3 ms·

Meh. Travel is overrated. The chances of you actually learning anything of substance by running around from one exotic country to another are very slim indeed.

by mtts 17y ago

Meh. Travel is overrated. The chances of you actually learning anything of substance by running around from one exotic country to another are very slim indeed. Staying in another country for a substantial amount of time, on the other hand, is of course an entirely different matter but travelling for the sake of travelling, while pleasurable in and of itself, does not teach you anything you couldn't have learned from a brochure about the places you're visiting.

fredBuddemeyer 17y ago
certainly longer is better but every trip offers a chance to learn something - and not the trivia that can be found in brochures. traveling supplies a nearly complete change of context for your brain and if it is turned on change will certainly occur (i.e. growth). differences in customs, architecture and language are extremely inspiring.; many of the best lessons are indirect and stem from thought provoking experiences akin to brainstorming rather than the accumulation of data.
jklubnik 17y ago
I disagree. How much you learn is dependent on how willing you are to put yourself out there, even if only for a brief period of time. While I prefer to travel for longer periods of time, I certainly will not knock a two week trip through Europe. You can learn and experience a lot with the right attitude and outlook. To attempt an analogy fitting for this forum, saying that it "does not teach you anything you couldn't have learned from a brochure" is like saying there is no sense in starting your own company when you could simply work for one that already exists. Creating a company is much different than working for a company. Much like being in a place is a lot different that reading a brochure about it. All the things that make creating a company a valuable experience are the same things that make traveling a valuable experience: all the little details, the hurdles, the hassles, taking a leap, getting there. I also recommend the following essay by Pico Iyer: http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-stories/why-we-travel-20081213/ http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-stories/why-we-trave...
- b1tr0t 17y ago
  I've lived in six different countries and traveled to dozens. I agree that some travel expands people's horizons. Some people gain more from the experience than others, depending on their willingness to really see new perspectives. But my experience with "endless travelers" on the whole does not incline me to think they have access to any kind of special enlightenment that isn't accessible to everyday people who travel far less. In fact, the I've-been-on-the-road-for-a-year types you run into in hostels are often narcissistic overindulged wankers for whom the travel is more about dick size and proving how "different" they are than some mechanism for truly expanding their horizons. Their travel is about their personal insecurity, not the "deep" journey they want you to believe it is. I'm not knocking travel in general, but nor do I in any way believe that someone who HAS traveled a great deal is more world-wise, intelligent or self-assured than someone who has not.
dylanz 17y ago
Double Meh. Traveling is definitely overrated. Nonconformity != Traveling. The perks of travelling just to "see" new places is novel, but gets old fast. If you've travelled a lot, you get to see the hoards of backpackers and tourists that swarm to the usual (and usual unusual) destinations, and it starts to get lame, fast. And I'd agree mtts that you don't "learn" much about just visiting a country. Sure, you may "see" what a town or city is like, but you're just reading the cover, not the book. I moved to New Zealand just for the heck of it with my family, and lived there for almost 3 years. Everyone that visits there gives the same 'ol schpiel... "Oh, it's so beautiful there. It's where the Lord of the Rings was filmed! It's the greenest place I've ever been, and is so environmentally friendly". Everytime I heard that, I could only let out a hugh sigh. They visited and didn't "learn" anything. New Zealand dust crops their entire countryside with poison (1080, which is illegal in the US) quite often, and is "not" very environmentally progressive. Their marketing department, however, is quite progressive!
- antipaganda 17y ago
  New Zealand not environmentally progressive? Oh come on. Who else spends so much money to protect a stupid parrot that lives on the ground and can't fight?
  - movix 17y ago
    Is it fightless or flightless?
    - mahmud 17y ago
      it's a pacifist pedestrian parrot.
- Devilboy 17y ago
  Saatchi & Saatchi does some of NZ's marketing, and they're doing a pretty damn good job!
justlearning 17y ago
"...does not teach you anything you couldn't have learned from a brochure about the places you're visiting." Sorry, That's not right. It's funny that you say it, specially when you have no stories to support. Perhaps, you confuse travel with being a tourist. Travelling is a different ball game than being a tourist - going by the brochures, paying the entry fee to the biggest shoe in the world and then hitting the bar in the evening and catching the flight back home. Travelling is not going to Disney-world. Travelling is even living at a place for an unplanned amount of time. context- i met many 'travellers' in the past week - during a visit to a remote part of china. me and wife didn't go to the touristy parts of the area. Infact spent a day just sitting and listening to nature. Among them, I met this european couple (with kids) who are living there to save enough money to make to the next goal - RVing across Americas. I met this couple who travelled all around and found their funds depleted in Malaysia and so they have been working there to save money..until the next step. There was this one guy from Norway who worked super hard last year to just travel 6 months (mostly by land). Travellers don't go by brochure, they go by recommendations by other travellers. And mostly all 'travellers' try to avoid flights to the extreme (even taking a van across the Gobi desert) I actually asked blunt questions(with prior permission) about their learning/philosophy/future plans..etc(even their kids)..too long to post here. But I will say this - they do learn - actually continuous learning, learning from cultures, respecting people, not being judgemental(do you the see the homeless man and the bentley salesman in the same way, talk the same way?)..many more things. Apologies, but I am surprised that many people 'agree' with you without your giving your 'proofs'.
justinhj 17y ago
Why should you learn something of substance for it to be worthwhile? You dismiss the diverse life experiences you'll gain, even as a tourist. Not everything has to have an educational or financial pay off. Sometimes just being somewhere else is its own reward.
abalashov 17y ago
Indeed. As it relates to hacking and productivity (which, I realise, is hardly the focus of the post), I shared my thoughts in a submission previously: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=757407 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=757407
n8agrin 17y ago
Every time I travel I come home incredibly thankful for the opportunities I've had in my life. Certainly my perspective on those opportunities is relative, but the gratitude presents itself nonetheless. Feel free to claim travel is "overrated" and lacking of "substance". I will gladly continue to travel and I will be delighted to know I will be meeting one less ungrateful tourist along my way.
jasonkester 17y ago
The chances of you actually learning anything of substance by running around from one exotic country to another are very slim indeed. Compared to, say, sitting in a cubicle for the same amount of time? I'd put my money on Travel. Being on the road accelerates your life. Things happen faster, and more things happen. You'll need half an hour to explain to somebody what you did yesterday. When I'm living in the 'states, saving up for the next trip, I can often sum up an entire month in about 5 minutes. It's just night and day. I'd suggest you try spending a year on the road & let us know if you learn anything.

by mtts 17y ago

fredBuddemeyer 17y ago

certainly longer is better but every trip offers a chance to learn something - and not the trivia that can be found in brochures. traveling supplies a nearly complete change of context for your brain and if it is turned on change will certainly occur (i.e. growth). differences in customs, architecture and language are extremely inspiring.; many of the best lessons are indirect and stem from thought provoking experiences akin to brainstorming rather than the accumulation of data.

jklubnik 17y ago

I disagree. How much you learn is dependent on how willing you are to put yourself out there, even if only for a brief period of time. While I prefer to travel for longer periods of time, I certainly will not knock a two week trip through Europe. You can learn and experience a lot with the right attitude and outlook. To attempt an analogy fitting for this forum, saying that it "does not teach you anything you couldn't have learned from a brochure" is like saying there is no sense in starting your own company when you could simply work for one that already exists. Creating a company is much different than working for a company. Much like being in a place is a lot different that reading a brochure about it. All the things that make creating a company a valuable experience are the same things that make traveling a valuable experience: all the little details, the hurdles, the hassles, taking a leap, getting there. I also recommend the following essay by Pico Iyer: http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-stories/why-we-travel-20081213/ http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-stories/why-we-trave...

b1tr0t 17y ago
I've lived in six different countries and traveled to dozens. I agree that some travel expands people's horizons. Some people gain more from the experience than others, depending on their willingness to really see new perspectives. But my experience with "endless travelers" on the whole does not incline me to think they have access to any kind of special enlightenment that isn't accessible to everyday people who travel far less. In fact, the I've-been-on-the-road-for-a-year types you run into in hostels are often narcissistic overindulged wankers for whom the travel is more about dick size and proving how "different" they are than some mechanism for truly expanding their horizons. Their travel is about their personal insecurity, not the "deep" journey they want you to believe it is. I'm not knocking travel in general, but nor do I in any way believe that someone who HAS traveled a great deal is more world-wise, intelligent or self-assured than someone who has not.

dylanz 17y ago

Double Meh. Traveling is definitely overrated. Nonconformity != Traveling. The perks of travelling just to "see" new places is novel, but gets old fast. If you've travelled a lot, you get to see the hoards of backpackers and tourists that swarm to the usual (and usual unusual) destinations, and it starts to get lame, fast. And I'd agree mtts that you don't "learn" much about just visiting a country. Sure, you may "see" what a town or city is like, but you're just reading the cover, not the book. I moved to New Zealand just for the heck of it with my family, and lived there for almost 3 years. Everyone that visits there gives the same 'ol schpiel... "Oh, it's so beautiful there. It's where the Lord of the Rings was filmed! It's the greenest place I've ever been, and is so environmentally friendly". Everytime I heard that, I could only let out a hugh sigh. They visited and didn't "learn" anything. New Zealand dust crops their entire countryside with poison (1080, which is illegal in the US) quite often, and is "not" very environmentally progressive. Their marketing department, however, is quite progressive!

antipaganda 17y ago
New Zealand not environmentally progressive? Oh come on. Who else spends so much money to protect a stupid parrot that lives on the ground and can't fight?
- movix 17y ago
  Is it fightless or flightless?
  - mahmud 17y ago
    it's a pacifist pedestrian parrot.
Devilboy 17y ago
Saatchi & Saatchi does some of NZ's marketing, and they're doing a pretty damn good job!

justlearning 17y ago

"...does not teach you anything you couldn't have learned from a brochure about the places you're visiting." Sorry, That's not right. It's funny that you say it, specially when you have no stories to support. Perhaps, you confuse travel with being a tourist. Travelling is a different ball game than being a tourist - going by the brochures, paying the entry fee to the biggest shoe in the world and then hitting the bar in the evening and catching the flight back home. Travelling is not going to Disney-world. Travelling is even living at a place for an unplanned amount of time. context- i met many 'travellers' in the past week - during a visit to a remote part of china. me and wife didn't go to the touristy parts of the area. Infact spent a day just sitting and listening to nature. Among them, I met this european couple (with kids) who are living there to save enough money to make to the next goal - RVing across Americas. I met this couple who travelled all around and found their funds depleted in Malaysia and so they have been working there to save money..until the next step. There was this one guy from Norway who worked super hard last year to just travel 6 months (mostly by land). Travellers don't go by brochure, they go by recommendations by other travellers. And mostly all 'travellers' try to avoid flights to the extreme (even taking a van across the Gobi desert) I actually asked blunt questions(with prior permission) about their learning/philosophy/future plans..etc(even their kids)..too long to post here. But I will say this - they do learn - actually continuous learning, learning from cultures, respecting people, not being judgemental(do you the see the homeless man and the bentley salesman in the same way, talk the same way?)..many more things. Apologies, but I am surprised that many people 'agree' with you without your giving your 'proofs'.

justinhj 17y ago

Why should you learn something of substance for it to be worthwhile? You dismiss the diverse life experiences you'll gain, even as a tourist. Not everything has to have an educational or financial pay off. Sometimes just being somewhere else is its own reward.

abalashov 17y ago

Indeed. As it relates to hacking and productivity (which, I realise, is hardly the focus of the post), I shared my thoughts in a submission previously: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=757407 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=757407

n8agrin 17y ago

Every time I travel I come home incredibly thankful for the opportunities I've had in my life. Certainly my perspective on those opportunities is relative, but the gratitude presents itself nonetheless. Feel free to claim travel is "overrated" and lacking of "substance". I will gladly continue to travel and I will be delighted to know I will be meeting one less ungrateful tourist along my way.

jasonkester 17y ago

The chances of you actually learning anything of substance by running around from one exotic country to another are very slim indeed. Compared to, say, sitting in a cubicle for the same amount of time? I'd put my money on Travel. Being on the road accelerates your life. Things happen faster, and more things happen. You'll need half an hour to explain to somebody what you did yesterday. When I'm living in the 'states, saving up for the next trip, I can often sum up an entire month in about 5 minutes. It's just night and day. I'd suggest you try spending a year on the road & let us know if you learn anything.