Recently, I've seen so many articles stating that today's generation values experience more than material things in their lives. This means traveling and immersing themselves in other cultures can be found on everybody's to-do lists.
I don’t really see any problem with that but I can’t really relate to the idea of spending money every six months or every year on going to exotic locations, all while spending extra money on food, lodging, and transportation.
The idea of today's generation about not working hard while looking for quick results and quitting their jobs to travel the world seems ridiculous to me. Traveling for fun is a different thing than making it your job.
Everyone today is frustrated with their lives. Everyone is working too hard, and they need a “break”, and many think that break can only come from traveling to new destinations. There is no other way people can relax or have fun. Saving money is an alien concept nowadays. Although I don't spend frivolously on traveling, I still do spend my money on material things, which I'm not endorsing the generation switches to that either.
Moreover, this culture has been accelerated even more by social media as far as I can tell. Every day you can see some of your friends posting beautiful “filtered” pictures of themselves in a new city or a place they visited. They can’t put it in their Google photos or some other storage. Instagram and Facebook are the storage points. It would have been fine if it was just maybe a few pictures in one city but no; it has to be in double digits. If someone is not posting pictures, it's as if they aren’t enjoying their lives. Simple.
Of course, I am no saint in this and neither am I overlooking my flaws in these. I, too, may have been complicit in such activities. But one thing I realized is even if I am traveling somewhere (even though that’s a very rare event), why do I have to let the world know about it and make someone feel miserable? Of course, one could say that it’s the other people’s problem that they are being affected, but seriously? You sure about that?
The main problem with this culture is for people like me who detest getting out of their homes and aimlessly wander in forests and mountains where we feel - what am I doing with my life? I could have just been laying down in my bed watching some TV series. Why exactly am I here? Peer pressure I guess. "You aren’t exactly trendy if you ain’t traveling the world. Better catch up." I wish I could punch these people’s faces each time they said that.
