Clark: Travel is the new status symbol

The term “conspicuous leisure” was first introduced in the book “The Theory of the Leisure Class,” written by Thorstein Veblen in 1899. It refers to the display of leisure to achieve social status.

In recent years, we’ve become familiar with the concept of conspicuous consumption, or “keeping up with the Joneses,” as it’s been called. When I lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I knew a family who became amused with their two neighbors. If Family A brought a Mercedes-Benz home, within a few weeks Family B would have one in the driveway. Same with a boat or motorcycle.

Needless to say, some of these families got into financial trouble in the days of easy credit.

Conspicuous consumption hasn’t gone away, but it’s been replaced, at least in part, by conspicuous leisure. And the best place to display your social status with conspicuous leisure is on social media.

Rare is the day when I see a post from one of my Facebook friends about a new toy they’ve purchased. But how many times with today’s smartphone technology do we see photos of beaches, mountains, resorts, exotic cocktails and food?

People are sharing places, not possessions. Consumption is out, leisure is in. More importantly, stuff is out, experience is in.

We generally see trends set by a younger generation these days, as they’ve grown up with technology, social media and smartphones with cameras. But when it comes to valuing travel experiences over possessions, the older generation set the tone.

What do most of us desire as we age? We want to travel, see the places and sights we’ve not seen, smell and taste the experiences we’ve longed for before we leave this earth.

Today’s millennial generation has a stronger desire to travel than those before them. And they share so much of their lives online that they value what they’ve seen and done much more than the things they possess. As this group matures and gains disposable income, it is likely to follow the path of the older generation, spending more on leisure and placing a higher value on experiences.

As social media expands into our lives, we will see more of the travels of those we know. Now a review on Trip Advisor appears in social media, so you can see who has gone where and what they’ve experienced. And, in my opinion, this is a good thing.

The more we experience other people and places, the more we learn about the rich diversity of our world and develop greater understanding of cultures and lifestyles. Travel is not free of environmental impacts, but much tourism today includes a component of environmental education and sustainability practices. The more a beautiful place is visited, the greater the outreach and desire to protect it.

Over the years, my family and I have accumulated a lifetime of possessions. We hope to shed some of those and move toward spending more of our time and money on seeing, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

I encourage you to do the same. Life is too short to miss these opportunities.

Jim Clark is executive director of Visit Fort Collins. Reach him at jclark@ftcollins.com.