A friend of mine has recommended that I write an article or book on "why travel". I agreed with him the moment he mentioned the idea and like most good ideas, promptly filed it away in the dark recesses of my mind with more pressing matters of which I must attend.
So today I am thinking about the meaning of life over lunch and the thought strikes me - "I should write about 'why travel' since Sandy and my worldview affects why we love what we do and why we want to help others experience travel themselves." So the question arises. (deep, eh? That is what you get when you cross a philosopher, a psychologist and two travelers.)
Travel defined.
First let me briefly describe travel. According to the primary definition on Dictionary.com Travel means "to go from one place to another, as by car, train, plane, or ship; take a trip; journey: to travel for pleasure." Oftentimes when we say "travel" people assume that we are speaking of large, extravagant vacations or experiences outside of the United States. I make no such claims. In fact, I would love for more people to experience the joy (and frustration) of traveling to other countries, however, many people would benefit from a weekend away or a romantic overnight stay at a local Bed and Breakfast. I will define travel as a journey past your front door that takes you someplace outside of your normal everyday experiences.
We talk of vacations, honeymoons and destination weddings. We talk about destinations ranging from the so-called exotic reaches of Tahiti and Australia to the more typical (for us) Hilton Head Island of South Carolina and Hershey, Pennsylvania. Some of us dream of taking a lazy Sunday afternoon kayak trip down the river while others want to stick their feet in the sand and sip a daiquiri. Perhaps you would love to dine at a local bistro, the sounds of live jazz wafting in on the summer's cool evening breeze. Whatever you may dream, why is travel so important?
Why travel?
I would posit a few truly important reasons why we do travel and why we should travel:
1. Your physical/emotional health. Travel can lead to rest, relaxation and rejuvenation.
2. Your relational health. Travel can help you to grow closer to your family, rekindle romance and even learn conflict resolution skills.
3. Your spiritual health. Travel can give you new perspectives on life, help you to learn, teach respect and ultimately appreciate the blessings we each have at home.
4. Fun! Travel can be a lot of fun as you create lasting memories, do things you never imagined you would do, dare to take new adventures and make you laugh as you have never laughed before.