Travel is an essential part of growth into a mature, well-rounded adult

coinop

When I was a teenager, the idea of "experience" was aggressively pushed onto me. The only way I could grow up and enjoy life, I was taught, was to get a lot of experience. It would make me a mature, responsible adult. I went on to rack up a lifetimes’ worth of experience all around the world, and now that I look back at it all, I see that it was a waste.

In 2007, I backpacked for six months through South America. I started in Ecuador and snaked my way through half of the continent, eventually ending up in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate Carnival. During that trip, I met hundreds of people and saw countless exotic sights. I drank in dank bars and had deep conversations with dozens of Australians about nothing. I went through six years of experience in only six months. Where is that experience now? How does it help me today outside of the specific task of taking a road trip?

Spare me the meaningless platitudes like "travel helps broaden your horizons". It's fun while you're in the moment, like playing a videogame, but where are the life-changing revelations I was supposed to receive?

enricoh

U didn't score enough brazilian chicks. That's the main problem!

Smee_Again

Generally it makes people more tolerant at least, imagine what you’d be like without that experience.

RobertKK

It might make one realise, people everywhere are mostly the same as people elsewhere, and there is no us and them on this planet.

coinop

RobertKK wrote: »

It might make one realise, people everywhere are mostly the same as people elsewhere, and there is no us and them on this planet.

This is some hippy, dope-smoking, let's all hold in a circle and sing kumbaya, clichéd nonsense. I, as a Western male, hold vastly different beliefs to a bearded jihadi living in cave in Afghanistan or a Congolese pygmy shoving a bone through his nose in the jungle. We value different things and of course you can't ignore IQ differences between populations.

McGinniesta

Our travelling days are over. We'll need vaccines dripping out of our arseholes before we can think about getting on a plane.

coinop

coinop wrote: »

This is some hippy, dope-smoking, let's all hold in a circle and sing kumbaya, clichéd nonsense. I, as a Western male, hold vastly different beliefs to a bearded jihadi living in cave in Afghanistan or a Congolese pygmy shoving a bone through his nose in the jungle. We value different things and of course you can't ignore IQ differences between populations.

Plenty of thick gobsh1tes everywhere, as demonstrated by the above.

Smee_Again

coinop wrote: »

This is some hippy, dope-smoking, let's all hold in a circle and sing kumbaya, clichéd nonsense. I, as a Western male, hold vastly different beliefs to a bearded jihadi living in cave in Afghanistan or a Congolese pygmy shoving a bone through his nose in the jungle. We value different things and of course you can't ignore IQ differences between populations.

Some people can travel for just a few weeks or months and come back a more enlighten person, others could spend a lifetime travelling the world and still come back the same pig ignorant hick they’d always been.

I wonder where you fit on the scale?

coinop

Smee_Again wrote: »

Some people can travel for just a few weeks or months and come back a more enlighten person

Can you elaborate and go into specifics?

Padre_Pio

coinop wrote: »

Can you elaborate and go into specifics?

What do you want? You saw some stuff, had some experiences, what did you expect to happen?

coinop

Padre_Pio wrote: »

What do you want? You saw some stuff, had some experiences, what did you expect to happen?

Poster above said he was "enlightened" by traveling. I'm asking him to explain what he means.

Andrewf20

coinop wrote: »

When I was a teenager, the idea of "experience" was aggressively pushed onto me. The only way I could grow up and enjoy life, I was taught, was to get a lot of experience. It would make me a mature, responsible adult. I went on to rack up a lifetimes’ worth of experience all around the world, and now that I look back at it all, I see that it was a waste.

In 2007, I backpacked for six months through South America. I started in Ecuador and snaked my way through half of the continent, eventually ending up in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate Carnival. During that trip, I met hundreds of people and saw countless exotic sights. I drank in dank bars and had deep conversations with dozens of Australians about nothing. I went through six years of experience in only six months. Where is that experience now? How does it help me today outside of the specific task of taking a road trip?

Spare me the meaningless platitudes like "travel helps broaden your horizons". It's fun while you're in the moment, like playing a videogame, but where are the life-changing revelations I was supposed to receive?

Not sure its essential but I found it very beneficial. Made me appreciate how good we have it in Ireland in general. It made me happier and moan less about my 1st world problems. It also made me spend less after seeing how other people were happy with much less than me.

The weather here isnt too bad overall either. Ill take a cold winter over crippling humidity in Asia for example.

Big travel also provides an opportunity to see and do amazing things. Torres del Paine in Patagonia blew me away. The experience of doing it stays with me to this day as one of the best adventures ive ever done. I have also taken on some physical challenges which were brilliant once you achieve the goal at hand. Summit ascents etc.

Travel also cemented the idea that for me contentment in life comes more from experience that material possessions and that has created a path in life to an extent. Rather than blowing 6k on a fitted Kitchen, id rather go and spend it hiking around some funky part of the world.

touts

Not necessarily. When some lad in a pub joins a conversation and throws in a random line like "When I was backpacking I always avoided the tourist areas and looked to experience the real lives of the local people in places like North Eastern Mongolia and inner central Peru" you know he's an asshole and no amount of travel can round that off.

eviltwin

One thing I noticed when my daughter lived abroad was how more mature and self reliant she became. I suppose you have to when calling mammy and daddy every time you're in a spot of bother is no longer an option.

johnnyskeleton

coinop wrote: »

Spare me the meaningless platitudes like "travel helps broaden your horizons". It's fun while you're in the moment, like playing a videogame, but where are the life-changing revelations I was supposed to receive?

Much like medicines, exercise etc, travel affects different people in different ways. Some people get life changing revelations, but others don't.

Travel doesn't suit you, therefore you are better off staying at home and not venturing forth. Don't worry about it.

Sam Hain

coinop wrote: »

Spare me the meaningless platitudes like "travel helps broaden your horizons". It's fun while you're in the moment, like playing a videogame, but where are the life-changing revelations I was supposed to receive?

You're ****ing spot on.

Dunfyy

You did not travel first class. You probably stayed in hostels and ate street food
And hanging around australians who were drunk all day and not knowing the language
You failed in traveling
That's why you did not learn

coinop

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Some people get life changing revelations...

Such as?

EmmetSpiceland

No need to go anywhere these days. If you want to see Rome just hop on to Google “street view”. Same goes for most other places.

Waste of time and money doing it the “old fashioned” way. And, a big plus is that you don’t have to deal with any of the unsavoury “locals”.

Chris_5339762

Its an experience. Its something you do to break the monotony of the 9 - 5. And if you can do it for six months to a year before you get responsibilities (a job with limited leave, a partner, kids, the need to look after elderly relatives etc) then go for it. Cos when any of those things hit, you can never do it again.

Smee_Again

coinop wrote: »

Poster above said he was "enlightened" by traveling. I'm asking him to explain what he means.

No I didn’t, I never said that. You don’t read too well.

Are you from a low IQ country?

Sam Hain

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Its an experience. Its something you do to break the monotony of the 9 - 5. And if you can do it for six months to a year before you get responsibilities (a job with limited leave, a partner, kids, the need to look after elderly relatives etc) then go for it. Cos when any of those things hit, you can never do it again.

Yawn.

Aongus Von Bismarck

I've been lucky enough to have travelled extensively both with work and for leisure. Indeed I ticked off my final continent last year with an amazing holiday to Patagonia and Antarctica. You really do get an appreciation for different cultures, local customs, regional food and so on and so forth. Night much of a fine-dining scene at the South Pole though!

Some people don't like to travel, and that is ok. It's the people who seem to get irritated when you tell them you've been to 72 countries who you'd feel sorry for. There's a lot of them on this website tbh. Lads living in BallyGoBackwards, work on an assembly line in some medical device company, and married a woman who looks like a fat Martina Navratilova. Their own lives are so lacking in excitement, difference, and adventure that they take out their jealousy and frustrations on people who enjoy the finer things in life.

coinop

Smee_Again wrote: »

Are you from a low IQ country?

What are the low IQ countries?

elperello

Travel can help someone become a mature well rounded adult but a lot depends on the individual's outlook on life.

It is certainly not essential.

timetogo1

McGinniesta wrote: »

Our travelling days are over. We'll need vaccines dripping out of our arseholes before we can think about getting on a plane.

That was always the way. If you're going to nearly any country there are vaccines you need.

Sam Hain

eviltwin wrote: »

One thing I noticed when my daughter lived abroad was how more mature and self reliant she became. I suppose you have to when calling mammy and daddy every time you're in a spot of bother is no longer an option.

Living and working abroad is far more rewarding than travelling or backpacking or taking a year off.

Smee_Again

coinop wrote: »

What are the low IQ countries?

I’ve no idea.

You mentioned populations, populations of what if not countries?

coinop

Smee_Again wrote: »

I’ve no idea.

You mentioned populations, populations of what if not countries?

I mentioned low IQ populations. You mentioned low IQ countries. A region of the world can have several different populations living within it.
What are the low IQ countries?

Wanderer2010

Its great to round you out a bit as a human being, it gives you a glimpse of a life outside your tiny little head and you appreciate we share the world with a multitude of different people with different viewpoints, religions, culinary tastes and social norms. Its not going to drastically change your core personality, which generally stays the same your entire life.
It also depends where you go. The amount of lads i know who came back from a "life changing" year or two in Australia, and not only are they the exact same people afterwards but some of their existing prejudices and attitudes are actually strengthened. And this is because they went to live in a house full of other Irish lads...working day and night with other Irish lads and you guessed it, drinking in Irish pubs every weekend with Irish lads. So no chance to get exposed to enough locals or native people which may have given them some life lessons.

Andrewf20

Sam Hain wrote: »

Living and working abroad is far more rewarding than travelling or backpacking or taking a year off.

That depends on alot of variables. Working abroad generally has you are tied to a working and living location I found but travel gives more freedom to go where you want.