What's the point of travel?

Question

I am bored to go to work everyday, and want to travel. I really do not have enough time to go abroad, so I am looking at travel in US.

I have traveled to a dozen cities in US, and what amazed me is: Every city is almost the same. Now I am not sure whether I should take another travel in US, as I feel everywhere is the same. Living in a hotel is not better, if not worse than living in my apartment.

What do you guys think? What's the point of travel? What do you guys do when travelling? Go to local restaurant and eat? Taking pictures? See some local attractions? (I really do not find them attractive any more.) Did I miss something in travel?

Answer 1

Hi,

The point of travel, technically, is to get somewhere. However there are many other reasons...

...as you have discovered, there is little point in merely travelling from, say, Dayton, Ohio to another industrial town in the same area. The journey wouldn't be very exciting and the city would not be very different.

The point of travel is to have a purpose and to enjoy seeing things you haven't seen before.

I have travelled extensively in your country and have enjoyed many, many weeks of travel. I have to admit I was attracted to several of your world famous attractions (which made the anticipation and the act of visiting enjoyable.) The Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, almost the whole of South Dakota and the badlands, The great divide, with its permanent record of early wagon train crossings, Mount Baker, Snoqualmie Pass and a hundred other places all captivated me.

So...don't just 'travel' have somewhere to go! If you don't have an end destination in mind (and I have done this) go through or past areas that stimulate your mind. New England in the fall comes to mind. Beautiful.

All the above and more are 'places' or 'areas' to visit, but there is one other reason for travel...
...people. I have spent many a happy evening in the company of strangers who, on hearing my (strange) English accent have started a conversation. These evenings include (in Novemeber 1995) a whole night in Monroe (an otherwise unprepossessing town) talking and laughing with two families out for a night in a bar.

Sound boring? Not for a minute. People are what makes travel worthwhile, and the more you travel the more people you can meet.

So, have a purpose, enjoy what you see (there's loads!) and meet people. Then you'll begin to enjoy travelling.

Have a great journey through life, too.

A fellow traveller (English spelling-for you 'traveler')

BobSpain

Answer 2

You know, I'm an army brat (dad's in the army..), so I move/travel ALOT.
And I have to say, that a rock over here is the same as a rock over there. The only travel that I really find interesting or different is outside of the U.S. I lived in Germany for a few years and that was definitely cool, I visited Italy and Turkey and many other places.
It's cool because their food is so much different, as well as the scenery, and the language barrier is strange but it's also kind of cool.
But I think some people just think every single water fall is cool, I think they're all just the same :/
But I went on gondola rides(think that's what they're called) in Italy, and that was really neat and relaxing and just really cool. It's so different outside the U.S. I really recommend you go, because it's pointless to run around the U.S. experiencing the same thing, when you could go somewhere a little farther for something way better and different. Hope I helped a little.

Answer 3

First off, skip the cities!!
Second, get a small RV.
Then, hit the road! You are then at "home" where ever you travel, and you can pick up and move easily and at will. Visit small towns, find out where the local gossip center is (usually a coffee shop) and go listen to the locals, esp. the old timers. Most will talk a newcomers ear off, and if you listen awhile, you will glean much wisdom and a few laughs!

Go to natural areas and just enjoy the quiet and the scenery. Get off the beaten path. Go to historical museums, esp in small towns, and get a feel for a time long past and the people who first came here and made their way.

Attend some local small theater productions. Go to highschool plays and concerts, and highschool sports events. Everywhere you go, talk to people. You will learn much!!

Find out what you enjoy, then do it!

And, I agree .. travel to other countries as much as you can. Start with Canada and/or Mexico since they are nearby. And always, skip the touristy things and find out about things only the locals know!!

Answer 4

Here are my 2 cents. My father was a pilot, and I voyaged quite a lot. When you travel, you don't just discover something about another culture, you discover much about yourself.

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Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel's immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way
Ralph Crawshaw
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However there is a difference between being a tourist (going somewhere 3days and taking pictures) and do like I do and start a new life in another country (Currently living in shanghai) you then discover a culture

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I have wandered all my life, and I have traveled; the difference between the two is this: we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.
Hilaire Belloc
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This is where I have really discovered how much my home country missed me (France and Texas), and all I have taken for granted, family, culture, and even the things that bored me or I took for granted were in fact things I cherished dearly, travel has taught me the importance of these, and their meaning

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I traveled among unknown men,
In lands beyond the sea:
Nor, England! did I know till then
the love I bore for thee.
William Wordsworth 1801
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In other words, what travel brought me was a better appreciation of home, myself, and my origins.

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The longest Journey is the Journey inward.
Dag Hammarskjold
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I hope that helped! Enjoy your travels! I would suggest somewhere outside the US, America east and west, north and south might be different, but not that different. Europe is more different yet but the same culture, I would suggest Africa or Asia.

If you wish to start a new life and take my advice, I strongly suggest Shanghai. Very good career advancement opportunities, China is in the golden age, and price of living is so cheap you live like a king. It seems that worries here disappear... and there is no better place than China to experience a totally different culture to learn more about yourself. Peace :)

Answer 5

Buddy, u need to widen ur viewpoint & look at things, culture, nature & people when u travel Try talking to folks where ever u go & sample some local dishes or brew. Life will then open up new vistas & you'll keep longing for the next trip!

Answer 6

You should travel to places and experience people and cultures totally different from you own. Why don't you come to South Africa and see Table Mountain in Capetown or all the animals in Kruger National Park and meet the local tribes or have a braai with pap and wors in Bloemfontein?

Answer 7

if you think that every city in the US is the same, youre not looking at it right. to go from san francisco to los angeles to miami to dallas to boston to new orleans is like going to six different nations. they are all so unique and different.

travel, to me, to see new places, experience new things, and meet new people. the more you travel, the more you realize that everyone is the same yet different at the same time. it educates me yet makes me realize i know nothing about the world. its for fun and its for a personal well being. seeing something different makes me appreciate what i see everyday more. it is just an amazing experience.

i have been pretty much everywhere in the united states (except hawaii and nyc...) plus mexico and this summer i am going to europe for the first time and there is nothing i am more excited about, even though it is going to put me in thousands of dollars of debt. to me, its worth it.

go see the world! good luck :)

Answer 8

nicely dealing with our blunders and correcting them isn't ordinary yet nicely worth it . as quickly as we live in concern in the event that they catch up sucks. you have eleiminated concern. . And by technique of how as an american who survived The Wall St crash.. I owe n nevertheless make no money n could return to college . i'm able to nnot go numerous places yet I stay a extraordinarily sturdy existence by technique of being content cloth with what I genuinely have because of the fact. It. won't exchange for awhile and if I agonize approximately it too lots I waste time with those that love me. definite it particularly is tough yet residing in oblivian sucks once you open your eyes..carry in there.

Answer 9

Get out of the US, there is a whole big world out there. And, believe it or not, other people have different values, not better or worse, just different. Go take a look, with your eyes and ears open. You may learn something.