Whats the big deal about traveling abroad?

[mercalia]

I can understand those who go to work abroad and use that as a way to see the world as that would give you plenty of time to also look around? But the 2 week quickie holiday I dont really get. In the C19 the Grand Tour made sense as that was the only way to see the the World/Europe, but these days we are immersed in media that is often better than the real thing? eg the famous Inca city in Peru, Machu Picchu - gasping for breath high up in the Andes and seeing everything on foot dont seem much fun compared to the shots we normally see from the air? Or the ruins in Rome or any other ancient monument, just a load of stones - I would prefer to watch Prof Mary Beard on tv give a walk around and discuss what we are looking at from carefully chosen angles and elevations which took time to find? One of the most interesting "sight seeing tours" I have "been on" was a recent programme on tv about the underground tunnels of Rome - I could think of nothing more boring than plodding around them myself... There was a lovely programme on tv along time ago that traversed the river Amazon with all its various habitats and animals and sights; I wouldnt fancy doing it in real life - the heat, the humidity, the bugs ugh. Or one about Yellowstone thru the seasons. All these programmes give a god like viewpoint with real life a pale reflection? Maybe the Grand Canyon an exception, but I would be too afraid to go near the edge to look down.... Hi definition and super sized tv has made much traveling pointless for those with a modicum of imagination?

Myself, I got a lot of fun just exploring/riding/walking the Crane/Hillingdon trail here in London - was a side to London I have never seen, no other way to see it & took me quite a few weeks

[stephenjubb]

I see you provide examples of what you would not like to do. Some I would not ( the jungle! )

The idea is to find something you like and visit, feel and be immersed in the place.

No TV program can do that or give you the memories.

Try whatever suits you and you'll be surprised.

[meic]

I find that every time I go somewhere, I discover how wrong I was about that place. My impressions prior to the visit were mostly based on what I saw on TV.
The fact is that the TV gives a very distorted picture of what the world is really like.

[PH]

Myself, I got a lot of fun just exploring/riding/walking the Crane/Hillingdon trail here in London - was a side to London I have never seen, no other way to see it & took me quite a few weeks

Couldn't you have done that from the comfort of your home? Google maps and a bit of time on the internet? All these things you don't get about traveling abroad apply equally to travelling at home, it's the difference between participation and observation.

[pwa]

I suppose it depends what you expect from travelling. If you expect to become a wiser person, I think that is too much to expect. Some of the wisest people I know have been hardly anywhere, and some of the most stupid people have been all over the place. I also know people who can tell you the best places to go in Thailand but don't know where to eat in Hay on Wye. (I can feel the Snob awakening in me, so I'll shut up)

[hamster]

For me:
1 It's a change! Different food, drink, scenery, attitudes.
2 NL, France, Germany for starters are more cycle-friendly and touring is more of a pleasure
3 It forces me away from home and to take a break (I work from home)
4 Often the weather can be more reliable
5 I live on the South Coast and France is quicker to get to than Manchester, mid-Wales or Suffolk.

[DaveP]

Try a trip to, say, Provence.
Enjoy the sunshine, being able to cycle through cactus country and pine woodlands in the same day, savour the fragrances resulting from simply walking across a grass verge. Try the local food and wines. Rediscover that speaking to strangers can result in a real conversation.
Then come back and tell me what the big deal is!

I do take your point about, for example, a guided tour with Mary Beard, or simply getting a decent look at places one is never likely to manage to visit in the flesh - but, for me, it's the simple things that make the memories.

[whoof]

You can ask 'what's the big deal about travelling?' the fact that it's abroad doesn't come into it. My Grandmother left her home town for the day once in 95 years and didn't like it.

With modern technology you don't even have to leave your home to cycle anywhere in the world.
http://turbobiketrainer.com/best-virtua ... 15-review/

The big deal about travelling abroad is the same as the big deal of travelling anywhere be that the next village, county, country or halfway around the world.

I going to Austria next month and riding down into Italy. Why not stay in this country? I do tour in this country but I'm going abroad for:
the riding (no UK motorists), scenery, weather, food, drink, better campsites, swimming in warm lakes.....

It's also easier for me to get to say Vienna or Toulouse than Grasmere or Bakewell.

[al_yrpal]

We travelled to Peru in March, a two week 'holiday'. Went to Machu Picchu which was awe inspiring but perhaps not the 'big deal'. Peru is a vibrant place. The people are lovely. The Quecha speaking peasant folk live a hard poor life. There is so much colour. 70% of Peru is mountainous, steep sided forested valleys. The food was terrific. Insect, plant and birdlife was amazing. I would never have discovered Mario Vargas Losa South Americas greatest author without this trip. The detail of Peruvian life, the history, including that of the Spanish conquest one could never have got from TV. We also went to the Peruvian Amazon miles from civilisation, jungle walks, river trips, insects, snakes and animals. We both sufferered from altitude sickness at one point and severe diarrhea. It was an expensive trip, with 10 flights and physically quite exhausting.
To answer the question, as someone who has done many trips like this to various parts of the world in the last 15 years, we dont think its a big deal. That description insinuates that its something few people do, but thats not true. I reckon I could sit here and write for a day about things I hadnt expected to see in Peru. We are just curious about the world, the landscape and how people live. We want to see and experience a little of it for ourselves. I dont think we have ever wanted to stay in any of the places we have visited for more than 2 or 4 weeks. There are more places to go and see. Our favourites - Antarctica, especially South Georgia, and Namibia. Being able to travel like this has been one of the highlights of our retirement. I think I could have got more out of these trips on a bike but sadly my Mrs doesnt do bikes.

Al

[psmiffy]

Abroad – There is no big deal about it – it is something that is somehow outdated - almost a class thing – from a time when most people didn’t have a choice – or a television for that matter - I haven’t been abroad since I was a kid – Since then though I have travelled quite a lot in the UK, Europe and other parts – sometimes for work and sometimes by choice

[HarryD]

TV programmes can be great. TV programmes can be bobbins. What they all have in common today are great production values and someone's point of view. I agree that Mary Beard's programmes on Rome are great but they are her point of view and focus only on that. TV is two dimensional, only has sight and sound and is hardly interactive.

Travel is about sight, sound, taste, feel and smell. It is immersive, interactive and emotional.

Just got back from the Veneto including a day in Venice. Not sure how many programmes I've seen about it but walking out of the station to the Grand Canal and it is actually brilliant. So much better than I was expecting.

Seen the Mesquita on TV. Of course. Walk around and it will bring a lump to your throat and a tear to the eye.

Stand at Knosos and see how it fits in with 6,000 years of human history.

Enjoy your rides wherever

[mjr]

The big deal in going there yourself is the immersive experience and that you see things that no-one ever thinks interesting enough for TV and still images from StreetView or whatever simply don't capture... and who hasn't ever been slightly frustrated that Google's car never quite seems to show the right image from the right angle at the right time - can you move half a step back and peer around that corner please? Maybe it'll come, but it's not here yet.

It need not be abroad - I found one of my favourite views about 3 miles from home after living here 3 years, just thanks to travelling a certain way along a certain road with the "right" weather conditions - but it's different abroad: I doubt England has anything in the same style and scale as the Vintgar gorge and Lake Bled in Slovenia. Yes, there are videos and photos, but nothing will ever quite feel the same as emerging from the cool gorge at the top of the path, very hungry and not looking forward to either continuing to town or back to the cafe we passed long ago, and discovering a simple pizza-and-beer restaurant on the edge of the trees at the top of the hill, looking out over the sun-blasted countryside walk ahead, which was a very nice place to refuel and rest for an hour or more until the sun was less intense.

I don't often write about this stuff. I've been very lucky in so many ways on most of my travels so far and it seems a bit boastful to go on about them, but not all of these travels were expensive in money or time. If you look for it, especially if you hire bikes or seek out walking trails and are prepared to make a bit of effort with the local language (or at least a widely-used second-language for the area you're going to), a package holiday to the Algarve or a last-minute mystery-destination-until-you-land summer Alps trip can offer some wonderful experiences which can't quite be replicated in England.

[Tangled Metal]

Myself, I got a lot of fun just exploring/riding/walking the Crane/Hillingdon trail here in London - was a side to London I have never seen, no other way to see it & took me quite a few weeks

Couldn't you have done that from the comfort of your home? Google maps and a bit of time on the internet? All these things you don't get about traveling abroad apply equally to travelling at home, it's the difference between participation and observation.

I thought that paragraph contradicted the OP's earlier comments somewhat.

I once visited family in Athens. A week trip sponging off a relative made a cheap holiday. I remember sitting in a cafe on the side of the Acropolis overlooking the Agora IIRC. I was sat under a canopy in the fresh air (well it was kind of above the smog), blue skies everywhere and warm without being excessively so (early September).

I had a couple of hours to kill before meeting a relative so I sat there with a cool drink and good book. Totally chilled out I looked up from my book, up to the Acropolis and then down to the ancient city centre/market of the Greek city state of Athens. Totally unique view and whilst a tv programme might get better shots, it's those sudden moments you look up and see something special. TV cannot immerse you in the same way.

Have you never been anywhere and just found yourselves walking around staring open mouthed at what you see? Travel can do that, TV can't! Or at least not so completely...

[pjclinch]

There are often things you can do abroad that you can't do at home. My favourite sport is XC skiing. Works rather better in Norway than the UK. Half the family live in NL, can't visit them staying at home. A pal worked as a ranger in the Grand Canyon, seemed churlish not to pay a visit and do some desert hiking for once. And so on.

Which is not to say the grass is always greener abroad than at home, but sometimes it is. Yes, there's plenty to do at home, but sometimes overseas offers things that are just higher on the "I want to" list.

Pete.

[mercalia]

I am not against foreign travel, just that being children of the media as we are has given us a god like view of places that previous generations never had and would envy? If they wanted to visit eg Rome they had to do it individually by foot with eyes 5 feet off the ground with what ever was between their 2 ears? Today it is as we have a shared consciousness seeing through other peoples eyes and minds and not just our own, maybe that's how we will evolve? What with VR around the corner ( Oculus Rift ) I wonder whether traditional tourism is doomed? "I think I will visit Rome after tea and tomorrow the Arctic" Already seen some thing like this with Google maps Street View? As a result I wonder what places need a "being there" experience that seeing thru some one elses eyes not good enough.