The Case Against Travel
- jeanne7629
- Dec 29, 2025
- 1 min read
This is a great one to end the year on!
The episode raises a series of thought-provoking questions: Does travel truly change us, or simply entertain and distract us? Is it an act of curiosity or a symptom of restlessness with the familiar? Can journeys meant to expand our horizons instead reinforce our existing perspectives? What moral responsibility do we carry for the environmental and cultural impact of our movement around the world? And finally, is our belief that travel makes us better people a genuine form of moral ambition (or just a comforting illusion?). It hasn’t quite convinced me but a lot of interesting things to take away, reflect on…
What a great discussion - thanks for sharing! This prompted me to really think about why I love to travel. And I'm glad it did because I've spent a lot of time reflecting on the costs of travel but hadn't given nearly as much deliberate thought to its benefits.
In terms of environmental costs, I'd be interested in how the idea of 'virtual travel' (suggested by Scott) stacks up against real-life travel, given how resource-intensive the digital world can be too. I would have scoffed at the idea of virtual travel a few months ago but I recently visited Sebastião Salgado's 'Amazônia' exhibition and honestly felt like I had travelled. I'm not usually much of a gallery goer but I…