Tourism - The closer you live, the less likely to visit

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the closer you live to a tourist attraction, the less likely you are to ever actually visit said attraction.

That’s all probably changing now since covid when people have no choice but to go travel Taiwan and see those tourist sites they always wanted to see.

One of the first questions people ask me when meeting is have I been to a certain place or tourist spot in Taiwan.

When I typically answer that I’ve been there and to many others, multiple times, they frequently laugh and say I’ve never even been there.

Especially places on the East Coast, people sometimes say my dream is to go to Hualien or Taidong and many never even heard of Dulan. Or maybe just a nearby place like the zoo or Fine Art Museum.

:roll:

5 Likes

True. I lived in California my whole life until moving here (45 years) and never visited Yosemite, one of the most well-known national parks in the country. Still kicking myself.

2 Likes

I used to live in Tainan; I visited Taipei every two or three months. And almost every time, I saw some kind of concert.

I now live in Taipei. I don’t think I’ve been to a concert in five or six years.

2 Likes

I would differentiate a bit. If people do day trips on weekends, everything in one-day range will be visited sooner or later. But if you are talking about multiple-day trips, there might be some truth to it. If you go on longer trips once or twice a year, you might opt for a foreign destination, even if it’s more expensive, instead of places in your own country.

It’s awful getting old and decrepit.

1 Like

I’m one to speak. The last concert I want to was about eight years ago: Bob Log 111 in a tiny venue. :laughing: My ears are still bleeding.

2 Likes

He was great I saw him at The Wall.

I saw that gig, too. :+1: :+1:

1 Like

I was like what is this and I was shocked and loved it.

I heard about him before I went but it was even much better.

Lived in Taitung for thirty years, never been to Green Island.

3 Likes

Jesus was that 8 years ago? I think that was my last too. More happily I don’t think I’ve gotten that drunk and stupid since then

1 Like

There’s another term for this… it’s called “real New Yorkers fucking hate Times Square and will do anything to avoid it.”

What’s wrong with Times Square? :slight_smile:

image

3 Likes

Ive lived in the bay area over 20 years,never went to alcatraz. no plans to either .

And as for taiwan, i have never been to any offshore island except for penghu once in winter (when it was pretty much useless).

I just went for the 650nt 737 ride from taipei, quickly followed by a cheaper one (forgot the price) to TAinan, also a 737 where we just skimmed the water for less than 15 mins IIRC. I kinda regret not taking the Vickers Viscount four prop from FAT i could’ve taken. I took the trusted 737 instead… Don’t know the model of the hawker plane now but it was a 4 engined turbo prop.

strangely enough the CAL plane I took to Penghu tail number 1870 later crashed while landing at Penghu with the loss of all onboard. Lucky only 13 people in total including the crew, they were on their way to pick up a full load for the return flight. Penghu has really high winds that make landing hard at times. This plane landed on its nose wheel and lost control trying to take off again, crashed into the sea.

The Alcatraz night tour is actually dope.

Yosemite is “OK”. Unless you are an avid hiker, or camper you can pretty much see the sights in one afternoon.
I’ve done two day trips there and back. 6 hours driving total . was “ok” been there , done that kinda thing.

1 Like

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. There’s a lot of famous places in Australia that I’ve yet to see. I’d like to commit to ticking them off the bucket list one by one, when I get the chance.

1 Like

I’ve seen pretty much everything there is to see in South Africa, apart from the Kruger Park.
Been mostly nowhere in Taiwan, though. In 20 years, I’ve only been to one beach. I didn’t even step on it. Sat in the pub and watched everyone else frolicking, through the window. I think it was Fulong.

3 Likes

That’s the only way to do it.