Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Why I Don't Like to Travel, Dressed Up in Sociologese.

I don't really like to travel, though I do a fair amount.

I have been thinking about why, exactly, I do not. 

I do like to learn about other people and places; that is one of the reasons I am a sociologist. 

I do not much need to feel the aura of special places, to have an authentic experience of "being there."  On the other hand, I always notice things about the juxtaposition of places and cultures that I would not have seen from just reading about other places. 

Still, I would rather be in my house or campus or coffee house, talking to people and working.

I think this is the main reason I do not like to travel:

When I am home, I feel that I am building social capital.
When I travel, I am spending it.
Each trip, therefore, had better be worth the social expense.

3 comments:

ceemac said...

Don't you vacation each summer in the same place that you have gone since childhood? You have decades of social capital built up there.

Gruntled said...

You are quite right.

We have a reunion, not only with family but with long-time friends, at Capon Springs and Farms in West Virginia each summer.

And, of course, Christmas with the extended family in a family member's house.

These do, indeed, build social capital.

Felix Lee said...

Hmmm... That is a very interesting viewpoint.