Why do we travel?

 

Many of us have never traveled out of our home country, or even our own city, in our lives. Yet we still all (for the most part) have an undeniable urge to get out and see more of the world. All of the reasons people give for their wanting to travel all bio down to the same thing: learning, and the very human need to explore. Hundreds of years ago when Christopher Columbus set out to explore the world, this is the urge that drove him (yes, he was ordered by the Queen of England to find new land to colonize, but he would never have been successful if the explorer within him hadn't wanted to push through).

 

When we travel, there is no denying that the experiences we have will change us for the rest of our lives. Not many people can say that exploring an entirely new continent, meeting new people, eating new foods and learning about new ways of dealing with the things life throws at us, will leave them with exactly the same ideas and views of the world as they had before. Not only do we learn from the people we meet and the places we go, but those we encounter also take us to be a part of their lives, making the change a two way experience.

 

When we travel for all the different reasons we have, we somehow find ways to make our problems go away, and this, for some, is one of the most important reasons for why we do what we do. Because we live such busy lives, sooner or later we will all become overwhelmed. One of the easiest, and perhaps most rewarding ways to overcome this is to get out there, reset your clocks and see what life is like in a different part of the world. Not only does this usually give us a chance to relax, get our heads back on track and relieve ourselves of all the pent up stress we accumulate over time, but we will more often than not end up learning something about ourselves and recognizing our strengths and weaknesses, a huge step towards understanding who we are.

 

Along with all of these reasons, we, as humans, have an unmistakable child-like curiosity that persists throughout our lives. We want to know more about the world, and we have no problem asking questions. When encountering people in a new culture, it is only natural for us to ask where their traditions come from, how they fit into their daily lives, and how these cultural traditions affect other parts of their lives. We also hold nature to a very high regard when it comes to travel, and many of us are incredibly curious and willing to explore.

 

So why is it that we travel? Well, its quite simple really. We travel because it is the only way we are able to make sense of the world, ourselves, the relationships we hold, and the things we think are important.