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The Case Against Travel

newyorker.com

111–120 of 161 posts

Re: The Case Against Travel

#111
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> hard to enjoy a sunset next to a gorgeous cathedral on a cliff when your city is 100 years old and flat Just get a pair of those Apple VR goggles. Is it the same? No. Is the difference worth destroying the planet? Hell no.

It's not the individual who should be blamed for the dire state of the planet.

Ironically, we can blame them more, the more we blame them.

Re: The Case Against Travel

#112
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Travel/tourism is what I like to call "rudeness in aggregate". What I mean with that is that single individual people are doing nothing egregiously wrong as such, but above a certain number all combined create a strong negative ("rude") effect. The most obvious example of this in context of travel are these huge cruise ships. No one is really doing anything wrong with that, as such, but craptons of tourists descendin…

It’s weird to see downvotes on this comment. I think it is without question that me traveling to, say, Yellowstone is just fine but not if too many people do so each year. The damage done would ruin the place. At a higher level I think the issue is overpopulation combined with ease of travel. We cause too much damage.

Question: how do you see downvotes (or any votes) on a comment? I use news.ycombinator.com but all I see is when the downvotes are large enough to gray out the comment. I often see people talking about upvotes and downvotes as though they can see a number. I’m just wondering if I may be “doing it wrong”.

Re: The Case Against Travel

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s weird to see downvotes on this comment. I think it is without question that me traveling to, say, Yellowstone is just fine but not if too many people do so each year. The damage done would ruin the place. At a higher level I think the issue is overpopulation combined with ease of travel. We cause too much damage.

Question: how do you see downvotes (or any votes) on a comment? I use news.ycombinator.com but all I see is when the downvotes are large enough to gray out the comment. I often see people talking about upvotes and downvotes as though they can see a number. I’m just wondering if I may be “doing it wrong”.

You are not doing anything wrong, you can't see points for comments that are not your own.

Re: The Case Against Travel

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s weird to see downvotes on this comment. I think it is without question that me traveling to, say, Yellowstone is just fine but not if too many people do so each year. The damage done would ruin the place. At a higher level I think the issue is overpopulation combined with ease of travel. We cause too much damage.

Question: how do you see downvotes (or any votes) on a comment? I use news.ycombinator.com but all I see is when the downvotes are large enough to gray out the comment. I often see people talking about upvotes and downvotes as though they can see a number. I’m just wondering if I may be “doing it wrong”.

When I commented the comment was grayed out. That was the only indication I had that there were downvotes.

Re: The Case Against Travel

#115
post #14

I can't see why so many people look down on traveling. I do not tell people unless asked (it is not part of my identity) but I traveled my fair share and it changed me a lot. The food I eat (the better half of my diet), the way I drive, my values for a fulfilled life, my willingnes to accept risks in life, appreciation and compassion for regions and many things more. Traveling is what you make out of it. If they walk…

Do you really need to travel to China to get an appreciation for Chinese food? That’s kinda the point the author makes.

Yes? I traveled to China and had some amazing food I haven’t found here since, Same for pretty much anywhere I’ve traveled. This is due to not having to force things to fit the American palate and survive as a restaurant.

Re: The Case Against Travel

#116

It takes a while to really get to the point: "Travel is fun, so it is not mysterious that we like it. What is mysterious is why we imbue it with a vast significance, an aura of virtue". I think framing that everyone treats travel as this enlightening, broadening experience ("we") is wrong. I'm not one of those people. I'm a filthy tourist that goes to museums and art galleries and goes home after two weeks happy to b…

Virtuousness is assigned to activities and pursuits that, in that context, to the non-virtuous may seem inconsequential, or worse than the "real thing", or a waste of time. Virtuousness is assigned, say, to reading, "she's a great reader," or cooking at home, "she makes such homely meals," while living one's life or going to a restaurant or bar instead of grocery shopping and peeling potatoes and cooking for hours is seen as plebeian.

"She likes to drink diet coke" does not carry the same weight as "she likes to drink tea," where the former suggests an impoverished mind and the latter a certain philosophical attitude toward life. Or "she likes to walk everywhere" compared to "she likes to drive everywhere," where walking is "imbued with a vast significance, an aura of virtue," whether in the city, mountains, or woods (but especially in the mountains or woods). "She keeps a diary" sounds profound, but shallower when the diary is digital than when the paper smells of lavender and evokes flowering hills as far as the eye can see.

I like to travel to certain places and at certain times, which makes me a "conditional traveler", and very often I travel alone, which often allows me to get to know the local people and to lose myself, for a few days or weeks, in another world, perhaps in another life. Other people like other ways of traveling, which I may find more or less appealing to myself, but it's the same feeling I get from clothes worn by others: I may not like them on me, but I don't have to wear them.

Re: The Case Against Travel

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think in the US at least, travel has an even deeper aspect of ritualized behavior or religiosity in the positive sense of those concepts. A pilgrimage for people who don't believe in anything. Even someone who takes a 20 hour flight to take photos for Instagram is having a unique life experience. They are going to have experiences worth telling stories about. Certainly more than the person who doesn't leave the hou…

[flagged]

Sure there is. Do it once every 3 years. Simple math.

Re: The Case Against Travel

#119
post #14

I can't see why so many people look down on traveling. I do not tell people unless asked (it is not part of my identity) but I traveled my fair share and it changed me a lot. The food I eat (the better half of my diet), the way I drive, my values for a fulfilled life, my willingnes to accept risks in life, appreciation and compassion for regions and many things more. Traveling is what you make out of it. If they walk…

> the way I drive

I too realized just how pointless signs and driving laws were on my travels.

Re: The Case Against Travel

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question: how do you see downvotes (or any votes) on a comment? I use news.ycombinator.com but all I see is when the downvotes are large enough to gray out the comment. I often see people talking about upvotes and downvotes as though they can see a number. I’m just wondering if I may be “doing it wrong”.

When I commented the comment was grayed out. That was the only indication I had that there were downvotes.

Ah, thanks.
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