Is travel a complete waste of time?

[RawJudah]

Right, so, I’m completely bored with life. I feel like there’s so much more out there. I feel stuck but free at the same time. A few of my friends have been travelling around the world and said it’s great, but they all end up coming back and living a normal kind of life like I do. But they seem to come back glowing and full of stories to tell. 
 

Or is this complete nonsense? Should I just stay put and carry on with my normal, dull life? Is there a cost to living a fun and exciting life travelling the world? Because most people end up settling down somewhere and living a normal life. As sad as that may seem…

I’m 31 by the way. 
 

Any reply would be extremely helpful because I need other peoples perspective on this.

[MarkKol]

Time enjoyed cannot possibility be time wasted

I solo traveled most of Europe and some parts of America from 18-21 y.o

[koops]

The fact that you are asking this is a big tell. And the fact that you use words as 'dull' 'stuck' 'normal' 'sad'...

If you have this itch, maybe you have to scratch it.

I traveled a quite a bit in my 20s (4 continents) and I don't regret it at all.

Now in mid 30s Im not really interested (I burnt that karma). Now im focusing on building a life in 1 place, 1 business, 1 woman, 1 family. Starting to think in decades. 

But if I didn't travel I know for sure I'd would beat myself for not doing it. 100%.

It was a high high value for (travel, exploration, expansion, growth...), but ofc this is very personal. I have friends that almost never traveled and they have no regrets. They valued more stability, and now some of them have bought a house and have a couple children.

There are some trade offs, but usually you have time for both type of lifes. Travelling is very exciting, but the 20th country you visit is not that exciting. Is the law of diminishing returns.
 

What you talk about your friends traveling and then settling down is very common. 

Is the theme of going full circle. And some kind of hero's journey. You end up 'the same', but totally different at the same time.

 

[RawJudah]

@koops I use words like that because that’s literally what it’s become. Work, come home, eat, go to bed. Even at the weekends I hide away. 
Like I said I’m 31, no real responsibility but settling down is nipping at my heels. 
What is there to do whilst travelling though? Partying? Banging chicks? 
Is that the fantasy of travelling or the reality of travelling? 

[koops]

5 minutes ago, RawJudah said:

@koops I use words like that because that’s literally what it’s become. Work, come home, eat, go to bed. Even at the weekends I hide away. 
Like I said I’m 31, no real responsibility but settling down is nipping at my heels. 
What is there to do whilst travelling though? Partying? Banging chicks? 
Is that the fantasy of travelling or the reality of travelling? 

Depends.

I simplified it thinking like this.

There are 4 types of traveling:

-with family

-with girlfriend

-with friends

-solo

So, if you are going solo, to be honest, banging chicks was a big one for me. I wasn't that interested in volume as I was in variety. I wanted to taste all the flavours.
I didn't want to be 40, with my wife and kids walking around the beach, seeing 2 young hot latina/black/asian/slaviac chicks, and thinking 'damn, I wish I'v tasted that'. No way.

May seem superficial? Who cares. Was something burning in me. So I did it. And if felt GREAT. I loved it.
 

Partying? Yes. Is way different partying solo in the the other side of the world than in your hometown with your buddies. A whole new different experience.
 

Also, I had some specific places I wanted to visit, like Bali or Thailand (solo), or Vegas.

And with my gf: Paris, Italy (Venice, Rome, Florence, Amalafi Coast).

With my friends: Amsterdam

Think about yours.
 

For me arriving and being in a foreign country always excited me. Even looking at the subtle differences in the airports, the ads, the airlines, the stewardesses, the way people dress, the vibe in the subway... Even planning the trips. Searching for the best airbnb that was typical from that specific place. I enjoyed it a lot. Sometimes I planned a lot. Other times I improvised.

You will learn to flow, to adapt to unexpected situations, to different cultures, different ways of doing things.
You gain insights into different worldviews. You will see your hometown/family values not as the standard. Just one way to look at the world. You meet a lot of new and diverse people.

 

 

 

[RawJudah]

@koops awesome reply, thank you.

I totally get it, banging chicks can be a lot of fun. 
And the whole ‘settling down’ thing scares the hell out of me. I’m 31, not 21. So it’s constantly going round in my mind whether I should travel or not. I didn’t go to university. I’m a regular dude with a job. All I seem to do is work, and there’s people out there not working and living amazing fun lives! 

[koops]

Seems that you are not satisfied with life right now, and you are using travel as an escape. That can be a trap, because you are going to come back after traveling and things are going to be the same. And maybe worse, because now you at least have the hope of traveling and mixing things up, but after that... what?

Be careful arranging just external circumstances, instead of inner ones.

Logistics are important for traveling.

Can you quit your job and travel for 6 months? Can you get another job when you come back? Do you have savings?

Can you work online?

Can you build a side online business?

Those are important questions. Tim Ferriss talks about this in 4 hour workweek. And nowadays there is a lot of info on this topic on youtube, so you can look for more info there.

 

 

[Whitney Edwards]

I traveled a few places outside my country and learned a lot from it. It's generally an eye-opener to see how different countries operate differently in terms of traffic rules, crowds, housing arrangements, mannerisms, ethics, technology, cultural biases, social dynamics and work culture. It's fascinating. It's amusing how people are shaped by their cultures. 

 

Edited Sunday at 10:20 AM by Buck Edwards
no gpt

[creativepursuit]

17 hours ago, RawJudah said:

Is there a cost

It will cost you money, that's for sure

[creativepursuit]

17 hours ago, RawJudah said:

is this complete nonsense?

Life is not linear; it's circular.

We are born with no knowledge of the world.

Then we age and gain knowledge of the world peak around 35-40.

Then we will slowly be old and weak and realise that all knowledge was for nothing.

You know nothing at the end.

You gain nothing in the end.

Just flow along with life/universe.

[Carl-Richard]

"Am I allowed to have fun?" Cmon.

[RawJudah]

@Carl-Richard I know how it all sounds. I’ve been working since I was 18. Now I’m 31. 
I’ve had plenty of fun along the way and plenty of holidays. But quitting my job to go travelling is a different ball game. It sounds so good. I just wanted other peoples perspective on it. 

[Michael569]

If you have enough savings, then backpacking for 6 months could be the best thing you'll ever do and one of the fondest memories you'll cherish once you are older, have kids or no longer have that opportunity.

Yes, you should absolutely travel. The experience can't be described because it isn't jist seeing cities and taking pics for Instagram. It changes you. 

But you have to see it to believe it

[Aaron p]

TRAVEL

[Aaron p]

Deep,wide,long,short as far as you can go. Travel, explore, get completely lost. 

Travel to space

[RawJudah]

@Michael569 I might have to. My boring mundane life at the moment is making me feel like I’m melting away. And over here in the UK it’s bleak. 
But if I do go - I’ll always have in the back of my mind about coming back. And then what? Back to the mundane shit I’m in right now? Is this how everyone lives? 

[Michael569]

@RawJudah you make a good point. What you don't want is to just be running away from your problems. 

Travel can expand your horizons, stimulate creativity, imagination and help you see your reality from new dimensions. Say if you live in California and get bored a lot then seeing what reality is like for men of your age in Sumatra or Burma may help you appreciate what you have and in a way encourage you to use your resources towards a creative endeavour (just a random example) 

At the same time, you should reflect internally why you are feeling that your existence is mundane? 

• are you lonely? 
• are you lacking a meaning? 
• have you been messing up with your reward circuits too much to a point that nothing is stimulating anymore? (drugs, video games, porn, reels etc) 
• are you just bored because life got too easy (have lot of money you didn't need to work for, lacking general challenges etc) 

So there is two ways to looking at this and both need to be addressed separately. You don't wanna prevent yourself travelling just because at some point you have to come back. But you don't wanna just waste all your savings on travel that serves as escapism from existential issues you're not facing. 

Ideally you would use travel strategically 

• Widen your perspective on life of your own and of others (humbling experience) 
• connection with other people 
• some hedonims (sex, party, alcohol, skinny dipping with bunch of drunk girls in Bali, get all the craziness out of your system) 
• culture, history, education - seeing museums, historical sites, learning about each place helps, I find, understand your place in the universe. This is a bit hard to explain. 
• getting to know yourself through the lense of your experience - like imagine spending a month learning Muay Thai in Koh Samui and the awesome journey that would be vs sitting on your phone scrolling reels at home. 
• openign yourself up to new opportunities in life , different ways to generate income
• you may also realise you have to move out of your country 
• etc. 

And as you do that you keep working on yourself, read, get more education, speak to people, try new ideas, acquire new skills. You don't stop all life because you are travelling. Travelling just becomes another thing you're doing for the time being. You don't go and piss away 6 months of your life just boozing and screwing girl in Thailand. There's gotta be a deeper meaning to it. 

Does that make sense? 

Edited Tuesday at 07:24 PM by Michael569

[Alexop]

@koops It also depends how and why you travel.

Are you going to travel just because you feel like you have to do it? Or you have a genuine curiosity and intuition that if doing so, you will expand as a person and learn alot.

If you only travel just because you want to keep up with your firends, in the same way millionaires buy more and more expensive shit as a wealth arms race with their millionaire friends, then don't do it.

Edited Tuesday at 06:43 PM by Alexop

[something_else]

I went backpacking SEA for the past year. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[Schizophonia]

It cool if you plan to share time with people you appreciate, and/or have a specific plan to enjoy.

 

Otherwise you will especially feel alone.