Originally Posted by Monkey_Moo:
“You really can't, in fact quite to opposite. You can never really experience it unless you have been there, smelt the smells, spoken to the people, eaten the food, felt the environment and seen with your own eyes the things they don't show on TV (the bits they decide to film). And the experience is different for everyone. If you travel you will realise it's a very different experience to watching something on TV.”
That's just the point. I don't want to experience what it's really like going to some parts of the world. Taking an extreme example. I know it's a bad idea to go to Syria right now. I don't need to go there personally to find out for myself.
Besides, there are other factors I take into account.
I won't travel to any country which is non-democratic, as defined by Freedom House and/or Amnesty International.
I won't travel to any country with internal conflicts or political unrest.
I won't travel to any country with too many dodgy animals, insects or diseases.
I wont travel to any country or state that has the death penalty.
etc.
You go to these places and tell me what it's like. I'll watch it on the TV/internet.
In the meantime I'll travel around Europe where it is relatively safe, or maybe Japan, New Zealand, Canada, parts of the USA, but I'll never set foot in the Middle East (bar possibly Israel), Africa, south America, many parts of mainland Asia.
YMMV.