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What Motivates You To Travel?

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Why do you travel, what do you look for in a travel destination?
15 years ago, May 11th 2009 No: 21 Msg: #72527  
B Posts: 602
It is about meeting new people and new experiences. But it does allow a breather from what is at home. Reply to this

15 years ago, May 11th 2009 No: 22 Msg: #72540  
B Posts: 58
For us it is about different people and new experiences. Some of the scenery is great too. Most of the cities I could take or leave Reply to this

15 years ago, May 14th 2009 No: 23 Msg: #72763  
N Posts: 17
to leave & to live 😊 Reply to this

15 years ago, May 16th 2009 No: 24 Msg: #72931  
It depends I think on your age.

Now it is with the family and to experience the beauty and uniqueness of each country we visit.
For work I visit many countries all over the world and experience the airport, taxi, hotels and the company in question.
Before I was married, I wanted to experience the way how people live in those countries. I'm an Information Analyst and it is my job to understand other cultures and how they live (as part of the job). So I was very interested in how normal people live in China (most impressive), South Africa, Middle East, South America, Australia, America, etc.

I always preferred to visit cities with a beach and warm weather (raised and born in Holland (cold, wet and windy)). And I end up living in such city and now it is normal, nothing special). Reply to this

14 years ago, July 18th 2009 No: 25 Msg: #80055  
N Posts: 23

I think most people who go travelling are also running away from something; maybe a failed relationship, the death of someone close or a job they don't like. It might even something that hasn't happened yet. I've just returned from a 6-month trip and with most of the travellers I met along the way I had this conversation. Almost all of them after a few monents silence said "um, ...yes."



I dont think everyone goes travelling to run away from something in their lives. Even in the case when the person is actually "escaping" a failed relationship or a death or whatever else, i would say the main motivator is the realization that life is short, and that in order to live well one must truly know who one is. In terms of my travelling experiences, or my motivation to save every penny, do my laundry by hand 80%!o(MISSING)f the time, work overtime and study after work, comes from an innate need to (as aristotle put it) "know myself and become who i truly am". I dont think one knows themselves from a designer bag or the make up that you wear. It is the things that you do, your expereinces that make you a better person and make you discover yourself. Seekign a relationship when one is not even sure of who they are is in my opinion a bad idea, because ultimately we're often asking for the other person to fulfill us with a sense of ourselves, to make us "whole". What we dont realize that the potential to be whole lies within us at all times. The great thing about working my butt off to save while travelling is that i think the saving all year part is just as important as the travelling part, because even the hardships at work and after work are teaching you something, about privilege, about your potential, about other people.

Although i travelled by myself while being in a long term relationship, and achieved a lot of things on my own, i still felt at the time of breakup that i had given up a serious chunk of myself and neglected analyzing those parts of myself in order so that i could be with someone else. Now that I am on my own i am getting acquainted with that part of me, and rediscovering all its dreams and ambitions and giving them wings.

The world is vast, its beautiful. In the edge of the Grand Canyon you feel a profound sense of awe and also fear- the realization that in the face of the universe you're nothing short of an insect, your life is swift and can be swiftly gone. All you have is this moment, right here. What use you make of it, is what determines who you are. 😊

p.s. cheese anyone? lol Reply to this

14 years ago, July 19th 2009 No: 26 Msg: #80089  
B Posts: 847
In my profile page, this is what I wrote:

I love traveling because I always come back with less cobwebs in my mind. It is as if I empty my mind of all clutter upon departure, and fill it with many happy memories upon arrival. I also like the idea that life is so focused on the present, and my senses are all playing to listen, feel , see, smell and taste everything novel or not so new. The fact that I only have to choose from a limited wardrobe, or use the same pair of shoes throughout my holiday , or work and survive on a single budget make life so much simpler. Sure, you sometimes get a raw deal in a few trips, or feel hassled by flight delays and cancellations, but the joys and simplicity of the present far outweigh the negatives. Oh, btw, I always end up gaining more friends after each trip. Many I kept......

This still rings true after the many trips I've taken. And you bet I'd be making more trips, and gaining more friends along the way. Reply to this

14 years ago, July 21st 2009 No: 27 Msg: #80323  
I'm 25 so I look for adventure when I travel and since I'm not that rich yet to try european and Australian tours, I have explored the united states and to my surprise, our country can deliver as well. was an awesome kayaking experience(i recommend whale watching) where sedona made me fee like a god looking from one of my hiking experiences there. I was baffled at first to try because I thought what's in there(A friend of mine recommended the place) and I searched of course and upon seeing the Red Rocks of Sedona, I was gone the next weekend there...
Reply to this

14 years ago, July 21st 2009 No: 28 Msg: #80324  
N Posts: 23
Elizabeth,
The United States is amazing!! You guys have everything, from cold climates to really hot ones, to tropical places like Hawaii where i nearly lost my heart (especially in Kauai, to which someday I'll surely return to kayak along the Na Pali strip and do the hiking tours) and really expensive, glitzy places like Manhattan (where i also lost my heart!!). When flying to L.A last summer i looked over the Arizona desert, by coincidence i had Ennio Morricone playing in my headphones and I promised myself that i'd be there someday lol
Actually, i promised myself that i will go through this life without doing a USA road trip, (p)leather jackets, aviator glasses, cowboy boots( i love my cowboy boots) and all lol, jack kerouac style Reply to this

14 years ago, July 21st 2009 No: 29 Msg: #80447  
The reasons that i am going to travel are..

I owned a house with my g/f but we split and now I am back at my mums. I could save up my money, buy a house on my own but I have decided to travel before i get into a mortgage again.

I am sick of my job, I do have the best job in the world, (ok not exactly) I am an electrician and my job is to wait for machines to break down, then i go fix them. while I am waiting I can watch dvds, surf the net, sleep. Unfortunaly there is only so much of that before your mind becomes numb!!

I have chosen Australia because its an english speaking nation, I am able to apply for PR if i like it and have all my qualifications reconised.

Am i running away? defiantly! but its what your running away from that counts Reply to this

14 years ago, July 24th 2009 No: 30 Msg: #80831  
I like to see life in the different corner of the world by myself. TV only shows what they want us to see but travel gave me chance to see everything. Independent travel makes me better understand about myself, know how good am I on doing things,etc. Being far away from family members for long time makes us realise that we actually love them & this feeling might never come across to our mind while those people is surrounding us.

Reply to this

14 years ago, July 24th 2009 No: 31 Msg: #80858  
B Posts: 5
No one in my family likes to travel. I'm not sure where I get it but about 3 months at home and I'm ready for an adventure. I love meeting new people and experiencing new cultures. As a kid I collected travel brochures even though I rarely left the state of Kentucky until I was 18. Now at 51 the passion has only intensified and I continue to search for every travel opportunity possible. Reply to this

14 years ago, October 11th 2009 No: 32 Msg: #89005  
Culture & food, mostly. These past years I have been active in supporting university students & children in Southeast Asia (educational scholarships) and go over there frequently to visit them & thier families, so that's another facet of travel... Reply to this

14 years ago, November 11th 2009 No: 33 Msg: #93083  
Scenery, food, things that I can buy for remembrance and an evidence that I've been there (pictures). Anyways, it's fun and relaxing to travel. Some people thinks that it's tiring to travel but for me it's one of my passion in life and it is not tiring because I'm enjoying what I'm seeing. Reply to this

14 years ago, January 12th 2010 No: 34 Msg: #99387  
N Posts: 1
Does the issue of Cultural Awareness increase travelling motivation?
Reply to this

14 years ago, January 13th 2010 No: 35 Msg: #99595  

Does the issue of Cultural Awareness increase travelling motivation?


Yeah, I like to see first hand what people are doing in other countries.
Reply to this

14 years ago, January 14th 2010 No: 36 Msg: #99647  
It gives me first hand perspective on the rest of the world. Seeing the world with my own eyes lets me use all of my senses. A picture in a book of South Africa doesn't allow you to hear, smell, touch, taste and really see the country like standing there on its soil. Reply to this

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