Let's talk about privilege

All you need to do is open Instagram, read a few travel blogs or switch on the TV to convince yourself that travel is the cure-all for everything going wrong in our miserable, busy lives.

Even if you backpack, hitchhike, camp or simply trek, the fact is that travelling costs money. And sure, it gives you back experience and perspective and adventure and memories, but the simple fact that it costs money makes it an elitist activity. Travelling is a pastime that has always been enjoyed primarily by those with money; those in the upper classes; those with not only disposable income, but disposable time.

Travelling is a consumable good and an expensive one at that. You can absolutely pack a bag with a weeks’ worth of clothes and walk out your front door in search of adventure, sleep whenever you find a sheltered spot each night and forage for your meals—but even if you forgo the comfortable walking shoes and appropriate clothing, you still need the means to take the time off in the first place. Besides, what part of that level of adventurous spirit is about ‘enriching yourself’ or ‘experiencing the world’? It’s certainly ‘getting out there’ but not exactly the type of travelling anyone (rational) daydreams about.

Being able to travel for sheer pleasure is a privilege. Being able to satisfy that wanderlust is a privilege. Feeling wanderlust in the first place is a privilege and remains out of most people’s reach. Air travel makes jetting off to reach new lands easier, and budget airlines make it more accessible, but you still need a real chunk of money to pay for it and then survive when you get there.

Admittedly, you don’t need a lot of money to have a good time if you travel frugally, and you’ll easily find pages upon pages of blogs extolling the ease of travelling on just $10 a day—but even that in itself is classist. Think the people earning $10 a day could spend that on travelling? Income gets spent on the necessities to, you know, live before it can be splurged on adventure, and there are plenty of low-income people who rarely have the opportunity to leave their hometown, let alone their country.

It’s not about travel being this amazing opportunity that only the privileged can partake in; it’s not about vilifying those people who journey around the world on a shoe-string budget; and it’s not about demonising anyone who holidays in any way. Rather, it’s about recognising that travelling is a commodity and is often dependent on privilege.

The assumption that just anyone can up and go travelling is one thing, but selling this notion that we all ‘must’ travel is deeply problematic. You can fall for pictures of sandy beaches, vibrant cities and heart-stopping scenery, but beneath it all, it’s a sales pitch. Your ability to realise these dreams and visit these places is entirely affected by your socio-economic situation. Travelling is something some people absolutely cannot do, and perpetuating the notion that travel is the only way to ‘find yourself’ is an ignorant disregard for the harsh realities many people face.

The notion widely touted on social media, through the wider media and travel blogs that travelling allows you to find deeper meaning contains the implicit message that those who do not are ignorant and unfulfilled. In a way, all these people are simply bragging—made all the worse by the fact they likely didn’t have to work too hard to get there.

At the same time, this isn’t to say that many people will never be able to travel if they find themselves in these circumstances. Travelling requires giving things up for long periods of time to save enough money. It absolutely can be enriching and inspiring, but it doesn’t need to be extravagant. Luxurious holidays look great on social media and ‘grand adventures’ make for great blog content, but even budget travel—hostels and hitchhiking—present certain barriers to overcome. For example, hostel dorms may be cheap, but the nice ones shown in all the ‘boho backpacking’ Western blogs can still easily be out of budget. The super cheap beds or even working in exchange for a bed are hardly an escapism experience: that’s not enriching or finding yourself. That’s just another day’s work unless you’re a privileged office worker trading a cushy 9-5 for an alternative lifestyle for a while. It rarely works the other way around.

The narrative casting travel as a utopian and egalitarian experience is flawed; the idea of a meritocracy where anyone can travel if they work for it is flawed. It’s simply much easier for some to travel than it is for others.

Travelling can widen your world view, expose you to new people and cultures, and create truly valuable memories—travel should be something we can all experience. But it’s not. There are those for whom no mindset change, spending cuts or budget trips will help them travel. Some people are simply too sick, have parents or children to care for, work three jobs just to afford to live, or have too much debt to justify spending their cash on travelling.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing any travel blog can say nor any artsy shot inspiring enough to make travel a reality for those people.

Those of us who do travel are the privileged few and we tend to overlook that. This isn’t to say we don’t make sacrifices to be able to travel, but our hard work isn’t the only thing that got us on the road—our circumstances make the hard work possible.

If you can travel, do. Travel can be hugely beneficial in so many ways, but it’s important we remember to appreciate our good fortune. ■