I think that the point is that it is the new status-symbol.
In my experience (not Silicon Valley), status symbols in the form of material possessions have taken a back seat to status symbols in the form of fitness and "experiential materialism" (frequent travelling, exotic and varied experiences).
I don't disagree with the thrust of what you are saying, and I am particularly amused that in the age of almost infinite variation deliverable through the internet there is a kind of odd counter-signalling effect to avoiding that (I also like travel and have been doing it constantly for more than a year, though, so what do I know).
Describing physical fitness as "the new status-symbol" seems pretty bizarre to me, though. As a status symbol it probably predates humanity.
Physical fitness itself isn't a status symbol, per se. How people conduct their personal physical fitness is what has elevated it to a status symbol. Things like when, where, how often, how public, what activities/exercises, and even what they wear to work... that's the new status symbol.
A ridiculous recent example is the Trulia co-founder rowing to Hawaii with his wife for the cause of...
Totally. I'm so sick of hearing people talk about the twenty countries they went to last spring. If you like traveling, that's totally fine, but with a lot of people, it just feels like they're checking boxes to try to seem more interesting.
In my experience (not Silicon Valley), status symbols in the form of material possessions have taken a back seat to status symbols in the form of fitness and "experiential materialism" (frequent travelling, exotic and varied experiences).