Eujeanie

And we go to TJ's and Costco on the SAME DAY because they are close to each other! Who says we're not exciting!

This thread was precipitated by an exhausting trip we just took on the LA Freeways, all over...we used to live there, and 20 years ago I thought nothing of it - you just went. This time it was a steering wheel knuckling horror show. We had 2 more California trips planned this year (San Diego and Silicon Valley), and we decided we did not want a repeat, so those are the ones we cancelled. Subbed in Vegas and a Cruise (nervous about that one post-Covid), but can't get much more relaxing!

We also like hiking on flat paved trails - one trip we did keep this year is to the Grand Tetons. Was going to do Yellowstone, too, but wayyyy too much driving. Will go back another time for that.

Hate to say it, but we're almost at the point where we're ready to get on a bus with a pile of other seniors and be carted around.

david55

[QUOTE=Eujeanie;34093839

Hate to say it, but we're almost at the point where we're ready to get on a bus with a pile of other seniors and be carted around.[/QUOTE]

Please don't.

Eastbay1K

Next Express Bus to Alte KackerVille departs in 25 minutes!

As to the OP, do you more hate traveling, or do you more hate the kind of traveling you historically did?

I'd be looking for destinations where the upside outweighs the possible maximum kvetch factor, whether that is friends/family, the most beautiful view in the world, the most scenic traffic-free drive in the world, and so on.

Eujeanie

Yes. We used to love to travel to cities, large and small, some most people would never consider for a vacation (Detroit, Cleveland, Boise, Memphis, Philly, just to name a variety). Now tired of crowds. Love renting a great place with family (we've done this the last several years, the Oregon Coast and Maui). Scenic views fantastic. The less driving the better. This recent LA trip had us really reassess everything. With our upcoming ones being a "new normal" for us I can't wait to see how we feel after those. And we're lucky we live in a part of the country where we have the whole gamut of scenic variety in driving distance - ocean, forest, lakes, mountains, desert.

ATOBTTR

I would recommend identifying what specifically it is about traveling that you have grown to hate. To some extent, I can get it. In a previous role, I was flying between SEA and LAX to head up to Edwards AFB constantly. I never grew to "hate" it, but it did grow to become semi-boring and almost routine in many aspects particularly when you find yourself now going to the same restaurants and staying in the same locations. It was difficult to find something "new" to look to forward to with respect to the travel experience.

I will say I get your point planning being more exciting than the actual experience sometimes. To me, the "planning" in some respects is as much fun as the trip itself. It's the "thrill of the hunt" over the end result to some extent. For me, that means booking new airlines, new aircraft types, new airports, new routes, etc. I was pretty bummed when a trip to Europe we had for Summer 2020 was canceled due to COVID as I was going to get 2-3 new airlines, several new airports, among other things. But to be honest, I feel like if once we go back, I just rebook what we had, it would be less "fun" to book since to me, the finding of what to book is part of the experience, even though I still want those experiences.

There are no "former Marines" - once a Marine, always a Marine.

jrl767

I'll echo this too, but I know full well it's an artifact of being a commercial aviation geek since single-digit age and having a rather analytical personality .

couldn't agree more about LA, but I know a ton of reasonably safe non-freeway routes (yes they take considerably longer, but I keep my sanity)

Mrs767 is angling for a road trip that way, maybe next spring ... we 've found some nice hikes in Olympic National Park which are fairly easy day trips or short overnights

Eujeanie

We live in Oregon but have never been to Olympic National Park. Adding it to the list.

And as far as freeways go in LA, yes there are alternate routes, but having lived there for over 10 years in the 90's, I had no idea how it was "me" who had changed - I'm sure they were always that awful, but when the worst freeway traffic you have now is driving from Eugene to PDX you forget how bad it can be.

And I love the planning. All the options, figuring out the best ones. Click, click, click.

Sweetone

My bad - I know that.

nk15

Covid and its stress, risks, and restrictions killed a lot of the joy of travel, especially for those over 40-50 who are more at risk...

DELee

No - it's us. From the late 90's onward, LA traffic, especially on the Westside has gotten, well, ...<bleep>lian. There are a bunch more <bleeps> who really don't care at all about other drivers, And some of those jerks keep filtering out to other parts of the basin.

Also, there's been an influx of drivers who frankly don't drive like other Californians who grew up here. For example, I was taught that when the light changed to green, to roll forward into the intersection if turning left which would allow three or more cars to make the turn even if the opposite straight flow didn't permit any turns until their light turned yellow. There's now a set of folks who don't advance forward, stay behind the dead line and then are the only ones to turn when the light changes. Others have issues with turning right on red.

There's also quite a bit of surface street rework/underground digging/lane closures going on right now that's grinding everyone and everywhere.

A big part of getting around is picking the time in which you travel. If I drive down to Irvine to meet with my son on a week night, I know that if I leave between 3 and 6 pm, it will take the better part of an hour and a half - or longer with accidents and construction. If I leave after 6 pm, it will take about an hour to go 40 miles. If I could leave at 6 am, I'd get there in 45 minutes. As a tourist, sometimes you don't have a choice when to get going and face the teeth of either morning or afternoon rush hour. That part sucks for everyone.

The last part is the impact of COVID. There are now folks who have literally nothing better to do than a) mod their cars and/or purchase higher performance autos, b) drive like maniacs through traffic, both on surface streets and freeways, burn rubber and do donuts in intersections and c) do so in packs of 5 to 20 and are doing their best to drive 90 sometimes in rush hour conditions.

David

BuildingMyBento

When Dubai Airport wanted to charge me 10 bucks to print out the Indian e-visa document (because bureaucracy, because greed), that was indeed a moment in time I hated travel. Actually, DXB Terminal 2 is just the architectural version of Dubai flipping you the bird; f that place.

n.b. the e-visa authorization does mention about carrying a copy, though I always believe that defeats the purpose of the "e-" part. Nevertheless, when I took my first bite of that idli with chutney, the printing incident was quickly forgotten.

Super Mario

I honestly don't understand people who don't like to travel. I do believe some people haven't found what they truly like or understand that their interests may have evolved. Whether it's in a big city, sitting near an ocean, or hiking in a forest, I don't believe you can't find a scenario better than sitting at home 24/7.

Sounds similar to a cruise, which I love! Personally, this kind of thinking is step 1 for a lot of people to be setup for disappointment. Don't get me wrong. I don't want to stay in the most outdated, Red Roof Inn, with the rudest staff out there. Some people will let anything derail any and all enjoyment for them. There is so much food, entertainment, culture, and environment to see out there. No one has seen it all.

pinniped

Travel is definitely harder and more complicated than it was 20-30 years ago. Even simple airline processes that used to work well have broken down in many places due to cost cutting and corporate greed.

As for hotels, really good hotels used to be a pleasure during travel. But now the concept of hospitality is effectively dead at all but the rarest of hotels - it's just a commodity. Hotels were already racing to commoditization 5-10 years ago, and they used covid as a cover to accelerate that. Covid restrictions forced hotels to abandon many formerly-standard services, and they used that as an opportunity to permanently abandon them even when the covid restrictions were lifted. I stayed at a Kimpton last month that had NO onsite food of any kind. (In a city with no covid-related prohibition on indoor dining.) This is Kimpton...a brand that used to be reasonably upscale.

The only silver lining is that as the value of hotels has dropped considerably, it's caused me to book much more interesting villas or apartments for leisure trips. I still use chain hotels for business trips and earn enough points to cover "boring" stays when I need an airport hotel or a couple random nights in a suburb somewhere. But for trips with family or friends, we don't even look at traditional hotels anymore.

I still travel because I love to visit new places, but the act of getting there is no longer fun they way it once was.

EXP100

I think it's more nuanced. 20-30 years ago we didn't have mobile check in, apps to track flights, able to manage your flight online, etc. But the TSA circus (reduced stress by having PreCheck/Global Entry), crowded airports, packed planes, and now packed and loud airline/airport lounges (what was until recently the last escape from the madness), etc. all have made travel a hassle.

Truthfully, if I didn't have status, particularly beyond the lowest level I would find travel very difficult. Personally, I would tell a family in which no one has status if they can't pony up for first class tickets just go somewhere by car. I read the stories (not to mention seeing) of families sleeping in airports for a couple of days on end because they can't afford additional hotel rooms. This is particularly hard on people that are expected to be on a job site and find themselves without pay or even in danger of losing their job when they aren't.

ATOBTTR

I would concur with this on it being very nuanced because whether or not the travel experience is getting better or worse depends a lot on where you're sitting on the plane. If you're sitting in the pointy end, the experience has gotten much better in most respects. Significantly better seats with more space and more amenities/features. Improved lounges and ground experience (can't speak for meals and whether those have improved). But if you're riding in Y, the experience has gotten worse overall in the past 20-30 years. Tighter and more uncomfortable seats. Extra/ancillary fees for various aspects of the travel experience. Significantly reduced inflight service. Dealing with long lines at various aspects of the airport experience from check-in to security.

And yes, status, even low-level status, is enough to improve the travel experience and at least make it "bearable/tolerable". I've posted this across FT many times but I'm reminded of this aspect every time I island hop on HA in Hawaii where I don't have status and have to deal with "normal" lines (same with the few times I've flown WN over the past few years). It's miserable. The way I get around it now is I just buy F on HA anyway, which is less about the flight itself and more about the airport/ground experience, especially on the front end. And once you factor in bag fees, you realize it just makes sense anyway to buy F. HA Y fare: $55-$75. HA bag fees: $35-$60, depending on various factors. HA F fare with priority check-in and included baggage: $125-$150.