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