I got stuck on the initial premise that we travel seeking change. Some of us travel so we can snorkel and dive, or get out of bad weather, or make memories visiting the National Parks with our families.
How convenient for Callard, a professor, to include a disclaimer about how this doesn't apply to travel for learning or work, thus excluding academic conferences, the type of travel she's most likely to partake in.
I love to travel, but I don't think everyone has to love travel, and I do think that travel seriously damages whole regions and the livelihoods of locals. You can criticize the concept all day long.
But that article is utterly stupid. It seems like she's the one hating travel, but she desperately wants to make a theory out of it, by creating a weird chimera of a thesis out of glued together fragments that support her view.
Her argument just doesn't work.
You went to Dubai and didn't like it - no shit, mam. It's a shit place to go.
Kant didn't travel - yeah, he was most likely an autist who preferred repetition. And during his time travel was very stressful. I get why he wouldn't take a multi-week trip in a horse carriage just to get to Italy. I would probably have died of sickness when trying to cross the Alps like that.
Tourists don't learn anything from their travels - most people don't learn in schools, yet we still make everyone attend school. People read books and watch movies constantly without getting the point of the story.
I'd expect better arguments from a prof of philosophy. This is lame.
Callard is such a loser lol…you should look up her article where she tries to justify her “open relationship” with her graduate student (read: affair, with her sad husband still living in the house and trying to pretend everything is fine). How she got tenure anywhere is beyond me.
After reading this piece I went looking for her other work and immediately recognized the other article. Read it years ago and also hated it.
TBF though, my impression of philosophy students/teachers is that they are usually good at philosophy and suck at everything else. I have my own theory about that, which I keep to myself because the world doesn't need another shitty article like this one.
Yeah, it was back in the days when you caught tuberculosis or you could die from an infected mosquito bite like Lord Carnarvon. Travel back then sucked, everything back then sucked. I don't blame Kant for keeping his ass at home, autistic or not.
They made a movie about such a traveler in the late 80s/early 80s called The Accidental Tourist. Except it was understood that the person was uptight and crazy.
Yeah seriously, fuck this shit. This shouldn’t even have landed on an editor’s desk.
Guess I’m gonna cancel my long-awaited trip to the Phillippines because some snobby professor thinks it’ll bring out the worst in me. What was even the goal with this piece?
Every so often you get a special brand of intellectual that really thinks they’re above everything human and wants to be commended for it at any opportunity.
This article feels like a reaction, like someone the author hates IRL suddenly proclaimed they love to travel. “This is why travel is actually bad,” etc. It feels so immature.
Exactly. So many thinkpieces in the attention economy are written that way. They’re mostly written about someone or a small group of people that the author personally knows or has encountered and has an axe to grind with, but with enough plausible deniability to make the author’s perspectives seem generalizable and less incendiary. So petty.
If the worst in me is somewhat harsh language about a terminally self-obsessed academic who’s mostly known for theorizing her way out of why cheating on her husband isn’t actually all that bad, then I’ve got lots of work to do.
I find the idea that you have to make falconry your hobby to be interested in an animal hospital that specializes in falcons or that you have to be an expert in art to appreciate art to be fundamentally intellectually uncurious. It’s funny that a professor is this uninterested in the world at large. What is this person’s argument? You can’t really understand or enjoy any of this stuff so what’s the point. Learning is the point. Experiences are the point. Joy is the point. This author sounds so insufferable.
Right? If i travel and book a food tour its because I want to try new things. Things I dont know if I like or not because I've never tried them. That's the whole point of trying new things, to explore, to learn, to experiment. As you said this lady sounds insufferable.
This person seems like the most boring asshole. “When I travel, I exclusively do activities I have zero interest in. I also am bizarrely excluding from my definition of travel any trip undertaken for work, study, art, or prior interest. Therefore, travel is worthless.” Literally, I had to stop halfway through.
My wife has been texting a mom from Curaçao we met in South Africa last summer about the World Cup. We’re from the states and my son (10) was cheering for Curaçao because his friend he met is from there. Travel is pretty awesome.
What about them? The Knicks Finals run was the most united the city has been since early days of covid. See Mamdani's celebration speech.
https://youtu.be/ciimC-cE_eI?is=CCW5M8uEIz9jpN3_
Those few yes were out of line, and it got amplified by online media (the type OP separated from IRL interactions). But that shouldn't outweigh the celebration and coming together of millions.
If you feel that those fractions of percentages of experiences dictate the overall experience then maybe in fact you shouldn't travel. NYC is a city enjoyed and beloved by millions of residents and visitors alike and has been a unique metropolis of blended cultures for centuries. And the Knicks run brought out the best in the city, not the worst.
Check back in a few weeks when the ( vast minority of) celebrations in the World Cup winning nation turn into riots and add those cities and fans to the list as well
It's all very easy and convenient for a well-traveled writer for Callard to hate travel. She has the means to travel, and has used those means to travel extensively, so she gets to enjoy the satisfaction of both having traveled and telling the less fortunate masses that travel is overrated. A dumb article by a dull person.
I’ve barely traveled and I hate travel. It’s pretty easy to think that burning several tons of co2 per passenger is something to be avoided.
It’s also very possible to stay home or just drive a little bit and vacation wherever that is.
Also, even if tons of musical artists are burning tons and tons of fuel, it’s possible to not buy a ticket so that they stop profiting from it, and stop doing it.
Or you could admit that it’s just not your thing. You don’t have to give every single decision you make moral weight to pretend like you’re better than other people.
I think that while flying on an airplane is the biggest emitter that any single person can do it’s also not the primary cause of climate change. It’s massive corporations that are causing the climate crisis. Pretending that going back to a world where people don’t travel will solve this issue is naive. It’s also shortsighted as to how that will affect our society. Travel and the interconnectedness of people is a net good. We aren’t trying to save the planet just to save the planet. We are saving it to save us and our society. The planet will exist whether we save ourselves or not. So we should be saving the good parts of humanity along with the planet. That includes our drive to travel and see new things. It’s one of the best parts of humanity.
Corporations serve consumers. Corporate change is theoretically a more effective avenue, but you are also causing climate change.
Humans are extremely adaptable and can, and will find, good things no matter how unpleasant some changes may seem, as long as that unpleasantness doesn’t kill them.
You must not be American if you believe corporations serve consumers. Corporations serve themselves and their shareholders. Consumers have very little to do with it.
That doesn’t mean that they serve us or that we as consumers have any say in what a corporation does. All you’re doing is repeating corporate propaganda.
Sure, there are ways in which they don’t serve consumers, but there are also ways in which they do.
How many go belly up because they fuck up their product or service? It’s not that rare. More rare for the largest ones, but every company is vulnerable.
Perfection isn’t the goal of travel, babes. It’s diversifying your lived experiences. It’s meeting new people, navigating new landscapes, trying new foods, solving new problems.
If you want to look like your ideal self while out in the world and never be frustrated (or frustrating), you’ve got bigger problems than whether or not to travel.
I am exceedingly grateful that I was old enough to travel before the advent of the Instagram tourist,
My partner and I explored much of Central America and Mexico way back in the late 80's and early 90's and some Caribbean islands.
Our impetus to explore that area of the world was partially due to the fact we lived in Texas and could get cheap or free airline tickets because I was a travel agent at the time.
Also we were divers and we had a serious interest in the Mayan ruins after attending a couple of lectures at U.T,
We rode local buses and stayed at small, locally owned hotels and had got to know people that weren't being paid to be nice to us.
From what I've read and from what I've heard friends who had visited the Yucatán recently, much of the area has been turned in a playground for people that want a curated experience where they stay at an all-inclusive resort and visit amusement parks designed just for them. It honestly sounds really awful.
With all that said, I think the author of the article is a pompous ass who needs to get over herself and just stay home.
Might be an unpopular opinion, but over the last 10 years international travel has become so commonplace and does not equal acquiring any specific cultural knowledge.
Perhaps in the past you needed to learn the local language just to get around, you needed to talk to locals for restaurant recommendations. Internet made that all go away.
How is sitting a resort in the south of France much different than sitting at resort on Miami Beach? I tend to agree with the article.
I just think the truism of “acquiring cultural knowledge” is a half assed attempt at applying some kind of greater meaning to your vacation. Why can’t you just admit that you’re going on vacation because it’s fun? It doesn’t need to be in the name of some higher calling.
When’s there’s not requirement to learn the language, eat the local food, be without wifi or western amenities - how do you really have rich cultural experience?
The obvious answer knowing locals who will take you in and guide you (having a good network). Today these lines are blurred more than ever due to technology and globalization.
That’s the problem, equating all travel with “sitting at a resort in the south of france” is a dishonest starting point when discussing overall travel.
There will always be rude, entitled tourists completely disinterested in actual culture. But that doesn’t make the endeavor itself not worthwhile.
Sure spending a month in some small town learning French is different than being a tourist at a resort. But most people aren’t able to do that (because of work obligations).
There’s this idea that is a greater achievement to “meet the locals” than sit at resort. But it largely boils down to how much time you can spend not working - i.e rich people can have culturally significant trips while the guy taking 5 days PTO can not.
I'm by no means rich (by U.S. standards); my salary has not hit 6 figures--- not even close. But I don't require much to be happy and that includes travel. I to teach, so I get a lot of time off. If I'm traveling internationally, I'll stay a minimum of 2 weeks. I love hiking, and I take advantage of a lot of free or cheap historical attractions. I also eat cheaply bc I usually go to a bakery for breakfast, skip lunch, and eat a moderate dinner. My accommodations are usually at locally owned hotels that are much cheaper than chains or corporate owned hotels.
I have a love for adventure and learning about other places. Travel is fun for me because of that
I live in a average/poor zip code of a city that gets many waves of travelers each year, and not a single traveler has ever ventured into my zip code to get to know our culture. Not one single time ever and I am 38 years old. I also have never known anyone else in my whole life who has experienced this.
I don't believe travelers' online claims of getting to know the culture.
Travel is a privilege but not all things associated with privilege are bad. You don’t have to travel even if you can afford to. It’s alright if you just don’t enjoy it. But pretending like your personal choice has moral weight is lame.
On Instagram “masionrickie” has a some great videos going into the dynamics of how travel became this generations favorite display of capital.
In the past having the newest car or biggest house was the thing to impress all your friends, now it’s flying business class to Paris and posting a picture of Spritz.
It absolutely is. I know multiple groups of wealthy people who talk about “absorbing the local culture” when they travel. Meanwhile they check off countries like a to-do list and sneer at anyone who repeats a country, as if returning to a place whose culture you appreciate is basic. And their concept of absorbing the culture is taking pensive photos in front of the most touristy attractions and eating the food.
None of these people make or keep friends with locals, they all make friends with other wealthy people who are doing the same thing. Foreign travel is now a networking event.
I bet shorter holiday breaks (but more widely accessible to all) are part of the problem. There's a huge difference between going abroad for a week and living there for like a month. The latter nudges you towards learning bits of a language, reading up on the history, trying different bits of culture. The former pushes you into a beach resort or speedrunning museum highlights.
But the life of a Victorian heiress touring the continent just isn't possible for most people's budgets or work schedules.
Ya exactly - “distance from economic necessity” is a big factory in how “cultural” you’re trip most likely is. Most Americans likely only travel for 1 week or less. Trips heavily researched and booked via internet before hands.
This idea that you’re spending an entire summer wondering around Spain is for the ultra rich and people that are between college and their first job.
Honestly, you aren’t obligated to learn anything when you travel, and I say this as someone getting a PhD. You can just travel somewhere because you’re enjoying your time off in a different locale and the weather and people are nice or something.
So long as you’re being a respectful guest of the other state/province or country you’re in, it’s fine. Not everything needs to be a deep journey of enlightenment, you can just enjoy the food and some landmarks.
Yes I did, and it comes off like someone horrid to be around who has to theorize about her grandiosity being above a generally enjoyable human experience instead of getting a damn grip.
Most travel enthusiasts don’t turn it into several-thousand word articles and they’re usually pretty benign about their passion. Sure we’ve met some who are insufferable, but given how many millions upon millions of people travel annually I guarantee that’s not anywhere near the majority.
Even if the title is somewhat clickbaity, she still does plenty of obnoxious theorizing around what is generally an enjoyable human experience.
To many people, not traveling is a generally enjoyable human experience too, but that's not good enough for "TISI" people, who preach about the intellectual and moral superiority of being well traveled. Maybe they don't write articles (actually I'm pretty sure they do!!!), but I know many of these people and they stroke themselves at length about it amongst each other. This is the first time I've ever heard a non-TISI person emulate one in this way. Its pretty obnoxious huh
But there’s a difference between travel for leisure and traveling for cultural exchange. Which is something the article doesn’t seem to acknowledge. There’s a difference between going to another place just to stay at the resort the whole time vs going to a place and visiting cultural landmarks and eating from local establishments
I think “cultural exchange” can be smaller than what most people think of.
One example is that I see Americans travel to new places, and these places are very walkable. It’s the first time many of them experience mixed use neighborhoods where everything is reachable via transport. Even just one or two days in such a place can be eye opening for people. Exposure to new cultures challenges much of what you view as normal, even in a short time.
I do not think you need to spend two months in a small village and learn the language to have proper cultural exchange.
“Cultural exchange” is literally just an exchange of culture. No one is saying that they suddenly know everything about the culture after just being there a few days. I’m saying that they are being exposed to, and learning about, different aspects of a different culture that challenges views of their own culture. Often, these idea of their own culture are so ingrained that they never even considered to challenge them before.
I don’t even think learning another culture to the level you are implying is even possible, if we’re talking strictly through travel. People can live in a place for years and still not understand the culture
I didn't say anything about "knowing everything" either. But after 2days all you can know of your similarities is that all people
walk on two legs, breathe air, and hold their childrens hands in the street
I think we are getting away from the main point of the article.
Travel (in almost all cases) is not achievement anymore. It can still be fun, but the challenge of having to navigate your way from Bangkok to Koh Tao is gone because technology and globalization. Just going somewhere does not mean you learned anything about the particular culture anymore (in the past this was different).
Well, I personally disagree. The vast majority of people never leave their state, let alone their country. Just being exposed to a different environment with different customs, architecture, and culture values is, in itself, a challenge to your world view. To say it isn’t meaningful simply because it’s easier than in the past misses the point.
Even with the Internet, travel has a learning curve. It’s one thing to google everything and set plan. It’s another to figure out how to navigate public transportation in a new country. Try to abide by cultural rules and customs. Figuring out which tickets go on trains vs buses or figuring out which things are closed for which holidays you forgot other cultures have. Not to mention, you can easily just do things the old fashion way if you wanted, by speaking to locals and asking for recommendations.
If it's really that significant then people who can afford 3 trips a year should donate 1 of those trips to the "many" people who "never leave their state"
Also again. Asking for directions and recommendations is not getting to know anything, any more than I get to know anything about my fellow countrymen that way
I don't disagree with your opprobrium but, for example, I took a cheap flight to Zagreb recently - did touristy things and then ate/drank and, in part, hung out with locals.
I'm poor as all fuck but the whole point of my two day holiday was to try to engage with the socio-cultural reality of a foreign country.
This is weird to me cause my partner wanted to do an all inclusive resort trip and I found it way more expensive than other travel options I planned.
I will say the discomfort comment is spot on though. You do know what you're getting with a resort. I also realize I am lucky enough to have the time and energy to plan a trip when some may not so its easier to just pick a resort and not have to worry
I actually planned my first ever international trip last year so there was a lot of concerns cause I had never done it before which definitely falls under discomfort but it all worked out. Even if one of the hotels I picked was meh
Not all travelers buy into the resort as an ideal accommodation. I know loads of working class people who opt to camp in wildlife areas they haven’t explored or stay in hostels/with friends and family who live in big, “exciting” cities.
I enjoy learning the history of the place, eating local foods, and exploring the landscape. But yeah, if I were planning on just sitting on a beach, you might be right. Some people are boring no matter where they are
I visited Japan last year which was my first ever international trip and it greatly opened my eyes in numerous ways, esp as they're a communal culture v the US being an individualistic culture
It was incredible to see another culture so unlike my own. I saw temples, ate delicious food, hiked, saw live music, etc. All of which I can do in the US but it is very much different culturally.
Travel is like anything else in that its what you make of it.
The articles main point of was travel is no longer an achievement. Going on a highly organized and researched group trip is much different than someone navigating Japan pre Internet.
The author seems to have more of an issue with people just doing things on a trip because the internet told them to do so
Like here
>For example, a decade ago, when I was in Abu Dhabi, I went on a guided tour of a falcon hospital. I took a photo with a falcon on my arm. I have no interest in falconry or falcons, and a generalized dislike of encounters with nonhuman animals. But the falcon hospital was one of the answers to the question, “What does one do in Abu Dhabi?”
Of course you're gonna hate travel if you just let yourself be pressured into doing something you hate just cause you have no idea what else to do. (Falcon hospital sounds amazing though but I also LOVE animals)
If you travel and just do things for the sake of it or cause Google said to do so or because you wanna get a pick a spot influencers love then of course you'll be miserable
I planned my trip using the internet but I planned things I wanted to do and booked a lot of things in advance which you have to do with Japan
Each day, I planned one thing I wanted to do then just wandered around and experienced whatever I ran into the rest of the day.
One of my greatest experiences is when ended up in a Tennessee themed bar in Tokyo where my partner and I were the only westerners and chatted with Yoshi, the owner, who told us all about his time in America. He came back, worked as a salaryman then retired and opened this bar. It was an amazing cultural exchange that went both ways
The author just sounds like a miserable person tbh.
I agree. And the idea that you'll learn everyone is really alike? When was the last time the tourists in my town got to know that they were like me? Never, because that's not REALLY what people do when they travel, and also the people who travel here aren't like me or most of the people who are from here, because this isn't a true statement
It would be a different weather and food. The beaches are very different too. Maybe it's because I'm from Guatemala and beaches are violent and with black sand, so you cannot spend all day there, unless yiu want to cook your feet.
I prefer going to resorts in my own country and be more adventurous abroad. Resorts are perfect when you want to rest and be pampered and it's something I appreciate when I have to cook and clean everyday. If I have the money I would not mind going to a resort in Miami or France, although I couldn't resist going out to explore.
I’d argue she finds meaning and joy in being a contrarian while others find it in travel. At least travel is more fun than having to listen to the philosophizing of a contrarian.
If you don’t understand the simply joy of drinking a coffee in another country while you relax and observe the different sights, I can’t help you.
I’m so glad I recently heard Rick Steves speak. He was absolutely delightful and so humble about how lucky he has been to see such amazing places. He would absolutely acknowledge that followjng his recommended walking routes around Paris in 2026 is not at the same level of difficulty as him hitchhiking across Iran and Afghanistan in the 1970s, but he’s not attaching some kind of moral value or achievement points to either like it’s some kind of competition. As someone who has been limited by health and obligations the last few years but who is now excitedly planning my first trips in ages, I’m just going to listen to Rick Steves and not this miserable woman.
TeamHope4 | 5 hours ago
I got stuck on the initial premise that we travel seeking change. Some of us travel so we can snorkel and dive, or get out of bad weather, or make memories visiting the National Parks with our families.
Embarrassed-Profit74 | 5 hours ago
How convenient for Callard, a professor, to include a disclaimer about how this doesn't apply to travel for learning or work, thus excluding academic conferences, the type of travel she's most likely to partake in.
Welterbestatus | 5 hours ago
Just assume that she truly hates it, and that's why she tries to make a whole argument about it. She's trying to science-fy her opinion.
MMAHipster | 2 hours ago
I assume everyone at her conferences *fucking hates her* too.
Situation-Emergency | 5 hours ago
That falcon hospital sounds awesome. I can't take seriously the opinions of someone who hates a falcon hospital.
criimebrulee | 3 hours ago
I had the same thought. Like who would have a bad time at a falcon hospital? Someone whose opinions I do not care to hear, thank you.
Yggdrasil- | 6 hours ago
Ngl this writer sounds like an insufferable snob who is incapable of feeling joy
Welterbestatus | 5 hours ago
I love to travel, but I don't think everyone has to love travel, and I do think that travel seriously damages whole regions and the livelihoods of locals. You can criticize the concept all day long.
But that article is utterly stupid. It seems like she's the one hating travel, but she desperately wants to make a theory out of it, by creating a weird chimera of a thesis out of glued together fragments that support her view.
Her argument just doesn't work. You went to Dubai and didn't like it - no shit, mam. It's a shit place to go.
Kant didn't travel - yeah, he was most likely an autist who preferred repetition. And during his time travel was very stressful. I get why he wouldn't take a multi-week trip in a horse carriage just to get to Italy. I would probably have died of sickness when trying to cross the Alps like that.
Tourists don't learn anything from their travels - most people don't learn in schools, yet we still make everyone attend school. People read books and watch movies constantly without getting the point of the story.
I'd expect better arguments from a prof of philosophy. This is lame.
spironoWHACKtone | 5 hours ago
Callard is such a loser lol…you should look up her article where she tries to justify her “open relationship” with her graduate student (read: affair, with her sad husband still living in the house and trying to pretend everything is fine). How she got tenure anywhere is beyond me.
Welterbestatus | 4 hours ago
After reading this piece I went looking for her other work and immediately recognized the other article. Read it years ago and also hated it.
TBF though, my impression of philosophy students/teachers is that they are usually good at philosophy and suck at everything else. I have my own theory about that, which I keep to myself because the world doesn't need another shitty article like this one.
ChiaOtter | 31 minutes ago
To quote The Good Place, “this is why everyone hates moral philosophy professors.”
Nervous_Insect5976 | 4 hours ago
Yeah, it was back in the days when you caught tuberculosis or you could die from an infected mosquito bite like Lord Carnarvon. Travel back then sucked, everything back then sucked. I don't blame Kant for keeping his ass at home, autistic or not.
Vegetable_Block9793 | 5 hours ago
Dude can’t sleep on any other bed but his own, hates traveling, doesn’t know what fun is, and is convinced the solution is to attack travel.
supedupshortbus | 5 hours ago
Her
TheJenerator65 | 4 hours ago
They made a movie about such a traveler in the late 80s/early 80s called The Accidental Tourist. Except it was understood that the person was uptight and crazy.
ToTheDeath84 | 4 hours ago
Yeah seriously, fuck this shit. This shouldn’t even have landed on an editor’s desk.
Guess I’m gonna cancel my long-awaited trip to the Phillippines because some snobby professor thinks it’ll bring out the worst in me. What was even the goal with this piece?
punctuation_welfare | 3 hours ago
With this particular author, the goal was attention. Always.
ToTheDeath84 | 3 hours ago
Every so often you get a special brand of intellectual that really thinks they’re above everything human and wants to be commended for it at any opportunity.
copyrighther | 2 hours ago
This article feels like a reaction, like someone the author hates IRL suddenly proclaimed they love to travel. “This is why travel is actually bad,” etc. It feels so immature.
ToTheDeath84 | 2 hours ago
Exactly. So many thinkpieces in the attention economy are written that way. They’re mostly written about someone or a small group of people that the author personally knows or has encountered and has an axe to grind with, but with enough plausible deniability to make the author’s perspectives seem generalizable and less incendiary. So petty.
I posted elsewhere, but here’s a good rebuttal.
copyrighther | 2 hours ago
“…a simulacrum of provocation with an escape hatch through which an essay’s author and its fans can slither, if the pushback proves too fierce.”
Nailed it. This isn’t a real opinion, it’s just meant to push buttons.
ToTheDeath84 | an hour ago
Totally right. Pretty sure he also described much of Reddit with that too!
MMAHipster | 2 hours ago
To bring out the worst in you. Mission. Accomplished.
ToTheDeath84 | an hour ago
If the worst in me is somewhat harsh language about a terminally self-obsessed academic who’s mostly known for theorizing her way out of why cheating on her husband isn’t actually all that bad, then I’ve got lots of work to do.
MPLS_Poppy | 5 hours ago
I find the idea that you have to make falconry your hobby to be interested in an animal hospital that specializes in falcons or that you have to be an expert in art to appreciate art to be fundamentally intellectually uncurious. It’s funny that a professor is this uninterested in the world at large. What is this person’s argument? You can’t really understand or enjoy any of this stuff so what’s the point. Learning is the point. Experiences are the point. Joy is the point. This author sounds so insufferable.
fernandocrustacean | an hour ago
Right? If i travel and book a food tour its because I want to try new things. Things I dont know if I like or not because I've never tried them. That's the whole point of trying new things, to explore, to learn, to experiment. As you said this lady sounds insufferable.
FionaGoodeEnough | 5 hours ago
This person seems like the most boring asshole. “When I travel, I exclusively do activities I have zero interest in. I also am bizarrely excluding from my definition of travel any trip undertaken for work, study, art, or prior interest. Therefore, travel is worthless.” Literally, I had to stop halfway through.
formerly_LTRLLTRL | 6 hours ago
Cynicism at its worst.
Look at the World Cup and how it’s bringing people together in a time of internet driven (read: not IRL) division.
Travel. See different places. Meet different people. Realize we’re all more alike than it seems online. Be better.
slightlymedicated | 3 hours ago
My wife has been texting a mom from Curaçao we met in South Africa last summer about the World Cup. We’re from the states and my son (10) was cheering for Curaçao because his friend he met is from there. Travel is pretty awesome.
Gonna_do_this_again | 5 hours ago
Counterpoint, Knicks fans
tatas55 | 5 hours ago
What about them? The Knicks Finals run was the most united the city has been since early days of covid. See Mamdani's celebration speech. https://youtu.be/ciimC-cE_eI?is=CCW5M8uEIz9jpN3_
Gonna_do_this_again | 5 hours ago
They assaulted people wearing Spurs jerseys
tatas55 | 5 hours ago
Those few yes were out of line, and it got amplified by online media (the type OP separated from IRL interactions). But that shouldn't outweigh the celebration and coming together of millions.
Gonna_do_this_again | 5 hours ago
They burned school buses and destroyed at least one person's cab while he pleaded with the crowd to stop because that was his entire livelihood
tatas55 | 5 hours ago
If you feel that those fractions of percentages of experiences dictate the overall experience then maybe in fact you shouldn't travel. NYC is a city enjoyed and beloved by millions of residents and visitors alike and has been a unique metropolis of blended cultures for centuries. And the Knicks run brought out the best in the city, not the worst.
Check back in a few weeks when the ( vast minority of) celebrations in the World Cup winning nation turn into riots and add those cities and fans to the list as well
Gonna_do_this_again | 5 hours ago
All I do is travel, I've never come across anything like that before and I've gone to several sport championship celebrations
tatas55 | 5 hours ago
Thus proving how those negative instances are the exception, not the rule. Continue enjoying to travel!
AskingYouQuestions48 | 4 hours ago
Yeah a conservatives kill lawmakers and liberals kill podcasters. White people are all neo-Nazis. Fun talking in generalities.
lifeinaglasshouse | 5 hours ago
It's all very easy and convenient for a well-traveled writer for Callard to hate travel. She has the means to travel, and has used those means to travel extensively, so she gets to enjoy the satisfaction of both having traveled and telling the less fortunate masses that travel is overrated. A dumb article by a dull person.
saryndipitous | 5 hours ago
I’ve barely traveled and I hate travel. It’s pretty easy to think that burning several tons of co2 per passenger is something to be avoided.
It’s also very possible to stay home or just drive a little bit and vacation wherever that is.
Also, even if tons of musical artists are burning tons and tons of fuel, it’s possible to not buy a ticket so that they stop profiting from it, and stop doing it.
MPLS_Poppy | 5 hours ago
Or you could admit that it’s just not your thing. You don’t have to give every single decision you make moral weight to pretend like you’re better than other people.
saryndipitous | 4 hours ago
So you think burning tons of co2 per passenger is a good trade off?
E: I think we’re misunderstanding each other. I enjoy travel. I don’t do it, nor should anyone, because of co2.
MPLS_Poppy | 4 hours ago
I think that while flying on an airplane is the biggest emitter that any single person can do it’s also not the primary cause of climate change. It’s massive corporations that are causing the climate crisis. Pretending that going back to a world where people don’t travel will solve this issue is naive. It’s also shortsighted as to how that will affect our society. Travel and the interconnectedness of people is a net good. We aren’t trying to save the planet just to save the planet. We are saving it to save us and our society. The planet will exist whether we save ourselves or not. So we should be saving the good parts of humanity along with the planet. That includes our drive to travel and see new things. It’s one of the best parts of humanity.
saryndipitous | 4 hours ago
Corporations serve consumers. Corporate change is theoretically a more effective avenue, but you are also causing climate change.
Humans are extremely adaptable and can, and will find, good things no matter how unpleasant some changes may seem, as long as that unpleasantness doesn’t kill them.
MPLS_Poppy | 4 hours ago
You must not be American if you believe corporations serve consumers. Corporations serve themselves and their shareholders. Consumers have very little to do with it.
saryndipitous | 4 hours ago
They extract money from who exactly? Consumers. We pay them.
MPLS_Poppy | 4 hours ago
That doesn’t mean that they serve us or that we as consumers have any say in what a corporation does. All you’re doing is repeating corporate propaganda.
saryndipitous | 4 hours ago
Sure, there are ways in which they don’t serve consumers, but there are also ways in which they do.
How many go belly up because they fuck up their product or service? It’s not that rare. More rare for the largest ones, but every company is vulnerable.
fernandocrustacean | an hour ago
Corporations serve shareholders.
lifeinaglasshouse | 4 hours ago
If you're that concerned, you can buy carbon offsets. There are sustainable ways to travel.
saryndipitous | 4 hours ago
Last I heard, basically all of the carbon offset market was a giant scam.
hanhanbanan | 6 hours ago
Perfection isn’t the goal of travel, babes. It’s diversifying your lived experiences. It’s meeting new people, navigating new landscapes, trying new foods, solving new problems.
If you want to look like your ideal self while out in the world and never be frustrated (or frustrating), you’ve got bigger problems than whether or not to travel.
FridaWinehouse | 5 hours ago
This 💯
supedupshortbus | 6 hours ago
Some people are blessed with an intelligence and insight about the human condition that is so vast, that it can even ruin a well planned vacation.
FionaGoodeEnough | 5 hours ago
The author was not so burdened. She’s just a complete bore.
[OP] Quouar | 6 hours ago
Archive link
Nervous_Insect5976 | 4 hours ago
This article is written by the same woman who throws out her children's Halloween candy.
So if you're rolling your eyes like me at this snobbery and joylessness, it allllll makes sense.
jlzania | 5 hours ago
I am exceedingly grateful that I was old enough to travel before the advent of the Instagram tourist,
My partner and I explored much of Central America and Mexico way back in the late 80's and early 90's and some Caribbean islands.
Our impetus to explore that area of the world was partially due to the fact we lived in Texas and could get cheap or free airline tickets because I was a travel agent at the time.
Also we were divers and we had a serious interest in the Mayan ruins after attending a couple of lectures at U.T,
We rode local buses and stayed at small, locally owned hotels and had got to know people that weren't being paid to be nice to us.
From what I've read and from what I've heard friends who had visited the Yucatán recently, much of the area has been turned in a playground for people that want a curated experience where they stay at an all-inclusive resort and visit amusement parks designed just for them. It honestly sounds really awful.
With all that said, I think the author of the article is a pompous ass who needs to get over herself and just stay home.
edited for a typo because I'm anal.
Likemilkbutforhumans | 3 hours ago
Travel for yourself. Fine.
Travel as your personality and assume you’re superior to everyone who doesn’t do it as extensively. Work on yourself.
flowerzoomies | 5 hours ago
Ugh this lady again
pettsvaldo | 5 hours ago
The problem isn't travel, the problem is performatively broadcasting about your travel.
K04free | 6 hours ago
Might be an unpopular opinion, but over the last 10 years international travel has become so commonplace and does not equal acquiring any specific cultural knowledge.
Perhaps in the past you needed to learn the local language just to get around, you needed to talk to locals for restaurant recommendations. Internet made that all go away.
How is sitting a resort in the south of France much different than sitting at resort on Miami Beach? I tend to agree with the article.
Awkward_Tick0 | 5 hours ago
I just think the truism of “acquiring cultural knowledge” is a half assed attempt at applying some kind of greater meaning to your vacation. Why can’t you just admit that you’re going on vacation because it’s fun? It doesn’t need to be in the name of some higher calling.
K04free | 5 hours ago
Yes traveler not tourist line is very blurred.
When’s there’s not requirement to learn the language, eat the local food, be without wifi or western amenities - how do you really have rich cultural experience?
The obvious answer knowing locals who will take you in and guide you (having a good network). Today these lines are blurred more than ever due to technology and globalization.
pettsvaldo | 5 hours ago
Very fair.
But you can, quite easily, do both - the meaning one extracts and the fun one indulges in can be one and the same.
Enjoying yourself is quite a transcendental thing.
formerly_LTRLLTRL | 6 hours ago
That’s the problem, equating all travel with “sitting at a resort in the south of france” is a dishonest starting point when discussing overall travel.
There will always be rude, entitled tourists completely disinterested in actual culture. But that doesn’t make the endeavor itself not worthwhile.
K04free | 5 hours ago
Sure spending a month in some small town learning French is different than being a tourist at a resort. But most people aren’t able to do that (because of work obligations).
There’s this idea that is a greater achievement to “meet the locals” than sit at resort. But it largely boils down to how much time you can spend not working - i.e rich people can have culturally significant trips while the guy taking 5 days PTO can not.
Huck68finn | 4 hours ago
I'm by no means rich (by U.S. standards); my salary has not hit 6 figures--- not even close. But I don't require much to be happy and that includes travel. I to teach, so I get a lot of time off. If I'm traveling internationally, I'll stay a minimum of 2 weeks. I love hiking, and I take advantage of a lot of free or cheap historical attractions. I also eat cheaply bc I usually go to a bakery for breakfast, skip lunch, and eat a moderate dinner. My accommodations are usually at locally owned hotels that are much cheaper than chains or corporate owned hotels. I have a love for adventure and learning about other places. Travel is fun for me because of that
MostlyPeacfulPndemic | 5 hours ago
I live in a average/poor zip code of a city that gets many waves of travelers each year, and not a single traveler has ever ventured into my zip code to get to know our culture. Not one single time ever and I am 38 years old. I also have never known anyone else in my whole life who has experienced this.
I don't believe travelers' online claims of getting to know the culture.
zekerthedog | 59 minutes ago
It seems like your zip code isn’t the culture people are interested in learning about
MPLS_Poppy | 5 hours ago
Travel is a privilege but not all things associated with privilege are bad. You don’t have to travel even if you can afford to. It’s alright if you just don’t enjoy it. But pretending like your personal choice has moral weight is lame.
K04free | 6 hours ago
On Instagram “masionrickie” has a some great videos going into the dynamics of how travel became this generations favorite display of capital.
In the past having the newest car or biggest house was the thing to impress all your friends, now it’s flying business class to Paris and posting a picture of Spritz.
lamadora | 4 hours ago
It absolutely is. I know multiple groups of wealthy people who talk about “absorbing the local culture” when they travel. Meanwhile they check off countries like a to-do list and sneer at anyone who repeats a country, as if returning to a place whose culture you appreciate is basic. And their concept of absorbing the culture is taking pensive photos in front of the most touristy attractions and eating the food.
None of these people make or keep friends with locals, they all make friends with other wealthy people who are doing the same thing. Foreign travel is now a networking event.
TheWatersOfMars | 5 hours ago
I bet shorter holiday breaks (but more widely accessible to all) are part of the problem. There's a huge difference between going abroad for a week and living there for like a month. The latter nudges you towards learning bits of a language, reading up on the history, trying different bits of culture. The former pushes you into a beach resort or speedrunning museum highlights.
But the life of a Victorian heiress touring the continent just isn't possible for most people's budgets or work schedules.
K04free | 5 hours ago
Ya exactly - “distance from economic necessity” is a big factory in how “cultural” you’re trip most likely is. Most Americans likely only travel for 1 week or less. Trips heavily researched and booked via internet before hands.
This idea that you’re spending an entire summer wondering around Spain is for the ultra rich and people that are between college and their first job.
ToTheDeath84 | 4 hours ago
Honestly, you aren’t obligated to learn anything when you travel, and I say this as someone getting a PhD. You can just travel somewhere because you’re enjoying your time off in a different locale and the weather and people are nice or something.
So long as you’re being a respectful guest of the other state/province or country you’re in, it’s fine. Not everything needs to be a deep journey of enlightenment, you can just enjoy the food and some landmarks.
K04free | 4 hours ago
Did you read the article? The point was travel is not achievement anymore, it can be still fun and enjoyable.
ToTheDeath84 | 4 hours ago
Yes I did, and it comes off like someone horrid to be around who has to theorize about her grandiosity being above a generally enjoyable human experience instead of getting a damn grip.
Here’s a rebuttal to it too.
MostlyPeacfulPndemic | 2 hours ago
Funny, that's what "travel is so important" people sound like
ToTheDeath84 | 2 hours ago
Most travel enthusiasts don’t turn it into several-thousand word articles and they’re usually pretty benign about their passion. Sure we’ve met some who are insufferable, but given how many millions upon millions of people travel annually I guarantee that’s not anywhere near the majority.
Even if the title is somewhat clickbaity, she still does plenty of obnoxious theorizing around what is generally an enjoyable human experience.
MostlyPeacfulPndemic | 2 hours ago
To many people, not traveling is a generally enjoyable human experience too, but that's not good enough for "TISI" people, who preach about the intellectual and moral superiority of being well traveled. Maybe they don't write articles (actually I'm pretty sure they do!!!), but I know many of these people and they stroke themselves at length about it amongst each other. This is the first time I've ever heard a non-TISI person emulate one in this way. Its pretty obnoxious huh
ToTheDeath84 | 2 hours ago
I dunno man, they’re pretty easy to ignore and again they aren’t the majority of travelers. Can’t spend my time being arsed by something so trivial.
This article though, woof. Pretty bad all around.
sweetbldnjesus | 2 hours ago
I think there’s middle ground between being an ignorant tourist who wants everything to be the same as if they were in America and Don’t Travel.
popcornmaxhine | 5 hours ago
But there’s a difference between travel for leisure and traveling for cultural exchange. Which is something the article doesn’t seem to acknowledge. There’s a difference between going to another place just to stay at the resort the whole time vs going to a place and visiting cultural landmarks and eating from local establishments
K04free | 5 hours ago
I agree it, but this is a display of capital. Can you travel for cultural exchange in 5 days?
Can you afford to take twos months off working to live in a small village and learn the language?
The rich are constantly moving the goal posts as what qualifies as culturally significant.
popcornmaxhine | 5 hours ago
I think “cultural exchange” can be smaller than what most people think of.
One example is that I see Americans travel to new places, and these places are very walkable. It’s the first time many of them experience mixed use neighborhoods where everything is reachable via transport. Even just one or two days in such a place can be eye opening for people. Exposure to new cultures challenges much of what you view as normal, even in a short time.
I do not think you need to spend two months in a small village and learn the language to have proper cultural exchange.
MostlyPeacfulPndemic | 5 hours ago
I think this is DESPERATELY exaggerating the term "getting to know the culture"
You wouldn't say you really know someone after 2 days, so why can you say you know a culture of 100,000 people after 2 days
popcornmaxhine | 5 hours ago
“Cultural exchange” is literally just an exchange of culture. No one is saying that they suddenly know everything about the culture after just being there a few days. I’m saying that they are being exposed to, and learning about, different aspects of a different culture that challenges views of their own culture. Often, these idea of their own culture are so ingrained that they never even considered to challenge them before.
I don’t even think learning another culture to the level you are implying is even possible, if we’re talking strictly through travel. People can live in a place for years and still not understand the culture
MostlyPeacfulPndemic | 3 hours ago
I didn't say anything about "knowing everything" either. But after 2days all you can know of your similarities is that all people walk on two legs, breathe air, and hold their childrens hands in the street
K04free | 4 hours ago
I think we are getting away from the main point of the article.
Travel (in almost all cases) is not achievement anymore. It can still be fun, but the challenge of having to navigate your way from Bangkok to Koh Tao is gone because technology and globalization. Just going somewhere does not mean you learned anything about the particular culture anymore (in the past this was different).
popcornmaxhine | 4 hours ago
Well, I personally disagree. The vast majority of people never leave their state, let alone their country. Just being exposed to a different environment with different customs, architecture, and culture values is, in itself, a challenge to your world view. To say it isn’t meaningful simply because it’s easier than in the past misses the point.
Even with the Internet, travel has a learning curve. It’s one thing to google everything and set plan. It’s another to figure out how to navigate public transportation in a new country. Try to abide by cultural rules and customs. Figuring out which tickets go on trains vs buses or figuring out which things are closed for which holidays you forgot other cultures have. Not to mention, you can easily just do things the old fashion way if you wanted, by speaking to locals and asking for recommendations.
MostlyPeacfulPndemic | 3 hours ago
If it's really that significant then people who can afford 3 trips a year should donate 1 of those trips to the "many" people who "never leave their state"
Also again. Asking for directions and recommendations is not getting to know anything, any more than I get to know anything about my fellow countrymen that way
Huck68finn | 4 hours ago
Great point!
Hokuboku | 4 hours ago
I visited Japan for two weeks and even within the first twenty-four hours it was an amazing eye awakening experience
pettsvaldo | 5 hours ago
I don't disagree with your opprobrium but, for example, I took a cheap flight to Zagreb recently - did touristy things and then ate/drank and, in part, hung out with locals.
I'm poor as all fuck but the whole point of my two day holiday was to try to engage with the socio-cultural reality of a foreign country.
It's not entirely exclusive to rich people.
hanhanbanan | 6 hours ago
Who says you have to stay in a resort?
K04free | 5 hours ago
Here’s a video explaining how this mostly a class based decision.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DUV5smIkd7T/?igsh=MW92endjajZ6b241MA==
Hokuboku | 4 hours ago
This is weird to me cause my partner wanted to do an all inclusive resort trip and I found it way more expensive than other travel options I planned.
I will say the discomfort comment is spot on though. You do know what you're getting with a resort. I also realize I am lucky enough to have the time and energy to plan a trip when some may not so its easier to just pick a resort and not have to worry
I actually planned my first ever international trip last year so there was a lot of concerns cause I had never done it before which definitely falls under discomfort but it all worked out. Even if one of the hotels I picked was meh
hanhanbanan | 4 hours ago
Not all travelers buy into the resort as an ideal accommodation. I know loads of working class people who opt to camp in wildlife areas they haven’t explored or stay in hostels/with friends and family who live in big, “exciting” cities.
Nobody forces anyone to stay in a resort.
Huck68finn | 4 hours ago
I enjoy learning the history of the place, eating local foods, and exploring the landscape. But yeah, if I were planning on just sitting on a beach, you might be right. Some people are boring no matter where they are
Hokuboku | 4 hours ago
I visited Japan last year which was my first ever international trip and it greatly opened my eyes in numerous ways, esp as they're a communal culture v the US being an individualistic culture
It was incredible to see another culture so unlike my own. I saw temples, ate delicious food, hiked, saw live music, etc. All of which I can do in the US but it is very much different culturally.
Travel is like anything else in that its what you make of it.
K04free | 4 hours ago
The articles main point of was travel is no longer an achievement. Going on a highly organized and researched group trip is much different than someone navigating Japan pre Internet.
Hokuboku | 4 hours ago
The author seems to have more of an issue with people just doing things on a trip because the internet told them to do so
Like here
>For example, a decade ago, when I was in Abu Dhabi, I went on a guided tour of a falcon hospital. I took a photo with a falcon on my arm. I have no interest in falconry or falcons, and a generalized dislike of encounters with nonhuman animals. But the falcon hospital was one of the answers to the question, “What does one do in Abu Dhabi?”
Of course you're gonna hate travel if you just let yourself be pressured into doing something you hate just cause you have no idea what else to do. (Falcon hospital sounds amazing though but I also LOVE animals)
If you travel and just do things for the sake of it or cause Google said to do so or because you wanna get a pick a spot influencers love then of course you'll be miserable
I planned my trip using the internet but I planned things I wanted to do and booked a lot of things in advance which you have to do with Japan
Each day, I planned one thing I wanted to do then just wandered around and experienced whatever I ran into the rest of the day.
One of my greatest experiences is when ended up in a Tennessee themed bar in Tokyo where my partner and I were the only westerners and chatted with Yoshi, the owner, who told us all about his time in America. He came back, worked as a salaryman then retired and opened this bar. It was an amazing cultural exchange that went both ways
The author just sounds like a miserable person tbh.
MostlyPeacfulPndemic | 6 hours ago
I agree. And the idea that you'll learn everyone is really alike? When was the last time the tourists in my town got to know that they were like me? Never, because that's not REALLY what people do when they travel, and also the people who travel here aren't like me or most of the people who are from here, because this isn't a true statement
K04free | 5 hours ago
Oh this cultural values food and family? No way!
MostlyPeacfulPndemic | 5 hours ago
THEY WALK ON TWO LEGS. I SEEN 'EM DO IT. SEEN IT WITH MY OWN TWO EYES. KUMBAYA
DeadWishUpon | an hour ago
It would be a different weather and food. The beaches are very different too. Maybe it's because I'm from Guatemala and beaches are violent and with black sand, so you cannot spend all day there, unless yiu want to cook your feet.
I prefer going to resorts in my own country and be more adventurous abroad. Resorts are perfect when you want to rest and be pampered and it's something I appreciate when I have to cook and clean everyday. If I have the money I would not mind going to a resort in Miami or France, although I couldn't resist going out to explore.
AmbitiousBuilding1 | 6 hours ago
Recession indicator
michelebernsteinscat | 5 hours ago
Yeah, she sucks
bunsyjaja | 2 hours ago
I’d argue she finds meaning and joy in being a contrarian while others find it in travel. At least travel is more fun than having to listen to the philosophizing of a contrarian.
If you don’t understand the simply joy of drinking a coffee in another country while you relax and observe the different sights, I can’t help you.
melmontclark | 5 hours ago
How could this possibly be a thing?! I refuse.
hellocousinlarry | 3 hours ago
I’m so glad I recently heard Rick Steves speak. He was absolutely delightful and so humble about how lucky he has been to see such amazing places. He would absolutely acknowledge that followjng his recommended walking routes around Paris in 2026 is not at the same level of difficulty as him hitchhiking across Iran and Afghanistan in the 1970s, but he’s not attaching some kind of moral value or achievement points to either like it’s some kind of competition. As someone who has been limited by health and obligations the last few years but who is now excitedly planning my first trips in ages, I’m just going to listen to Rick Steves and not this miserable woman.
Safe_Presentation962 | 40 minutes ago
Insufferable and unreadable.
BeanstheRogue | 3 hours ago
Recession indicator ass article