Luxury in International Travel

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Travel used to be mostly available to the rich.  If you were lucky, you might go on one trip to another country in your lifetime.  Most people never saw a foreign land except through books or films, or by meeting someone from there and having them describe it.  Or maybe you emigrated from one country to another.

With the advent of the internet, we “travel” everyday, in complete comfort and luxury.  It’s a wonderful world when I can experience south asia and nicaragua all with a few clicks.  But is this penchant for internationalism not only eroding cultural fabric and raising our children’s expectations about travel, but also creating a widening gap between those who have traveled and those who haven’t?

Those who travel more often are given benefits and perks – lounges in airports with exclusive access, rewards cards with points, and upgrades to first class.  Of course this also employs a large population sector to cater to the higher income traveler, and it creates a bunch of jobs for designers, architects, and furniture makers, not to mention advertisers to package and market this cushy experience as something important.

Is international travel becoming the norm in your family? Or are you more of a “couch surfer”  Let me know in the comments.