I don’t give a crap about your travel.
Sometimes people tell me how they’ve been travelling and how wonderful it is to immerse yourself in other cultures. They tell me that I should travel; that it would make me more mature and expand my mind.
Random: You get to, like, meet people and see things from their point of view.
Me: Uhuh?
Random: And you have to go there to understand it. It’s not the same when you’re just reading a book.
Me: Huh.
Random: Yeah, ‘cos you learn about other people… and about yourself too.
Me: Hmm….
Random: And you’ll have such a great time - I’ll never forget the time I spent travelling -
Me: Yeah?
Jeez, why do people always have this conversation? It’s not like I don’t appreciate where they’re coming from, but since I have *nothing* to add, they just keep making the same statement over and over again in different ways. What can I say to stop them? Normally I just pretend that someone nearby has said something really interesting and I have to go and listen to them instead, but some over-sensitive people might think I’m being rude.
Here are a few polite responses I’m working on:
1) “Yeah yeah, Nepal must be great - hey have you seen the latest Spiderman movie?”
2) “You know where I’d like to travel? Outer space.”
3) “Expands your mind, you say? You don’t have to go overseas for that. I know this guy…”
Or, for moments of complete desperation:
4) “Actually, I hate all foreign cultures.”
Does anyone have any better ideas?
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Tell them you like to travel INSIDE your head.
Comment by sarahred — Wednesday August 18 2004 @ 2:52 pm
I find ‘I have to… go stand over there now’ works a treat!
Comment by Niffler — Wednesday August 18 2004 @ 2:55 pm
I’ve always wanted to travel but my recent run-in with ASIO means the chip implanted in my head will explode if I leave Australian soil - They’ve promised to take it out if I give them what they want but believe me, for everyone’s sake, I can’t do that…
Comment by Stewart — Thursday August 19 2004 @ 8:35 am
I got to travel, I want to travel more, but nothing is worse than those ppeople who start every sentance off with “When I was in…..(Insert european city here)….” It’s ten times more annoying when I do it. Then I have to hit myself in the head.
Comment by sarahred — Thursday August 19 2004 @ 9:05 am
I don’t really understand where those kind of people get off saying such things. I think it’s more or less a case of insecurity and the fact that they want to boast about where they have been and what they have done. Anything to put one down? …….maybe I am just in a bad mood today……
Comment by Marisa — Thursday August 19 2004 @ 9:38 am
Them: I just got back from [wherever], ever been there?
You: Yep.
Them: How about…
You: Yep.
Them: So you would’ve seen…
You: Yep.
Them: And…
You: Yep.
That’ll shut them up.
Comment by T. — Thursday August 19 2004 @ 10:45 am
Hee hee. You guys are way worse that I am.
Comment by Mark — Thursday August 19 2004 @ 12:47 pm
If that happened to me, I would try to draw on my extensive travel experience… on Discworld. It’s a microcosm, so it works, ne?
“Just tell them, ‘Go stick your head in a pig’.”
Comment by Lu — Friday August 20 2004 @ 10:26 am