Heck yeah! I think competition is a force for good in many cases. For me, competition has always forced me to work harder than I have ever worked before. When I was little I was involved in competition dancing and soccer. While I knew winning wasn’t everything, it still felt amazing when I won. Whenever I was beat, I took a step back analyzed what went wrong and worked harder in the studio. I personally believe that competition allows a person to be the best they can be without them realizing it. Some of my greatest accomplishments have come out of being competitive. For instance, in school I work hard and study with friends but in my mind I play a little game when it comes to tests or papers. Its fun and a slight adrenaline rush to see who did better.
In travel writing competing for the best trip can help writers and travelers find unknown areas. These areas could be the coast of Ireland or the Australian reef. For travel writers, competition can help to push a writer past their comfort zone. Competition can also force writers to experience new things without a second glimpse. I think travel writers may feel the same adrenaline rush when it comes down to the moment when they find out who led the better adventure. While its challenging to decide which location is a better place, I think the competition can come from who left their comfort zone and tried more things.
Competition is also good for business. With present legislation there is restrictions on monopolies in the United States. This helps to create competition within businesses because every company needs to be successful and profitable to remain open. Each business has to fight to retain and receive new customers. This ‘fight’ is supported by consumers jumping from store to store in search of a better bargain. With all that being said competition is ultimately the reason why our economy thrives the way it does.
Based on these three points; I think competition in travel writing is essential. Competition forces a writer to think of new ways to travel or new places to explore. I think competition in travel writing also fosters innovation because some of the areas a traveler will explore have been touched by a scarce amount of people requiring a traveler to develop new ways to trek across the area.
Katie, I enjoyed reading how competition plays a strong role in your life. Competition also is present in my life. I play college baseball, workout, go to school, and do many other activities that involve some degree of competition. I agree with you that competition in travel writing can force people out of their comfort zone. This can lead to a sense of accomplishment from within. Also, I agree that it can lead to new discoveries. I do think that competition can also have a negative side in which people may be pushed to extremes. Unfortunately someone could get hurt.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to the athletic competitiveness that you, too, speak of. I grew up playing sports and have always enjoyed the healthy competition. I think it is extremely necessary to have when venturing into the real world, especially like you said, in business. Although I do not support competition that leads to physical violence, like war, I love that I am competitive.
ReplyDeleteKatie, I do relate to the competitive aspect relating to sports as well. When I was younger playing little league baseball they would always tell us that everyone won, but I knew they were lying. I kept count of the score in my head knowing if my team won or lost. I was never happy if we lost and my coach would always try to make me feel better but I knew his game. I also like the point you brought up about how being competitive in travel writing it can cause you to experience new things. I believe I also stressed that in my journal.
ReplyDeleteI do kind of the same thing when it comes to tests, it really is a great motivator. Even if comparing yourself to friends is a bad idea sometimes…. I really like the idea of the competition in travel writing being based on who left their comfort zone and tried more rather than the places traveled. It seems like it would result in much healthier competition. Plus, it would probably be more experience based rather than destination based which would let the reader learn more about a specific place. I agree that competition usually holds some benefit to travel writing, especially with how you put it in your last few sentences.
ReplyDeleteI find your ability to take a loss and focus on using it as a learning experience. Unfortunately, competition is unavoidable in our society, therefore I think the only way to truly harness it and take control is to use it to better ourselves and, in this case, better the writer's travel experiences. While competition may be inevitable, the way in which it affects the experiences of the travel is completely dependent on their choices.
ReplyDeleteKatie, I am right there with you on the side of competition being a good part of travel. I also played sports growing up and competition has made me a big part of who I am today. Although the competition shouldn't change the person, it gets them to travel and experience things that they normally would not.
ReplyDelete