Travelling Will Buried

How do I put this? I completely agree with the notion that travel broadens the mind. I'm as wooly a liberal as you could hope to meet (or to avoid) so I'm all for the idea of meeting people from different cultures and broadening your horizons. I also have to admit that on the few occasions I have been able to afford to travel abroad (Spain a few times, Paris, Berlin) I have had wonderfully enriching experiences.

So it's not travelling per se I have a problem with.

The specific form of travelling I'm sending to room 101 is the 'gap year' journey. The wide-eyed sixth former, hiking around Europe or 'finding themselves' in South America.

Argh! I know, I know, what a cynical swine. There might even be friends reading this who have done these things - nothing personal - this is my own neurosis.

Possibly it's an oikish class thing. Perhaps the fact that I have never (and possibly will never) be able to afford such a trip is at the heart of my disdain. It's jealousy masquerading as insight. But my response whenever I heard friends talking about how they'd love to spend a year in Australia or 6 months in Peru is: 'So you've done Britain, have you? Seen all the galleries, visited all the museums, soaked-up all the history, walked every avenue and alleyway? The mountains of Scotland, the valleys of Wales, the wit and brutality of the North, the diversity and schizophrenia of London?'

It just feels to me that the implication of strapping on a backpack and heading out to Thailand at the age of 18 is a vague and well-meaning form of collonialism. Like do-gooding missionaries, isn't there an inherent arrogance in claiming that you can 'absorb' another culture, in just a few months, when you've barely got to know your own? As I write, I'm not even sure I agree with this - some people I know who have travelled in this way are thoughtful people and valued friends. But, perhaps on a subconscious level, there is something dubious about the 'gap year' mentality.

Or maybe I'm missing the point. Student travel may just be a more interesting way to drink lots and have as much sex as possible, in which case, hats off to it! But maybe in the current economic climate it would be wise for the adventurous 18 year-old out there to try travelling a bit closer to home - visit the thousands of wonderful and beautiful tourist spots in Britain and stimulate our economy. You never know, this might be where you truly 'find yourself'.