Quote:
Originally posted by escorpio
Everyone is entitled to an opinion (they are like assholes) based on their experiences and perceptions. I know Australians are generally more well travelled than the average American. It seems to be encouraged in young adults and probably stems from location(if you want to see much of anything, you have to leave the rock) and penal colony heritage(hey, it's O.K. to leave if you want!). But idiots can also travel. This point has been brought up by U.S.-bashers when bringing up "The Ugly American" stereotype. This notion that travel automatically makes one more intelligent by osmosis is rather amusing. Youth hostel travel being especially lame,as is traveling in pairs or groups. real travel is done solo, in my opinion. I mean I have heard shit like "...and then we went to Guadalajara and stayed at the hostel and and partied with some German chicks!" From a group of four guys traveling together. Do you see what I'm getting at? Sometimes travel can be rather insular and not too enlightening if not done right. Unless you have travelled the entire U.S.A.(a huge country with major regional differences) you don't know as much as you think you do and your perceptions are still largely media driven. Even if that media was absorbed at a youth hostel in San Francisco.
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1. I have NEVER stayed at a youth hostel in the USA. It has always been with inlaws or with friends.
2. You are lecturing me on travel? Man, in the last five years I have spent a year overseas on the road. I have visited 25 countries (not including my own). Do NOT tell me how to travel unless you have done more of it than me.
3. Youth hostel travel is not especially lame. It is far superior to staying at hotels where you never meet anyone. Other travellers are your best source of information i.e. Where to go, where to avoid etc. They are also usually fun to hang out with.
4. I almost always travel by myself (unless you count other travellers I meet along the way)
5. Australia is also a huge country with major regional differences. Remember, Australia is as big as the continental USA.