I’ve been passionate about travelling since I was a kid. I’m sure I got this from my dad. He never travelled internationally, but we always went places when we could afford it. I remember one memorable road trip from our home to the north coast of New South Wales that included a stop-off in Sydney. My mum always reminded me of the time I ran around inside the Sydney Opera House with bare feet as a four-year-old.
Not everyone has holiday memories from their childhood and can afford to travel. That’s the plain truth of the matter. I discovered early on, when Bec and I started travelling more frequently, that not everyone wanted to know and talk about our travels or cared for that matter.
Some people don’t want to know that you can afford a month in Europe, what the view is like from the top of the Eiffel Tower, or that you stay in a villa in Bali for a few hundred dollars a week.
Talking About Travel vs Tall Poppy Syndrome
In Australia, we suffer from Tall Poppy Syndrome. Wikipedia describes it as successful people being criticised. This occurs when their peers believe they are too successful or are bragging about their success. It comes from the equalitarianism school of thought of equal opportunities for all individuals. So, in travel terms, if you talk too much about your travel to people who aren’t afforded the opportunity to travel, they might think you’re bragging.
It’s a sticky situation because we’re no better off than most people. We prioritise travel over more material items. We’ve never owned a car worth more than $8,500, we have an older house, and so on. It’s not that we’re better, we choose differently because the experiences travel brings are more important to us than a brand-new car.
These days, I never lead any conversation about travel unless I’m asked about it. I find the only way to know if people are interested in where we’re travelling next and what we’ve seen and done is to wait for them to lead the conversation about travel. Then there’s a chance that Bec and I will never shut up!
Even our kids have suffered from this, with my daughter’s primary school principal telling us once that other kids can’t relate to Marley because she has travelled so much when the kids have never been anywhere!
At times, we find that people who have travelled like to think that they’ve done more and seen more, which is fine. It’s not a game for us, but for some, it’s like sticking a flag in the ground and saying, “I win.” If we suggest something you should see or do, it’s only a suggestion, and we only recommend it because we’ve been there and done that.
Read More from We Travel Alone
If you want to believe your friend, whose friend read somewhere that it’s not worth seeing, that’s also fine. We’re not showing off or bragging, and we want everyone to have the best experience possible when they travel.
In the end, talking about travel is a minefield that I sometimes just can’t be bothered with unless it’s with people who want our opinion or are genuinely interested in our actions. Our online presence is another way to talk about travel with interested people, and we’ve met many people who share our mindset.
Who are we?
