9 Things Travelling Millennials are Tired of Hearing
Google defines a "Millennial" as a person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century, but to most, it's more than just this definition. For most of the older generations, it pertains to a self-entitled, overly sensitive group of people. And as if these notions aren't bad enough, they've even been made worse by the increasing rate of travelling Millennials.
Let's just face it. Millennials travel a lot. And by a lot, I mean, A LOT! The presence of year-round seat sales and the changing structures in the workplace allow for our generation to venture on explorations. And as we excitedly share the news of our travels on our digital turfs, we normally receive unsolicited comments from older people, mostly from immediate family.
(Credits to the owner of the photo. Grabbed from Rappler's article: What drives millennials’ 'strange' technology habits?)
Don't get me wrong, I do not mean to antagonize people of older generations. It's just that hearing these repeated comments about wanderlusting gets a little tiring sometimes. So please allow me to give in to the stereotype and rant about some of the things we travelling millennials have heard one too many times.
DISCLAIMER: Forgive me for all of the upcoming snarky side comments.
If you haven't noticed yet, we like to travel. Did I already say that? Well, let me say it again. WE. LIKE. TO. TRAVEL.
All of us have something we like to do repeatedly. May it be a hobby, career, or whatever it is you are into, we have that certain thing we indulge ourselves in or as what the elders would say, a ROUTINE. And for us Millennials, the routine is to keep changing the routine. We like experiencing something new so we go out and explore in the same way that the elders want to stay in and relax.
It makes me wonder how yearning to be among the clouds in the summit of Mt. Pulag, or wading in the crystal waters of Bulusan Lake could be so wrong. It's basically the same as giving in to your little guilty pleasures. To be fair, we give you our all out support whenever you buy linens and gardening materials to combat what Erik Erickson calls Productivity VS Stagnation, so I hope you would also support us in choosing to do the things that make us happy.
When we travel, we don't just hop on a plane, get off, and see sights. It's more than that. Travelling for us means exploring. It means going beyond what we've seen in photos.
We travel not only for the things that we may see, but also for the experience we can get from the journey--for the emotions that a destination may evoke. We immerse so we may have a better understanding society. It entails mingling with the locals and learning that each brick of the Angkor Wat was manually transported by workers from Thailand to Cambodia, or discovering that the Tagbanua's land have been closed off from tourist to protect their tradition and culture. So if others are happy with the same things they see around them, we're happy you've found your place of settlement. But as for us, we long for a more immersive journey around the world.
We don't mind spending for a second visit. As what I've mentioned in my post about Why Siem Reap Deserves a Second Visit, there's such a thing as falling in love with a place, and if it's love at first sight, you would want to have a second look. Besides, travelling to places is like reading your favorite book, or frequently stopping by a street-side plant shop. No two visits would ever be the same because a place will always speak to you on different levels on each visit you make.
People stay at one place for so long without being questioned why they've chosen to stay. We hope you see that this is no different.
I honestly don't mind being asked this question if I could hear the sincerity in the speaker's tone. But more often than not, this question is thrown with a bit of judgment and condescension.
While travelling may be a way of coping towards healing, it could also serve different functions to anyone depending on their life's current status. It could be a means of growth, of self-expansion, of testing one's limits, of celebration. Anything under the sun, really. So the next time you feel the need to ask this question to a traveler, please take a step back and assess whether such questions are necessary.
This statement sort of implies that we are lazy bums who ask our parents for money so we can travel and unwind. I hope you see that Millennials are actually hardworking people. We are a generation who do not mind staying longer hours in the office only to finish what we are asked, provided that we are not micro-managed and that our hard work is valued.
While it is true that there are times we ask for stuff from our parents, it does not include liberties like travelling. We burn time waiting for seat sales and other travel deals so we can enjoy the perks of travelling. We save up for trips months ahead of the departure. We adjust our lifestyle so we can have funds for travel. When we travel, it is a much needed break from the stressors of the world, and that includes people who ask these types of questions. Just kidding!
One of the elder generations' complaints about ours is that we spend too much time on our phones. Yes, this is true to some degree. But there's a limit to accepting this hasty generalization thrown about Millenials and the usage of technology.
Let me begin by saying that we are digital nomads. We were raised to appreciate both the old ways and accept the incoming wave of modernization. We like to take advantage of the things that make sharing easier. In the same manner that you are very fond of taking photos during your children's important milestones (birthdays, graduation, etc), we also want to keep mementos of the memories we make as we go through single adulthood. So please don't blame us for making use of the resources we have that you didn't have back then.
I find this quite funny as we actually save up our leaves so we may have enough time to travel. So yes, we save up our leave credentials, just not for the things you want us to spend them on. For one, they're called VACATION leave for a reason. They are there to be utilized so we can reward ourselves for things we've slaved for. We invest our time on experience because we know that there is so much more to life than just the routinary work-home schedule.
We look up to you and value your opinion. But we hope you also understand that if wanted to hear your thoughts about how we should spend our leave credits, we are capable of asking.
Let me respond to this statement first by saying that living for today and thinking about the future can coexist. They are not mutually exclusive. Things are different now. We don't have to fit into the mold of clock-in, clock-out work where everything is confined in the office. You can go on a vacation without having to sacrifice work. And in the most literal sense of it, you can actually think about your future's success as you enjoy that refreshing Boracay breeze.
You see, we don't mind travelling frequently because for our generation, success is not measured by houses bought, money saved, or titles acquired.
During your time, much of your adulthood was focused on achieving the first two levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. And that's totally okay. Now, we thank you for making us realize the value of it so that our lives may be spent achieving the higher levels of the hierarchy. We aim for self-actualization, which is why our investments are toward experiences and fulfillment of the soul.
This statement is very loaded. I always know it comes from a place of love and experience because your generation was wired to work hard so you may reap the fruits of your labor when you grow old. But we also hope that you understand that our goal is to retire fulfilled. To not have regrets that we did the things we can while we still could. We take advantage of the opportunity to travel while our current status still permit us. We understand you are all for security and stability, but we hope you also realize that perspectives have evolved with time, and along with it are people's priorities.
We want to be able to retire and tell our grand kids about how diverse the marine life is beneath the waters of Coron, or how emotionally-evoking the sunsets are in Siem Reap. We want to be able to experience things while we can so we may be able to share these experiences to the generations after us.
(My sister at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar's famous bridge.)
Times have changed and gaps are evident now, more than ever, but this doesn't excuse us to bridge understanding among generations. So I’m calling on my fellow millennials to reach out to our elders and discuss these matters. We may be annoyed or irked by some of these repetitive statements, but at the back of our heads, we know our elders only care about us so much. By engaging them to talks about why we travel, let us make them understand that they have nothing to fear--that they have raised our generation well. That despite our decisions that differ from theirs, we were brought up to be individuals who know what they are doing.
