As I sit here during Spring Break from my college position, well, that’s what I am doing, just sitting here. Any given month, you would find me on 2 to 5 trips away from my home, visiting different areas of the nation and bringing back what I found as part of Instinct’s travel pieces. Damn you Facebook for all of these travel memories! From Touring Texas to bouncing around California to Gay Cruises, all of the pictures and videos have been pouring in for the past 12 months, but this past week, they are hitting home a little bit more. Here’s one post from Instinct’s appearance in the San Antonio Riverwalk Mardi Gras parade of 2019.
We always have fun and I am so in need of that now. I’ve contemplated getting on a plane, but more so have thought about driving somewhere to lessen my exposure to COVID. Being down in Florida, I could make it to any south eastern state easily, but that is about it. Driving a little bit to vacation in Florida is not really an option as we are still being bombarded by spring breakers from all over the nation that are throwing caution to the wind.
But why do we travel? Is it because we have time off and need to do something with that time? Is it to see family? Why do we travel?
A recent survey from global accommodations search platform Trivago asked US and UK travelers what they’d give up, to where they’d like to go, to who they’d like to see. The survey was conducted between Jan. 3-11, 2021.
If you have to travel for work, then, well, you have to travel for work. It is a necessity. But for those that do not have to travel because of their employment, how do we view travel? With 84% of the survey takers saying that “Travel is an essential part of a good, well-rounded life” it is safe to say we have not been well rounded these past 12 months.
So we understand that most of us realize that travel helps us keep some mental and cultural balance in our lives.
In this recent survey, the results of asking people why they travel are answers I feel we all would agree with. The highest response was just to get away for a bit. Oh how that sounds so good right now. Just to get away for a bit. I just want to get away for a bit. Can’t I just go away for a little bit?
So, the desire to get away is very strong in all of us. With that in mind, Trivago had the cajones to ask us, almost bribe us to see what we are willing to give up in order to travel. Good golly. What kind of mind trip is that? What would you give up to sit on that plane, worry-free, to go to a resort, beach, casino, cruise, mountaintop, any where your heart desires? Let’s see what the survey takers stated.
Shocking? Not too shocking? This survey was not just straight or LGBTQ people and couples so these results are all mixed up and results are only separated using the demographic of geography, US vs UK. So just under 40% of us would give up sex for a year so we could travel now and just under 20% would give up our partner so we could travel starting today.
What would you give up right now to travel this month with no concerns whatsoever? Would it be sex? A future dream trip? Seeing family for a half a year?
Paris by Jean-Baptiste Burbaud from Pexels
Couple in Forest Photo by Kamaji Ogino from Pexels
- The survey was deployed online and ran from January 3-9, 2021.
- The sample in the US included 1,011 adults (age 18+)
- The sample in the UK covered 1,016 adults (age 18+)
- For both countries, quotas were used to ensure an accurate representation of each countries’ population by gender, age, geographic region, education, and income