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I think it all comes down to time and commitment? I once sold up everything I owned quit up my job and spent two years travelling around the world, i always considered my self to be a traveller! Why? because at that time it was my life! No job, no commitments, no time frames, and everything I owned was stuffed into the backpack i carried around.
I think it all comes down to time and commitment? I once sold up everything I owned quit up my job and spent two years travelling around the world, i always considered my self to be a traveller! Why? because at that time it was my life! No job, no commitments, no time frames, and everything I owned was stuffed into the backpack i carried around.
Yes, to me, that is commitment to travel.
Some might consider that commitment, others might consider that the ultimate freedom, still others might look at that lifestyle as self-indulgent.
I know many Aussies (and of course others too, but I always meet Aussies) do that as a rite of passage.
It certainly is liberating to eschew home/ job/ownership and walk the earth with nothing but what you can carry on your back.
edited to add:
How funny! I just now looked and saw that you are from Australia!
That's right, Buewillowplate, but there is another dimension that is completelly forgotten nowadays : the seriousness of travel.
In days of yore, it was a must in the British elite to make the Grand Tour of Europe , a sort of rite of passage from youth to adult age, more recently , writers like James Joyce and Henry Miller extolled the virtues of travelling. Jours tranquilles a Clichy narrates the difficulties and surprises of an American doing his sabbatical in the City Of Lights...Lots of people, drink in hand at the pool bar of a Club , forget that essential, educational, dimension of travelling. I even think that there is an unavoidable element of suffering (or at least of abdicating somehow one's comfort zone) in travelling.
That's right, Buewillowplate, but there is another dimension that is completelly forgotten nowadays : the seriousness of travel.
In days of yore, it was a must in the British elite to make the Grand Tour of Europe , a sort of rite of passage from youth to adult age, more recently , writers like James Joyce and Henry Miller extolled the virtues of travelling. Jours tranquilles a Clichy narrates the difficulties and surprises of an American doing his sabbatical in the City Of Lights...Lots of people, drink in hand at the pool bar of a Club , forget that essential, educational, dimension of travelling. I even think that there is an unavoidable element of suffering (or at least of abdicating somehow one's comfort zone) in travelling.
Yes, the Grand Tour was mentioned earlier in the thread. Those were rather rarified circles back then, but no doubt some travelers were more exploratory, and sought more from their Tour than merely a rich spouse or a smattering of French.
I love reading about Mark Twain's adventures; he had great travel insight.
It *is* wise to make the most of one's journey, to dig deep into your locale.
I do understand that some people <cough/short-attention-span-Americans/cough> think nothing of spending a bunch of money on a rather superficial, SparkNotes kind of trip.
I also agree that it is enriching to break out of your comfort zone, but not all of us are created equal in that regard.
Mostly, I just think it is silly to prop yourself up by putting others down.
Everyone who considers his or her self a traveler can quietly do just that. Why the need for an announcement about it?
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