[pydry]

It's treated in a very similar way to many other status-linked luxuries which used to be the preserve of the upper classes and then spread to the masses through commodification.

Theres probably a name for it. If there isnt there should be. Burberryfication?

A lot of people who do travel I don't think actually enjoy it much but feel compelled to engage in status games.

Meanwhile the upper classes and aspiring upper classes understand that it doesn't give them status any more. This becomes "a lack of meaning" because it's well understood among the upper classes that directly gatekeeping status is vulgar.

[shadow_broker]

I think you're getting at why I struggle to share in people's excitement when they say they 'love to travel', is that to some extent, it feels like an obligation at a certain income level, and when I say I didn't really travel this year, people are surprised. Obviously I'm biased to my own experience, but I feel like I ended up having more to say about the experiences in state parks near me than some folks did about their island trips where they just sat on a beach and drank all day (which is totally fine to enjoy if that's your thing!). It just felt to me like throwing the yeah just got back from the Bahamas again was meant to carry more weight in conversation that what people actually did there or why they went, and that's diluted the meaning of 'travel' to me since I've become an adult.

[pessimizer]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tour