Why is the Frugal Traveler so sexually frustrated?

Matt Gross, the New York Times' "Frugal Traveler," seems to have everything-- a dream job, plenty of money, a talent for travel writing, and dozens of interested women. So why, in his revealing new essay in Nerve, does he claim to be so sexually frustrated? Because, oh yeah, he's married.

We often stereotype travel writers as being rootless, wandering singles who bounce blithely from one location to the next. But this isn't the case for Matt Gross, who writes that being a married travel writer is often an "exercise in sexual frustration."

One of the great things about travel is the sense of adventure it brings, the willingness to try anything-- consequences be damned. But that only extends so far for the Frugal Traveler. He writes:

"Travel is about embracing new experiences: foods you've never eaten, languages you've never spoken, religious rituals you've never even heard of. To decline any offer at all - a spontaneous wedding invitation in Pondicherry, a swig of rice wine from an unmarked flask in a Saigonese goat restaurant - is to deny the very spirit of voyaging, and so I decline nothing. Except for it. The fact that I can't take part in it, that most hallowed ritual of travel - sex with strangers - frustrates me on a philosophical level as well as a primal one."

Read the whole entertaining essay here.

[HT: Our good friends at World Hum]

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Budget Travel