61–70 of 156 posts
That’s one of the main complaints of the opponents of Germany/Europe’s liberal immigration and refugee policies. They admit this in the article but dismiss it instantly.
Traveling is overrated. Often times in modern life it feels as thought traveling is a competition rather than for leisure and pleasure. People are often competing to take pictures and say they have been to as many places as possible. Props to travel companies for propagating the travel craze and selling people on the allure of taking pictures and eating food in another spot on Earth. Count the number of people's prof…
However, there was that one time we went to Ireland and were the only Americans in a bar and the band found out we were from Colorado and played John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" and the whole bar was singing along. That was one of the best nights of my life. So I guess it's more complicated than just saying "traveling is so overrated it's insane".
I went with my wife to Hallstatt this year. It's a tiny picturesque town in Austria. I was there not that long ago, maybe something like 10 years and it was nice and memorable but for a local no big deal. This time we went on a wimp and jesus christ there were so many tourists. It was insane how utterly impossible life must be there for people. There are signs in Chinese and Japanese everywhere about local laws, not…
It sounds like that city is still having growing pains with tourism influx, but it also sounds like the local economy is probably doing pretty well, so I don't know if "ruined" is the right term (in absolute terms).
Put another way: the locals will have a much more annoying but (hopefully) much richer existence as a result of that influx. Those that dislike this can either move or work with local governments to transform policies to stop the tourism (and fight those who prefer the income).
I grew up with stories of people like Maco Polo and love of travel but my recent trips to Europe has almost repulsed and disillusioned me. Tiny European countries are being swamped by huge swath of tourists, everyone with Rick Steve’s guidebook, they all go look at exact same thing, take exact same pictures and even eat at exact same recommended restaurants. There is a lot to see and little to reflect when you are am…
Michelin guides are generally fairly comprehensive, obviously they also include the big tourist traps but they list too many places of interests to have all of them be swamped by tourists. If you follow a Michelin guide and ignore everything listed in the common "Visiting Europe 101" guides then you're probably off to a good start.
Recently, in the german edition of the Spiegel, there was a similar column[1] saying there was "something really going wrong" when a flight from Berlin to Cologne costs 15€ while the train ticket for the same destinations costs 120€. The same article said that the flights were "absurdly cheap" and that the budget airlines are "displaying the type of capitalism that is disconnected from reality". Im not joking. The qu…
I remember the RyanAir CEO once saying he could do base fares for free if it weren't for airport taxes.
I love travelling on trains not to mention the environmental benefits but the cost was unjustifiable compared to flying in Europe.
Always worth posting Wallace's quote on the subject: "To be a mass tourist, for me, is to become a pure late-date American: alien, ignorant, greedy for something you cannot ever have, disappointed in a way you can never admit. It is to spoil, by way of sheer ontology, the very unspoiledness you are there to experience. It is to impose yourself on places that in all noneconomic ways would be better, realer, without yo…
Always worth posting Wallace's quote on the subject: "To be a mass tourist, for me, is to become a pure late-date American: alien, ignorant, greedy for something you cannot ever have, disappointed in a way you can never admit. It is to spoil, by way of sheer ontology, the very unspoiledness you are there to experience. It is to impose yourself on places that in all noneconomic ways would be better, realer, without yo…
I can't escape the Bluetooth speakers on the slopes or the hiking trails anymore.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you should take a broader view here. Traveling is not to just go from point to point, traveling is wonderful, it open up to new opportunities and exposes to new ideas, culture and places that you would never know existed. Traveling teaches you so much about life and breaks singular view on world.
You can get a lot more exposure locally if you learn about your community and try to build and grow your country. Most of things you learn traveling or moving to some country named by a person over a war perhaps can be learned online.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you should take a broader view here. Traveling is not to just go from point to point, traveling is wonderful, it open up to new opportunities and exposes to new ideas, culture and places that you would never know existed. Traveling teaches you so much about life and breaks singular view on world.
You can get a lot more exposure locally if you learn about your community and try to build and grow your country. Most of things you learn traveling or moving to some country named by a person over a war perhaps can be learned online.
I grew up with stories of people like Maco Polo and love of travel but my recent trips to Europe has almost repulsed and disillusioned me. Tiny European countries are being swamped by huge swath of tourists, everyone with Rick Steve’s guidebook, they all go look at exact same thing, take exact same pictures and even eat at exact same recommended restaurants. There is a lot to see and little to reflect when you are am…
But it's the travel books that are the main problem, along with our extremely narrow collective obsession in a few specific experiences. Our need to meet expectations. The crowds of tourists gather in just the thinnest spider web of places. Usually you can escape them by walking a single block from the guidebook must-see.
The only way to be a traveler is to reject the fools gold the tourist industry has for sale. Traveling is risky. Time consuming. You could be embarrassed. Lost. Changed.
That's an adventure.