Why Travel is Overrated (but why you should do it anyway)

You're being lied to

Everyone loves to gush about how amazing travel is.

From the Insta selfie crowd to your nomadic cousin who floats around the world (and looks like they need a good wash) and everyone in between.  The love affair with travel can be a bit over the top.

“So to the big question.  Is travelling the life-changing thing everyone says it is? ” 

That would be a big, fat NO.  It’s still pretty awesome, (I’ve lived it for years and it’s a lot of fun)  but the truth lies somewhere in the middle. 

As someone who writes so much about it,  I’ll always be an advocate for new travel experiences. But given the amount of crap I see online about this spiritual world of travel, it’s time to take a step back and look at it for what it really is.

In this article, I’ll talk about why travel is overrated (but why you should do it anyway).

'It's Overrated for Self-Discovery'

You’ve all seen it.

The stories of travellers who return home from a trip can be nauseating as they declare, “This trip changed my life!”  No, it didn’t, Jack.  You just had an awesome time.

You’ve had some fantastic trips.  I certainly have.  I created incredible memories,  met some wonderful friends – even the bad times become s

wept up in a weird form of funny nostalgia, eventually.

But no.  Travel won’t change your life like that.  It’s more complex.  Let me explain.

Any meaningful travel experience takes months, years even decades to sink in.  And it works differently for everyone.  The travel experiences you hear people go on about (usually in their social media posts), will rarely be remembered that way in the future.

It’s the little things that endure most.

– The random cup of coffee with a stranger in an unfamiliar town.  

– Catching the crazy bus ride in the mountains

– Bartering badly and paying 3 x as much for your cheap T-shirt as your friend

I’m always sceptical about travellers when they declare they are going travelling to ‘find themselves’.  This trend and belief sets you up for disappointment. 

“Trust me, there are plenty of as*holes who I’ve seen book tickets to ‘find themelves’ and come back the same a*sholes they were when they left.”

The answer is more simple than you think.   

The main benefit of travel is it gets you out of your routine for a while.  

Away from work, family pressures and your normal routine. It doesn’t need to be a bad routine or one you love, it’s about the change in environment.  Once you do that, your attention drifts to different things.  Like how to avoid getting ripped off, how to not get lost and wondering what the strange-looking bug thing is on the menu.

The life-changing powers of travel don’t come from the bucket list destinations, the philosophies of kids barely out of school or the curated stuff you see on reels.  It’s the uncomfortable and even boring moments that you go through along the way.  

Travel is a long-term game.  It forces you to build resilience, it reveals your character and exposes your flaws.  Once this happens, you become better for it.

That is the life-changing power of travel.

'Travel is Exhausting'

You know the feeling.

You come home from your epic trip. You dump your bag full of duty-free vodka, your new wardrobe and dirty washing on the bed and declare: “I’m exhausted, I need to rest now”.

Welcome to what I call the ‘Travel Hangover’. (Hat tip to ‘The Hangover’ movie, which reminds me of some of my antics).

I’m not sure about you, but I don’t know many people who book a trip anticipating how exhausting it is.  You get caught up in the romantic late dinners, beach days, vibrant markets and city hopping.   It’s something all travellers seem to forget about.

Travel requires a special type of endurance.  

Sometimes, you start on the back foot as well, with jet lag knocking you about for the first few days.  Jet lag combined with a busy itinerary wears down even the most experienced of travellers.  You reckon those YouTubers travelling the globe with their GoPro are happy and as energised as they look off-camera?  Think again. 

When you expose yourself to a new environment, mentally, your brain goes into overdrive.  

Trying not to get lost in a strange city is only the start. It’s working out what people are trying to say to you and how to keep yourself safe – that is the real energy drain.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun.  But, it does wear you down.  That’s why you come home and feel like you need another holiday from the holiday. “

The upside is that you can use this opportunity to take things slower.   Your head must be in the sand if you haven’t heard about this ‘slow travel’ thing.  Yes, it’s another category travellers love to brand themselves as – but it’s a way of travelling I have learned to love.   You just need to define what this looks like for you.  

Slow travel is the perfect antidote to an exhausting and tiring travel experience.

It’s all about staying in one place for a while and resisting the urge to city-hop every other day or planning your day from sunrise to sunset.  Book and do the experiences you came for (it’s why you went, remember), but also book in time for doing nothing. 

Even if it’s people watching over a Chianti in an Italian piazza or reading a book on the beach for the afternoon.

There is nothing wrong with seeing and doing as much as you can in a short space of time. 

Most of us don’t have the luxury of taking trips frequently (let alone have the opportunity to return to a place again).  I’m certainly in that boat.  But I’ve learned that finding ‘you’ time not only enhances your travel experience but it makes you notice the little things more.

Travel is tiring.  For everyone.  It’s just up to you decide how much you’re willing to put up with.

'The fake world of social media creates false expectations'

I love a Big Mac Combo from Maccas.

It’s a guilty pleasure and I don’t give a f*ck what anyone else thinks.  Even after watching that doco with the guy who ate McDonalds for a whole month.

Nothing gets my hunger pains going than watching the ad on TV, with the crispy lettuce and Big Mac sauce in slow motion as the most pristine looking burger on the screen has me in the car quicker to the drive-thru than a handsome German guy named Friedrich in his Mercedes on the Autobahn.

Thanks to social media (and dare I say it, influencers), the same attention virus has hit the travel world.  You know what I’m talking about.

Hallstatt in Austria is a perfect example (look it up here).  

It’s a ‘fairytale village’.  It sure does look pretty when no one else is there.  

I was lucky enough to stay at one of the few spots you could stay in town during my time there.  For 95% of people who go there chasing the ‘fairytale village’ you see on Instagram, it’s anything but.  

“Thousands of daytrippers come in from Vienna and Salzburg every day, all chasing the same iconic images you see online.   It’ was so full on,  I decided to head back to my campsite and wait for the masses to leave.”

This conversation isn’t new.  You can say the same about Venice, Barcelona or countless other cities or sites.

Now don’t get me wrong.  The reason you travel is probably closely linked to social media, books or other media.  That’s cool.  In fact, it’s EXACTLY why you should travel – the difference is in the expectations you set.

You will have expectations to some degree.  People who say they don’t are liars.  It happens throughout our daily lives.  Travel isn’t any different.  The key is to not let these expectations make or break your trip.  Especially people on social media who you probably have nothing in common with.

The answer is simple.

Let the magic of social media influence the hell out of you.   Even those damn ‘influencers’. I do it every single day. But that’s it.  Put your ego in your back pocket and let the magic of the world do the rest.

The irony is that the reasons you visit a place probably won’t be the things you remember most.

'You Look Weird, Sound Weird - Embrace It'

I was sitting on the tube in London after a night out.

Minding my own business, a guy gets on the near-empty carriage and just starts picking a fight with some African guy.  He abuses the hell out of him before the African dude bites back and these two guys go at it. Punches are flying everywhere.

To cut the random late-night fight story short,  the African guy loses and then this idiot turns his attention my way and goes:

“What the f*ck are you looking at” in an unmistakable Irish accent (apologies, my Irish friends).  

My underwear turned a different shade until my nervous and naive 19 year old voice mumbled something in my Kiwi accent. The expression on his face turned from look of wanting to give me a hiding to, to one of curiosity.  He ended up sitting opposite me, where we spent a very awkward couple of minutes talking rugby and what I was doing over the other side of the world.

I’m convinced I would have had a kicking too if I hadn’t spoken.  My accent saved my ass that night.

The lesson is simple.

When you travel, the chances of you ‘mixing in with the locals’ are less likely than the Titanic making it to New York in 2024.  It’s total BS.   You stick out.  Learn to embrace it.

Yet, for some reason, so much travel advice or experiences are around trying to fit in.  The truth is, it’s impossible.  In reality,  the most you can hope for is not to offend anyone.  That’s on you.

When you visit somewhere new, the smart thing (and the only thing you can do) is to be respectful.  You, your personality, and ‘freedom of expression’ count for little.  Remember, you are a guest.

Read that again.

One of the unspoken truths about travel isn’t talked about very often. 

“You get to try on different personalities or even avatars.  There is no better place to do this when you look and sound weird to most of the people around you anyway. ”  

It doesn’t mean making up ridiculous stories. But when the expectation is that you are a bit different, there is free reign to embrace that part of your personality.  It’s something I did for years – when I think back, there are parts of that personality shift I retain now and forms part of my personality today.

Trying to fit in is almost always bad advice.  It works for a while across society, but usually bites your ass in the end and only holds you back.

Your personality will always shine through.  Yes, that means you’re allowed McDonalds or KFC when you travel as well.

Learn to embrace it.  Just do it respectfully when you travel.  The upside is unlimited.  The downside could end up putting you in prison or worse.

You decide.