I caught the travel bug majorly because of my dad and his love of travel. He introduced me to the thrill of seeing a new place, something different than the regular. I am sure many others started the same way. But somewhere, slowly I am starting to notice that the world he introduced me to is not the same anymore.
The word 'Over-tourism' was unheard of. The Icelands and the Fijis of the world were trying to attract people to come visit by aggressive tourism marketing. Tourism fueled businesses and provided good source of employments to people. Flying was still an exciting thing (and a luxury too!). Destination Guide books were a thing and Internet was slowly looking to spread the wealth, one bit at a time.
Fast forward to now, technology did a great job in bringing the world closer together. Traveling is now much easier to plan and execute. Our social media and other influencers inspired us to go explore what's out there. The places, the food, the culture, experiences, photos and much more. Somewhere down the line, tourism became a victim of it's own success. There can only be one Machu Picchu, one Eiffel Tower, one Big Ben, one Sagrada Familia and each passing day, more and more people wanting to visit. This presents an interesting challenge, how do we keep these places accessible to the public, keep the visitor experience awesome and preserve it for generations to come. There is no easy solution.
Maybe encouraging people to visit other ruins, perhaps not as old as Machu Picchu but pristine nevertheless. More shoulder season/off season travel perhaps, putting a cap on number of visitors to a place daily can be some alternatives. Citizens of Barcelona, Venice, Amsterdam alike are raising alarms of over-tourism citing tourists are making it difficult for locals to afford living in their cities. Housing is looked at as an investment for the wealthy, the hotels, the airbnbs alike who make way for making more accommodations available to the tourists while taking away the space from residents.
Leaving that aside for a moment, are costs to travel really worth it? Monetary costs, time costs, planning and execution effort and many other such hidden costs. Maybe sometimes, but not always. Driving long hours on a busy weekend just to get to someplace for a short while and return. Waiting in the long lines of cars trying to enter a popular national park. Spending long times waiting at the airport security line to board a flight which has no better user experience than a crappy bus. Waiting in long lines at Temple entrances to see a 10 second glimpse of statue of God. I am sounding very negative, but when you start looking past these experiences, you start to see the positive side of travel.
When you start to look at travel as a package things start to look different. Don't gauge the worth of travel based on the quality of your sunset photo. Don't let a rainy day affect your idea of perfect vacation. Things don't always go as planned and you will take some wonderful detours in the process. Enjoy every bit, just like everyday life. Sometimes we keep our expectations so high because of the money that is spent on trips. Remember, every trip is a chapter in a storybook. Some more interesting that the others. It takes us away from our everyday lives to give us a glimpse of other people's lives, an entry point to nature that is not present in our backyard. Just like our everyday life has it's ups and downs, so does travel life. Every once in a while, I am sure you will encounter moments that make travel worth it. Here's to one such moment. Northern Lights!!!
The word 'Over-tourism' was unheard of. The Icelands and the Fijis of the world were trying to attract people to come visit by aggressive tourism marketing. Tourism fueled businesses and provided good source of employments to people. Flying was still an exciting thing (and a luxury too!). Destination Guide books were a thing and Internet was slowly looking to spread the wealth, one bit at a time.
Fast forward to now, technology did a great job in bringing the world closer together. Traveling is now much easier to plan and execute. Our social media and other influencers inspired us to go explore what's out there. The places, the food, the culture, experiences, photos and much more. Somewhere down the line, tourism became a victim of it's own success. There can only be one Machu Picchu, one Eiffel Tower, one Big Ben, one Sagrada Familia and each passing day, more and more people wanting to visit. This presents an interesting challenge, how do we keep these places accessible to the public, keep the visitor experience awesome and preserve it for generations to come. There is no easy solution.
Maybe encouraging people to visit other ruins, perhaps not as old as Machu Picchu but pristine nevertheless. More shoulder season/off season travel perhaps, putting a cap on number of visitors to a place daily can be some alternatives. Citizens of Barcelona, Venice, Amsterdam alike are raising alarms of over-tourism citing tourists are making it difficult for locals to afford living in their cities. Housing is looked at as an investment for the wealthy, the hotels, the airbnbs alike who make way for making more accommodations available to the tourists while taking away the space from residents.
Leaving that aside for a moment, are costs to travel really worth it? Monetary costs, time costs, planning and execution effort and many other such hidden costs. Maybe sometimes, but not always. Driving long hours on a busy weekend just to get to someplace for a short while and return. Waiting in the long lines of cars trying to enter a popular national park. Spending long times waiting at the airport security line to board a flight which has no better user experience than a crappy bus. Waiting in long lines at Temple entrances to see a 10 second glimpse of statue of God. I am sounding very negative, but when you start looking past these experiences, you start to see the positive side of travel.
When you start to look at travel as a package things start to look different. Don't gauge the worth of travel based on the quality of your sunset photo. Don't let a rainy day affect your idea of perfect vacation. Things don't always go as planned and you will take some wonderful detours in the process. Enjoy every bit, just like everyday life. Sometimes we keep our expectations so high because of the money that is spent on trips. Remember, every trip is a chapter in a storybook. Some more interesting that the others. It takes us away from our everyday lives to give us a glimpse of other people's lives, an entry point to nature that is not present in our backyard. Just like our everyday life has it's ups and downs, so does travel life. Every once in a while, I am sure you will encounter moments that make travel worth it. Here's to one such moment. Northern Lights!!!
