As Monty Python’s John Cleese often said- “…and now for something completely different”. Online accommodations booking site, trivago, recently polled 2,000 adults in the U.S. and found that 38% of Americans would give up sex for a year if they could travel right now. I kid you not.
Now that might sound astonishing and prove just how truly awful this pandemic has been in one more way, but what if this 38% group isn’t having sex anyway these days? They really wouldn’t be “suffering” then, would they? And what if these eager-to-travel abstainers would also give up sex for a new Pez dispenser or a nice pair of slippers?
A full 20% of those surveyed said they’d dump their partner for a chance to go road-tripping right now. Apparently, for some, that’s what quarantine and stasis do to one’s priorities. 80% of all respondents consider travel to be a vital part of a quality life. Of course, after being cooped up for so long, even a trip to get your wisdom teeth pulled might feel like a big day out.
But here’s part two… The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced that, even with limited travel, 2020 represented a new high bar for complaints against airlines and travel agencies. 90% of the grievances were about refunds (and lack thereof), as obviously there were multiple pitfalls when traveling last year.
If you’re willing to forego sex for a year to travel, you better be in a good mood when travel plans get screwed up and you can’t get a refund. And it’s obvious that for some vacationers who just gotta go, a delayed or denied refund is worth the risk when it comes to traveling during a pandemic. How big is travel? Well, a quarter of Americans say they’d give up all of their savings to hit the road right now and 48% would give up their job to travel! But you might not wanna come back- because now you’re broke… Abstinence and sacrifice- it all makes sense after being forced to watch “Bridgerton” and “The Crown” repeatedly (just kidding…).
Plenty of Americans say no sex, no savings, no partner and no job beats yet another month or three of homebound isolation. Travel is part of the good life, they say, but with no sex, job, savings, or partner after the sojourn ends, you’d better have some great memories to live on.
Think about it…