Today we have more opportunities to travel than anyone in human history. Even 100 years ago it would have been rare for the average person to have been to more than one country- unless, that is, they were in the army. Now it is common for us to have explored multiple countries, cultures and continents as we continually explore the world around us. Indeed, the arrival of technology has ensured not only safer passages of travel for us all but much cheaper ones that are accessible to the masses.
We should celebrate such progress as it has enlightened and emboldened the majority to experience newness. But newness for newness’ sake should not in of itself be considered a good thing. From the perspective of the traveller easy access to Paris, Venice, Amsterdam and New York has led to fresh wonder but to the inhabitants of such places, it has created its challenges. It has also led to renewed demands for exotic travel merely for its own sake creating new expectations of what we deserve.
The demands for additional taxes from a host of popular tourist spots should make us pause for a moment. We risk destroying what is special about such places by bringing them back down to earth and swamping those who happen to live there. In extreme cases, we can witness the true dangers of mass tourism with lines of people queuing up on Everest alongside ever more rubbish and dead bodies. Some places, it must be said, should be left unexplored by the majority of us.
Conservatism has been called a mindset instead of an ideology but the same is true of progressives. The desire for unbounded moves forward is just as much a personality trait as the fear of something going wrong by mass unbridled change. We see this in our relationships whether with people or places, and especially, with how we react to shifts and see limitations to supposed limitless possibilities. Despite our attempts to intellectualize ideologies over our intuition it is important to recognise that our rationale inherently stems from it.
So it is true of travel some are more tied to place than others. I believe I am one of these people. Rather than finding happiness in exotic and faraway lands, there is little better than sitting at home in front of a fire with a good book. Some may call me lazy, or lacking imagination, or even label me a ‘fun sponge’ yet comfort for me is found in the familiar. Travel is a rare treat and one I appreciate when I use it but I am not so inclined to move about everywhere.
Travel is supposed to enlighten us as we explore new horizons our lives are supposed to shift on their axis but can we not find such wisdom within our current places? Losing sight of the value of our homesteads and environments speaks to a bigger danger of neglecting our environment and our communities around them. Before we reach for the stars we should have a firm footing on the ground beneath us.
I read a crazy article the other day on tourism on Mount Everest, and your piece reminded me of it: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/everest-rope-queue-videos-expose-climber-congestion-ego-tourism-decried/TSTQSJKXDVD7RKIWPVO6NW7WQE/
Sometimes, I think people just go on holidays to take photos or to tick a bucket list box. I honestly don’t understand that. To be fair, I love to travel, but I don’t necessarily need to see everything. We got lost in Japan and ended up in a random suburb. That was kind of fun too. My daughter thought it was better than the museum we were supposed to find.
One thing that greatly bothered me during my military career was the lack of cultural awareness from many fellow servicemembers. Whether we were in Japan or the Middle East, too many treated the world as if it should cater to every whim they required.