The Reason We Travel

It's hard to believe almost two decades have past since my wandering spirit first set foot unto European soil.  Those past decades have brought much adventure, challenges, culinary delights, and experience.  I have watched my company and tours grow in the ever changing realms of travel.  I have used each tour as a way to better myself and my tours to create an unbelievable travel experience.

To say that I think about travel constantly would be an understatement.  My thoughts recently were drawn to the topic of why we really travel?  The reasons  some it's purely for relaxation, a release from the monotony of work and schedules. While for others it's an appeal to their adventures side that is craving some form of a thrill. The list of reasons could possibly run on and on, but there has to be a core reason at the root of every avid traveler and those who have been bitten by the travel bug.

There is something to be said when I first step off a train and into a city center I have never seen.  The unfamiliarity and since of exploration seems to be so intoxicating.  Our normal life is often ruled by schedules, routines, and consistency.  We are by nature creatures of habit, yet so where in the midst of the daily grind we crave something new, something foreign to us.  I believe our minds are constantly wanting to learn, to grow, and to evolve.

That rush of experiencing a new land involves a wave of endorphins that speeds up the synapsis of our brain.  Suddenly our small world of routines and schedules become much larger and much more unfamiliar.  There has been so many times I have felt overwhelmed as I stood in a large city center surrounded by people, buildings, smells, and languages that I did not know.  That unfamiliarity one would think could cause panic or discomfort, but for the true traveler it is the exact opposite.  It is a chance to learn something new, to experience life a new.  I long for those moments, they give me the possibility to grow, to learn, and to live. 

Children experience this exact same phenomenon as they grow because the world around them is new and full of exploration.  In essence travel brings back the excitement we had as a child, making the world around us new and exciting!

Whatever your reason maybe to travel from relaxation to exploration, may it bring you happiness and joy!