Recently, the folks at College Humor released a new video of what it’s like to have one of those friends who seem to have a bottomless bank account and an unwavering sense of wanderlust. The “quintessential traveler” who sports floppy hats and over-sized glasses while posing with children from a third world country. The two minute clip parodies pretentious travelers and their tendency to scoff at 9-5ers.
Admittedly, the video got me thinking about what it means to be a traveler (as well as hoping my friends never see me coming off as airy and flippant like the cartoon-ish girl in this clip). True, we are all guilty of those idyllic Instagram shots we know will render some poor cubicle bound viewer wistful. Yes, travelers can drop quotes like nobody’s business as a poetic means to sway our listeners to throw caution to the wind and book a flight. The fact is, travelers-whether a travel blogger, backpacker, journalist or photographer-are dreamers who continuously chase that allusive horizon in search of their next adventure.
Should you casually mention an idea to embark on a trip to Central America, we are already looking up airfare and dates to make the thought a reality. Should you bring up wanderlust-inducing films, we become starry-eyed with an endless scroll of places we have yet to visit. Should you mention a past trip to Paris, we gush over our favorite patisseries and rattle off places you simply have to visit next time in France. Should you lament not being able to afford to travel, we intently share travel hacks like we’re handing over nuclear codes. We runaway with our thoughts, get ahead of ourselves and sometimes that can seem as though we are out of touch to the realities of what it means to afford travel.
Most of us are not heirs to fortunes though, majority of us have felt the pain of a slow-moving work day, the struggle of painstakingly saving dollar after dollar for a dream that feels ages away, the monotony of sitting in front of a computer for nine hours. We are familiar to the constraints of limited vacation time, to the woes of not affording a plane ticket, to the frustration of scrolling through social media and feeling as though everyone is en route to someplace exotic. We lust over our next trip and we make globetrotting a priority; revere it with a fevered passion. It may seem as though our heads are in the clouds but our love of travel is no different than how a chef speaks of food, a comedian of his jokes or a filmmaker of his movie-it is more than a pastime, it is our way of life. It is our religion.
Yes, there can exist a negative stigma of travelers as there can of anybody who is a renegade of the standard societal expectations of living. We may spend our savings on a six month trip over a mortgage, may opt against children for the sake of being untethered to wander freely, may push notions of corporate ladders far from our mind. We may cringe at the thought of suburbia, may try to inspire others to travel-but that is our prerogative, our desire to not only see the world but to share it.
What does being a traveler mean to you? Share it below!
While I watching this specific College Humour video I felt conflicted. On one side, I laughed because as an exaggerated comedy its script is funny and in some ways accurate. On the other side, I frowned at these common societal projections of what it means to be a traveler. I am a student, I work and I travel. For someone to say I’m rich or making others feel bad for my life choices is unfair. Great read on an important issue! http://nomoneywilltravel.com
Agreed, it is a bit conflicting which is why I was compelled to write this post. There are definitely stigmas surrounding travel and travelers and I do often get that question of how I afford to travel. It does really come down to work and saving and I hope this post shows that 🙂
I feel like a lot people make assumptions about me because of all of my traveling. I love talking about traveling with other people. But sometimes, when I’m talking with people who haven’t traveled or been bitten by the travel bug, I feel really misunderstood. I’ve answered the question, “How do you afford to travel so much” so many times. I always explain that I work and save and scrimp obsessively to make it happen. But I’m pretty sure people walk away with the idea that I’m either a rich kid or that I’m incredibly reckless … neither of which are true. Sometimes these sorts of misconceptions can really frustrate me! Anyway, I loved this piece Nikki 🙂
Glad you like the piece! I agree, it can be frustrating and I think a lot of the misconceptions stem from the basic approach to travel and vacation time in the United States especially. I think many people have this idea that travel is a luxury that is expensive and enjoyed only 1-2 weeks a year so to see a growing amount of young travelers challenges that idea, which leads can lead assumptions.
Nikki
This is so true. I know that at my 9-to-5 I seem to be traveling all the time and abroad at least once a year and that baffles lots of co-workers, but I make it my priority. I agonize over the schedule of my vacation days and holidays, save every penny I can for trips, and pick up extra freelance work to pay for them. It’s just my choice. And I make it because I love to travel more than I love new clothes and not packing my lunch.
Definitely agree! I think it’s just a matter of what people prioritize spending their money on. I am the same way. I am not a big shopper and prefer to spend money on a trip rather than an expensive outfit.
My only weakness for expensive clothes (okay, mostly purses and hats) is when I’m on a trip somewhere. The rest of the time my clothes habits are pretty boring.
Entrepreneurs Odyssey says
Great read Nikki. And so true, I don’t know any travellers with a bottomless bucket of gold (yet) and it certainly requires taking action to escape the cubicle. A word of warning though, once the travel bug bites, it will be hard to shift, not that many travellers want to shift it anyway.
Even though we are on the road full-time, we must still commit to work as our bucket of gold always needs filling.
Thanks for reading! Like any passion, it’s not enough to just dream about something, you have to actually do it and with travel it does take saving, planning and striving to especially become a full time traveler once that travel bug bites!
Brianna says
This was great! I can’t even count the amount of times my family and friends question how I am paying for my travels, they feel that I have some treasure chest hiding underneath my bed or something. People that don’t understand travel hacking have a hard time comprehending how some one could live in exotic countries for such small amounts of money.