I really hear you Argo, I could have written this article verbatim. One time I was an international salesman, and did a million miles each year. Well, there was the excitement of, "will I make the sale this time?"
Everything you say; take a bunch of pictures (to prove you were there), buy a few souvenirs, complain about all the airports, take days to get over jet-lag, until moving into it again, get the most out of your ticket investment: is so right-on.
Actually, your little corner of your village is incredibly diverse, if you just go down some back alleys.
I did an ocean crossing by boat, (it was on the SS France, later sold to Norway). Then I did some travel by ship in the Mediterranean. I never did any cruises, which I think are only about over-eating rich foods.
That ocean crossing changed my life for good. What you find are "journey people". It is a whole different breed of people that ARE-HERE. In the airports of life you only find "destination people". They have to get somewhere, (in their mind). They are never fully present to meet with them. They are only loaded with all of their tickets and itineraries. When they get there, they are probably "missing in action" also. Only thinking about the return trip.
Tricia tells it like it is in her comment. Uproot your life and move there. Then you live the new experience, and not only imbibe in the tourist traps. I have always done exactly that, and am still doing it.
I have many location-based commitments keeping me where I am, so I suppose I will live it up nice and close by. Frankly, considering how often I'm out, about, or doing something, it almost feels like I'm a tourist in my own country sometimes, ha!
That being said whenever I actually travel I am always looking at the logistics (as I wrote above). How often is this flight, how many people are on it, how much in gross revenue for how many miles, so on and so forth. What are things like in other countries and how do they differ?
Best example of learning despite hitting the tourist traps was in my piece on the Information Superhighway, linked below. There I saw firsthand how different the streets of Avila, Spain (settled since Roman times, street layout preserved to this day) were from those of Barcelona, Spain (redone to a grid plan in the 19th Century if I'm not mistaken).
One is a very human-powered, lower-energy equilibrium that clogs up when faced with modern traffic, cut into the side of a mountain. The other is a very machine-powered, higher-energy equilibrium that can take plenty of traffic but has a very deliberate and unnatural grid pattern. From there I drew the larger point that our physical brains were not designed for our modern world - and further implications from there.
Street patterns in city-center Europe followed the trails of the cows. Boston is like that in America. I live where many of the side streets are 4 meters wide, winding, and with houses built to the edge. Nothing you can do about that except raze the town.
Please tell more of your insight. What are the parameters of acting during the journey, or focusing on the destination? Why is one of them harder to execute now?
I'll go with examples. In the late 1970's I served as an orphan escort for adoptive Korean children going to homes in Europe and the US. I was given a round trip ticket to Paris and 30 days to get back. I had about $200. I took the train from Paris to Geneva, just to see Geneva. I hitchhiked from Geneva to Munich b/c I had friends in Munich. I hitchhiked to Calais so I could take the ferry to Dover. I had friends outside of London. There were so many adventures on that trip and people I encountered that I will never forget. I did several road trips to Canada and one to the Rocky mountains. No particular goal but to get to Canada or the Rockies. I met many people along the way. Those were the days with limited security impositions, and the days when you did not have to reserve a camp spot six months in advance. You cannot take that trip to Canada now unless you map it all out and spend a fortune on campsite reservations. Your camp site is likely to be impacted by someone running a generator and destroying the beauty of silence. I can't afford to fly places so much and I can't abide the crowds in planes. I love NYC , especially the access to art museums and people watching. I can't afford to stay there unless I plan it all out. I will say it is possible to still journey along. I was in LA in 2017 and 2018 - stayed in a decent hotel in Santa Monica and opened every day with curiosity. I knew several museuims i wanted to see and that was about the whole agenda. Had fun just exploring life in SoCal. I went to Ireland in 2018 and divided my three weeks evenly between Dublin, Cork, and Galway. Yes, I made the reservastions ahead of time and I still had that "journey" experience - no particular goals in each day except to see where I was staying and engage with people, if they were open.
Even as I write that, I see that I can still journey now- not the road trips/camping model but the "get a room and hang out for a week, a month" model. But you need lots of $$$$ for that one. 🤷🏻♀️
I don't remember a time before taking off your shoes and strict checks at the airport. The oldest floppy disks I remember are the small 3.5" ones with 1.44 MB of capacity. Manual transmissions by the time I was born had synchros so you didn't need to double-clutch. I still remember reading about carburetors and fuel injectors side-by-side in owner's manuals.
Hi Gracie, I hear you, and above I did mention an ocean crossing, which later blossomed into 6 months of discovery and wandering through Europe. (Plus a mind shattering romance and the whole 9 yards).
I also know the difference between "wild-camping" and reserving your fixed space in a nature community. Things are different from our youth. Here we are defining journey people in the context of world travel.
Let's define it as a walk through your garden, or exploring down a community street that you haven't been curious about before. Who lives down there? How do they fix their houses, (or disregard them)? And destination people, I got'ta get to the supermarket, and then quickly get home to finish the ironing. (Then I can spend more time to build my to-do list, so that I have more destinations). It is a mind-set. THANKS
I like that idea of a mindset. In that context, I tend to be that one who has that to-do list and is pushing hard to get through it. I suppose I have always lived by the to-do list but I don't remember that it had such an impact when I was younger - say under 30. Fewer responsibilities, fewer things to keep track of. Maybe I need to revisit those days? Thanks for clarifying.
I'd say there are more discrete steps on each part of the to-do list. It's something I notice particularly with the adults I know - people tend to be more general even though things are a lot more specific. For example:
- calling things by their brand names because the brand names were dominant/patent holders
- saying they used the promo with X rather than saying "the promo with company X thorugh channel/partnership Y"
Basically I feel that there were a lot fewer choices then and you took what you had access to a lot more often, so it feels like you did less. More information must be conveyed for everything now, shelving richer forms of communication in favor of portable ones.
Big difference is that your travel's paid for and for a clear purpose (work) - you get paid to do what you do, and you presumably like it enough to do it for a living. That makes things a lot easier and cuts out a lot of the "I need to hit all the vacay spots" thinking. :)
Well, it was my business, so I still had to pay for it, and to justify it. It came down to an accounting trick. It wasn't subtracted from my salary, but from some other allowance. Entrepreneur isn't necessarily a living. It is a try at a living. Otherwise I'd still be doing it.
Clearly the most efficient way to travel around another continent is to uproot your life and move there, so you can see the world through domestic - or at least shorter- trips. 😜
That said, I know a certain someone whose opinions on travel would agree with yours 100%... With greater emphasis on the increased cost of travel, especially earning in the developing world and spending in the developed world.
Not so much an option for me, I've got a job that's tied down to a specific location. Sucks to suck!
That being said, I think I'd like it a lot better if I didn't constantly feel like I'm on the clock when out of the country. It feels like work. That you paid for.
I think it's still pretty nice if you don't go too far, and the people are still your people. Though going off to see different things is probably part of the point...
If you are weird, will you please welcome me to your tribe? I used to travel with eagerness and an open agenda but I can't do that anymore. These days I find travel to be unsettling, disappointing, outrageously expensive, and, at times harrowing. I feel manipulated and pushed around by the travel industry. I do not like being a cow or a sardine.
Re; staying home, you said: "...I don’t learn anything from it, and aren’t pushed to my limits like when I’m traveling." For me, I disagree. I can learn a lot in my own small world. Even being in my town and taking advantge of the opportunities here can open doors. If I factor in a drive of an hour and a half each way, my world opens up considerably. I can meet new and interesting people everywhere. I also am fortunate to live in a corner of the world that is rich in natural beauty and has the trails to allow me to explore. No, it's not the same as exploring the museums in big cities everywhere (although, through technology I can get a glimpse of those) or visiting historic or scenic spots of interest. Staying home leaves me calm and gives me time to pursue some avocations that don't require traveling (painting, watercolor, cycling).
I hear you on the hard choice. The last time I flew was January of 2020. I have a list of places I want to see and friends I want to visit. But I have yet to pull it together to do any of them. I have. however, read some wonderful books,, created some fun art, met up with local friends and strangers. Life can be good at home or while traveling. These days I stay home.
My traveling experiences are pretty limited, but I have to agree. Staying at home (or somewhere nearby) is way more time and cost efficient for hobbies and entertainment.
I think it doesn't help that, in your case, it sounds like you're planning for multiple people which makes logistics a lot more complicated than if you were solo or a small group but splitting the tasks.
Though, why pay thousands of dollars to take pictures when you can see the photos online and cook foreign cuisine at your home!
I will stand up for the actually going there, though - the actual experience counts for something. Seeing the thing in its proper place and time is most educational.
I really hear you Argo, I could have written this article verbatim. One time I was an international salesman, and did a million miles each year. Well, there was the excitement of, "will I make the sale this time?"
Everything you say; take a bunch of pictures (to prove you were there), buy a few souvenirs, complain about all the airports, take days to get over jet-lag, until moving into it again, get the most out of your ticket investment: is so right-on.
Actually, your little corner of your village is incredibly diverse, if you just go down some back alleys.
I did an ocean crossing by boat, (it was on the SS France, later sold to Norway). Then I did some travel by ship in the Mediterranean. I never did any cruises, which I think are only about over-eating rich foods.
That ocean crossing changed my life for good. What you find are "journey people". It is a whole different breed of people that ARE-HERE. In the airports of life you only find "destination people". They have to get somewhere, (in their mind). They are never fully present to meet with them. They are only loaded with all of their tickets and itineraries. When they get there, they are probably "missing in action" also. Only thinking about the return trip.
Tricia tells it like it is in her comment. Uproot your life and move there. Then you live the new experience, and not only imbibe in the tourist traps. I have always done exactly that, and am still doing it.
.
I have many location-based commitments keeping me where I am, so I suppose I will live it up nice and close by. Frankly, considering how often I'm out, about, or doing something, it almost feels like I'm a tourist in my own country sometimes, ha!
That being said whenever I actually travel I am always looking at the logistics (as I wrote above). How often is this flight, how many people are on it, how much in gross revenue for how many miles, so on and so forth. What are things like in other countries and how do they differ?
Best example of learning despite hitting the tourist traps was in my piece on the Information Superhighway, linked below. There I saw firsthand how different the streets of Avila, Spain (settled since Roman times, street layout preserved to this day) were from those of Barcelona, Spain (redone to a grid plan in the 19th Century if I'm not mistaken).
One is a very human-powered, lower-energy equilibrium that clogs up when faced with modern traffic, cut into the side of a mountain. The other is a very machine-powered, higher-energy equilibrium that can take plenty of traffic but has a very deliberate and unnatural grid pattern. From there I drew the larger point that our physical brains were not designed for our modern world - and further implications from there.
https://argomend.substack.com/p/turn-off-the-information-superhighway
Street patterns in city-center Europe followed the trails of the cows. Boston is like that in America. I live where many of the side streets are 4 meters wide, winding, and with houses built to the edge. Nothing you can do about that except raze the town.
.
Yep - originally designed for cows, not cars. :)
I get that difference between "journey" people and "destination" people. I lean to journey but that seems harder to execute now.
Please tell more of your insight. What are the parameters of acting during the journey, or focusing on the destination? Why is one of them harder to execute now?
.
I'll go with examples. In the late 1970's I served as an orphan escort for adoptive Korean children going to homes in Europe and the US. I was given a round trip ticket to Paris and 30 days to get back. I had about $200. I took the train from Paris to Geneva, just to see Geneva. I hitchhiked from Geneva to Munich b/c I had friends in Munich. I hitchhiked to Calais so I could take the ferry to Dover. I had friends outside of London. There were so many adventures on that trip and people I encountered that I will never forget. I did several road trips to Canada and one to the Rocky mountains. No particular goal but to get to Canada or the Rockies. I met many people along the way. Those were the days with limited security impositions, and the days when you did not have to reserve a camp spot six months in advance. You cannot take that trip to Canada now unless you map it all out and spend a fortune on campsite reservations. Your camp site is likely to be impacted by someone running a generator and destroying the beauty of silence. I can't afford to fly places so much and I can't abide the crowds in planes. I love NYC , especially the access to art museums and people watching. I can't afford to stay there unless I plan it all out. I will say it is possible to still journey along. I was in LA in 2017 and 2018 - stayed in a decent hotel in Santa Monica and opened every day with curiosity. I knew several museuims i wanted to see and that was about the whole agenda. Had fun just exploring life in SoCal. I went to Ireland in 2018 and divided my three weeks evenly between Dublin, Cork, and Galway. Yes, I made the reservastions ahead of time and I still had that "journey" experience - no particular goals in each day except to see where I was staying and engage with people, if they were open.
Even as I write that, I see that I can still journey now- not the road trips/camping model but the "get a room and hang out for a week, a month" model. But you need lots of $$$$ for that one. 🤷🏻♀️
People here talking about the 1970's, that's a solid 20 years before I was even born, give or take.
It's like you're describing another world to me.
Dear Argo, that is why we love you, for your fresh outlook.
Literally fresh, as in, newer.
It really was another time, that is for sure.
I don't remember a time before taking off your shoes and strict checks at the airport. The oldest floppy disks I remember are the small 3.5" ones with 1.44 MB of capacity. Manual transmissions by the time I was born had synchros so you didn't need to double-clutch. I still remember reading about carburetors and fuel injectors side-by-side in owner's manuals.
I had a MySpace.
Hi Gracie, I hear you, and above I did mention an ocean crossing, which later blossomed into 6 months of discovery and wandering through Europe. (Plus a mind shattering romance and the whole 9 yards).
I also know the difference between "wild-camping" and reserving your fixed space in a nature community. Things are different from our youth. Here we are defining journey people in the context of world travel.
Let's define it as a walk through your garden, or exploring down a community street that you haven't been curious about before. Who lives down there? How do they fix their houses, (or disregard them)? And destination people, I got'ta get to the supermarket, and then quickly get home to finish the ironing. (Then I can spend more time to build my to-do list, so that I have more destinations). It is a mind-set. THANKS
.
I like that idea of a mindset. In that context, I tend to be that one who has that to-do list and is pushing hard to get through it. I suppose I have always lived by the to-do list but I don't remember that it had such an impact when I was younger - say under 30. Fewer responsibilities, fewer things to keep track of. Maybe I need to revisit those days? Thanks for clarifying.
I'd say there are more discrete steps on each part of the to-do list. It's something I notice particularly with the adults I know - people tend to be more general even though things are a lot more specific. For example:
- calling things by their brand names because the brand names were dominant/patent holders
- saying they used the promo with X rather than saying "the promo with company X thorugh channel/partnership Y"
Basically I feel that there were a lot fewer choices then and you took what you had access to a lot more often, so it feels like you did less. More information must be conveyed for everything now, shelving richer forms of communication in favor of portable ones.
https://argomend.substack.com/p/communication-overhead
Now there are 30 comments. I could "weigh-in" in some places. It boils down to a few observations.
I traveled in business, so I was fulfilling those obligations first, and the business paid.
I also saw what was there to see in those locations, as an add-on. I had enough free time.
So my work was not preventing anything that I later had to actualize.
Was that enough of life moving through the airports, and jet-lag? (BTW I learned to beat jet-lag.)
I valued freedom most, so I always traveled alone. No group coordination.
I knew the difference of passing through and moving in, since I changed my residence country twice.
I knew that I couldn't "be them", but neither could I be "old-me" any more.
What is my curiosity level? The world is very big and a lifetime is very short.
Because of the nature of "duality", every drive "out there" is an equal drive away from here/now.
Do I want to go-there; or do I really want to leave-here? What does boredom mean to me?
No; I like that other here/now. (But I am already in it every day.)
Where is the satisfaction level, since often the best part of the trip is arriving home.
(They say air travel is the most polluting.)
Fortunately my dogs and cats keep me in a stable place. I bless them for that.
.
Big difference is that your travel's paid for and for a clear purpose (work) - you get paid to do what you do, and you presumably like it enough to do it for a living. That makes things a lot easier and cuts out a lot of the "I need to hit all the vacay spots" thinking. :)
Well, it was my business, so I still had to pay for it, and to justify it. It came down to an accounting trick. It wasn't subtracted from my salary, but from some other allowance. Entrepreneur isn't necessarily a living. It is a try at a living. Otherwise I'd still be doing it.
Clearly the most efficient way to travel around another continent is to uproot your life and move there, so you can see the world through domestic - or at least shorter- trips. 😜
That said, I know a certain someone whose opinions on travel would agree with yours 100%... With greater emphasis on the increased cost of travel, especially earning in the developing world and spending in the developed world.
Not so much an option for me, I've got a job that's tied down to a specific location. Sucks to suck!
That being said, I think I'd like it a lot better if I didn't constantly feel like I'm on the clock when out of the country. It feels like work. That you paid for.
Imagine PAYING TO WORK!
Travel sucks, takes money away from local people and gives it to foreigners, and destroys the environment.
Home is better.
I think it's still pretty nice if you don't go too far, and the people are still your people. Though going off to see different things is probably part of the point...
If you are weird, will you please welcome me to your tribe? I used to travel with eagerness and an open agenda but I can't do that anymore. These days I find travel to be unsettling, disappointing, outrageously expensive, and, at times harrowing. I feel manipulated and pushed around by the travel industry. I do not like being a cow or a sardine.
Re; staying home, you said: "...I don’t learn anything from it, and aren’t pushed to my limits like when I’m traveling." For me, I disagree. I can learn a lot in my own small world. Even being in my town and taking advantge of the opportunities here can open doors. If I factor in a drive of an hour and a half each way, my world opens up considerably. I can meet new and interesting people everywhere. I also am fortunate to live in a corner of the world that is rich in natural beauty and has the trails to allow me to explore. No, it's not the same as exploring the museums in big cities everywhere (although, through technology I can get a glimpse of those) or visiting historic or scenic spots of interest. Staying home leaves me calm and gives me time to pursue some avocations that don't require traveling (painting, watercolor, cycling).
I hear you on the hard choice. The last time I flew was January of 2020. I have a list of places I want to see and friends I want to visit. But I have yet to pull it together to do any of them. I have. however, read some wonderful books,, created some fun art, met up with local friends and strangers. Life can be good at home or while traveling. These days I stay home.
Yeah, come on in. And yes, you can learn a lot from nearby - but you're not forced to, like you are when you're far from home.
My traveling experiences are pretty limited, but I have to agree. Staying at home (or somewhere nearby) is way more time and cost efficient for hobbies and entertainment.
I think it doesn't help that, in your case, it sounds like you're planning for multiple people which makes logistics a lot more complicated than if you were solo or a small group but splitting the tasks.
Though, why pay thousands of dollars to take pictures when you can see the photos online and cook foreign cuisine at your home!
My family is a travel agency:
Mom wants to go
Sisters plan the itinerary
I get the visas
Dad funds
I will stand up for the actually going there, though - the actual experience counts for something. Seeing the thing in its proper place and time is most educational.
Agreed. The actual experience DOES count for a lot. You have to make room for the inconveniences and you have to be able to afford it (in every way) .
Ah yes... The good old, "Why look at tourist spots when you can look at them in VR or Google Earth" argument!