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It just seems that most places that people want to go and most things that people want to see are either too crowded so that you can't really enjoy the experience, or too remote to be able to travel to on most peoples' budgets. Given how a lot of times, there are better pictures of the places on the internet than what you can see in real life, why do people feel the need to deal with the hassle of travelling?
Traveling through Google Earth is akin to seeing photos of your favorite dish instead of actually eating it.
Being in a place is much more than just visually seeing sights.. it's about feeling the energy, the vibe, the interaction with the place, the people, the cuisine etc.
This is one of my all time favorite quotes, and it is still true. Travel is not about the sights, it's about the experience. The people, the smells, good and bad. It's what makes you a well rounded person able to speak intelligently about different subjects with first hand knowledge rather than reciting someone else's take off of the internet.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
― Mark Twain
Google earth doesn't let you appreciate that directly across from the Sphinx the icon for 4000+ years, gazes across the parking lot at a KFC/Pizza Hut. You don't get the shock to the senses from the smells as you walk into the spice section of the Grand Bazar in Istanbul, or do you get a different kind of hit walking through the fish market in Manila. The sounds, the people, the whole thing is different. It's really sort of like real sex and porn. Sure you "see" it, but it's a pale copy of the original, and good or bad, the real thing always is a better story.
It just seems that most places that people want to go and most things that people want to see are either too crowded so that you can't really enjoy the experience, or too remote to be able to travel to on most peoples' budgets. Given how a lot of times, there are better pictures of the places on the internet than what you can see in real life, why do people feel the need to deal with the hassle of travelling?
For the same reason that availability of porn has not dissuaded people from having sex.
Given how a lot of times, there are better pictures of the places on the internet than what you can see in real life, why do people feel the need to deal with the hassle of travelling?
We have traveled extensively, lived in several countries and now in our 70's enjoy Google Earth for fun. Friends that haven't had the opportunities to travel and now their health limits them, enjoy Google Earth to experiencing what they missed.
Who said anything about traveling to another continent? Who said anything about expensive hotels? Motel 6 exists for a reason as do cabins, campers, and tents. You don't have to fly to sightsee. Doesn't have to cost much in gas either. Get out and see your town and county. Start there.
One thing we do a lot is spend the day or evening at our local state parks. When we spend the day, we bring our lunch and dinner. No worries about who can eat what then! We we spend an evening, we bring dinner from a restaurant - could be subs, fried chicken, etc. Nothing fancy. Traveling doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.
I don't consider the 'local state park' traveling. I consider Paris traveling. Or Borneo, or NZ, or Australia, or Rio. And you can't get there cheap, stay in a tent, eat, or get around the city itself without spending an arm and a leg. I'm pretty sure OP meant the same sort of 'travel', not day trips where you're home in your own bed that night.
And besides the ever present influence/propaganda by the teevee ads who want you to spend your money in their wonderful city/state/country, there's the downside they never talk about. Having to get lots of vaccinations ahead of time, any one of which you might react badly to (been there, done that, sick as a dog for weeks), coming back with hepatitis or parasites or malaria, airplane accidents... bedbugs from 'Motel Six'... lol.
Maybe OP should have posted in an internet forum rather than a travel forum, but he has a point. I'm of a mind that a LOT of grammar school to university level training could be replaced by the internet, at least for people who know how to make use of it. The internet changes everything, why not travel?
About the only vaccination that you should have to get, dependent on your visit is yellow fever. Malaria is treated with pills, and you should have your Hep shots as common course already.
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