Travel: A Necessity or a Luxury?

February 11, 2021 Marsha Mowers

Is travel a necessity?

Before everyone jumps on this, let’s think clearly about what travel actually is about. Yes, it’s about taking a break on a beach somewhere, stuffing our faces with things we wouldn’t normally eat for seven days straight.  It’s about having a mimosa on a Tuesday morning because, why not, we’re on vacation. It’s about taking a break from our jobs that dictate where we have to be and for how long and the headaches that can come from them. It’s also about family and friends. 

It’s a fun reprieve – but is it a necessity? 

First, let’s define what travel is. For some it’s jumping on a plane for a destination so out of the ordinary that it’s on our bucket list.  For others, it’s taking a train to the next province, exploring this vast country of ours. And yet further still for some, it’s taking a road trip to another part of our province – notoriously for those of us in Ontario, heading to “cottage country” to spend summer days on a lake or winters snowshoeing our forests and hitting ski hills. But it also can be about flying to a destination wedding for your best friend from high school, or visiting a sick or dying relative in a far-off country.

Somewhere along the way, travel has caused a “how could you do that?” divide. People who leave Canada and come back are shamed. We don’t know why someone has travelled, and yet we all now somehow feel a civic responsibility to question their motives.  Some could argue it’s virtue signaling at its finest.

According to the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) and Sick Kids:

– The most significant predictor of worsening mental health symptoms in children across domains was the degree of social isolation experienced, underscoring the importance of social interactions for children’s mental health.

– About 4,000 Canadians per year die by suicide—an average of almost 11 suicides a day. It affects people of all ages and backgrounds.

– Canadians in the lowest income group are 3 to 4 times more likely than those in the highest income group to report poor to fair mental health

– In any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experience a mental illness or addiction problem. By the time Canadians reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 have—or have had—a mental illness.

That last statistic should really hit home.  Those numbers are in non-pandemic times.  The fact that lower-income groups are less likely to report should also be a COVID wakeup call as it is known that these same groups are taking the brunt of the pandemic – they’re hit harder and aren’t receiving the support they need.

Travel provides many things to many people.  It can be a simple escape to some, it can be a means to say goodbye to a loved one for others. It can be a chance to explore different cultures and learn about the world – (which in my humble opinion helps to eliminate racism, but that’s another article).  For destinations, travellers provide income and help sustain a country’s economy.

Forbes magazine, in 2018 noted that 80% of Americans who travelled reported lower stress levels, and that the anticipation of travel can increase your happiness substantially, even more than the anticipation of acquiring something tangible, like a new car.

The point is that everyone is suffering a loss during this pandemic.  Whether that’s a loss of a job which can be so much more than just a paycheque, the loss of seeing our friends and family who we hold dear, and/or a general overall feeling of the day to day loss of the life we used to know.  A year into this, we’re all suffering.  And it doesn’t help to blame the travel industry or travellers. 

If we’re all going to bounce back, it’s going to take everyone on deck, including recognizing the importance of travel both to our mental health and our economies.

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