The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: M.Butterfly on June 16, 2017, 10:35:50 AM
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I am the same, the only traveling I really want to do once FIRE is visiting family, I have family in 4 different countries across the world so this requires some decent travel. However having travelled a lot in my youth across Europe I don't have a lot of interest in traveling much beyond visiting family.
It's not an anxiety ting for me, just that it isn't really worth the hassle to me to go to tons of places and spend a lot of time traveling.
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I really love traveling, but on some level I'm envious of you. Traveling can be expensive.
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I'm less than a moderate traveler I think. I don't go doing travel crazy every weekend. We do some beaches in the right season once or twice. That's it. Other than that visiting my home country once in 2 years. But I have some travel related items in the bucket list. To visit Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Dubai, Maldives, London, and Paris. Then some road trips all over India and US. I should do this all in next 30 years. Argg.
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I could be quite happy staying at home or traveling only a couple of times per year. IOW, I don't *love* travel.
My job is such that I have employees in 8 locations around the globe and end up making Delta Diamond (~125K "butt in seat" miles per year) by the middle of summertime, so I get more than enough travel foisted upon me. When I took this role, I expected that I'd dread the travel, but I've mostly gotten used to it. Now, the drag is just the logistics of it and missing the kids while I'm on business trips.
When I retire, I do expect that we'll amp up the personal travel quite a bit.
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I enjoy local travel - day trips, weekends or weeks in the mountains or at the beach, etc.
I'm not really that into the idea of international travel, though.... I hate the headaches that come with flying and I'm intimidated by international differences in laws/culture/etc. I'm much more a nature-person than a history-person or culture-now, so I feel like there's more than enough nature here in the U.S. to keep me busy for a lifetime!!
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I feel this way too. I've never been interested in travelling. However, now that I have a three year old and an infant, DH and I thinking of places within the States that we can take them too. We are looking for outdoorsy and/or educational value, with more interest in the outdoorsy/hiking/exploration.
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My partner and I have each lived in multiple countries. My previous passport required additional pages and had one page that was black from stamps because so many bored agents flipped it open, got their thumb stuck on a particularly thick visa, and stamped the next page without looking.
And yet, we are currently known homebodies and have rarely left this city since moving here three years ago, and then only with or to visit family.
Meanwhile, we are saving up for a retirement of global slow travel. This allows you to be a homebody with your home in a new location every few months...
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Traveling can be good, I think I heard it before that traveling does not necessarily mean "vacation". You travel because you want to see new places, experience new things, there are many hassles with this, getting to the airport, flying, time zones, different countries, taxis, hotels, etc. I wouldn't travel just to travel (unless you get a great deal maybe), but travel to do something you enjoy. If you enjoy the outdoors, travel somewhere that has amazing outdoors.
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I don't like to travel either, the only times I've taken a plane in the past five years have been to visit family. I have no desire to travel outside the US (except for visiting my SO's family in the UK, and even that I'm not looking forward to as much as I wish I was.) I don't even really enjoy travelling around the country, I'd rather have stay-cations, day trips, and visits to family be all the travelling I have to do. Definitely does make me feel out of place around here, occasionally, so I'm glad to know there's others who feel that way.
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Being in the 'love to travel' camp, I'd love to know why you have the preference to stay close to home. Genuinely, I actually wish I had more of that myself- it'd be cheaper!
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I'm very much an individualist, and get why you love to stay home; everyone should be free to live their lives to suit them, and you not travelling is hardly harming anyone. You do have a point on air travel, that we all tend to gloss over the environmental impact.
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Its is complicated. Up until a few years ago I flew a lot for work, mostly on short notice.
I actually sort of like flying, zero responsibilities, no internet, free movies, free booze (but yes I do see the environmental impact). I think the biggest reason I dont like traveling is the hotels. The trough of scrambled eggs all hotels have is the stuff of nightmares. And I always sleep poorly the first few nights.
You can have fun traveling on vacation but really deep down unless you are happy in your own head while at home you wont be happy while on vacation. The vacation might provide a distraction and fun but at the end of the day it wont make you happy.
Also I think what you get on most vacations is a very superficial interaction with the locals. I have found that the cashiers at Panera are basically the same everywhere. I think I would like to go somewhere cool for a month (English speaking only!) and learn the place and half way live like a local that might be fun.
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Before I retired, I would have said that I wasn't into travel, and I didn't expect to travel at all in retirement. A couple of things changed that.
Firstly, someone told me I traveled all the time, and pointed out the 7.5 hours it takes me to drive to where my parents live, the trips I enjoy, camping at different places around this wonderful country. And I do. Since I retired, the trips to my parents' get broken by visiting something different on the way each time.
Secondly, I wanted to go to Turkey for the commemorations for the Gallipoli landings 100 years before. And when I went, I found just how different other countries are to my land. It made me more aware of the uniqueness that is Australia. As a result, I have gone to other countries as well. I do think travel broadens your outlook (if you are prepared for it - so many people put a destination on their bucket list, because it is on everyone else's, and ask what they should do there when they arrive).
For us, going overseas is REALLY going over seas - it's not like just about everywhere else, where you can go a few miles and cross a border. When it can take 50 hours of travel by plane to get somewhere that looks comparatively close on the maps (because planes go to South America via North America for example), going for a reasonable amount of time is the only way to travel (in my opinion). But I miss Australia so much when I have been away for two months, that it is really time to go home again.
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I'm not into travel. I spent my formative years being hauled all over the globe. I went to 10 different schools in 4 different cities, in two different countries. Now, homebase is just more important to me.
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Me! I traveled (mostly solo backpacking) from ages 16-26, and hit saturation point. Zero interest now, though I'll go for a few reasons (see family far away, etc).
I relocate regularly, and that's just the right balance for me. Fresh batch of humans, sights, ideas, activities, etc, every 2-3 years, while still having a comfy nest.
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I like to travel but don't want to be away from home more then 2-3 weeks at a time. I have trouble sleeping the first night or two also. Usually we take a couple of vacations/year which is just right for me. My DH would like to travel for a year in RV or live in Europe for a few months but that is not for me. Everyone is different.
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Me! It's not that I don't like to see new places, but I really like my creature comforts. I don't sleep well in new places, I like knowing where my usual go-to stores are, don't like the hassle of flight delays, etc. I would enjoy living in a new place for several months where I actually get to settle in, but it seems like it would get expensive to do it too often. I do think I'll travel more in retirement since I'll have a lot more time to decompress, adjust to time differences, etc rather than having to go right back to work.
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Its is complicated. Up until a few years ago I flew a lot for work, mostly on short notice.
I actually sort of like flying, zero responsibilities, no internet, free movies, free booze (but yes I do see the environmental impact). I think the biggest reason I dont like traveling is the hotels. The trough of scrambled eggs all hotels have is the stuff of nightmares. And I always sleep poorly the first few nights.
You can have fun traveling on vacation but really deep down unless you are happy in your own head while at home you wont be happy while on vacation. The vacation might provide a distraction and fun but at the end of the day it wont make you happy.
Also I think what you get on most vacations is a very superficial interaction with the locals. I have found that the cashiers at Panera are basically the same everywhere. I think I would like to go somewhere cool for a month (English speaking only!) and learn the place and half way live like a local that might be fun.
Book hotels with a fridge and microwave at minimum, suite with a stove if possible (and cheap enough). Grocery store is the first stop, I used to live out of hotel rooms and have a great set of staple recipes for even the fridge and microwave style.
I agree and disagree on the happiness thing. Some people crave a certain amount of change, discovery, adventure, whatever you want to call it. And going on trips fulfills that need. It doesn't mean you're unhappy when you get back, it means you were stimulated, had a new life experience and then came back. OTOH if someone is just trying to escape a life they don't like you're right that travel won't necessarily 'fix' it, although the perspective of a different place and different people's lifestyle might cause enough discomfort to make a change.
If you're just going to chain places and having superficial interactions, you can't expect anything deeper than that. Going local like you say is one way to do things, but just being real and drawing people into your fun works well. A few drinks don't hurt either. We've had a lot of crazy fun times travelling and had some great REAL experiences with people.
I totally get the OPs perspective though even though I love travel I really hate crowded places and doing what everyone else is doing. It's like checking a box but not considering why you're checking it. Like is seeing the eiffel tower REALLY going to make you happy? You have to know yourself and do things you actually like. If you're a homebody like the OP and happy with it then you're not missing anything on the road. :D
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I always think I want to travel, and then I'm gone for about four days and I just want my own bed and a snuggle with my dogs. My husband is a severe introvert, and we've carefully crafted our home life so that it suits us perfectly. I never feel fully relaxed anywhere else, and I'm so used to having that feeling at home that I start getting anxious when I'm not able to get to that happy place.
That said, I can't shake the feeling that not traveling is missing out and on some level sort of anti-intellectual. So I wind up doing a couple of long weekends a year, mostly to visit family, and then the husband and I take a week or two somewhere usually every other year. We have a 10-day Rhine River cruise booked for December to see the European Christmas markets. I have a sneaking suspicion that we might be cruise people: see multiple locations without having to plan and navigate moving from one place to the next. Probably further proof we're bad travelers ;)
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I travelled extensively while in the Navy and have been to my wife's native land in SE Asia a few times. I've travelled some in America. I'm about travelled out. I don't even like going accross town. I'm no longer caught up in the idea that travell is an experience. You can see Mt. Rushmore in pictures on the net, and frankley is a hell of a lot less impressive in person. Same goes for Thailand, Singapore, Nice, Paris, etc. etc.
Living somewhere else, immersing myself in the local culture has some appeal. I could see living in another country for several years. But "vacationing" somewhere for two or three weeks, just to say I've seen it has little to no appeal anymore. Vacations are just an exercise in logistics.
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I'm not much into traveling either, except that when I do travel, road trips are by far my preference. Luckily, my spouse really likes to drive. I don't mind it either (depending on the circumstances). What I like the most about car travel is being able to carry stuff easily. It helps me not have stress and anxiety over "what if I forget something important." With a car, it's easy to just stop and buy whatever I forgot (if I do forget anything). And keep extra stuff in the trunk. A car kinda feels like a piece of home during a road trip.
Travel is a sensory experience, which is probably what many people like about it and what I find stressful about it. Getting used to (or not) the new scent of every place is difficult, even where the smell is not bad, but just different.
I don't mind flying or traveling by train for the portion of the trip that I'm on that vehicle, but I hate the rigmarole of getting myself there -- getting to the station or airport with lots of time to spare, having the ticket in the right place, carrying all the luggage, all of it just causes me anxiety. When I'm finally on board with the vehicle moving, I'm much more relaxed. I'm very good at sitting around reading or doing puzzles or whatever, so a long ride doesn't bother me. It may actually wind up being one of my favourite parts of the travel experience.
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I love being home and really appreciate time to enjoy where I live. I also love travelling. Ideally I'd travel for 4-6 months a year and be home the rest of the time. It helps living someplace pretty awesome.
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I think I'd be perfectly happy after that staying home if living in an awesome place.
I should clarify. I live someplace awesome except during winter. During winter it's not awful, but I definitely would prefer to be someplace warm and dry. ;)
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Any long distance travel or traveling by plane is definitely a modern phenomenon. It's a novelty. It's in no way shape or form necessary for surviving or even living a happy life. It's something that on the grand perspective of all humanity, only a handful of very fortunate people can/(historically have been able to) afford to do regularly. If you don't enjoy it, it's probably for good reason. It complicates life in a way that is redundant and unnecessary.
Different does not mean better. Some people just enjoy the thrill occasionally of building a temporary life with lots of money. You're essentially paying to live a different life temporarily.
For me, while I think traveling is an overall pointless modern phenomenon, it does offer some benefits and there are times in which I crave it. It helps with perspective, motivation, and creativity. I'm sure there are cheaper and more practical ways to get this but I'm just saying. There's a high you get when you return where you feel like the world is much smaller and things are much more possible than you thought. The only problem is if you don't keep the momentum going and start acting on your thoughts. then it fades very quickly.
I hear you on the sleeping in different places/beds thing. I usually get anxious/depressed on my first couple of days on a new trip before I can settle in and can't sleep well.. I'm getting better at this though.
Its is complicated. Up until a few years ago I flew a lot for work, mostly on short notice.
I actually sort of like flying, zero responsibilities, no internet, free movies, free booze (but yes I do see the environmental impact).
I agree. It can get tedious at times, but there's something about that "no turning back" feeling that I love. My least favorite part about flying is obviously the lines at the airport and the boarding process - but I've mitigated that by getting the TSA precheck thing through a credit card (free) and arriving at nearly the very last minute. The idea of sitting in an airport waiting for your flight to board is now ridiculous to me.
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Yep. I don't think I'm not THAT old (mid 30s), but one of the first things that made me feel like I'm definitely not in my teens or 20s anymore was that I cannot stand driving more than say 5-6 hours a stretch. When I was younger I loved taking road trips that were 10-12 hours away by car, but I cannot stomach that anymore.
As for flying, it's a night and day difference flying any kind of premium class (business or above) vs coach. The former makes flying downright pleasurable, the latter makes it a nightmare. Especially on domestic airlines. Since I am unable and unwilling to pay for a premium class every time I fly, and upgrades are rare and unpredictable, I almost never fly. Slight fear of it as well.
So I guess I'm not that against travel itself when thought of from the destination perspective. It's the journey that can really annoy me. If I could go to sleep in my bed and wake up in Tokyo for a couple of days, sure that would be fine. But flying coach for 11 hours to get there and back? Man, that's really tough for me.
So nowadays our travel is usually limited to visiting Los Angeles, which is about a 5-6 hour drive away. We do that about 2-3 times a year and that's it.
I think what also dampens my desire to travel is that I live in a city and state that's considered a tourist attraction. There's a lot to do and see right here. When I was younger I lived in a very small town in a rural area, and my family had a desire to get out of town almost every weekend. As part of a larger consideration, that feeling has also pushed me towards delaying FIRE a bit so we can do it somewhere in California. Preferably the Los Angeles area. The only traveling I'm really interested in now are places I can reach by car in 5-6 hours or under. My favorite vacation spots are Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, and parts of Arizona. All of those would be reachable by car (as would the SF Bay Area) within 5-6 hours if I live in Los Angeles. Couple that with a very rare overseas trip, and I'd be VERY happy and satisfied with any travel desires.
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I'm not into travelling at all. When I'm on vacation I do my best to not leave my property! But I love it here and there is always something to do around a farm that will keep me busy and happy.
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I'd rather be home...sleeping in my own bed and showering in my own shower. My husband and I don't travel well together so that's not a high priority for us. That being said, I have a few people that I love to be with. And if they want to go somewhere, I'm all in. And when we do go, I have a fabulous time. So for me, travel isn't so much about the place I go as the people I'm with.
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Learning how much flying pollutes changed everything for me.
When I realized that flying coach round trip to LA or Europe put me near or over the limit of what a person is alloted to keep below 1.5 - 2 degrees Celcius for a year, not to mention all the other pollution jet fuel and traveling causes, I gave myself a challenge: no flying for at least 365 days. Everyone has his or her values and I'm not saying what anyone else should do, but I value taking responsibility for how my actions affect others.
One of the best choices I've ever made in my life! I'm nearing month 16 and expect to extend it as long as I can.
Choosing to live by your values pays off more than anything else. At first I thought it would be hard, and it was, but it got easier as I found ways to explore different cultures and cuisines, create adventure, and get all I used to get from traveling without polluting.
I no longer feel like I'm avoiding traveling so much as enjoying where I live, the way homo sapiens did for most of our 300,000 year history.
Here are a couple pieces I wrote about it:
http://joshuaspodek.com/365-days-flying-definition-impossibility
http://www.inc.com/joshua-spodek/365-days-without-flying.html
Among the benefits:
- Community and connecting with people near me
- Increased ability to find and create experiences I like
- Increased ability to find and create emotions I like
- Learning to cook with local ingredients more
- More time with family
- Less dependence and craving things outside my control
- and more
... oh yeah, saving money.
I recommend trying it. Had I not experienced the personal growth, I wouldn't have believed it. I'm amused how people think it's impossible or get angry about it, but that's their business.
Round trip NYC-Paris coach:
(https://i2.wp.com/joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/ny_cdg_coach.png?w=667)
Round trip NYC-Shanghai coach:
(https://i2.wp.com/joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/ny_shanghai_coach.png?w=671)
Round trip NYC-Shanghai first class:
(https://i1.wp.com/joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/ny_shanghai_first.png?w=663)
Source for graphs (http://myclimate.com)
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Nope, not me. I love to go new places, breathe new air!
But I have a co-worker who says, "I didn't buy a house so I could leave it." He is genuinely unhappy when his wife plans even a weekend away.
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Learning how much flying pollutes changed everything for me.
I just decided not to breed. There is no amount of travelling that can come anywhere near to that choice for reduction of environmental impact.
On the travel front one great thing about FIRE is you have lots of time off so you can drive or fly and spend 2-3-4 months in an area amortizing both the cost and environmental impact over many more days of travel.
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I like to go on shot trips 2-3 times a year for 2-4 days. DW is the same thankfully. I am from Scandinavia so most European capitals are 2-3 hours away by plane. We will go to Rome/Paris/London etc. see the sights, eat some good food, breathe in the atmosphere and go home.
That was before we had kids anyways. I think for the next few years untill they are older we will rent a vacation house for a week or so each summer. I cant imagine the horror of going to a big city with two toddlers - they are EVERYWHERE! :)
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I love road trips. I've driven across the US twice and I'd do it again in a minute. I also like having a base somewhere and making day trips. Beyond that, I really don't like traveling. I hate flying and I'd be happy if I never had to do it again.
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I'm not into short term travel either, primarily because of the environmental and financial costs, but also because of the logistical headaches. I’m considering teaching English abroad or slow travel when I'm FIRE because the costs are usually less as Retire-Canada mentioned. But I'm not sure if it's something I really want to do or I've been brainwashed by mass media that it’s something I should do. I'm a homebody so it may not suit me. Probably only one way to find out.
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I'm not a big traveler, even though I have the means and perfect schedule to do so. I do it on my company's dime occasionally, but if I'm paying, no thanks.
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Hmmmm, well, it's all relative. I like to do a bit of travel. Some of my friends apparently travel internationally several times a year. This looks like a huge waste of time and funds. I wouldn't have that much time to travel, even if I was fully FIRE'd, because I have a lot of family I'd prefer to see.
There's also other things I'd like to spend my money on. I do not need to see Costa Rica, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Korea all in the same year.
I'm definitely feeling the travel bug again, but I'd like to go to a National Park, sit in a gateway city like Gatlinburg, and go on some day hikes. I could probably kill a week doing that. Last thing I did was visit Miami for a few days in the spring, which was nice....albeit expensive due to the champagne tastes of my travel companions (eating out every night at luxury restaurants).
I also do not enjoy flying and find it expensive. There's more stuff I'd prefer to do on my house first.
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I'm not a big traveler, even though I have the means and perfect schedule to do so. I do it on my company's dime occasionally, but if I'm paying, no thanks.
When you get accustomed to tacking on some personal time in a random neat city for the cost of hotel points and food it gets hard to spend X,000$ of your own money and take vacation time to go somewhere.
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Well I'm all for global warming (I hate cold weather), so for those who enjoy traveling please keep on traveling far and frequently. That being said, I personally don't like to travel much. It's expensive and a lot of work for something so brief (at least for a typical vacation before retirement) and also a fair amount of work to plan although that part can be fun for the few regional trips I do. I prefer to spend my time and money on things, as things keep on giving fun and entertainment for potentially the rest of my life and I can use on a daily or weekly basis. This is a far better "ROI" for me than a week or two in some faraway place.
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I've noticed that I don't care to travel just to "see" things (mountain view, monument, etc). I go to my hometown once a year to spend time with my old friends, but if they all lived close by I wouldn't need to go. If I enjoyed doing something that I couldn't do where I live (skiing, for example) I'm sure I would travel so I could do that. I just went to Boone, NC with some friends, and while it was nice, it mostly would have been the same to me if I had gone to their house 5 days in a row to hang out. If I were to travel when I FIRE, it would probably be a longer term to immerse myself in a different culture. The sight seeing type of travel is not my thing.
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I'm not a big traveler either. Given the choice, I'd rather spend the money making my house a nicer place to be.
I don't always hate it and I suspect once we are retired we will do more of it. As it is now, dh is a teacher, so any travel is limited to school vacations. I like summer where I live and am happy to enjoy it in place. If we have to travel during other school vacations, airfare is much more expensive and places are more crowded. Once we are retired and can go any time, we will take the occasional trip. I do not like driving, so long road trips aren't appealing to me.
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I'm not wild about travelling, it often turns into a stress-fest. When I'm on vacation, the last thing I want is to be rushed, have to wake up early, plan everything, etc. Luckily, as I've gotten a bit older and more experienced, I've gotten better at recognizing the signs of a potentially stressful vacation and putting in countermeasures before the money is spent and I'm miserable.
We did have an awesome vacation last summer though where we stayed in a cabin off the grid in Arkansas for a few days. We had to park in a field and take a four wheeler in to get to it, which was a bit tricky with a stream crossing. We then had a few great days of sleeping in, skinny dipping in a crystal clear creek, drinking cold beers, cooking meat and hiking on the trails in the area.
...sit in a gateway city like Gatlinburg,
lol, have you been to Gatlinburg? Its the Myrtle Beach of the mountains. Worst place I've ever intentionally traveled to. I've never actually been stuck in traffic in the mountains on the way to a hike before visiting Gatlinburg.
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I love travel. Prior to my arrival, my parents lived overseas, and they and my brother got the opportunity to travel all around Europe. My father hitchhiked over Europe when he was a teenager and his dad was stationed overseas. When my parents retired, they made it a point to travel and expose me to travel, and some of my best childhood memories are of traveling. It's something my family values and it's something I prioritize.
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...sit in a gateway city like Gatlinburg,
lol, have you been to Gatlinburg? Its the Myrtle Beach of the mountains. Worst place I've ever intentionally traveled to. I've never actually been stuck in traffic in the mountains on the way to a hike before visiting Gatlinburg.
Yup, I've been to Gatlinburg a few times! I usually leave quite early in the morning when I am day-hiking, so I haven't experienced the traffic personally. I've definitely seen pile up. Heading in on a weekend is impossible...that stretch of Pigeon Forge is just something surreal. 3 or 4 cracker barrels on the same road?
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Yes. The packing, the getting to and from, the unavoidable discomforts, all not for us at this time. I find it more trouble than it is worth. I love the comforts of home and the area we live. Maybe this will change once we are both retired and not raising a small child. Who knows.
I think one reason many people love to travel is they want to get away from whatever it is they don't like about their life. Travel forces them to be in the moment and present, wherever they are, and with whatever they are doing. They think they can only have that feeling while traveling, so it becomes almost an addiction, because it feels awesome to be truly present. What many don't realize is it is a much greater joy to learn to be present and content all the time, in your current life. It's much harder to do, but so much more rewarding if achieved.
I realize there are other very valid reasons to travel of course, but I see this a lot with people I know IRL in they way they perceive traveling.
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It's not really for me. I hate flying, not fond of driving (love trains though!). I have pretty bad anxiety, and I'd rather not go too far out of my comfort zone. Husband doesn't really like travel either. We never even had a honeymoon--it just wasn't a priority.
That said, I would (and do) travel to visit my far-flung Internet friends. And there are a few places (Iceland, Japan, Ireland) I'd love to visit at some point. I do want to go on a cruise at some point and maybe one of those all-inclusive Caribbean island vacations (Sandals et al.). But that's about it.
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Same here! I usually don't feel a great desire to travel. My parents did me a favor by traveling with me a lot as a child, but I think they also racked up some debt doing so, so I'm pretty much done with traveling until FI. I've had the amazing fortune to see other parts of the world already, I'm good for now.
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I'm torn lately about travelling. I used to love it, but now I love being at home too.
I hate airports, border crossings, security, etc. I don't like driving too much, but I don't mind being a passenger on long trips at all, to me that's part of experiencing a place. (Lucky for my my boyfriend enjoys driving a lot, and for long distances). Freeways and heavy traffic areas excluded of course!
If I'm honest with myself, lately I think I enjoy the planning stages of travel just as much or more than the actual travel. The planning is fun, the actual transportation part is terrible, the being somewhere new is good, with sprinkles of phenomenal, and occasional periods of mundane/homesick/exhausted.
However, I really love experiencing other places. Once I'm there I enjoy other cultures, scenery, and people immensely and often it makes me appreciate what I have at home more too. Coming from a small very northern community where everyone is the same I think it's really important for me to get some perspective on other people in the world, lest I become a prejudiced fearful redneck like my neighbors (referring to my small town, not the more diverse city in which I currently live, though my city is still not at all diverse on a global scale).
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Me!! I really don't enjoy traveling. I didn't grow up traveling. Ever. But, I was lucky enough to visit some very cool places in my 20's (Southern African and Egypt) and I lived abroad in my 30's. I'm 40 now and honestly, I just can't be bothered with it. Expensive, stressful and I absolutely HATE flying. We generally fly about once a year to visit DH's family and I'd rather not do that if I could get away with it.
I feel like saying you dislike traveling is akin to saying you hate puppies. EVERYONE seems to love to travel these days (it seems like such a trendy thing to travel, I know it didn't used to be this way. I didn't grow up with money but when I think about who I knew as a child, I can't think of anyone who traveled). I understand that people find it to be a great way to broaden horizons, see other cultures, etc. I don't know, I know those things are true but I tend to think people are the same world over and wherever you go, there you are. At least that has been my personal experience. Course maybe I only have this perspective since I was lucky enough to do some traveling.
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Me!! I really don't enjoy traveling. I didn't grow up traveling. Ever. But, I was lucky enough to visit some very cool places in my 20's (Southern African and Egypt) and I lived abroad in my 30's. I'm 40 now and honestly, I just can't be bothered with it. Expensive, stressful and I absolutely HATE flying. We generally fly about once a year to visit DH's family and I'd rather not do that if I could get away with it.
I feel like saying you dislike traveling is akin to saying you hate puppies. EVERYONE seems to love to travel these days (it seems like such a trendy thing to travel, I know it didn't used to be this way. I didn't grow up with money but when I think about who I knew as a child, I can't think of anyone who traveled). I understand that people find it to be a great way to broaden horizons, see other cultures, etc. I don't know, I know those things are true but I tend to think people are the same world over and wherever you go, there you are. At least that has been my personal experience. Course maybe I only have this perspective since I was lucky enough to do some traveling.
I think that's particularly true here. Want to replace your decrepit living room furniture with something modestly attractive and comfortable? Consumerist sucka. A little judicious duct tape will get you another 5 years out of that sofa, but not too much cause duct tape isn't free you know.
Want to take a vacation traveling through a different continent? You really have your priorities in order.
I get that the road to happiness isn't paved with stuff, but I spend most of my time in my home, and having it look decent and be comfortable does bring me joy.
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I feel like saying you dislike traveling is akin to saying you hate puppies.
lol! yes.
I feel "safe" saying I'm not into it only because I can provide the "backpacked a bunch of years through various parts of the world and regularly relocate" schtick. Otherwise I get the stink eye haha.
And Pigeon, yup! I have no idea why travel is an exception here.
Me, I'm just "you do you, I do me." So if a person loves travel, go for it! But those of us who don't aren't necessarily shy, boring, nonadventurous, weak, uncultured, fearful, xenophobic, lacking curiousity, etc. Some of us just get super filled up where we are!
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I love traveling. My wife and I dont enjoy things like museums at all, but prefer to walk around the busy city streets and devour any food we find. (immodium is a necessity on our trips).
I'm of the opinion that traveling to a foreign country is a great experience to have at least once in a lifetime. It gives great perspective, and opens your eyes to see that you are relatively insignificant, and that America (in my case) is just one piece of a much larger puzzle.
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I think that's particularly true here. Want to replace your decrepit living room furniture with something modestly attractive and comfortable? Consumerist sucka. A little judicious duct tape will get you another 5 years out of that sofa, but not too much cause duct tape isn't free you know.
Want to take a vacation traveling through a different continent? You really have your priorities in order.
I get that the road to happiness isn't paved with stuff, but I spend most of my time in my home, and having it look decent and be comfortable does bring me joy.
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I totally agree, I'd rather throw money into our house than take a big trip. I know they say memories are priceless but, eh, I really enjoy seeing my pretty house every day.
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I feel like saying you dislike traveling is akin to saying you hate puppies.
lol! yes.
I feel "safe" saying I'm not into it only because I can provide the "backpacked a bunch of years through various parts of the world and regularly relocate" schtick. Otherwise I get the stink eye haha.
And Pigeon, yup! I have no idea why travel is an exception here.
Me, I'm just "you do you, I do me." So if a person loves travel, go for it! But those of us who don't aren't necessarily shy, boring, nonadventurous, weak, uncultured, fearful, xenophobic, lacking curiousity, etc. Some of us just get super filled up where we are!
Also agree! Except I've never done the backpacking thing...
I love being at home now, especially now that we own a home and we are making it our ultimate happy place. I used to think I should travel, but now I realize I was just looking for a temporary escape from my everyday life.
I also think traveling is a (here's the dreaded P word) privilege and that doing so/having that experience doesn't make you a better person... it just means you had the money to buy a plane ticket. You want to find out about other people's cultures and how they live, or get a different perspective on life? I'm willing to bet there are more than a few of your neighbors (if you live in a city, anyway) who have a story to share. They might be a different ethnicity than yourself, different age, come from a different economic background; there's opportunity for learning and connection right there.
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I think that's particularly true here. Want to replace your decrepit living room furniture with something modestly attractive and comfortable? Consumerist sucka. A little judicious duct tape will get you another 5 years out of that sofa, but not too much cause duct tape isn't free you know.
Want to take a vacation traveling through a different continent? You really have your priorities in order.
I get that the road to happiness isn't paved with stuff, but I spend most of my time in my home, and having it look decent and be comfortable does bring me joy.
I totally agree, I'd rather throw money into our house than take a big trip. I know they say memories are priceless but, eh, I really enjoy seeing my pretty house every day.
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I agree! My home is my sanctuary. Traveling is expensive and stressful.
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I clicked on this thread thinking I would get a glimpse into how "those crazy people who don't like to travel" think, but I see more of myself here than I expected.
Like probably a lot of people, I spent years wanting to travel but not having the time or money to do so. Then I had both the time and the money, so I went all over the world. I loved it, and there are still parts of the world I want to see someday... but now I find myself less inclined to travel, mostly due to all of the annoyances mentioned by several others above. I do think I was trying to escape my stressful job, and trying to catch up on enjoying life after spending a lot of years in school and working too hard, by taking exciting vacations. (I still work, but not as much, and on my own terms.)
It's true, at least for me, that the better you make your day-to-day life, the less you have that burning desire to travel all the time. I love my home, the surrounding area, my family, and my own home-cooked food.
I don't know about other countries, but Americans tend to take our own beautiful country for granted. I used to work in Page, Arizona, and I saw busloads of foreign tourists every day, heading for the beautiful lake, rock formations, canyons, etc. But mention Page or Lake Powell to someone who lives in Phoenix (5 hours away, in the same state), and you get a blank stare. Even my own husband, who has lived in Arizona for 30 years, has never seen the Grand Canyon. :-o (But he's been to Japan, Iceland, Central America, Europe, etc.)
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I clicked on this thread thinking I would get a glimpse into how "those crazy people who don't like to travel" think, but I see more of myself here than I expected.
Like probably a lot of people, I spent years wanting to travel but not having the time or money to do so. Then I had both the time and the money, so I went all over the world. I loved it, and there are still parts of the world I want to see someday... but now I find myself less inclined to travel, mostly due to all of the annoyances mentioned by several others above. I do think I was trying to escape my stressful job, and trying to catch up on enjoying life after spending a lot of years in school and working too hard, by taking exciting vacations. (I still work, but not as much, and on my own terms.)
It's true, at least for me, that the better you make your day-to-day life, the less you have that burning desire to travel all the time. I love my home, the surrounding area, my family, and my own home-cooked food.
I don't know about other countries, but Americans tend to take our own beautiful country for granted. I used to work in Page, Arizona, and I saw busloads of foreign tourists every day, heading for the beautiful lake, rock formations, canyons, etc. But mention Page or Lake Powell to someone who lives in Phoenix (5 hours away, in the same state), and you get a blank stare. Even my own husband, who has lived in Arizona for 30 years, has never seen the Grand Canyon. :-o (But he's been to Japan, Iceland, Central America, Europe, etc.)
One of my favorite road trips with hubby and kid #1 was from CA to the Grand Canyon to Page to Phoenix to Tucson and back home.
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I feel like saying you dislike traveling is akin to saying you hate puppies.
lol! yes.
I feel "safe" saying I'm not into it only because I can provide the "backpacked a bunch of years through various parts of the world and regularly relocate" schtick. Otherwise I get the stink eye haha.
And Pigeon, yup! I have no idea why travel is an exception here.
Me, I'm just "you do you, I do me." So if a person loves travel, go for it! But those of us who don't aren't necessarily shy, boring, nonadventurous, weak, uncultured, fearful, xenophobic, lacking curiousity, etc. Some of us just get super filled up where we are!
It is true that "I don't like to travel" is frequently code for "All those other places are hellholes full of terrible people." That really does sound to me about like hating puppies. But yes, plenty of educated open-minded people just simply don't get anything out of traveling. It's easy to lump the two groups together unfairly.
I used to buy into the BS of travel making you a better person and bringing you to enlightment while saving the world. I still think it can be educating, but I've met plenty of open-minded people that haven't been anywhere and plenty of closed-minded people that have been to every corner of the globe. If you like traveling, you don't need to justify it by acting like you're saving the world.
If you get down to it, I don't like actual traveling as in the actual process of getting to somewhere. It's just that it's worth it to me to see somewhere new. I can completely see where other people just would think it wasn't worth it.
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^ A funny thing is when people who urge traveling to expand their horizons won't go into their local Sikh temple, try a paleo meal, attend a different denomination in their own religion, use a squat toilet on their neighbour's farm... Similar to what GreenSheep said about exploring local geography, by the time we've explored every social, demographic, and physical activity available in our home area, we can feel pretty thrilled, engaged, captivated.
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It is true that "I don't like to travel" is frequently code for "All those other places are hellholes full of terrible people." That really does sound to me about like hating puppies. But yes, plenty of educated open-minded people just simply don't get anything out of traveling. It's easy to lump the two groups together unfairly.
I used to buy into the BS of travel making you a better person and bringing you to enlightment while saving the world. I still think it can be educating, but I've met plenty of open-minded people that haven't been anywhere and plenty of closed-minded people that have been to every corner of the globe. If you like traveling, you don't need to justify it by acting like you're saving the world.
+1
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Chiming in with the happy at home crowd.
Like Spartana, I hate hotels. An expensive way to have no space, no privacy, no home facilities and too many rules about when you arrive and when you leave.
A while back I read that more Londoners had been to New York than to Newcastle (a city in the north of England with a vibrant local culture and arts scene, and with stunning coastal and hill scenery and historical monuments from the Romans onwards all around), which chimes exactly with what GreenSheep said about Arizona and ignoring what's on your doorstep.
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Count me in as someone who is happier at home. I'm not into the planning that's required to do any kind of extensive traveling. I do enjoy visiting places that I can drive to in less than a day. But I'd much prefer to sleep in my own bed at night so even those excursions are relatively short-lived.
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I am not a big traveller. I can't image flying to the other side of the world. I also think I would prefer to stay in my own culture (European) for things like hygiene and food. I also like being at home. We also own a mountain cabin, which provides a form of travelling, but to a familiar, cosy place.
But what we do a lot, is hiking with a tent. I enjoy doing that, either in a car holiday and staying on campsites, but preferably with a backpack in the mountains. But when there, I prefer to stay around the tent, while my DH makes long trips away from the tent with his fishing rod. But we usally move to another location every day or every other day.
Once a year we book a trip to the south in September, either on Crete or in Italy. Nice to swim in a warm sea. But as you (OP) say, I hate sitting in hot, crowdy airports waiting for a delayed plane, and arriving at the airport at home after midnight and having to drive 1,5 hour home. Not nice at all. I do like to go out for dinner, especially on Crete, but preferably in that one restaurant that is really good and where we usually eat. There are so many uninspiring restaurants. We tend to take care of our own breakfast and lunch, reducing the numbers of times we need to eat out. But I would have preferred it at all if we could just have picked the great food from a buffet, instead of waiting for preparation and waving at waiters when we want to leave.
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I thought I was until I went overseas 2 months by myself and I would have had a better time if I had stayed home and gone camping with mates.
Realised the thing I like about travelling is the memories you create with your travelling companion, and generally sharing the experience with someone.
It's definitely readjusted what I plan to do in FIRE, which I thought was going to be 70% travel.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I'm a homebody. People are shocked when I say that I do not *love* travel. (I also do not ever want another puppy.) I personally find that "adventure" is a code word for "boy, this is going to be uncomfortable!"
Having said that, I have people that I want to see and they don't live down the street, so I've done some traveling over the years. And my dh grew up in a family that loved travel, and he would like to take a Big Trip at some point, so I guess I will suck it up. LOL
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If I don't get to sleep in my own bed, that's traveling! LOL And when we go to visit people, we do always take in some of the local sights, museums, neat places to hike, but those things are fun because I'm doing them with the people I love.
(The puppy comment is because someone upthread mentioned that not liking to travel was akin to not liking puppies, for some people, and I freely admit that I'm not a fan of either. )
I've had a number of people react pretty vigorously to my comments that I do not love to travel - one person assured me that I just hadn't traveled enough, or I *would* love it. I'm pretty old. I've been to quite a few places. Doing more of something I don't love - life is just too short for that!
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I've had a number of people react pretty vigorously to my comments that I do not love to travel - one person assured me that I just hadn't traveled enough, or I *would* love it. I'm pretty old. I've been to quite a few places. Doing more of something I don't love - life is just too short for that!
I have received the "Oh you dont like traveling-well you just need to travel more-I love traveling therefore you should too-once you have traveled more you will love it". Is there anything else that this type of "logic" gets applied to? Like if I told someone that did not like fishing that they just had not fished enough or played enough Scrabble or eaten enough brussels sprouts it would just be dumb.
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^ Someone told me that about pot :) "What, you have terrible experiences of disorientation, hallucinations, psychosis? You just need to smoke more of it!" Um, can I just not, please? TY.
It's all the boundaries thing. Some people struggle to recognize that different people are, well, different people.
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In the past we have had the habit of once a year going for a long weekend to a city abroad, like Dublin or Stockholm or so. I have noticed that I tend to get itchy pretty soon. Such a trip is usually about walking through shopping streets with many other people. I just don't enjoy cities so much. Hotels in cities are usually not fantastic quality either, especially if you are looking for a good price. We have stopped doing this for years now and I am not missing it.
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I've had a number of people react pretty vigorously to my comments that I do not love to travel - one person assured me that I just hadn't traveled enough, or I *would* love it. I'm pretty old. I've been to quite a few places. Doing more of something I don't love - life is just too short for that!
I have received the "Oh you dont like traveling-well you just need to travel more-I love traveling therefore you should too-once you have traveled more you will love it". Is there anything else that this type of "logic" gets applied to? Like if I told someone that did not like fishing that they just had not fished enough or played enough Scrabble or eaten enough brussels sprouts it would just be dumb.
It gets applied to babies. All the time!
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It gets applied to babies. All the time!
That would explain why Mormons have such large families, "you dont like kids? Just go have a few more - you will love them!!!".
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I've had a number of people react pretty vigorously to my comments that I do not love to travel - one person assured me that I just hadn't traveled enough, or I *would* love it. I'm pretty old. I've been to quite a few places. Doing more of something I don't love - life is just too short for that!
I have received the "Oh you dont like traveling-well you just need to travel more-I love traveling therefore you should too-once you have traveled more you will love it". Is there anything else that this type of "logic" gets applied to? Like if I told someone that did not like fishing that they just had not fished enough or played enough Scrabble or eaten enough brussels sprouts it would just be dumb.
It gets applied to babies. All the time!
Haha! And brussels sprouts, too. "You just haven't had them they way *I* make them!"
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I know before posting this that I am in the extreme minority here, but is anyone else not into travelling? DH and I are homebodies. We can always find lots to do at home. We also like to take day trips, go to the zoo, museums, arboretums, Ren Faires, craft faires, local music festivals, etc. Frankly, neither one of us enjoys driving; back roads are fine, but highways fill us both with anxiety. We don't mind trains, which we take into the city for cultural events, but airports are overwhelming. DH could probably sleep anywhere, but I tend to sleep best in my own bed. There's also the environmental impact of travel in general, especially air travel, that gives me pause to consider.
Not into traveling either. I was in the past, but it got boring. Everyplace is really basically the same as every other. I can have tons of fun around home a lot cheaper. The environmental aspect is a concern as well for us. Plus, I won't fly Commercial anymore. It's reached the point of being too painful.
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Spartana is right. The blue marble is a pretty diverse planet and there is plenty to see. The West Coast is much different from the East Coast and the South is much different from the North. The world is fantastically beautiful.
The TSA and waiting in airports are crummy, but airports offer some of the best people-watching opportunities.
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I had the same thought as BlueMR2 at one point. After travelling 22 hours, I arrived and thought, "Wait, this is basically a combination of [place 1] and [place 2]." All three places were extreme distances from each other on the planet. Once everywhere started reminding me strongly of somewhere I'd already been -a jungle in x, a rainforest in y, a metropolis in z- I figured I needed to get much more selective about trips.
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Well, that opens up a whole different debate - not everyone is "outdoorsy" and wants to see the scenery. "If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all..." and all that.
[NB - I personally enjoy seeing the view, but don't really want to do a great deal of sweating or freezing, so I'm more of a spectator of the outdoors. But I've known people who really only enjoyed cruise vacations or shopping.]
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Well, that opens up a whole different debate - not everyone is "outdoorsy" and wants to see the scenery. "If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all..." and all that.
[NB - I personally enjoy seeing the view, but don't really want to do a great deal of sweating or freezing, so I'm more of a spectator of the outdoors. But I've known people who really only enjoyed cruise vacations or shopping.]
I'd take a big city skyline over a natural view any day. I mean I have nothing against beautiful vistas and sunsets and whatever (I'm from New Mexico--it's all vistas and sunsets all the time). And I can definitely appreciate the beauty. I just think skylines happen to be more interesting (and in many ways more beautiful). My mom is the total opposite, however, and doesn't understand why I love big ugly buildings so much.
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Well, that opens up a whole different debate - not everyone is "outdoorsy" and wants to see the scenery. "If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all..." and all that.
[NB - I personally enjoy seeing the view, but don't really want to do a great deal of sweating or freezing, so I'm more of a spectator of the outdoors. But I've known people who really only enjoyed cruise vacations or shopping.]
That's true. The reasons people travel are going to be vastly different so their responses to different places will be different. To me, who totally understands the not liking to travel thing and never went anywhere on vacation when working (not enough time, too much hassle and expense, etc...), I see vast differences between most places whether cultures, architecture, nature, eactivities I can do, etc..and find it all pretty fascinating.
I think in general people have a tough time understanding people who like things that are different. People who don't travel get judged as ignorant, and people that do get judged as silly. People who like cities don't understand why anybody would want to live in the boondocks, and people who want to live in the country can't understand why anybody would want to go to a chaotic concrete jungle. I really believe that people can be pretty different from each other, and it seems like folks have a tough time realizing how many things are personal preference.
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Well, that opens up a whole different debate - not everyone is "outdoorsy" and wants to see the scenery. "If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all..." and all that.
[NB - I personally enjoy seeing the view, but don't really want to do a great deal of sweating or freezing, so I'm more of a spectator of the outdoors. But I've known people who really only enjoyed cruise vacations or shopping.]
That's true. The reasons people travel are going to be vastly different so their responses to different places will be different. To me, who totally understands the not liking to travel thing and never went anywhere on vacation when working (not enough time, too much hassle and expense, etc...), I see vast differences between most places whether cultures, architecture, nature, eactivities I can do, etc..and find it all pretty fascinating.
I have hiked PNW rain forests and the NM desert and kayaked the everglades and while clearly different nature is still just nature - rain jacket vs sun hat, same basic deal. I have wondered around many big cities on four continents and they are all very similar, the biggest differentiator seems to be how useful English is. I was also an exchange student in HS. People are basically people - slight variations on the settings but same basic OS. Please understand I have had great fun in many places. I know I am very forchinate to have traveled half as much as I have but maybe I just see the spectrum of what is out there as being smaller that others.
Maybe I just need more brussels sprouts or am especially jaded lately, or need to hit FI so that a proper level of relaxation can sink in deep into my bones over an extend trip to see what 'travel people' see.
Or maybe I dont see any challenge or uniqueness in most all places people talk about going to. With the cc in my wallet and my US Passport I could be in 98% of the the worlds midsized citys by Sunday morning with little more effort than sitting on an airplane-drink in hand. Few years back I was looking at going to North Korea; it seemed like one of the very few places that is truly different. It also would have taken some work and some self discipline to obey the rules while in country so many I need challenge too? The might have happened but some expenses came up.
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That's how it is for me, too, AlanStache: not such extreme variance in places now, and so easy to be in most places.
When I started travelling internationally, we had no internet, no cell phones, etc. Plane travel cost a lot. We had to figure stuff out, learn a language or do awesome gestures to get around, rely on spoken words stumbled upon randomly for tips and clues and leads, crash at the home of any local who took us home. I miss that, lol.
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Yes. The packing, the getting to and from, the unavoidable discomforts, all not for us at this time. I find it more trouble than it is worth. I love the comforts of home and the area we live. Maybe this will change once we are both retired and not raising a small child. Who knows.
I think one reason many people love to travel is they want to get away from whatever it is they don't like about their life. Travel forces them to be in the moment and present, wherever they are, and with whatever they are doing. They think they can only have that feeling while traveling, so it becomes almost an addiction, because it feels awesome to be truly present. What many don't realize is it is a much greater joy to learn to be present and content all the time, in your current life. It's much harder to do, but so much more rewarding if achieved.
I realize there are other very valid reasons to travel of course, but I see this a lot with people I know IRL in they way they perceive traveling.
I struggle with this. I think many people do. My neighbors travel a LOT and it's interesting how "relaxed" they get as soon as they leave town. I used to visually relax whenever the wheels came up on the plane. Then I had kids.
I don't think that I relax like that anymore. But I still need time off work and I *feel* it when it's been 3 months (like now) and it's still 3 more weeks till I get time off.
How do you enjoy the moment? I don't know. At home, we have responsibilities. It's hard to step away from them. I think that's the problem. I have other friends who don't vacation much (can't afford it), but every weekend they go on an adventure. They camp, they drive up to the watering hole about 30 minutes from home, they have many beach days and ... we don't. I don't know why. It's work? My kids don't want to go. Packing up the car is a pain. And it's a small car. My husband REALLY hates packing for camping, esp. if it's only for 1-2 nights. (Nevermind that you have to book a campsite 6 months in advance). And then, if you take a day off, all it does is push all of your chores (grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, etc) to the weekdays.
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I used to work with a lot of Major League Baseball players and initially was amazed how few of them traveled in the their extensive offseason given their unlimited resources and a 4-to-5 month break. But a lot of them pointed out that after crisscrossing the USA from March through September, if not October, they didn't want to go anywhere.
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When I started travelling internationally, we had no internet, no cell phones, etc. Plane travel cost a lot. We had to figure stuff out, learn a language or do awesome gestures to get around, rely on spoken words stumbled upon randomly for tips and clues and leads, crash at the home of any local who took us home. I miss that, lol.
By my last post, just realizing I liked travel when it felt like an adventure, and that it no longer feels adventurous to me!
To me the exciting part was having no idea how I was getting from place to place, not knowing the language and needing to learn it, having no idea what I was about to stumble upon... I didn't really care about simply "being in a different location."
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I used to work with a lot of Major League Baseball players and initially was amazed how few of them traveled in the their extensive offseason given their unlimited resources and a 4-to-5 month break. But a lot of them pointed out that after crisscrossing the USA from March through September, if not October, they didn't want to go anywhere.
Yep. I was a road warrior for more than 20 years. I have been in every one of the lower 48 states on my business trips and frequently accompanied DH to Europe on his. It was fun at times, but enough, already.
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I realize there are other very valid reasons to travel of course, but I see this a lot with people I know IRL in they way they perceive traveling.
I struggle with this. I think many people do. My neighbors travel a LOT and it's interesting how "relaxed" they get as soon as they leave town. I used to visually relax whenever the wheels came up on the plane. Then I had kids.
I don't think that I relax like that anymore. But I still need time off work and I *feel* it when it's been 3 months (like now) and it's still 3 more weeks till I get time off.
How do you enjoy the moment? I don't know. At home, we have responsibilities. It's hard to step away from them. I think that's the problem. I have other friends who don't vacation much (can't afford it), but every weekend they go on an adventure. They camp, they drive up to the watering hole about 30 minutes from home, they have many beach days and ... we don't. I don't know why. It's work? My kids don't want to go. Packing up the car is a pain. And it's a small car. My husband REALLY hates packing for camping, esp. if it's only for 1-2 nights. (Nevermind that you have to book a campsite 6 months in advance). And then, if you take a day off, all it does is push all of your chores (grocery shopping, laundry, cooking, etc) to the weekdays.
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It is a fact that packing camping gear is a bit if a hassle. Can you not plan some more long day trips? Just prepare a coolbox the day before (making sandwiches, freezer the cooling elements, cooling drinks) and preparing beach towels or hiking shoes. Then next morning, get up early, drive to that place and get home late again. This way, you avoid having to pack all the camping stuff. And you can do this for example on one day of the weekend and spend the other day doing chores. It is a good habit to do many chores on weekdays indeed, so that you don't need to spend your Saturday on grocery shopping.
Another option is simple camping. Just the tent, sleeping bags and camping mattresses, but bringing easy food, so you don't need to bring so much gear. I have been an outdoorsy person for many years, but recently I learned something from other outdoor friends. Use plastic boxes for storing your cooking gear. And maybe some boxes for other gear as well. When packing for a trip, you'll only need to grab a few boxes and don't need to spend a lot of time gathering all gear. This has been convenient on car/tenting trips, canoeing trips and cross-country skiing trips. For a backpack hike this won't work, as boxes take too much space.
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I found nothing about traveling with kids to be relaxing! It was all the work of being at home, just a lot less convenient.
Now my kids are grown, and we've made home so nice that it's really not that appealing to go sleep someplace else!
My dh does enjoy Doing Something, so I try to find Something for many summer weekends, with the proviso that we're home in time for bed. This weekend we're going to Pittsburgh, next weekend I think we'll go to the Lavender Festival. Just little day trips.
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Everyone is different. If you do not like to travel and prefer other hobbies that is perfectly fine. Depending on where you go traveling can be a hassle to get there and even once you're there. I love to travel but if someone prefers not to travel then I do not fault them for that.
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Well, that opens up a whole different debate - not everyone is "outdoorsy" and wants to see the scenery. "If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all..." and all that.
[NB - I personally enjoy seeing the view, but don't really want to do a great deal of sweating or freezing, so I'm more of a spectator of the outdoors. But I've known people who really only enjoyed cruise vacations or shopping.]
That's true. The reasons people travel are going to be vastly different so their responses to different places will be different. To me, who totally understands the not liking to travel thing and never went anywhere on vacation when working (not enough time, too much hassle and expense, etc...), I see vast differences between most places whether cultures, architecture, nature, eactivities I can do, etc..and find it all pretty fascinating.
I have hiked PNW rain forests and the NM desert and kayaked the everglades and while clearly different nature is still just nature - rain jacket vs sun hat, same basic deal. I have wondered around many big cities on four continents and they are all very similar, the biggest differentiator seems to be how useful English is. I was also an exchange student in HS. People are basically people - slight variations on the settings but same basic OS. Please understand I have had great fun in many places. I know I am very forchinate to have traveled half as much as I have but maybe I just see the spectrum of what is out there as being smaller that others.
Maybe I just need more brussels sprouts or am especially jaded lately, or need to hit FI so that a proper level of relaxation can sink in deep into my bones over an extend trip to see what 'travel people' see.
Or maybe I dont see any challenge or uniqueness in most all places people talk about going to. With the cc in my wallet and my US Passport I could be in 98% of the the worlds midsized citys by Sunday morning with little more effort than sitting on an airplane-drink in hand. Few years back I was looking at going to North Korea; it seemed like one of the very few places that is truly different. It also would have taken some work and some self discipline to obey the rules while in country so many I need challenge too? The might have happened but some expenses came up.
Alan, you've hit on something to which I've given a lot of thought. A place that might feel "exotic" to us is no big deal to the people that live there all the time. I happen to live in the suburbs of an historic city, but it still seems funny to me that anyone would go to the trouble and expense of booking a flight and then staying in a hotel room for a week in order to wander around said city. I take day trips there myself, but as a travel destination it just seems kind of lame, lol. I wonder if Parisians, Berliners, Londoners, etc. feel the same way. "Eh? What's the big deal? It's just another big city with museums, restaurants, and other attractions." I realize mine is an extreme view, but it's valid in its own way.
I think visiting one city for a whole week is a very long time. Although we have done that when I was at school at the age of 17. That was in Rome, where there is a great deal to see. For for my subsequent city trips I have always experienced two days as long enough.
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I think one reason many people love to travel is they want to get away from whatever it is they don't like about their life. Travel forces them to be in the moment and present, wherever they are, and with whatever they are doing. They think they can only have that feeling while traveling, so it becomes almost an addiction, because it feels awesome to be truly present. What many don't realize is it is a much greater joy to learn to be present and content all the time, in your current life. It's much harder to do, but so much more rewarding if achieved.
I realize there are other very valid reasons to travel of course, but I see this a lot with people I know IRL in they way they perceive traveling.
(Gah! I need to stop reading through these threads so quickly. I keep missing really good points.) This post right here speaks volumes, imo. In fact, I wrote something very much like this in my journal, the one I keep IRL, when I was trying to sort out my own reasons for not being into travel like so many of my friends and family. I tried to determine what it is that constant travelers are searching for abroad that they can't discover at home, especially my friend who becomes frantic when she doesn't have a "major" vacation planned each year. She's an extreme extrovert and it took years before I could make her understand that I actually enjoyed staying at home, lol, whereas she becomes anxious and antsy when faced with four walls and her own company. Maybe it comes down to being an introvert vs extrovert thing after all?
I think there's something to that. Extroverts have an easier time, and benefit from, meeting new people all the time.
And I very much agree with the previous point about people who travel to get away from their life. I've had to explain this repeatedly to people, that I don't need to spend $1000 to 'get away' for a week... what I need is to not have to answer the cell phone, check email, track appointments and other's expectations of how I should spend my time. I like where I live and the life I'v created, and I like to be able to enjoy my garden, hobbies, and apartment when I have a stretch of time for myself.
And it's interesting, too, how often people assume you're available if you're 'in town' when they wouldn't bother you if you were 'out of town'.
So I don't travel much now. One flight since 2001, 25 minutes duration to Vancouver Island. When I finally retire, I'd like to do some slow travel, with loose plans to get to Europe by cruise ship which, starting from Canada's west coast, will probably take 2+ weeks. I hope to arrive well-rested and partially time-adjusted.
Someone had made a comment about modern travel being a pointless exercise, and I get what he was pointing at. When travel is used well it creates not just experiences, but connection. I think real connection to other people and places -- where you change each other a little or a lot, is an important reason to travel. Travel used for escape or distraction or competition is a poor use and and completely unworthy of the oil it takes to make it happen. (Not justifying the C02 for better uses either, just saying)
There's a lot of connection-less 'tick it off the list' bragging rights tourism everywhere; it was a big issue in Europe with the Da Vinci Code tours, and I certainly see it here in Vancouver BC. (The worst is Wreck Beach, and I'm surprised more tourists don't fly home with broken noses).
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Oh we love to travel and we do that a lot, business or leisure. Approaching 100 countries and counting. I think we are often excited about new experiences, places, cultures, foods, people, animals...We plan to do slow travel once we retire. And based on the research, health care can be a lot cheaper in many countries.
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Well, that opens up a whole different debate - not everyone is "outdoorsy" and wants to see the scenery. "If you've seen one tree, you've seen them all..." and all that.
[NB - I personally enjoy seeing the view, but don't really want to do a great deal of sweating or freezing, so I'm more of a spectator of the outdoors. But I've known people who really only enjoyed cruise vacations or shopping.]
That's true. The reasons people travel are going to be vastly different so their responses to different places will be different. To me, who totally understands the not liking to travel thing and never went anywhere on vacation when working (not enough time, too much hassle and expense, etc...), I see vast differences between most places whether cultures, architecture, nature, eactivities I can do, etc..and find it all pretty fascinating.
I have hiked PNW rain forests and the NM desert and kayaked the everglades and while clearly different nature is still just nature - rain jacket vs sun hat, same basic deal. I have wondered around many big cities on four continents and they are all very similar, the biggest differentiator seems to be how useful English is. I was also an exchange student in HS. People are basically people - slight variations on the settings but same basic OS. Please understand I have had great fun in many places. I know I am very forchinate to have traveled half as much as I have but maybe I just see the spectrum of what is out there as being smaller that others.
Maybe I just need more brussels sprouts or am especially jaded lately, or need to hit FI so that a proper level of relaxation can sink in deep into my bones over an extend trip to see what 'travel people' see.
Or maybe I dont see any challenge or uniqueness in most all places people talk about going to. With the cc in my wallet and my US Passport I could be in 98% of the the worlds midsized citys by Sunday morning with little more effort than sitting on an airplane-drink in hand. Few years back I was looking at going to North Korea; it seemed like one of the very few places that is truly different. It also would have taken some work and some self discipline to obey the rules while in country so many I need challenge too? The might have happened but some expenses came up.
Alan, you've hit on something to which I've given a lot of thought. A place that might feel "exotic" to us is no big deal to the people that live there all the time. I happen to live in the suburbs of an historic city, but it still seems funny to me that anyone would go to the trouble and expense of booking a flight and then staying in a hotel room for a week in order to wander around said city. I take day trips there myself, but as a travel destination it just seems kind of lame, lol. I wonder if Parisians, Berliners, Londoners, etc. feel the same way. "Eh? What's the big deal? It's just another big city with museums, restaurants, and other attractions." I realize mine is an extreme view, but it's valid in its own way.
As a native New Yorker, I can speak for New Yorkers: most of us don't take it for granted, and realize how special it is. It may be true of Parisians, Berliners, Londoners, Tokyoans, Rio de Janeirans, Moscovites, etc.
*Forchinate? C'mon man.
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As a native New Yorker, I can speak for New Yorkers: most of us don't take it for granted, and realize how special it is. It may be true of Parisians, Berliners, Londoners, Tokyoans, Rio de Janeirans, Moscovites, etc.
*Forchinate? C'mon man.
meh. Funny how spelling something phonetically is wrong and noteworthy. Sorry but honestly I have better things to do than triple check behind my learning disability in some BS forum post. If a word does not get a red underline there is literally a 2% chance I will see a phonetic misspelling, it is just not something I see. Why that did not get flagged I have no clue. But that Gold Star you earned on a 5th grade spelling test is finally paying off!
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As a native New Yorker, I can speak for New Yorkers: most of us don't take it for granted, and realize how special it is. It may be true of Parisians, Berliners, Londoners, Tokyoans, Rio de Janeirans, Moscovites, etc.
*Forchinate? C'mon man.
meh. Funny how spelling something phonetically is wrong and noteworthy. Sorry but honestly I have better things to do than triple check behind my learning disability in some BS forum post. If a word does not get a red underline there is literally a 2% chance I will see a phonetic misspelling, it is just not something I see. Why that did not get flagged I have no clue. But that Gold Star you earned on a 5th grade spelling test is finally paying off!
How unfortunate you chose to respond this way. More than likely the Gold Star you didn't earn on the 5th grade spelling test has held you back more than you'll ever know. Not the way I want it, just how it is. Let's end the light-hearted ribbing back and forth here.
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How unfortunate you chose to respond this way. More than likely the Gold Star you didn't earn on the 5th grade spelling test has held you back more than you'll ever know. Not the way I want it, just how it is. Let's end the light-hearted ribbing back and forth here.
You think I am unaware of how my life has been affected by this? I cant spell, I am not dumb. One of the biggest things in life it has held me back from doing is posting more in online forums for the very reasons that are being demonstrated now.
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Ouch.
AlanStache, thanks for speaking up about LDs. I hope you'll feel comfy posting here eternally. (I have a pretty severe LD myself. It just happens to not impact spelling. My fancy spelling marks didn't do much for me in navigating the rest, though!)
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I have known some very intelligent people with no LD that still can't spell well. Sometimes spell check does not flag something it should. I have always been a great speller and don't know why. But Math not so much:))
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I like travelling. Maybe you have not found a wonderful place where intrigues you to travel. I like staying at home a lot. However, many people have that moment when you want to leave far away and experience new thing. World is wide so i want to travel around and experience more things before i die
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I like traveling, I just don't like to do a whole lot when I travel. I like to see the sights, but I'm not so much in group touring, or doing excursions, or participating in local festivals or customs, or "going out" (I carry my introvertness with me). I just like to walk; whether that is down the street, through markets, go for a hike, through museums. I just like the casual exploration.
My ideal vacation would be an extended trip on the Orient express. Just looking out of the window, sipping coffee or tea or cocktails, eating good food, and going out to stretch my legs during stops. I just like to observe and be quiet. And I can do that here at home too. I enjoy finding ways to make my home base like a little sanctuary for myself and just try to generally live a peaceful existance wherever I am.
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I feel grateful that my favorite place in the world is my backyard/garage wood shop. I think if you offered me a choice between a 3-week all-expenses-paid, luxury vacation to Europe or a 2-week uninterrupted stint in the garage, I would choose the latter. I tend to view vacations as hassles; especially when it involves air travel. I have grown to despise flying, mostly because of all the regulations, coupled with increasingly hostile/entitled behavior of fellow travelers. I resent having to stand in lines for virtually everything. And the requisite lines increase exponentially with international travel (we just got back from Havana, Cuba).
I guess I cured my travel bug when I graduated college. My older sis offered me a backpacking trip thru Europe in exchange for rebuilding her fence and deck over the summer. I spent 9 weeks alone wandering western Europe in 1988. It was a good adventure, but I was ready to return home.
When I announced to my wife my desire to RE at 55, she said she could be supportive as long as I could still afford the occasional trip with her. So that is one of the prices I must pay. And it really isn’t the financial price that I mind so much. Right now, I am still working full time, so taking trips cuts into my garage goofing off time. As soon as we leave home, I can’t wait to get back home! But once I retire, I should get my fill of unlimited garage time, so perhaps I won’t mind the time away as much.
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I always enjoy learning something new when I travel, but it's not really something I seek out. I wouldn't mind exploring some more of the US when I'm retired. When I go on a "vacation" these days, part of me wishes I had just stayed home and enjoyed my time at home which I don't get nearly enough of, but I'm not always going on "vacation" for me, but for others. Going to plan more "staycations" in the future.
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I have grown to despise flying, mostly because of all the regulations, coupled with increasingly hostile/entitled behavior of fellow travelers. I resent having to stand in lines for virtually everything.
Ah yes, the wonders of flying. My family hates road trips too (except me).
We are soon heading out on a trip on a plane. The worst is the nickel-and-diming. So I had my spouse check our tickets - and yes, we have seat assignments on the way out, and even in the same row!
But not the way back. If we want seat assignments, or to choose our seats, that will be $33 please. Each. For 4 of us. There aren't that many seats left.
Eh, no thanks. Yes, I am betting pretty strongly that
1. They will seat us together. If they don't:
2. Nobody is going to want to sit next to my 5 year old for two hours.
3. Within 5 minutes of sitting next to my chatty 11 year old, who can talk video games for HOURS, non-stop, I'll have plenty of offers to switch!
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I'm a confirmed introverted homebody, but I also really enjoy traveling. I'm fairly comfort seeking by nature so I consider it a valuable form of "strategic discomfort" that forcibly expands my boundaries in beneficial ways. I find I need to make myself plan a trip or two a year to keep myself from sinking too far into routine ruts.
I could see myself getting my fill of travel at some point, though. I got a late start (didn't leave western North America or travel for business until my 30's) so while I've traveled a decent amount over the last 8 years it likely won't go on at this rate indefinitely.
I think I may be more tolerant of the annoyances of travel than most, though. Flying doesn't bother me much (although flights over 8 hours can do it). I have a passive mode I slip into when things are arranged and all I need to do is be a leaf being swept downstream, and that's why you keep your kindle stocked up.
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My wife and I used to love it. Then we had corporate jobs where we were on the road 60%+ of our lives for years...no more. Now that we are grounded and work from home, we revel in the beauty of simple days and learning to enjoy all the things around us in driving distance. We are lucky that we live in an area where we have lots of nature, the sea, etc though we could be content here we think forever w/out taking another flight.
No desire to travel any more. This may change but enjoying where we are right now.
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I like the idea of travelling -- seeing new places, new scenery/nature, eating new foods.
I hate the logistics of travelling -- trying to catch your flight/train/bus,having your flight delayed, pushing and shoving through crowds at the airport, being herded like sheep on group tours, trying to communicate with people who don't speak the same language, getting lost, waiting in airport lounges, eating crappy food while waiting in airport lounges, losing luggage, dragging heavy suitcases or backpacks around, jet lag...it's all just so exhausting and stressful.
I really have to weigh whether a location is worth the extreme hassle. Right now, only Australia and New Zealand make the cut for me.