Has Modern Day Travel Just Become An Exercise In Acute Narcissim ?

It would seem that narcissism is now an essential ingredient of the ‘travel experience.

We all love to travel and along the way we naturally meet other travellers who regale you with tales of their time on the mythical ‘road.’

You know the type, a Bintang T-shirt, baggy trousers and well -worn sandals that, whether you like it or not will try and captivate you with his or her tales whose narrative will always be proceeded by the catch cry, “when I was in…” Or that awful descriptive adjective to conclude the trite tale, “amazing.”

It often makes me wonder; if travel is supposed to make you infinitely more interesting why then are the majority of modern day travellers so terribly boring? I have an unfortunate ability to attract these types wherever I may be. These latter day Marco Polo’s who seem compelled to write rambling blogs and post endless photos on Facebook as if every soul who is unfortunate to be his or her friend must be regaled with their new found wisdom.

When one thinks about it, just 50 years ago the idea of ‘taking off ‘ to discover the world was a concept alien to most until along came the baby boomers. Those devotees of free love and even better drugs were pioneers of the extended ‘foreign holiday. Next, their children in the 90’s chose even more exotic destinations when the ubiquitous ‘ gap year’ was somehow invented as a middle class rite of passage.

Since then I sadly begin to wonder whether travel in this day and age is somehow losing its ability to make us wonder. The Internet, the addictive drug of choice for today’s society has perhaps, in its own way been the leading cause of this phenomenon.

As I travel I cannot but not notice modern day ‘travellers,’ in airports, hotel lobbies restaurants and hostels glued to screens, their expressionless faces highlighted by the glare of their phones, laptops or tablets in constant contact with the homes they had intended to leave behind in the first place.

They research endlessly, seeking the most economical flights, restaurants and hotels in advance, guided by their peers who have scribbled dubious reviews on sites such as trip advisor.

One can now call upon the sexless “Siri’ who will assist you promptly with all that you need to know about your next stop on a journey. When she asks, “ how can I help you?” The answer should be “Siri, would you be so kind as to expunge all motivation and curiosity to perhaps ask a stranger to assist in recommending a suitable hostelry or a cozy tavern.” No, Siri will, in seconds beam a suggested itinerary complete with price points and reviews directly onto your screen and all you have to do is follow her instructions.

I swear she is single handedly shrinking our capacity for independent discovery and all at once demystifying the allure of foreign places.

Has travel today become simply an exercise in narcissism? Is it just another way of desperately seeking some semblance of uniqueness out of an otherwise soul-crushingly mediocre existence?

I want those who have a genuine desire to explore and discover regaling me with tales of far away places around my dinner table, not some flake who ate, prayed and loved while on a wellness retreat at a high priced spa in Bali.

Reading back over this article so far even I detect a certain arrogance in its tone and for that I apologise. You see, I’m a travel writer, which is actually a cunning word code for a work - shy character with way too much misguided respect for the value of my own travel experiences.

I spend days on end researching and hammering out stories that exhort people to visit places that may well be better off without their patronage, while I diligently watch the clicks on sites like beBEE to see whether anyone has in fact bothered to read my narrative.

In this day and age it seems that an essential part of every travellers luggage is that terrible item, the ubiquitous selfie stick. (Having said that, I wish I had invented it, as I wouldn’t have to write stories for a living!) Armed with this device one can how demonstrate in real time to all those trapped ‘at home’ that you are dancing in Dubrovnik, frolicking in Finland or chilling out in Chile. Never mind the scenery it’s all, “look at me, and look at me some more!”

I am certainly not saying that travel is not without merit, far from it. Everyone should at some point in his or her lives get away from it all and discover new places. Write a journal, and by all means record every step of your journey on social media if it makes you feel that you are doing something meaningful. However, remember if your travel experiences are merely a way to ‘tick all the boxes, or a quest to record just how many countries you have visited then travel isn’t making you that much more fascinating, rather its reinforcing your position as merely one of the crowd.

And really, if that is the way you choose to experience the wonders of this planet, so be it but I hate to say that even a little bit of travel is never going to enlighten you.

Paul v Walters is a best selling novelist and when not cocooned in sloth and procrastination in his house in Bali scribbles for several international travel and Vox Pop journals.

His latest novel Scimitar was released in August 2016.