Travel Snobs
C'mon now. Admit it. You all know one (or two) and are guilty of being one at some point or other.
You know the type. "I've been to XXX number of countries and you haven't so I'm more sophisticated than you are." Or worse, "We don't travel to touristy spots. WE prefer to go to the hard to reach, remote places that truly enrich our cultural experiences."
So why do some travellers behave this way? Do we really believe that we are "better" because we've been to the top of some remote volcano or the bottom of some canyon that took us a rickety old plane ride, a derelict bus ride and a 10 mile walk to get to?
And yes, I DO know some people like this.
Kathleen
Bolton 10/25/12
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Well, it's probably a good thing young folks don't use this website for their travels. After reading through a thread like this, I'm pretty sure an outsider would think everyone here is a totally uninteresting d-bag.
"Just saying" is a grammaricaly correct sentence???
If being a better person were measurable in some way obvious to everyone, I might agree with Jennifer. But being a better person is not measured like the winner of a race, and it may not be visible to anyone else. It may not make you more outwardly interesting. It may not make you more outwardly empathetic. But there is value in leaving home and poking your nose around other places. Whether someone else judges you differently is irrelevant. Expecting them to judge you differently might be a good definition of snobbery. But I stand by my earlier statement; travel makes you a better person and travel farther outside your comfort zone is better still.
In part, this is about definitions of terms. Arguing about "goodness" is going to be a lot like people arguing about global warming who don't know the difference between "climate" and "weather".
ralph, i have no idea who you are talking about when you say "elementary grammatical mistakes". of course, you may be referencing my lack of capital letters, but i dont really see how you could think it was a "grammatical mistake". like do you really think that each and every time i didnt use one, it was a "mistake" rather than i just dont use them ever?
or maybe you are talking about someone else. if so, then carry on with your bad self.
True, I've been to a # of countries in Europe, once, twice or repeatedly. It has nothing with being "more sophisticated." And, I go to some touristy spots, depends if the places fit into my priorites, regardless if they are teeming with tourists.
Going to the "hard to reach" (relatively) "remote places" is very much part of the itinerary, more than the touristy sites...for what resaon? To "enrich...cultural experiences" I doubt it, that depends on one's relative definiton.
i dont use capital letters. 99.99999% of the time this is brought up to me, its done so by someone on the internet trying to disprove a point i am making by claiming that i cant possibly have a point if i dont know how to use capital letters. its always worded along those lines. that i dont know how to use capital letters, that i make grammatical mistakes, etc. i promise you, i have heard it all. including when i DO use capital letters to stress a word (see what i did there?), someone always feels a need to pipe in that "oooh i caught you!" or "you made a mistake and accidentally used a capital!". i have had people on various message boards private message me to "correct" my post to take out the capital letters when i use them to indicated excitement, etc. its ridiculous to me.
basically, if the internet was a giant social experiment, you could lock people in a room and force them to read my posts. you may get a huddle of people gossiping about "she doesnt even use capital letters for crissakes!!!" and on the other side of you room, you could have a huddle of people rolling their eyes at the first group.
either way, it does nothing to change that travel does not mean you are a better person. i mean look at me. ive travelled the world and i still make "elementary grammatical mistakes". ahhhhhh yes.
Ah, but Jennifer, you are discounting the possibility that without your travel experience, you might have even poorer typing habits.
:)
See, it's all about perspective.
Time to move on now, I think...
Here's what I bet: there's a difference between grammar and orthography.
Here's what else I bet: one of them has nothing to do with little letters and big letters, but the other one does.
Just saying.
If you think you're somehow better than other people because you've traveled, you're a travel snob.
But if you think you're just luckier than other people because you've traveled, you're not.
Could I have a like button for jennifer in brooklyn and Tom in Chicago. Bravo!
Weather and climate
It's like banging my head against the wall
Time to move on...
But what is worse......a travel snob or a grammar snob? I have my answer but I am going to keep it a secret. I will try not to end my sentence with a preposition.
Sorry to get off topic.
Travel has changed my life. I try to get away once a year, every year, no matter what. I do my trip research like it is my job. Well it is my job. Vacation is vacation, but travel is work. When I am asked a question about travel, I try hard to not to boast. I am humble and feel lucky that I have been able to travel for the past 8 years. But I try to base my advise off of my experiences and hard research; not because I am bragging about what I have seen and done.
But there is another concept. In written word, it is hard to tell the tone of the written material. I may have meant to be humble but one may have read it thinking one is bragging or being sarcastic.
It's easier than this oft-mentioned weather/climate nonsense.
Live like a local vs. be yourself.
Traveller vs. tourist.
B&B vs. hotel.
train vs. car. (just kidding, sorta)
Travel As A Political Act
If you subscribe to the RS ideology hook, line, and sinker, you're a snob. Nobody is calling you a worthless POS, so take it for what it is (you might actually find it's a complimentary term).
If you just like going to cool places and checking out cool stuff without pretentiousness, and you're not hung up on discussing your worldly views ad naseum with others who buy into the blue and yellow Bible, then you're probably just a regular Joe. Now, for those that think this person is beneath them...well, the term arsehole is more appropriate than snob.
And if you challenge this crowd...well, I've been labeled a heretic more than once, and an arsehole more times than I can count.
For anyone who evenly remotely considers wondering about the "been there, done that" attitude, I like the ads from the RV association: "Go there, do that!"
just do it . . .
already
Sure hope none of you think I am a travel snob.
Personally, I try not to respond to a post unless I have first hand knowledge from being there.
I have been here before there was a Travel Helpline...just the Graffiti Wall.
Visiting the Graffiti Wall daily and asking questions or copy and pasting to Word
help me plan my first trip to Europe. Not sure the date Travel Helpline opened but I am sure it was opened in the final stages of planning the trip.
In my opinion, if a poster does not have anything positive to post....then don't
then don't post anything.
There are several posters on here (they know who they are) who have help me
and hundreds of others. These posters have traveled wide and far. I personally rely for them for help.
I hope they do not become discouraged from helping all of us with their vast
knowledge and experience.
After all, it is a Travel Helpline.
No one should be put down before they can afford to go to Europe every year....or travel the world.
When you put someone down for that.....it is a sign of jealousy!!!!!!!!!
I must be too housepet oriented. When I read "no one should be put down until" all I could think of was euthenasia
LOL too funny. BTW, loved my trip to Israel! We went up to the north, the Golan Heights as far south as Ein Bokek. The food was wonderful.
If your mind is already at least a bit open, travel will help you keep it open. It it is closed tight, travel will be exactly what you expect it to be. If you are interested in the places you go, you will probably learn something. Like most experiences, travel is usually more about what YOU bring to the table- attitude, openness, friendliness, etc. than it is about where you go or do not go, or how you get there, or where you stay when you are there,... All of that WILL impact your experience. But not alwyas the way you (or anyone else) thinks it will.
If you are a snob about other things you might be a snob about travel- MIGHT. If you aren't a snob about other things you MIGHT not be about travel. I live MY life and generally don't let others' opinions bother me (unless I believe them to be based on something I believe I need to change about myself). That's also the way I travel. You can be a snob about ANYTHING- good bad or indifferent.
I believe that you are a better rounded person if you are open minded to other cultures and be willing to experience life through someone else's eyes. You can do this without leaving a 60 mile radius of your home.
After reading a book about a family that took a year off to travel the world and he still came back a narrow minded person I was disappointed. It came back to the age old saying, "Wherever you go there YOU are".
I'm nobody; ask anybody.
I'm a travel snob and I haven't been anywhere.
Crash
Sindelfingen, Germany formerly Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Posts: 124
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Kathleen,
I don't about snobbery on this site. a rare thing, I think.
What I do know is that there are people here that have incredibly valuable information. And you know what? They give their time and effort to help people with questions about traveling, for FREE!
Tricky train transfer, 2 countries, different passes? Michael from New York sends you a link. Boom! Problem solved.
Travel info needed in the Netherlands? Andre L. Done.
Need a great place to eat in Frankfurt? Jo's all about it.
England? Nigel.
Great beer hall in Stuttgart? Sarah.
Padua, Verona, Vicenza problem? Rik.
And the names could go on and on.
Think about the time and effort that someone took, to try to map every restroom that was free or inexpensive to use, in Rome and Paris. And put it online for people to use for free.
I had never heard of the Flavian Amphitheater outside of Naples in Pozzuoli.
Never knew it existed. Saw it on the helpline. Went there. One of the greatest things I have ever seen!
And the best value of the majority of people posting here is, if they don't know, they say they don't know.
I am going to buck the trend here, everyone clearly proclaiming they are not travel snobs,( not that I think anyone here is really) but I am going to be as blunt and honest in admitting this, as I can be blunt and honest on some other posts.
I have on occaison talked to people whos travel seems to ONLY encompass repeat visits to "all inclusive" type resorts, usaully in Mexico or Jamaica and they admit to NEVER leaving the resort ( they don't have to, they don't want to, they are too nervous to, etc) .. and frankly I do judge that a bit. You all are better people then me if you don't find someones saying they have "seen" Mexico or whereever, but in reality they never leave the gated resort commmunites and the only locals they meet are employees..
Now I understand its their holiday and they should enjoy it as they see fit, but I do not consider them to have experienced or learned a darn thing about the country they have visited, so if they start off any conversation "well when we were in blah blah, the people like this " or whatever.. sorry if you stay in a gated resort ( think Negrils) you are not really "seeing" Jamaica, you may be enjoying a great beach vacation , but I wouldn't talk to you and ask you advice about the country for sure.
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