Is travelling overrated?
The number of times I've heard people say shit like 'traveling makes you grow as a person'. Someone please specify what this growth looks like because I've never experienced it. I don't think traveling is life-changing. I think most people have a romanticized, cinema-like idea of traveling that has been exaggerated even more because of social media. It definitely is fun to go on a vacation. But in most cases, that's all it is -- a source of entertainment. Maybe an ice-breaker the next time you go to some pretentious party. Am I missing something?
Personal observation:
I see traveling in two parts. One is either being a tourist or a backpacker.
Whenever I've been a tourist enjoying the comfort of lavish hotel stays and a cab to take me around I have felt no emotion in that trip whatsoever. I do enjoy the fancy food, but it just doesn't connect with me and I have felt those trips as mere checklist of items to be ticked off from an itinerary.
Backpacking is where I've truly experienced the essense of travel. With a shoestring budget and ready to brave the weather, surviving on water and maggi, hitchhiking on random vehicles, jostling for space in a local public transport, endless walks, taking help from random strangers - this is what I still prefer and enjoy to date. It helps me connect more with the place, culture, and helps me appreciate simple things in life, not to forget making me realise how privileged I am. I make it a point to do one major trip like this every year.
Gumnaam_hai_koi
Student
5 months ago
One hundred percent true.
@BrisbaneBunny , there is a third category of people, like me. We do opt for hotels, but budget ones. We can take public transport or a cab depending on the cost difference and how tired we are. We'll not wake up at 8 and roam around till we are sleepy, so we would want to relax, wake up late, but then have a busy day and not stay holed up in the hotel.
We believe in quality over quantity, so okay with missing out on a few things in the checklist. đ
@deadpm , for me, I don't think any growth and enjoyment would happen if I book a package from an agent, who will plan the whole schedule and I won't have to worry about a single thing. I personally like planning, hitting some obstacles, learning from it and that's where the growth and fun is. It just takes you out of your comfort zone and helps you better cope up with unforeseen circumstances, helps you learn new ways of doing things etc.
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It depends how & where u travel.
I will put a quick example - Someone close to me always assumed ki roads usually breakdown in monsoons because it is normal in india. Once they traveled abroad and to a tropical island where rains are very common. After seeing the roads there, first comment was - âRoads donât break always due to rainsâ. So, this was a life long learning for that human, broke the mirage of road quality and execution in India.
Similarly, once I went to a 3-days long trek with a friend to inner jungles of SEAsia. We had to carry drinking water with us & took bath in flowing river. If you have seen âIss jungle se mujhe bachaoâ (desi version of fear factor) was shot there. This friend of mine after landing back made a statement âyaar jisne bhi shower invent kiya hai, itâs a big giftâ. Takeaway from this travel was - He was able to appreciate the simplest thing which we take for granted.
Many people learn new things about culture, practices of a new place. My personal surprise was when I traveled to Bali and saw similarities between theirs n ours practices. Helped me to go back n read about various things of empires.
Multiple such stories, so yeah, it depends!
JimCramer
Stealth
5 months ago
ElonMast, what was the location of the jungle tour and is there any group/solo package provided??
I've lived and worked across 19 countries so I can probably answer this question much better than anyone else here.
Travelling isn't overrated. It's the best thing any living organism with legs and ability to travel faster can do. I've been a very introvert person throughout my college life. When I landed my first job which was a small startup of 48 employees (including the founder) we were expected to do everything. I got my first travel opportunity to Kuwait in 2014 where my customer was literally located on Kuwait Iraq border guarded by the US marines. I spent 6 months here developing a HR and Payroll software along with a BI application. I made some great work relations with people from different nationals. We lived together, cooked food, went around exploring Kuwait city. I learned alot of life lessons and became really extrovert in nature. I made tons of mistakes since I wasn't aware about the etiquettes of dealing with different nationalities.
Once I was back after my stint I was sent onsite again this time to Dubai in the UAE to work with a public sector customer to implement a costing and profitability system as an ETL developer. I was there for 3 months and Dubai is one of the best cities in the world. Whatever they do they thrive to be world class. Having learned from my previous experiences, I learned and networked with alot of other nationals and locals alike. I even explored around Abu Dhabi during the weekends. Following that I got many such assignments in the Gulf especially in Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon and Jordan.
Our VP decided to give me a new region and sent me on a project to France in 2016 for a one year long stint where I learned French language and even had a French girlfriend. I traveled all over France and explored many places around Europe and the UK. I was also put on another project in Portugal for a few weeks. I explored this beautiful country in under 3 weeks.
There's so much traveling has taught me and made me who I'm now.
I'd also like to add that I've also travelled extensively across India since I don't like to stay at home anymore. During pandemic, I left my home and went on a 8 month long workaction with friend exploring Himachal, Uttrakhand and Kashmir.
I was 42 days in places like Darcha, Jispa and Keylong exploring the remote villages of Himachal and working from places wherever I found peace of mind.
Travelling makes you step outside your comfort zone and makes you a problem solver. You're constantly challenging yourself and building yourself in the process as a better human being. We're not meant to settle down at one place. Life is meant for exploring, learning and travelling. Not WFH looking at your screens all day.
Totally agreed. Thanks for sharing. I would like to start doing this, any tips you can give on all the learnings you have had? I loved your experiences, would want to experience something similar
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TheOatmeal
Stealth
5 months ago
Kaafi log Instagram ke pressure me ake travel kar rahe hai
TheOatmeal
Stealth
5 months ago
Went to Europe. Hardly posted any pictures đ
I don't even post a single picture, just change my WhatsApp dp whenever I take a tripđ
I do keep going back to the pictures and reminiscing about the good times!
It changes the perspective, however depends if you are open for positive changes. I have traveled solo a lot and met very nice people and heard their experiences. I have traveled with frnds also, it gave me lot of perspective abt them as well. I feel to know a person, it is mandatory to take a trip with them. Also, experience it by yourself and see if you become livepm.đ
Retiredsoul
Stealth
5 months ago
Itâs overrated if you are traveling to show off or boost your ego itâs satisfying if you genuinely feel happy when you go to new places and experience new things.
After reading the whole thread, I understood that itâs changes your perspective of life.
To kya kru main uss perspective change ka??
đđ
Let me give an example, suppose you went to a small himalayan village & saw people earning a meagre salary of 10k a month, but living their lives in peace, happiness & contentment. In fact, you got really impressed with the calm on their face & innocence in their laughs. With this new perspective, now you wouldn't crib about earning only 20LPA & getting into the rat race of earning more. You'd rather acknowledge that even a higher salary probably isn't going to help as far as living a life of happiness & contentment is concerned, which can turn your focus on finding a deeper meaning & true fulfilment.
Bro I came from very small village from Bihar. I have seen all sorts nadiyan, pahaad n all.
Nothing excites me. I have seen extreme conditions of villages n now every other village is empty bech everyone shifted to cities.
Also how do u know my CTC
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FindingHorses
Stealth
5 months ago
It changes people, I know this because it changed me from an introvert to an ambivert.
It changes your perspective and you become more susceptible to change. One becomes more accommodative. It happened with me not sure about others
As a kid my parents took me everywhere to the mountains etc and that truly made me open to the world out there
Would you like to share how exactly does travelling help become ambivert? I am curious to understand it
The social media kind of traveling is surely over rated. If you go to another place with the same set of people you're regularly hanging out with, same luxuries and conveniences you're used to, stay in good hotels, visit the major tourist attractions & come back, then it doesn't really help in any kind of growth.
However, if you're interacting with new places/people/situations, that's quite enriching. It helps us get out of the bubble that we're living in, we start looking at our life differently, removes a lot of misconceptions we have about the world, changes our own priorities etc.
Yes, you are missing a lot here. And no, travelling is not at all overrated. But I wonder why this topic keeps popping up every now and then? Is it because of facebook and Instagram feeds? I think travelling looks overrated to those who are not that observant and thinker, meaning- more of extroverts must be opining that it is overrated.
Coming to the point- Travelling teaches a lot and brings newer perspectives to life. Travelling can also make you come across many inspiring situations or people, which you would never come across getting stuck in same city. For example, when you meet a young foreign couple in India, going around on scooty each of them strapped a kid to their body, you go wow! When you meet a 50+ aged woman from Tier1 city, living all alone with her two dogs in hills, and driving her 4 wheeler hundreds of miles across India, living her life so free of daily compulsions, you go wow. And then you come across locals living with such happiness with such little, you witness innocence and honesty up close. And there are so many more things one comes across and experiences while travellingâŚ
xcalabarat
Stealth
5 months ago
Most people love the idea of travelling much much more than travelling itself.
Same is the case with Love and Religion.
ScaredBlow
Stealth
5 months ago
Depends on the people you travel with
DaringSort
Stealth
5 months ago
I have seen most of them travel for the sake on shit posting on their Instagram. They need to show every one around that they have travelled everywhere reality is those j**s are hollow inside. They need to boast about it when speaking in a conversation. That's all.
Imo Absolutely yes
After most of my trips I'm just tired
Maybe it has to do with the type of person you are, some people may actually enjoy it, but I've realised it's not for me.
Sleeping at home might not be glamourous but that's what gives me happiness
Unless you're traveling in your travel bus bubble with 10 other Indians, travelling is a wholesome experience. Try to talk to locals, eat local food, hear folk lores about specific places. It gives you a new perspective on your life and how people from different cultures live and see life
Mujhe toh fark hi nahi pada kuch.
I traveled a few places outskirts of this city with friends or fir wapis aa gaya. I don't see any changes in life or such experience. It was just like another day. Pata nahi logon ko itna kya dopamine mil jata hai ghoomne se đ¤.
Or better jagaha jaunga toh or better mountains, rivers forest bhi mil jayega dekhne ko par kya hoga uss se đ¤đ¤.
Does anyone else feel the same? Maybe I need to look from different perspective but current perspective se bhi dekhoon toh life badhiya hi chal rahi hai, so travelling does seems overrated to me.
Bumpy_Stock
Stealth
5 months ago
Bro spotted.
We went backpacking to Europe a decade ago. It was our first time. Didnât know we could take SIM cards from airport itself. Thought would take it from the city. Just some amount of data to use google maps for finding the hotel costed us 15k(data more costlier than roaming calls). Lesson learnt the hard way.
One of my friends was put up in Brussels. He told about this small town, Bruges where some of the scenes from the movie PK was shot. Itâs a beautiful location. Wouldnât have gone to it if it was all planned by an agent.
The entire idea of matching upto something or pulling reference from somewhere and having some pre conceived notion or expectation - is what is ruining everything in today's generation.
Take it in writing from me bhai, the moment you start anything with a blank inside you like a clean whiteboard and don't feel the need for any sort of validation from virtual life or poses/pictures/dresses etc etc, you will feel alive in your travels.
This is entirely an illusion that has created a bubble. Travel in your own way and let absolutely nothing give you any sort of pre conceived notion, from the social media. Forget everything when you are at your travel destination and let go of the FoMo. Only be at your own rhythm and pace and have a blank head most importantly.
You'll see the difference.
I did this mistake last year when I visited pondicherry. Realised late that the trip was shit. Last month visited Sikkim and went with a blank head with no image fixated from the social media girls. Result? Had a blast! Took pictures and videos that I can never post.
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