Why do we travel?

It is, indeed, hard to explain something that feels so obvious to me. Trying to put it into words is a challenge I've tried (and failed) to overcome a number of times.

Travel is good because it's...something different. But is different good? Not necessarily.

You get to see such great things. But what makes them "great"? Again, back to square one.

To those who understand, no explanation is necessary. And to those who don't...no explanation will suffice.

In reading your questions, I was reminded of Gardyloo's observations about fellow passengers on a recent cruise (I'd reference it if I knew how). In a sense, I think he describes most of us. The difference between a stateroom balcony and a sidewalk cafe table is just a matter of degrees.

Because I LOVE to travel. It's so broadening, not only educationally, but once past the lips forever on the hips (the food is so good in Italy and elsewhere). Living in the States made me think there was only one way of doing something, then going to Europe changed that perspective. After my first trip to Rome, I was hooked.

It is often a matter of lifestyles. I travelled in America on business and later with my wife as tourists. I am 77,in good health, and in the past few years, I have discovered the home exchange.

It puts a different take on travelling. You are,as I am now, in someone's apartment, in my case,in Stockholm, southern Stockholm, not on the hotel track,far from it.

Of course, I do the thing all tourists do, but some factors play into it. I get to know neighborhoods, and feel,rightly or wrongly, closer to the people of the counry I am visiting.

Is it why I travel? Partially I guess.I do know this that when I return to my home town--NewYork City--I look upon with fresh eyes after every home exchange.

Good questions and I am sure many answers.

for me..traveling is not about "relaxing"--I'd be bored on a vacation to Hawaii. it's about learning..about specific historical events (i definitely learned a lot while in Berlin) but about a different couple--this is how THEY do it over there. Which is why sitting in a pub and browsing grocery stores in foreidn cities are fun to me.

while in berlin, i was chatting with this girl who was about my age (19) and was backpacking across europe. her goal was to visit as many countries as she can, so that when she looks back she can feel like a world traveler. i asked her specific questions about cities she's visited, and she couldn't provide me with any answers because "all the cities kind of meld together". what is the point? to feel like you've been to a lot of countries? to me, that's the WRONG reason to travel (though i guess there IS no WRONG reason..)..what a waste of time and money.

I love this quote I came across in a travel magazine some years ago, "The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page." - St. Augustine.

Travel is such a personal thing, that it is difficult to quantify why we do so. For me, it is all about the people - talking with them and learning their unique perspectives and way of living that is different (not better or worse) than our own. Although I've been enriched by the landscapes, food, history and architecture of each place I've been, what I reflect on most are those personal moments that you can only find when you are not frantically rushing to tick off all the sights.

I think that I travel to really get a multisensory experience that you cannot get from pictures, a book or hearing about another persons' experiences. You can see a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge or the Blue Ridge Mountains but unless you are there you don't know what the air smells like or how small you feel in comparison to something so grand. Maybe our childhood dreams and education makes you want to see the Mona Lisa or the Swiss Alps. Ever since I was a girl I have been fascinated by Paris. Now as an adult I plan to visit next year.

What a question! I have spent an inordinate part of my life trying to understand what I find so enjoyable about travel. In my case I came from an extremely small town (pop 500)and via the USAF managed to go around the world twice, on my own, prior to age 22. From that time on I was hooked.
I think it makes me feel that I have accomplished something that most people don't. Maybe I get a feeling of superiority out of it in the same sense that a person does who values a large wardrobe. I dont feel better than anyone else for having done it, just better than I was prior to the trip. I dont know whether this is making any sense or not. At any rate, I do feel sorry for those who dont do it and realize at the same time that from their perspective they feel the same way about me having to go to such lengths to feel satisfied. I dont profess to understand it -- I just know that there is nothing that I have ever enjoyed more.

My main objectives are to experience other cultures (and ALL that entails), along with seeing historical aspects of various cities. Funny thing is that I was certainly no history buff in school.

When I was growing up, we went on once-a-year or twice-a-year trips to a beach in Florida. My husband's family never traveled while he was growing up. Now we love to travel, together and also with our 3 children. I feel like we're making memories for our family when we travel; they usually dont' remember the material things we've given them, but we all remember our trips together!

The weather in July and August in DFW is horrendous!
M

Perhaps we catch a sensation of our previous lives, of the lives we were destined for had we been born elsewhere at another time. Traveling is an esoteric experience for me; it drives me, motivates me, and enlightens me. It keeps me sane and makes me crazy with desire.

"To those who understand, no explanation is necessary. And to those who don't...no explanation will suffice." In total agreement mr-go

I travel for a lot of the reasons mentioned above, but also because it's a challenge, and I love a good challenge.
Few things thrill me more than being lost in a medina, trapped in a rental car whose stick shift I can't get to go in reverse, left on the tracks as my train exits the station, locked in a bathroom on a Greek freighter...these are the things that build character.
And, of course, scenery. I'm a complete sucker for good scenery.

I find myself travelling back to my same favorite places, and they often speak to me because of the scenery, food, or art, language. I'm not a big adventurer hell bent on seeing "the world." Though there are places I would go to in a heartbeat if I could. In some ways, I often seek each time to recreate a piece of that first trip to a place, the awe and wonder and beauty and the essence of a place... and there are many places in Europe (and here in the US) that, when I'm going back to them, they feel like "home" if only temporarily. And yet, there's always a newness to visiting those places again.

For me, travel is a change of pace, a change from the monotony of life here, a visit to a place where people and customs are different so that I can broaden my senses and, if only temporarily, see how other people live. Even better if I can delude myself into thinking that I'm "living" it too... if only temporarily.

Re: mundane things... I would say I do "mundane things" in Europe, but to me they're not mundane because they're still different from my mundane things at home. Nothing like shopping for groceries in Venice... and stepping out to the view of the canals. Nothing like going to a charcuterie in Paris... can't get picnics back here at home like that. Hanging out in an apartment in Cinque Terre and reading a book while the sea pounds the rocks below... can't say I have a view of the Mediterranean from my casa.

I'll be travelling in September for the first time with my toddler... and I expect we'll do lots of mundane things and spending time in the parks between naps. But it sure is a very welcome vacation for us and we can't wait!
~k

Travel for me became a "must do" in life after a bout with cancer. I realized that I had lived a lot of life very safely and securely in my quite little world and was missing so much! Within the year after my surgery, we were on a tour to England and now we are going back to celebrate our 20th anniversary and then on to celebrate my daughter's wedding in Edinburgh. We always traveled when she was little and I'm so tickled she chose the way she wanted to get married and is "doing it her way," in a castle none the less!

Because we can? Because we should? I travel because I grew up in a very small town in the midwest where I was related to almost everybody and nobody ever went anywhere. I am the black sheep of the family who broke out and had the audacity to get an education and leave the area. When I left I learned there was a whole new world out there that was just waiting to be discovered and it was entirely different than anything I had ever experienced before. I have now been to every state in the continental US and am working my way through Europe. I have met wonderful people with ideas that are different and I have learned that the entire world does not revolve around the United States, as the media and most Americans (including myself before I began travelling) seem to think. I am a much different, and hopefully better, person because I have travelled and encountered new people and experiences. Most importantly, when I leave this world my children will never look back and wonder what it was all about, they will remember all of the tales and photographs of the great places I have been and say, "Wow, what a great life she lived". That is the legacy I want to leave.

What motivates me to travel? Sometimes I just want to get out of the house. And if I can find a deal, off we go! Of course it helps that I am only second generation American, and curious about my grandparents' countries, and married to an Englishman and curious about his birthplace.

For me part of the reason lies in the thread someone started here about "jaw-dropping" sights: the Grand Canyon at sunset, Edinburgh from a footbridge under the full moon, Waikiki Beach at sunset, the northern lights over the Chugach Range from my front porch, Sissinghurst Garden from that 3rd story tower, Lake Louise, Alberta etc, etc. A child of the fifties, I was raised by parents who showed me the whole American West from a car window at 60mph. The funny thing is travel has taught me tolerance, patience, and a burning desire to study a connection to the past, i.e, learning about Eleanor of Aquitaine before going to France. Besides, life is short. I like the St. Augustine quote.

I travel because it is exciting. I am addicted to the feeling I get when I buy my plane tickets and anticipate my trip.

When I land on foreign soil I get a rush of excitement because I am somewhere so different from where I live. The challenge of getting by everyday is exciting too because I am out of my comfort zone and I am experiencing new things for all of my senses.
This is all addicting to me and I try to travel as often as I can.

I am, therefore I travel.

What a great question. For as long as I can remember I have had a burning desire to see the world. I don't know where this comes from, as my parents and sister were all very content to spend all vacations visiting relatives. I enjoy visiting family to a point, but I don't feel obligated to spend all of my free time doing it. I have no friends or relatives who share this passion, so I rely on you Fodies as my lifeline for talking travel with me.

The best answer I can give is this: For me it is an inborn inclination, sort of like being right handed. It's a part of who I am. It's the greatest thrill to plan a trip, dream about it for months, then watch it all come to life. As soon as the trip is over, I go through my stage of mourning the passing of that trip, then I move on to plan the next one. I also get that same sense of excitement from reading this board and helping others plan thier trips, as you all have helped me. I appreciate you all more than I can say.

I travel because it is such a learning experience for me and I love the thrill of being a part of a culture other than my own, planning my trip, experiencing things I never would at home.

When I am in distant locations I feel like the real me as surfaced and this is what I'm all about.

It makes me happy and I am obsessed with traveling. Unfortunately, my wallet can't compete with my desire to spend a good portion of my life traveling.

Mark Twain says it best :

"I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover."

Because, travel is fatal to predudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness. Broad wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetation in one little corner of the earth all oné's lifetime...Mark Twain.
I wish I could, and all the decent posters here could afford to travel more.

I was prepared to be all introspective but so many have done a better job than I ever could.

So, the best reason I could think of at the moment is that it beats staying at home, mowing the lawn.

"To those who understand, no explanation is necessary. And to those who don't...no explanation will suffice." I have tried to impress upon many friends how great travel is to no avail. Too foreign, too long a flight, etc., etc. I have dreamed of travel since I was 16 (probably got that from my Dad) but didn't have a chance until my 40s. There is hardly any place I wouldn't go. I travel for the different cultures and magnificent sites. Living in SoCal where everything is so "new" I was even in awe of the US East Coast. I can't believe I was so disinterested in history in school. And, I am a tourist in my local museums or any other site-seeing place. I love being a tourist and a traveler. I now have my youngest son hooked on travel

I travel because it brings my mundane life excitement, enjoyment, enrichment and fulfills a wanderlust I have always had. Must have been a gypsy before. I am stuck in a small town in No. Calif. due to a divorce. I NEED to get out. I have always loved to go go go. I am Leaving on Friday (2 days!!) for Italy for a two week + vcation with beautiful children & my incredible Mother who have never seen Italy before. I am the planner and guide to open their eyes as mine have been before. So why do I travel? Because I have to. Without it I would be in my own prison!

I agree with PM. I spend alot of my free time planning my holidays (vacations). I travel at home in the U.K and overseas. In the next 9 months i have 4 breaks already booked, Slovakia, Cyprus, Canada(Toronto) and Florida (I'm over 30 and have a 4yr old what better excuse!) and i will probably plan the next overseas one in a couple of months, as well as one or two weekends away in the U.K. Sometimes the time away is stressful, busy and not really much different from home, but i get to meet people and see things i would never have if i stayed in my own town. Sometimes i just want to lay on a beach and forget everything (not always easy with a 4yr old!) The over riding factor though is the desire to go, and i am not even that keen on flying!! In short I love to travel and se the world and its people and cultures.

I love to find what is similar and what is different about people in different times and places. I love to look at the world and at my life through the different lenses shaped by distance and language and culture. I love to visit places I have always heard of and see how the reality compares with my fantasy.

Sometimes I want to return to the same places again and again because of feelings they instill in me. The peace and the sense of the vastness of the universe I get on the flats of Cape Cod Bay in Brewster at low tide. The thrill and the feeling of home which coexist for me in New York City. The excitement of the city and the sound of the French language all around me in Paris.

With each new view from a different place, from a different day, comes a new layer of understanding.

Travel = continued education course.

cigale,
I really like that quote, but having been a lurker and sometimes poster on this site for some time now, I'm not sure I agree with it.

Because there's no Pantheon in Seattle.

Travel is interesting and entertaining.

It's fun to fish for quotes. I like this one.

Comes over one an absolute necessity to move. And what is more, to move in some particular direction. A double necessity then: to get on the move, and to know whither. - D. H. Lawrence

Capo, is too. Our spare room has little shrines to all our god friends - flattened flowers from Fiji in frames, formerly functional French Francs, folded folios from Firenze - and that's just the "F" section...

Travel is an urge I was born with. It's very deep and quite simple.

What a great thread! No wonder I'm addicted to this board...YOU understand.

Because gardyloo gave us such a great quote, I thought I'd throw in one too:

"There is never any ending to Paris. Paris was always worth it and you reeived return for whatever you brought to it..." Ernest Hemingway

Job816 really hit a nerve for me when he talked about travel as putting you in touch with past lives...

Once, when I was living in Malaysia, I went back to one of my past lives...

At that time, I thought it was in Eastern Europe (since that's where my current ansestors were from), but after going to Spain, I "know" I had lived there once before...

As for museums, whenever I see great art, it reminds me of a quote I just read in Pico Iyer's Sun After Dark (highly recommend this for fellow travellers) about great art being the true religion...

I live in Seattle, which is a place I love to come back to (which to me is important), but also have so many places I love to go for so many reasons touched upon here.

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and insights...

I know, beachbum, OI wish it were true but as Goethe said, "don't treat peopls as they are but as they should be. "

I enter so many contests for trips to places, (sigh) hoping one day...

Growing up, I have always envied my friends who went on vacations. Our family is very modest, we rarely took far-flung vacations. Oh... the anticipation, the stories afterwards, the pictures, the momentos ... everything sounded so enticing.

Now that I'm a bit older, and I can afford my own travel, I think the experience of being removed from your own comfort zone and home, be somewhere else new ... and see the world from completely different eyes truly enlighten and renew me every time.

Also, a part of me still tries to figure out what I want, and who I am... does that make sense? And I sort of hope to figure some of those out through travelling...

cos its there ???

artlover . . .I'm a she, but perhaps was once a he

Glad you are kindred spirit.

Artlover: for me, sometimes travel is to go to your fair city for a 3-day weekend in February (dead of winter in AK). We love to sit on the roof of the Inn at the Market and watch the ferries go in and out at sunset.

Job816...maybe...yes, and I think we're all pretty much kindred spirits on this board...we share something so special...

hopingtotravel,
if you like Seattle in Feb., you are truly a fan!

coz, it keeps me from going postal.

why not?

For all of the above reasons so beautifully expressed---and because when I'm travelling, I don't have to cook!

Lady, I'm with you. That's why I never rent an apartment. On vacation, no cooking, no cleaning. Maybe if I could afford a month's vacation I might try to rent a place.

Well said...all of you. And thanks to the internet I am sitting here having my coffee this morning with all of you "kindred spirits". Another reason travelling is so thrilling for me...I love to read, and have loved books for as long as I can remember. It is like a dream come true, when I can actually visit those places I have read about.

Ray and I travel to jolt us from our routine. We enjoy settling into a different place and culture and lingering long enough to pick up the rhythm of the place. The day to day becomes quite stressful for me and I very much enjoy dipping out of my routine. I could go on and on about how travel rejuvenates my soul!

Now I must head to bed. Ray and I are to Little Rock to visit a friend and then on to Memphis for a long weekend trip. Must see the Leonardo da Vinci drawing at the Pyramid in Memphis! (wonders.org, just in case you're interested.)

- Sharon

Because I don't know what I don't know.

Travelling makes me wish I could live to be 200 years old. That's the only way I'll have time to see and do everything this earth has to offer.

Have you ever been doing something - anything - and caught the slightest of scents in the air that completely brings you back to a place filled with wonderful memories, laughter, amazement? This is why I travel, to build and collect those tiniest of scents for my memory.

I think probably most people travel for the "intellectual" reasons already stated - to broaden experiences, learn about other cultures, learn about art and history in a more real way than is possible from books, meet new people, etc. But I think the real travel "addicts", which includes most of the regulars on this board, also travel because of something deep inside that compels us to travel, something that really can't be explained to people who don't have that need. The best example I can give in my own case is that as a kid, when kids tend to play at being in certain jobs, like doctor or teacher, I used to "play" flight attendant. What does that say?

Love him or hate him, Rick Steves has a great summary of why I travel. There is a page at the beginning of each of his books (I only check them out from the library as needed, so I can't quote from it) that begins "travel is living intensified." I get a tear in my eye each time I read it!

MonAmy- I agree completely about the scents. I mistakenly bought the scented version of my moisturizer for a trip to Paris, and kept smelling something unfamiliar on the first day while walking along the Promenade Plantee. Then I realized it was my "Oil of Old Lady." Now, on stressful work mornings, I put some on and am immediately transported to the exact feeling of being there.

OK, I've read every post in this thread. All my reasons for traveling have already been given.

I think P_M and Isabel have reflected my feelings precisely. P_M said, "For me it is an inborn inclination, sort of like being right handed. And Isabel said, "I think the real travel "addicts", which includes most of the regulars on this board, also travel because of something deep inside that compels us to travel, something that really can't be explained to people who don't have that need."

I just could not express my love for travel any better!

So i can answer those Jeopardy question? Go Ken!!!!!

Update. Recent literature suggests that humans have an inherited gene which encourages migration. You are now a resident of where ever because an ancestor succumbed to that instruction! Present travel may be a limited response to that genetic urge. Comments please!

I see a lot of responses referencing the need to "get away from the boredom of everyday life", or something similar. Most of us who visit this site have felt the excitement that comes with embarking on a new journey. Personally, I find that excitement both intoxicating and addictive. But that is only one of the reasons I love to travel.

>>"Why is it exciting to do things that you can do at home when you are away?"

Because you ARE away. Your surroundings are fresh and new, the people are different, the weather is strange, the smells, tastes, sights, sounds...all are familiar and yet unfamiliar. You feel like an explorer off on an adventure. It's a lot like reading a novel...and finding yourself suddenly in it. That's pretty heady stuff.

I suppose that is as far as I can explain it.

I love history, the art, the architecture and the different cultures.
But most of all, I love that when I'm traveling, I leave my work behind (for the most part)and my office can't find me.

Maybe we travel because we are bored with our regular environment.

I find this interesting in light of the upcoming presidential election, as the current occupant of the White House has showed less interest in international travels (before 2000) than any president that I can remember (including his own father, who obviously had a lifelong interest in the world beyond the U.S. borders)...and his opponent is considered suspicious by *some* people because he speaks fluent French, as if knowing a second language is a character defect.
I am NOT trying to make political points...obviously no one is going to (or should) cast their vote based on the number of stamps in a candidate's passport (anybody know, does the President of the U.S. have to carry a passport when he goes globe hopping?). But I do think the difference says something about the outlooks of the two contenders. Whether that difference is electorally significant is up to the individual voter, of course.

You say youre not trying to make political points, yet you are the only one talking politics. Regardless of our affiliations, can we please leave the politics off of this board as we will no doubt be inundated by it in the coming months. It's just that this little message board is my one "break from reality" during my otherwise routine day where I can read other adventures and travel ideas, not the daily "he said, she said".

I agree with PersonX in that I feel as if I'm in a novel. But what I love most, which I don't get everyday here in NYC, is other people's willingness and perhaps even wanting to interact with me as much as I want to interact with them! Love it!

For me traveling starts when I begin to plan a trip, which is often many months in advance. Then I start learning all about my destination - I visit several message boards (Fodors is the best), I search the internet, I take books out of the library, I rent related movies. I feel I am already there in my mind, the trip has begun. I love that. A trip comes in 3 stages - the planning and dreaming, the actual trip, the putting together of the album after the trip when I relive it all. I'm always planning something. It's not that I don't love my life at home either, but traveling surely enriches it.

BTike, You're right. One of the best things one gets from travel is a widening of perspective -- the ability to see situations from points of view other than ones own. We are citizens of a small planet. J.

My husband is in the military and we are stationed in Italy. Heck yeah I'm gonna travel while I'm here-are you crazy!?!?!

yclarke123 has it right. But I would add a 4th, coming home. I plan obsessively, love it while I am doing it, & love to come home. Isn't that grand!

For me it's about feeling connected to the rest of the world - I love history, archeology, religion, art - learning about different cultures and feeling like I'm on a continuim? with the past, present and future. I travel for those "magical" moments when I feel a "oneness" with mankind! The more I travel the more I know we're all not very different from each other and that encourages me and gives me hope for the future.

In addition to the reasons I gave earlier, I would like to share with you something I heard on the radio this morning. They were talking about Ricky Williams (an American football star), who is now somewhere in Asia. One guy was saying that the Asians will all recognize him and they won't leave him alone. Another person on this radio show, who has travelled the world, was trying to tell him that American football is not universal and people there will not know him. But this dumb puppy insisted that the Asians will know him because they can watch football on satellite TV. While it's probably true that they CAN, we travellers all know that most likely they don't. Here in the US, I'm sure we could get Japanese soccer on satellite TV, but how many Americans would watch that? And would we recognize a Japanese sports hero?

The point to all this is that I HATE such stupidity, and when we travel, it broadens the mind and steers you away from this type of ignorance. I feel like a much wiser person for travelling, and so are all of you.

I am fascinated by both the question and the variety of answers. I am 60. As a kid, the biggest dream I had was to visit New York. It was only a couple of hours away and I was from a large city, but New York seemed like the center of the Universe to me. After school I took a job in a travel agency and then began really seeing the world. I almost look at it as continuing education. We can only comprehend so much of other cultures from history and geography books. Actually walking the streets, talking to the people, visiting the shrines and museums, really gives us so much better an understanding. It also makes me realize how lucky I am to live in a time and a place where I have the freedom to do such things.

I believe if more people took the opportunity to travel and get to know the rest of the world we might have less fighting and more understanding among people from all over he world.

I travel because:
-I want to help my mom fulfill her wishes of traveling around the world
-I didn't have the money in college to be an exchange student, making up for it now that I earn my own $$$
-I love soaking up different cultures
-to visit/meet up w/old friends & meet new friends
-it widens my perspective on how others live
-interesting to walk thru cities and see the art I studied in school
-it makes me appreciate home (NYC)

GSteed - I agree. Perhaps we are simply programmed to migrate. Have just finished reading Bruce Chatwins 'Song Lines' ... in which he suggests, among many things, that the most 'content' communities are those who for generations have been nomadic. Settled communities (ie - our modern world) have become detached from the land, the environment which so frequently reminds us how weak we are, our priorities are now more about gaining and displaying our wealth and in doing so we often get stuck in one place .... thats why we all feel 'restless' from time to time - time to move on. It's in us genetically - whether we heed this call to satisfaction or not is another matter. IMO.

TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE!

Because nobody in my town sells Salzburg TeeButter to go with the strawberry jam, kaisersemmels, and coffee.
AND...even though we have Starbucks all over, none are in the same league as ANY street corner Snack Bar anywhere in Italy.

Oh one more...to hear that taped voice on the Vienna trams and subways announce the upcoming stops(ie "Shottentor, U-Bahn, Doktor Karl Luegerplatz")
Priceless.

I travel simply because , for whatever reason, I get a high from it. Planning the trip, coping in a strange place (no matter the language), looking at the photos afterward and reliving it and starting the planning for the next trip. One trip can be touring historical sites and one can be sitting on a terrace overlooking an Italian Lake reading; another can be snorkeling in an oft visited place. Every experience is different.

I travel for several of the reasons already stated, the history, the sites, to sit in a bar with a spectacular view and watch and talk to people in a different environment. One thing that I've not seen mentioned is that all this travel gives you a sense that all people all over the world no matter how different they seem from "your little box" all want the same things when you get up close.

Maybe if foreign travel was compulsory from an early age people would be more tolerant of each other and the world would be a nicer place.

And when I say travel I don't mean catch a plane, get a bus to the 5* hotel, get a bus to the tourist site and go back to the 5* hotel, I mean real travel where you actually learn about the culture of the place through interaction with people other than tour guides and waiters who probably aren't from the country anyway.

With the aid of a little phrase book, being prepared to make a fool of yourself by incorrectly pronouncing the words and a smile it's amazing the response you get wherever you are in the world, from being offered a bed for the night on Crete having missed the last bus back across the island to being invited to a wedding by a guy in Thailand for no apparent reason other than I tried to talk to him in his own language (so badly we ended up speaking English). The views, the sites are all fine. It's the people I really travel for.

Simply because travelling is romantic - just thinking about it sets my heart aflutter. Does that make me an "addict?" I think so!

"I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years olds old again. You can't read anything, you have only the most rudimentray sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interet guesses."

We vacation to get our minds off of work. We've seen most of the USA and now
will see Europe. Life is good, and to be able to see the things most people only read about (AS WE HAVE!) is almost
like a dream come true. Why do we travel? Because we can.

I would rather think of myself as a traveler, not a tourist. I go to experience, not see. For me there is a difference. I am always reminded of the story about a friend of mine who toured Europe and the only thing she could bring away from her trip was the fact that she couldn't get ice in her tea in Italy. That's a tourist.

I'm an Army Brat. Moving around the world was a way of life and doing it for the twenty years my father was in the military imprinted travel on my soul forever. I haven't tired of traveling yet and hope to be able to trasp across the world with my granchildern in tow before I leave this planet.

I believe travel to be an important part of my life. Sometimes we can forget that our own lives are not the center of the universe. To touch a new culture, to experience a new language, a new food, to walk where great people have walked, to touch the stone where people have died, to know the sunrise and sunset in a new land, I believe is knowing where you belong on this earth, and maybe, will give me a new understanding of the world and it's difficulties.

Each time I prepare for a trip, I become excited for the new adventures I am about to embark on. And each time I return, I bring back a new understanding of the world. Will I ever tire of it? I don't think I will. I'm a traveler at heart!

How about to keep young? I have observed that those who travel are flexible, are enthusiastic, and are excited about life-all characteristics of the young.

To me it has to do with the "oldness" of things, I always want to go to the "citta vechia" of every city. There is a old, lingering spirit in Europe (in particular) that draws me in. I feel sad for those who say, "I don't need to travel, I don't have any desire to travel" - strange, when I was a child I knew I didn't want to live in small town and I knew I wanted to experience life in different places...so, travel on!

Uh oh...here I go...getting philosophical. I'll apologize in advance, but I think this is a very important question Woyzeck asks.

For those who have experienced travel, it is often becomes one of things they value most in life. For many, it is first-and-foremost an escape. While this escape may begin as a selfish motivation, we have the opportunity to turn it into something much more noble. Travel is an escape from ourselves. It causes us to not only forget about our own life situations for a period of time, but also to consider and respect the points of view of people we may never think about otherwise. Travel brings us awareness of their cultures, customs, struggles, and the basic things that give them pleasure and sustenance. Ultimately, travel is an escape that enables us to engage in life more fully. After traveling to a new destination, we pay closer attention to news stories about that place. We also find it easier to reach out to people from places we've traveled. Even if we struggle to communicate in a common language, travel brings a small set of common experiences to life that somehow makes us seem more alike. At a time when the entire world seems like a troubled place, the good will created by travelers has the potential to be the strongest peacekeeping force on the planet. When the people of the world feel that they know one another, it's more difficult to maintain unwarranted suspicions and prejudices. When our journeys are finished, travel enables us to more fully engage in our own lives. We return refreshed. We bring gifts back to the people we love. Perhaps we cook and dress a bit differently. And hopefully, we think differently as well. Travel shapes our values...which makes us value travel all the more.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only a page." this is a quote from St. Augustine, sixteen hundred years ago.

For my wife and I to first tour about rural France and then go to see Alfred Sisley's pinting of it on the fifth floor of the Musee D'Orsay in Paris is very moving.

Travel is a means of answering questions. It is a pleasure in itself. When we can not travel anymore the curiosity of the mind can be satisfied by reading, by reverie. Sad is the day when one is no longer curious about other places, their customs and history.

Read Cigalechanta's latest report from France and you can see why many of us travel.

Anthony

I visited the Alhabra in January, 2000. I was walking back to Plaza Nueva, down this long road which it seems to me was lined with trees. I looked around and saw that there was no one near me within shouting distance, so I figured it was safe to sing the song that is my reason for traveling: "Far away places with strange-sounding names, far away over the sea...are calling, calling me. I'm going to China or maybe Siam...but I'm longing to see for my self those far- away places I've been reading about in a book that I took from the shelf... I long for the day I can get underway and visit those castles in Spain...."

Living in Canada I have two choises in the winter! Turn the heat up on the furnace or go south.There fore we travel to get warm!

I plant a little flag in each new country I visit.

Sam

I travel to inhale more of life. Exponentially more to take with you in your thoughts when you die.

Because there are people like ourselves and different all over the world, but all friends to be made

I travel in part to live a piece of history. It's fascinating!

All the positive aspects about travel posted here are cool and the original post has pretty well been covered. (!)

I'll just add that I don't like those who secretly get a kick out of world travel because they then feel superior to those who don't travel. Some people just like to stay home and we shouldn't be judgemental about that choice. Remember Shakespeare is said to have never left England.

Someone I know said he'd accomplished his goal of seeing 7 continents. He even confided to me he will put a foot in a country just to say he's been there. Whatever!

ttt

We travel, as Alain de Bottom says in "The art of Travel" because it gives us pleasure...

It has been half a year since I last checked out this thread. I would just like to announce that Ed from Denver won this thread back in September. Hands down.

If you haven't read his post, please go back and do so now.

It was nice to see this message "topped" again. When I posted the question, I wasn't expecting it to stay "on the charts" for as long as it did.

I just read all of the great responses again, still warm from my recent travels in France, Andorra, Spain, Luxemburg, Belgium and Germany in a Puegeot 206, and was reminded again and again why I love to travel...

Cheers,

Woyzeck

I agree with Ed from Denver also.

My husband and I have traveled rather extensively. The last few years we have decided to take our young nieces and nephews on a trip overseas. The experience with them has been extraordinary. When you view things through the eyes of a 13 or 14 year old your experience is very different. We have been very fortunate in that they love to travel, anywhere anytime with no complaints.

In England our nephew advised us that the "sky was lower". In Spain our second nephew fell in love with Seville and we nearly had to leave him. Our next trip is with our niece to Vienna and Prague.

I find that they have added to our experience in that they "see things" that we tend to overlook. My visit to a see El Greco is enhanced when my nephew explains the artist's concept to me.

I love to travel, to experience, to taste, to smell and to experience, for even a brief period, the lives of so many others.

This site and the people that respond gives me a glimpse into their lives and into their travels. It's almost like sitting at an outdoor cafe. It's wonderful.

I travel because I'm just plain curious! I love to soak in the nuances of other cultures--to hear other languages, view the scenery, art and architecture of other countries - that's what I love best.I try not to do things I would do at home.The main thing to me is that it's different--travel has literally changed my life--my views of other people, the fact that they speak , dress and eat differently has made me realize America is not the be all and end all of the universe!.Going to the Met in N.Y.C. is something I do often because it is a great museum, yet is going to the Lourve in Paris "better" because it's simply in a different location? Great art is great art--it's just seems more exciting in Paris simply because....well, it's in Paris! Sitting in a cafe in Vienna is much more preferable to me than having coffee in Barnes& Noble here, because of the cultural differences I can observe while sitting there.It is hard to put into words and ya really gave me something to think about Woyzek! Thanks for making me stretch my brains on the topic. It was fun.

I travel to re-energize and depending on the destination, makes me appreciate the USA.

Every time I think about a trip we have taken to a different place I marvel how people are so much the same everywhere we go. I know we speak different languages and live in different houses but in the end we are so much alike.
We care about our families, work hard and even thoug we speak different languages have so much in common. That is what always impresses me. No matter how different our culture "people are people" and share many of the same concerns. Even though I love to experience the different cultures and lifestyles I love to know how similar people really are. Travel is such a gift.

I like to travel probably for the same reasons that American's kept pushing West -- there was a sense of accomplishment, possibility and adventure in the whole crazy idea.

I also travel for more practical purposes -- because The Louvre is a far cry from the Denver Art Museum. While the DAM has a couple of Monets and a Renoir or two, it can't light a candle to what I'd see at the Orsay.

I travel because it's fun. It gets me out of my mundane schedule and puts me outside of myself and makes me see things through a new lens, that of a world traveler who is changed by what she sees -- and also sees and appreciates her hometown that much more upon return. I also love to see people doing their mundane living -- if you want to call it that -- because it reminds me that we all are basically the same at heart.

I travel so that people in other countries can meet an American who doesn't think that George Bush is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I travel because saying I went to Paris, Rome, Istanbul or London is a heck of a lot more interesting than saying I spent my 10th consecutive vacation in a timeshare on Maui. (no offense to Hawaiians, but I've already seen it once anyway).

I travel because "it's there."

Thanks for making me think about it!

Jules

HONK!

Always great to think about...

Just a couple of thoughts ...

It's not that I travel to escape a mundane life at home. I love my life at home. In fact, one reason we rent apartments rather than hotel rooms when we travel is because there's nothing better than a candle-light dinner and a good glass a wine with my best friend -- my wife. I do it at home every day and barring the occasional special restaurant meal, why would I do something different when I'm traveling?

For me, the difference between going to a great museum, a beautiful canyon, or a fabulous restaurant when I'm travelling as opposed to at home is very simple: when I'm travelling I may never return to that place again. (My wife and I tend to travel to places only once.) So when travelling, everything is by necessity very special.

Considering I can't find a watering hole I even like in my area,that does have some lure. Since I'm a single black woman who travels alone I have to be careful obviously when doing the pub thing. I do love to over indulge.

I still visit my local museums and I'll sit in parks here in soak up the day. I just love the history and meeting new people and having wonderful experiences abroad.



Mind you I've been drinking,so if none if this ma kes lick of sense.

I travel to see learn about different cultures and appreciate what they have to offer. It also gives me time to reflect on my own life!

nice thread.

travel is opening oneself up to the possibilities that life cannot be complete without learning and growth. And these transcend over and thru, many cultures and communities.

we have only one life.

"Until the end of time, I am the only one who will ever see the world through my eyes and I want to make the most of it."
I don't recall who originated this quote - I'm not even sure I have it quite right - but in a nutshell, it's why I travel.

This was facinating to read. I quess we all do it for the love of it. Why else would we suffer the long security lines at airports, long flights, multiple connections and jet lag. I particularly love the comment from another earlier response.

I am therefore I travel.

I love that!!!!!!!!!!

We change. We change as we age. We change as we move. I stayed in the army for 20 years because it allowed me to keep changing.

Travel is one of life's greatest agents for change. I am a different person watching storms come across the North Sea than I am shopping for groceries in Würzburg. I like finding new versions of myself in new surroundings.

I also like to revisit places where I lived and visited before, just as I like to listen to old music and reread books. I want to remember (not revive) versions of myself.

Live to change, move and travel.

Regards, Gary

I do not travel to escape the mundane existence of life or to learn about different cultures: I travel to learn more about myself. When I travel, I develop and heighten my own self-awareness. In my travels, I have learned that there is no one in the world I enjoy and adore more than my husband, I am not afraid of heights all the time, I can drive on the left side of the road, I love my skin color in every country I am in, I miss my dogs immensely when I am away from them, an amazing painting can touch me and stay with me forever, I will always be generous to beggars, I am thankful for the ability and knowledge to question the policies of my country, despite going to many churches, temples, and other religious sites, I am not and will never be religious but I believe strongly in a spirit and humanity of all people that binds us together. When I return from my travels, I am more me.

My family & I travel because we love seeing new places, learning about other cultures and trying new things. It's all about the experience and the food.

It's far different from when we were kids. Our travelling was mostly limited to visiting family. I got the travel bug when I was stationed in Germany. We love to travel and as a family are always discussing where to go next.

We're not weird in that regard to Fodor's forums, but to our families and friends--we're usual. Most people that we know have no desire to see Europe.

Our son is 11 and he's been to 4 other countries, so far. He flew to Europe for the first time when he was 5 or 6. I feel it's an amazing opportunity and one that many his age just don't have.

I love this quote because it expresses one of the things I love about travel...it keeps one in the "now"..more alive :

“To my mind,
the greatest reward and luxury of travel
is to be able to experience everyday things
as if for the first time,
to be in a position in which almost nothing
is so familiar it is taken for granted”

Bill Bryson


We are on a very slow and relaxed world tour as a family and we started when our child was 5. We do a combination of moving via camper , using mass transit ( and even planes if necessary) and long term rentals.

http://www.soultravelers3.com/

What motivated us was to learn , grow , expand, enjoy. I can not imagine a better education for my child than this experience of getting to know the world in deeper ways.

We have only been doing this 6 months and we already see the benefits and only wish we had done it sooner.It has enriched us all in countless ways and we are so grateful for the opportunity.

We are at an age where we knew it was now or never to see those "someday" sites before we die and while young enough to enjoy it and life as a field trip seems most appealing to us and how we learn.

Talk about community based education at its best! Travel also creates wonderful bonding as a family and shared experiences.

It is interesting that when we move and tour we are more like tourists and when we stay put for months we get a much deeper understanding.( And yes we can see ourselves in the tourists). Both are good.

I suspect some people actually travel to find out if the "must sees" really are.

Mi Novia forces me to travel.
She even buys a meal or two.
M

WTnow-

Thanks for sharing the link to your blog. Your trip/lifestyle sounds enchanting and your photos are just gorgeous! Your journey is an inspiration.

As children, we have fantasies that are carried out later as we travel...seeing castles, going on adventures, getting lost...nobody wants to dissappoint those little souls, still inside us, who used to dream so vividly and wanted to touch everything like it was real. As adults we are free to do it...so we should, and must...As humans we are inquisitive; through travel we learn answers and gain perspectives...and our questions are answered in different ways throughout the cultures as we travel...we are richer for these experiences and the memories only become sweeter.

Thanks Blueswimmer, I appeciate that! It is great to hear you enjoyed the blog.

Always great to read these responses.