[cmccabe]

Excessive travel is terrible for the environment. You can easily generate many times the amount of carbon dioxide you would emit by driving for a year, simply by taking a long plane flight or two. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/sunday-review/the-biggest-...

Travel is nice, but not when you do it just to brag about having gone to X countries in Y days. Then it just becomes a status thing, and is, as the author notes, "kind of douchey." The internet, good news sources, and documentaries can broaden your horizons even without leaving the house.

[sobri]

Always take trains overland. Flying should be reserved only for trips that cross water.

Besides, travelling by train is much more fun.

[goblin89]

In certain places travelling by train can be a bit too much fun. If it's USA or Japan (trains have Wi-Fi or distances are small, and it's safe)—sure, no reason to fly.

[pessimizer]

Trains don't have Wi-Fi in the US.

[goblin89]

Oh. Never been to US myself, thanks for the correction. Is there at least an outlet for your laptop and decent 4G/3G coverage on the whole trip?

(Compare to Russia, where traveling anywhere remote by train means you might be completely lost to the world for a few days.)

[wan23]

http://www.amtrak.com/journey-with-wi-fi-train-station

[khuey]

Unfortunately not always a realistic option (exhibit A: North America).

[pessimizer]

I do it in North America. Every long trip needs two days of padding on each side, but people make allowances for you as if you had a phobia of flying.

When all of your business trips become taking the Amtrak in a Roomette to your B&B, business travel becomes a lot less stressful.

[wpietri]

Why's that? I have a friend who travels mostly by train in the US. She seems pretty happy with it. It takes time, but she's got a laptop and an outlet, so she's happy.

[resu]

That's like saying you can attain a black belt in Karate by reading instruction manuals and watching training videos. Absolutely not.

You broaden your horizens by interacting with what's around you when you travel, whether that's physical, social, cultural, spiritual etc. Nothing in print or virtual can replace that, just as when you learn a new martial art. If you take some time to actually travel for the sake for the experience and not for the bragging rights, you'd realize how ridiculous that statement sounds.