Teens with zero desire to travel

How so?

even then you will be shown an arranged situation. You will learn more bout the history of eg Petra by using decent websites.

I didn’t really enjoy holidays much as a teenager because I didn’t have the best family relationships and also they were not really aligned with my interests. I really enjoyed holidays and travelling in my late teens - I planned a trip myself with my Mum and sister when I was in sixth form and even more once I started going with friends and did a 3 month solo back packing trip after uni and absolutely love all kinds of holidays now, so I wouldn’t assume how the feel now is how they will feel forever.

"understanding other cultures"

More like understanding other tourist industries!

True story from a friend of mine. part of a tour from a cruise was to go out and see a village. Fair enough its a nice money maker for the villages. They arrived to see villagers hand tilling the fields, were offered refreshments and given the tour. They overstayed in the gift shop (again made by villagers and sold by villagers) and came out to find that the field workers had downed tools and vanished until the next tour turned up!

Let them be. You don’t have to go travelling abroad

I never went travelling, yes I have been abroad occasionally, but most of my holidays and travel are in this country

its done me no harm

Not everyone wants to travel

Tosh, you don’t have to go travelling abroad to expand your mind

I think its a bit snobby to say travelling makes you a better person. Obviously it gives you experiences and expands ones own knowledge in a more practical way than maybe reading or watching a documentary.

But for lots of people cost will be a prohibiting factor, on MN there are always people who claim going abroad is cheaper than staying in the UK or someone who trekked in the himalayas for 10 days for £150. But in real life even doing a very basic holiday abroad (backpacking, staying in hostels etc) is still going to involve flights, potentially visas, sometimes tourist taxes, spending money once you get there etc, its not something everyone can afford, or they might prioritise their spending elsewhere.

Ive probably been to about 14 countries, all in Europe or Africa, on a mixture of holidays (camping, villas, hotels, hostels, trekking, safari etc) , DH is far more well travelled - he did most of his travelling before we were together, and has been to all the continents and more off the beaten track.

Do I think hes a better person than me, because of that? No, he is more well travelled, and possibly better at geography, that is just one aspect of him as a person.

Yes, if it's to explore the pyramids or visit Petra, or a Kenyan safari, etc., but not if it's an AI in Magaluf!

Maybe 'be careful what you wish for'.
'Too content in their own small world' - so, they are happy, and safe.
That's worth such a lot, and not the place in which all teens find themselves.

Can you explain why?
I am very curious to your thinking.

I’m an adult in my 30s and have had very little desire to travel. I think we forget that everyone is different, and difference also means we don’t all want to be adventurous and travel the world. And we don’t all have to be.

Ive traveled for work, I travel to see friends that live abroad or if I’m invited, but I will never really book a holiday impromptu. I have the annual family holiday and that works for me.

I read lots, do sooooo much in my immediate community, live in a busy city with lots of people and have friends from all over. There are so many ways you can expand your knowledge of other cultures. Plus I speak 3 languages.

I agree, nothing beats being in another country and seeing the culture for yourself. But there are plenty of ways to be educated.

This is fine. Everyone is different and likes different things. Travelling/holidays aren't something everyone has to do.

I was similar to the OP’s children. Fortunate enough to have been taken abroad every year from about 1989-1998 and then 2000-2003 when growing up - Spanish islands, Greek islands and Canary Islands. Holidays were mostly sitting around the pool or beach all day type affair - boring after a few days, going stir crazy by day 8 but we still have another 5 nights! We went to see a museum and some ruins in Crete in 2001 because I was old enough to complain about wanting a break from the old routine by that point.

I refused to go on a family holiday after I turned 17 and it caused quite a few arguments. I didn’t go abroad then for another 16 years, partly because I worked in the education sector in my 20s and the prices during times I could have gone were prohibitive. I have no regrets.

Classic example of this for you and others who get this far to read it. My Mum always wanted to go to Egypt and see the pyramids and sphinx at Giza and see a bit of the Red Sea coast. She and my stepfather went to Sharm el Sheikh in 2006 if I remember rightly. Didn’t see any of the sights she wanted to go to Egypt to see. Stayed in the resort mostly. Went out to look at a few shops on their last day and that was it.

When she got back off holiday I asked how she found the pyramids etc and found out she hadn’t seen them, I caused just a bit of an upset with my reaction because it was largely down to my stepfather, who is a lazy bore. He piped up about, “people go on holiday to chill out,” which in his case meant sleeping in the shade all day, stuffing his face with junk food and chugging a drink. He was stumped when I replied, “in which case why go all that way and not just have another Spain or Greece holiday like you usually do?”

I still can’t believe she went all that way to a place she had always wanted to go, to see particular sights and never saw them. Bloody ridiculous.

I lived in Canada for 18 months after uni but otherwise have not travelled extensively - I'm 47 as an adult I have probably had 10 foreign holidays and other than Canada no long haul. My kids have had two foreign holidays with me and the eldest had a school trip to the battlefields of WW1, her choice. I like being in foreign countries, love other cultures but I am not a massive fan of being a tourist and it's possible rubbed off on my kids - we explore a lot outside in this country, and they are very socially conscious kids. We have close freinds of lots of nationalities living in a very multicultural area.

I am the same! We have travelled US/Canada /Europe .But going far East or Australia just not bothered .Partly price restrictions /part worry about health issues .We have travelled extensively here ,and The Tower of London /Stonehenge /Edinburgh Castle are all second to none in terms of history and culture.Small Museums are good too

What about the people in the countries you travel to, who can’t or don’t travel themselves? That means you think you’re inherently better than them, too. It comes across like using people in that case, and not respecting them at all. It means you are better than 99.996% of people who’ve lived because you’ve got on a plane and travelled.

It’s just not true. And evidently people wear it like a badge of honour rather than being genuinely interested, it seems.

My DS is 26 and has never owned a passport. He has no intention of travelling abroad. We, on the other hand, travel abroad frequently!

Can you expand on this please

Could this just be the usual generational norm of emerging adults seeing stuff that "old people" do as inevitably being uncool?

I wouldn’t be overly concerned with their lack of interest in travel. As others have said it may be connected to the fact that travel holds no novelty to them. I love travel but I don’t think its a moral obligation.

I would worry more about a general lack of intellectual curiosity though. No need to hanker to walk the old silk route but if they can’t be arsed leaving the house that’s quite lame.

Do they like visiting places in the UK?

It really does.

Out of all my young adult children’s friends only 1 of each other their friends want to travel. Ones been all over Europe and another has been to Australia and Europe.

neither of my children want to travel, both enjoy holidays but don’t feel the need to travel.

dh didn’t go abroad until he was 25, his parents lived to 70 and neither had been abroad. Some people are just content with the lives they have .

Perhaps they are more aware of the environmental impact of leisure travel given the climate change crisis.

Good for them I think.

I love that today’s youth don’t conform like my generation did.

I only read the first twenty messages or so, but there was already people sneering that only those with a lack of intelligence don’t travel. This type of reaction rendered my generation doing do many things they didn’t really want to do, it was just the norm.

these are the people the youth are saying fuck off to, I’ll do what I want.

good for them.