July 20, 2010
Is traveling to a happy country inherently different than traveling to a less happy one?
The other day I talked about debate and travel and mentioned that I had just judged a debate. This article and this slideshow reminded me of that.
It's an article on the happiest countries in the world and many are popular tourist destinations. You've got Denmark, Costa Rica, Canada, etc. I don't think that's a coincidence. I remember how Canadians seeming friendly and happy really made our visit there more fun.
Getting back to the debate stuff, the YTN HUFS debate championship was based on the following resolution: This house believes that higher education is a prerequisite for happiness.
Now I wasn't happy with the resolution and it did lead to some funny comments that didn't really enhance the debate. Naturally there was some argument over defining or measuring happiness (that part of the debate wasn't so bad). When one debater started talking about how college wasn't that great the other team (they were all high school kids) asked "How would you know? You've never been to college!" The other team said, "If higher education is a prerequisite for happiness and I've never been to college, can you say I've never been happy?"
Those comments elicited some laughs but as a debate judge it's not the kind of clash you want the finals to depend on.
Anyhow, that's not as related to this post as I hoped it would be so let's move on. I've never been to Costa Rica but it has been discussed here several times and it has to be one of the more popular travel destinations in the Americas. Sure it's beautiful and all that but Costa Rica being the happiest country in the Americas (and the 6th happiest in the world) has to have something to do with that right? I'm guessing that when you go there you have a better chance of enjoying yourself because you'll be dealing with more happy people.
Posted by James Trotta at July 20, 2010 6:03 PM
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Certainly, if you're surrounded by happy people, you can't help but be happy with them. I have found that many of the happiest people live in Central and South America. Too often, we relate happiness to money,which is not a guarantee of happiness. I believe it has to do with setting high and often impossible expectations, which if not met, leads to disappointment and unhappiness. I still smile to myself when I remember the criada (maid) singing happily as she ironed sheets at midnight for the wealthy tourists at the B&B in Mexico before going home to her family of 5 children.
Posted by: Sharon at July 20, 2010 11:38 PMI don't think that the better the education opportunity the happier the person. Costa Rica is indeed a happy place; but maybe it's more a function of the collective commitment to the worth of an individual; as well as less collective anxiety. A high literacy rate, a low infant mortality and non-agressive international goals. Valuing the person and personal values above government goals and amassing personal and corporate wealth seem to make the difference.
Posted by: Jack at July 21, 2010 10:22 AMI think it honestly depends on how you spend your time there, and certainly who you spend it with. The tourist destinations and hotels/resorts will do a bang-up job of making your stay and view of the country seem "happy". But are you seeing the real country and its culture?
The question is, do you want to see the real country and its culture? I think it's worth it, even if you see the nasty underside of the society. Take Mexico for example. There are some fantastic destinations there for tourists, but your perspective on the country and culture as a whole is very limited. If you were to go to a native village there and stay with the locals, you would truly experience what Mexico has to offer in terms of food, culture, and natural surroundings. Even though many Mexicans live simple lives with very little money, they consider themselves wealthy in terms of happiness because they value what little they have and do not squander their time on thoughts of the downsides to their country and culture.
Posted by: Eva at July 30, 2010 6:26 AM