We have no history of travel.So many people out there say they love traveling and will happily tell you about all the places they been to and sights they’ve seen and where they want to go to next. It’s also one of the first things people say they would do if they had more time and money.
But traveling sucks. It’s expensive and tedious. You have to pack, organise a passport, deal with airports, security and there’s just so much waiting! And that’s if everything goes to plan and to schedule. Things can easily get canceled or postponed. Then you’ve got jet lag to deal with, different currencies, language barriers, etc.
Even if you’re not going overseas/flying it’s not like road tripping is any better. Sitting in a car for hours on end just plain sucks.
And don’t think I’m only hating on the actual transport, being away from home sucks too. Whether you’re staying in a hotel or an Airbnb or camping or whatever, you’re away from home and all your things; you’re own bed, your own room, your pets, all your other bits and pieces that make your home your own.
Mass tourism and "seeing sites" as a thing for itself are certainly meaningless consumer bullshit. Tourism proper began in early modernity, when princely or bourgeois youths would travel to italy and bring back entire roman pillars as souvenirs. Prior to that traveling was more often than not a religious undertaking or a maturing ritual
https://urbigenous.net/library/overcoming_tourism.htmlWhile i think we as a society are past the point where traveling can be a spiritual experience, there is still the potential for it to be a transformative experience in terms of culture and education. Under this aspect the US has a painful dearth of genuine cultural sites (they literally call a wall full of gum a "tourist attraction". wtf is a space needle???). In yurop you can't drive anywhere for long without seeing at least a pre-modern church and there are like dozens of musea in every capital city.
>>44630>While i think we as a society are past the point where traveling can be a spiritual experience, there is still the potential for it to be a transformative experience in terms of culture and education. Under this aspect the US has a painful dearth of genuine cultural sites (they literally call a wall full of gum a "tourist attraction". wtf is a space needle???). In yurop you can't drive anywhere for long without seeing at least a pre-modern church and there are like dozens of musea in every capital city.<OOOOHHH I AMM YUROPEAN! WE ARE SO KULTURE!Yurop has a painful dearth of genuine cultural sites (they literally call a bridge full of litter a "tourist attraction". wtf is a Eiffel tower??? They made a literal radio antenna a tourist attraction?).
Euros are pathetic with how chip on their shoulder they are to not be number 1 anymore. We have a bunch of churches from the 1700s in California(in TX the oldest are from 1600s). In elementary school we have to do a report on one and make a diorama and of course we take a field trip to the local one. Other than that, like no one gives a fuck about that gay shit.
<OH MY GAWD LOOK HOW OLD THIS BUILDING IS WOWOOOOWWFucking stupid because all these old buildings are either Ship Of Theseus or their half destroyed like the coliseum.
>>44631Not trying to make this a pissing contest about kkkulture. Novelty tourism isn't a uniquely american phenomenon, the problem seems to be they don't have much else and as OP alluded going to literally any place worth of interest requires long road trips. Historic churches are the bare minimum you will find literally anywhere in yurop, there's still a lot of small to medium towns with medieval buildings or industrial history. If the US has a number of similar sites outside maybe New-England i stand corrected, but i'm under the impression this is one of the problems with travelling in the US.
>Fucking stupid because all these old buildings are either Ship Of TheseusStructurally no. Most larger churches had multiple historical building phases, where in many cases you can still see parts of a romanistic building in the ground plan or it has been preserved under the cathedral. Except for a number of churches with architectural deficiencies or the ones completely rebuild after WWII (a deeply reactionary practice), changes only concern interior decoration: Baroque altars, neo-gothic murals, the absence of a rood screen.
>>44633>Structurally no. Most larger churches had multiple historical building phases, where in many cases you can still see parts of a romanistic building in the ground plan or it has been preserved under the cathedral. Except for a number of churches with architectural deficiencies or the ones completely rebuild after WWII (a deeply reactionary practice), changes only concern interior decoration: Baroque altars, neo-gothic murals, the absence of a rood screen.I remember reading when the Notre Dame cathedral roof burned down, it was like the 5th or 6th time they've rebuilt that damn thing.
>Not trying to make this a pissing contest about kkkulture. Novelty tourism isn't a uniquely american phenomenon, the problem seems to be they don't have much else and as OP alluded going to literally any place worth of interest requires long road trips.Bro we have Museums too. My local tiny ass Museum has several Van Goghs. You might've heard of the Getty Center before.
>there's still a lot of small to medium towns with medieval buildings or industrial history. I've seen a lot of that shit and it's usually dumb. Obviously America has more industrial history than all of Europe combined. Medieval shit is so whatever. Most of the time you know what it feels like, I mentioned the small museum with the Van Gogh but in my city was known as like the top place for 1800s Robber Barons to live. So they all made like mansions in this town and now most of them have been turned into museums. I was training to be a docent for the Proctor and Gamble mansion when I was in middle school. Bro touring a rich person's house is one of the most least interesting things you can do. I've been on a number of tours of medieval castles in Europe and it's almost 100% as boring as touring 1800s mansions. The only cool thing is when you're in the courtyard or the ramparts.
>>44634>I remember reading when the Notre Dame cathedral roof burned down, it was like the 5th or 6th time they've rebuilt that damn thing.Notre Dame and other cathedrals that literally hire masons are the exception, most don't have the funding for constant building restaurations, most is spent on interior restauration or cleaning facades and windows.
>Bro we have Museums too. My local tiny ass Museum has several Van Goghs. You might've heard of the Getty Center before.Isn't that near Los Angeles? I doubt similar places are in reasonable proximity of the average dispersed midwestern settlement.
>I've been on a number of tours of medieval castles in Europe and it's almost 100% as boring as touring 1800s mansions.Churches are really one of the few places i can observe on the basis of their aesthetic (even though many also have a lot of history and symbolic language). Of course "sightseeing" castles becomes uninteresting fast, because these places are mostly given meaning through their history, the informational material can make or break this. Pick some major battle that took place at the castle, explain the political background, the stages of the battle, the wider outcome, and suddenly you have something to think about in association with the place beyond "cool courtyard or ramparts".
>>44637Idk, many posters on this site talk about growing up in small towns or suburbs without much infrastructure to speak of.
>>44632Holy shit is this video infuriating. It's like whoever filmed this was a 10 year old mesmerized by light, glitter and anything that moves, exactly the same as those kids holding up their parents in front of the display windows. You see the sign for the Paris metro and think to yourself, doesn't Paris have beautifully designed metro stations from the 1900s? No, let's fucking stand in front of a bunch of led screens and product displays!
>>44643>checking out clothing storesdont feed the bourgeois
>there is a freedom and excitement that comes with being a stranger in a new cityfor a price
> local night scenedont feed the bourgeois
>>44643>Sightseeing and visiting tourist attractions is so boring thought, like you waste entire days just so you can glance on a some old caste for a minute.i like exploring and vandalizing abandoned monuments and buildings
>>44652i do
>>44651i did u get any pussy?
>>44652rude
>>44653I got my bfs boipucci <3
>>44658no? 'the paris things' at least in most popular conception, is the eiffel tower, arc d triomphe, catacombs, the louvre, and versailles
I guarantee those are the things in Paris most people will be able to identify if you asked them
>>44664>>44663Check this shit out. From just a few months ago up in Washington. We were walking through this wetlands preserve on the boardwalk and there was just this bald eagle chilling and taking selfies with people. Can't pay for experiences like that.
>>44665I thought you said you were literally gay? It probably explains why you can't into something besides warehouse parties and poppers and MDMA. You can do that shit anywhere. What do you need to travel for?
>>44668I have no Instagram, I feel no need to rub my privilege in people's faces. I feel I was baited into proving my travel credentials. But don't talk shit about America. You sound really juvenile. I've seen much of Europe. I do have more I want to see. The only thing I am historically interested in is real authentic Greco-Roman culture. I have no care for the Arc de Triumph or whatever fake ass Victorian Greco Roman shit.
Italy was pretty cool. Rome is a must see. The Vatican is a must see. Palantino and the Colliseum that's a must see. Venice is cool but I didn't really like it. It feels like it's Disneyland but some people are trying to be like they live at Disneyland and they're in conflict with the visitors. A very stupid Disneyland.
>>44675Arc de triumph of what?
>When you got conquered by the Italians?>When you got conquered by the Germans?What a sad country.
>>44675they won in the end tho? like yeah the fall of france in ww2 is kinda embarassing but being nazi germany is even more embarassing
<but they punched so far above their weight!who cares, they still lost, if you start a war which you're bound to lose you get no credit for temporary victories during it
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