Why Do We Travel?

Adventure is a State of Mind

Let’s take a break from planning, shall we? Let’s talk about why we travel because it is the why that makes all of the effort of planning worthwhile.

My Travel Background

From the outside, many of our actions look similar, but we each have different reasons for why we do what we do. I’m sure you love your travel adventures as much as I love mine, but what inspires each of us may differ significantly.

My introduction to travel began earlier than some but not as early as others. My parents took a trip out of state every year of my childhood, and I continued the momentum that they created by leaving my state at least once during every year of my adult life. I will admit that this streak almost came to a halt in 2021 due to the pandemic, but when I realized the year was running out without having left Kansas, I insisted that Greg and I take a short drive into Missouri when we were in the Kansas City area visiting his family.

I took my first plane ride when I was two years old and traveled to Canada with my mom to visit her family in British Columbia. I don’t have any memories of that trip, but I was told that the motion of the plane resulted in me getting sick on the man sitting next to my mom and me. I didn’t take another commercial flight again until I was 21 years old, but I’m pretty sure it was due to a lack of opportunity rather than because of the motion sickness created by that first flight.

Throughout my childhood, there were several trips to Canada to visit relatives, so I did experience some international travel, but it was limited. I didn’t visit any additional countries until I traveled to Mexico City when I was 21 years old. My parents did make a point, however, of taking my brother and me to visit lots of new places within the United States. Those childhood experiences planted the seeds that ultimately grew into my love of travel.

Travel for Novelty and Adventure

Some people travel to the same place every year and do the same things, including eating the same food. There are positive emotional aspects to relaxing into a comfortable, known routine and environment, but I’m guessing that the people drawn to the same, repeated vacation are not the people reading this blog.

Most of us who love to travel do so, at least in part, because we’re seeking out some sort of new experience and want to have an adventure, however we define that for ourselves. Adventure is not defined by where you travel or even by what you do once you are there. Adventure is a state of mind!

Being adventurous doesn’t mean you always have to leave the country or climb a mountain. Instead, I believe that an adventure occurs when you do something outside of your comfort zone, even if that occurs only a few hours from home and doesn’t look exactly the same as another person’s idea of “adventure.” For example, I am not very motivated to try new physical experiences — as much as I enjoy hiking, it is highly unlikely that I will ever rock climb or bungee jump — but adventure for me usually involves trying new languages and new foods. Honestly, a large part of why I enjoy international travel is because the food is likely to be so different from what I find at home.

Travel for Connection

Travel is a very effective way to connect with others. Obviously, being in a new place means that you are meeting new people and interacting with them, even if it is only in a superficial manner, such as talking with your server in a restaurant. Getting to know others who are different from you, even if it is only superficial and brief, increases understanding and empathy of others. When you are face-to-face with another person, it is much easier to realize that we are all humans and are all interconnected rather than seeing others as foreign, not like you, and therefore “other.” As this article explains, however, empathy and connection do not occur without some effort and awareness on the part of the traveler. Taking the time to educate yourself about other cultures and to have meaningful conversations with people who are different from you can help to deepen your understanding of them.

Trying new things together is also an effective way to improve your relationship with your partner or spouse, and traveling to a new place is guaranteed to provide you with new experiences. Traveling with other family members or friends can similarly strengthen your emotional bonds as you share new experiences and build new memories together.

Travel for Curiosity

Curiosity is an emotion that inspires many of us to travel, and it is also an emotion with many benefits. Whether it is curiosity about a new landscape, a new culture, new languages, new food, or new art, travel is often where the curious thrive. If you feel you are not naturally curious, travel and being exposed to new experiences can help foster this positive personality trait. (See The Traveling Brain is a Healthy Brain.)

I travel because it makes me realize how much I haven’t seen, how much I’m not going to see, and how much I still need to see.

Carew Papritz

I’ve also noticed that curiosity seems to be self-perpetuating. When I return from a trip, I often have a desire to learn even more about the place I just visited. This can sometimes result in return trips. On other occasions, I haven’t had the chance to return to that place, but I find myself seeking out books or movies that take place in that location.

Sometimes curiosity has fueled my desire to visit different but similar places. For example, Portugal had never been a place high on my bucket list until after I visited the Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal. Portugal now ranks fairly high on my list of places I would like to visit because of curiosity about the culture, architecture, and food that began during that visit to the Azores.

Travel for Self Growth

With every trip I have taken, whether it has been close to home or on another continent, I’ve grown and developed new aspects of my personality or further developed some of my strengths. As a result of this personal growth, my confidence has increased as well. The first time I flew overseas by myself, I was extremely nervous but comforted by the fact that my friend planned to meet me at Heathrow Airport in London. Because of winter storms disrupting flights, however, I ended up arriving on a different airline, at a different time, and at a different airport. This was during the dark ages, also known as the time before cell phones, so I didn’t have an easy way to contact my friend. I figured out how to find a bus from Gatwick Airport to Heathrow, and during the process quickly figured out how to exchange money, something others had always done for me during previous trips. Did I experience stress during this process? Of course! Did I survive? Of course! And this experience and the confidence that grew out of being able to problem-solve my way through difficulties directly contributed to the confidence that allowed me to plan future trips.

Travel is great for personal development because it often puts you in situations in which you have no choice but to figure out a way to handle what is happening. Stress, so long as we don’t let it overwhelm us, is often a growth opportunity.

Travel for Mindfulness

I often get so caught up in doing what I need to do during the day that I barely notice my surroundings. I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences, such as driving home from work and pulling into your driveway without really having noticed any details on the journey. It’s easy to function on autopilot when we’re in familiar surroundings and doing routine things. Travel, however, takes us away from the familiar and routine, encouraging us to be more mindful and present in our own lives.

Our brains are designed to pay attention to novelty. This tendency likely evolved to help our ancestors survive since danger was most likely to arrive from some unexpected source. In our modern world, novelty is less likely to kill us, but our brains still pay more attention when we are walking down a street where we have never been. This is especially true if the signs are in a foreign language and none of the stores and restaurants are familiar to us. This mindful awareness often results in stronger memories, which is why I can remember the lunch I ate in Lyon, France, in 2016 far more clearly than I can remember the lunch I ate at a favorite, local restaurant a month ago.

Mindfulness is one of the gifts of travel that we bring home. This occurs for two reasons. First, just having the experience of being more mindful while traveling teaches us what mindfulness feels like. As a result, I have made a conscious effort to pay more attention to my surroundings when I am home. Second, most individuals who love to travel know that there is also joy to be found in returning home. Some of this joy is due to being more mindful of your home surroundings when you have been gone from them for an extended period of time. For both of these reasons, travel often helps us to wake up and be more present in our lives.

These are some of the reasons why I love to travel. What are your whys?