In modern times, particularly over the past 5 to 10 years, we’ve developed an unusual fascination—almost an obsession—with traveling as a society. I hesitate to call it just a fascination; in reality, it’s often elevated to the status of an idol. There’s this pervasive idea that people haven’t truly lived until they’ve traveled.
The Girl Advised to Travel Despite Being Laid Off
The other day, I watched a video about a young woman who recently bought a house and furnished it using a credit card. She fully expected to pay it off within the next few months based on her budget projections. She had also been planning a trip to New Zealand, a dream she’d held onto for years. However, after being laid off from her job, she mentioned she might have to see if she could get a refund for the trip. To me, her reasoning seemed entirely logical.
But when I scrolled through the comments, I was taken aback. The overwhelming majority urged her to take the trip anyway, insisting that “money comes and goes, but memories from a trip last a lifetime.” I couldn’t help but shudder at this sentiment. Yes, memories can last a lifetime, but how can you truly enjoy a trip when you’re constantly weighed down by the stress of your financial situation?
This is just one example of a scenario that plays out frequently on social media these days. I’m not sure if these comments are from bots or real people, because I find it hard to believe that, as a society, we’ve become so deeply brainwashed that we would see such a decision as justifiable. The reality is that many of the people who hold these beliefs—or make these kinds of statements—are often lower-middle-class to lower-income individuals, primarily in the United States.
The truth is, most Americans have grown so accustomed to the idea of consumer debt that this kind of thinking seems rational to them. For many in this socioeconomic group, debt is seen as a natural part of life rather than something to be actively eliminated. As a result, they prioritize “living” in the moment over striving for a more stable, debt-free future. But that’s beside the point.
The bigger question I find myself asking is: How did we get here as a society?
Travel as a Hobby, Not a Mandate: Questioning the Obsession
To understand how we got here, it’s important to reframe our definition of what traveling truly is. At its core, traveling is simply moving from one point to another. We do it daily—commuting from home to work, for example—but when we talk about travel on a larger scale, we’re usually referring to leisurely vacations with friends, family, or even solo trips. The truth is, traveling is a hobby. Like reading, playing basketball, or painting, it’s an activity that brings joy to certain people. Emphasis on certain people.
There’s never an expectation that 100% of people enjoy reading or 100% of people enjoy painting. If you walked into a room of 100 people living in an apartment complex and they all claimed to love painting, most would find it incredibly strange—unless, of course, it was an apartment complex specifically for artists. So why, then, do we impose the expectation of leisurely travel on every Tom, Dick, and Harry we meet? It’s almost become a status symbol—a measure of how great your life is based on how much you’ve traveled. It’s as if you’re somehow less of a thinking, fulfilled being if you haven’t explored the world.
And yet, if we look at our parents’ generation, many of them lived deeply fulfilling, impactful lives without ever leaving the borders of their state. So why, all of a sudden, do we feel this newfound obsession?
The Propaganda of Travel: Who Really Benefits?
I have a theory that much of this newfound generational obsession with travel is heavily fueled by certain corporations. It strikes me as a finely tuned form of propaganda, pushed by the social media industry, the airline industry, the hospitality industry, and countless other sectors that stand to profit from it. These industries have mastered the art of selling not just products, but lifestyles—curating images of pristine beaches, bustling cityscapes, and serene mountain retreats that dominate our feeds and feed our desires.
We are pushed images of our friends and colleagues living these extravagant lives in different countries and doing these extra-ordinary things that most people do not get to do in their everyday lives. But what’s often left out of the picture is the cost—not just financial, but emotional and environmental. The constant pressure to “see the world” can lead to burnout, debt, and a sense of inadequacy for those who can’t keep up. Meanwhile, the environmental toll of mass tourism is rarely addressed, even as it contributes to the degradation of the very places we’re told to cherish.
It’s a cycle that benefits corporations far more than individuals. They profit from our wanderlust while we’re left chasing an idealized version of life that’s often just out of reach. The question is: Who really wins in this equation?
The True Cost of Travel: Financial and Emotional
Speaking of which, what is the actual cost of traveling? It’s surprisingly common to see people with a combined household income of less than $80,000 taking trips that cost upwards of $10,000. To some, that might not seem like a lot of money, but let’s put it into perspective. I was recently listening to the Money Wise podcast, where the guest was a millionaire with $2–5 million in investments. These investments paid her and her husband $200,000 annually in dividends, on top of additional income from their other businesses.
As a family of four—including their two children—they loved traveling and exploring new places. When asked how much they spent on these trips, she mentioned a budget of $20,000 to $25,000 per trip. So, here we have literal millionaires, earning at least five times the income of the average traveler, spending only twice as much on their vacations.
What’s even more striking is the financial context. The average traveler often carries significant financial burdens—student loans, credit card debt, car payments, and more—while the millionaire likely has a paid-off home and no outstanding loans. In what world does it make sense for someone earning an average wage, with all these obligations, to spend anywhere near half of what a millionaire spends on travel? It’s a question that exposes the disconnect between our aspirations and our realities. This does not mean that traveling should be left for only the rich but it is worth exploring the questions of if traveling is only worth it to us if we do it luxuriously? Or is there an option for each person to travel within their own individual capacity and still achieve the same level of fulfillment that is pushed on us as what is necessary for a “fully lived life”?
How Travelers Travel: Then vs. Now
I recently watched a YouTube video explaining the impacts of modern-day travel culture. It highlighted how that serene Instagram shot of Santorini is often anything but serene in reality—on the other side of the camera, there’s a horde of people waiting in line for their turn to capture the same picture-perfect moment. The impact on locals in these destinations is profound. During peak travel seasons, many can no longer afford to live in their own towns due to skyrocketing housing costs and inflated prices. Even those who can afford to stay find their hometowns transformed, overrun by masses of tourists who disrupt the fabric of daily life.
Before the proliferation of today’s travel culture, people still traveled, but the impacts were never this extreme. Travelers once ventured to new places to explore cultures and ways of life. They stepped beyond their resorts and fancy Ubers, immersing themselves in the local experience. They ate authentic local foods, learned basic phrases in the local language, and genuinely tried to see the world through the eyes of the people who lived there. This was what made travel meaningful—it opened minds and broadened perspectives. This was what people who loved traveling truly loved about it.
Nowadays, for many, traveling means going from their home in South LA to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun, where they spend the entire week surrounded by other visitors from South LA and similar locales. They eat Westernized versions of local foods and participate in activities that have little to do with the local culture. Yes, traveling is supposed to open our minds, but what kind of growth happens when you’re simply transplanting your regular life to another country? Worse, this kind of tourism drives up the cost of living for locals, pushing them out of their own communities.
Finding Fulfillment Beyond the Herd Mentality
As a society, it’s worth questioning why we have the interests we do. Can you really claim to love traveling if the only thing you enjoy is eating American burgers at an all-inclusive hotel in another country? In that case, your hobby isn’t traveling—it’s eating. If your favorite part of traveling is spending alone time in a hotel room while being served breakfast, lunch, and dinner, then what you truly need is time away from work. That can be achieved at a nice hotel in your own city.
Identify what you genuinely enjoy and embrace what makes you who you are. There’s nothing to be gained from following the herd. True fulfillment comes from understanding yourself and making choices that align with your values, not from chasing trends or societal expectations.