What drives the desire to travel?

[Tyler9000]

Everyone is different. Like any activity, one gets out of travel what they seek.

Personally, I have a tougher time understanding those who fear or avoid travel. A friend of mine has never lived more than 5 miles from where he grew up and went to school, and rarely left the city. I'd feel claustrophobic in that type of setup, but he's perfectly happy. To each his own.

[Ego]

And I'll reiterate.... microbes!!!!! Fecal transplants are on the horizon. Until then, travel is the only way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEMnRC22oOs

I'm afraid to click on the link to that video

More evidence that we are controlled by our gut bacteria.... a good reason to get exposed to a variety of bacteria through travel.

http://universityofcalifornia.edu/news/ ... -our-minds

[Jean]

Travel is just another way to get out of your comfort zone.

[LonerMatt]

...without being too uncomfortable.

I've been to a lot of 2nd world countries, and one or two third world. Let's be honest, it takes a significant amount of effort to be 'uncomfortable' as a tourist.

I mean using a drop toilet while you've got food poisoning is uncomfortable, but is it intrinsically meaningful or productive? I think (like most normal life moments) the situations travelers deal with are routine, everyday and simple.

That's been my experience, and I enjoyed it immensely. I'm 'traveling' now, and not really digging it - I'm sick of the same 15 questions we ask people while traveling, the 'sights' to see, the inability to connect with locals due to language differences, and the lack of any meaningful alone time.

I know places I'll go again where I can connect with people I well and truly couldn't meet in Australia (because these specific people don't live there), and I enjoy eating new food, but exploring new places is seeming more and more contrite.

[Hankaroundtheworld]

WRT to experiences ...

When people travel to other countries they mostly get the experience of visiting the country, not in living there.

They don't get to make a living there.
They don't pay taxes.
They don't learn to battle the bureaucracy.
They don't stay long enough to get the humour or cultural references.
They don't get to go to the hospital.
They don't get to find a mechanic.
They don't get to build a cob house.

Visiting and living are very different experiences. This is perhaps the crux of my "complaint". By visiting a lot, isn't all you're getting a lot of experience in "visiting"? I mean, I'm quite experienced in visiting. I've visited 14 countries and lived (in the above sense) in 3 of them. For me, living went much deeper on the experience level than visiting ... but doing something out-of-culture went deeper still despite not change my location geographically.

I agree with this, before I worked/lived outside my home-country, but sometimes made backpacker trips, you never really feel how it is like to live in a different culture. Then after a few years of work, and we saw no value in working for a bigger car/home, my wife and I had this urge to see the world and really "live" it, and there was no turning back. When you start living somewhere else, and you need to re-build your life all the time (social network, you name it...) you change a lot, and having done this now 8 times around the world, I cannot imagine anymore how I felt when I was living in my home-country.

Having said this, we have reached a new chapter after 15 years of living around the world, we are now looking for a home-base and only do occasional travel (but then slow-travel).

[jacob]

I've received A LOT of blowback from my travel posts. However, one thing I have noticed is that most (but not all) tend to come around to my perspective but only after they get a bunch of countries under the belt. I imagine it's like climbing a mountain(*). It looks much different once you've been to the top and descended whereas those who're still climbing it thinks it's the greatest thing. I've realized that I'm mainly complaining from a "been there, done that, wasn't that impressed"-perspective and that I mainly get blowback from the "either never done it or only done it for a couple of years and it's still/so exciting"-perspective.

(*) This would be a metaphor of travel experience. Not going to a single country.

[slsdly]

Travel has ceased to be a hobby and has become a social norm. Look at OkCupid, travel is on everyone's list to describe themselves; things you can't do without, your accomplishments, etc. And like a social norm, if you deviate from it, the group decides it is its mission to correct your error through peer pressure and judgement.

Personal experience has taught me nothing says professional Nazi sympathizing puppy kicker like disliking travel.

I don't really care for travel as a hobby or social norm; I consider its present value in society as highly overrated. Oh, I've technically been to 4 countries for trips (not many, but it is not like I have stayed at home 100% of the time) but they were merely things I participated in as a consequence of other decisions. I could even see myself checking out some other places one day for a number of reasons. It's not that I think it doesn't have value at all. But it isn't part of my identity.

I would hazaard a guess that most people don't maximize the value out of the regions in which they live. Perhaps travelling gets them into a mindset with an open mind to experience new things. But there isn't any reason you cannot do a lot of that at home . More efficient on time and uses less material resources too.

[JasonR]

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[7Wannabe5]

I think some people have "hungry eyes" for travel and other people know that it is one means by which to acquire "fresh eyes." I might be wrong because I only have my own experience to go by but I think developing a close relationship with somebody from another country, culture or socio-economic niche is more perspective-altering than simply transporting yourself to another place. You might even find yourself becoming a bit home-sick by proxy.

It's also a well known phenomenon that people will do things while traveling that they don't do in their home realm such as go to museum exhibits or the beach or take public transportation and examine the architecture. Maybe one cure for "hungry eyes" for travel would be to train to become a tour guide in your own town.

[JamesR]

Travel doesn't equate tourism to me. But it seems a lot of people equate travel and tourism here? Tourism never really appealed to me, and I never traveled for that reason.

I really only ever went for extended periods of time and lived there for awhile. IMO, it's not travel unless you go somewhere that could potentially produce culture shock, and then spend time there, rent a place, learn some of the language, live like a local, eat like a local, etc.

I guess the main appeal of it is probably the fact that every day becomes an adventure. How & what to eat? How to use that squat toilet? What bizarre behaviour (to your culture but not theirs) will you notice? There's so many differences and so many things to learn and experience that even staying 2 years would not be enough.

P.S. Jacob, you may have been to a few countries, and gone to some slightly more exotic locales for conferences. But.. I'm not sure if you've traveled.

[Tyler9000]

I do think there's a big difference between business travel and personal adventure. Business travel was exciting at first, but today I'd much rather explore a new area or trail 5 miles from home than slog along another extended business trip in Asia or Europe.

[jeremyday]

I pretty much agree with you Jacob, the more you travel the more it becomes a "been there done that" kind of thing.

On the flip side, no matter how much I travel some places still produce a sense of childlike wonder in me. If I may I would call these places not so much "exotic" as I would use the word "special".

For instance, the hot springs in yellowstone (not to mention the wildlife) are very special. It is a geographic feature that is somewhat rare in the world.

And yes, I do "hate" the people that come for 5 minutes and snap a picture then leave. I sit there and gaze into them and my mind races. How did these get here? How did they get so colorful. Why are some big or small? What is the chemical makeup of all these colors? Could these things explode at any second and burn all our faces off? lol.

See what I am saying? I actually know all the science behind them, yet they still produce a very childlike wonder in me. In my own backyard I can go listen to a babbling brook for hours. Or all the songbirds. Maybe this proves your point that you dont need to travel to experience these things. But as you have argued in your book and blog on other subjects... we arent just talking about difference in degree, we are talking about difference in kind. Uniqueness. That is personally what I look for and enjoy when I seek to travel somewhere.

As you can see I travel for naturalistic rather than cultural reasons even though that is a big part of it too. And it also comes down to value. Which is maybe why I get disgusted with the hurry up tourists that spend 5 minutes at a site. If you spend time and money to get to a place, you should certainly take time to soak it all in and enjoy it, not just rush back to the comforts of your hotel, hostel, etc.

For the sake of not going on and on about things I guess I can narrow it down to the idea that I travel to experience that childlike wonder all over again with every new place. It may be exotic, unique, or downright simple. Waterfalls are everywhere, but I do enjoy seeing different ones. So for me, I may have some less desire to travel as I get older, but I will still desire to travel till the day I die.

[Devil's Advocate]

Having returned recently from a longish stretch traveling, this thread seems apposite.

Here’s what I think is generally the biggest reason for travel (as you define it) for people in general, other people :
1. You generally need to do it, till you’ve outgrown it. See new places and new people, get to know different cultures, all that. Some, seemingly, never outgrow it. Which is not necessarily a bad thing at all.
2. As an escape from daily routine. Which naturally implies that the daily routine of the traveler is something to escape from, something not very palatable. And the cure for that should be to change this daily routine. But of course, most people don’t do that. And choose, instead, to keep on traveling in their futile attempt to escape what they must inevitably return to.

I myself find travel tedious, and given the choice would stay at home. Here’s why :
1. Been there, done that, ad infinitum. Back when working. (Job’s gone now, incidentally and so, thankfully, is the insane travel schedule.)
2. Most things one generally seeks from traveling, from trips “away”, I’ve learnt to incorporate within my daily life.
3. Traveling’s EXPENSIVE. (Unavoidably so, when one of the primary reasons for traveling is to fall in with the wishes of the wife—whose conversion to a less-is-more/EREish lifestyle isn’t exactly whole-hearted.)

Despite not really wanting to, I still do end up travel quite a bit. Mainly because :
1. Wife likes it. That’s the #1 reason.
2. We both feel it’s good for the kids. Help widen their perspective to know different people and cultures. The principle’s sound, but I’m not sure how necessary it is to physically drag them across countries and continents to do this, especially when they’re very young : but again, loop back to #1 above.


However, here’s an inconsistency. Despite not being a travel person, I’m a big fan of armchair travel. Unlike many here, I consume copious amounts of fiction. And the reading of fiction is, at one level, really the same as travel, only minus the discomfort : you’re moving for a space to a different sense of where you are and even who you are. That kind of travel I indulge in a lot.

[JohnnyH]

Random travel ruminations after recent trip.
*With 2 week vacation (most usually allowed with FT job) you can spend it as such:
- 16 full days at home.
- 14 days (-2 travel) if you stay within few hours of major international airport.
- 12 days if you stay within few hours of regional airport.
- 10 days or less if you get to a place where globalization is not inherently evident.
2 week international vacations are not worth the expense and hassle, and your only choices are various tourist hubs or spending half of it on a plane/bus/train/car... Unless perhaps if your goal is to get some Bookface photos of you next to famous landmarks for bragging points.

Also US customs/security is really getting out of control. I flew into ORD and customs was 3 hours, with 3 passport showings (1 automatic machine that takes your picture), where you cannot even bring your cell phone out without risking confiscation (land of the free!)... 50% of the domestic flights were delayed because of this nonsense. This must be screwing with airline profits, why don't they lobby for sanity? Meanwhile, in EU countries customs takes 5 minutes maximum... When time is no longer a factor for me, I think I'd rather take a boat than deal with these assclowns.

[george]

In my mid 40s. have traveled with work and for family reasons. One day i will lock up and travel for enjoyment.

heres the reasons. short term. to get away and be able to swim in a proper pool, use public transport. just relax, make meals for friends and family who have offered me a place to stay, just everyday things that we don't have any more to remind me we will have it again. enjoy being in a different place. enjoy trying different foods, learning about different ways of life. people watching (won't overstay!)

in the long term I love seeing different cultures, hearing different cultures, seeing different people and how they live. places don't interest me, although that can always change. I'd quite like to travel around my own country (NZ) and show tourists our real culture and at the same time learn about others. I've taken on a number of roles in my community and had, when I was working learnt some skills which mean I could be useful. or maybe I'll stay at YHAs and just enjoy their company and relaxing.

I once met a woman at an airport. she had just retired and her dream had been to visit 5 capital cities. when she saw them she was disappointed because she didn't feel like she had the chance to experience them, the everyday life.

anyway this has always been a dream in the back of my mind and they do turn into reality. and in this regard things will fall into place.

[henrik]

I'd quite like to travel around my own country (NZ) and show tourists our real culture and at the same time learn about others.

I spent some time in NZ and while looking around and observing was fun enough, I felt we missed out without an accompanying local to explain things and places. It's a beautiful peculiar country.

[RealPerson]

I have travelled to all corners of the world, and seen all continents. Some trips were just tourism travel, some were more in depth experiences. What I have concluded is that my satisfaction with travel is directly proportional to how "in depth" the experience is.

Going to the south side of the Loop would not be satisfactory, because it would be a superficial experience. Getting to know people closely is other parts of the world gives you a window on the diversity and adaptability of the human spirit. Experiencing how different societies are organized, how people cope with unique situations and how family units operate is really something I enjoy. I find it enriching. The human spirit is truly marvelous. Discovering it is divine. The challenge of travel is to set up circumstances that allow you to discover this spirit.

Besides discovering other people's spirits, you can discover unknown parts of your own spirit. Sailing across the Atlantic Ocean will teach you a lot about yourself. Things you didn't know before. That, for me, is the real meaning of traveling.

[george]

henrik, peculiar, thats a really good description. You did well to pick that up. you looked past the tourist brochures. thats really comforting to hear.

Sweet as bro. oarsome.

[jennypenny]

Study: Living abroad leads to a clearer sense of self

"They found living abroad increases "self-concept clarity," the extent to which individuals' beliefs about themselves are clearly and confidently defined and consistent and stable over time. ...

The researchers found living abroad triggers self-discerning reflections in which people grapple with the different cultural values and norms of their home and host cultures. These reflections are helpful in discovering which values and norms define who people are and which simply reflect their cultural upbringing, according to the study."

[RFS]

@RealPerson- Beautifully stated. One of the many great posts in this thread. A girl I met at university started a travel vlog, and the only thing missing is an opening drone shot of several new grads on a Thai beach fist-pumping with shitty EDM music playing in the background. It's just her going "mmmm, it's delicious" while chewing street food and walking around places like Morocco. The only other people featured in the videos are cab drivers or service workers for 2.5-4 seconds.

This, to me, is just more stimulating consumerism than going to the mall.

Edit: Sorry, Jacob!