Traveling

We travel for various reasons, but I think it’s interesting to note that vacations are often referred to as “getaways.” Most often, we travel to get away from something be it a bad job, a relationship, a stereotype, or just a nagging sense of wanderlust. Sometimes, we don’t even realize that we are traveling to escape. But even just a short vacation to the beach or an unfamiliar city can serve as an escape an escape from work, stress and responsibilities that we are weighed down with at home.
Through this escape, a traveler often loosens up, allowing for exploration, discovery, and learning. We immerse ourselves in new cultures, try new foods, get ourselves into uncomfortable situations, and discover things about ourselves that we may find surprising. It is easy to get high off the sense of anonymity that can be experienced while on the road. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 5-day cruise or a year-long round-the-world trip if nobody knows you, you often feel free to break out of your shell.

This freedom of anonymity and ability to challenge and re-invent ourselves through travel often leads to self-discovery. Many travelers will acknowledge that they travel to “find” things perhaps a sense of purpose; answers to life’s questions; or just the essence of who they are. Often, we return from a journey better able to pinpoint our strengths and (perhaps more importantly) recognize our weaknesses.

And, in discovering a new sense of self, we as travelers often feel compelled to continue exploring other cultures in order to gain better understandings of them, too. We want to see more, hear more, and delve into the heart of a place or people we eventually aim for full immersion. We want to understand where we fit in.

When you look at all the reasons people travel, and realize how one reason can logically lead to the next, I suppose it’s not difficult to understand how a small taste can lead to an insatiable desire to constantly be on the move. The desire to travel to explore, to discover can’t simply be cured by a short vacation. In fact, I’d argue that a short vacation often just makes the travel bug bite that much harder.