What Constitutes Being "Well Traveled"?

[DrTeeth]

Not “well“ traveled, but do my best to get out and about. Very rarely stay in tourist areas. Since I work in hospitality, it’s nearly always have a local connection. Or know someone who does (I’m also talkative, so I always make new friends wherever I am).

I’ve spent a bit of time in Thailand (my wife is Thai), Italy, Panama, Jamaica, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Netherlands, Canada (only Vancouver), Paris & Alsace, Vietnam, Singapore, Mexico, the East / West coast of the USA + a good chunk of the Midwest (where I live), and all the Hawaiian Islands. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few places.

Of all of them, I most look forward to returning to Hanoi.

That’s only counting the places in THIS dimension. Lol

 

[captpat]

More traveled than some, for me so far:

Canada
Mexico
Greenland
Nova Scotia
England
Scotland
Belgium
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
France
Italy
Israel
Turkey
Greece

 

[fireground_piper]

I don't travel. I've been as far west as Nashville and south as North Carolina along with 1 trip to the Virgin Islands as my only exit off the mainland. I have lived in my town since I was 6 months old, having bought a house on the other side of town from where my parents live.

While there are a few places I will perhaps travel to one day, I'm very fond of my state/county/town and I enjoy being in it. I drive on different main and backroads every time I go out somewhere so I can be sure to have a good understanding of my immediate living area, various road conditions and see the state of affairs in the place that I live.

There's plenty of world travelers around who can't make it home from the grocery store if their singular roadway home is closed for any reason because they never take the time to understand where they live. Never made sense to me.

 

[trouttimes]

The problem with extensive travel is when comes the time to settle down, you have a very hard time deciding where. So many great places, so little time.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have been to a lot of places all over the globe, but I was only vacationing, or passing through for business. So, I don't feel like I really got to know a place very well. I definitely never stayed anywhere long enough to pick up the language. But, I am not sure what well travelled would mean.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I have visited (some multiple times):

Austria
Bahamas
Belgium
Canada
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
England
Hungary
Iceland
Israel
Mexico
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Scotland
Spain
Sweden

I've seen a lot of amazing artwork in museums overseas—some that I only knew from art history books until seeing them in person. It was eye opening to see a well known Rembrandt self-portrait on some side room wall, no fanfare, just another painting hanging there—prior to that, it was a little rectangle in a book. And here it was in real life. Game changer in terms of expanding my mind.

I would love to visit France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, and a host of other places. Hopefully, someday.

 

[mso489]

Some posts on this thread by people who don't consider themselves well-traveled sound pretty well traveled to me.

A fair amount of my travel experience in the U.S. and Canada was on business, and my work hours were somewhat defined, so I had some free time. I never sat around the hotel bar or other bistro, but always headed out to see something of the place to remember.

The Philadelphia Mint, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell, for example, that I had never seen otherwise. Or Toronto Island by free ferry, the CBC broadcast tower, and the excellent art museum. Or the Indianapolis Speedway. I saw "Phantom of the Opera" in San Francisco. And so on.

This expanded my travel experience, and best of all, I didn't have to travel all the time, just three or four times a year at the most, plus whatever travel I did on vacation. I added some recreational travel to my business travel, without stinting on the job, which I did pretty rigorously. When you travel regularly, you get the packing and airport rituals down pretty well.

Right now I don't have many travel ambitions. I'd have to get back in shape with the rituals and routines of travel. And yes, nearly all of the pleasure has gone out of air travel. Gone are they days when people dressed up to travel and they served you a nice meal on the plane. Now you just hope a brawl doesn't break out, and that you don't have to spend a day of your trip waiting on the runway.

The romance has gone out of hotels and b-and-b's. It used to feel like trying on another life for a night or two. Now I just hope that the linen is clean.

On business, I always hoped they'd send me to Las Vegas. It was a big conference destination when there was a slump in tourism when Atlantic City opened casinos. Gambling has never interested me; the fantasy of winning big, or at all, doesn't work for me. But I wanted to gape at the spectacle, the sort of pop art fantasia of the strip, along with what used to be the elaborate inexpensive breakfasts invented to get people up early to gamble. I think that ambition has passed.

My travel today would focus more on getting back with family where they live, and not losing any loyal pets in the process.

 

[cigrmaster]

I did a lot of travelling in my youth;
Negril Jamaica - 4 times starting in 1978
Cuba
Mexico 3 times to Cozumel for scuba diving\
Bonn Aire for scuba fiving
St Marten
Bahamas
Bermuda
Egypt
Aruba 5 times
Skiing in Colorado
Paris
Italy
Paradise Island

I am sure I am forger ring a few places as my memory sucks.

 

[tbradsim1]

Been there done that, whilst in the jungles of South Asia, the old Saying THERES NO PLACE LIKE HOME, was tattooed in my brain! I Garronte!

 

[romaso]

I always hoped they'd send me to Las Vegas.

Plan for next year's Las Vegas Pipe Show!

 

[anotherbob]

depends who you're comparing yourself too. With some people going out of state or even out of Town bestows vagabond status.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

At least 5 counties and 1.5 states.

 

[Streeper541]

I've lived in five US states and spent time visiting 46 of the 50 total.

I've logged time in 27 countries outside the US on 4 continents, including all of Central America, and quite a bit of SE Asia & the Pacific Islands.

I still don't consider myself "well traveled."

 

[Chaukisch]

I've seen a little bit of Europe.
Hungary
Poland
Greece
Italy
Austria

Now I mostly stay in the country, the Harz is probably my favorite place. I'd love to see all the beautiful places on this Earth but this one is nearby and easy to reach.

 

[vates]

I like to travel and still have passion for it. Not many countries so far. But some of them very thoroughly. Like knowing places better than the locals. I'm currently downed. Hopefully, I will be able to resume my travels in the future.

Austria
Belarus
Belgium
Czechia
Denmark
France
Germany
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Kyrgyzstan
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Netherlands
Poland
Russia
Slovakia
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom

 

[telescopes]

Well traveled for me means getting out of your comfort zone and seeing the world and its people through the eyes and perspectives of those who live far and wide. It can mean going into the woods if you do so like Henry David Thoreau with book’s galore, but it does mean paying attention to the the people and their culture around you. I make a point of getting to know locals, talking to strangers, and stepping out into the streets and allowing myself to get a little lost.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

In conversations I’ve had, people have described me as “well traveled,” but, I don’t feel like I’ve been to that many places. Granted, I’ve been to multiple cities in several of the countries I listed previously, but, the list seems short compared to where I haven’t been. I guess it’s all relative. It reminds me of a joke I heard years ago:

Question: How do you define a slut?

Answer: Anybody that’s had more sex than you have.

 

[bedolaga]

This year I practically didn't travel. But I think that traveling is very useful for every person. Travel enriches your mind. You meet new people, adapt to new situations, become more globally aware. This is great because new experiences increase the cognitive flexibility of the brain and keep your thinking sharp and clear. And it doesn't matter what type of travel you choose, active or passive, the main thing is that you move and get enriched, develop and have a great time