Anyone else not like traveling?

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Well, it's not that I hate traveling, but just look at it as a huge waste of money. If someone wants to pay for me to go somewhere, that's great, but I don't like to spend my own money on it. It just seems like a waste. You get back from your trip, you've spent a lot of money and you basically have nothing to show for it. Traveling for the sake of traveling just doesn't interest me. I don't see the point of sight seeing. I can look at pictures on the Internet for free. Seeing something in real life doesn't make it seem anymore real or impressive. Granted, the one exception is if there is something specific I want to do at some destination that is impossible to do at my current location. Like fishing. I love fishing so I could someday see myself traveling to the Gulf of Mexico to do some deep sea fishing or up to Alaska for some big salmon and halibut fishing but that's about it. I have people tell me I should take a trip to Europe and for the life of me, I can't think of anything I'd want to do in Europe so it just seems pointless to me. I'm not interested in touring or sight seeing.

Well, it's as you kinda alluded to: there's more to traveling than just sightseeing. Me, when I travel I prefer being an active participant instead of a mere observer. It's the main reason I don't like watching sports on TV or in a stadium; I prefer doing it myself. I also don't like watching slapstick comedy, but am perfectly happy with performing or receiving it.

But because my interests are quite varied, I can easily find something interesting or intriguing at most places. So I love traveling, but I organize my travels around doing stuff instead of watching it.

Yes, definitely. I'm the exact same. I don't 'hate' travelling, it just seems like such a huge amount of stress for so little reward (usually).

At first, but now I love it. I always get nervous on a plane even though cars are more dangerous and I hate them. Trains are my favorite. William Blake wasn't much of a traveler but he didn't need to be.

Last edited by Shadwell on 17 Dec 2009, 8:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I had a buddy that was trying to convince me to go to New York at some point. Not a specific trip or anything. I just told him I have no desire to go there. I can't think of anything I'd want to do there that I can't do here in Seattle. Now, if someone was willing to pay for me to go to New York, I'd definitely go, I just don't want to spend a lot of money on something and have nothing to show for it a week or so later. I'd rather buy a bigger TV or something

I hear Seattle is awesome. I've never been to New York but I lived in Chicago and it was awesome. You might give traveling a shot in. You may like it and not know it yet, if not no biggie although it could be a detraction between you and people who like to travel.

I actually love to travel a lot, and look forward to it every time I do. It doesn't even have to be for leisure, per se. I just like being in a new environment, surrounded by new sights and sounds and smells all the time.

I hate the act of traveling (airports are on of my least favourite places on Earth, and seem to be getting worse an worse) but some of my fondest memories in life are of the destinations I've visited over the years. Paris, Prague, Venice, etc - all were were wonderful experiences, and I think my horizons would be a lot narrower without them.

I'm just not much of a city person. I find Seattle boring because there's nothing here that interests me. People will come to town that I know and ask me what they should do while they're up here and I never have anything to tell them. I'm more of a country guy. If I could afford a house out in the country on a lake or river that would be awesome. Although I would need to make sure I can still get high speed Internet.

But what did you do at those destinations? I have absolutely no interest or desire to go to Paris because I can't think of anything I'd want to do once I got there. For me, it just seems like it'd be throwing money away.

For me it's mainly about the sights and atmospheres of new places. Being an artist and a very visual person, I like to take in everything I see and store it away for inspiration. So it's not just for fun, but something I see as absorbing valuable information. I'm also fond of long walks/hiking, so if I can do that while also experiencing an interesting place, I'm very happy. Prague and Amsterdam were great for that - the only time I traveled by car those times was when going to and from the airport.

I'm also really fond of the classical architecture of these older European cities, and have always had a fascination with castles and cathedrals. Cathedrals and churches in particular are one case where a picture really can't compare to really being there - for one thing, it's not just your eyes that take it all in.

That's cool. It just re-illustrates how everyone is different. For me, I'm an activity based person. There has to be a specific activity of some sort for me to do. It's the same reason I don't go to parties. There's nothing to do at them that I find interesting. I'd rather stay home and watch a Simpsons re-run for the 500th time. I also don't like walking as a means of transportation. It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I find it an inefficient means of transportation. If I need/want to go someplace, it's because there's something I want to do when I get there which means I want to get there as soon as possible to get started in that activity. If I can take a car and be there in 5 - 10 minutes that's a much better option (for me) than a 20 - 30 minute walk which I find a waste of time.

Seattle's so close to nature. It seems you wouldn't have to go very far.

Yeah but renting a car or taking a cab is more expensive than walking. There's going to be a cost-benefit analysis in everything you do, especially while traveling.

Besides, a 20-30 minute walk gives an opportunity to see things that you may randomly find interesting.

At any rate, you don't have to be a city person to enjoy traveling. I love traveling, I live reasonably close to New York City but I pretty much only go there because of JFK airport. Otherwise I'd probably never go there. Like yourself, I'm a nature person, but I also like hiking. I've hiked near Seattle, and it's great fun, but there are some nature environments which simply don't exist near Seattle. And for stuff like that, like hiking in the Grand Canyon or in a rain forest, or scuba diving in warm water for example, you'd have to travel.


Same, especially when there's new food! I love airports, because of their close association with traveling and newness. I'm flying out of JFK on Sunday, looking forward to JetBlue's new Terminal 5!

I love Terminal 5. It's one of the few things about NYC I do like .

Actually, I've experienced only the opposite in this regard. The actual places are nothing like they seem in books or photos. Scale and Atmosphere rarely translate effectively.

What I don't understand is spending money to drink on a beach or see tourist attractions that are made simply to suck money out of you. Alternately, spending money to see important architectural and historic cities or ancestral homelands feels well worth the expenditure.