In most cases, if you are unhappy at home, you'll be unhappy while traveling. The attraction will be too crowded, the food won't taste right, and people overseas will be just as annoying as people at home. One exception is if your unhappiness stems from your work. In that case, any vacation time, regardless of where it is spent, can be a happy experience.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness" is a well-known quote attributed to Mark Twain. I don't want travel for myself, I want it for the people who cannot see humanity. I want, in fact, to send all of them to space. Not to die, but to see the globe, the earth. It's our mothership, and we are in together.
Can travel be a tonic for self-loathing and general miserableness? Yes, of course it can, emphasis on "can". I don't believe it works for everyone. It depends on the type of traveler you are, where you are traveling to, why you are traveling, and mainly from your state of mind. Those who wander, who travel to understand the world, open and excited about new experiences, who enjoy the new, who are excited about learning, travel can definitely be a tonic for any sad feeling. On the other hand, those who just travel to add countries or places to their list of "I've been there", who expect the luxuries of home during their trips are usually miserable when they travel; those would be better off finding something else that makes them happy. I believe there is something for everyone, but it isn't always travel.
As a full-time traveler, I’m exposed to any number of attitudes towards travel by my fellow nomads. The folks I admire the most are those who go beyond the surface—the divers, the walkers, the hikers. They don’t “do” countries (one of my pet-peeve language uses)—they not only look, they SEE.
I was an Army brat—when we traveled my father made sure we experienced the totality of a place. We pitched tents in Ethiopian forests and rolled naked down the hills of White Sands, NM. We ate goats’ eyeballs, shot South Dakota pheasants and hiked in the Alps. When we were in a place, we were all in.
The travelers who collect countries like fridge magnets are not, imho, changed by travel. Like the fictional Duc des Essientes, they could save themselves the trouble of travel and simply sit in their living rooms surrounded by travel brochures and coffee-table books and live in an imaginary world of travel. “Let’s not and say we did,” as my mother used to say. You might dub them the “white lotus travelers”.
I also do not understand travelers who are bored by places. I mean, I understand the ennui that plagues Hesse’s Damian as he stares out the train window. That kind of internal angst CAN be remedied by travel. My mantra, since my own self-loathing 16-year old self found meaning via intention is Colin Wilson’s “Boredom is the inability to pick up on subtle vibrations.” The travelers who complain about the food or the service or whatever are not making an effort to pay attention to the details of a place. They suffer from a lack of curiosity and can only be stimulated by the trendy or new experience. I am embarrassed when I meet jaded countrymen when I’m on the road. And, oh please, deliver me from the posing selfies in front of the Sagrada Familia, Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu (tho, I am guilty myself, sometimes).
So, YES. Travel can change us but we have to WANT to change. Like any worthwhile endeavor, it takes intention and the willingness to be uncomfortable. It takes reading. It takes walking. It takes talking to strangers. It takes inviting bewilderment.
Oh, and Rick’s redeeming quality? He clearly is devoted to his old friend Frank and—even if he expresses it poorly, his girlfriend Chelsea.
“It takes inviting bewilderment.” I love that. So many solid points and very well said. I agree that there certainly needs to be a prerequisite mindset to wanting to change. I do think there’s a rare thing that does happen though and maybe it comes at a moment of someone being utterly exhausted by their misery and unhappiness that sparks that initial decision to change. I think that’s a deeply fascinating phenomenon and not sure how to fully describe it much less explain it yet.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. A lot to reflect on. 😊
Travel does not change your approach to life unless you allow it to.
In most cases, if you are unhappy at home, you'll be unhappy while traveling. The attraction will be too crowded, the food won't taste right, and people overseas will be just as annoying as people at home. One exception is if your unhappiness stems from your work. In that case, any vacation time, regardless of where it is spent, can be a happy experience.
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness" is a well-known quote attributed to Mark Twain. I don't want travel for myself, I want it for the people who cannot see humanity. I want, in fact, to send all of them to space. Not to die, but to see the globe, the earth. It's our mothership, and we are in together.
Absolutely! I love that Twain quote. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Marty!
Can travel be a tonic for self-loathing and general miserableness? Yes, of course it can, emphasis on "can". I don't believe it works for everyone. It depends on the type of traveler you are, where you are traveling to, why you are traveling, and mainly from your state of mind. Those who wander, who travel to understand the world, open and excited about new experiences, who enjoy the new, who are excited about learning, travel can definitely be a tonic for any sad feeling. On the other hand, those who just travel to add countries or places to their list of "I've been there", who expect the luxuries of home during their trips are usually miserable when they travel; those would be better off finding something else that makes them happy. I believe there is something for everyone, but it isn't always travel.
Beautifully said and I can’t agree more! Thanks for taking the time to add your thoughts here! Cheers!
Nice debate here Justin.
Travel can put things at home (and inside ourselves) into perspective. I believe it certainly can be a tonic for self-loathing.
As a full-time traveler, I’m exposed to any number of attitudes towards travel by my fellow nomads. The folks I admire the most are those who go beyond the surface—the divers, the walkers, the hikers. They don’t “do” countries (one of my pet-peeve language uses)—they not only look, they SEE.
I was an Army brat—when we traveled my father made sure we experienced the totality of a place. We pitched tents in Ethiopian forests and rolled naked down the hills of White Sands, NM. We ate goats’ eyeballs, shot South Dakota pheasants and hiked in the Alps. When we were in a place, we were all in.
The travelers who collect countries like fridge magnets are not, imho, changed by travel. Like the fictional Duc des Essientes, they could save themselves the trouble of travel and simply sit in their living rooms surrounded by travel brochures and coffee-table books and live in an imaginary world of travel. “Let’s not and say we did,” as my mother used to say. You might dub them the “white lotus travelers”.
I also do not understand travelers who are bored by places. I mean, I understand the ennui that plagues Hesse’s Damian as he stares out the train window. That kind of internal angst CAN be remedied by travel. My mantra, since my own self-loathing 16-year old self found meaning via intention is Colin Wilson’s “Boredom is the inability to pick up on subtle vibrations.” The travelers who complain about the food or the service or whatever are not making an effort to pay attention to the details of a place. They suffer from a lack of curiosity and can only be stimulated by the trendy or new experience. I am embarrassed when I meet jaded countrymen when I’m on the road. And, oh please, deliver me from the posing selfies in front of the Sagrada Familia, Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu (tho, I am guilty myself, sometimes).
So, YES. Travel can change us but we have to WANT to change. Like any worthwhile endeavor, it takes intention and the willingness to be uncomfortable. It takes reading. It takes walking. It takes talking to strangers. It takes inviting bewilderment.
Oh, and Rick’s redeeming quality? He clearly is devoted to his old friend Frank and—even if he expresses it poorly, his girlfriend Chelsea.
“It takes inviting bewilderment.” I love that. So many solid points and very well said. I agree that there certainly needs to be a prerequisite mindset to wanting to change. I do think there’s a rare thing that does happen though and maybe it comes at a moment of someone being utterly exhausted by their misery and unhappiness that sparks that initial decision to change. I think that’s a deeply fascinating phenomenon and not sure how to fully describe it much less explain it yet.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. A lot to reflect on. 😊
Ah, yes. . . I actually believe that change only comes through pain.