Is travel to The Cool Destination really a good idea?

[bae]

I came across this today, and it well describes what's been happening to my community:

https://www.vox.com/culture/23798890...n-optimization

[bae]

Also:

https://www.barrons.com/articles/the...ravel-51aa0512

[iris lilies]

I came across this today, and it well describes what's been happening to my community:

https://www.vox.com/culture/23798890...n-optimization

don’t worry, I won’t invade your island, it’s not my jam. Too many trees.

I want to go to Riga to see the art nouveau architecture.

One of these articles touts the virtues of “second cities “such as Lyon, not Paris and Glasgow, not Edinburgh. I like the idea, but I would carry that further to go to third tier cities. Probably that idea carries through the countries too. I know that I found Romania absolutely fascinating, it was a great vacation and so much interesting things to see. It was just amazing. That’s what got me to thinking about the former communist bloc countries probably have a lot to interest me.

I’ve not been to Italy, France or Spain, and probably at this point my life will not go.

I loved Prague and want to go back, but it was so crowded, UGG. I’m sure it’s unmanageable now.

[Tradd]

My body can’t take the amount of walking travel requires these days. Plus I refuse to be on a plane for more than the 4 hours it takes me to get to Cancun to go cave diving on the Yucatán. With only two weeks vacation, diving has priority.

I heard this week that Amsterdam is prohibiting cruse ships from stopping.

Re Bae’s second article, when I booked my early December Mexico trip in February, I couldn’t get the hotel I had stayed at last August. They were already booked up. The plane was already 1/4 full. My habit of booking well in advance saved me.

[sweetana3]

I so remember our first foreign vacation where we had airline tickets to London, tickets for a channel crossing, a rail pass, and an idea. Nothing happened the way we thought but it all was an adventure and created so many funny memories. No Rick Steves but we did later use his book for Paris and found it helpful.

Hated the American group tour we took but now in later years use Road Scholar. They focus on educational and well organized travel and we have really enjoyed the people who choose RS.

But the overall travel experience we knew is not the same. After 9/11 and then Covid, the products like air travel are not as consistent and dependable. I do not want to be tied to my cell phone. I will let others deal with it. At present, I would like to return to NYC and spend time in the museums and eating at ethnic restaurants. I might survive a flight there and we have a favorite hotel.

[Yppej]

I am now traveling within a 45 minute drive time of my home. There are no top destinations here, since Boston is outside the circle. It feels good.

[happystuff]

Yes, I think what the articles are pointing out is true - especially the sense of entitlement some people have. It's pretty evident here at home for so many things, that to think it isn't carried around the world by some folks in their travels would be absurd.

I hope my traveling days are not over, but I have to say that I've been able to visit more places than I ever imagined I would. I am grateful for what I've seen and experienced so far.

Oh, and this is a reminder that I need to renew my passport! Just in case... LOL

[catherine]

I haven't been on a plane since January 2020 when I traveled to Buffalo on business. Then COVID hit. That part of my life slid right off a cliff at that point. I've traveled a million miles across the US, Europe, North and South America and Asia, and it came to a dead stop. At Buffalo.

I am planning a trip to Minnesota to see my brother who was recently diagnosed with CHF and my other brother reminded me that we are older now, and it is never guaranteed how much time we'll have with each other, so this will be a family gathering. That will be my first time on a plane since COVID.

DH and I have spoken about going to Ireland and returning to Scotland to explore our ancestral sites, so for the fun of it I looked up airline travel. Not only have prices jumped, but the the "mileage" price for a frequent flier like me has also gone way up. I once booked my son on a first class ticket back from India for 80,000 points--that same trip now would cost as many points as it cost me to fly six family members round trip to Scotland in 2007. There are deals, it seems, but still... Airline point inflation is a real thing, just like the overall cash it takes to travel.

The Vox article made the statement that "you could certainly make the case that travel is across-the-board unethical" and I would have loved to hear the author expand on that.. but certainly until they figure out how to fly planes with no carbon footprint, that's true from an environmental standpoint, one reason I don't care if I never travel for business again. She also probably meant the literal footprint of tourists mucking up the culture. As far as chasing The Top Ten Destinations, I do feel bad for the cities that wind up on that list, and I don't feel too bad for the people that have to jump through hoops to get there.

My ideal way to travel if it's non-business travel is to stay at a second or even third city and stay for an extended time to really get the flavor of it. That's not really easy or even possible to do.

But right now, every time I suggest to DH that we go somewhere, he'll say "Why would I leave the island?" He does want to go to Montreal, though, 70 miles away. Someday we may get there.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Thinking of travel to a cool destination - next year SO and I are commited to visiting Medellin - even if SO has to give up the job he just found to get the time to do so. Medellin is an up and coming cool spot. That said, unlike many cool destinations it is very inexpensive - we're talking USD $16 a night for a room in a guesthouse that's gay friendly. Food by US standards is still quite cheap there, especially if you make fruits a staple while you are there. We want to check Medellin out - even though there are issues with Colombia having great gay rights laws on the books but not really enforcing them. Cool really in this case does not have a lot to do with it - it's more an issue of seeking lower costs to maximize savings/not have to work as long.

But I wonder - my former trendy for some time adopted hometown of Portland, OR could do no wrong for a number of years. Until the Summer of George Floyd and until housing costs became utterly ridiculous. Now there is a big problem with homeless tent encampments all over town, crime is rising, drug use is rife, and housing remains difficult to afford - so unlike the Portland I set foot in on July 8th, 1991 - I KNEW I picked the right place to move to. Now I miss the cool Porltand I remember but from what I am nearing I would not miss so much today's Portland.

Point of bringing the above up - Portland fell back down to earth from it's prior lofty status - I am sure Medellin will at some point, too. What goes up must come down as they say. But it's nice to visit cool places before they fall and before they get overpriced. Rob

[sweetana3]

Gimme: I would never be able to travel on the old wooden carriages of the British train system in the 80s or have the unlimited access of the rail passes we had all over. So glad we did not wait to travel.