Agnes Callard’s viral New Yorker essay, The Case Against Travel, made me furious—and inspired me. This is my rebuttal: part rant, part reckoning. I dig into the guilty pleasures, class politics, and Instagram absurdities of modern travel, and what it really means to wander the world while it’s burning.
Once a simple joy, going on vacation now comes loaded with more existential baggage than a season of The White Lotus. Climate change, income inequality, racism, and neo-colonialism hang over even the most idyllic getaways like tropical storm clouds. When did leaving home get so fraught?
To find out, I take a whirlwind tour through the contradictions of modern travel—from the seaweed-slicked beaches of Tulum and the squirt-gun protests in Barcelona to the Instagram reels that turn cultural complexity into Yelp reviews. I roast travel influencers, credit card point hacks, and reductive destination rankings, and wrestle with the queasy ethics of my own honeymoon safari. Along the way, I unpack what OceanGate’s imploding sub, Katy Perry’s trip to space, and the rise of “last-chance tourism” reveal about our current moment.
If you’ve ever felt wonder, guilt, envy, joy, or confusion about travel—or all five at once—this one’s for you. Buckle up.
