Then and now

I don't wonder about it. It is the progress of the human race.

Things were so much better in the Good Old Days. Kids today...turn down that awful noise that you think is music and, oh yeah - GET OFF MY LAWN! All kidding aside, I'm glad I began my world travels 25+ years ago. I went places where there was little or no tourist development, which now are literally paved over, roped off, crawling with crowds, packaged and sold to huge tour groups. I got to enjoy so many incredibly magical places alone - literally, nobody else for miles around - and now these same places are overrun and completely different. It's hard to blame the locals for cashing in (although I can continue to self-righteously sneer at the big corporations that have, in my view, completely ruined so many places). But it's getting harder and harder to stay ahead of the worldwide explosion of tourism - you need to be increasingly dedicated to get to places that are still relatively unspoiled. For that matter, crowds of clueless dolts have ruined my own home town and neighborhood, so there's no escaping it.

In 1974, I too was one of those who began a succession of European trips and was able to really enjoy my travels without the over crowding one sees today. I look back on such trips and feel very privileged. No Schengan Visa, no extra fees once a Eurail pass was purchased, and no extra fees for this and that. Saw so much of Europe for free. Today you have to reserve and pay in advance to see almost every attraction. Unfortunately, the world population has doubled since 1972. Both the Chinese and Indian populations have become monetarily prosperous and like to travel just like you and I. As the world's population continues to grows, so will the crowds. I often wax nostalgia for those good old days.

I have a photo of me at 13 in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles.. me, my grandmother , and maybe 6 or 7 other people.. TOTAL... and this was in the summer !! Obviously now there are only a few hundred people in there with you!

Random thoughts In the 1970's Europe was still recovering (economically) from WWII. Most Europeans couldn't afford to travel and it wasn't so easy - no budget airlines or fast trains. Now many, many Europeans travel in Europe and with longer vacations and shorter travel times than Americans, they also go more often. I think half the tourists in Venice during Carnevale were Italians, and most of the others were French. In the 1970's I remember the Louvre as dusty and dingy with too many artifacts crammed into too little space and I hated it. Today, after the expansion, it is light and airy and spacious and a joy to visit. I visited Rocky Mountain NP a few years ago in late June. My companion and I were the only two people on the 2-hour ranger-led walk. She told us that even though more and more people are visiting the national parks, fewer and fewer are interested in learning about them or hiking in them. Everyone goes to the information centers and shops, the restaurants and the scenic viewpoints that they can drive to. The ranger programs have been consistently cut back in the parks in recent years due to lack of interest. Where there used to be several 1/2 day and full day ranger hikes and 2 evening programs a day, there are now only 1 or 2 short hikes daily and 1 evening program, not every day. So if you want to be alone - go take a hike :-)

Alice, commenting on our visit to Stonehenge, we saw it from across the road at the ticket booth but we didn't go in. First, they had a fence all around the perimeter. Then, they had a second fence around the stones. You had to pay about 6.50 pounds to get into the first fenced area and an additional cost to get inside the stones. With the fences, it wasn't even photogenic. We moved on.

In 1967 I spent several hours at Stonehenge, sitting in the grass with my back against a stone, reading. I don't remember if I paid any admission fee at all. In 1969 I went to Yosemite in mid-June to camp in the valley. No problem getting a nice campsite. Now if you want to camp in Yosemite Valley anytime between April and October, you must be on the website for reservations at 7:00 am on the 15th day of the month, 4 months in advance. They are all gone within 2 or 3 minutes. In October of that same year I went up the cables on Half Dome with a friend, and had it all to ourselves. Now you have to enter a lottery to get a permit, and your chances of getting one are about 1 in 10. In 1970 I hiked the length of the John Muir Trail, no permits or anything, just a backpack, maps, and food and equipment. We went where we wished and camped wherever we found a nice place. We also drank water straight from the streams for six weeks with absolutely no I'll effects. Now you need a permit with everything planned out, and your chances of getting one are slim. You have to carry a water filter because the water is no longer safe (Giardia). And you must carry your food in a bear-proof container ( we never saw a bear the whole six weeks on the trail). So what to conclude? There are lots more people traveling now than in the 1960's and 1970's, both to Europe ( and presumably elsewhere) and to the national parks. And apparently there are lots more bears in the Sierras as well.

Looking at my 1976 Stonehenge pictures, me leaning against the stones with my big frame backpack nearby, there are no more than a half dozen others visible in the area. This was in late May. I think I would rather remember that experience than go back and see what it has become.

I tried to go to Stonehenge as part of a bus tour in summer of 1977, but they were behind schedule and we had only enough time to hop out and take a quick picture from across the road. My mother visited the same summer and has a picture of herself sitting on one of the stones. It cost £1 for admission. Lola, Yosemite is a bit of an exception in the National Parks because it's so close to so many populated areas. Part of the reason it's hard to get a campsite is because 2 of the major campgrounds were wiped out in a flood in the mid-1990s and not replaced. Ditto the cabins at Yosemite Lodge. That said, if you're willing to go mid-week and/or sometime other than the summer and get off the popular trails, you can still have a fairly unpopulated experience there. My husband and son had no trouble at all getting a permit for Half Dome for a Thursday in June last year (3 of 4 Tuesday to Thursday requests were successful) and they thought the experience was better than before when you stood in a traffic jam of people on the cables. The two of us went that same year in October and had plenty of trails to ourselves. I think that can be true in Europe also. The climb to the top the Monument was less crowded (only one other couple) than the climb to the top of St. Paul's. Hampstead Heath less crowded than Hyde Park. But it is frustrating to be caught in big crowds especially when it seems like they're just there because you're "supposed" to see Westminster Abbey when you're in London, not because they seem particularly interested in seeing it. I'll keep going though. :-)

The major contributing factors: 1) Increased prosperity 2) The post-war generation, the largest population boom in western history, is now retiring, and they need ways to spend their free time. 3) High speed rail 4) Budget airlines
5) Travel is now an affordable luxury for vast numbers of people from Asia. BTW, I also remember being able to walk directly into and through the US capitol in the 1980s, unescorted, without passing through any kind of security checks. Unthinkable nowadays.

Greater emphasis on travel marketing, travel books/blogs/resources, and books like "1,000 Places you Must See Before You Die" (talk about a marketing ploy of the highest caliber) are also driving up perceptions of scarcity and boosting demand...perceived scarcity makes people behave in irrational ways sometimes (they book things wayyyy in advance). Deregulation of airline industry has also made travel much, much more affordable. As for why we need to pay more, inflation and upkeep costs will do that. In spite of that, it's amazing that you can see world antiquities, UNESCO sites, and World Heritage sites and other culturally significant locations for what I think is chump change...I would gladly pay more to see a place like Pompeii which is falling apart due to improper upkeep. I'm actually very glad that more people can benefit from traveling the world - that is progress and I think a good thing. Regardless of the crowds, these amazing places are meant to be shared and enjoyed (obviously there still needs to be some rationing to preserve places like Machu Picciu and Galapagos - not all can go at once :-)

The campgrounds in Yosemite were rebuilt after the 1997 flood. There's no shortage of campsites compares to the 1960's, it just has become so much more popular. With the Internet system of reservations, they disappear within seconds after they become available. We don't go to the valley in the summer (we hike in the high country) but I monitor the reservations frenzy because it is so amazing. I agree it is still possible to find uncrowned places there but it is a lot harder then it used to be. As for Half Dome, people were not familiar with the permit system last summer and a lot did not apply. Then there were abuses, like buying and reselling the permits. So they instituted the lottery for 2013 and had way more applications than could be filled. But I agree it is better (and safer) now that it is limited. We hiked up there in 2006, before the permit system limited numbers, and after seeing the line and crowds on the cables I decided I didn't need to do it again. And it isn't just Yosemite. Glacier NP, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone---lodging in these parks books up for high season 6 to 12 months in advance. it makes it tough for people who are not familiar with the system to plan a trip to these beautiful places.

Hi, Good post. There are alot of advantages traveling nowadays in Europe just as many advantages were around when I first went over as a college student in the summer of 1971. No Schengen limits to deal with, using the Eurail or Youth Pass, no reservations at hostels or Pensionen, saw (West) Berlin (that was a must), London, and Vienna in 1971. Skipped/saved Paris and also Prague until the second trip two years later. I'm glad and grateful that I had the desire and the means to do three trips in the 1970s. Those were the days. It was definitely cheaper in London when it came to food. Most of the capitals are expensive in Western and Central Europe with the exception of Berlin. Yes, it is more crowded, to say the least. Those Americans with no desire to go to France or Germany while doing an European trip are replaced by the influx of Asians touring these countries. Look at Vienna; in Dresden you see a lot more Russians than you do Americans.

I went to Stonehenge in 1970. Can't remember how much the admission charge was (there has been one from before it was in public ownership), but I still have the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works guidebook which cost 3/6 (17.5p). Compared with today, there were just over half the visitors per year then - but there were three times more visitors in 1970 compared with the 1930s. The stones were closed off in the mid 1970s because of erosion and deliberate damage (although both had started with the Victorians, in an era where hammers were available on site to chisel off a bit of the stones to take home).

One thing that makes travel more difficult these days is urban sprawl and the growth of suburbs and shopping centers in Europe. Although the sprawl is better contained and regulated than in the U.S., it still makes driving and parking more difficult. In the late '60s-70s, towns and cities literally ended at the town/city limits. Now cities in the more prosperous countries have had to expand outward, or their suburbs have, to absorb the population growth. And then American corporations invaded. My biggest shock after more than three decades away in Germany was while traveling old school (w/o a GPS) and stopping to ask directions on the outskirts of Trier a few years ago. I finally got back on course after getting directions at a Subway shop across from, I think, a Home Depot. I have not been to Stonehenge, but after seeing what Clark Grizzwold did to the place, I don't blame them for putting a fence around it. :>)

"Now cities in the more prosperous countries have had to expand outward, or their suburbs have, to absorb the population growth. And then American corporations invaded." Huh? What you see on the outskirts of European cities are predominantly European-owned and operated industries. In Germany, the area of small and medium-sized factories on the outside of most towns is known as the Mittelstand, and it's the diversity of these companies that largely drives the German economic engine. All but a very small number are usually registered in Germany. "I finally got back on course after getting directions at a Subway shop across from, I think, a Home Depot." It was probably a Bauhaus, which is a chain HQ'd in Switzerland. Similar store, but no relation to Home Depot.

I stand corrected on the cause of the growth outside the cities; it is an understandable but huge change, and it definitely contributes to the traffic congestion. It is hard these days to drive through even smaller cities, on the autobahn or off, at morning and evening rush hour. Another downside of prosperity, but it beats the alternative. I find myself using the trains more these days and renting cars on a shorter basis and only for hard-to-reach places. Shorter rentals cost more per day, but that is offset by reasonable prices for trains.

Yes, I think much cheaper travel is a factor. Once flying wasn't really an option for the great unwashed so planes flew with fewer passengers who paid much more (in inflation adjusted prices) for their tickets. Service was much better then. Since I'm an egalitarian, however, I don't pine for those days (I just can't wait to put the flight behind me). Certainly, Americans schedules aren't getting more relaxed - and that probably goes double for our kids. Kids who participate in activities do it nearly year round, which severely limits the window you can plan vacations in. We may all be relating our European wandering in Spring and Fall back then to full tourist season with kids in tow today. Europeans travel overwhelmingly in August, so an August vacation is likely to face crowds at any major sight. It's not just time of year but time of day also. If you show up first thing or late, the crowds are much thinner than when you share the place with the bus tours. There may be another factor (I'll have to ponder this). Maybe travelers are changing. Guides cater to Americans on a two week vacation and make sure they see as many of the major sights as possible. Even DIY travelers use guidebooks that steer them toward the major sights. Most Americans don't spend enough time in an area to get away from the crowds - but those uncrowded places still exist. Yosemite is IMO one of the most beautiful places on Earth. When I was young it was crowded but not swamped like now. Yet the back country trails of Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park still seem remote and uncrowded.

Pat, my memory of visiting Versailles as a teenager in the late '60s is how crowded it was, wall to wall people. My visit was in March, not even summer. And the crowds, which have surely not gotten smaller, are reason I have no desire to revisit the Versailles palace. Glad you had a better experience than I did.

"We may all be relating our European wandering in Spring and Fall back then to full tourist season with kids in tow today." "All" is too general a term, but there were definitely few kids in tow for this age group. I suspect that most of the U.S. travelers on this site from back then were either college students, who worked abroad in the summer or just hopped a plane and traveled across the continent on their own during the summer, or they were in the military, so season was not a factor. Some of us fell in two or all three categories. Back then, hitchhiking across Europe was common, but that practice is no longer practical, effective or safe. There were also fewer bikes, which now adds to the congestion in the northern cities.

Rapid income growth on formerly impoverished countries put international travel at reach of a couple hundred million people that couldn't afford it 30 years ago. Specifically on the issue of required advanced reservations, that is a (very good) byproduct of IT developments over last decades. It is far more rational to book something in advance instead of queuing up for hours (in case of attractions like museums) or, worse, going to hotels without knowing whether they have places available or not. The twin sister of advance reservation is yield management, which allows you, often, to trade promptness for savings by buying locked-in airfare, train tickets etc. Yield management puts high-speed trains on reach of people who couldn't otherwise afford them (at lest to travel the same length), whereas it punishes (financially) people who want/need and can pay for convenience of last-minute decisions. Information is now much more accessible than before computers came around. Any small Dutch village can have its own website, you can browse their streets with Google, and their hotels are on Booking. You can figure out the train schedule to get there in 2 minutes, online, at near-zero cost. You can browse accurate weather information about the place as well. Then, even if you are not the adventurous type, you can travel with comfort and easy to places that, 30 years ago, would have required some sort of "open-mindnes about unknown conditions upon arrival".

Alice - I do think that people everywhere are thinking more "globally". Just got back from China and many of the Chinese I met told me how anxious they were to travel to the west - U.S. and/or Europe. They were very excited to travel around their own country as well-something they weren't doing 40 years ago. When I went to Europe for the first time, my middle class father asked "why did I want to go to Europe when everything I could want was here in the U.S.?" His travels consisted of being in the Navy during the Korean War and he never left the States after that. My son went to Europe for the first time when he was 9 (and it wasn't his first or second foreign country...). Both kids were practically required, by us, to study abroad. And most other families that we know feel exactly the same way. There is a definite shift in what is important for our children - they no longer need to only study a dead language (Latin), or one common to the U.S. (Spanish) - those with children younger than mine are studying Mandarin. And schools, at least here in the states, are no longer centered only on "Western Studies"- my kids read books by African authors and introduced them to me. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the formation of the EU - all these things have helped to broaden everyone's views. Now we know that to see everything we want to see, we actually do need to travel outside our own backyard.

Tourism has become a relatively inexpensive proposition for many people all over the world. Tourism is one of the largest industries in most western countries. While I'd love to experience many of the great sites of the world almost be myself, most of the anecdotes of that sort are evidence of how exclusive and elitist world travel used to be. I'll accept the trade-off of crowds to know that so many more people can and do travel to experience these sites and cultures. Another trade-off for the crowds and higher fees are the much better facilities and museum experiences, paid for by the entry fees and tax revenue generate by all the tourists.

In my old age, I believe I have discerned some laws of the universe, of which one is, "Everything has an upside and a downside." I, too, visited Stonehenge in the "good old days," when there was no admission fee and no fence, for an upside of then. However, even though I am not a super-enthusiast of technology, I have to say it has incredibly facilitated travel. Just one example. In 1984, we took our first trip to Italy, armed with a load of Travelers' Checks. To get cash, we went to a bank. After passing through something akin to an airlock, which admitted only one party at a time, often entailing a wait outside, we presented ourselves at the first desk. Some paperwork was done. We then passed to a second desk, where more paper was filled out. Finally, at a third station, we received our lire. It was quite time-consuming. Also, in a holiday period (Xmas - New Years) and one in which bank strikes were happening a lot, it meant a lot of planning ahead so as not to ever be cashless. Cc acceptance was quite rare. ATM's and the advent of the euro for some places have made the aquisition of currency so easy. Somethings have gotten better.

^^ I remember going to that type of bank when I lived in France. I had other banking options, but preferred going to the Fort Knox style bank. The staff always seemed surprised to have a regular customer, and therefore were always friendly. And the bank notes were always crisp and hot off the presses. And there was never a line since people tended to go to the more convenient walk-up teller banks.

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

Tom's list above is a good reason why it's different. There's also this guy called Rick Steves who enlightened many of us to European travel. I was doing all of my traveling to Central America in my 20s when I saw a PBS show he did. I had had friends who were wealthy enough in the 1970s and 1980s to go to Europe, but our family couldn't do that. So, Europe was never an option to consider for us. But the travel show...yeah...that got me thinking and planning. Maybe that happened to a lot of others, too. :-)