I’ve been on the road for almost four years now. I guess it gives me a perspective on travel that not everyone has. So I thought it was time to share some of my insights and offer some guidance and maybe a few suggestions on how we can can all become better travelers and get more out of our time away from home. 

It’s obvious, of course, but world travel isn’t what it used to be. Long gone are the days of suffering with heavy packs, limited knowledge of where you’re going and how to get there. Of bad water and no pizza. Of seeing amazing sunsets and not having a camera to capture it. Or meeting amazing people but not really being able to have a way to keep in touch, or even of staying in touch with family and friends at home.  In the past we were isolated. Truly off the grid. Maybe a bit scared. 

Of course in some ways, those the reasons that propelled us on our journeys in the first place.

It’s equally as obvious that the world has changed. And continues to change. Traveling has never been easier. Or cheaper. It’s almost a no brainer to be able to jump on a plane and find yourself across the world in no time. We arrive, take out our phone, use it to check into our hotel, make dinner reservations, call home to tell our family we’re safe, then hail an Uber to take us to wherever. As we sit in the backseat, we pass a McDonalds or a Starbucks. Add a pizza restaurant or two. What country are we in again? It’s like we didn’t leave home at all. You honestly have to pay attention to see what’s different from where you just arrived from. 

But regardless, we take back out our phone to search Google Maps to find the the next Instagram friendly spot. Then we post… and post, as our jealous friends back home start making plans to follow. We then book our next flight on Skyscanner.com. Our hotels on Booking.com (or Airbnb).

It’s all become so easy. But at what price? I’ve been asking myself just that. 

I would never have guessed it at the time, but traveling during Covid was one of the best experiences I could have imagined. What at first seemed like a horror show turned into a glimpse of travel from years ago — where I walked around the empty St Marks Piazza in Venice. Heard my footsteps echo through the desolate grand hall of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Walk into highly rated restaurants that were empty. Flew on planes where I could camp out on rows of empty seats. While everyone was confined in their homes, I had the pick of the world to check out. Well, that isn’t quite true. The world really wasn’t open, but enough was if you looked hard and were flexible. 

Having that experience gave me a better perspective on what I’m seeing now. And I have to say that I’m a bit shell shocked.

The prices for flights (and everything else for that matter) are through the roof. Europe is packed to the brim. The Russians have taken over large chunks of Thailand. Cruise ships line up at ports, and everywhere you look are well… people. The post Covid surge is real. And who knows if it will ever end.

But we can’t forget that the Covid world hit many countries hard and now they are hungry for tourists. Tourism has become a major part of the world economy. People suffered during Covid. Not just health-wise, but financially. Restaurants closed. Guides went back to their home towns and starting working the fields again. 

When the pandemic finally ended, people were happy. But as tourism resumes, we are paying the price. Isn’t it interesting to consider that one of our main reasons we travel is to experience someplace new. Someplace different than our home. But the sudden surge of tourism has brought a new focus on our impact to the very cultures we came to see in the first place. The act of packing so many visitors into a city our country has changed these places as they have adapted to our needs and tastes. Local, ethnic foods aren’t quite as local anymore. In pretty much every bar and restaurant, western music blares into the street. When I go to a beach, it’s not enough to just sit and enjoy the quiet beauty. You now are encouraged to rent an an umbrella, then a jet ski or get pulled into the air hanging from a parachute. Or bungee jump. Or zip line. Now it’s not just cultural, it’s a manufactured adventure we’re after. 

Or is it? Or do we even know what we’re looking for?

I’m not complaining or judging what I’m seeing. And certainly, it’s not going away. 

But maybe there are ways to be more conscious in how we travel. Maybe we can embrace the future and the past. Enjoy our freedoms and our comforts and still find time to reflect on the beauty, history and people who make the world so culturally rich and can give us perspective on our own lives.

How can we change our approach?

First I think we need to slow down. Less is certainly more when it comes to travel. We all try and pack it all in. See as much as we can in as short of time as possible. What I’ve learned is that staying longer in a place than the guidebook suggests, you might find time to dig a little deeper. And that might mean having a day to do nothing but sit at a restaurant or cafe and watch people. Maybe chat it up with the waitress. Maybe walk aimlessly around and take pictures. But FOMO is real — the panic of missing out. Of not filling every waking minute of whatever. Checking off the boxes. Taking every Instagram shot. Instead, why not when you visit some amazing historical site, just sit and contemplate? Take a breath. Imagine yourself in the past when what you’re seeing was the present. You can’t do that when you’re rushing onto the next bus that will take you to the next “must see” sight. 

What do you take back home with you when your vacation was all a blur? Maybe those quiet unplanned moments will take on a new significance. Maybe.

Another thing is money. Without a doubt I see the rise of luxury travel as an attack on our ability to blend in with other cultures and discover them for what they are. You have to be pretty blind not to realize that western culture has much more wealth than you see in most of the world. And because of that, entrepreneurs have capitalizied on that and are building a private world within our world. One that caters to our desire to get away from it all. To give us a place separate from our high stressed lives. 

But what has this accomplished? We now see the local people as servants to our needs. And yes, in many ways they enjoy it too. It gives them a decent paying job. They get to meet people from around the world that to them live a dream life. One they can only imagine. That few of them, if any, will see. But this takes us away our chance to see how they live and the lessons that they can offer us. 

For without a doubt, other cultures have something to teach us. 

Take for example, homelessness. How come I rarely seem homeless camps in other cities and towns during my travels? Could it be that in other cultures, it is important for them to take care of each other? To take care of their families? Also I don’t see locals complaining about things that don’t go their way. There is an acceptance they bring to their lives and experiences. They just make do with what they have and enjoy what they have. They move slower, often oblivious to time. They love to chat and share their lives. Whatever happens, happens.

I’ve found that even if you don’t speak the language (as I rarely do), people love if you respect who they are and where they live. They respond to a smile. Their world hasn’t necessarily changed as fast as ours. So to embrace someone from another country is in some ways, a way to look into the past.

Face it, all cultures have something to give us. That is a gift that stares us right in the face. 

Lastly, our quest to find that one place that no one else has discovered has become very difficult. Something off the tourist grid. But of course it is still possible. You just have to dig deep. And probably get out of your comfort zone. It may not be as exciting. It may not have the best restaurants. Or the fancy hotels. But it can be worth the trade-off. 

Because maybe, just maybe, you might find what you are looking for.