7 ms·

Isn't the entire tourist industry essentially based off the Grand Tour[1]? That is, an idea that became in vogue among the wealthy European aristocrats that yo

Isn't the entire tourist industry essentially based off the Grand Tour[1]? That is, an idea that became in vogue among the wealthy European aristocrats that your children must tour the grand cities of Europe to become worldly and "enlightened". It became a sort of right of passage and a signal of how wealthy your family is and how worldly and well-traveled your children are. Businesses, liking money, noticed that if they could sell the masses on this idea it would be immensely profitable. You too - merely wealthy or even middle class person - can be enlightened like the aristocrats! A trip could change your world view! Show the world you're not a dumb, ignorant, small-minded serf-child by traveling! And sure, I'm being overly cynical, but for a mere library fee you can probably expand your world view even more than through consumerist behaviour. --- [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tour_(disambiguation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tour_(disambiguation)

mettamage 2y ago
> but for a mere library fee you can probably expand your world view even more than through consumerist behaviour. My view is that learning a new concept is a lot like traveling. To me it feels the same. I like to do both a lot. There is an exception with traveling that is hard to find in books (directly, indirectly it is also available in books). One can form social relationships with people from another country. In many cases, the relationship that forms is with another tourist. It seems to be one of the few times that people are genuinely open to meet other people. There are other ways to go about this, but this way of truly meeting potential new international friends is hard to beat. Though, another way of doing it is university. I think traveling has little that is unique, but so does everything else. There are always other ways that one can go about to meeting their needs. It just so happens that traveling is a pretty good and convenient way to do it with, but by far not the only way.

mettamage 2y ago

> but for a mere library fee you can probably expand your world view even more than through consumerist behaviour. My view is that learning a new concept is a lot like traveling. To me it feels the same. I like to do both a lot. There is an exception with traveling that is hard to find in books (directly, indirectly it is also available in books). One can form social relationships with people from another country. In many cases, the relationship that forms is with another tourist. It seems to be one of the few times that people are genuinely open to meet other people. There are other ways to go about this, but this way of truly meeting potential new international friends is hard to beat. Though, another way of doing it is university. I think traveling has little that is unique, but so does everything else. There are always other ways that one can go about to meeting their needs. It just so happens that traveling is a pretty good and convenient way to do it with, but by far not the only way.