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Solo travel is an inherently selfish pursuit. You are just consuming, and not creating anything of value for society.

• Guest0918231 7y ago
  They're likely helping to create positive experiences and memories for other people during their travels. Some of my best memories in life are thanks to random solo travelers I've met during various trips. I met a solo traveler waiting for the airport bus in Thailand, and the next week we did a road trip across the country and back together. I met a solo traveler in Hungary on the train that needed accommodation, so they stayed in my living room and we spent a few days traveling. I met a solo traveler in Italy, and the following week we decided to hitchhike to various coastal cities. Their "selfish pursuit" brought me all sorts of value.
• taurath 7y ago
  What a pessimistic, consumeristic and consumable view of travel. Are stories of travels not value? Are people who's lives you touched not made greater for a friendship, even if for a short time? I'm not saying theres not a way to be a total consumer and a net negative on society as a traveler, but I'd rather society be filled with thoughtful people who've met and made relationships with people of other than someone who slaves away all day at a draft board creating the next phone with 5 more megapixels.
  • tempsy 7y ago
    I’m not particularly inspired by people who run away from their problems. I’ve met many people while traveling myself who were perpetually traveling and the vast majority were aimless and uninspired. The worst are the ones that resort to actual begging (yes, it happens) to continuously fund their travel. It just isn’t an enlightened pursuit. If you want to escape life as a corporate drone or whatever running away isn’t the answer.
    • MaxBarraclough 7y ago
      > If you want to escape life as a corporate drone or whatever running away isn’t the answer. 'Escape' and 'running away' are roughly synonymous. What other escapes do you prefer?
      • tempsy 7y ago
        The key difference is responsibility. You can leave an unfulfilling job for another form of responsibility in life that is more fulfilling. Endless travel is really just life without responsibility. Having zero responsibility actually does not make most people happy in the long term. It’s an unnatural human state, particularly for grown men, and most will wake up eventually (perhaps once it’s too late) and realize there’s nothing enlightening about a life lived that way.
        • trevyn 7y ago
          These are the traditional conservative values and beliefs, yes. A lot of us think it’s time to design new values and beliefs.
          • tempsy 7y ago
            It’s not conservative so much as innately human. A society made of individuals who feel no shared responsibility to contribute to society is literal anarchy
            • wutbrodo 7y ago
              As you point out, someone begging to fund travel certainly fits the description of non-contributor to society. But many (most?) self-fund their ongoing travel, whether through odd jobs while traveling, savings from a previous stable employment, or "digital nomad" work on the road[1]. In that sense, they're just shifting a portion of their contributions from time period B to time period A, in the same way that spending during retirement works. I don't see how this can be described as "feel[ing] no shared responsibility to contribute to society" any more than someone who spreads their contributions more evenly over time: it's just describing the use of money as a store of value.
• CalRobert 7y ago
  When my wife and I couldn't afford to travel we hosted couchsurfers, including solo ones, from around the world and very much enjoyed their conversation (and cooking if we were lucky!)
• bobbydroptables 7y ago
  It's not any more or less selfish than the existence of 90+% of people just going through the motions to get through the day. The "value" most people create for society is a byproduct of that person needing an income. If they could get the same income without doing any work, most would choose that.
• DavidRicupero 7y ago
  Travel has made me a better version. My worldview was so small before. After it, I've learned we are more of a global village than separate nations.