100% travel has been so stripped of wonder and adventure. I loathe “destination resorts” where you take a plane to chill in an hotel with a pool and buffet, which is identical to the thousands of destination resorts all over the world. a vacation in a Thailand resort is practically the same as a vacation in a Mexican resort.
The greatest travels I’ve ever been on have been the disasters, when stranded, when forced to socialize and integrate, to learn about the actual world in which people live and work and play. I’ve lost luggage and had losses, but bathed in jungle waterfalls and helped locals prepare feasts and stayed with the kindest people on Earth for weeks or months and it absolutely reshapes your perspectives of the whole world.
The most boring have been trips to hotels. What’s the point of going around the world if you’re on a bed watching cable TV and there’s a 7-11 in the downstairs lobby.
What’s frustrating about talking about this is invariably I run into some well-off liberal American who talks about how they also promote “adventure” vacations where they stay in like, a Yurt in the woods and pay more money to get away from tourist locations, but really it’s just another instagram background for their timeline. Discomfort is what makes us grow, not views.
Reading your post and looking back makes me realize that some of my best travel experiences were when, for some reason or other, things got out of control.
100% travel has been so stripped of wonder and adventure. I loathe “destination resorts” where you take a plane to chill in an hotel with a pool and buffet, which is identical to the thousands of destination resorts all over the world. a vacation in a Thailand resort is practically the same as a vacation in a Mexican resort.
leaving the traveler with zero personal growth
The greatest travels I’ve ever been on have been the disasters, when stranded, when forced to socialize and integrate, to learn about the actual world in which people live and work and play. I’ve lost luggage and had losses, but bathed in jungle waterfalls and helped locals prepare feasts and stayed with the kindest people on Earth for weeks or months and it absolutely reshapes your perspectives of the whole world.
The most boring have been trips to hotels. What’s the point of going around the world if you’re on a bed watching cable TV and there’s a 7-11 in the downstairs lobby.
What’s frustrating about talking about this is invariably I run into some well-off liberal American who talks about how they also promote “adventure” vacations where they stay in like, a Yurt in the woods and pay more money to get away from tourist locations, but really it’s just another instagram background for their timeline. Discomfort is what makes us grow, not views.
100% Travel isn’t what’s fun. is the adventure, being open to the chaos of humanity in unknown places.
resorts are the opposite. once travel is “safe” and predictable, it’s the exact opposite of what those vacation ads sell
Reading your post and looking back makes me realize that some of my best travel experiences were when, for some reason or other, things got out of control.
As a species, we are wired by millions of years of adaptation to do just that… find new situations to adapt to. Complacency breeds discontent.