1lovetotravel

I love seeing how things differ around the world. I love meeting the people. And I love seeing all the beautiful places that travel offers. I also like the feeling that I'm glad to live in the USA when I get back.

sap

I am amazed how many people talk about their joy in the planning even before they get there. The planning process is a virtual escape isn't it? It's the "carrot" that gets you through life's regular monotony until the plane lands again. Fodors is like a source for those carrots and a haven for virtual visitors until it can become real. And when you get back, you're changed by where you've been.

Also, HappyTravlr has a real gem with that "Because I am very curious" answer. So true!

I would be curious to know how many Fodorites start planning their next trip the minute they get back home. . . or before!

rolohof_duvall

I love this site!!!!

Gabriella1,

I too echo all the above reasons. My personal win is learning new "stuff" cultures language, food etc. I travel a lot in the US for buisness, so traveling abroad for pleasure is my reward to myself. Part of the reason is in Dayenu's answer and part of it is my ego!. Telling a story of stepping off the plane or bus or vapretto and experiencing Venice or Rome or seeing Eturscan artifacts from 800 BC, for example and seeing the look of wonderment (and yes some envy, perhaps cruel but i like it) in peoples eyes'. Lasly, the planning is addiciting! It fills up the lng months and sometimes years between being able to afford a 3 week trip abroad. I would love to read your final report.

rolohof_duvall

One more thought Gabriella1,

I also travel to be a representative of the USA and "regular Joe" American. One who is very cognizant of being a guest. One who is polite, repectful, curious, warm and caring. This is not an apologetic or defensive action, by any means. It is the right thing to do.

tuscanlifeedit

I love hotels, too. I love to plan, too.

Doesn't anyone else love luggage?

sap

Tuscan you are cracking me up. I never really though about it, but I guess I actually hate luggage. (I don't like shoes, purses and other accoutrements that I'm forced to use either, so I'm a little weird for a woman.) Still, I am utterly intrigued by your comments. You sent me on a search to see if there was some sort of fetish for this kind of thing. I didn't find a Latin name for your endearing but hilarious obsession, but I did find some other fun/cool stuff:

A stylist named Rebekah Roy who, just two days ago, blogged "I think most stylists have a deeper relationship with our luggage than the average person experiences. Many people have a love for a pair of shoes or the perfect handbag but for me the relationship I have with my luggage is an even more intimate one. I identify with my luggage and I can’t do my job without it." (See, you must have some sort of fashion diva soul.)

Then there's a quote from the 1989 movie, Steel Magnolias: "Clairee Belcher: I love ya more than my luggage."

And finally, there's a program started by junior and senior high school art students in Texas called "Love Luggage" which creates custom-painted suitcases for kids in foster care who "have nothing to keep their belongings in."

Geez Louise, doesn't that bring us Fodorites down to size.

RainyDay09

Gabriella, why did you post your question on the Europe forum? What about other parts of the world? To answer your question, traveling makes me feel alive, every minute is memorable. It helps to escape the daily grind.

Melnq8

<Gabriella, why did you post your question on the Europe forum? What about other parts of the world?>

She also posted on the Australia forum, and a few of us have responded over there.

StCirq

Gosh, no, I don't love luggage. In my ideal world I'd travel without any encumbrances whatsoever and just snap my fingers when I needed something.

suze

I often travel solo and I love the feeling of standing alone in a new city in a country where no one knows me and I don't speak the language. I find that moment truly exhilerating.

scatcat

Just for a change of scenery. Oh, and I guess I am addicted to travel now, so I can't help myself.

Leely2

There is a shortage of tall, handsome strangers where I live.

For a change of pace.

And yes, all my travel has changed me, sometimes immediately, sometimes momentarily, but more often slowly and surely, by infinitesimal increments, permanently.

(Sorry about the adverb overload!)

Daniel_Williams

Hi Gabriella

I'll divide my travels into old favourites and new places.

The old favourites I seek out because I remember there's something about that place: an energy, an ambience (could be language, accent, culture, pace-of-life) or a topography/climate/landscape that I can't find at home...and I get a hankering, a craving to re-experience that. Sometimes I go back to an old favourite because I want to introduce a friend or family member to something THEY'VE never seen before... a desire to share.

New places invariably open my mind and educate me, whether it's something nearby or thousands of miles away... and I love that. The education can be cultural, linguistic, historical, gastronomic, meteorological, geological, zoological, botanical (are these even words(?), LOL) and I enjoy them all... Often a misconception I had about a place is broken...and I love shattering my own ignorance.

These are some of my reasons . Daniel

MademoiselleFifi

to temporarily live where I can't.

michele_d

Myself and my brother are the two in my family who inherited the "travel" gene from my parents. My other four sisters didn't, and they have no desire to travel outside their own towns or states. I just don't think they "get it".

I am quite miserable if I don't travel. The planning excites and consumes me before I go. Learning about new and exciting places is as much a part of travel as the actual traveling. The trip is wonderful, always better than I had imagined. Then I start planning our next trip soon after we arrive home. I have pictures and mementos from our travels all over our home...wonderful memories I can relive over and over again.

Travel is as important to me as breathing, I just don't feel alive without it. I gladly give up material things such as new cars every 5 years, or the newest electronics, or eating out at expensive restaurants. These are just not important to me...traveling is.

travelgourmet

I travel because it is fun. I also like the planning, hotels, planes, frequent flier miles, and, yes, the luggage. Sometimes, I will travel just to shop, as I live in a high-cost country. I've also taken some trips just to eat or just for the mileage. Finally, there are trips I take out of necessity - work, weddings, births, visits to the family, etc.

I'm pretty cynical, so I don't travel for any grand or noble reasons.

michele_d

I'm so glad to hear that others love the luggage thing too! I thought it was just some weird obsession of mine. I love to roam around Magellans and look at all the neat travel items also. Although most are unnecessary when packing light, it is fun to bring a couple with you.

eliza61

Actually travelling "Grounds" me. It gets me out of my comfort zone and reminds me that the world is a lot bigger than "me".
Travel forces me to rethink my views and some times let's reminds me that there are other places and people just a nice as my home town.

Michel_Paris

The lure of the unknown.
Interest in history,so old things are good
Exposure to new culture
Escape from the pressures and worries of back home (no cell, no email)
relaxation...days of doing not much, just wandering. Away from a life where there is a schedule
Food (Paris is premier example)
Adventure...what is going to happen today.
Art and architecture
Understanding world little more (e.g. Ghana)

Joestrip

With 6 kids, getting the most for the least whether it is clothes, food or travel was my husband's hobby. Once there was a print mistake in the newspaper $88RT from Bos to Cal instead of $288, which they honored for 24 hours and we were able to get 8 tickets--I took them out of school to do it. When he was corporate and kids were very young we went wherever and when ever there was a newspaper ad for a great deal. Our trips were always on a whim and could be for just a few days or a week and never about beaches or leisure. Armed with AAA and Foders Travel books my husband packed our time with cemeteries (even on our honeymoon), history and art.

We went to London for 3 days (winter sale $200rt), and our first night we got a call from the hotel, "turn all lights out, stay away from the windows, stay in your room and if the issue escalates we will come and lead you to safety" that along with the body searches whenever we entered a building--shopping, plays, eating--and trains stopping because of abandoned packages made me realize how precious life in the USA is. Once we walked over the border into Mexico. The kids and they were stunned by the poverty and misery. For years they used what they saw as the backdrop for stories and research projects for school. My son wrote a college essay about time with his dad in art museums based on a trip we could take to Paris because the price was right. A trip to Tennessee ($100rt)introduced the kids to country music and magical time at a place that no longer exists. Bottom line w/out airline sales we would not have explored and experienced so many cultures and places outside an in the USA. We have also been able to travel occasionally with freq flyer and rewards points. When we could not fly we drove across Canada and USA a few times, Nova Scota, Newfoundland and the Islands and the kids were always able to bring boring history classes to life with stories and facts they heard from docents not usually found in books.

We traveled because it gave us family time that cannot be disturbed or interrupted by every day life. We talk, explore and experience together as equals--no phones, computers, television. Now as adults our kids talk about all the places they have gone.

Once the kids asked why we never put them in camp like their friends. We had 2 reasons. 1.) There was only so much money and camp for one kid cost the same as the vacation budget for the family and more important 2) I once did the math and realized that during the 1-12 school years (the only time we truly have our children to ourselves before they go off to college and more independent lives) time off from school was equal to about one year of time not committed to schedules. If I sent my kids away to camp, as a family we would loose a full year of time that could never be recapture.

As a result of our bargain travels, my daughter had no qualms spending two summers abroad one in Europe and another in China, and while I worried I also knew that she had enough travel experience to know how to take full advantage of her affordable trips. Another son will be doing the same this summer. When my oldest was reassigned to Switzerland for 3 years many of his friends admitted they could never do so, but his experiences as a kid probably makes him more adventurous. I have to admit, however, one kid is a home child and will travel with us when the opportunity arises, but will not travel on his own.

I think my answer is very different from other responses since we were never about planning.

To sum up I guess we traveled as a challenge--it had to be a bargain. To have family time and to expose the kids to history and culture not beach and sun. Right now the kids are grown with multiple schedules/commitments. I am trying to put together a trip on points to Greece for 5 people and getting the schedules to mesh is the biggest challenge -- I just hope that when the schedule piece to the puzzle fits, tickets and hotels for points will be available. Plan is the Europe based child will meet us there!!!