Why Travel?

Have your friends and family looked at you with obvious bewilderment in their eyes and asked you why you travel?

Do they have trouble understanding why you want to spend so much time on the road – without the comforts of home, living out of a suitcase, away from friends and family, and more?

Have you tried explaining your passion for travel to family and friends? And did you feel that saying “Just because I want to” wasn’t adequate for them to understand?

Some friends and family members probably admire you for following your dream. But many people in your life might not understand. And many can even be rude about your urge to travel.

A lot of travelers are so excited about the experiences they’ve had on the road that they want to share all they’ve seen and learned with the people close to them. But too often, many of them just don’t understand. Have you wondered if they’re jealous of all that you’ve seen and done? That could be part of their dismissive attitude.

Maybe you’ve reflected on the reasons you travel so that you could explain better. Or maybe this blog post will motivate you to figure out how to put your love of travel into words. You may have considered your answer to “Why Travel?” a lot over the years. Of course, in the end “Just because I want to” is really enough, but you want to explain better.

At first, you might have found yourself giving the usual cliché answers :

* To find out more about the world
* To learn about other cultures
* To satisfy your curiosity
* To live a more adventurous life
* And so on

But you probably soon realized that those were just clichés.

Searching for adventure might have been why you started traveling, but if you’re honest with yourself, you probably soon realized that important things happened to you on the road. One of the most important aspects of travel is that you learn more about yourself because you see yourself more clearly against the foreign environment.

That might sound strange at first, but once you are away from your daily routine and the expectations of family and friends, your behavior stands out like a sore thumb. When you respond to a situation in your usual way – a response not typical in the foreign country you’re visiting – you see that response, and you wonder if it’s really how you want to act.

In the past, you may not have really seen yourself because your actions didn’t stand out. You may have been a bit of a rebel, but you weren’t alone in acting rebellious. No matter how hard you previously tried to be individualistic, you didn’t stand out enough to evaluate your behavior because there were a lot of others doing the same.

But when you travel to destinations that operate with different norms, your behavior suddenly is visible to both locals of the foreign country – and to yourself. When your actions are contrasted against another culture on the road, you have the opportunity to choose who you want to be.

With new knowledge about yourself, you may find that it’s even more difficult to explain your passion for travel to friends and family, so just say “Just because I want to” and leave it at that.