Why do we travel?
 

This is an addendum to my last post about to be or NOT to be a tourist.

What motivates us to travel? What is it that makes us leave where we come from?

Many posters on this forum discuss how they simply like to sit in pubs and cafes in foreign locations, or visit grocery stores. Why is it exciting to do things that you can do at home when you are away? How can we escape the mundane by simply observing other people in their mundane lives?

When I visit a museum in Paris, I am a tourist. What about when I visit a museum in my home town? Obviously there is something about the experience that we enjoy. Can anyone put it into words?

Are we looking for authenticity, pleasure, the unexpected, the past, an extraordinary experience?

Does anyone go just to watch the tourist spectacle?

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.

<i>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. </i> - 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 &quot;F&quot; 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:

&quot;There is never any ending to Paris. Paris was always worth it and you reeived return for whatever you brought to it...&quot; 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 &quot;know&quot; 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, &quot;don't treat peopls as they are but as they should be. &quot;

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 ???