PhlyingRPh

Most of my neighbours, friends and relatives are also from multi-national, multi-origin families and like me have been traveling pretty much continuously since they flew out of their mother's birth canal, so no negative vibes from them. Moreover, while my travel is mostly business based, my wife/kids travel more than I do so they don't really have the right to say anything about my business travel.

The problem I have is with casual acquaintances who know that I travel frequently to countries that they would consider dangerous. They come up with the most ridiculous assertions and accusations, and frankly, who the heck has the time to explain to them that what they see on TV or read in the paper is not the real deal?

pinworm

Some people are poor travellers, and become unglued when travelling so they never go, and hearing of my lifestyle freaks them out.

Others love it, but don't get to do it very often, and they can be envious..I try to explain that going to Des Moines in November is not like going to Cabo-San Lucas! If they want to trade places, here's my ticket!

Some cannot understand my frustration with travel..if they don't travel as much, they don't face the problems as often. They wonder why I avoid WN like the plague while they love it as much as Disneyland.

Some wonder how I can be away from my wife all the time. Well, they are right. That sucks. But sometimes I see the advantage of working on my own instead of in a cubicle. Sometimes I enjoy the solitary adventure of it.

As for flying F or Business, they are envious and wonder how I can afford it (I can't) or how my company would pay for it (they won't)..they just don't know the game. I fly enough miles to get the upgrades, and often enough to get the upgrades at least 3/4ths of the times I fly. They don't understand that very few actually pay full on it (especially domestic) and that the airlines do this for people who they know are frequent customers, not ma and pa kettle..who incidcentally, are the ones whose proletarian blood boils when they see people going through priority lines, boarding first, and sitting in better seats. It's not dis-similar to "Bimmer Bias" on the road where BMW drivers receive less courtesy from other drivers or the whole "flip off a hummer" movement. No, I am not up there because I am a "better person", I am up there because I am a "better customer".

Then there are the ones who think I must be aging before my time. This was true in my first year of weekly travel, but now I seem to have found a mental grove and have tuned the fine skills of making it easy and trouble free..sometimes it even feels like taking the bus to the office instead of flying across the country and I am none the worse for wear.

CApreppie

A cousin of mine, who eventually joined FT, accused me of hiding and keeping travel deals away from her and my family. Huh?? I just didn't bother talking about them because most of them thought I was crazy for chasing FF miles. No point in trying to explain FF travel to those who have no interest. Sheesh.

bowdenj

No - in fact I think there is sometimes a bit of jealousy (except when there are blizzards and delayed flights).

I've got a public calendar so my friends/relatives can keep track (and yes, Mom still calls and asks where I am and I always say: check the calendar)).

LTN Phobia

I sometimes get comments that I am warming the earth.

LizzyDragon84

No one has responded negatively to my travels. Usually the question I get is "where are you going next?".

SFflyer123

I travel so much for work that most people assume my trips are work-related. They don' think my trips are vacations, so that even when they are, they ask, "You've got a meeting there?" I think for those who travel a lot for work, they don't get these questions. But if you travel to exotic fun places purely on your own dime, I could see how people would start to give you a hard time.

neuron

Most of my friends and family know I love to travel, its been that way from my teenage years onwards. More often they think I am crazy to go to Hawaii for 3 nights just to get away or book a last minute trip to London because I haven't been there in a year or so. But, they know I a work hard and take little time off, so when I go away, its done well. I know their thoughts are more of wonderment than trying to figure out what size straight-jacket I should wear.

Daawgon

Hey George - Just my thoughts as well. What is it with Americans, we're such amateurs at travel compared to the Europeans and Aussies. My friends are either just not interested enough, think foreign travel is only for the rich, or just plain ignorant how easy the whole process is. So what if we now have to almost strip down to our shorts for the TSA - no big deal I say! I have a retired income under 20K a year and I managed 2 trips to SE Asia this year + $1800. to board my dog.

jackal

I did nine weeks--four weeks in Southeast Asia and five weeks in Australia--for a total of $6124.64 for two people. That included all accommodations, food, activities, and transportation (including about 10 flights on LCC carriers and a train journey from Sydney to Cairns) with the exception of the BA F award ticket to get from the U.S. to Asia and Australia (pre-fuel surcharge, so I want to say the taxes were around $300 per person).

Granted, Asia isn't the most expensive place to travel, but Australia certainly isn't an ultra-budget destination. For lodging, in Asia, we were averaging under US$20 per night (except SIN, where we had a total of about seven nights at around $100-120 per night), and in Australia, we were aiming towards about US$50 per night, which wasn't easy outside of hostels but not impossible.

One thing that did help: we had free use of a friend's car for much of our time in Australia (though the fuel economy was pretty bad on the old clunker, so it wasn't necessarily a super deal ). Still, a month-long rental car would have only set us back about another US$1,500.

I think it is possible if your standards aren't super high--and we were by no means slumming it.

tommyleo

Tell them to prove it. That always annoys them.

tommyleo

This is a great thread. I've been noticing lately that some people seem to be jealous, but under the guise of observation, saying things like: "You certainly travel a lot."

So I tell them the truth. When I was a kid, my family was poor and I never could afford to travel anywhere, so it was always my dream to travel. So now I do!

I also tell them that I am very adept at finding great fares (thanks to FT!!) and cheap rooms/cars (hotwire, priceline).

Gamecock

DW gave me a hard time when I had a sharp uptick in travel last year (15K miles -> 118K) Granted part of that was a MR.

Anyway, since she started flying TATLs in J at cheap Y fares, she is much more understanding,

TA

this isn't quite on the topic of the snide remarks that one gets, but more the reasons behind it:

Something I have noticed is that for many average people, the idea of flying to a different city, let alone country, or permanently moving to a new city, is a completely life-altering experience. Many wouldn't even dream of doing that -- to the exclusion of a better job or living conditions. I don't know what it is, maybe fear of the unknown?

By contrast, I've basically moved every other year (or more frequently) for the last 10 years, domestic + intl. So moving to a new city, or being on the road, is just normal life for me. I don't accumulate much in the way of furniture, stuff, because I know I may be moving again soon.

Part of it is that I've become accustomed to the nomadic life because of my profession and job cycle, another part because I don't get too attached or feel the need to stay in a place just because most people I know are there. I sometimes think to myself, there's too many places out there to see, people to meet, to believe that the one place I happened to be was the best in the world. (though this also is helped by the fact that I get bored easily, if I do the same thing for too long)

There are times when I feel normal people have an advantage -- they get to put down roots and have a "normal" community. They can buy things like a boat, have a mortgage, etc. They can know the ins-and-outs of their neighborhood.

But then, they will never lead the life I can, and see the places I do. That has to be the reward. At least until I decide that I have found a place worth settling down for.

tommyleo

I know that FT is an international forum, but I'd imagine that most travel jealousy comes from Americans toward Americans. Keep in mind that less that 30% of Americans have passports.

So those of us who travel a lot are actually deep in the minority. In many cases we are living the life that the majority dreams about. To some of them, our traveling is flaunting wealth. But I'd bet that to many of them who could afford to travel -- but don't -- we are living the life from which they limit themselvem. Why would they do that? Well, as this writer states, many Americas are "paranoid, pathetically insular and grotesquely self-pitying."

I find that statement to be quite true. I'm always amazed that even when some Americans do, in fact, venture out of the U.S., they often go to resorts where all the other Americans go.

When I travel outside for the U.S., the last people I want to meet are Americans!!