WHY TRAVEL?

12-13 May 2025

Decisions, decisions.

Let Mikey do it!

One way to put some zest into my itinerary is to travel with a fresh set of eyes. I think of that old TV commercial slogan: “Let Mikey do it!” It appears to fit like a well-worn passport. Imagine: staring at Google Maps, undecided between reliving vaguely-remembered museums and palaces, chasing new thrills, or just collapsing into a loving stein of Bavarian beer. Then I throw up my hands and shout, “Let Mikey do it!”

Honestly, why make decisions when I can outsource my existential vacation crisis to Mikey who apparently has good travel taste, zero decision fatigue, and probably an idea?

In this particular case, my Mikey is actually a Martha. Still works for me.

Come for the escape, stay for the beer

Measures to escape my local airport’s ridiculous price-gouging on its longtime customers, I drive to Bakersfield, join Martha, and fly from Meadows Field. There the long-term parking is half the cost. San Luis Obispo’s airport evidently paved their parking lots with a golden asphalt.

Returning from Morocco just three weeks ago, I eagerly take measures to escape into the skies once again. Truthfully, flying feels like an historic airlift. Facing embarrassing political chaos, nonstop bullshit, and every headline declaring a different apocalypse, this American looks to the skies for escape.

My departure board reads “Paris, Morocco, Munich, Literally Anywhere.” Emotional baggage is checked free. There is a therapy dog at the gate. I’m given a starter pack: universal adapter and a three-month “How To Chill” guide written by Scandinavians. Final announcement: “This is your last call for flight 760! If you miss it, you’re stuck here arguing about the real humanity of DEI until 2028.”

Do I travel to discover something new or just to escape?

And honestly? Both reasons are valid. Sometimes a cold beer in Germany could represent the deepest spiritual journey of my year. I love that old-school explorer vibe. It is less about ticking things off a list, and more about soaking in the history, the culture, and the moments of solitude and introspection. I have concluded that I travel to learn and understand, not just escape or collect experiences. 

An old Forbes study (2019) found 11% of Americans never traveled outside the state where they were born; 40% of those polled never left the country; the majority of Americans haven’t seen more than about 10 states in total. One pollster noted current percentage of Americans who own a passport is now around 21%, up from 15% years ago. However, though more recent results show more adults have traveled abroad at least once, the vast majority of these have only crossed the border to visit their neighbor: Mexico or Canada.

No official records are kept and I suspect the % of passport ownership is higher, but not much. While there are various reasons for this, including financial, it also indicates a serious cultural ignorance. 

So, what’s  the problem America?

Many people site cost factors. Doesn’t seem to be a reasonable excuse. The cost of an economy flight LAX to Tokyo is $546 RT, from Australia to Tokyo $508, from London to Tokyo $654. Americans bear little extra burden to travel. 

For me, it becomes the trifecta of priority, awareness and fear. I’ll give a pass on priority, somewhat. However, once Americans accomplished Manifest Destiny by the early 1800s, their drive to see beyond their hood seemed to vanish with the buffalo.  Awareness: there’s the geography argument reflecting an ignorance of a map or globe.

Then there is the fear. I bristle when someone greats my travel plans with “be safe,” as if the world is a big scary place. My thought is “safe from f&%$ what?” The ignorant and media paint the world as a scary place, filled with crime, hate, terrorists. Nothing is further from the truth. 

Coming from a country where teenagers carry AR-15s and any idiot can purchase a handgun, such safety warnings coming from others is an insult. Coming from a country where there have been 102 mass shootings so far this year, such safety warnings display total ignorance of one’s world.  

No, Americans aren’t stupid, present GOP excepted. However, Americans are ignorant in that they don’t know about the world and other cultures. Americans learn very little world history and almost no geography. Nightly news discusses nothing of foreign news unless it is bad. Why Americans don’t travel is a complex issue but I believe it is more cultural than anything else. Global citizens they are not!

Results of a recent study conducted by the PEW Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank that conducts research and analysis on issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world:

So, after 53 years of travel through over 100 countries, meeting countless cats, monkeys, penguins, camels, lions, tigers and bears, I have learned and grown. Also, I continue to travel. Because, perhaps the best souvenir I bring home is the new person I become with every trip. 

Return to Munich

So here I land in Munich, home to Hefeweizen beer, pretzels, curly radishes, the English Gardens, Marienplatz, well-developed public transportation and car-free zones, art, palaces, and museums with an honest look at German history both good and terribly, terribly bad. All are worthy avenues for human contemplation. 

The truth is, travel doesn’t demand that I pick a pure motive. I can run to escape and run toward history, culture and myself at exactly the same moment. 

As for what to visit and discover, I have determined, here in Munich at least: “Let Martha do it!”