So where are they and what are they doing? (page 14 of 33)

hey Jojoone okay, fair enough, there are people who sometimes behave badly on this forum. But I didn’t express myself well. Expecting a huge financial storm next week that’s gonna wipe everything out... we might all end up on the streets if that happens. Maybe a remake of the 1929 crisis 🤪 .No more money for pensions, social security, etc...

Yeah, they played with our money, but we’ll be the ones footing the bill...

Trump is looking more and more like a windmill.

we’re all gonna end up on the streets if this keeps up.

Around 40% of French people own their homes (with no mortgage in progress).

Okay, the near future doesn’t smell great, but my fellow countrymen’s natural pessimism isn’t helping anything.

evening,

Well, the near future doesn’t exactly smell great, but my fellow countrymen’s natural pessimism isn’t helping anything.

Once the Trump storm passes, I’m absolutely sure a period of relative prosperity will follow in France :P Comparable to the *Belle Époque*.

Trump is looking more and more like a windmill.

we’re all gonna end up on the streets if this keeps up.

Around 40% of French people own their homes (with no mortgage left).

Okay, the near future doesn’t smell great, but my fellow countrymen’s natural pessimism doesn’t help anything.

I guess homeowners without a mortgage are probably older.

The younger generations are getting screwed...

... Was there really a break between pre- and post-Covid? Does it still take time for some to discover the site or learn it’s active again? Do people now prefer quick consumption on sites like FB or others I don’t know? Where have the old-timers gone, and what are they doing with their time? What’s actually going on?

Hi Joël,

I’d love to say I’m still here, class of 2005 😄, more active since last fall. I’ve been lucky enough to help a few French tourists make their trips to La Belle Province more enjoyable. 🚗🚗

Here in Quebec, I think I can say there’s definitely been some kind of break after Covid-19. 😔 It’s really sad 😢

Humbly, I think it’ll take a long time to revive this amazing site that is VF. I’m trying, with my modest means, to spark interest by attempting to recruit. On this side, several traveler groups have popped up on Facebook. Nothing comparable, though. But it’s tough to turn the tide. 🧑🏽‍🔧

With the change in attitude from our American neighbors, I hope VFers will take the chance to visit Quebec. For my part, I’m slowly preparing for another trip in 2026. There’s still so much to see here 😄

Greetings and long live Voyage Forum ❤️❤️

PS No matter what was said or happened, I’m thinking of the family and loved ones of the one who had the brilliance to create Voyage Forum. May he rest in peace 🕊️

People of a certain age were young once too... And they also faced difficulties back then.

In the end, discrimination between people is more tied to inheritance than to age.

It’s normal to be better off at 40 than at 20. But inheriting a million or nothing at all—that’s a whole different story... (No personal merit in that. You either win the birth lottery or you don’t...)

True. I would’ve loved to be born rich—unfortunately, I was only born handsome and smart. 😏

And modest! 😛

A bit ape-like, don’t you think?😮

And a bit monkey-like, no?

Does that mean Mr. Jojoone is an old monkey who doesn’t need anyone to teach him how to make faces? Better express the heart of your thought, haha, laule

Actually, I was teaching Miss Attila how to lighten the mood. It might come in handy someday 😛

Old, apparently—he removed his age from his profile! 😮 Monkey, well, that’s obvious just from his avatar. 😄

Joël seems, like you and me, no spring chicken! 😉

Speaking of old age, an African proverb says: a wise elder who passes away is like a library burning down.

People who are a certain age were young once too... And they also faced difficulties.

After all, discrimination between people is more linked to inheritance than to age.

It’s normal to be better off at 40 than at 20. But inheriting a million or nothing—that’s a whole different story... (No personal merit in that. You either win the birth lottery or you don’t...)

Yeah, it was the lottery, but people also work to leave something for their kids—it’s natural, let’s say.

Yeah, older generations struggled too, but in the meantime, there was a generation that had easier access to homeownership, less unemployment, and a pension.

My grandma worked her whole life for an average salary but admits things were simpler back then. They could afford housing, travel (though it was more expensive than now), and she’s been receiving a pension for 30 years and was able to be in a decent nursing home.

My mom had a harder time in life, and I worry about where she’ll end up given the current state of nursing homes and the healthcare system.

As for me, I don’t even ask the question anymore 😅

But I’m not here to pit generations against each other. It’s just an observation. Every era has its own struggles, of course.

One thing is certain, and I’ve noticed it clearly while traveling: the break between pre- and post-COVID is DEEP, and contrary to what people say like "yeah, it’s all behind us," absolutely not! It’s not behind us at all. COVID keeps coming up in conversations, and with the side effects of vaccines—which are everywhere—this period isn’t closed at all (obviously, it’s only in France where this topic is TOTALLY taboo).

Anyway, this ties into another post about COVID—has it changed how we travel? Personally, it’s mostly my view of others that’s completely changed. Realizing a friend can turn overnight into a paranoid snitch, and conversely, someone I didn’t particularly like showing kindness and tolerance… And given the debates we had on this topic on this forum before it closed… it’s clear many won’t be coming back.

it’s clear that many won’t be coming back

Indeed, the founder’s stances on this topic left a lasting impression and didn’t exactly encourage some to reactivate their participation.

Meanwhile, there’s a generation that had easier access to stability, less unemployment, and a retirement

This generation was born before, during, or just after the war.

Personally, I’d rather have lived through the AIDS years, unemployment, and a reduced pension than have had to experience war, the Nazis, and post-war reconstruction.

My father used to fetch coal from the cellar, and the toilet was on the landing. My mother survived because she won the "Rh factor lottery," but her brothers and sisters died because medicine back then was powerless.

I’ve always had a bathroom (which wasn’t the case for everyone in my generation...), I never heard bombs, and medicine saved me from a heart attack that would’ve been fatal just a few years earlier. I had access to a checkbook without asking for permission, I could choose my profession, and my generation had access to the pill and abortion.

There are definitely advantages to being part of Generation X, Y, Z, or even Alpha.

And if older generations are often better off, it’s also because they were much more like ants than grasshoppers. Back then, if you bought a piece of clothing, you either made it yourself or bought it to last a lifetime. The same went for everything else—which explains the overwhelming decor in some properties for sale... No flight tickets, no vacations if you didn’t have the money. It was considered total luxury. Same for TVs, phones, etc. People housed themselves, heated their homes, ate, dressed, and walked a lot more than today. Entertainment was more about conversations by the fire than the latest Taylor Swift concert. And the Livret A savings account grew...

Consumer society exploded in the 90s. And with it came resentment...

Hello Agnès,

I don’t really know how old you are—56, I think I read? Just a bit younger than me, so our experiences should overlap.

We could look at things in terms of freedoms and point out their steady decline over at least the past decade, but let’s consider them in terms of consumption, which you trace back to the 1990s. Your childhood was in the 1970s. So you knew a world where everyone assumed their salary would be higher next year, where changing jobs was as simple as asking, and where, thanks to inflation, bank loans let you build a house that you’d actually end up paying very little for. Those were years of consumption, of innovations that drove purchases. Your neighbors probably weren’t that different from mine—they’d switch cars often to have the latest model. Don’t tell me there wasn’t ready-to-wear fashion back then! Like me, you had measles and chickenpox, and you were encouraged to "get them over with" at the age when it was normal. To have experienced bombings, our parents must have lived in very specific places—Brest, Lorient, Dunkirk—and the reconstruction was mostly to keep up with the population boom. There were no cultivated fears back then; the media still had opinions, and the disastrous (and soon-to-be misused) "precautionary principle" hadn’t yet become dogma.

Michel

Personally, I’d rather have lived through the AIDS years, unemployment, and a reduced pension than have had to experience war, the Nazis, and post-war reconstruction.

Wait a bit on retirement—just wait till you see the travel budget! 😛[;]

For retirement, wait a bit—you’ll see the travel budget!

Not all retirees are struggling either... At least, not up until now. 😉 We might end up not getting any retirement benefits at all. That’s a possibility.