The journey matters more than the destination. The best adventures in life are not only about the destination but how you get there as well.
“The World is a book and if we do not travel, we read only one page.”
– St Augustine –
It is my desire to share personal travel experiences around the globe with other travelers and also (hopefully) to convert tourists into travelers. There is a marked difference between a traveler and a tourist.
Travelers and tourists are both people who travel to different locations. The difference is that they have different connotations and that one is a broader term than the other. All tourists are travelers, but not all travelers are tourists.
The word ‘traveler’ simply means someone who travels. ‘Traveling’ itself means going from one place to the other, but it most often means going on a long journey. It isn’t very common to describe yourself as traveling when all you are doing is going to get groceries. In the UK and Ireland, it can also mean someone who leads a nomadic lifestyle, always moving from place to place. ‘Tourist’, on the other hand, is a very specific word. It means someone who temporarily travels to another location just to enjoy the new place.
When describing people who travel to other countries, there are a few categories they can fall into. Some people have to travel for business, such as when they go to have a conference. Other people go to a place in transit. For instance, someone who wants to go from the US to Tibet would probably have to change planes in China. They would be traveling to China, but it would not be their final destination. Other people will go to places for charitable work, such as helping out with relief and aid after a major disaster. The last category is traveling for pleasure. This can mean anything from going to another country to enjoy the landscape to going to a theme park or tourist trap.
Tourists are specifically people who go to another place for pleasure when that’s the main goal of the trip. If a businessman were to take some time on his trip to experience the landscape of the place he’s in, then he wouldn’t be a tourist, since that wasn’t the purpose of the trip. Someone who travels for pleasure and takes some time to do some business work would be a tourist.
There are some who divide people who go somewhere for pleasure into travelers and tourists. According to those definitions, tourists are shallow people who care more about boasting that they were in a place than actually experiencing it, while travelers are people who blaze new trails and experience a much deeper connection with a place by going to the exact same attractions that the tourists go to, but more deeply.
This is because the people who created this definition are all self-described travelers. Tourists want to have a good time with the “normal” traveling activities while travelers have fun by experiencing the culture. There’s nothing wrong with either mindset because they’re just personal preferences.
I would like to give fellow travelers the confidence to travel, to make more accessible those places which are off the beaten tracks, and most of all, the inspiration to make it all happen!
REASONS WHY ONE SHOULD TRAVEL:
Why do people travel?
1. To Visit Family
Some family members move to another country. It can be on the other side of the world or just in another country next to yours. No matter where they are you will
want to visit them at some point or another. The great thing about family visits is not only that you get to catch up with loved ones but you also get to see how they live and get up close and personal with their new culture. These new cultures could also encourage you to explore different parts of the world yourself.
2. To Spend Time With friends
A Gap Year or world trip can be described as the best time of your life. The memories you will make are enough to last you a lifetime, what better way to enjoy these memories than with friends. Planning a holiday with friends can be a great way to say goodbye before heading off to college/university or just a great thing to do together as something you will always remember, creating long-time beautiful memories.
I mean who wouldn’t want to travel from country to country relaxing on different beaches every day with your best friend? I know I would if my best friend is as good a traveler as I am (tongue in cheek!) Sorry, best friend/s!!
3. To Find Better Weather!
No matter where you live, chances are that you will, at some point, moan about the climate that you are in. “I’m too hot” or ‘It’s too cold.” Lots of people travel simply to escape the climate they experience on a daily basis. People who live in colder climates yearn for the sunshine and people from countries that are constantly hot may travel to places to try activities such as skiing which they could not do so easily in their home country, to have some fun in the snow and to escape the constant ‘heat’ in their countries.
4. To Discover New Cultures
Some people like adventures and to escape their normal monotonous life. They like not knowing what they can expect and want to deepen their knowledge of other lifestyles. How do other people live? What do they eat? What are their hobbies and values? And what better way to find these things out than by exploring the world. These people are often curious about the world they live in and would want to learn and experience it (like me!)
5. To Find Themselves
This is a very common one, and this one, in particular, seems to be triggered by a life-changing event at home. It could be that you lost your job, a long-term relationship broke up (going through a divorce), you finished university and still have no idea what you want to do as a career or it could be the loss of a loved one. People who go traveling to find themselves tend to travel alone.
6. To Find Love
Live in a small town and just can’t meet anyone? Have you been ‘unlucky in love?” Then go traveling! Well, not all ‘holiday romances’ last forever as proven by the best-selling novelist of “Eat, Pray Love” Elizabeth Gilbert who separated and divorced her ‘holiday romance’ husband in 2016 after meeting him during her vacation in 2004. Marriage as we all know is not all “Roses and Romance” but a lot of hard work and sacrifice to keep it going.
“I am separating from the man whom many of you know as ‘Felipe,’ ” she wrote of her husband, referring to his pseudonym in the book. “Our split is very amicable. Our reasons are very personal.” She also asked for privacy, saying she would be “a bit absent from social media during this sensitive moment.”
The very least you will find is someone with the same desire to travel and experience different countries and cultures as you. Going traveling certainly doesn’t guarantee you will meet the love of your life, but traveling around certainly gives you loads of opportunities to meet new people.
7. Wanderlust
Wanderlust is a strange word but what does that mean? Descended from the German word “Wandern” meaning to walk and “Lust” which is described as “A very strong or irresistible impulse.” In short, it means that you travel because you have the urge to. You may not have one particular factor that made you book a flight. All you know is that you want to travel and you want to travel NOW!!!
Right, I plead ‘guilty’ to this!!!
8. You Won the Lottery
Alright, so this is a very rare reason, but I reckon at least half of lottery winners go on at least an extended holiday! One day hopefully I will be so lucky that I win big on the lottery. Some people, who have won millions have no idea what to do with the money. They already bought a big house but that is not enough. What better way to spend your money than go traveling from country to country taking in all the amazing sights and cultures.
So why do you travel? Whatever the reason you decide to travel I have no doubt you will have the most amazing time and will catch the ‘Travel Bug’ and never want to stop.
them being cloistered (safely) in one place. I always feel that travel is the best education in life and to realize that there is a much bigger world out there than just where we are in our own little pond.
During the days of the pandemic, it is best to travel, wearing masks. We may think that covid is done with us but reality check: COVID IS NOT DONE WITH US! 
Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I’m very glad to see such great info being shared freely out there.
Thank you
Thank you!!