[LeightonBlackstock]

I think this thread should be titled "What are the point of holidays?". Holidays and travel are extremely different things

I did a one-month trip in Thailand last year. It was great in all. But then I went home and it was over.

Compared to living in Korea, Taiwan and Thailand (so far) it was nothing. The past 20 months have been fun as hell, and the reason is you have that feeling of permanent residence coupled with the ability to move on whenever you desire.

This may be an odd way to some it up but remember the video games 'Grand Theft Auto'?. Whizzing around on a motorcycle in the pissing Taipei rain/Slipping around in the freezing January in Seoul (etc) is like a real-life version of playing that game every day

[cardguy]

Yeah - I am a fan of living abroad. To me it is a totally different experience to just passing through somewhere on the way to somewhere else.

When you travel the world - you don't have much to show for it.

But when you spend a year or two living in the same place - you have roots, connections and memories which you can build a life around.

I am a lot more positive about living abroad.

[Comte De St. Germain]

Cardguy in my opinion is our commentator making us question the reasoning for what we do. Don't judge the man on what he personally does, but what he's asking of you. A simple answer. A motivation. A way of life. Much easier to find him your reasoning rather than bitch about his issues.

On traveling, I travel as it is experience. As a man addicted to new things and pleasure I traveled abroad against my will, but I remember I enjoyed myself each time. It's just the experience of the journey and how it goes about. For me the beginning and the end don't matter as much as the story itself. Certain notable stories I wish went on forever. It's to enjoy and revel in as much enjoyment you can get while seeing something new. It provides insight and first hand knowledge rather than what a book or data sheet might.

[cardguy]

Doing fun shit while traveling is great.

But does it not feel a bit 'samey' after awhile? The process of getting to know a new person - no matter how cool they are - is very similar. And after awhile - it feels like you are meeting the same person - for the first time - again and again. People are not that different - and the ways in which people quickly bond usually follow the same pattern.

The first 100 times I got drunk - I thought it was the greatest thing ever. But after awhile - you realise that every drunken night has a very similar pattern. And I am wondering if that is true of the shit you get up to when you are traveling?

Maybe I am just bored of life - I dunno'. I certainly don't feel young anymore. I'm 32 btw...

[Vacancier Permanent]

Card guy,
You know what would do you a mountain of goods? Take a break from not just this forum but the internet, social media and even books for a while. Instead, do things personally and physically.

Go take a hike, in your city get close to the nature. And you will see things that no book, no amount of hours spent online watching videos can bring to you.

Then go a little bit further away. To another part of your town that you do not know as well. Then, to the next town, ye next province and then to another country. And continent. As you venture further out, you will expand infinitely the quality and calibre of your experiences.

Heck, go explore a tropical pussy paradise! You'll be a changed man, for the best!

I will leave you with some famous and classic quotes on traveling:

"The works is a book and those who do not travel, read only a page." St Augustine.

"Life begins at the end if your comfort zone."

"We do not travel to escape life, but so that life doesn't escape us."

"I'm in love with cities and countries I haven't been to yet."

"I travel a lot. I hate my life disrupted by routine."

"Travel far enough, you meet yourself."

One of my favourites:
"Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled."

My favourite:
"To travel is to live."

[cardguy]

I appreciate the sentiments.

But I would never tell people to read books if they didn't enjoy it.

As Jane Austen said "One half of the world cannot enjoy the pleasures of the other."

So - I am not sure if telling somebody to go traveling is good advice - when I have done a bit of it and not really enjoyed it.

I always tell people - if the book you are reading is shit - then put it down. You are under no contractual obligation to finish it.

[Bill]

I am not a big fan of travelling but as you said I am fan of living in another country. Most travellers are boring that´s why they like to travel because they want to escape their own boredom.

When I was young I wanted to explore the world and worked with a company who sent me to Argentina. I was there 3 month. What I learned there was that going to a different country made me realize that it´s not that special because you mostly feel like a 5 year old because you can not speak the language and are not connected.

Problem is when you invest time to know people there it means nothing because you won´t see them again so what´s the point? It feels like watching TV. I was for example never in in the USA but I have the feeling I was there 100 times because of so much USA overload in movies and TV.

I think if one has a lot of money so it´s ok to travel it´s like TV on stereoid. But for normal people it´s an expensive fun.

In Munich we had a lot of erasmus students from Europe so I had the feeling I did learn enough about the other people without having to travel and deal with language and culture problem.

I didn´t travel much in Germany and Europe to as you said everything looks the same in Europe somehow.

I would rather save some money and live somewhere longer. I am now 40 years old and now I am here in Turkey for 2 years. I am living in my bubble I don´t want to have much contact with the turks here. The great thing is I have sun, not western hassling environment, not have to work that´s quite a thing imo.

I will make some trips to Antalya which is close to here and in winter I will hopefully making my first asian travel. I probably will stay some month and if the chics are very nice to me maybe longer.

I think the travelling part is the annoying part the cool part is the right location: chicks, sun and fun and cheap living costs. Though the downside ist they are mostly poor shitholes so one has still take a risk.

No shithole would be the Canarian Islands where the Brits and Germans love to retire and rightfully so. Problem is there are no easy chics there.

[Moma]

(05-07-2014 11:29 PM)cardguy Wrote:  

I appreciate the sentiments.

But I would never tell people to read books if they didn't enjoy it.

As Jane Austen said "One half of the world cannot enjoy the pleasures of the other."

So - I am not sure if telling somebody to go traveling is good advice - when I have done a bit of it and not really enjoyed it.

I always tell people - if the book you are reading is shit - then put it down. You are under no contractual obligation to finish it.

(05-07-2014 11:29 PM)cardguy Wrote:  

So - I am not sure if telling somebody to go traveling is good advice - when I have done a bit of it and not really enjoyed it.

Cardguy, without intended to offend, I get the impression you haven't done much OUTSIDE of England. I'm a native Brit myself in case you don't know..but even before this forum, I was a traveller anyway.

I have suspicions that you have NEVER lived outside of England and most of your travelling has been the generic sort (Ibiza, Amsterdam (Redlight district, Ayia Napa).

Again, I don't mean this is in a disparaging sense but it's important to gain accurate context before writing off something.

I love reading and I used to consume all sorts of literature voraciously but I will tell you that reading can NEVER compensate for travel.

I mentioned before that being physically in a place ENGAGES in all your senses whereas reading will only enable you to use the sense of sight and you are getting all your information from a secondary standpoint instead of primary.

Reading about a place as opposed to being there personally is a bit like eating a steak that someone has already chewed for you so that you can swallow more easily.

Yes, you don't have to digest it yourself but you lose out on the initial nutrients and strengthening from being the person who first chewed and digested it.

Another forum member coined this very succintly..do NOT travel as a tourist. Do NOT go to tourist areas and say that travelling is pants (sucks). That is not travelling.
Going to a tourist resort and saying you travelled is like having a wank over some bird and saying sex sucks when in reality, although you spunked up, you never actually shagged her.

Go off the beating track. Humble yourself and engage with the locals. You will unlock hidden chambers within yourself.

[InternationalPlayboy]

I am a big fan of travel arbitrage, especially if you have a location independent income. Poland is a great example: The old town is absolutely beautiful and living prices are through the floor. I'd much rather in places for a month or two then do short term travel hoping through multiple cities. The fact that the girls are smoking are a big added bonus.

[freshcream]

(05-07-2014 04:05 PM)3extra Wrote:  

Cardguy - 'I would rather read a book than spend the day daydreaming and feeling mellow.'

You can do both.

My favourite part of travel is the 'boredom', the 'doing nothing'. I revel in it.

I hate sightseeing and the pressure that when you're abroad you constantly need to be doing/seeing something.

'Your true traveller finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty - his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.'

- Aldous Huxley

I couldn't agree more. As a history teacher I love just walking around in a new city and taking in the sights. Reading this book: Life in a Medieval City gives you a decent insight into how life used to be. (he also has the Caste and Village versions)

Earlier this year I went on a spontaneous trip with two friends to Edinburgh. It's cool just to walk around in the old parts of the town, and have a look at the castle. But following a tour guide around gets boring real fast.

When I stayed a few months in Nicaragua I had language lessons in the afternoons, salsa lessons in the early evening, and went out having fun at night. That is how I define travel.

[Greek kamaki]

What is the point of travel is a legitimate question for slavic guys who have the pussy on their feet.For all the rest the urge to travel is ticking in case you respect your penis.
Imagine how far the Anglosphere guys have reached what Empires they created in the constant search for fresh pussy.

[michaelm]

(05-07-2014 11:22 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  

Card guy,
You know what would do you a mountain of goods? Take a break from not just this forum but the internet, social media and even books for a while. Instead, do things personally and physically.

Go take a hike, in your city get close to the nature. And you will see things that no book, no amount of hours spent online watching videos can bring to you.

Then go a little bit further away. To another part of your town that you do not know as well. Then, to the next town, ye next province and then to another country. And continent. As you venture further out, you will expand infinitely the quality and calibre of your experiences.

Heck, go explore a tropical pussy paradise! You'll be a changed man, for the best!

I will leave you with some famous and classic quotes on traveling:

"The works is a book and those who do not travel, read only a page." St Augustine.

"Life begins at the end if your comfort zone."

"We do not travel to escape life, but so that life doesn't escape us."

"I'm in love with cities and countries I haven't been to yet."

"I travel a lot. I hate my life disrupted by routine."

"Travel far enough, you meet yourself."

One of my favourites:
"Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled."

My favourite:
"To travel is to live."

You're trying to shove things on a guy, Cardguy, who despite, what some guys think is bitching, who by all accounts seems perfectly contented the way he is.

He doesn't want what you're trying to sell him. He's OKAY. He's okay.

[Moma]

(05-08-2014 09:27 AM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  

What is the point of travel is a legitimate question for slavic guys who have the pussy on their feet.For all the rest the urge to travel is ticking in case you respect your penis.
Imagine how far the Anglosphere guys have reached what Empires they created in the constant search for fresh pussy.

Travel is also good for business opportunities. Not just pussy. More moderate climates, more opportunities to open up multiple streams of income or even just large streams of income. Business connections..etc.

[cardguy]

I have being to about ten different countries in Europe. It is amazing how similar they all are once you spend a day or two there. Although I am not complaining since I love England - and appreciate being able to find home comforts abroad.

Like I say - I am a big fan of actually living somewhere. Since the place you live becomes a real part of your identity and soul. If you do it right - you will have a base you can call back to decades in the future and still have a few connections there to keep up with. I still dream about the different places I have lived (admittedly only in England and Scotland) as opposed to the places I have traveled to.

The truth is that individuals are more different than countries. You will probably learn more about the world by getting to know your neighbour than you will by going to a country where the people are not that much different to the place you came from.

Plus a lot of the travelers I know are not that curious about the world - but they reach into their ass and pull out "curiosity" and "wanting to expand their mind" as the reason why they like to travel. And as such - I wonder if travel is really just a middle class status game.

To give an example - if you don't know who Rudolf Hoss is - then I don't see the point of visiting Auschwitz. You may as well be shown an empty school and told that 200 years ago - the emperor Zorg executed 10 million people.

That brings me on to something else. Cultural voyeurism and Dark Tourism. People just going round the world randomly consuming the different locations where tragedies have taken place.

"Mona Lisa today.

The Killing Fields tomorrow.

Then Ayers Rock on Sunday.

And maybe fit in Chelmno if we get a chance - but apparently there isn't much to see at Chelmno, so there might not be any point."

I am not against travel per se. But I find it interesting that just as cheap travel has become available - suddenly the world has become filled with connoisseurs of other people's cultures who want to explore themselves and the world.

I think that is find. But I am questioning it since I think it has become a giant fad which is so big that people actually think you are weird if you question it. In the same way people in the sixties would have considered you weird if you questioned a lot of the received truths of that time.

It is what it is.

You guys are all cool - but I still want to plant my flag in this empty space and raise an eyebrow to the worlds sudden onset of wanderlust.

[Bill]

Nice put. Status and validation seeking are as mostly the main reasons. Chics going to Thailand/Bali to find themselfs but never have went to the library and read some Seneca and the classic philosophers who would have said know first yourself then things will come automatically. You won´t find yourself in Thailand if you did not find yourself already. For that you need a big amount of introspection and not hedonistic drug trips imho though I may be totally wrong too.

I am reading again a little Sececa to train my German language slills though I am an Epikurean. But they are both somewhat minimalistic. It needs not much to satisfy ones needs. Travelling is still quite an expensive thing and people wonder why they don´t have money.

Of course I respect also Greek Kamaaki´s opinion: "Respect the cock and travel, if you are not a slav" Travelling mainly should be to get pussies.

[Greek kamaki]

Slavic Europe is fortunately very different from most western destinations.There is not this equalizer the mass effect the triumph of average how to say it?
In EE you feel instantly your penis rising.There are no obstacles or oppressions.
Countries like Greece are also way better to live in if you have the same amount of money as a Westerner.

[TigerMandingo]

The point of travel is whatever you make of it. I, for one, will never travel anywhere with my parents. Why, because when they travel they do the most touristy, kitschy shit possible, such as rushing to see the Eiffel Tower upon landing in Paris, whilst the place is packed with millions of other camera jockeys and smartphone addicts doing nothing but taking worthless pics instead of actually enjoying themselves. When I travel, I prefer smaller, more serene environments. The Tuscan countryside in Italy, or the Northern Caucausus region in Southern Russia are places that will be forever etched in my mind.

By the way, what Cardguy is saying about places looking the same applies especially to America. Take a road trip through the states and its shocking how similar it all looks: shopping malls, gas stations, restaurants and the like.

[Kafka]

A good quick way to see the joys of travel would be to watch some of Anthony Bourdains shows (I'm partial to his old Food Network show A Cooks Tour when he was younger and smoke and drank all the time). He focuses more on food and culture than what local girls are like because I think he's married and has a kid (Roosh, please look into making a travel show about the things Bourdain leaves out!). But the most important thing is you get an idea for going places Westerners don't normally go to, or to go away from the tourist parts of big cities down the dark alley ways and see how far you can get on your whits and language skills. The real joy of travel (not tourism) is forcing yourself out of your comfort zone to see what you're really made of. You can even start in a shitty neighborhood of your own city you've never been in, you'll either find some sort of hidden treasure or test your mettle. Either way, it's worth it!

[loveblondes]

(05-07-2014 03:58 PM)cardguy Wrote:  

Yeah - I know going round Europe is not really traveling.

But it is still surprising how similar everywhere is.

As an Englishman - it is like being in England but with better weather.

http://www.rooshvforum.network/newreply.php?...yto=720701

So going to moldova feels like walking in middle of london ?

[loveblondes]

(05-08-2014 11:43 AM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  

Slavic Europe is fortunately very different from most western destinations.There is not this equalizer the mass effect the triumph of average how to say it?
In EE you feel instantly your penis rising.There are no obstacles or oppressions.
Countries like Greece are also way better to live in if you have the same amount of money as a Westerner.

Thats because you are pushed by the expectations to feel that way, nothing else. There are countries like poland who are a mixed bag.

[Vitriol]

The whole point of travel for me is PERSPECTIVE. It really makes you look at the place you live and the place you've visited in a different context. You only get perspective on location by moving around and seeing how other people live.

I can't get the youtube auto skip to work right, but go to 1:19:25 (near the end of the video).

I never thought someone in a concert DVD would explain it so well, but he's absolutely right.

[cardguy]

I can understand trying to gain a new perspective on things.

But a lot of the shit people do when they travel has zero interest to me. Which is why I can't get exciting by the hiking, swimming with dolphins, motorbiking across continents (etc) which people seem to aim for when traveling.

It is like those people that decide to run a marathon to try and push themselves. To me it is pretty lame.

[cardguy]

@Vitriol - I made a link for you:

http://youtu.be/FnJK_cFxUus?t=1h19m23s

Yeah - that is an eloquent summation of the benefits of travel. As to how it affects my situation. I have to weigh up the costs (my hatred of going places and the uncomfortableness of being somewhere new) versus the subtle benefits of being able to see things from a slightly new perspective when I get back.

To me that is not an easy choice to make. Particularly since I find travel stressful and because your job feels ten times worse when you return to it after a long break.

Concrete costs - versus subtle benefits.

Not an easy choice to make.

For instance - I love books. But mainly because they are so enjoyable (to me). Any benefits on top of that are a happy bonus. And I have always advocated that people shouldn't bother reading at all unless they actually enjoy it. To me that would not be a good use of your time - since the enjoyment factor is so important.

Lastly - I fucking love my life. And when I compare it to others - I am happy with my goals and the things I am setting out to achieve. So - it is not like I am dissatisfyed or looking for seomthing new.

But I can extend that line of reasoning further. You see - about a decade ago I was kinda' interested in travel and had plans to see the world. So - what changed?

I decided I never want to get married and never have a girlfriend.

It might seem unrelated. But on a subconscious level - my drive for travel was ultimately linked to the hope that it would throw me into a situation where I would meet a chick and fall in love, etc. Maybe as part of that process I would pick up a unique circle of friends as well.

That is all fine. But it no longer something I am interested in. As such - I wonder if that alone counts for a large part of the reason why I don't get excited by travel in the way that other younger guys do?

Still - it is an interesting thing to consider. Since I realise now that the way I used to think was pretty unoriginal. And was part of the same set of desires shared by most young people. Which leads me to wonder if those desires were truly genuine. Or a part of a way of thinking which has being driven into me by society and pop culture?

[internationalscientist45]

In my case, travel is just part of work but thankfully there is enough flexibility in scheduling that I can usually spend a few (3-5) extra days at the end of the trip where I can sight see and try my hand at game. As someone said before, it's about perspective. I just like seeing places and looking at "ordinary" things from a different perspective. It is kind of a non-sexual version of gathering flags. My office used to have a huge map on the wall that I kept pins in for places I had visited. Once I get a larger office again, I am planning on continuing that tradition.

[Bill]

Curdguy yes same with me. To be "cool" one must travel people think. But I think it´s just another script from Hollywood and the advertisement industry. When one becomes older one often can not understand why one has invested so much in some hobbies.

Immanuell Kant did not travel but his mind travelled quite a lot. It´s all about the chicks. He said "When I was young I needed women I had not enough money for that, now I am old I have lots of money but don´t need women."

It´s a matter of perspectives. Reading is the "travelling" with the best ROI imo then comes watching movies. Real travel is a pain in the ass for non rich guys. Locals see you as a beta and want to trick you out of your money.

Learning other cultures and languages is also a pain in the ass. It´s like learning different programming languages. That needs a major effort.