Elena Condos
2005-08-14 00:28:02 UTC
Is it just my imagination or is there an overseas travel craze going on
in Western countries today? Everywhere you look, friends and coworkers
are quitting their jobs to travel to faraway places -- usually
countries like the UK and USA.
It usually begins with something along the lines of, "I am travelling
overseas to broaden my horizons". When they come back they treat us to
long slide-shows about their trip.
But these are often the same people who don't have the time to pick up
an interesting or thought-provoking book to read. Reading up on
history, or economics, politics, etc. is just as good a way of
acquiring new knowledge as travelling is.
There are two little propositions I would share with you to illustrate
the fallacy of overseas travel:
1. Suppose for argument's sake that there exists this lovely little
country -- let's call it Utopia. In Utopia, everyone is thrilled with
his or her life and loves the place to death. Obviously then, the laws
of supply and demand suggest that people everywhere around the world
would be queuing up to get into Utopia to live. The fact that the six
billion of us human beings are dispersed all over the world is proof
that there is no utopia.
2. An astronaut is going to travel to the moon. He is really excited
about his big trip to outer space. He can barely contain his
enthusiasm! He boards the spaceship. It lands on the moon. He steps
outside onto the moon's surface and suddenly he realises . . . there's
nothing on the moon! He climbs back into the spaceship and returns to
Earth, confused about why he travelled to the moon.
I would contend that the motive for going to Anglo countries like
Canada, America, Britain etc. once or twice every year has to do with
escaping the reality of life -- the ongoing responsibilities of holding
down employment, paying rent to landlords etc. Running off to London
to work in a pub, it could be said, is just running away from growing
up. Whatever problems or challenges you might have at work or at home
you will probably have in another country too.
I reckon that everything we need is here at home. What, of importance,
can be found overseas that can't be found at home? Sure, go once when
you turn twenty-one, but going two or three times every year will bleed
your finances dry. More credit card debt means more hard work to pay
off credit cards. What kind of future does that offer?
I would be interested to know if others see an increasing trend in
overseas travel and what the reasons for this might be.
in Western countries today? Everywhere you look, friends and coworkers
are quitting their jobs to travel to faraway places -- usually
countries like the UK and USA.
It usually begins with something along the lines of, "I am travelling
overseas to broaden my horizons". When they come back they treat us to
long slide-shows about their trip.
But these are often the same people who don't have the time to pick up
an interesting or thought-provoking book to read. Reading up on
history, or economics, politics, etc. is just as good a way of
acquiring new knowledge as travelling is.
There are two little propositions I would share with you to illustrate
the fallacy of overseas travel:
1. Suppose for argument's sake that there exists this lovely little
country -- let's call it Utopia. In Utopia, everyone is thrilled with
his or her life and loves the place to death. Obviously then, the laws
of supply and demand suggest that people everywhere around the world
would be queuing up to get into Utopia to live. The fact that the six
billion of us human beings are dispersed all over the world is proof
that there is no utopia.
2. An astronaut is going to travel to the moon. He is really excited
about his big trip to outer space. He can barely contain his
enthusiasm! He boards the spaceship. It lands on the moon. He steps
outside onto the moon's surface and suddenly he realises . . . there's
nothing on the moon! He climbs back into the spaceship and returns to
Earth, confused about why he travelled to the moon.
I would contend that the motive for going to Anglo countries like
Canada, America, Britain etc. once or twice every year has to do with
escaping the reality of life -- the ongoing responsibilities of holding
down employment, paying rent to landlords etc. Running off to London
to work in a pub, it could be said, is just running away from growing
up. Whatever problems or challenges you might have at work or at home
you will probably have in another country too.
I reckon that everything we need is here at home. What, of importance,
can be found overseas that can't be found at home? Sure, go once when
you turn twenty-one, but going two or three times every year will bleed
your finances dry. More credit card debt means more hard work to pay
off credit cards. What kind of future does that offer?
I would be interested to know if others see an increasing trend in
overseas travel and what the reasons for this might be.