I’ve been told that I ought to visit out-of-state more often than I do. My preference is to do it about 0 times a year, but I end up doing something or another about once a year. Now I’ve got family and friends asking me to go to about a dozen various locations for various visits and vacations.
Reasons for not doing this thing:
I really don’t like having to deal with airport security, or the various other hassles that come with airports.
I don’t appreciate the cost associated with flights, especially since I feel like I’m getting no lasting value out of these thousand-dollar tickets.
It is difficult to accrue the time off from work to take any big adventures, especially if I still take time off to do the things that I want to do.
I have a preference for trips to have a resting time proportional to the travel time, so if I have to fly 12 hours to get somewhere, I want at least 10 days of being at the location before having to suffer travel back.
My location is not very well suited for road trips. It takes about 6 hours to get to any worthwhile destinations.
I don’t really like losing connection to the internet, or my main computer. This isn’t a sufficient condition for some of the possible trips, but not all.
I really don’t care about many of the things that other people do: I hate the heat (any temperature above 70F or ~21C), I don’t like the sunlight, and I don’t really like salty water or camping. Major landmarks don’t really interest me, and I really don’t want to be yet another tourist in a town that loathes tourists.
It is difficult to maintain a weight loss routine when visiting family.
I feel like a bad person when I fly because of reading some stats about carbon footprints (though I cannot recall the source).
It feels wasteful to have a house and a car that cost money regardless as to whether I am at home, and to go somewhere and pay money to stay there.
I feel like there are better things for me to be doing with my time than going somewhere, that I’ve already seen all kinds of interesting things because of my dad’s military life (and thus us moving a lot), and that my memory isn’t sufficiently vivid to justify forgetting most everything within just a few months.
Sounds like the only reason you’re even considering travel is social pressure. I’d recommend doing somehting to pre commit to not travelling instead, so you can just point at that to get people to stop nagging you.
I would think #12, that you don’t actually gain anything from this travel, would be pretty fundamental. Most people spend thousands of dollars on plane tickets because they value seeing family / being social / the actual experience. You don’t seem to value any of those things, so why are you doing this?
6. I don’t really like losing connection to the internet, or my main computer. This isn’t a sufficient condition for some of the possible trips, but not all.
A smart phone, netbook, or tablet are all lightweight ways to maintain the Internet connection as much as possible (i.e. always, except for when the plane is in the air). Personally, I found myself much more willing to travel after purchasing a smart phone ~1.5 years ago.
For #10, rent your house out while you’re gone via airbnb. And when you travel, rent rooms via airbnb, which is apparently significantly cheaper than traditional hotels, at least where I live (NYC).
I’ve been told that I ought to visit out-of-state more often than I do. My preference is to do it about 0 times a year, but I end up doing something or another about once a year. Now I’ve got family and friends asking me to go to about a dozen various locations for various visits and vacations.
Reasons for not doing this thing:
I really don’t like having to deal with airport security, or the various other hassles that come with airports.
I don’t appreciate the cost associated with flights, especially since I feel like I’m getting no lasting value out of these thousand-dollar tickets.
It is difficult to accrue the time off from work to take any big adventures, especially if I still take time off to do the things that I want to do.
I have a preference for trips to have a resting time proportional to the travel time, so if I have to fly 12 hours to get somewhere, I want at least 10 days of being at the location before having to suffer travel back.
My location is not very well suited for road trips. It takes about 6 hours to get to any worthwhile destinations.
I don’t really like losing connection to the internet, or my main computer. This isn’t a sufficient condition for some of the possible trips, but not all.
I really don’t care about many of the things that other people do: I hate the heat (any temperature above 70F or ~21C), I don’t like the sunlight, and I don’t really like salty water or camping. Major landmarks don’t really interest me, and I really don’t want to be yet another tourist in a town that loathes tourists.
It is difficult to maintain a weight loss routine when visiting family.
I feel like a bad person when I fly because of reading some stats about carbon footprints (though I cannot recall the source).
It feels wasteful to have a house and a car that cost money regardless as to whether I am at home, and to go somewhere and pay money to stay there.
I feel like there are better things for me to be doing with my time than going somewhere, that I’ve already seen all kinds of interesting things because of my dad’s military life (and thus us moving a lot), and that my memory isn’t sufficiently vivid to justify forgetting most everything within just a few months.
I think this list is exhaustive.
Invite others to come visit you.
Sounds like the only reason you’re even considering travel is social pressure. I’d recommend doing somehting to pre commit to not travelling instead, so you can just point at that to get people to stop nagging you.
I would think #12, that you don’t actually gain anything from this travel, would be pretty fundamental. Most people spend thousands of dollars on plane tickets because they value seeing family / being social / the actual experience. You don’t seem to value any of those things, so why are you doing this?
A smart phone, netbook, or tablet are all lightweight ways to maintain the Internet connection as much as possible (i.e. always, except for when the plane is in the air). Personally, I found myself much more willing to travel after purchasing a smart phone ~1.5 years ago.
For #10, rent your house out while you’re gone via airbnb. And when you travel, rent rooms via airbnb, which is apparently significantly cheaper than traditional hotels, at least where I live (NYC).
@ 1,2&9 are trains a viable method of transport in your area?