Has anyone lost the travel bug?

[rousseau]

Here's a thought: where are the people who've travelled and experienced enough that they've lost interest in travel?

I haven't travelled too extensively, mostly a bunch of Europe and North America, but oddly enough my interest in history along with the travelling that I have done has taken a lot of the appeal out of it for me.

I can contrast my state of mind these days with that of when I was 16 and taking a high school trip to Italy. The trip was exciting at that time because Europe was a mystery to me, but these days I don't find many cultures or places particularly mysterious or interesting, at least so much so that spending huge sums of money, time, and energy to be there feels worthwhile.

So now I have the money to travel almost anywhere I want to, and yet am content sitting in a coffee shop downtown and reading a book.

 

[Old Woman in Purple]

I grew up as a daughter of a commercial airline pilot. It seemed whenever my sister & I had more than 2 consecutive days off of school, we were headed to the airport on another adventure to some far-off place (once to Cancun, once to Toronto; otherwise to various corners of the USA). Facinating and educational, to be sure.... but now that I'm an adult, married, daughter grown, husband fairly recently retired...

Everyone is saying variations of "Oh! You can travel now! How exciting!".... annnndddd I'd rather just stay at home. I'm perfectly content to google info, &/or hear about other people's adventures from my comfy chair right here.

Sure, I'll hop in my car & roadtrip downstate ~5hours to visit my elderly aunt for a couple days, than head back home, but that's about all the motivation I have for adventures these days.

 

[whollygoats]

Nope. Not yet.

Of course, in terms of 'travel', there are lots of variations. There's 'overseas', and there's 'overland', with 'around here' being a variant. I like pulling up stakes and moving along, rather than going to a destination and staying in one spot. I tend to want to cover ground; my wife didn't. She referred to my travel method as 'the forced march', while I referred to hers as 'the toadstool approach'.

Any way....I'm slated for the lower Danube this year, maybe the Four Corners this fall or next spring. I'd love do book in to the Baltics and Scandinavia. Istanbul was on my list and has dropped off for the time being. Both the Adriatic and the Aegean hold temptations, as do Andalusia, Gibraltar and Morocco. The rest of France is also inviting. And, Iceland. Then, there are New Zealand and Australia. And, all the decent air museums in North America. I'll never have the time, nor the money, to do it all. It's endless horizons.

But...I will note that I always like to come home. Always. Two months has been my longest stint away from home...and I thought that two weeks too long.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Kinda sorta.
I mean, I enjoy seeing new things, new places.

But 38 years of business and military travel has certainly diminished the excitement over the process of traveling to new places.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I like the idea of travel as a concept and always enjoy it when I do it. However, it's starting to seem like less and less of a viable cost to spend thousands of dollars to fly someplace when I can instead just spend a few hundred to drive somewhere in Northern Ontario and hang out there for a bit.

 

[rousseau]

I like the idea of travel as a concept and always enjoy it when I do it. However, it's starting to seem like less and less of a viable cost to spend thousands of dollars to fly someplace when I can instead just spend a few hundred to drive somewhere in Northern Ontario and hang out there for a bit.

Yea, sometimes I find I only need a change of scenery. Even heading to my parents place in the Sarnia area for a couple days can be enough, as long as I'm getting a break from our normal routine.

 

[rousseau]

Nope. Not yet.

Of course, in terms of 'travel', there are lots of variations. There's 'overseas', and there's 'overland', with 'around here' being a variant. I like pulling up stakes and moving along, rather than going to a destination and staying in one spot. I tend to want to cover ground; my wife didn't. She referred to my travel method as 'the forced march', while I referred to hers as 'the toadstool approach'.

Any way....I'm slated for the lower Danube this year, maybe the Four Corners this fall or next spring. I'd love do book in to the Baltics and Scandinavia. Istanbul was on my list and has dropped off for the time being. Both the Adriatic and the Aegean hold temptations, as do Andalusia, Gibraltar and Morocco. The rest of France is also inviting. And, Iceland. Then, there are New Zealand and Australia. And, all the decent air museums in North America. I'll never have the time, nor the money, to do it all. It's endless horizons.

But...I will note that I always like to come home. Always. Two months has been my longest stint away from home...and I thought that two weeks too long.

The one thing I've noticed missing out of the past few years of my life is free time. I think it's been roughly seven years since I've spent longer than two weeks not working or travelling. Just before I went back to college in 2011 I took the entirety of August off and it was fantastic.

Nowadays I'd like to use my vacation time to stay at home for a week or two, but things don't seem to be turning out that way.

 

[Politesse]

I can't even imagine reaching that state. If I were unable to do so for lack of limbs or energy, I would still want to. My family has had a severe case of wanderlust for centuries, and the buck has not stopped with me.

 

[whollygoats]

Yeah...I can understand that if you spent much of your life traveling for military service and/or business, then it might get old.

But, I spent the thirty years of my primary career inside the very same university library. I never 'traveled for business'. Ever.

I've also pretty much spent my entire life, from age five onwards, living in the same city. I am now more than thirty years in the same house.

Travel for me is exotic and exciting. There are more than enough destinations for which I would love to be able to afford the time and resources to see them in person.

 

[bilby]

In my experience, travel for business is a tedious and unpleasant experience, made worse by the fact that coworkers (and even bosses) seem to think it was a kind of holiday.

Traveling to a city bursting with sights, attractions, and fun things to do, only to spend the time there in offices and conference rooms that are indistinguishable from those you left behind, is a special kind of hell. Add in the fact that you must travel alone, or in the company of the hideous people you normally get to escape from after eight hours, while leaving behind the people you would normally prefer to have around you, and it is clear to me that business and vacation travel are the same thing only to the extent that 'splashing cool refreshing water in your face after working hard on a hot day' is basically the same thing as 'being waterboarded'.

 

[Copernicus]

I find that air travel has become a real ordeal, especially over long distances. Airlines, especially American carriers, have been competing in a race to increase fees, reduce services, and pack cramped spaces with as many bodies as possible. Equipment tends to be neglected unless it is deemed essential to keep the plane in service.

In retirement, I mostly travel for leisure, so I have found that cruising makes more sense. It is usually cheaper, if one shops around and spends carefully--full room and board that goes with you to each destination. One can also combine land trips from embarkation and disembarkation locations. Since I don't get seasick, it works very well for me. The major downside is that these floating vacation factories are also germ factories.

 

[bilby]

I find that air travel has become a real ordeal, especially over long distances. Airlines, especially American carriers, have been competing in a race to increase fees, reduce services, and pack cramped spaces with as many bodies as possible. Equipment tends to be neglected unless it is deemed essential to keep the plane in service.

In retirement, I mostly travel for leisure, so I have found that cruising makes more sense. It is usually cheaper, if one shops around and spends carefully--full room and board that goes with you to each destination. One can also combine land trips from embarkation and disembarkation locations. Since I don't get seasick, it works very well for me. The major downside is that these floating vacation factories are also germ factories.

I concur with Samuel Johnson, who remarked that "being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned"; and I would add to his observation "...and an even greater chance of norovirus".

 

[Thomas II]

Here's a thought: where are the people who've travelled and experienced enough that they've lost interest in travel?

I haven't travelled too extensively, mostly a bunch of Europe and North America, but oddly enough my interest in history along with the travelling that I have done has taken a lot of the appeal out of it for me.

I can contrast my state of mind these days with that of when I was 16 and taking a high school trip to Italy. The trip was exciting at that time because Europe was a mystery to me, but these days I don't find many cultures or places particularly mysterious or interesting, at least so much so that spending huge sums of money, time, and energy to be there feels worthwhile.

So now I have the money to travel almost anywhere I want to, and yet am content sitting in a coffee shop downtown and reading a book.

Me too...

 

[Copernicus]

I find that air travel has become a real ordeal, especially over long distances. Airlines, especially American carriers, have been competing in a race to increase fees, reduce services, and pack cramped spaces with as many bodies as possible. Equipment tends to be neglected unless it is deemed essential to keep the plane in service.

In retirement, I mostly travel for leisure, so I have found that cruising makes more sense. It is usually cheaper, if one shops around and spends carefully--full room and board that goes with you to each destination. One can also combine land trips from embarkation and disembarkation locations. Since I don't get seasick, it works very well for me. The major downside is that these floating vacation factories are also germ factories.

I concur with Samuel Johnson, who remarked that "being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned"; and I would add to his observation "...and an even greater chance of norovirus".

When Samuel Johnson wrote that, ships were somewhat different from modern cruise ships, and norovirus was the least of the problems. I did have a bout of it once, but one learns to wash hands frequently, avoid coming into physical contact with people (e.g. shaking hands), and to use common sense. The crews these days are well-trained at handling outbreaks. But don't let me convince you to go on cruises. The prices are already high enough, and we prefer the cruise lines to feel the pressure of competition for customers.

 

[rousseau]

I find that air travel has become a real ordeal, especially over long distances. Airlines, especially American carriers, have been competing in a race to increase fees, reduce services, and pack cramped spaces with as many bodies as possible. Equipment tends to be neglected unless it is deemed essential to keep the plane in service.

In retirement, I mostly travel for leisure, so I have found that cruising makes more sense. It is usually cheaper, if one shops around and spends carefully--full room and board that goes with you to each destination. One can also combine land trips from embarkation and disembarkation locations. Since I don't get seasick, it works very well for me. The major downside is that these floating vacation factories are also germ factories.

I concur with Samuel Johnson, who remarked that "being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned"; and I would add to his observation "...and an even greater chance of norovirus".

When Samuel Johnson wrote that, ships were somewhat different from modern cruise ships, and norovirus was the least of the problems. I did have a bout of it once, but one learns to wash hands frequently, avoid coming into physical contact with people (e.g. shaking hands), and to use common sense. The crews these days are well-trained at handling outbreaks. But don't let me convince you to go on cruises. The prices are already high enough, and we prefer the cruise lines to feel the pressure of competition for customers.

I'm in the unfortunate situation of having to plan a Mediterranean cruise for my honeymoon (tough life, I know). Any tips for someone who hasn't been on a cruise before?

 

[Thomas II]

When Samuel Johnson wrote that, ships were somewhat different from modern cruise ships, and norovirus was the least of the problems. I did have a bout of it once, but one learns to wash hands frequently, avoid coming into physical contact with people (e.g. shaking hands), and to use common sense. The crews these days are well-trained at handling outbreaks. But don't let me convince you to go on cruises. The prices are already high enough, and we prefer the cruise lines to feel the pressure of competition for customers.

I'm in the unfortunate situation of having to plan a Mediterranean cruise for my honeymoon (tough life, I know). Any tips for someone who hasn't been on a cruise before?

Go to Greece.

I don't get seasick, so I din't have a problem. Make sure it agrees with you...

 

[rousseau]

When Samuel Johnson wrote that, ships were somewhat different from modern cruise ships, and norovirus was the least of the problems. I did have a bout of it once, but one learns to wash hands frequently, avoid coming into physical contact with people (e.g. shaking hands), and to use common sense. The crews these days are well-trained at handling outbreaks. But don't let me convince you to go on cruises. The prices are already high enough, and we prefer the cruise lines to feel the pressure of competition for customers.

I'm in the unfortunate situation of having to plan a Mediterranean cruise for my honeymoon (tough life, I know). Any tips for someone who hasn't been on a cruise before?

Go to Greece.

I don't get seasick, so I din't have a problem. Make sure it agrees with you...

A part of me wants to visit Southern France too, but also Spain, and also Italy, and also Greece.. and maybe Northern Africa, or the Baltic.. or.. or..

I have to settle somewhere.. seems to be the problem, and my partner has no definite opinion.

 

[Thomas II]

Go to Greece.

I don't get seasick, so I din't have a problem. Make sure it agrees with you...

A part of me wants to visit Southern France too, but also Spain, and also Italy, and also Greece.. and maybe Northern Africa, or the Baltic.. or.. or..

I have to settle somewhere.. seems to be the problem, and my partner has no definite opinion.

Each place has it's own charm, so you're gonna have to narrow it down. The Baltic is a separate trip.

 

[DBT]

Here is a travel pictures thread, if anyone is interested; https://talkfreethought.org/showthread.php?2008-Travel-pictures

 

[Copernicus]

When Samuel Johnson wrote that, ships were somewhat different from modern cruise ships, and norovirus was the least of the problems. I did have a bout of it once, but one learns to wash hands frequently, avoid coming into physical contact with people (e.g. shaking hands), and to use common sense. The crews these days are well-trained at handling outbreaks. But don't let me convince you to go on cruises. The prices are already high enough, and we prefer the cruise lines to feel the pressure of competition for customers.

I'm in the unfortunate situation of having to plan a Mediterranean cruise for my honeymoon (tough life, I know). Any tips for someone who hasn't been on a cruise before?

I would be happy to give you advice. My wife and I have been on several Mediterranean cruises, primarily on Celebrity ships, but we have cruised other itineraries on other lines. Do you have a particular cruise in mind? How far along in the process are you? Have you purchased the cruise yet? How long will the cruise be? Do you know what kind of cabin you want? Do you prefer a party experience or something a little calmer? There are some differences across cruise lines.

If you haven't got a cruise yet, the primary ports for embarkation and debarkation will probably be Civitavecchia (outside of Rome), Venice (spectacular sailaway from there), Athens, or Barcelona. Of all of those, Venice is my favorite.

You can PM me, if you want to take this offline.