TheFosterKid wrote:AnnaWintour wrote:Traveling is really overrated. Most of the time, I've found it to be pretty underwhelming. It was cool to see but not something that I couldn't live without doing in my life. I went to the Grand Canyon recently and it was one of the most pointless things ever. Seeing it in person was cool for the first five minutes...
International travel in particular is just too stressful and tiring. There are lovely beaches four hours away, I really don't feel the need to take a 12 hour flight to Bali just to sit on a beach there too. I like getting away for the long weekend or whatever, maybe taking a short flight to a neighboring state to see different cities, but other than that... no. The idea of traveling the world for an entire year or backpacking for months on end does not appeal to me in the least. I see all these travel/wanderlust bloggers and Youtubers and I just don't understand it.
Of course, tell anyone you don't like to travel and their eyes will almost pop of their heads in disbelief, and you automatically become the most dull and uncultured person in existence ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This is truly an unpopular opinion.
I haven't traveled yet and of course, I still want to try it to figure out if I like it myself. But I have always been "meh" about seeing certain great wonders if they do not have any historical significance (I really like imagining the past when I'm in a historical place). But I completely agree with you about the beach thing. Once you've gone to one nice one, haven't you gone to all?
My family is a big international traveling retinue other than for my stoodgy grandfather, has been to every continent except Antarctica. The best way to travel is to either rent a flat/apartment/home or stay in some little town and basically act like you live there for a few weeks to several months. That's what we did on our last trip to London and Paris several years ago. It's fun to watch people, talk, cook local food, basically just chill and live like a normal person. It's strange because you tend to forget really quickly you're in a foreign country and it just becomes another place. It was my first time in Europe and even in Paris, I was surprised at how we just blended in and how easy it can be to pick up local customs.
My grandmother and I used to take long walks along the Seine or the Thames, peek in people's yards, talk to the mailman, get a coffee or tea, just normal things. I don't think we ever once saw Big Ben or spent a lot of time near the Eiffel Tower. It was really fun because you get to see how people live, and I think it takes the intimidation/cultural barrier down for a lot of Americans when you just take it natural and slow and don't try to out thrill seeking or anything. I loved seeing how people dress, watching people shop, all those little things we tend to forget in our daily lives but really help us to connect to others. But that's what I love about going abroad!