Finally relocated back to US in 2020. I miss the golden days of travel. Before smart phones were a thing, back when the ADAC giant atlas was our map, back before low air fare made travel affordable to the masses. Right now I'm enjoying staying put and vacationing at my beach house whenever we can. I'm hoping airfare goes up, tourism slumps, and then I'll travel again.

I went to Europe in the late '90s. Had a Eurail pass. Remember the big book with all the train timetables?

Oh yes and the youth discounts (e.g. britrail) that are diminishing

Anonymous wrote:I used to love travel and have studied abroad, was in the Peace Corps, had international boyfriends, have international friends I visited. It was formative for me when younger because I lived a very controlled and small life growing up and my parents scorned travel and other cultures. It was enlightening to understand anything that seems like a norm in the US is subjective.

That being said, the older I get the more I value actual depth and learning. When I traveled, I met local people and learned their languages and customs and tried to live similarly. I wasn't in resorts, I wasn't hiring them to entertain me. I stayed for more than a week. And what did I learn? That most of them don't travel much, and are poor by our standards, and are content. They put all their efforts into their families and communities. I brought that attitude back with me and have invested time and energy getting to know my own cities and counties. There are so many subcultures within the US, I could never get bored.

I also have gotten more into nature. Emily Dickinson barely left her garden. Within a few yards there is a whole ecosystem we can barely see. Traveling is more of a state of mind than a practice. And doing it the right way doesn't involve Instagram or photogenic poses.

THIS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I age, I find I’m more interested in cruises. I get just enough excitement and seeing new places, but it’s very easy and I get to truly relax and be pampered.

Yuck. I cannot imagine being stuck on a sailing portapotty with 50k or more strangers.

LOL. Now that you point out that a cruise ship is a sailing portapotty, I can't unsee it. Arghhhhhhh!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Traveled and lived extensively with 3 kids in tow in my 20s-40s. One was born in Europe. Finally relocated back to US in 2020. I miss the golden days of travel. Before smart phones were a thing, back when the ADAC giant atlas was our map, back before low air fare made travel affordable to the masses. Right now I'm enjoying staying put and vacationing at my beach house whenever we can. I'm hoping airfare goes up, tourism slumps, and then I'll travel again.

I went to Europe in the late '90s. Had a Eurail pass. Remember the big book with all the train timetables?

Thomas Cook

I posted a few pages ago about how it sucks with a zillion people everywhere, social media everywhere and prices through the roof everywhere!

That being said I understand if you've never seen Paris you just wouldn't know how much nicer it was 15 yrs ago. I'm just saying that if you've travelled a lot years ago, there's a marked difference now and most wouldn't want to go now. I get that travel is like a big adventure to some folks but with the family, unless you are loaded, it's more like a nightmare.

OP is going to see a great number if folks like me who share her sentiments because we've done a lot of traveling in the past. These days of course I still love to seek new places out but it's much much more strategic and is a different approach than having an adventure or just seeing a place because it's high profile. There's got to be a damn good reason why it is worth the time money and effort to go be it visiting family and friends or it won't be around one day or we love the culture there so much we consider it a second home. Something meaningful, not frequently to travel for travel's sake.

It’s also important to note that there is a good time to travel to most of the places. Like, covid made many places less crowded, and though many countries had all the convoluted restrictions, some didn’t. Same for certain states.
Now for example a good place to travel to is… Russia. I know it sounds crazy, but if you have a local guide and don’t go near any military objects and don’t talk politics you will be fine. I know it’s not for everyone but I just used it as an example.
I think a lot of Europe is overrated right now.

New poster.
I am excited to go back to my home country to visit, and also for anything that involves culture (old culture). Less excited about anything else than I used to be.

I used to love travel and have studied abroad, was in the Peace Corps, had international boyfriends, have international friends I visited. It was formative for me when younger because I lived a very controlled and small life growing up and my parents scorned travel and other cultures. It was enlightening to understand anything that seems like a norm in the US is subjective.

That being said, the older I get the more I value actual depth and learning. When I traveled, I met local people and learned their languages and customs and tried to live similarly. I wasn't in resorts, I wasn't hiring them to entertain me. I stayed for more than a week. And what did I learn? That most of them don't travel much, and are poor by our standards, and are content. They put all their efforts into their families and communities. I brought that attitude back with me and have invested time and energy getting to know my own cities and counties. There are so many subcultures within the US, I could never get bored.

I also have gotten more into nature. Emily Dickinson barely left her garden. Within a few yards there is a whole ecosystem we can barely see. Traveling is more of a state of mind than a practice. And doing it the right way doesn't involve Instagram or photogenic poses.

Been on several international trips over the years.
I’m enjoying more short local trips these days to WV, PA, and MD from VA. Places I’d never been to and less hassle.
My next big trip may be going up to Boston.

So many posters on here wanting to pull the ladder up behind them. Visiting Europe was fine back when they did it, but now everyone else should just skip it. How nice that you got to go in your teens and twenties. Some of us didn’t and would still like to go.

Anonymous wrote:Traveled and lived extensively with 3 kids in tow in my 20s-40s. One was born in Europe. Finally relocated back to US in 2020. I miss the golden days of travel. Before smart phones were a thing, back when the ADAC giant atlas was our map, back before low air fare made travel affordable to the masses. Right now I'm enjoying staying put and vacationing at my beach house whenever we can. I'm hoping airfare goes up, tourism slumps, and then I'll travel again.

I went to Europe in the late '90s. Had a Eurail pass. Remember the big book with all the train timetables?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I age, I find I’m more interested in cruises. I get just enough excitement and seeing new places, but it’s very easy and I get to truly relax and be pampered.

Yuck. I cannot imagine being stuck on a sailing portapotty with 50k or more strangers.

Lucky you! There are no cruise ships with 50k people.