Let’s talk about Travel. Not Politics. Travel blogs shouldn’t be discussing political matters because it upsets readers who read the blog for Travel related reasons. And if those people leave or unsubscribe, it hits us where it hurts, right in the pocketbook.
Travel, and the niche of Travel Hacking allows us to experience different cultures, to discover more about the world, and in turn, about ourselves. I love hearing stories about how families are able to take their children overseas on trips to see the world, or about people in the US who are here for work or study that can go to visit friends and family from their home countries.
I do think, and have stated, that there’s a risk that comes from Travel Hacking that it can devalue the benefits of travel. If it is so easy to fly to Paris that you can do so any weekend, you might not immerse yourself in the culture in the same way, but that doesn’t make Travel Hacking inherently bad.
Travel at its best speaks to the soul. Truthfully, not every trip I take, or want to take does this any more, sometimes I just want some beach time. But the times when I’ve walked around rural Japan on 4 hour treks between remote Dojo were spiritual. Japan for me was a wonderful experience. It was one of the first times I felt like an outsider, and subjected to racism. A lot of this stemmed from their immigration policy and cutting off their borders, which happened under the Sakoku Edict of 1635. This occurred under the Tokugawa shogunate, and is known as the Edo period. It lasted 250 years, and came to an end with the Meiji restoration in 1868. This period of history has greatly shaped the Japan of today, and the feeling towards outsiders remains clear, and present.
It was with a tired body, and tired mind that I would walk through Japan, knowing that I would be treated poorly by many residents, be them officials, or just everyday people. There were also many warm hearted people, but the baseline was that you were a Gaijin, a foreigner, and undesirable. This isn’t a bad thing to experience, because it is a lesson in life, and can help shape your understanding of the world. Seeing it through the eyes of an outsider can teach empathy, along with sadness, and sometimes the hard lessons are the best ones.
Travel, with an open mind, and heart, can teach us much about the world. But when we open this conduit that travel creates, we change. Travel, allows you to see a different culture, experience different food, drinks, sights, and people. It allows you to feel what they feel. Ultimately, therefore anyone who writes on travel will be inclined at times to talk about their feelings, their fears, their desires, their hopes and dreams for their families.
Travel is the conduit. But the heart, mind, or soul must be open in order to receive it’s lessons. For this reason, I beseech all travel bloggers, both on Saverocity and elsewhere to avoid talking about politics.
If you do, it will offend some people, who don’t want to hear about issues surrounding us today, that your heart, mind, or soul cry out against. They don’t want to know that you are worried as a woman, a gay person, a person of color, or just some lefty weirdo. They just want to hear about trip reports on the latest airplane, ideally one operated by a largely Islamic state. There are bonus points for photos of snacks and pre departure beverages.
Let’s not forget, Travel Blogging is a business. And these people are your customer. They have the money, the very best money, and if they unsubscribe you will suffer, that’s just not smart business.
Now – let’s go make some money!
Does this also apply to you? Last time I checked Saverocity Twitter it was mostly political Tweets/Retweets/Likes. Have a separate personal account where you can retweet and like certain posts instead of cluttering my news feed with it. Thank you.
Unfortunately not. I have a pass.
Anthony,
Last time I checked nobody was conditioning your existence on your whether or not you read Saverocity. Ergo, if the content is not to your liking you should choose to either no longer read it, or b) stay shtum. nahwhaimean?
at the risk of sounding negative arent you asking that person to hold their opinion of Saverocity as well? I see a lot of this these days. Righties dont want lefties to speak up Lefties dont want Righties to speak up. Seems like a bad idea both ways.
I can see how it might appear to be the case, but the OP wants Saverocity to follow a course of action that suits his personal tastes. I am arguing that he has no right to impose his will on the somebody else’s business – let him start his own travel thingy, or read in peace
Tongue still in your cheek, Matt?
Is this satire?
Political beliefs aside, I think we can all agree that satire is the de facto winner of the election. It’s getting pretty damn hard to tell real life apart from satire apart from alternative facts.
Glad to see you awake. Now if you dont just lay down and take it when a lefty comes to power I’ll be even more proud of you than I already am.
I’m excited for a righty to come into power
+1 well played sir. well played
Nice satire…
On the day of the inauguration, there was all day, non-stop coverage and commentary of the events. I watched part of it. I also liked that I could turn to the travel channel and discover that they didn’t decide to broadcast and comment on the inauguration.
Agreed
Matt, see, that’s why I like you. Your tongue is so firmly planted in your cheek that some people can’t really tell if it’s there.
Because, of course, if a situation doesn’t affect ME personally, I should not have to be subjected to Simone talking about it.
Isn’t that part of the Bill of Rights, the right to not be made to think?
Sometimes I even confuse myself
Well, I do read Saverocity because it is about travel. I will have to suffer through both sides, all sides of the politics one posts here, I suppose. But, give a girl a break, if I manage to get on Twitter, it is to lighten my day with possibilities of escaping the pollution, rather than being pulled into the cloudy, murky waters of another kind of muckety, muck. And on that note, off to read the blogs of those who discuss and glean wise pearls of wisdom and folly of travel, or is that called life? lol
I agree. Good post. I find it interesting that so many travel bloggers are posting opinions about the recent terrorist country ban, calling it a ban on Muslims but they never complain about how most Muslim countries won’t let many people enter such any anyone with a passport stamp from israel. As a non-muslim try visiting KSA or worse yet, Mecca.
Check. We are now comparing the USA to countries run by religious despots to make ourselves feel better. Good to know. I wasn’t up on that development.
dude how miserable does your wife get when you make your point through passive aggressive riddles and anecdotes? why don’t you just come straight out and make your point?
there’s no real insight in these self-indulgent pseudo-intellectual posts. you’re like Yoda, but with none of the wisdom. you’re annoying. you’re obfuscating this entire post with sarcasm like that somehow makes you an enlightened thinker. it doesn’t.
whatever. keep patting yourself on the back there buddy. your mother was right! you’re a really smart boy!
Why can’t I just write what I want?
I say write what you want. But if you dont want to hear dissent then just turn off the comments section. I thought the comments section was a way for your readers to voice their opinion of your article. No need to get defensive when someone pushes back on you. You write about politics and finance mostly, its not like you are writing about middle of the road topics.
Why can’t I challenge comments?
Sure challenge, absolutely pushback. It just seemed as if your response was one of shock at a disagreement in your post. I could easily have misread your sentiment.
More a flickering of annoyance that some chump would talk to me like that. Debating the facts and merits is fine by me.
thats cool. I can agree with that 100%.
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue
Travel is and always will be an escape – but, it’s also a freedom. It’s important to recognise that without even a brief understanding of the world and the people who rule it, that freedom could merely be taken away.