Disclosure: I’ve traveled and I’ve lived abroad in two different countries and been dozens of places outside of my ‘home’.
But I don’t get this obsession people have with travel being the uber alles thing you can do and how if you don’t do it all the time or as much as possible you are a ignorant incurious person. I don’t see my travel as being this amazing thing… it was just a nice thing that I did and frankly I don’t remember very much about it and what I do remember I don’t think is a more important memory than lots of other things I did in life.
I don’t think I am superior or ‘worldly’ because of it compared to someone who has never traveled abroad. But it is an extremely common belief/attitude I encounter on a regular basis and it confuses the hell out of me. I’ve met plenty of people that just go on the attack when you don’t want to ‘exchange amazing travel stories’ with them or daydream with them about all the places you’d like to go. There are some places I’d like to go, but again, it’s not a big deal to me that I see it as some big important part of my life and I certain do not condescend towards people who aren’t as ‘well traveled’ as I am like it’s some contest or achievement.
I’ve thought about this a bit and think it comes down to mental wiring. Some people focus more on “peak” experiences, but I focus more on “average” day-to-day experiences. I live in a major city, so it’s not like there’s any shortage of activities to choose from.
I personally dislike travel and find it to be expensive and stressful. I rarely travel for leisure/tourism but do travel to see non-local friends and family. I find it’s helpful to have a few days of downtime between work and travel, both before and after the trip, to give myself an opportunity to actually recharge.