Why Travel?

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

Sound thinking, in my view -- so go on, scoot! There's a world out there just aching to make you a better person.

 

[SomeRandom]

Well I would. But there seems to be a few restrictions at the moment lol

 

[Ashoka]

I love to travel. One day I want to visit Japan.

 

[Vinayaka]

Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

Sound thinking, in my view -- so go on, scoot! There's a world out there just aching to make you a better person.

Twain was really intelligent. I have found that generally speaking, bigots haven't gotten out much.

 

[Audie]

Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

Sound thinking, in my view -- so go on, scoot! There's a world out there just aching to make you a better person.

Its a terrif help for getting perspective on your home country too.

 

[Audie]

Twain was really intelligent. I have found that generally speaking, bigots haven't gotten out much.

Kinda like ideologs with a very limited
exposure.
Do rules say I cant name names...?

 

[Polymath257]

I would LOVE to get out of the country for a while.

Before the pandemic, my wife and I had a goal of getting out at least once every year (usually twice). That hasn't happened for a couple of years now and it SUCKS.

And, while travel can *help* towards treating bigotry, it is not a cure.

Once, when I was at Le Louvre in Paris, I overheard (could not help but) a loud American (note: I am also from the US) complaining that none of the information cards were in English. Well, duh!

 

[Valjean]

I would LOVE to get out of the country for a while.

Before the pandemic, my wife and I had a goal of getting out at least once every year (usually twice). That hasn't happened for a couple of years now and it SUCKS.

And, while travel can *help* towards treating bigotry, it is not a cure.

Once, when I was at Le Louvre in Paris, I overheard (could not help but) a loud American (note: I am also from the US) complaining that none of the information cards were in English. Well, duh!

I daresay none of the information in an American museum would be in French, should a Parisian choose to visit.

 

[Polymath257]

I daresay none of the information in an American museum would be in French, should a Parisian choose to visit.

Precisely.

 

[SomeRandom]

I would LOVE to get out of the country for a while.

Before the pandemic, my wife and I had a goal of getting out at least once every year (usually twice). That hasn't happened for a couple of years now and it SUCKS.

And, while travel can *help* towards treating bigotry, it is not a cure.

Once, when I was at Le Louvre in Paris, I overheard (could not help but) a loud American (note: I am also from the US) complaining that none of the information cards were in English. Well, duh!

Lol I half expected you to say he was upset that none of the information was “in American.”

 

[Left Coast]

I was planning a trip for last Spring to Scotland and Ireland, but alas, it was canceled. Want to rebook though!

 

[Vinayaka]

Its a terrif help for getting perspective on your home country too.

Most especially if it is a large multi-ethnic multi-climate country.

 

[Lazy Old Devil]

Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

Sound thinking, in my view -- so go on, scoot! There's a world out there just aching to make you a better person.

Personally I don't think that travelling is necessarily such a great, noble thing - I would say in many cases, it's more of a luxury for those who are fortunate enough to have the money and spare time to go gallivanting around the world. Twain's remarks are a bit harsh on people who can't afford such self-indulgence as they barely have the money to feed their families. (And also a bit harsh on agoraphobics, for that matter!)

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I would LOVE to get out of the country for a while.

Before the pandemic, my wife and I had a goal of getting out at least once every year (usually twice). That hasn't happened for a couple of years now and it SUCKS.

And, while travel can *help* towards treating bigotry, it is not a cure.

Once, when I was at Le Louvre in Paris, I overheard (could not help but) a loud American (note: I am also from the US) complaining that none of the information cards were in English. Well, duh!

I've had great fun with that travelling! As a Canadian (of a certain age), I've studied Latin, Greek and French -- and while I'll never claim to be fluent in any of them, I have enough that when I'm wandering through European galleries and cathedrals, I can basically "read the walls." I was with 3 friends in Westminster Abbey once, and was reading memorials in the chapel holding both Elizabeth I and her sister Queen Mary, and I was explaining to my friends some of the inscriptions on the walls (in Latin). And some Americans listening to me basically asked me to read stuff all over the place. I was in the cathedral longer than my friends wished to be, but I had fun, I must admit.

 

[Augustus]

Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

I broadly agree, have lived in 4 countries and love travelling, but it's certainly not fatal to prejudice and bigotry for all people.

Some of the most bitter and prejudiced people I've met are those who have spent a long time in a very different culture from that they grew up in and started to resent it.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Personally I don't think that travelling is necessarily such a great, noble thing - I would say in many cases, it's more of a luxury for those who are fortunate enough to have the money and spare time to go gallivanting around the world. Twain's remarks are a bit harsh on people who can't afford such self-indulgence as they barely have the money to feed their families. (And also a bit harsh on agoraphobics, for that matter!)

I don't believe either Twain or I claimed that it was "nobel."

However, much of what we discuss here on RF has to do with how we can "bring the world together," and the fact is, one of the things that we sorely need is an understanding and acceptance of cultures other than our own -- so that we no longer need to feel threatened by them.

I agree that for many people -- far too many -- travel is an unaffordable luxury, and I think that's a real shame, but that is beyond my personal power to fix, just at the moment.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I broadly agree, have lived in 4 countries and love travelling, but it's certainly not fatal to prejudice and bigotry for all people.

Some of the most bitter and prejudiced people I've met are those who have spent a long time in a very different culture from that they grew up in and started to resent it.

Yeah, I get that, but I think Twain was being largely philosophical. No question that there are people who bring their hatreds with them wherever they go -- but I think overall, the more we know about other people, the less frightening they become.

 

[Secret Chief]

Personally I don't think that travelling is necessarily such a great, noble thing - I would say in many cases, it's more of a luxury for those who are fortunate enough to have the money and spare time to go gallivanting around the world. Twain's remarks are a bit harsh on people who can't afford such self-indulgence as they barely have the money to feed their families. (And also a bit harsh on agoraphobics, for that matter!)

I agree. It's a tradition for Brits of a certain disposition (true patriots) to retire to Spain and create their own enclave (with English food laid on by the local restaurants).

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I agree. It's a tradition for Brits of a certain disposition (true patriots) to retire to Spain and create their own enclave (with English food laid on by the local restaurants).

The English never seem to have figured out that the natives of other nations were not dying from their local diets. Strange. I love food from all over the world, and can't wait to eat local wherever I go.

 

[Vinayaka]

The English never seem to have figured out that the natives of other nations were not dying from their local diets. Strange. I love food from all over the world, and can't wait to eat local wherever I go.

You're lucky to live in a large multicultural city then. You must have trouble choosing a cuisine some days, if you go out.