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Funnily enough, I disagree with Mr. Dizzler - I think out of these "higher perceived than actual value" activities, travel is the one with the closest value, and live music second.
Typically when I see someone read a ton of books, they're crappy modern romance novels or self-help slop. You can read 50 pages/hour of these sorts of books but they're not providing any value, especially not over a great movie or TV show (much less a video game).
Think about the current state of music, too. We aren't even listening to nice CDs anymore. A hard core of hipsters and status chasers have vinyls, but I don't know anyone with an actual high quality sound system besides me. We're all listening to the equivalent of 192kbps MP3s from spotify. Especially for bands that open for others, they have access to only the crappiest recording studios. The difference between hearing them live and on a streaming services is significant, and then the concert experience of being around people is fun.
For travel, the reality distortion field around locations and cultures has never been stronger. Every secondhand report about a country or city from a normie is colored through a political lens, and common attractions have never been more accessible/overwhelmed because of the internet. To paraphrase a reddit comment I made a few years ago:
These are all experiences that required travel, and don't even touch on any of what I've gotten to do domestically or the incredible natural beauty I've gotten to experience firsthand. I absolutely wish I could do it more, and regret not having done so before having children.
All this being said, however, I largely agree with you. I find that these hobbies are venerated in a way far outsize their value for precisely the reasons you describe. I love travel, shows, and reading, and hate social media flexing for all 3 with passion.
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