Article Reflection No. 56 (6/24/2023)

(Visit California)

Article: The Case Against Travel

Reflection:

Vacations come with experiences. However, are the experiences from vacations truly worth it? The New Yorker article “The Case Against Travel” by writer Agnes Callard directly refutes the countless claims of “once in a lifetime” travels, providing insight into the reasons why vacationing is not as valuable as it may seem. Traveling, Callard suggests, is more of a passive practice as people seek changes in life and yet choose to participate in activities that do not allow true growth, with the exception of transportations to pursue valuable endeavors. “Travel is a boomerang[,]” Callard writes. “It drops you right where you started.”

To illustrate this fresh perspective on traveling, the writer cites works from authors who opposed the idea of travel. Included are Valene L. Smith, who wrote Anthropology of Tourism (1989), and the author of the “Book of Disquiet”, Fernando Pessoa. As the former piece of literature refers to tourism as a source of change, Callard applies this idea to reinforce her claim through emphasis on the type of changes that result from travels. The Book of Disquiet is used to support the same argument, but primarily serves as a passionate and rather personalized testament to the “abhor[rences]” of travel, providing a segway into Callard’s explanation behind why Pessoa so strongly opposed vacationing.

Although I enjoy traveling with my family, this article reminds me of how grateful I should be for the opportunity to stay in my familiar, secure home. Don’t get me wrong—I believe that new experiences and wading out of my comfort zone are priceless and irreplaceable. However, the full value of traveling is indeed a factor to reconsider before booking a ticket.