Travel Advice - Travel tastes

In many of the activities that we undertake, we accept agreed upon conventions.

• When we measure the length of string with a ruler, we create a result that can be duplicated by others since the frame of reference is a convention [i.e. a ruler marked with an agreed on scale].
• Another example of conventions is our use of clocks, which are based on a worldwide agreement that has set a standard detailing how to measure and describe time.
• Conventions simplify issues that could easily be argued.
• Conversely, there are other beliefs that are examples of what ethicists call “contested truths”.
  • Contested truths are those beliefs based not on conventions but on the value system of the person postulating their belief about a topic of interest.

Rating places as travel attractions is a prime example of a contested truth that we have all experienced. It always seems to stun us when we return energized from a vacation and find that the person with whom we are sharing the tale of our "great" vacation tells us that he or she can't stand the place we are describing. Then, the same person urge us to visit their favorite place that, we are told, is definitely better than what we just experienced and “the place to go”.

How can this be so?  We have just returned from the best vacation we have ever taken and the location was absolutely spectacular!

• People love to rate places, food, events, people, and anything that comes into their vision and knowledge.
• The fact that the same item is rated differently by a large number of people is not unusual.
  •  Most of us have different value systems, which we employ to judge things.
  • Since we acknowledge that our personalities and life experiences are different, we should not be surprised that our evaluations diverge.
• Perhaps what is unusual is that There Are Places that are universally acknowledged as being “spectacular”, “one of a kind”, “great”, “unique”, “sweet”, or any of a host of words or phrases that are used to acknowledge places that belong to the small class of things we consider to be “superlatives”.

Even the most popular places have their share of detractors since but this does not make the superlatives any less enjoyable!  That is the point of this article.

• You are going to make many travel choices and your reward is that your trip provided the benefits that you sought.
• It doesn’t matter that someone you know can’t stand the destination you liked, just as it doesn’t matter that you can’t stand the one they liked.
• Travel is a sport of tastes and tastes differ.
• Go where you like, satisfying your tastes is the goal.

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