Why do you travel?

By David Miller On February 11, 2010 · 35 Comments

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Matadorian Beija-Flor with street kids in Brazil. There are all different kinds of travel.

16 different reasons why people travel.

FOR ME the relevant question is never why but when, followed closely by where.

You think about why you do something, maybe write that reason down, but then when you look at it a year later–or maybe 5 years later-at some point you’re going to change the way you feel about it. There was the “why” you did it then and the “why” you’d do it (or not do it) now.

Your answer to the question why is like a little bookmark of the way you thought and felt about something at a specific moment in your life. And in some ways this seems more important than the actual answer itself.

This is my thinking anyway after spending a while collecting various Matadorians’ answers to the question “Why do you travel?” Some of the answers seem ‘wise’ or ‘earnest’ but mainly they just make me stoked on the people who said them.

Beija-Flor

As the world is my home, I need to feel at home.

Mike Lynch

To keep away from home.

SweeneySays

Because I feel most at home when I am in motion.

Matt Scott

There just too much great stuff to see

Beer and Beans

To see the way light falls in other parts of the world.

Jess Vulcan

Because I don’t like owning silverware.

Nancy Harder

Because I truly believe that travel is art. We have the ability to create masterpieces with our experiences.

Sarah Menkedick

To avoid falling into patterns and only seeing the obvious things from an ingrained personal perspective.

A Literal Girl

To try to understand how we experience place.

Julie Schwietert

To know myself better and to know the world better.

Candice Walsh

To learn, to explore, to meet new people, to find what the hell I’m looking for.

Neha

To look for all those stories waiting to be found.

LeighShulman

It keeps me from taking things for granted.

Gregory Hubbs

To learn from other human beings and experience the world in new ways.

Lola Akinmade

To be a cultural ambassador as well as soak up the wisdom of other cultures.

Hal Amen

I’m not sure…but I can’t stop!

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Why do you travel? Please share your answer with us in the comments below.

About The Author

David Miller

David Miller is senior editor of Matador (winner of 2010 and 2011 Lowell Thomas awards for travel journalism), and BETA magazine. After living for the last two years in Patagonia, Argentina, he is returning with his wife and two young children to the Southern US. Follow him @dahveed_miller.

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http://rojakboy.wordpress.com pang

the last one made me smile.
Lauren

To achieve a fresh perspective without needing drugs.
http://www.aswetravel.com Sofia

For me it’s a mixture of all of those answers above.. well, that wasn’t entirely true.. I don’t travel to stay away from home, and I kinda like silverware
http://onceatraveler.com Turner

Running the same route day after day gets boring, just as living the life, working the same job, and eating at the same places do. Traveling changes all that.
http://www.takenbythewind.com Reannon

Traveling keeps me connected to that little kid inside me who still loves to learn and discover and who’s always up for an adventure. To not travel, would mean to lose that part of me…
http://www.virtualwayfarer.com @AlexBerger

Self Exploration and Development
http://www.sophiesworld.net Sophie

Loads of great reasons here. I’ll add this one that I’ve only recently begun to contemplate: To see my own country in a different light.

http://www.candicedoestheworld.com Candice

Ditto!

Love the silverware one. Simplicity.

http://www.whosgotroom.com WGR

I love to travel and find great value in having the drive and opportunity to go and visit different places. After all how boring would it be if you only did/saw the same things over and over again. The best thing is that travelling doesn’t mean you have to go far. Even within your own city or state you can find lots of new and interesting places to visit on the cheap and short time-frame.
http://viajeros.minube.com/arcadefire Gonzalo Moreno

To share my experiences when i come back.
http://ramblingbrooke.com Brooke

Love all of these I travel for a bunch of those reasons. I just love getting out of my routine and gaining a fresh perspective on a new destination. Kind of like a rebirth.
joshua johnson

Because I have an insatiable sense of curiosity and adventure
http://dtravelsround.com DTravelsRound

To look back on my life and know I LIVED and experienced everything I could the world has to offer. And to know I learned from others and soaked in the beauty of as many people as possible.
Karing

Because I haven’t seen everything yet
http://nomadneedles.wordpress.com/ Robyn

To keep from feeling stuck — I haven’t traveled for more than a weekend in a long time and I’m starting to feel trapped in a rut. I don’t like that feeling. I’m making plans and it feels so liberating to anticipate movement again.
http://www.Travel-Writers-Exchange.com Travel-Writers-Exchange.com

To meet new people, explore different lands and cultures, and to grasp a better understanding of the human race.
http://tossedsallard.blogspot.com tossedsallard

…because the world is so much bigger than where I stand right now. There is no exception, I must explore.
Tim

Candice got me the most:
Candice Walsh
To learn, to explore, to meet new people, to find what the hell I’m looking for.

…whatever the hell it is we’re all looking for, I’ll be on the same search as Canduce very soon.
And believe me, I’ve just flogged (sold) all the silverware. Yeah its nice, but watching the sun rise and fall on a foreign isthmus beats it. Really.
http://www.thecandytrail.com/blog/ the candy trail …

Hi. As a true global nomad across 100 countries, mostly the remotest corners, since 1988 … I connect most with …

Because I feel most at home when I am in motion

There just too much great stuff to see

To learn from other human beings and experience the world in new ways

Simply, travel is one crazy, exciting, and unpredictable feast of learning adventures, each continent, every country, every day is a surprising buzz [ and ocassionally a travel disaster, but things always work out ] … You experience so much diversity from Travel that normal lifestyles often never offer …

Regards MRP AKA the candy trail …
http://indicaspecies.blogspot.com Celine

I travel to discover and that discovery offers me an intellectual stimulus that also makes me draw meaningful connections with a new and interesting world I come across during my travels.
http://www.discoverserbia.org/en Travel for Food

I travel to see beautiful nature, eat different food, listen different music and because I dont work while I am traveling.
http://www.wildflowerhikesmontana.com Carolyn Hopper

I travel to explore new places inside myself. To connect with new places inside Nature. To see beautiful Nature. To taste more of the world and its wonders
theartfularcher

I travel to have something to ponder on after it’s all over.
Beebee

It’s a big world out there, somebody has to explore it!
Really though, being in motion, or the possibility for motion always makes me smile. To meet people from all over and learn and share.
http://www.almaighty.blogspot.com alma

… because going nowhere feels like giving up.
… because we need to let go in order to gain.
… because we need to get lost in order to find our way.
http://itraveldame.com Lorraine

“To experience life outside of my comfort zone, to live in another’s culture.”
http://chaitrishah.blogspot.com/ Chaitri

I travel coz I want to learn about new places, new people, new cultures, new cuisines, new ideas…..Knowing more/new things helps me grow. I want to to grow a little everyday of my life am here on this planet =)

PS: great comments everyone!
mayala

i have to travel because the thing i am most afraid of is living a mediocre life. when i’m old and sick i don’t want to think about everything i didn’t see and do and eat and everyone i never saw or talked to or danced or cooked with. instead i want to remember all of the sunrises, sunsets, crowded buses and late nights.
http://the-things-i.blogspot.com Jared Krauss

To experience.
Barrett

To leave my known world, subject myself to the unknown and experience what other people experience everyday.
starr

because the more i see, the more i am.
http://www.vwworldtrip.co.cc dominic

Curiosity
Al

To lie to myself and escape the cruel reality of “real” life which we all have to go back to at some point.
kdawg

I feel like I’m taking the world for granted or serving it some sort of injustice if I don’t see what all it has to offer. The world is a huge place and it’s beauty deserves to be seen.
Sheezhao

to check out how other people and places are and not be stuck in a narrow perspective. to see the beauty the world has to offer in people and places.

Why do you travel?

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