Traveling is Overrated

[former-monger]

Didn't read all the post but will say traveling and experience the culture you going to is great for example going to the Dominican republic drink rum dancing with locals is great fun and a lot can be learned form thtat however going to punta cana is saying on a resort for 2 weeks speaking your native language and interacting to with other people from your country is a waste of money and not truly traveling. Another thing is people who say they hate or its overrated have never done it for what ever reason like not being able to afford it and the people who mention traveling to them didnt do anything there they just mention it as a form of showing off having the money/ ability to do it.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

Travelling is essential IMO ; but I kind of get what the OP means. Most people I see travelling are groups of tourists waking around in groups with selfie sticks. Sure it's interesting, but it is a pretty weak experience IMO.

In my experience, these form of tourism are really beneficial and changed me for the better :
- going in another country with a friend originally from that country and being taken care of in their family
- going alone in another country to learn a language
- going alone from hostels to hostels : you will meet some pretty interesting people
- and most of all : I completely disagree with you on the semester exchange thing : I did it when I was in college and it totally changed me for the better. You get out of your environment and meet new people from different cultures. Come back home after 6 months and find everything the same, while you have evolved a great deal. I actually believe that this exchange semester might have been the single most important turning point in my life.

To conclude, I think that there is nothing like going far away from home, outside of your comfort zone and meeting new people. Even if you end up in the biggest shithole, if you are surrounded by awesome new friends, the memories of these moments will remain vivid for a long time, while you won't remember shit of organised visit with y selfie stick.

Just my personal experience though.

Was this your first time experiencing a culture or people from another country?

From the people that I know who do this, I take it that everything is set up really nice for them to have a great time all the time only. They have a host or something, and those people volunteer for it. So everything is set up so they only have a positive experience only. There is more to a culture than just going clubbing, and drinking.

Like for example, this Indian chick who lived in my dorm. She went to London. Basically she just went to class, and then clubbing on the weekends with her host. She comes back thinking she is dope. She went for the Geordie Shore experience. My sister all did a semester in Melbourne, but she got to live with a nice family, that works for the University, and she just hung with the Aussie kids who volunteered to drag along the exchange students around.

It just seems like contrived situation to me. And it really is just experiencing a small subset of the culture, and that be the culture that goes to University and wants that "lifestyle".

Now I dont know what your experience is like. I am just going by the people that I know.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

Traveling expands your perspective, helps you to further understand and appreciate the diversity in the world. It gives you a chance to actually interact with a larger world, and see and experience things first hand which can change you as a person. It probably makes you a better person with a wider set of experiences to draw on when making decisions.

I don't really backpack though. I'll stay in Airbnbs typically. Its cheaper and gives you a better view of how people actually live where you are visiting. Money spent on hotels would be a waste to me usually

It really depends on what you are specifically doing during your trip.

 

[MadSquabbles500]

try this, but with a stomach virus that's making you piss from your anus. From TX to CALI and back.

Did you know SD to El Paso is same distance or close to El Paso to Houston?

 

[MadSquabbles500]

You dont need to travel physically ,you can just invision the destination and put yourself there in any part of the world through meditation . I have vast experience all over the world ive been to countless places and i didnt even have to leave my house ,the knowledge im getting is staggering ,pretty soon i'll be primed for the moon and different star systems that would make even your crew enviuos.

I know, youtube and google earth are great.

 

[HHJ]

I personally wouldn't go to Japan at this time,

why?

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

i love traveling, but i agree with ts in that i hate doing touristy shit, like visiting monuments and what not. that all is garbage and boring as fuck to me unless its something that i was already interested in before decided to travel there.

i dont give a fuck about the eifel tower or the statue of liberty. i travel to eat new foods, see nature, train martial arts at new places, and meet new people

 

[mushishi]

why?

Yen too stronk after Brexit. Used to get 120 JPY for 1 USD, now it's about 100.

 

[HHJ]

i love traveling, but i agree with ts in that i hate doing touristy shit, like visiting monuments and what not. that all is garbage and boring as fuck to me unless its something that i was already interested in before decided to travel there.

i dont give a fuck about the eifel tower or the statue of liberty. i travel to eat new foods, see nature, train martial arts at new places, and meet new people

I try to get a bit of both in. I dont like being around tourists though no matter where i am.

 

[HHJ]

When i went to Paris,fuck i enjoyed seeing the eiffel tower,the catacombes,the notre dame catheredal,the louvre. all that shit is awesome,but i got to do other stuff too,hanging with friends,seeing cool bars, and the ladies.. woooo

 

[lapollarecords]

I don't like the actual travel. plane, bus, etc. but I love being in a new place, speaking foreign languages and spending time with people from different places. I've learnt a lot with it. I was out all year and I'm enjoying home now for the summer, but I am moving somewhere else for 6-12 months soon. make new friends, bang new chicks, learn another language, get some working experience somewhere else. it makes sense for the direction I am going taking in my career and personal life. butI understand that it's not for everyone.

 

[HHJ]

I don't like the actual travel. plane, bus, etc. but I love being in a new place, speaking foreign languages and spending time with people from different places. I've learnt a lot with it. I was out all year and I'm enjoying home now for the summer, but I am moving somewhere else for 6-12 months soon. make new friends, bang new chicks, learn another language, get some working experience somewhere else. it makes sense for the direction I am going taking in my career and personal life. butI understand that it's not for everyone.

how do you do it? im interested in fucking off from home for a time period like that.

 

[lapollarecords]

how do you do it? im interested in fucking off from home for a time period like that.

I looked for a job through ZAV, the german employment office. I moved there a month earlier as a WWOOF volunteer, doing some farmwork in exchange of food and shelter, to sharpen my german. in Austria I worked part time as a private spanish teacher and lived really on the cheap.

now I learned from the first experience and I am planning it differently for the next time, to make it sustainable long term. I will do the CELTA course in september and a 1 year master's in professional translation (mostly from distance). that way I can work as an english teacher, a freelance translator, or a combination of both. probably in Eastern Europe.

where are you planning on going?

 

[bubbleboyjones]

I view traveling more in the sense of a leisure activity. For the most part I don't see it as an accomplishment like graduating from university, learning an art over the course of years, doing something like stand up comedy, performing in a band, sports at a high level...etc. The skills require to travel is quite low and many just get a travel agent so while it's a fun thing and you can learn from it I wouldn't define myself to it like a lot of people who thinks they're Indiana Jones because they went on expedia.

Seriously, the amount of white middle class that have a facebook devoted to traveling, tough mudder and kale shakes is comical.

 

[HHJ]

I looked for a job through ZAV, the german employment office. I moved there a month earlier as a WWOOF volunteer, doing some farmwork in exchange of food and shelter, to sharpen my german. in Austria I worked part time as a private spanish teacher and lived really on the cheap.

now I learned from the first experience and I am planning it differently for the next time, to make it sustainable long term. I will do the CELTA course in september and a 1 year master's in professional translation (mostly from distance). that way I can work as an english teacher, a freelance translator, or a combination of both. probably in Eastern Europe.

where are you planning on going?

I dont know yet. I just know im looking for an oppurtunity to live and work away from here.

 

[gespenst]

Traveling clearly sucks. Sleeping in unknown uncomfortable places and eating food which you can't prove it wasn't pissed into -- what could be better. Jet lag, fucking people every fucking where, I hate people.

Apparently, traveling is for stupid people. Why bother if I can review almost anything on youtube without separating my ass from my chair.

I noticed it long time ago -- stupid people they need impressions, emotions. Rational people operate information and disdain impressions.

 

[RighteousWar]

Anyone else think traveling is overrated? It seems most people around my age or younger are big on traveling. Every other person I’ve met has backpacked around Europe or some shit. And they think they’re enlightened and worldly because they posed on top of the great wall or some shit. Every other chick has dreams of traveling the world. I told one of my friends I’m not a fan of traveling and he couldn’t believe it.

I mean looking at cool shit and taking pics at new places is fun and all but I’m left asking, what do I really get out of all of this other than bragging rights and likes on facebook? I feel like if I travel, it would be to stay at one place for a few months and to get to know the culture and the people as much as I can. For most people I know traveling seems to be a series of taking pics of one famous place and moving on to the next one. The long waits the airport, and sitting on a plane/train/bus for hours, hauling your luggage around, going through customs, etc., don’t seem worth it for me. Don’t get me wrong, if it was paid for and I was granted time off work (like an overseas business trip), I would jump at the opportunity, but using my own money and time doesn’t seem to have a very favorable cost-benefit ratio.

The last time I went “traveling” was going to a beach several hours away from where I live with my friends. The fun of it was getting to hang out with my friends really, not that we were in a different place.

Cliffs: Traveling is meh

TS on the right...

 

[lapollarecords]

Traveling clearly sucks. Sleeping in unknown uncomfortable places and eating food which you can't prove it wasn't pissed into -- what could be better. Jet lag, fucking people every fucking where, I hate people.

Apparently, traveling is for stupid people. Why bother if I can review almost anything on youtube without separating my ass from my chair.

I noticed it long time ago -- stupid people they need impressions, emotions. Rational people operate information and disdain impressions.

watch out, we've got an emotionless, cold blooded badass here.

 

[Deleted member 347815]

I can't stand travelling and I hate listening to an early twenty something year old telling me how they backpacked Europe. I've been to quite a few places and I never actually enjoyed any of the trips.

 

[HHJ]

Traveling changed my life,exposed me to completley different viewpoints and ways of life. People staying in one place their whole life are chickenshit and lazy imo.