The Travelling Myth

BrianD3 · 29-06-2012 11:11AM

I agree with much of what the OP says. It is certainly a contrarian viewpoint in Ireland so I'm not surprised that he's getting abuse in this thread.

Jacob Lund Fisker from the early retirement blog also has some similar thoughts on travel. I like the parts where he talks about travel as "social currency" and how people accumulate experiences in the same way as they accumulate stuff (which they don't need)

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/travel-is-not-worth-it.html
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/somebody-explain-travel-to-me.html

leggo · 29-06-2012 11:18AM

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

Anybody who doesn't spend at least a few months abroad before the hit 30 has wasted their youth. There is nothing more boring than someone who finishes school, goes straight into college, graduates, then gets a job, and dies. Why choose to live an average, mundane life? Experience something new. There is a whole world out there beyond this little rock on the periphery of Europe. You don't know what you're missing out on till you've been there.

For all that travelling, you're still so small-minded so just blatantly assume that's my life or the life of anyone who doesn't do what you've done. I suppose it can't broaden everyone's mind...:rolleyes:

SMASH THE UNIONS · 29-06-2012 11:19AM

BrianD3 wrote: »

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/travel-is-not-worth-it.html
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/somebody-explain-travel-to-me.html

I had a quick read of those blog posts. It's basically the writer whiging about air travel rather than travelling itself. He makes a cliched jibe about how crap airplane food is, for example. Completely unrelated to the discussion.

Funny how the only people knocking travelling are those who have never done it :rolleyes:

looksee · 29-06-2012 11:27AM

This nearly began to turn into an interesting discusssion there while the op was away (travelling?) for a while. He's back winding now though, or should we say trolling? because if you don't accept what he says first go, he's just going to keep saying it till you do. I think I would rather listen to somebody's travel tales.

Listen, would the whole diaspora either come home and be quiet, or preferably not come home at all, and save the OP from having to be annoyed by you.

leggo · 29-06-2012 11:38AM

looksee wrote: »

This nearly began to turn into an interesting discusssion there while the op was away (travelling?) for a while. He's back winding now though, or should we say trolling? because if you don't accept what he says first go, he's just going to keep saying it till you do. I think I would rather listen to somebody's travel tales.

Listen, would the whole diaspora either come home and be quiet, or preferably not come home at all, and save the OP from having to be annoyed by you.

What's hurt this thread more than anything has been the personalisation of it and OP bashing (which alienates the rest of the forum who have conflicting views, making it me vs. anyone who disagrees with me, and hurts the debate's overall constructiveness).

It's since moved on to an actual discussion about the subject at hand...and yet you, a mod, are attempting to move it back to OP bashing. Wow...

dirtyden · 29-06-2012 11:45AM

byronbay2 wrote: »

I agree wholeheartedly with Leggo's last post. For a lot of "avid" travellers, the having-visited somewhere is more important than the visit itself. It ticks off another venue on the to-do list and adds a digit to their "I've visited X countries, you know". There is definitely an element of smugness and superiority to a lot of people who like to travel!

Is your username ironic then? Look at me I was in Byron Bay!!!

CiaranC · 29-06-2012 11:46AM

Scanlas The 2nd wrote: »

What can't you do that's so great at 65 that you can do in your 20's?

Ride other 20 year olds

scdublin · 29-06-2012 11:48AM

Anyone I've met who left the country whether it be on the J1 or a longer visa, has had the time of their lives and not regretted it one bit. I find that you regret the things you don't do far more than the things you did do....so my opinion would be go for it while you can!
I can see where the OP is coming from in some ways, that people just drop everything here to run away...but if they're running away from no job/doom and gloom to fun, sun and higher chances of a job, what's wrong with that? The majority of people leaving the country are doing so in an effort to better their quality of life...and they take the experience seriously using it to gain work experience. Of course they're going to go out and take in all the local experiences too

BrianD3 · 29-06-2012 11:49AM

SMASH THE UNIONS wrote: »

I had a quick read of those blog posts. It's basically the writer whiging about air travel rather than travelling itself. He makes a cliched jibe about how crap airplane food is, for example. Completely unrelated to the discussion.

Funny how the only people knocking travelling are those who have never done it :rolleyes:

No it is very related to the discussion. You obviously missed the important parts during your quick read.

For example:

Accumulating these precious everlasting memories is often put in the category of personal growth just like changing clothes is considered personal growth for teenage girls and young white collar workers buying their first suit. However, it mainly serves to accumulate social currency just like attending rock concerts does it for a teenager or buying “conversation objects” does it for a socialite, The currency can then be used enhance peer status..

However in the case of Irish people they may not even have any memories of what happened while "finding themselves" in Australia because they spent most of their time there drunk :rolleyes:

SMASH THE UNIONS · 29-06-2012 11:51AM

leggo wrote: »

What's hurt this thread more than anything has been the personalisation of it and OP bashing (which alienates the rest of the forum who have conflicting views, making it me vs. anyone who disagrees with me, and hurts the debate's overall constructiveness).

It's since moved on to an actual discussion about the subject at hand...and yet you, a mod, are attempting to move it back to OP bashing. Wow...

Stop playing the victim card. Ever consider the possibility that maybe it's because you're talking crap? You have no interest in hearing other people's opinions. You just want an echo chamber. That isn't a discussion.

I said it before. You had your mind made up when you started the thread that anyone who has travelled is a smug waanker. Funny how the only people knocking travelling are those who have never done it. It's like saying Xbox is rubbish. "Have you ever played it?" "Well, no..". You have spent way too much time thinking about this and now you have built up so much rage in your head. People travel because they enjoy the experience, simple as that.

CiaranC · 29-06-2012 11:58AM

Palpable sense of bitterness from the OP is delicious. You can almost taste the regret from his posts.

SMASH THE UNIONS · 29-06-2012 12:22PM

Here OP, chill out and have a beer on me

Beer

mickrock · 29-06-2012 12:22PM

"Neil Armstrong, that spaceman, he went to the moon but he ain't been back. It can't have been that good."
Karl Pilkington

fishy fishy · 29-06-2012 12:23PM

CiaranC wrote: »

Palpable sense of bitterness from the OP is delicious. You can almost taste the regret from his posts.

+ 1

leggo · 29-06-2012 12:56PM

CiaranC wrote: »

Palpable sense of bitterness from the OP is delicious. You can almost taste the regret from his posts.

Really, mate? Reaaaally? You think that this thread is making me wish I had travelled? If anything, the posts here are justifying my decision, i.e. "anyone who doesn't want amazing adventures like I've had must be so bitter". I'll gladly not travel just so I don't become you. :pac:

It's been said before, there's really nothing stopping me. 25, no wife/kids, savings etc. If I was that regretful...would I not just do it? Do you not realise the gaping hole in your logic? Or are you blinded by your delusion that everyone else is just so jealous of you?

CiaranC · 29-06-2012 01:07PM

leggo wrote: »

Or are you blinded by your delusion that everyone else is just so jealous of you?

There are people like you everywhere, you dont interest me in the least. I just find the bitterness of your posts amusing.

You dont need to justify your decision to live the conventional school-college-job-marriage-kids-death life to strangers on the internet, just get on with it. If other people want to spend their life doing amazing coke in South America, trekking across Antartica, volunteering in Africa, banging 20 year old scandinavian birds in Australia or one of the million other possibilities our wonderful planet offers then let them get on with it too.

Why feel the need to start threads to justify who you are? It smacks of small minded bitterness. Grow up.

ArtSmart · 29-06-2012 01:21PM

ahem, side-stepping the flames wars for a mo and offering this.

Like most things travelling has it plus and minus side.

The commodity you spend is time. TIME.

What is the value of time?

Well, maybe there's is a mathematical formula, but roughly time value increases with age. ie the older you get the less you've got left! so the more valuable it is!

Em, ok, to wander back into my point - travelling costs time and time has different values at different stages in life.

to build up a reasonable base in your home country takes....(wait for it)...time. (usually 5-7 years) by base I mean steady living situation, steady income of a good level.

so, spend a bit of time travelling, grand.

but overspend (to me, more than two years) and you might regret it.

Eidt. in a prattling mood, so i'll add this. the cost is time, but the goods you buy is 'experience'. well spent time will give you valuable experiences. as i mentioned before job related travel is handy because the experience will convert to your homeland job prospects. But any experience is valid, not just job related experience. However, it aint free. it costs. it costs time. so, travel with that in mind - the time cost. if you're young, you can afford it a bit more - but the price does go up as you get older.
As for retired persons travelling, that's a totally different type of travelling, and imo doesnt apply in this context.

leggo · 29-06-2012 01:22PM

What college did I go to, since you know so much about me there pal? And was it bitter when I wrote a whole paragraph in the OP about not being anti-emigration and probably having to move abroad at some stage? Where does the whole, "I might have to move abroad," notion fit into your head within my life decision to never travel?

Cop on. Deal with the subject at hand and stop making up fairy tales about me in your head.

CiaranC · 29-06-2012 01:38PM

leggo wrote: »

What college did I go to, since you know so much about me there pal? And was it bitter when I wrote a whole paragraph in the OP about not being anti-emigration and probably having to move abroad at some stage? Where does the whole, "I might have to move abroad," notion fit into your head within my life decision to never travel?

Cop on. Deal with the subject at hand and stop making up fairy tales about me in your head.

Lol, of course you've never been to college, what was I thinking. Do you have a chip on your shoulder about that too? Going to start a thread about the education myth next?

ArtSmart · 29-06-2012 01:42PM

Hmmm.

well it would seem an interesting topic is about to be locked and docked. pity

SMASH THE UNIONS · 29-06-2012 01:46PM

CiaranC wrote: »

Lol, of course you've never been to college, what was I thinking. Do you have a chip on your shoulder about that too? Going to start a thread about the education myth next?

I fcking lol'd.

ArtSmart wrote: »

Hmmm.

well it would seem an interesting topic is about to be locked and docked. pity

Interesting topic? I'm not even sure the OP knew what point he was trying to make. Indeed, he changed his point half-way through the thread. First it was a rant about young people travelling; then it was about people putting pictures of said travelling on Facebook; then it was about the kind of travelling people do - seeing the Wonders of the World = good. Drinking on a beach and shagging = bad. Self-righteous waffle. On top of that, he cannot handle even the slightest criticism without having a mental breakdown apparently. He must always be right.

CiaranC · 29-06-2012 01:52PM

ArtSmart wrote: »

Hmmm.

well it would seem an interesting topic is about to be locked and docked. pity

Interesting topic me hole, it's a thread from some workaday blowhard from suburban Dublin criticizing people for doing something interesting with part of their lives.

Let's hear some alternative suggestions with what to do with this time so. Obviously education and a professional career is out.

ArtSmart · 29-06-2012 01:53PM

Fair nuff. Well i gave my tuppence, so that's me done.

in short, go travel, but dont get lost.

bfn

keithclancy · 29-06-2012 01:57PM

This thread is bollocks.

Just be happy with what you did, you can't change the past anyway.

If you like staying at home do that
If you like going on Aeroplanes to places (Is this travelling ?) then do that too.

Does England count as travelling ?

fishy fishy · 29-06-2012 02:11PM

ArtSmart wrote: »

ahem, side-stepping the flames wars for a mo and offering this.

Like most things travelling has it plus and minus side.

The commodity you spend is time. TIME.

What is the value of time?

Well, maybe there's is a mathematical formula, but roughly time value increases with age. ie the older you get the less you've got left! so the more valuable it is!

Em, ok, to wander back into my point - travelling costs time and time has different values at different stages in life.

to build up a reasonable base in your home country takes....(wait for it)...time. (usually 5-7 years) by base I mean steady living situation, steady income of a good level.

so, spend a bit of time travelling, grand.

but overspend (to me, more than two years) and you might regret it.

Eidt. in a prattling mood, so i'll add this. the cost is time, but the goods you buy is 'experience'. well spent time will give you valuable experiences. as i mentioned before job related travel is handy because the experience will convert to your homeland job prospects. But any experience is valid, not just job related experience. However, it aint free. it costs. it costs time. so, travel with that in mind - the time cost. if you're young, you can afford it a bit more - but the price does go up as you get older.
As for retired persons travelling, that's a totally different type of travelling, and imo doesnt apply in this context.

or, you could be hit by a truck in the morning, so enjoy life while you can.

cloptrop · 29-06-2012 02:19PM

I think that people that went travelling are really smug about it and go on and on and on about it. They think it gives them some sort of better world view than everyone else because they hiked an inca trail . I used to get 3 buses to work when I started my apprenticeship, I think that gives me more to offer an employer than the fact you got chased by bulls in spain.
I think anybody who says "awh man big woopdydo you went on holidays far away " gets seen as bitter because it stops the traveller from being able to smugly go on and on and on about swimming with dolphins and how dare somebody with a small mind who hasnt travelled not want to hear these stories.
The thing people who have "done the whole travelling thing " dont understand is you all have the same bleeding stories . Its what I find so annoying about ye. You are telling me the same bleeping story somebody else told me last week.
Im not bitter , anywhere I went to would be called boring by your crazy Austrailian standards. I had a few holidays in Europe . But while you were spending your 20s selling ice pops on an austrailian beach I got a trade , had 3 kids and quite enjoyed my time here. Ok its gone to piss in the last year or so but its not too bad.
So to recap its not your divine right to bore everyone to death with how you earned 6 grand an hour in oz but havnt got twopence to rub together , how you went to see some band you can see here in a different country and that makes your story better than the time I seen them in Dublin , or any boring holiday story .
You were always just a plane flight away your hardly Christopher Columbas.

tok9 · 29-06-2012 02:32PM

cloptrop wrote: »

I think that people that went travelling are really smug about it and go on and on and on about it. They think it gives them some sort of better world view than everyone else because they hiked an inca trail . I used to get 3 buses to work when I started my apprenticeship, I think that gives me more to offer an employer than the fact you got chased by bulls in spain.
I think anybody who says "awh man big woopdydo you went on holidays far away " gets seen as bitter because it stops the traveller from being able to smugly go on and on and on about swimming with dolphins and how dare somebody with a small mind who hasnt travelled not want to hear these stories.
The thing people who have "done the whole travelling thing " dont understand is you all have the same bleeding stories . Its what I find so annoying about ye. You are telling me the same bleeping story somebody else told me last week.
Im not bitter , anywhere I went to would be called boring by your crazy Austrailian standards. I had a few holidays in Europe . But while you were spending your 20s selling ice pops on an austrailian beach I got a trade , had 3 kids and quite enjoyed my time here. Ok its gone to piss in the last year or so but its not too bad.
So to recap its not your divine right to bore everyone to death with how you earned 6 grand an hour in oz but havnt got twopence to rub together , how you went to see some band you can see here in a different country and that makes your story better than the time I seen them in Dublin , or any boring holiday story .
You were always just a plane flight away your hardly Christopher Columbas.

That really does sound a bit bitter cloptrop.

I must be lucky that I don't get this vibe from people who travelled. If you don't want to listen to them then don't.

This thread can be closed really. Basically if you want to travel, do it (Me!) and if you don't want to then don't.

cloptrop · 29-06-2012 03:03PM

tok9 wrote: »

That really does sound a bit bitter cloptrop.

I must be lucky that I don't get this vibe from people who travelled. If you don't want to listen to them then don't.

This thread can be closed really. Basically if you want to travel, do it (Me!) and if you don't want to then don't.

Yes if you want to go do it, but be wary that not everyone cares so if you are going to travel just so you can bore everyone about it when you get home dont.

Scanlas The 2nd · 29-06-2012 03:04PM

CiaranC wrote: »

Scanlas The 2nd wrote: »

What can't you do that's so great at 65 that you can do in your 20's?

Ride other 20 year olds

You can do that at home in your twenties. I ask again, what can you do in your twenties that you can't do in your sixties when travelling. You can still see new cultures etc in your sixties.

Daith · 29-06-2012 03:13PM

cloptrop wrote: »

Yes if you want to go do it, but be wary that not everyone cares so if you are going to travel just so you can bore everyone about it when you get home dont.

Damn it and I was already to schedule an appearance on RTE when I come back to address the nation!

The Travelling Myth

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