I know this is an unpopular opinion, but maybe we should all cool it on the tourism. It’s terrible for the environment, mostly terrible for whomever was calling that place home. I know so many people that spout off about the environment and then think nothing of hopping on multiple flights per year.
If I were king everyone would get travel passes twice. Once in their 20s and again in their 60s.
Stay home, read a book, plant a garden.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but maybe we should all cool it on the tourism.
… and crash the economy of number of countries, making their populations poorer. Tunisia - tourism is nearly tenth of their economy and employs 400,000 people - they have entire places built for tourists, nobody would live there otherwise. Morocco is 7%, Egypt is 8%.
And I want to spend my holidays somewhere where it is warm and sunny, not fucking wet and miserable.
So we should prop up an objectively destructive sector of the economy? They’ll all be a hell of a lot poorer when huge swaths of the earth becomes much harder to survive in. And I’m extremely skeptical anything of that 8% of Egypt’s tourism money trikles down in a way that anyone would call fair or equitable.
And I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to burn down the planet so you can sip fruity drinks under a palm tree. Perhaps if we had invested in a rail system that was worth a damn it would be a different story. But here we are.
Tourism isn’t just sipping drinks. It’s also broadening your cultural horizon and learning about other countries and cultures
Might be something you want to try
I have tried it. Learned a good chunk of a second language in fact. Nice of you to assume and imply I’m a xenophobic ignoramus tho. Appreciate that.
And if you’ll go back to my original comment I never actually advocated for a complete stop to travel, only that we slow down and exercise some moderation.
Not to mention we have internet and readily available books on just about any topic you care to name. Much different situation than even 50ys ago as far expanding your own horizons goes. I know it’s not the same as being there but still.
And I’m no more willing to burn the planet for your cultural horizons than the next guys fruity cocktail.
A lot of colonizer mindset happening in this area
I’m not willing to burn down the planet so you can sip fruity drinks under a palm tree.
You want 400 000 people in Tunisia and tens on millions to lose their jobs to pamper to your prejudice. You are a complete fool. Fortunately you have absolute nothing to say in this matter.
It’s like saying we have to keep supporting Israel because we don’t want to lose weapons sales. Nice name calling though. Brilliant rhetoric, really put me in my place.
Keep flying, consuming conspicuously. Fuck everyone else. Every generation to come. Fuck the animals, fuck the earth. You got yours right?
It’s like saying we have to keep supporting Israel because we don’t want to lose weapons sales.
If you think tourism is comparable with war crimes, you are even bigger fool than I thought.
It was an example of propping up a destructive practice for the benefit economy. One meant to illustrate dollars on an account sheet isn’t enough to justify a morally dubious practice.
I asserted earlier that these places would be poorer for the effects of climate change. You blew right past that into name calling and and a feeble attempt at twisting my words to ridiculous lengths. Care to comment?
Or perhaps you could explain how your gracing these places with your presence, allowing yourself to be served hand and foot, is the only path forward for these economies? There are so many ways to support a region, to lend a hand and invest in their future.
Destroying tourism would mean destroying number of countries and ruining people lives. If you don’t understand it thank you ARE a fool - this is a reasonable assessment of your intellectual capabilities, not a name calling.
Now, disengage, fool.
Somewhere remote that already has a well-established bartering system. Most of the usual tourist places would be a disaster if there was no such thing as money.
The Moon.
Failing that, Low Earth Orbit.
The sun.
There was a knitting cruise I looked at before. Took you around Europe and had events to spin your own yarn and there would be workshops with masters. I think I would do that.
This sounds amazing!
The moon, or just into space where I can float around and see Earth from a good distance.
Do you remember being a very young kid, of maybe 4 or 5-years-old, and riding your bike without stabilisers for the first time? Riding around your neighbourhood with that feeling of limitless time and seemingly bottomless reservoirs of pure joy? Or the first time you played a video game? Or the first time you went to the cinema? Basically any fun and novel experience. You could almost physically feel the birthing neurons branching through your brain in real-time like orgasmic, electrified roots. The joy of simply having your consciousness come ‘online’ more and more.
Well, I’m in my early 40s now, and I haven’t felt that way since I was that very young child. But I don’t think it’s because I’m too jaded to enjoy things anymore, it’s that I’ve experienced almost everything there is to experience in a normal everyday life, and there’s not much left that is so new and shocking to my consciousness that it will trigger that magical experience again. And so there is no further branching of neurons and no further giddy joy at simply doing something hitherto completely foreign to my brain.
I think visiting space, and especially landing on the moon, would give me that feeling again. It would be the last truly novel experience I definitely have not felt before, and it’s not one that I can sorta kinda experience vicariously. I mean, I’ve never killed anyone, but I know what an abyss of unquenchable guilt feels like, I know what the terror of being caught after doing something bad feels like, I know what it feels like to be so haunted by trauma that I have nightmares about it for years after. So I can just extrapolate from that and get a general idea of what it must be like to have done something that awful. My imagination can conjure up those sorts of ideas if I want it to, and while I won’t get 100% of the way there, I can create a ballpark estimation of it. But going into space - leaving everything and everyone who has ever existed behind - and being somewhere so literally alien to my evolved senses, that’s not something I can get a handle on just using my imagination.
I could be wrong of course, and going into space might simply be like visiting another country in the shittiest, most cramped Ryanair flight imaginable, but it’s the only thing I think has the most chance of giving me one last brain-bukkake before I clock out.
Shame it’ll never happen 🤷 Maybe I’ll start a twitter account sucking Elon’s fetid little dick and he’ll invite me to use one of his rockets one day. Then while I’m in space, I’ll take out a trans flag and play a shitty cover of Nazi Punks Fuck Off à la Chris Hadfield 🫡
It’s not where, if money was no object, I would be on holiday semi-permanent.
Maybe build a submarine and visit the Titanic ;)
Never really thought about it. Have always wanted to visit either the French countryside or some picturesque forest in Europe. But someone mentioned trains and unlimited money.
A nice indulgence then would be a luxury train line that navigates throughout most regions of the planet. Probably the most expensive ever done but should be possible. Could probably take years to travel the whole planet in maximum comfort. Wonderful.
Advantages of a vacation train would also be having other people around. One cart per person/family. Not everyone would be in it for the whole ride, so probably lots of passengers changing too. Could have wonderful parties or just group entertainment like movie nights.
I handle this, as do most poor people, by not asking ourselves this question, not even fantasizing about it, for why torture yourself with something you never can do?
Antarctica. It’s possible, there are regular tours to the South Pole. In reality I can’t afford €60k+ for such a tour, but if money is no object I’d go
I did a tour to Antarctica. Overrated in my opinion. But if you really want to go for yourself, the cheapest way is to head down to Ushuaia and sign up for a standby cruise. It’s easily €5k or less.
Vietnam looks nice.
I’d donate alot to my local makerspace then take unpaid leave for a good while and just make things. If I had to travel i would probably go to Germany to see a few friends, it’s been too long.
novosibirsk russia
Super expensive to travel there and looks like some nice architecture. Just need to hire a team of security specialists.
Ticket prices $36,000 usd round trip from Minnesota. First class.
another dimension
*cue title card* I Trick The Vacation Genie Into Doing Physics Research With Me
