Anyone else notice travel is becoming easier, cheaper, and fueling social media envy?

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Lemon
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Re: Anyone else notice travel is becoming easier, cheaper, and fueling social media envy?

Post by Lemon »

I would Agree with @victor places very feel different, maybe less than in an age of cheap travel but I haven't been alive outside an age of cheap travel so can't really compare. The place which most felt same was different bits of the US and even there there were some significant differences. Obviously if you are gonna go, sit in a hotel/hostel, look at 2-3 major attractions over a weekend, and then leave it isn't gonna feel all that different.

But yes, it is cheap and commodified because that is what people want. It is causing degradation of the experience at major tourists sites especially in the age of the internet where googling 'top 10 places to visit in X' means everyone goes there and does the same thing damaging the structures as a result. Lots of major European attractions have this sort of issue.

Travel can cause personal growth but more likely if something challenging or living in a new place for a period of time. It isn't automatically meaningful.

Solvent
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Re: Anyone else notice travel is becoming easier, cheaper, and fueling social media envy?

Post by Solvent »

Well saying different places feel the same might be going too far, but I do think a great many places are 'converging' in their feel. They might not be all the same (yet), but I do think they're getting closer. And I think tourism and cheap flights/more extensive flight networks are contributing to this.

Travel's been a status marker for a long time though. Instagram and Facebook have absolutely increased the importance of getting that perfect snap in a particular location. There are definitely crowded selfie spots that, 10 years ago, wouldn't have been so vital on the tourist itinerary.

It's pretty simple to find places that are less globalised and more unique, if that's your thing. Just go further from major airports, and look for places with less prevalent english language proficiency (english being the major language of globalised culture).

I personally think that travel can be a good personal growth thing, especially for younger people. Rather than pointing out that it educates you about different ways of life, I would hope that it educates you about the similarities of people. People across a border aren't fundamentally different, 'other', worse people than people of your nationality, and I'd like to think that travel can help one internalize this.

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Seppia
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Re: Anyone else notice travel is becoming easier, cheaper, and fueling social media envy?

Post by Seppia »

On the surface, yes, many traveling experiences are converging in terms of feel, and that is for sure a consequence of cheaper travel (among other things).

But scratch this surface and the world is still an amazingly diverse place with so many amazing things to see.
Finding those things requires a bit more effort than "buy cheap prepackaged vacation (with free unlimited margaritas!) and take a few selfies where instructed", but nothing has changed, really.
It just took more effor to travel.

Tangent: I believe it always takes a bit of effort to experience great things.
Want to really enjoy playing basketball? You have to at least put in the effort to learn the basics.
Want to cook great meals at home? Have to practice as well
Want to fully understand and appreciate the greatness of Kandinsky or Kupka? It's better if you read up a bit about the cultural background of the era, and the process that brought them from figurative to abstract art.
And so on.

IlliniDave
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Re: Anyone else notice travel is becoming easier, cheaper, and fueling social media envy?

Post by IlliniDave »

A small subset of my age cohort (i.e., parents of millennials) seem to have this bug. Even aside from their exotic travel selfies their social media activity follows a pattern. They make the same type of comments about the same events, share the same political meme's, etc. So I'm thinking the role of travel is just part of a bundle of traits for their socioeconomic/sociopolitical tribe. I think the cost is driven more by fuel costs as jacob suggested. My own travel experiences are pretty lame as the wanderlust gene seems to have skipped me. I only show up in my own "travel" photos while assisting a fish in having it's picture made before being released. Definitely not one of the cool kids.

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conwy
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Re: Anyone else notice travel is becoming easier, cheaper, and fueling social media envy?

Post by conwy »

TheWanderingScholar wrote:
Fri Jan 11, 2019 11:36 pm
Living in other countries is different and more challenging, if you are unable to change.
I've travelled in parts of Europe, Asia and America easily, but just moving from Australia to the UK for 1.5 years has been a culture shock and a few other shocks too. And these are two extremely similar cultures in many ways, at least in terms of the European aspect of Australia. Definitely has changed me a bit as a person.

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