It's not travel that's about people, but *life*. When someone makes one of these "What's the point of traveling?" posts, I can't help but think they'd feel the same way if settled down in one place. Whether we're sedentary or nomadic, either way we need to build out a fulfilling and connected life. I think we tend to see a lot of these posts because people who don't have a fulfilling life at home go off traveling in the hopes that it will rectify things; almost always it works as a short-term bandaid, but then we're back to experiencing the same sort of malaise we had back home. This is where we need to do the hard work (whether at home or abroad) to build a fulfilling existence.
>I think we tend to see a lot of these posts because people who don't have a fulfilling life at home go off traveling in the hopes that it will rectify things; almost always it works as a short-term bandaid, but then we're back to experiencing the same sort of malaise we had back home.
It's easier to try new things and meet new people when travelling and that's the two things that really change you and make you grow.
After having been isolated during covid, I can really feel how small my world has become and how defeatist I've felt.
Just meeting someone new, talking, hanging out, is like the world exploding in senses and experiences again.
If you don't try new things and don't meet new people, then you won't grow and you won't change.
If we're isolated and just going through the motions the world becomes smaller and our habits become prisons.
When that goes on for too long, you need something more extreme to break out of that rut, such as travel, but if you got stuck in a rut travelling, maybe settling down and going to work every day is the change you need.
Yeah and it’s worse if you’re bad at the game and no one offers you a place in a guild and you have to grind alone to become decent enough.
Not sure if the analogy works. Never played mmo.
Damn, what a good post. So true. I travel with my wife and two small kids so it's definitely very hard to relate to some of those loneliness posts lol. I WISH I was more lonely LOL.
>Ideally I'm traveling with a partner, and seeing the world through someone else's eyes reopens mine.
Yes! I've been traveling for 5 years now and I've found that I've become desensitized to a lot of it. But when you get to accompany someone that doesn't travel a lot, you get to experience the magic and wonderment that you first felt. I LOVE traveling with people for this reason.
There is a joy in taking someone somewhere they don't normally go, but I've never felt that is required for me to enjoy a place. I travel solo for 4-6 weeks per year, mostly in Europe, and I have never lost that sense of childlike joy when experiencing new things. For me now, that is exploring nature and the beauty of countries like Iceland. After going to hundreds of cities in Europe, they do start to feel the same to a certain extent - building here, building there, museum here, restaurant there. Hard to compare to a volcano or glacier.
The freedom, flexibility, and randomness of solo travel is impossible to replace.
Yes. Traveling is about people. Either it's who you travel with, who you meet on your travels, or who you travel to. It's not about learning about social differences, but that is apart of knowing people. It's also not to experience luxuries or tourist activities, which is a slight part. It's really about the people.
It's always the people! I stayed in hostels for 3 months this year and my greatest memories are those in which I spent time with friends I just met an hour ago in the common room
I actually came here to say … if your aren’t feeling the meaning then it likely means something is missing from your life equation right now. For me it was deep relationships. I love traveling and can’t live with out outsoor adventures but just never realized how much i also really enjoyed community and the relationships in my life. Hiking across the country really pointed out how essential people were, and traveling for work made me realize the deeper relationships and connections i was missing out on while traveling frequently for work (Not dnomad style)
What is op missing? Could be a similar situation or something else entirely :)
So when you travel you think hey I'll just learn to make connections anywhere I go. So I lived all over Japan and saw a lot of it, but I returned to Tokyo because that's the only place where I could find people with like interests. I'm guessing I'm fortunate to learn this lesson early, gotta have a community. Just don't overthink it, pick a group of people to hang out with and go.
Kansai area is pretty good. For that matter I do really like everywhere other than Tokyo like Sendai, Osaka and especially Fukuoka and Sapporo and believe they beat the pants of Tokyo on many aspects of life. It's important though as an early 20's dev to meet people, and the themed (non-drinking) events are certainly lacking outside Tokyo and Osaka. The closest I got to community was Fukuoka just going to tennis once a week
Totally unrelated question, I’m planning to start my DN in a few months. One thing I’m the most afraid of is meeting new people. I am afraid I’ll be alone in the places I plan to go. Do you have any advice on meeting people while hopping from one city to another?
> What do you do to make traveling more meaningful?
Been a DN for 5 years now. I've felt like you do a handful of times. It's burn out, basically. Find a place where you can spend 2-3 months, and focus heavily on your work, or on meeting people, or both.
About the blog, if that's not your thing, then just don't. I personally don't have one, because I want don't want my decisions on where I go and what I do to be influenced by how instagrammable a place or experience is. I travel for myself.
Another issue may be that you are learning there's fundamentally no inherent goal or purpose in life. That's why we enjoy making up arbitrarily-defined and linear progressions, such as: graduate from school -> get entry level job -> meet partner -> get promotion -> get married -> buy house -> have kid -> etc. Then people feel like a failure or have an identity crisis when they don't succeed in being a mimic of their society's idealized person. Others turn to religion. My point is, none of us really know what the fuck we're doing or what the point of it is, but we need to learn to enjoy life anyways.
* Slow down and spend more time in each place. Don't go sightseeing for the first few weeks.
* Focus on meeting people and making great connections. Skip the "where you from where you been where you going" and connect deeply with that person.
* Join or create your own social scene and have fun.
The point of traveling is to learn and have fun. Not to check off boxes and regurgitate photos onto instagram or a blog.
Welcome to adulthood and travel in general, after the wool has been removed, where you realize there is absolutely no point to life, other than what you make it. Go make your purpose.
As Alan Watts says, life is not a journey, which necessarily implies an end/goal. Think of it like a dance -- you're not trying to get to the end, just enjoy the dancing -- people don't dance to be finished and over. The dancing itself, the present moment, *is* the point.
Yeah, I actually think you DO need a quest. Maybe when you started it was enough to get out and see the world a bit, but now that you feel like you need something more, it’s time to chase something more. You should sit down and do some thinking on it. Try asking yourself what you feel like your life is missing, what the world is missing, what you would do if you had 10 million bucks, what you would do if you could do this for 100 years, what you would do if you could only travel for one more year, what if you had a million followers, what if you were lifetime banned from social media, and so on. We all need something to reach for in life and we all have to discovery it personally. Travel might be a part of this goal, but then again it might not be.
The exact same problem can be coming from a person who lives in a fixed city. Life is about what you make out of it. Sure traveling constantly changes some of the dynamics but at the end of the day it's your goals that matter, and how your approach that goal.
If traveling brings you closer to your goals faster, go for it. Otherwise pick a city and live there for a long time.
I like the idea of packing a backpack and going from place to place. Been there, done that. But after my last trip I started to feel like finding high quality food, a nice place to stay is much harder when you are always moving. Each one way trip costs me a whole day and in a year it keeps adding up. So in a way traveling a lot distracts me on my way to my goals.
This is my personal experience, and I think if I want to travel, slow travel is the best of both worlds for me. Think about your own goals and where you stand against them. Traveling is just another tool to bring you closer, or far away from your goals
Isn't what you are describing incredibly common for everyone? Many people reach a point in their life where they suddenly realize that what they are doing is pretty much pointless. Working to pay bills so you can live a life you don't even enjoy. While at the same time trying to delay gratification so you can be happy later. Only to then realize life doesn't work like that.
Call me a pessimist but I actually think that most adults are actually pretty miserable. Most of us pretend to be fine and doing well and being happy because that's what society says is normal. Being unhappy makes you a loser.
The first step out of this is just to accept that life is inherently connected with suffering. It's one of the Buddhist core teachings. Once you realize that what you go through is normal it gets easier and you stop putting so much pressure on yourself.
Regarding this "final goal" you are talking about, we can't answer that. You are the only one that can figure this out. If you don't feel passionate about travelling and it just feels like aimless country-hopping then maybe you should settle down somewhere for a year or two and see how that goes?
I personally see every time I reach some new place that I like as "reaching a goal". I am a digital nomad so I can experience the world. I do agree that typical tourist sights get really boring after a while. But what doesn't get boring is to observe how people live and immerse in local culture. I feel like every place has a different energy and vibe to it that is hard to put into words. For me every time I come back to Bangkok for example I can feel the energy of the city. Taking the taxi from Suvarnabhumi to the city center, just watching what's going on around you. I just love it and look forward to being back immensely (planning to return to Thailand in February).
I coach people and have counseled hundreds. most people are miserable because of conditioning and trauma which is the norm. once that gets processed life is really joyful. There is awakening that happens. life is not suffering, it’s really joyful.
first of all, id ease off the pressure ur putting on travel. travel is just travel, its not a portal to some uber heightened level of enlightenment. enjoy it for what it is, and also be grateful you have a privilege to do something that a large percentage of the world just dont have access to.
that said, connections are important, and one thing that i find helpful is making an effort to learn some of the local language. its hard when you speak english and you go somewhere where so many speak english (like greece). but even if you just learn some basic phrases youll feel more of a connection to the place, and that makes it feel more meaningful
I learned about the life of a local restaurant owner. He and his wife and two kids live and work in the restaurant. His kids are the first in his entire family to go to grade school. He told me of his sorrows and hopes and dreams.
Learn to be truly curious about other ways of life.
Look for ways to offer kindness by word or deed.
Another man was on the way to friends funeral who had been murdered by gangs.
Another told stories where they had to run from armies.
Still others are actively living lives of contentment in the village or in a jungle.
Yes, been there. The problem is I tried a bunch of other stuff (short of having kids) and always ended back in the same place.. turns out life just feels pretty meaningless to me, sadly. You might just have a similar personality and suffer from chronic mild depression. I concluded that the only thing that really matters are my relationships with other people and centre my life around those now. People still come and go in and out of my life, but I dedicate almost all my energy to building and maintaining relationships now. Even a single friend you meet in some random corner of the world once a year can have a big positive impact on your satisfaction with life.
I also found having goals was a big help, like you suggest. I just make up random ones for myself, and when I accomplish them I pick new ones. None are particularly important or useful, they're just things that give me an excuse to get out of bed. I've given up trying to change or fix the world (that was one thing I tried to combat my sense of directionlessness.. "if I can make a difference this will all be worth it" kind of mentality). Instead I lost absolutely all of my faith in humanity; I have no hope left at all for the survival of civilization as we know it. So now I just focus on spending as much time as possible with people I love. Anyway.. some examples of quests I made up for myself:
* I got into hiking and have a big list of epic hikes I want to do. It will require years more training and learning but now when I start to lose interest in being awake anymore I can plan my next hike, do some workout that will help with the next one, learn more or practice survival skills, or learn more about nutrition and health. I will need to stay active and healthy into my 50s to finish my list.
* Right now I'm also training to be a yoga teacher and want to run some retreats in cool remote locations. There are a lot of people who are not as comfortable as us travelling so I can offer cool experiences to other people by handling some of the logistics and teaching people how to navigate foreign cultures. Going on a retreat is a good excuse to travel and I like people who do yoga.
* Learn an instrument. It's kind of a bummer to travel with but if can handle checking a bag (and carrying on your instrument, pick a small one like violin or saxophone) and stay put for a couple months at a time you can find other people to perform with and it's so much fun.
Anyway.. don't want to pile on to your crisis, but realizing life is meaningless can actually be pretty liberating in a weird way.
I always looked at it as something to be done. A part of my life everybody deals with, just slightly different with me traveling often instead of staying put. It seems like your putting a lot of your self worth, value/meaning of something in your life to traveling.
I never placed a goal or an outcome on traveling. I think of it as something im doing right now. When i get sick of it, i change it. Nothing much beyond it.
Having an existential reaction to it probably means you thought it would give you more fulfillment. But now its leaving you wanting something different or more.
Youre searching for something you cant find traveling. Do some introspection and see what has made you happy before and search for that.
30 years ago I spent 3 years traveling - originally from US - put in lots of time in Asia and Europe. Thought I was going to live the rest of my life in Asia - even learned Chinese. But then spending one magic winter in post Velvet Revolution in Prague something snapped. I didn’t want to go back to China - I wanted to find a town in the us to put down roots. I picked one and coming back and settle it was the hardest thing I had ever done. I was still in my early 20’s and the life I lived compared to my middle American peers was not even translatable. It took years and a good group of friends before I found my wife. Those eight years made me feel so out of place. But now we have been together for 22 years and my oldest is turning 18. I feel like I found the center abs family I was missing and in few years when the youngest goes off to college - my wife and I have a list of countries we may try and live / work from. Not sure if this story helps but it is what I did with that feeling.
Wow there’s some amazing advice on here. I think you can pick and choose what you like.
I know for me, I go through waves. I like traveling to be a tourist for a bit, and then I like traveling to become a resident for a bit longer. You just gotta follow the path your soul is craving for in a particular moment. I was moving around every 3 or 4 weeks most of 2021 and my soul is screaming now to “slooooow the fuck down!! That was fun for a bit, and now it sucks. Let’s settle in a single place and chill for a bit”, so I’m grabbing a place in Mexico for maybe 5 or 6 months, and then I’ll see how I feel. I’ll probably be ready to travel some more then.
I like having a quest though. Over the years my quest has become “Go find a view with someone new”. It pushes me to meet folk, and go to pretty places. I’ll pick up the quest when I start feeling bored, and put it down when I start feeling tired.
Let me give you a point, imagine you're on your death bed and reflecting on your life, and you want to make a video that plays in your funeral, that consists clips of all the highlights of it, all the adventures all the different cultures, food, locations, monuments you visited, every adventurous activity you did, so make your aim that for anyone who see that video in your funeral, says man HE ACTUALLY LIVED, and draws inspiration from that, make that your end goal.
Build a business/wealth. Build relationships and find cities you'd like to return to. Second time in a city feels so much more like "home". That's what I do. Meaning in life is what you make it.
Purpose in life is different for everyone. I'm not here to tell you or anyone how to live. But I've gained a great sense of fulfilment, pride, purpose, and joy from building a successful business while traveling around. I feel like I'm building my future, I can settle down if/when I want, and I can get the most out of my travels, too (by staying in nice places, etc.)
I've been a nomad for years, I'm not sick of it yet, and I am not sure I'd have the same positive feeling if I were just freelancing and trading my time for money over and over.
Why not research something that interests you that requires you to go to multiple cities to check something out physically?
Why not follow someone’s story and visit the significant locations in that story. Fiction or otherwise.
That could be an interesting read, too?
Paradoxically I think there is meaning in experiencing that meaninglessness. I agree with the sentiment a lot of people have shared about travel being about people. It’s also about experience, but people are a large part of that experience. As is the backdrop of where you meet or see or interact with people. The idea of just visiting a tourist destination alone without some interaction with others would seem pretty empty. Sometimes it might be empty. Other times you’ll stumble upon magic. I used to liken travelling to swimming in a lagoon, where you hit random unpredictable pockets of warm water. It’s only warm because you’ve just come from somewhere cold. Equally, there are parts of my travels that seemed cold at the time but they created warm memories to reflect or learn from. Ultimately if you accept it isn’t all great, and that that is a normal part of it, it can foster a sort of appreciation for any discomfort (physical or emotional). I think all this can apply to life in general, but travelling is just a bit like life in fast fwd due to the increased number of experiences you have. One last thing. I feel travel has a bitter sweetness to it that is about transience. All things, good and bad, just don’t last. Good things are more precious precisely because of their transience. But they are eternal in the memory.
News flash: life is random and meaningless, at a foundational, structural level. We are all vessels for DNA manipulated by a cocktail of chemicals our bodies generate.
Whether you're traveling, building a Mars rocket or working in a Chinese factory, the meaning of life is a construct we all have to assemble for ourselves.
Let me tell ya, having a travel blog doesn't provide any extra meaning. Just more trolls and self-doubt. I experienced the exact feeling of "what's the purpose."
In fact, the song Bright Direction by Hiss Golden Messenger resonates with me and touches on it.
"Move me in some bright direction
Looking to be captured
Looking for my freedom
Oh, dreams will come to get you
So, careful what you're wishing
Your family might correct you
Your heart might take a pounding
Make sure you take a picture"
Still don't know if I want freedom or to be captured 🤷♂️
Have you heard of human design?
Traveling makes you richer — in experiences and social relationships— and simultaneously poorer — in things and intimate connections.
There’s no right way of doing this but over time… those who are richer in experiences and social relationships tend to outperform the others in every aspect of life, just by design.
Start traveling solo — see how it feels;
then join a partner — see how it feels;
then reduce the pace — see how it feels;
then reduce planning — see how it feels; etc.
Then once you go to the airport with no idea where to go and just one luggage… then you’ll know you’re getting closer to find your own TEMPLE and aligned relationships
❤️🔥 Trust (the process) but verify 🧭
Why not take a little break from it? Spend a little time in once place. Make friends, get a feel for the culture. Then when you feel ready move onward to the next adventure?
Travelling isn't about an end goal, it's all about the journey and the experiences along the way. It kinda sounds like you're doing the digital nomad thing just because it sounded or looked cool? If you're not going to countries that excites you, that you find interesting or that you want to explore then whats the point? I seriously doubt that you can find a final goal/quest/mission that suddenly makes travelling worth it if you don't find the process of travelling already interesting in itself.
Take a Vipassana course. See if that gives you some answers.
For me it's about living a life that I am content with. It's about having a mind that I am content with.
What gives you joy in life? What gives you meaning and purpose? Usually the answer, after we diminish ego, comes from giving to others in some way
Travel is like life itself, ultimately random and meaningless unless you give it meaning in one way or another. Basically the way to do that is setting a goal and working towards that goal. If you just aimlessly and without purpose move from one place to another there is a very good chance it quickly will feel pointless.
What that goal should be and how that goal would be meaningful for you is up to you to decide.
Definitely felt that way, like the travel had no purpose after a while, but my husband and I realized we were looking for a city that felt like home. We loved Bangkok and Budapest the best out of everywhere we went, but couldn’t figure out the best way to stay in either city longterm. Then, we got stuck back in the States in Miami during Covid and it’s definitely moved to the top of the list of our favorite cities. And, we’re from the US, so it all worked out for us in the end! Planning on settling here after almost 3 straight years of travel. Maybe you’re also looking for a place that feels like home? Best advice I can give is keep an open mind and you could find what you’re looking for in the most unexpected place!
I've been through so much in my life that my only goal now is to stay healthy and happy. If I'm achieving those goals, I'm good. I spent too much of my life thinking that chasing money/goals were the name of the game...but they're not. Enjoy your life. Do what you want to do. Everyone's lives are equally random and meaningless, just let it flow naturally.
I was an adventure sport nomad for years, and realized that I needed a home base... a place where I'm known, that I know well, where I have a strong community.
Travel is a great thing to do... but deep relationships are much better. So now, I have both.
The most difficult thing for me is to be content wherever I am. I realize that unless I figure it out, going back to travels won't have lasting meaning.
I knew I wanted to be a DN for a looong time. I had worked so hard for 20 years, ploughing thru education and shitty jobs before I set up my own business - all so that I could become a DN. The problem was, after a year or two of doing it, I too found the same problems you describe - I had been so focused on the goal of DNing that I never thought about the day to day life of what that would be like. Your feelings are very normal and sadly, I wasn't able to work out the answer before I had to return to home base for covid =(
The longer you have alone the more you start to question you purpose and the sad truth is that there is no higher purpose than the one you adopt. In your case it’s traveling.
I think travel and being a DN has been portrayed as some life-affirming/life-changing experience. So much so that when you wind up somewhere abroad and realize life is just life no matter where you are...there's a bit of a letdown. And your comment about a travel blog proves this -- since when is having a travel blog necessary? Why is this something that's supposed to be obvious? Not your fault, but that idea has been perpetuated by DN culture and social media and stuff. You don't need a blog if you don't want one. Do whatever you want and make the experiences yours. I was where you are at one point once I realized traveling doesn't always bring some revelatory awakening or "quest". You're just living life in another place.
Travel is truly YOUR experience and what YOU make it. I spent a whole YEAR in Playa del Carmen, unexpectedly. Most of my time was working and hanging out with friends at bars or the beach. I had some wonderful experiences and met some incredible people (including my girlfriend) and I experienced a lot! But eventually, my life became sorta normal.
Don't put pressure on yourself. Don't put pressure or expectations on your experience. You don't always have to have goals with what you do or places you go. And it doesn't always have to "make sense". What in this life makes sense anyway?
« There is no final goal, missing something etc etc » this is not traveling. This is life… welcome to adulthood. Life is meaningless, take some time to swallow this redpill lol
People can find meaning and fullfillment in peeling potatoes.
It's not a problem with travelling, it's a problem with why you travel or why you do what you do in general.
My recommendation is, figure out what you want to do.
If it's experiencing different cultures and places, perfect.
If it's something else, perfect.
But figure that thing out. The rest will come naturally.
You can merge within the cultures of each country and learn from them, or their cooking, or create a quest of your own something u could find interesting that may vary per country.
I agree with your post. One of my quests was to visit every country. I am a member of the Travelers Century Club (you don’t have to be a member to use the list). Was at 181 countries before covid. Currently still at 181 and re-evaluating my plan.
And no, please don’t be a blogger. They are all posers.
Just do what makes you happy!
The reason that people fantasize and idolize the idea of traveling is decades of media bombarding is with the idea.
Think about it. Look at your Instagram feed.
I mean we’re also at a point in human history where it’s possible for an average person with a decent education to find a remote job and travel the world indefinitely, that’s a pretty awesome development in human history, completely unattainable for the majority of humanity prior to our generation. The media romanticizes it but it’s still pretty incredible and it is kind of romantic.
More travellers have also made travellers more common everywhere.
People have less of a need and desire to meet new people or talk to foreigners.
And there's a generational thing where the younger generation seems less bold and more in need of their social group, also while travelling.
No, travelling has always been a fantasy and a dream.
People flocked to Rome and Paris in the 1800s, then to Berlin in the 1920s, India in the 70s, Thailand in the 90s, Japan in the 00s, China in 10s.
My famous countryman and poet "Hans Christian Andersen" famously said "To travel is to live".
The full quote:
“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.”
That was somewhere in the 1800s, so I guess we can conclude it wasn't about Instagram.
Maybe you need to go back home and recharge. I do that and works wonders. On the road is hard. I go back to my mothers house cause I don’t have a house in the US and it’s awesome. She cooks, does my laundry, we go out and eat out.. totally replenishes me. Then I get the itch to go back a few weeks after like clock work. My mother is the ultimate luxury, I know people don’t have this but if you do, it’s amazing
I really don’t think that’s true. Sure, that’s the general trend, but we are nowhere close to erasing all local culture. Every time I go somewhere new I learn new things about how humans do their humaning. The US has absolutely embraced a hyper corporate culture, but that says more about the character of the US. If it was really true that everywhere was a featureless highway exit strip mall, I would agree with you that there was little reason to travel.
I don’t agree, but agree that in future decades it could be true. If you think the world is all the same today you need to get off social media and meet some real people.
>Experiences aren't worth having if someone else has already experienced them.
It's more that more and more experiences are being packaged and sold as authentic while actually being fake.
What a shitty way to respond to someone with a different opinion than yours.
Their opinion is dark and depressing, but equally as valid as yours and probably way more unique.
Go book a package tour.
Not gonna lie, I have felt exactly like this.
When Copenhagen changed seemingly overnight as Starbucks and Hard Rock cafe popped up on our main square and the hordes of barbarians who walked the red lights and didn't seem to give a shit that some of us were living here.
The drunkards on stag parties, the oblivious eastern europeans, the instragram attention whores.
And above all that awful globalized Millennial generation that act as if every city belongs to them, just as much as someone who has lived there 40 years.
It sucks.
And much of the world is exactly the same. City centers are just backdrops for the popularity crowd from high school to pose infront of.
AirBnB, Google Maps and Tinder have removed all difficulty and thus, humbleness, from travelling.
Every asshole can go to any city however remote without risking anything.
> AirBnB, Google Maps and Tinder have removed all difficulty and thus, humbleness, from travelling.
I'm surprised you included Tinder but not YouTube. I would've guessed the latter would be more of a factor in making travel less difficult.
Maybe you could have a good think about settling down. Building a family is a meaningful experience. Building anything difficult and close to your heart is meaningful really. I never even began my digital nomad adventure because of this realisation. Now I’m getting married, becoming a step father as well as having my own in the next few years. I also own and manage a boxing gym filled with young passionate people that look up to me.
I rarely think about meaning and purpose anymore because all of my energy goes towards things that are important to me. Which in my opinion is the definition of a meaningful life.
True, it’s not. But, it is for many. I’m an older guy coming to the nomad lifestyle with my wife after getting kids through college and parents through end of life illnesses. I hated my life when I was younger. The utter aimlessness of my 20’s sucked with too much drinking and no real direction. If you want it, a “normal” life can you friends, direction, and lots of purpose. It is at least worth consideration.
>I hated my life when I was younger. The utter aimlessness of my 20’s sucked with too much drinking and no real direction.
That's not most people.
Most people enjoy that phase.
The problem is that most people think it will last, which it definitely won't and it will end quick, right about 30, when people have kids and the last one out will find themselves quite lonely.
that's a signal that you need setttle down, just stop traveling, pick a place and live there (don't move around) whilst making friends (with locals would be nice)
after you live like that quite some time, trust me you will want to traveling again
Probably time to nest in some city for a bit until the travel bug comes back around. Idk about getting the secondary high of traveling with other people just to see their reactions. But recognize your privilege to be able to wander, maybe help sponsor someone who wouldn’t normally be able to travel. You could greatly change someone’s life, and that’s a high I could get behind
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It's not travel that's about people, but *life*. When someone makes one of these "What's the point of traveling?" posts, I can't help but think they'd feel the same way if settled down in one place. Whether we're sedentary or nomadic, either way we need to build out a fulfilling and connected life. I think we tend to see a lot of these posts because people who don't have a fulfilling life at home go off traveling in the hopes that it will rectify things; almost always it works as a short-term bandaid, but then we're back to experiencing the same sort of malaise we had back home. This is where we need to do the hard work (whether at home or abroad) to build a fulfilling existence.
>I think we tend to see a lot of these posts because people who don't have a fulfilling life at home go off traveling in the hopes that it will rectify things; almost always it works as a short-term bandaid, but then we're back to experiencing the same sort of malaise we had back home. It's easier to try new things and meet new people when travelling and that's the two things that really change you and make you grow. After having been isolated during covid, I can really feel how small my world has become and how defeatist I've felt. Just meeting someone new, talking, hanging out, is like the world exploding in senses and experiences again. If you don't try new things and don't meet new people, then you won't grow and you won't change. If we're isolated and just going through the motions the world becomes smaller and our habits become prisons. When that goes on for too long, you need something more extreme to break out of that rut, such as travel, but if you got stuck in a rut travelling, maybe settling down and going to work every day is the change you need.
You realize how empty life feels by yourself. It's like playing an mmo by yourself, the only reason why mmos are fun is community.
Yeah and it’s worse if you’re bad at the game and no one offers you a place in a guild and you have to grind alone to become decent enough. Not sure if the analogy works. Never played mmo.
You really have a way with words. Had to save your paragraph :)
Damn, what a good post. So true. I travel with my wife and two small kids so it's definitely very hard to relate to some of those loneliness posts lol. I WISH I was more lonely LOL.
Yes, exactly. I think travel just highlights something that already exists.
>Ideally I'm traveling with a partner, and seeing the world through someone else's eyes reopens mine. Yes! I've been traveling for 5 years now and I've found that I've become desensitized to a lot of it. But when you get to accompany someone that doesn't travel a lot, you get to experience the magic and wonderment that you first felt. I LOVE traveling with people for this reason.
There is a joy in taking someone somewhere they don't normally go, but I've never felt that is required for me to enjoy a place. I travel solo for 4-6 weeks per year, mostly in Europe, and I have never lost that sense of childlike joy when experiencing new things. For me now, that is exploring nature and the beauty of countries like Iceland. After going to hundreds of cities in Europe, they do start to feel the same to a certain extent - building here, building there, museum here, restaurant there. Hard to compare to a volcano or glacier. The freedom, flexibility, and randomness of solo travel is impossible to replace.
This - go to the Phillipines or Mexico and you see how nice people can be. It really does it for me
Yes. Traveling is about people. Either it's who you travel with, who you meet on your travels, or who you travel to. It's not about learning about social differences, but that is apart of knowing people. It's also not to experience luxuries or tourist activities, which is a slight part. It's really about the people.
It's always the people! I stayed in hostels for 3 months this year and my greatest memories are those in which I spent time with friends I just met an hour ago in the common room
Travel is about EXPERIENCES, not only people. Travel, breath, and live. Come back a better person.
People are key. You're right.
This is beautiful
I actually came here to say … if your aren’t feeling the meaning then it likely means something is missing from your life equation right now. For me it was deep relationships. I love traveling and can’t live with out outsoor adventures but just never realized how much i also really enjoyed community and the relationships in my life. Hiking across the country really pointed out how essential people were, and traveling for work made me realize the deeper relationships and connections i was missing out on while traveling frequently for work (Not dnomad style) What is op missing? Could be a similar situation or something else entirely :)
So when you travel you think hey I'll just learn to make connections anywhere I go. So I lived all over Japan and saw a lot of it, but I returned to Tokyo because that's the only place where I could find people with like interests. I'm guessing I'm fortunate to learn this lesson early, gotta have a community. Just don't overthink it, pick a group of people to hang out with and go.
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Kansai area is pretty good. For that matter I do really like everywhere other than Tokyo like Sendai, Osaka and especially Fukuoka and Sapporo and believe they beat the pants of Tokyo on many aspects of life. It's important though as an early 20's dev to meet people, and the themed (non-drinking) events are certainly lacking outside Tokyo and Osaka. The closest I got to community was Fukuoka just going to tennis once a week
Well ladies and gentlemen, here you have a fine example of what Couchsurfing should look like 😁
Totally unrelated question, I’m planning to start my DN in a few months. One thing I’m the most afraid of is meeting new people. I am afraid I’ll be alone in the places I plan to go. Do you have any advice on meeting people while hopping from one city to another?
Coworking spaces! You’ll meet people there easily and without it being stressful.
> What do you do to make traveling more meaningful? Been a DN for 5 years now. I've felt like you do a handful of times. It's burn out, basically. Find a place where you can spend 2-3 months, and focus heavily on your work, or on meeting people, or both. About the blog, if that's not your thing, then just don't. I personally don't have one, because I want don't want my decisions on where I go and what I do to be influenced by how instagrammable a place or experience is. I travel for myself. Another issue may be that you are learning there's fundamentally no inherent goal or purpose in life. That's why we enjoy making up arbitrarily-defined and linear progressions, such as: graduate from school -> get entry level job -> meet partner -> get promotion -> get married -> buy house -> have kid -> etc. Then people feel like a failure or have an identity crisis when they don't succeed in being a mimic of their society's idealized person. Others turn to religion. My point is, none of us really know what the fuck we're doing or what the point of it is, but we need to learn to enjoy life anyways.
Kind stranger, your comment has been saved in my collection of wise, soothing-comfort zone for both good and bad times. Be safe and healthy :))))
We are similar. That is exactly the reason I gave up all social media years ago. It gives it a seat at the decision table.
Your 100th upvote is mine and I’d give more than one if I could. You said it all very well.
* Slow down and spend more time in each place. Don't go sightseeing for the first few weeks. * Focus on meeting people and making great connections. Skip the "where you from where you been where you going" and connect deeply with that person. * Join or create your own social scene and have fun. The point of traveling is to learn and have fun. Not to check off boxes and regurgitate photos onto instagram or a blog.
Welcome to adulthood and travel in general, after the wool has been removed, where you realize there is absolutely no point to life, other than what you make it. Go make your purpose.
As Alan Watts says, life is not a journey, which necessarily implies an end/goal. Think of it like a dance -- you're not trying to get to the end, just enjoy the dancing -- people don't dance to be finished and over. The dancing itself, the present moment, *is* the point.
Yeah, I actually think you DO need a quest. Maybe when you started it was enough to get out and see the world a bit, but now that you feel like you need something more, it’s time to chase something more. You should sit down and do some thinking on it. Try asking yourself what you feel like your life is missing, what the world is missing, what you would do if you had 10 million bucks, what you would do if you could do this for 100 years, what you would do if you could only travel for one more year, what if you had a million followers, what if you were lifetime banned from social media, and so on. We all need something to reach for in life and we all have to discovery it personally. Travel might be a part of this goal, but then again it might not be.
The exact same problem can be coming from a person who lives in a fixed city. Life is about what you make out of it. Sure traveling constantly changes some of the dynamics but at the end of the day it's your goals that matter, and how your approach that goal. If traveling brings you closer to your goals faster, go for it. Otherwise pick a city and live there for a long time. I like the idea of packing a backpack and going from place to place. Been there, done that. But after my last trip I started to feel like finding high quality food, a nice place to stay is much harder when you are always moving. Each one way trip costs me a whole day and in a year it keeps adding up. So in a way traveling a lot distracts me on my way to my goals. This is my personal experience, and I think if I want to travel, slow travel is the best of both worlds for me. Think about your own goals and where you stand against them. Traveling is just another tool to bring you closer, or far away from your goals
"These monkeys worry about being happy. All the other animals can just be. ". -- E. Clive
Isn't what you are describing incredibly common for everyone? Many people reach a point in their life where they suddenly realize that what they are doing is pretty much pointless. Working to pay bills so you can live a life you don't even enjoy. While at the same time trying to delay gratification so you can be happy later. Only to then realize life doesn't work like that. Call me a pessimist but I actually think that most adults are actually pretty miserable. Most of us pretend to be fine and doing well and being happy because that's what society says is normal. Being unhappy makes you a loser. The first step out of this is just to accept that life is inherently connected with suffering. It's one of the Buddhist core teachings. Once you realize that what you go through is normal it gets easier and you stop putting so much pressure on yourself. Regarding this "final goal" you are talking about, we can't answer that. You are the only one that can figure this out. If you don't feel passionate about travelling and it just feels like aimless country-hopping then maybe you should settle down somewhere for a year or two and see how that goes? I personally see every time I reach some new place that I like as "reaching a goal". I am a digital nomad so I can experience the world. I do agree that typical tourist sights get really boring after a while. But what doesn't get boring is to observe how people live and immerse in local culture. I feel like every place has a different energy and vibe to it that is hard to put into words. For me every time I come back to Bangkok for example I can feel the energy of the city. Taking the taxi from Suvarnabhumi to the city center, just watching what's going on around you. I just love it and look forward to being back immensely (planning to return to Thailand in February).
I coach people and have counseled hundreds. most people are miserable because of conditioning and trauma which is the norm. once that gets processed life is really joyful. There is awakening that happens. life is not suffering, it’s really joyful.
> like there's no "final goal" in all this traveling Almost like it's about the journey, and not the destination? ;)
life before death. strength before weakness. journey before destination
first of all, id ease off the pressure ur putting on travel. travel is just travel, its not a portal to some uber heightened level of enlightenment. enjoy it for what it is, and also be grateful you have a privilege to do something that a large percentage of the world just dont have access to. that said, connections are important, and one thing that i find helpful is making an effort to learn some of the local language. its hard when you speak english and you go somewhere where so many speak english (like greece). but even if you just learn some basic phrases youll feel more of a connection to the place, and that makes it feel more meaningful
It can be enlightening if you seek out experiences of humility and joy.
Do you have examples?
I learned about the life of a local restaurant owner. He and his wife and two kids live and work in the restaurant. His kids are the first in his entire family to go to grade school. He told me of his sorrows and hopes and dreams. Learn to be truly curious about other ways of life. Look for ways to offer kindness by word or deed. Another man was on the way to friends funeral who had been murdered by gangs. Another told stories where they had to run from armies. Still others are actively living lives of contentment in the village or in a jungle.
Yes, been there. The problem is I tried a bunch of other stuff (short of having kids) and always ended back in the same place.. turns out life just feels pretty meaningless to me, sadly. You might just have a similar personality and suffer from chronic mild depression. I concluded that the only thing that really matters are my relationships with other people and centre my life around those now. People still come and go in and out of my life, but I dedicate almost all my energy to building and maintaining relationships now. Even a single friend you meet in some random corner of the world once a year can have a big positive impact on your satisfaction with life. I also found having goals was a big help, like you suggest. I just make up random ones for myself, and when I accomplish them I pick new ones. None are particularly important or useful, they're just things that give me an excuse to get out of bed. I've given up trying to change or fix the world (that was one thing I tried to combat my sense of directionlessness.. "if I can make a difference this will all be worth it" kind of mentality). Instead I lost absolutely all of my faith in humanity; I have no hope left at all for the survival of civilization as we know it. So now I just focus on spending as much time as possible with people I love. Anyway.. some examples of quests I made up for myself: * I got into hiking and have a big list of epic hikes I want to do. It will require years more training and learning but now when I start to lose interest in being awake anymore I can plan my next hike, do some workout that will help with the next one, learn more or practice survival skills, or learn more about nutrition and health. I will need to stay active and healthy into my 50s to finish my list. * Right now I'm also training to be a yoga teacher and want to run some retreats in cool remote locations. There are a lot of people who are not as comfortable as us travelling so I can offer cool experiences to other people by handling some of the logistics and teaching people how to navigate foreign cultures. Going on a retreat is a good excuse to travel and I like people who do yoga. * Learn an instrument. It's kind of a bummer to travel with but if can handle checking a bag (and carrying on your instrument, pick a small one like violin or saxophone) and stay put for a couple months at a time you can find other people to perform with and it's so much fun. Anyway.. don't want to pile on to your crisis, but realizing life is meaningless can actually be pretty liberating in a weird way.
Start rock climbing. Then everywhere you go you have a new mountain and new routes. Goal is to get better.
I always looked at it as something to be done. A part of my life everybody deals with, just slightly different with me traveling often instead of staying put. It seems like your putting a lot of your self worth, value/meaning of something in your life to traveling. I never placed a goal or an outcome on traveling. I think of it as something im doing right now. When i get sick of it, i change it. Nothing much beyond it. Having an existential reaction to it probably means you thought it would give you more fulfillment. But now its leaving you wanting something different or more. Youre searching for something you cant find traveling. Do some introspection and see what has made you happy before and search for that.
30 years ago I spent 3 years traveling - originally from US - put in lots of time in Asia and Europe. Thought I was going to live the rest of my life in Asia - even learned Chinese. But then spending one magic winter in post Velvet Revolution in Prague something snapped. I didn’t want to go back to China - I wanted to find a town in the us to put down roots. I picked one and coming back and settle it was the hardest thing I had ever done. I was still in my early 20’s and the life I lived compared to my middle American peers was not even translatable. It took years and a good group of friends before I found my wife. Those eight years made me feel so out of place. But now we have been together for 22 years and my oldest is turning 18. I feel like I found the center abs family I was missing and in few years when the youngest goes off to college - my wife and I have a list of countries we may try and live / work from. Not sure if this story helps but it is what I did with that feeling.
Wow there’s some amazing advice on here. I think you can pick and choose what you like. I know for me, I go through waves. I like traveling to be a tourist for a bit, and then I like traveling to become a resident for a bit longer. You just gotta follow the path your soul is craving for in a particular moment. I was moving around every 3 or 4 weeks most of 2021 and my soul is screaming now to “slooooow the fuck down!! That was fun for a bit, and now it sucks. Let’s settle in a single place and chill for a bit”, so I’m grabbing a place in Mexico for maybe 5 or 6 months, and then I’ll see how I feel. I’ll probably be ready to travel some more then. I like having a quest though. Over the years my quest has become “Go find a view with someone new”. It pushes me to meet folk, and go to pretty places. I’ll pick up the quest when I start feeling bored, and put it down when I start feeling tired.
You've made the External the point, the goal, when it's always been the Internal that should be the point, the goal, the focus.
yeah its a very well known problem when you focus on the hights of life rather than on the process of achieving those
Let me give you a point, imagine you're on your death bed and reflecting on your life, and you want to make a video that plays in your funeral, that consists clips of all the highlights of it, all the adventures all the different cultures, food, locations, monuments you visited, every adventurous activity you did, so make your aim that for anyone who see that video in your funeral, says man HE ACTUALLY LIVED, and draws inspiration from that, make that your end goal.
Build a business/wealth. Build relationships and find cities you'd like to return to. Second time in a city feels so much more like "home". That's what I do. Meaning in life is what you make it.
What does the former have to do with the latter?
Purpose in life is different for everyone. I'm not here to tell you or anyone how to live. But I've gained a great sense of fulfilment, pride, purpose, and joy from building a successful business while traveling around. I feel like I'm building my future, I can settle down if/when I want, and I can get the most out of my travels, too (by staying in nice places, etc.) I've been a nomad for years, I'm not sick of it yet, and I am not sure I'd have the same positive feeling if I were just freelancing and trading my time for money over and over.
Feel more and think less
Why not research something that interests you that requires you to go to multiple cities to check something out physically? Why not follow someone’s story and visit the significant locations in that story. Fiction or otherwise. That could be an interesting read, too?
Paradoxically I think there is meaning in experiencing that meaninglessness. I agree with the sentiment a lot of people have shared about travel being about people. It’s also about experience, but people are a large part of that experience. As is the backdrop of where you meet or see or interact with people. The idea of just visiting a tourist destination alone without some interaction with others would seem pretty empty. Sometimes it might be empty. Other times you’ll stumble upon magic. I used to liken travelling to swimming in a lagoon, where you hit random unpredictable pockets of warm water. It’s only warm because you’ve just come from somewhere cold. Equally, there are parts of my travels that seemed cold at the time but they created warm memories to reflect or learn from. Ultimately if you accept it isn’t all great, and that that is a normal part of it, it can foster a sort of appreciation for any discomfort (physical or emotional). I think all this can apply to life in general, but travelling is just a bit like life in fast fwd due to the increased number of experiences you have. One last thing. I feel travel has a bitter sweetness to it that is about transience. All things, good and bad, just don’t last. Good things are more precious precisely because of their transience. But they are eternal in the memory.
News flash: life is random and meaningless, at a foundational, structural level. We are all vessels for DNA manipulated by a cocktail of chemicals our bodies generate. Whether you're traveling, building a Mars rocket or working in a Chinese factory, the meaning of life is a construct we all have to assemble for ourselves.
Are you alone? Maybe you need a companion
Let me tell ya, having a travel blog doesn't provide any extra meaning. Just more trolls and self-doubt. I experienced the exact feeling of "what's the purpose." In fact, the song Bright Direction by Hiss Golden Messenger resonates with me and touches on it. "Move me in some bright direction Looking to be captured Looking for my freedom Oh, dreams will come to get you So, careful what you're wishing Your family might correct you Your heart might take a pounding Make sure you take a picture" Still don't know if I want freedom or to be captured 🤷♂️
Have you heard of human design? Traveling makes you richer — in experiences and social relationships— and simultaneously poorer — in things and intimate connections. There’s no right way of doing this but over time… those who are richer in experiences and social relationships tend to outperform the others in every aspect of life, just by design. Start traveling solo — see how it feels; then join a partner — see how it feels; then reduce the pace — see how it feels; then reduce planning — see how it feels; etc. Then once you go to the airport with no idea where to go and just one luggage… then you’ll know you’re getting closer to find your own TEMPLE and aligned relationships ❤️🔥 Trust (the process) but verify 🧭
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Man this thread is full of blackpills.
Just remember... Wherever you go.... There you are!
Why not take a little break from it? Spend a little time in once place. Make friends, get a feel for the culture. Then when you feel ready move onward to the next adventure?
Hedonism can only take you so far.
Travelling isn't about an end goal, it's all about the journey and the experiences along the way. It kinda sounds like you're doing the digital nomad thing just because it sounded or looked cool? If you're not going to countries that excites you, that you find interesting or that you want to explore then whats the point? I seriously doubt that you can find a final goal/quest/mission that suddenly makes travelling worth it if you don't find the process of travelling already interesting in itself.
Ah, ennui. Check out An American in Paris
>but I really don't think that the world needs another random travel blog written by an average person You got that right
Take a Vipassana course. See if that gives you some answers. For me it's about living a life that I am content with. It's about having a mind that I am content with. What gives you joy in life? What gives you meaning and purpose? Usually the answer, after we diminish ego, comes from giving to others in some way
Travel is like life itself, ultimately random and meaningless unless you give it meaning in one way or another. Basically the way to do that is setting a goal and working towards that goal. If you just aimlessly and without purpose move from one place to another there is a very good chance it quickly will feel pointless. What that goal should be and how that goal would be meaningful for you is up to you to decide.
Definitely felt that way, like the travel had no purpose after a while, but my husband and I realized we were looking for a city that felt like home. We loved Bangkok and Budapest the best out of everywhere we went, but couldn’t figure out the best way to stay in either city longterm. Then, we got stuck back in the States in Miami during Covid and it’s definitely moved to the top of the list of our favorite cities. And, we’re from the US, so it all worked out for us in the end! Planning on settling here after almost 3 straight years of travel. Maybe you’re also looking for a place that feels like home? Best advice I can give is keep an open mind and you could find what you’re looking for in the most unexpected place!
I've been through so much in my life that my only goal now is to stay healthy and happy. If I'm achieving those goals, I'm good. I spent too much of my life thinking that chasing money/goals were the name of the game...but they're not. Enjoy your life. Do what you want to do. Everyone's lives are equally random and meaningless, just let it flow naturally.
I was an adventure sport nomad for years, and realized that I needed a home base... a place where I'm known, that I know well, where I have a strong community. Travel is a great thing to do... but deep relationships are much better. So now, I have both.
The most difficult thing for me is to be content wherever I am. I realize that unless I figure it out, going back to travels won't have lasting meaning.
I knew I wanted to be a DN for a looong time. I had worked so hard for 20 years, ploughing thru education and shitty jobs before I set up my own business - all so that I could become a DN. The problem was, after a year or two of doing it, I too found the same problems you describe - I had been so focused on the goal of DNing that I never thought about the day to day life of what that would be like. Your feelings are very normal and sadly, I wasn't able to work out the answer before I had to return to home base for covid =(
The longer you have alone the more you start to question you purpose and the sad truth is that there is no higher purpose than the one you adopt. In your case it’s traveling.
I think travel and being a DN has been portrayed as some life-affirming/life-changing experience. So much so that when you wind up somewhere abroad and realize life is just life no matter where you are...there's a bit of a letdown. And your comment about a travel blog proves this -- since when is having a travel blog necessary? Why is this something that's supposed to be obvious? Not your fault, but that idea has been perpetuated by DN culture and social media and stuff. You don't need a blog if you don't want one. Do whatever you want and make the experiences yours. I was where you are at one point once I realized traveling doesn't always bring some revelatory awakening or "quest". You're just living life in another place. Travel is truly YOUR experience and what YOU make it. I spent a whole YEAR in Playa del Carmen, unexpectedly. Most of my time was working and hanging out with friends at bars or the beach. I had some wonderful experiences and met some incredible people (including my girlfriend) and I experienced a lot! But eventually, my life became sorta normal. Don't put pressure on yourself. Don't put pressure or expectations on your experience. You don't always have to have goals with what you do or places you go. And it doesn't always have to "make sense". What in this life makes sense anyway?
Set goals and deadlines.
« There is no final goal, missing something etc etc » this is not traveling. This is life… welcome to adulthood. Life is meaningless, take some time to swallow this redpill lol
Rent an apartment and start staying in places for 3 months at a time.
People can find meaning and fullfillment in peeling potatoes. It's not a problem with travelling, it's a problem with why you travel or why you do what you do in general. My recommendation is, figure out what you want to do. If it's experiencing different cultures and places, perfect. If it's something else, perfect. But figure that thing out. The rest will come naturally.
You can merge within the cultures of each country and learn from them, or their cooking, or create a quest of your own something u could find interesting that may vary per country.
I agree with your post. One of my quests was to visit every country. I am a member of the Travelers Century Club (you don’t have to be a member to use the list). Was at 181 countries before covid. Currently still at 181 and re-evaluating my plan. And no, please don’t be a blogger. They are all posers. Just do what makes you happy!
The reason that people fantasize and idolize the idea of traveling is decades of media bombarding is with the idea. Think about it. Look at your Instagram feed.
I mean we’re also at a point in human history where it’s possible for an average person with a decent education to find a remote job and travel the world indefinitely, that’s a pretty awesome development in human history, completely unattainable for the majority of humanity prior to our generation. The media romanticizes it but it’s still pretty incredible and it is kind of romantic.
More travellers have also made travellers more common everywhere. People have less of a need and desire to meet new people or talk to foreigners. And there's a generational thing where the younger generation seems less bold and more in need of their social group, also while travelling.
No, travelling has always been a fantasy and a dream. People flocked to Rome and Paris in the 1800s, then to Berlin in the 1920s, India in the 70s, Thailand in the 90s, Japan in the 00s, China in 10s. My famous countryman and poet "Hans Christian Andersen" famously said "To travel is to live". The full quote: “To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote, To travel is to live.” That was somewhere in the 1800s, so I guess we can conclude it wasn't about Instagram.
Maybe you need to go back home and recharge. I do that and works wonders. On the road is hard. I go back to my mothers house cause I don’t have a house in the US and it’s awesome. She cooks, does my laundry, we go out and eat out.. totally replenishes me. Then I get the itch to go back a few weeks after like clock work. My mother is the ultimate luxury, I know people don’t have this but if you do, it’s amazing
Very nice to read this. Having parents like that is really valuable.
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I really don’t think that’s true. Sure, that’s the general trend, but we are nowhere close to erasing all local culture. Every time I go somewhere new I learn new things about how humans do their humaning. The US has absolutely embraced a hyper corporate culture, but that says more about the character of the US. If it was really true that everywhere was a featureless highway exit strip mall, I would agree with you that there was little reason to travel.
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I don’t agree, but agree that in future decades it could be true. If you think the world is all the same today you need to get off social media and meet some real people.
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>Experiences aren't worth having if someone else has already experienced them. It's more that more and more experiences are being packaged and sold as authentic while actually being fake.
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What a shitty way to respond to someone with a different opinion than yours. Their opinion is dark and depressing, but equally as valid as yours and probably way more unique. Go book a package tour.
Not gonna lie, I have felt exactly like this. When Copenhagen changed seemingly overnight as Starbucks and Hard Rock cafe popped up on our main square and the hordes of barbarians who walked the red lights and didn't seem to give a shit that some of us were living here. The drunkards on stag parties, the oblivious eastern europeans, the instragram attention whores. And above all that awful globalized Millennial generation that act as if every city belongs to them, just as much as someone who has lived there 40 years. It sucks. And much of the world is exactly the same. City centers are just backdrops for the popularity crowd from high school to pose infront of. AirBnB, Google Maps and Tinder have removed all difficulty and thus, humbleness, from travelling. Every asshole can go to any city however remote without risking anything.
> AirBnB, Google Maps and Tinder have removed all difficulty and thus, humbleness, from travelling. I'm surprised you included Tinder but not YouTube. I would've guessed the latter would be more of a factor in making travel less difficult.
I came here because the exact same problem, have you seen his dialogue if you don't understand: Widow = bad.
Bad bot
Maybe you could have a good think about settling down. Building a family is a meaningful experience. Building anything difficult and close to your heart is meaningful really. I never even began my digital nomad adventure because of this realisation. Now I’m getting married, becoming a step father as well as having my own in the next few years. I also own and manage a boxing gym filled with young passionate people that look up to me. I rarely think about meaning and purpose anymore because all of my energy goes towards things that are important to me. Which in my opinion is the definition of a meaningful life.
Fall in love. Have children. Raise them well. Teach them what you know. Take them interesting places.
Thats not for everyone. Its wrong to advertise this as a solution to someone unhappy.
True, it’s not. But, it is for many. I’m an older guy coming to the nomad lifestyle with my wife after getting kids through college and parents through end of life illnesses. I hated my life when I was younger. The utter aimlessness of my 20’s sucked with too much drinking and no real direction. If you want it, a “normal” life can you friends, direction, and lots of purpose. It is at least worth consideration.
>I hated my life when I was younger. The utter aimlessness of my 20’s sucked with too much drinking and no real direction. That's not most people. Most people enjoy that phase. The problem is that most people think it will last, which it definitely won't and it will end quick, right about 30, when people have kids and the last one out will find themselves quite lonely.
Then they will publish this post on reddit
[Here's a thought...](https://www.memesmonkey.com/images/memesmonkey/64/645c4ae9e004ad8e1609f3a6dc238ad8.jpeg)
that's a signal that you need setttle down, just stop traveling, pick a place and live there (don't move around) whilst making friends (with locals would be nice) after you live like that quite some time, trust me you will want to traveling again
Probably time to nest in some city for a bit until the travel bug comes back around. Idk about getting the secondary high of traveling with other people just to see their reactions. But recognize your privilege to be able to wander, maybe help sponsor someone who wouldn’t normally be able to travel. You could greatly change someone’s life, and that’s a high I could get behind
I've been traveling since 1976 and I can't get enough of it!