A little while ago there were a couple of articles asking the question “is travel worth it?” Clearly the answer was yes, but I was shocked to read that the authors didn’t think so. This was kicked off by a post at Man vs Debt and followed up over at Early Retirement Extreme. They are wrong at worst and incomplete at best. So here’s what I had to say about it.
Travel has a cost. Fact. It also has a non-zero value. So what you really need to do is evaluate whether the cost is less than or equal to the subjective value you place on the trip. The word subjective is important there because it’s not someone else that should be determining what is valuable to you. It’s quite simply a value proposition question that no one should be answering for you. The fact that someone is making such a statement that “Travel is not Worth It” is an improper imposition.
Travelling to Exotic Locations
Many of the commenters justify their experiences in travel by saying they go to locations less frequently travelled. They live in huts, eat rice 3 times a day, and hang out with the locals all in an effort to gain the cultural experience. These commenters are only furthering the author’s point that “going to Turkey is better than going to New Jersey.” There is absolutely nothing wrong with travelling within North America, and just sticking to the big cities. By visiting New York city you could have any type of food imaginable, all prepared by citizens of the desired nationalities. Spending the night camped out in Central Park may well be just as dangerous as a hut in a developing country.
Does that mean I agree with the original post?
Not really. I personally like travelling to exotic locations, but I also like travelling to big cities, and all-inclusive resorts. There’s value in all of these experiences, however I don’t believe that the value is necessarily equal amongst the different locales. Because I’m a bit of a geek, I’ve come up with an incomplete formula to determine if travel is worth it (feel free to correct, further this):
Worth = Value – Cost
Value = $1 * (Unique + Time) * Participation
Where: Unique is the relative cultural uniqueness of the experience from your personal perspective
Time is the amount of time you’re spending in the location
Participation is the percentage of the time you’re away that you are actually experiencing something you feel is further the value of the trip
So with this little formula we realize, as I have mentioned previously, the calculation is ultimately subjective, given that uniqueness cannot be objectively measured by anyone. The formula also arbitrarily places a dollar as the unit of measurement of value for the sake of calculating worth, however this too is a fallacy.
Living in Another Country
Although living in a new country is indeed a true way to experience another culture in more a of pure sense you still won’t living as they do. They have family to share their local traditions with, they may have a different religion, they have a political process that you cannot participate in. There is no way that you can be culturally agnostic entering a new place as much as you would like. So the question is, do you need to fully experience a culture? My contention is that having a tertiary knowledge of many cultures would provide you with a better social context than having a full experience with one other culture.
But then why experience all these cultures?
That’s a question ultimately of human curiosity. It’s an intellectual pursuit carried out through physical actions. Although someone could go out and learn many cultural contexts through books, music and video all consumed without leaving home; there is something intangible that is only experienced through being there.
Art is a wonderful example. Taking an art history course is an excellent way to experience a piece of culture. I read all about impressionism and Monet. It’s really interesting to learn of the story behind the art. But visiting the MOMA and seeing the works in person totally floored me. They were on a scale that truly be appreciated until you are standing in front of it. The same goes for music. There is a certain magic in the air when people get together with fairly simple technology and can create art (music) right in front of you. For music lovers, this is something that can never be replaced by a recording.
Experience Collector
The last point I’d like to make is with regards to collecting experiences instead of things. It’s likely that we do indeed have differing definitions of the word “accumulation” however in every day of our lives we are accumulating experiences whether they are local or far off. It’s absurd to think that any one day goes by without gathering new experiences. We can experience bird watching at a local park, or gazelle spotting in Africa. Both are experiences that you are accumulating. Much the same way as the elephant on the plains is accumulating experience and knowledge of where to go for food and water. Although travelling to collect experiences is a more esoteric approach, it’s still valid. If every day we lived were exactly the same as the previous, with no new experiences, it would be a sad world indeed.
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Written by Journeyman
Topics: Rants