4 Reasons traveling is a waste of time

,

I’m growing sour on travel. I have always disliked it. When I was a kid my parents took us all over Europe and the Caribbean, and it really exhausted me. Now that I’m a grown up, I am better able to articulate why I think travel is a waste of time. Here are four reasons why I think the benefits of travel are largely delusional:

1. There are more effective ways to try new things.

While it’s true that learning and broadening your experience is important, doing that one time is quite different from consistently integrating something new into your life. It’s low risk to try something for a week. Which will make more impact on your life: going to Africa for a week and seeing wildlife and living in the jungle, or retooling your weekly schedule so that you take a walk through your local forest preserve once a week? You will have a stronger connection to the forest preserve than the jungle, and you will have a deeper sense of how it grows and changes and how you respond. So if you hope that travel will change how you see the world, doing something each week to see the world differently will have more impact than doing it one time, seven days in a row.

2. Cultural differences are superficial. Economic differences matter.

Don’t tell yourself you travel to learn about different cultures. Because you don’t necessarily learn from people in other cultures. And you don’t need to leave the US to find cultures different from your own.

Frans Johansson writes about diversity, and he says that race is not a indicator of diversity any more—background is. And the most diverse backgrounds come from economic disparity. So a rich white person and a poor white person are more different than a rich white person and a rich black person.

I think this is true across cultures as well. I had a South African roommate in college. But she was just like me: rich, white, Jewish. But when I lived on a French farm for a summer, the big difference between me and the farm family wasn’t that they were French. It was that they were living on a farm. I know this because when they figured out I was unhappy, they sent me to live with their cousins in Lyon—a large city in France—and the cousins were just like me.

3. People who love their lives don’t leave.

Imagine if you were excited to get out of bed every day because you had structured your life so that every day was full of what you have always dreamed of doing. And you were in love with your boyfriend, and your job, and your new handstand in yoga. You love it all—imagine that. Would you want to leave all that behind for two weeks? What would be the point? You’d have more fun at home than away from home. So instead of traveling somewhere, how about figuring out what you’d really love to be doing with your time, and do that? In your real, day-to-day life.

4. Travel is not the time to do deep thinking.

People who need an escape so they can think deeply actually need to add that to their daily life. How about setting aside time to think deeply every few days? Sam Anderson suggests in his article in New York magazine that meditation is so important that people are going to start making time for it in the same way we make time for exercise now. So maybe that travel bug you are feeling is actually a give-me-headspace bug, and if you think you need it only for a couple of weeks, you’re wrong. You need time to think each day. Re-craft your days to honor that need, instead of running away for what can only be a temporary respite.

My guess is that the things you are aiming to accomplish while you travel are generally things you could accomplish on a deeper level if you stayed home and made changes to your life instead of running away. Routine and practice are the keys to giving deeper meaning to your life. Sure, disrupting routine is important for gaining new perspective. But you certainly don’t need to travel to the next country. There is plenty that is new right where you are now. Just look closely.

279 replies
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  1. Isis
    Isis says:

    My life to date has been equally split over India, Fiji, Dubai, New Zealand and Australia (now the U.S) I have to say that I always got much more enjoyment out of living in a different country to understand the cultural differences than travelling to one. However, we did go to Peru for our honeymoon and it makes for better stories than most of my life’s travel experiences. I think this is because we tend to have a compressed set of ‘experiences’ in a 2-3 week vacation. This is then very memorable and useful for impressing people. Recounting the experiences makes me an interesting person in front of other people. Don’t all of us want that in some way? ;)

  2. KateNonymous
    KateNonymous says:

    I disagree with your premise. However, I do think there’s a lot to be said for exploring your own back yard (so to speak). It’s very easy to overlook local attractions, be they natural or manmade, or the economic and social diversity that exists nearby.

    But I think you underestimate the power of culture. You weren’t unhappy on the farm because of how that family earned their living. You were unhappy because you didn’t connect with farming culture. It has a different calendar, clock, and set of priorities than urban culture, which was more familiar to you, even in a foreign language.

  3. Tony Randall
    Tony Randall says:

    PT is only reflecting what most people in the US instinctively know, the vast majority see no value spending time getting a passport. Actually doesn’t it beat you why Americans would travel anywhere else but America? They’ve got everything they need at home. Heck, I heard you can go to Las Vegas and they’ve got the Eiffel Tower there, and gondolas. And P’s right, underneath everybody in the world is the same as Americans, why leave the country to meet a poor Sinhalese farmer’s family when you could spend time with a poor Nebraskan farmer’s family and have just the exact same experience.
    Yessiree!

  4. Jay Godse
    Jay Godse says:

    Hi Penelope.

    The central argument in this post is that people could carve out bits of time in their regular schedule to experience the benefits of travel (e.g. trying new things, doing the things they love, deep thimking). You are theoretically right, but most people (including me) don’t have the discipline to schedule in activities to make this happen. They need travel to force it upon themselves.

    Think religion. Although all religions say that their adherents should be “spiritual” and “righteous” all of the time and have God in their thoughts all of the time, most folks simply don’t. They need stuff like religious rituals, traditions, and holy days to remind them to be Godly. I argue that it is the same for doing what you love, nature walks, trying new things, etc.

    Cheers, Jay

  5. Clare
    Clare says:

    “I don’t think you could convince a Brit” – I’m one and I’m not convinced. Is this a US vs rest of world type difference? That Americans tend not to travel for the sake of it, but you can meet tons of Brits, Europeans, Australians all backpacking through Asia, Africa and Latin America.

    I loved my travelling experiences and met some truly interesting people; took trains through landscapes I’d never seen before (hard to compare India to Oxfordshire) and ate food I could barely recognise. I’m not sure if it’s improved any skills, or made me a better person in any way, but it opened my eyes to realities that were only “concepts” before.

    Someone said that a week on its own wasn’t really enough, and I agree with that, too. To soak it all up and begin to feel more comfortable, a month + is probably better.

  6. Dartboard
    Dartboard says:

    Usually I find your blog interesting Penelope but every one of your arguments in this post are completely ridiculous.

    “And you were in love with your boyfriend, and your job, and your new handstand in yoga. You love it all – imagine that. Would you want to leave all that behind for two weeks?”

    Yeah. Find me one single person who is 100% content with every aspect of their life.

    The hell with that. I’d rather backpack in Italy. Have fun taking a nature walk in your local forest preserve and blogging about how more enlightened you somehow are then the rest of us that enjoy leaving town once in a while.

  7. Billicatons
    Billicatons says:

    I can’t decide which I like more: the post or the comments.

    Seriously, some of the people responding here are absolutely hilarious. There’s nothing more amusing than watching people act all affronted and defensive when they feel their way of life has been insulted …

    I’m pretty sick of the way travel is spoken of as the ultimate experience. Of it being some kind of privileged, 1st-world orthodoxy — a truth universally acknowledged, that one in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a trip to blinkin’ Thailand.

    Tsk.

    The way ‘well-travelled’ people call others narrow-minded when they explain their own reasons for preferring not to travel. Hahaha. I think I know who comes out looking more narrow-minded …

    Great post.

  8. Brian
    Brian says:

    Freudian Slip? The article is by Sam Anderson, not beer-maker Sam Adams. (Nor is it by Portland mayor Sam Adams.)

    • Penelope Trunk
      Penelope Trunk says:

      Oh. Thanks for that. I’m making the change. Maybe Sam will find consolation in the fact that I’ve quoted him three times in three months. So he is a regular here. Well, when his name is right…

      Penelope

  9. Amy
    Amy says:

    You bring up some interesting points… for example, that we should be striving to build the kind of life that doesn’t require a break or vacation.

    Unfortunately, actually achieving that kind of life is extremely difficult. Even if you DID have the perfect life, by chance, sometimes a change in routine and scenery will keep you fresh and (as someone already mentioned) appreciative of what you do have. If someone hasn’t traveled as extensively in their life as you have (or perhaps if it just hasn’t lost its luster for them the way it has for you), traveling is a really fun way to achieve that change in routine and scenery.

    Also, good experiences make us happier than material purchases and at least in my life, the great travel experiences (limited though they are) stand out as some of the greater experiences of my life, ones that I am happy to remember.

  10. Juki Schor
    Juki Schor says:

    With respect to climate change, air and noise pollution as well as land use and resource depletion I think it is not a bad idea to consider getting what we think we need to get through travelling, without travelling.
    Other than that, after being an expat for many years, I feel entitled to say that there are cultural differences beyond the rich/poor or urban/country line (a poor American is still different from a poor German or Chinese or East-Indian, I would say), but it is not quite possible to find those differences out in a 2 week holiday. The key to this is language. It is kind of a prejudice that average Americans (and Germans as well for example) are not really so fond of learning and using other languages. This, however, means that they will perceive every country through the stencil of their own language and of course they see them as alike then, i.e. for an American economic differences level out everything else because basically there is no other criteria for “measuring life” anymore (bad one, I know).
    Otherwise I think there is still a lot of truth in the post.

  11. Jeff Kurts
    Jeff Kurts says:

    I am sure you will find people who agree with this point of view.

    But how come the people who like traveling the most are the most interesting and smart ones?

    I don’t know you, maybe you are interesting and smart. But your blog post bored the hell out of me.

  12. Deanne
    Deanne says:

    I don’t like traveling, either. I’m so glad I’m not the only person who didn’t have their world turned upside down by other people and cultures in another part of the world.

    We’re the same, we’re different – whatever. I like my life, and find enough to stimulate my mind and perspective on the world in books, new people to meet, and new things to try in my own city.

    I don’t hold anything against someone who feels the need to travel to broaden their horizons, so long as they don’t return to criticize everything about their former lives and places of residence.

    Traveling is an exercise of affluence, not a requirement for a life lived well.

  13. Amanda
    Amanda says:

    Agreed.

    And a pet peeve to make this comment more interesting: People who brag about all the great places they went and tell me that I *HAVE* to go there and see these things. It makes me gag.

  14. jenx67
    jenx67 says:

    i absolutely hate traveling. when i worked in air force public affairs, i traveled ALL. THE. TIME. Pretty soon, you don’t know where you are and yo don’t care. all the more reason to live someplace you like or at least near people you love.

  15. fern
    fern says:

    I wholeheartedly disagree with you.

    Traveling to your local park simply does not rejuvenate you with as completely as a real change of scenery does. You need a clean break every now and then to refresh, reinvigorate.

  16. Anca
    Anca says:

    Jeez, Penelope. Fine, for some traveling is a waste of time. For others, going to work more than strictly necessary and having kids are wastes of time, but I don’t see anyone throwing that in your face.

    I’ve taken 5 international trips in the last 3 years and I learned valuable skills during them, not to mention seeing some amazing things (Masada, roman ruins in France, Versailles, the Berlin Philharmonic on fire).

    It would be great if I loved my life too much to leave for 2 weeks, but you know what? After 6 months of being unable to find a job, a trip to Romania and France was a great escape from reality and a rare opportunity to see my grandmother.

  17. Jacqueline
    Jacqueline says:

    I have to agree with Penelope… travel seems like a great idea until I’m actually traveling, and then I’m just tired and in pain and wishing I was home sleeping in my own bed instead.

  18. Van
    Van says:

    I agree with everything in the post. I take this from it:

    Penelope is saying the TYPICAL reasons why most people want to travel abroad can be easily remedied at home. And it's true. Most vacations are not relaxing getaways. If you hike, travel, and explore another country you'll get home more tired than when you started.

    That being said, I'm saving up to travel next year. I cherish my memories of living overseas, I remember every place I've traveled to fondly. I love to experience different cultures, to see new sights and sounds, and to capture all the same mundane things that show how humans are all culturally different yet fundamentally the same. I'm willing to pay for an experience, because it's a worthwhile investment just like taking a paycut for a job that will give you more experience can be worth it for your career. I could spend $500 on an outfit and it'll be worn out next year, I'll be tired of it. But $500 on plane tickets is an experience I'll never regret that will last a lifetime.

  19. Ari Herzog
    Ari Herzog says:

    The first time I visited San Francisco’s Chinatown, I entered a restaurant at the suggestion of Fodor’s. The food was OK, but it was nothing I couldn’t order in Boston’s Chinatown–but moreover, the patronage were all tourists who likely read similar recommendations.

    A few days later, I returned to Chinatown but without a destination in mind other than to find a place to eat lunch. I wandered up streets, down alleyways, tried to find the real people, the neighborhood, and walked to wherever they walked to lunch. I found a place. A white guy, I was among the ethnic minority. The menu was in Cantonese, no English. The waiter spoke broken English. I pointed at menu pictures and used my hands to draw shapes. The food was delicious–but moreover, I felt like I was visiting San Francisco’s Chinatown.

    Sure, I could experience the same in Boston but that’s not the point. Travel is about going to a new place. But if everyone does the same thing as you, it’s not new and that’s where your words are true. However, you’re making blanket statements and that’s why I disagree.

  20. Erin
    Erin says:

    I wasn’t born into a wealthy family, but my parents did make sacrifices so that we could travel and experience not only different countries, but also other parts of our own country.

    As an adult, I travel when I can. Here are 7 reasons why it isn’t a waste of time, from my perspective (and for my career):

    1) Planes can be great networking opportunities… if you’re lucky

    2) If you play tourist, guided tours, museums, etc – more great networking opportunities (landed a contract job in a pub while travelling once)

    3) It opens your eyes to different ways of doing things, and innovative ways to tackle problems

    4) It can be a great start to learning a new language – multilingualism is often a good way to stand out in your career

    5) Being in a creative field, having to navigate a completely foreign city lets me exercise a different part of my brain and keep skills in tune that I don’t get to use much in my current job (and may come in handy in a future position)

    6) As an introvert, travelling forces me to interact with strangers – somehow, I feel less self-conscious when it’s clear I’m a tourist (it’s like a built in excuse), so it’s an opportunity to increase my comfort levels for when I get back to the home stage

    7) New stimulates new – When I’m experiencing something new, it seems to stimulate that part of my brain that produces new ideas. True, there are plenty of new things I can try at home, but nothing compares to being completely immersed in “new” – sights, sounds, tastes, smells that I’ve never experienced before, or even ones that I’ve only experienced once or twice in my life. Combined with the knowledge that I physically cannot retreat to my comfort zones, it’s an eye and mind-opener like no other.

    I don’t disagree with this post overall – I’m sure many share your sentiments. However, for myself, I’ve always had a different perspective.

    For the record, I love my life, love my home, love my job, love my boyfriend, love my cat, love my family, love my friends, love my city… I’m not a morning person, so I don’t wake up bouncing out of bed, but I love coffee, so I do wake up happy :)

  21. Renee
    Renee says:

    I agree with this post, I have found myself thinking I would experience some deep revelations while travelling, while really my aim is to not get mugged, lost or sick.

    The only addition I have is to mention the health risks associated with travelling, whether we realize it or not we take this risk on when we venture out.

  22. Curmudgeon
    Curmudgeon says:

    I am really sorry that you were wealthy and worldly enough to travel internationally while growing up. I never even had the opportunity to eat in a restaurant until I was in my 20s. To me travel means the opportunity to see and try things that were never available during my formative years.

  23. John
    John says:

    > How about setting aside time to think deeply every few
    > days?

    Why don’t you try it, Penelope, and report back to us?

  24. John
    John says:

    Penelope, this is the best example yet of why you’re so stupid and narrow, and think you’re so clever and smart. I’m sure you think you have nothing new to learn from traveling. But you only learn as much as you’re open to. Since traveling is about being open to other things and people and putting yourself and your own show on the back burner, it’s not surprising you don’t get it. Narcissists generally don’t.

  25. Elizabeth
    Elizabeth says:

    I just want to say that for me, I think traveling is the most useful and broadening experience a person can have in their lives. The most boring and narrow-minded people I have ever met are those that were born in one state and have never left, not even to travel to another state (for heaven’s sake)! Traveling gets you to see how other people walk, talk, eat and live, and how that is different from what you are used to. It just isn’t the same if you stay in your little known-world. Well-traveled people *tend* to be more likely to speak other languages, and have more tolerance for other countries and cultures. This is of course a generalization based on my own personal experiences with people.

  26. Jessica
    Jessica says:

    One of the stupidest posts you’ve ever written. It just makes you seem like the stereotypical American without a passport. Number 3 is my favourite in terms of ignorance. I travel BECAUSE I love my life- I like that I have a job that means I can afford to go overseas and that allows me to take time off for other things. I have risen in my field very quickly but I’m not as delusional as you appear to be in that I recognise there is more to life than work. Travelling also makes you appreciate what you have back at home. I’m Australian and I absolutely loved travelling around the States but it made me grateful for two things in particular.
    a) That we have a universal health care system.
    b) That our workers don’t have to rely on tips to maintain a decent standard of living.
    c) That we don’t have the death penalty.

    I think travel would also teach you how to better relate to people (and perhaps get rid of that all-encompassing sense of superiority you seem to have).

    • Kris
      Kris says:

      Another non-American with a similar thought to my own. As a Canadian reading this post, I was struck by how stereotypically American it is.
      When I did a lot of traveling as a 20-something post-grad I was brought to tears by a couple of things: 1) how humbling it was to have my value system completely rocked when meeting people who had ‘real’ life struggles and 2)the sad state of many of the American travelers I encountered who approached new people and cultures with an arrogance that was nothing short of loathesome.
      I know there are an abundance of American people who are worldly and empathetic, but with comments like this PT has effectively put herself in a small-minded category. I’ve lost a definite degree of respect with this one…

      • EVN
        EVN says:

        @Kris (from Canada): Although I don’t agree entirely with the thrust of this post, I think that you may have missed one of its central tenants. As a fellow Canadian, I can say with confidence that you don’t need to travel to be “completely rocked” by people’s real life struggles. The challenges and conditions in many formerly resource-dependent small communities in Canada, to say nothing of the majority of First Nation communities, are enough to bring you to your knees. All the more so because a) this is so far from the experience of “countrymen” such as you and I, and b) because we are largely unaware of these realities within our own borders. The kind of economic and social disparity that is often so eye-opening in travel can be found at home too, and I think that this is an important point that PT states well above.

        Hopefully this post will lead those of us who enjoy travel to reflect on why we do it, to be honest with ourselves about what we gain from it, and to work to integrate some of the benefits of travel into our daily lives. That’s what I’ll be taking away! That said, I don’t think this post actually makes a persuasive argument that travel is a waste of time any more so than any other personal leisure activity (commenting on blogs, for instance).

  27. hamish
    hamish says:

    enough of what i was thinking has been said especially the first comment about this blog’s strategy and that’s why this is the last post i read before hitting the unsubscribe button.

    oh and americans need to see the world more not less. people do relate better when they begin talking.

  28. MeredithElaine
    MeredithElaine says:

    My boyfriend and I are saving money (well, probably spending a bit too much, honestly – we can barely afford it) to take a week long trip to Seattle during the holidays. This will be the first vacation we’ve taken together (in 4 years as a couple) that doesn’t involve visiting either of our families.

    Travel is nice, if you can afford it. An earlier commenter mentioned taking 6 months off to travel to India. I’d like to know how many people that’s actually feasible for?

    So many places in the world that I’d like to see…but know that I most likely never will.

  29. pj
    pj says:

    Brad and Juki, you both mention the environmental impact of travel. When people speak of casually flitting off across the world, I cringe–this attitude that travelling is a right has created a carbon-belching culture that’s contributed enormously to climate change (along with industry, of course).

  30. Nathaniel
    Nathaniel says:

    Broadly I agree with you, Penelope. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with travel. The reason why I’ve disliked it you hit on hard with #3: I’m mostly pretty happy with my life, and travel shakes up what I’m trying to make into an enjoyable day-to-day routine. But I still find travel often-enjoyable in spite of the annoyance, because travel is a great shared social experience with whomever I’m traveling with.

    Of course, travel is also a traumatically expensive and inefficient way to simply socialize.

  31. Tim
    Tim says:

    #s 1 and 3 are not necessarily true, actually.
    #4 is also not always true.

    Allow me to explain.

    I LOVE snowboarding. Snowboarding in Australia is increasingly expensive and marginal.

    I can therefore effectively go overseas and spend less money (I am not joking) chasing the powder dragon in Canada and the US and NZ.

    #3: I love my life, and adore travelling, but not for more than 2-3 weeks, depending on what I am doing. IF one of the things I love doing (surfing, snowboarding or cycling) is involved, and I have the net so I can keep my business stuff up to date, I can stay away. If not, all I want to do is get home. So, it depends on the travelling.

    #4 Disagree entirely.
    If you need to think, travelling intra or internationally, you can, for instance, go somewhere and unplug for a week, and surf, do yoga, whatever and just be, and think.

    Cheers

  32. Grace
    Grace says:

    I do not enjoy travel. For me, it is usually more trouble than it is worth. It is like a wedding day – months of preparation for a fleeting moment of what should be bliss but often ends up being stressful anyway.

    The upside of travel is that when travelling, you give yourself permission to do things you wouldn’t normally do. You try new things. You shop for pleasure. You allow yourself to be in unfamiliar surroundings because it is only for a finite time. We can’t do these things on a daily basis in our own cities because (a) we’d feel guilty at the expense of time and money, (b)we would be afraid of being judged (go to a nude beach on vacation – interesting, go to a nude beach every weekend – creepy), and(c)we don’t have the discipline to take regular time for self.

  33. SaraH
    SaraH says:

    I read most of the comments down to Natalie, and I agree with her. You know what all this traveling has taught me? Family and friends are what’s important. Not necessarily that they’re all that matters, but that’s pretty much the crux of why I love to travel. Sure, I like seeing beautiful places and meeting new people and hearing new perspectives and languages. But mostly I travel to visit friends. Of course, though, that begets more travel and work with international companies. Friends move, you go to new places.

    Recently I spent 2 months visiting friends and volunteering my time at different projects going on in Tanzania, Morocco, and western Europe. Most of that I wouldn’t have done if not for the friends I already had: open doors inviting me in. Definitely the best way to travel. Seeing the world through the eyes of locals and expats, without stepping foot into any hotel.

  34. Bill
    Bill says:

    Good bye, Penelope.

    Not so long ago, I loved your blog. In fact, it was you who got me started reading blogs. Before that, I really wasn’t hip on the whole blog trend. So, I owe you many thanks. Indeed, thank you, many times over.

    As for reading your blogs and posts, specifically, I am done. You’ve become increasingly egotistical and egocentric, rather than informative and enlightening. Maybe you’re stuck in a rut. Maybe you, in fact, need a vacation!

    Alas, farewell. I don’t need to hear you proselytize about travel — much less that you tried to give yourself a Brazilian. You’re officially no longer professional, much less a professional resource.

    Adios!

    P.S. I don’t disagree with or discount your perspectives on travel, per se. I absolutely love to travel, but it is not and does not have to be in the absence of self-exploration or local exploration. You seem to often see things as black or white, when in fact they are quite grey. In that sense, you really have a way of twisting things… Or maybe you just can’t express what you’re really thinking, which makes you a poor writer.

  35. deepali
    deepali says:

    Well, if I had only been to the Caribbean and Europe, I would find travel pointless too. My guess is that by Caribbean you mean “island resort” and by Europe, you mean “Western Europe”. Blech. That’s not travel, just tourism, and Americans make the worst kind.

    The funny thing about this piece is that all those things you suggest people do instead? Those who truly travel (by which I mean more than a week or so here or there) probably do those things too.

    • KateNonymous
      KateNonymous says:

      “by Europe, you mean “Western Europe”. Blech. That’s not travel, just tourism, and Americans make the worst kind.”

      Wow, way to dismiss nationalities, people, and cultures of an entire region! And polls show that Americans aren’t actually the worst kind of tourists. We’re not the best (Japanese and British), but we are far from the worst–that would be the French, except for when it’s Germans or Indians. However, we do dress badly.

      And how’s that for stereotyping and oversimplifying?

    • Shefaly
      Shefaly says:

      Deepali:

      PT is 43 or so. When she was a child, Eastern Europe was not open to general tourism. She was also a young child which means she probably did not have enough context to appreciate The Last Supper or The Louvre. Her family, of her own description, has not been the kindest to her so it is hard to say she was enjoying herself in their company very much. An armchair psychologist may stretch and say that those travels have nasty associations in her head so she likes to say “all travel is bad”. In the recent years, she has clearly not travelled. She has young children with special needs, a job, writing responsibilities etc so she may not be able to travel for some time. (All this by the way is public information about her, not rocket science).

      That said, that generalisation about Americans is uncalled for. I would highly recommend searching “Indians rudest travellers” and look at the search results. If nothing, this post should be entertaining: http://bit.ly/1JrTpK

      Why am I saying this to you? Well, because your name suggests to me that you are Indian (as am I). And I do think that seeing as we are the new pots, we can scarcely call kettles black, can we? (Yes, probably you and I are exceptions but so what? Does everyone who looks at us from a distance know or care?)

      Thanks.

  36. Tales From A Bar Stool
    Tales From A Bar Stool says:

    This post is narrow minded and ignorant. I only just started reading your blog and I am not sure if I will continue. Travel opens up your mind to new cultures and experiences. It enriches the soul. You are no better than Sarah Palin who is so “worldly” because she can see Russia from her home. Honestly, I think it’s Americans like you who give your country a bad name. No offense…

  37. Sarah Dillon
    Sarah Dillon says:

    I love to travel. Correction: I love to live for an extended period of time in different locations, countries, etc. I love it because it shakes me up, forces me to confront the world in a way I don’t seem able to recreate once I’m “home” (where-ever that is these days). The learning curve is so steep that I get dizzy.

    I learn a lot about myself and about other people when I take myself out of my comfort zone in this particular way. I think if more people did this, through travel, or whatever other method works for them, the world would be a better place.

    However I accept Penelope’s point that a lot of this could be found at home. I also agree that it’s important to think about why you like travelling, and then try to apply this to your everyday life. Because this is the proof that you’ve really learnt something.

    Of course the truth is, that’s hard: it’s easier to run away to a new place where no-one knows you or your background. It’s easier to recreate yourself afresh than to tinker away on your day-to-day self. It’s easier to be open-minded, interesting and interested when you’re the new person in the room, instead of among people who’ve known you for longer than a year and have a fuller picture of who you really are. There’s a lot you don’t have to face when you’re still in “early relationship” phase with your home, your job, your friends, your hobbies, your city or town, your country. I know, because I’ve been there many, many times.

    I feel sorry for people who act like travelling is the be all and end all. Because while it can certainly be a very important learning process, it doesn’t in itself make you a better person. It is simply a means to an end, and there are a lot of other ways to get to that same end. It doesn’t matter where Penelope has or hasn’t been to. What matters is she gets this.

    Because if you don’t understand this, travelling is a massive waste of time and money, just a self-indulgent exercise. (Some of the most well-travelled people I know fall into this category.) This is the point I take from Penelope’s post, and I think it’s a good one.

    • Taylor
      Taylor says:

      I was just thinking that – travelling, for me, is an amazing experience that allows me to at the very least see foreign architecture. At best, get to know people I never would have had the opportunity to meet, and do things I wouldn’t otherwise do. It makes me appreciate what I have, not because other people are “worse off” or because of my “stuff,” but because I know my life and what I’ve built and what I’m coming home to. Sometimes you need to step outside of it to keep from getting jaded and complacent.

  38. AmyAnne
    AmyAnne says:

    Ok. I agree with you on all points, but none of them convince me that traveling is a waste of time. And more importantly I would like to add the value of quality time spent in another country/state/town has always given me perspective on #1 How similar people are all over the world. Our worries, or desires, or dreams…they are replicated in every culture. Spending 21 days in Brazil with my family, staying with another family was so brilliant. We realized how similar we are across cultures and reveled in it. #2 What the great things are about my community and new things that are great about other communities. I loved having neighbors drop by from miles around, without calling or scheduling, just to say hi and have a beer when I spent 2 months on a ranch in the desert with my kids.

    What a great discussion!

  39. Rio Gringa
    Rio Gringa says:

    Hi Penelope,

    While I appreciate some of your career advice, I have to say that not only is your post factually incorrect as well as lacking in logic:
    –we can meet so many international people in big American cities because THEY, in fact, have travelled
    –studies have been done that prove those who have lived abroad are more creative than those who have not

    But what irks me the most is that it’s a dangerous post.

    Many Americans share your perspective, and the United States’ lack of interest in the rest of the world and its stubborn unwillingness to look to other countries to share ideas and create ties is what is keeping us behind as a nation. It is extremely upsetting to me that you would write this not so much as an op-ed piece, but as an article, like it’s the gospel. It’s mentalities like this that prevent us from moving forward as individuals and as a nation.

    • Sarah Dillon
      Sarah Dillon says:

      I think your ire is misdirected, Rio Gringa, if I may be so bold. Surely the real issue is with the people who are so small-minded in the first place, that they might take a piece like this and use as it gospel or ammunition for their close-minded worldviews? I think Penelope is entitled to express her views (because that’s all they are), without having to censor herself because her points might or might not be misused by a particular section of society.

      The problem remains that people with insular mentalities are created and indeed fostered within American (and many other) societies. Drowning out a perfectly valid perspective just because some people might use it to further their own narrow-minded cause is surely more ‘dangerous’ than the fact that this opinion was expressed in the first place? I reckon that’s what you need to be irked about, not PT’s views.

      • Rio Gringa
        Rio Gringa says:

        Not at all, Sara. It’s feeding narrow-minded people with ludicrous drivel like this that has resulted in things like the birther movement and angry mobs at health care town hall meetings. I’m all for expressing your opinion, but when it could be potentially harmful, that’s when you need to step back and re-evaluate what your real intentions are. Here, it appears she wanted comments and controversy, but this is the kind of post that makes you lose readers.

  40. Dips
    Dips says:

    I agree. Travel is more about taking a break from the daily routine – because the daily routine is so bad you need to take a break from it! Once a year is fine, but too much and you know your life isnt going great.
    And the more I travel, the more I realise people all over the world are the same. Just the same. Only the economics differ, and the way to say thank you differs.

  41. Irina I
    Irina I says:

    A very interesting post, Penelope. I say interesting because you kind of screwed yourself over by writing THE POST and now every one of them will be compared to that one, which was truly great. So every other post kind of pales in comparison…:-)…Moving on…

    1. I agree with your point #1. I think this is mostly because people have the wrong idea about what travel really is. They want to escape their reality, feel free, try new things. But why would you want to subject that to yourself only to go back to your reality? That is so unsatisfying.
    2. I agree with your point #4. Travel is NOT the time to do deep thinking. Seriously, whenever one sets aside time to do deep thinking and maybe draw a flowchart of who they are, they always end up surfing the Internet or watching some stupid TV show on Hulu (okay, maybe I was projecting a little bit there). And whenever I travel, instead of doing deep thinking and writing in my journal, I invariably end up trying to find all the cute guys in sight and then flirt with any one of them.

    So what is travel and is it really useless? For me, travel has never been about exploring a new country or resting. Or at least, resting has never been the goal. My friends ask me why I always max out my vacation either in Paris or Russia/Ukraine instead of exploring a new place (and then they tell me that I should go to somewhere in Europe or Hawaii or just explore a new place, to which I roll my eyes and tell them that the most fun that I ever have in my life, year after year, takes place in Ukraine, which I visit, year after year). And the reason is that travel is a way to experience a life that is also you, but that for some reason you are not able to experience every day.

    Russia is me. I feel at home there, but due to circumstances, I grew up and work in the United States. But for three weeks a year, I get the chance to go back to my family, to my friends and to experience life and happiness and fulfillment and satisfaction in a completely different way, but in a completely native and soulful environment.

    Same thing happens in Paris. I feel like I am one with that city when I am there and I truly love it.

    So whenever I have some vacation time and my vacation fund is not completely dried up, I hurry to either Paris or Russia. Yes, I’ve been there a million times, but I feel so entirely fulfilled when I am there that I cannot think of any other place I would want to go. And I end up resting there emotionally.

    And that is the true value of travel. To feel the place you are in, to be part of its daily life and to be happy just being part of it. And that kind of travel is truly a rest for the soul.

    Finally, I am currently reading Eat, Pray, Love where the heroine does exactly this – she immerses herself into Italy, India and Indonesia several months at a time because she wants to not study those cultures, but to live and breathe them.

  42. Marc
    Marc says:

    I couldn’t agree more !
    In fact, this summer I chose not to leave for vacation, which I used to do every summer. So far, this has been the richer summer in a long time, just discovering everything that’s around where I live, and enjoying the long days with neighbors and local friends.

  43. marie Taylor
    marie Taylor says:

    mmmmmmm VERY interesting post brazen woman.
    Isn’t it strange how we call travel “escape”, that all the marketing is geared towards “escape” “far away” and ” a little bit of luxury”. Now I am with you on the stay in your own life and enjoy waking up every day i really am. I love travel though and I love the fact that people everywhere are in some way always just like you and me. Same desires same maslowvian wants. The differences are what make us interested in the culture aren’t they and we thrive on learning and new for the most part-tis how we evolve after all.
    But interestingly as I am about to fly off to France for a week of restful retreat , yoga and no mobile I expect the escape, and i expect to meet some interesting folks and I expect to recharge and reconnect.
    London is a funny place in august ( if you live here ) and whilst i love my life and can get in touch with it fairly readily, the energy in london is different in august. The tourists are here ( we love you and need you so keep coming), half the working population is on holiday and you can’t really get work and social life on track in the same way as usual, it’s a great time to be a tourist in your own city- or is it? because every time you are out in the throngs of tourists you berate yourself for not making the most of London when its quieter. I’m off travelling and I’m not running away. I’m having a mini escape to a different environment where I will think differently and refresh. When I get back I will continue to try new things, stay not run away, and think deeply. Enjoy.. Marie

  44. shiroh
    shiroh says:

    To each his/her own really and this post is no different. I was born and raised on a small caribbean island and have lived in US and Europe and visited a few other places on this earth and from my experience even though economic situations might provide some similar experiences it is the cultural differences that are most abundant. I grew up in humble surroundings and even though I’m of East Indian descent I’ve met Indians who grew up under similar economic decisions yet we were very different based on cultural influences.

    The world is a big place and there is so much to see and do and experience. History is alive around the world, try the none TV version of the world and you may actually like it.

  45. Kay Lorraine
    Kay Lorraine says:

    Jeepers, Penelope! You sure seem to have pissed off a lot of people with this post. Personally, I find travel very refreshing. I come home with a different point of view – one that I would have never found by staying home. But, hey, that’s just me. You are lucky that you got to travel extensively as a young person. For those of us who were not so lucky, some of us are just making up for lost time.

  46. nellie
    nellie says:

    I disagree with most of your post, but I can say, I grew up in a small town north of Madison, Wisconsin and my first international experience was spending 3 months in London. I thought EVERYTHING was amazing…and I loved it and thought it was so diverse and filled with culture, etc etc. Then a few years later I moved to a big city in the United States and realized that much of what I loved about London, were the things that all big cities tended to have. Duh! So, why was I so in love with London or was it just the big city life? I went back twice since then and have discovered the little nuances and the little things that make London so great and why I love being there. It was a shift away from what I think was purely superficial or just someone who lived in a rural community discovering the perks of a big city ;)

    Only 10% of college students travel or study abroad and I would imagine that many of their parents have similar mindsets to what you post in this blog and it seems in some ways that my original study abroad experience would reflect the same sentiment. But, I’d still encourage every single person I meet to do it and am astonished that that statistic is so low.

    I know people who are over the age of 30 who have never been on a plane (and not because they are afraid to fly or can’t afford to do so) or people who think Las Vegas is the cultural mecca of the United States. Why go to Paris when you can see the Eiffel Tower on the Vegas strip and get a free all you can eat buffet while you’re at it? This is a mindset that irks me.

    My dad just recently had his first experience travelling to Europe – something he never wanted to do but was part of a cultural goodwill trip for work with nuns who run schools and hospitals in Italy and Germany. He had a truly unique experience- one that most would never get on a two week vacation and met some truly wonderful and beautiful people who live very different lives from he and the other hospital administrators that he travelled with. Sure, he spoke on the phone with these women from time to time or saw pictures they’d send…but being there and meeting them and sharing a meal and having them show him “their Rome” is unique and something that he will carry with him always and something that helps continue their legacy for the work they have set out to do.

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