Ladies and gentlemen, there’s hope for this world yet.
Sure, we’re working too hard, stuck to our cellphones enough that new features alert you when you’ve had too much screen time, and more than half of Americans still don’t have a passport—but we’re getting there. We’re finally getting some good, worldly perspective.
A new survey out by travel company Contiki, found that out of 1,500 18-35-year-olds surveyed, there’s a lot they’d give up in exchange for a chance to travel. Eighty percent said they’d ditch Netflix for a trip, 73 percent said they’d forgo alcohol and 57 percent even agreed to skip out on sexy time if travel were the alternative.
What’s perhaps most shocking (and even most worthy of celebration) is that 41 percent of people who admit to spending eight to 10 hours a day on their cellphones said they’d give up them up for a chance to travel. That would mean no social media, no doing it for the ‘Gram, no brag texts, no Snap chatting shots of food or travel antics. None of it. And yet, travel would still be worth it.
That’s a beautiful thing. Both the travel itself and the recognition that it’s worth more than a lot of sometimes trivial things in this life. If we can, we should see the world, appreciate its wonders, walk with its people, talk with them, taste their food and relish it, learn their words and ways and woes, and come out better people for it.
So, all of that said…what would you be willing to give up for travel…?
