An interesting question to ponder, especially after a few
trips I have taken this year, is---- why do we travel? A quick answer would
include things like we travel to gain new experience, see new sights, meet
different people, enjoy exotic cuisines, and relax. However, let’s be
honest---an important reason why we travel is
for the bragging value it provides. You did something that the others have
not.
Think of our ego as a reservoir that needs to be constantly
replenished. This bragging value of travel is an important source of
replenishment, much like buying a fancy house, or car.
Interestingly, unlike the other benefits of travel, the
bragging value of a trip can be realized only if there is a transaction between you and the others--- family, friends and
even strangers. That transaction
involves talking about the trip, showing pictures, and displaying goods you
acquired while away. If you cannot or do not do that, the bragging value is not
realized.
Further, bragging
value is realized only if the other person has not done what you did. Once
that person has already taken that trip, the interaction becomes more of a
discussion of shared experience, with little bragging value. As more and more
people travel, it is inevitable that the overall bragging value of a specific
trip diminishes with time.
From my own experience, even going to the West Coast
provided bragging rights in the 70s, because most of people in my cohort group
had not done that. So was the case with Europe in the 80s. Travel to South America
still holds some value, but that too is diminishing rapidly.
In face of that, we find ways to squeeze additional value
before it completely dries out. If a person came back from the place you
bragged about in the past, you could argue:
“I went there long before you did. It was more authentic
then.”
“I spent a lot more time there than you did. That way my
experience was a lot richer.”
“I saw a lot more wildlife than you did. When I went there,
bears used to dance in the street.”
“You went by car, I biked. You see a lot more that way.”
This effort to squeeze the lemon reminds me of fracking, the
technology by which you can squeeze out oil from fields that were considered to
be dry. However, these fields dry out eventually.
Worse, the tables turn. Those who were at the receiving end
when you were extracting bragging value in the past are now going to do the
same to you. Many have bypassed you and gone to places you have not. Expect
them to be merciless.
Eventually, everyone would have gone to everyplace and done
everything. There will be no bragging value in anything you do. A trip that
would have been taken just for bragging value will now not be taken because the
cost and effort to do so will outweigh any benefit you would derive. You will
need to find a different source to replenish the ego reservoir (or better still
learn how to live with less ego).
In that future world, you would travel to gain new
experience, see new sights, meet different people, enjoy exotic cuisines, and
relax.
Which should have been
the reason to travel in the first place J.
