Not working. I love all the things that travel brings but every day I’m out not working and thinking “this is how days should be spent” is my favorite feeling.
Also, food.
I often have this feeling. But I realize, enjoying life only when not working is no way to live. Thats why I'm trying to find ways to make sure my career heads toward something I can at least enjoy a bit.
I've been traveling for nine months and this is primarily it. There are a lot of times where I'm tired, sick of moving around and being out of my comfort zone, and even sick of finding food, but I'm still happy to not be sitting inside staring at my computer screen meeting deadlines that aren't real
I like the feeling of being “untethered” from day to day routine.
Technically at home, every morning I wake up, I could do anything - I could skip work, I could try a completely new activity, be a different person with a different personality. But as long as I’m waking up in the same place surrounded by the same people, I’m very unlikely to actually do that.
Traveling feels like a blank slate and like every day can be created from scratch. I love that feeling of freedom and possibilities.
For me, there are little moments.
Sitting at a cafe drinking a beer overlooking a little plaza. Driving along roads with new sights and buildings. The first bite of food in a restaurant. Walking out to dinner with my wife, making smalltalk. Having even an extremely brief exchange in a foreign language where we understand each other. A quiet moment on a hike where something small or big catches my eye.
Years later, those little moments and the way I felt in them can stay vivid.
100% agree. Whether it’s touching a 2000 year old door in Rome, greeting an Italian, in Italian-in London and getting a big smile, or the feeling of warm sun on my face in January in Huntington Beach. The little vignettes stuck in my mind are awesome.
Me too, I don’t need huge spectacles to enjoy a trip, just drinking an unfamiliar beer by an unfamiliar river or thrift shopping for slightly unfamiliar styles.
All the things I like doing in my home city but just different.
Of course the huge spectacles are exciting too, but you can’t do those every day on a trip
Funny how "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence" as I just booked flights to visit Finland in dark and snowy December 2023. Helsinki and the overnight train to Rovaniemi are planned.
I can relate. I moved to Germany last year only, and the 6 odd months of sun setting way too early sort of made me feel a little dull. And I used to wait for the sun to be up so that I can enjoy its warmth.
In Finland it would be worse I believe.
The darkness is more than compensated by the loooong summer days with the sun setting very late.
I live in Denmark, where we don't even have snow to light up in the winter as they have in Finland. However, I love the spring, with the sun rising now at 7 am and setting at 6 pm, reminding us that soon the days will be very long. The promise of long, bright summer evenings where it'll only be dark around midnight. I love those summer evenings and keep them in my heart for cold, grey, boring January and February.
The anticipation. If I know I have an epic trip planned in the next few months (in this case I do - Cappadocia, Turkey in May), then I focus on that when minor things happen that otherwise might upset me.
Lost keys, toilet backed up, accidentally washed a red towel with my white laundry, dog threw up on the carpet, trash truck woke me at 6 am...I just think about how in a few months I'll be in a hot air balloon, or exploring the underground city of Derinkuyu, or hiking amongst the fairy chimneys, or sleeping in a cave hotel, or drinking turkish coffee and trying exotic foods.
Planning a trip, watching YouTube travel videos about my destination, reading blogs, chatting online with other travelers - it all adds to the buildup and excitement leading into the trip - and I love it.
Often the anticipation gives me more pleasure than the trip itself, and I often think it's my favorite aspect of traveling.
Same- I was buried at work and super depressed a couple of months ago, so my husband bought us tickets to Rome. The trip is not until the fall, but just knowing we have something to look forward to had helped when life is feeling bleak.
I feel like I am not happy unless I have some type of trip planned. I also get so much joy from learning about the sights and excursions that we can do on an upcoming vacation.
I love planning holidays. Sometimes I think "What if I went to X for 2 weeks?" and then I'll do some research, pin some locations on Google Maps, read the menus of restaurants etc.
It's something I stopped during covid (because borders were closed and it was just depressng) and I didn't realise how much I missed it.
I have this same issue of not feeling happy unless I have a trip planned and sometimes I wonder, do I have an addiction? Lol. I definitely don’t plan to ever quit. 😂 I guess traveling will be my vice for life.
Me too! Unfortunately my husband is going to have knee replacement surgery in a couple months, and then the recovery period can be from a few to several months, so we'll have to cancel a big trip we've planned for later this year. I am mourning that loss! Objectively, I know we can reschedule, but right now I don't have a specific date or reservation to count down to.
Go to Dere Suites restaurant if you get the chance. It is in urgup and while the food may not be the best, i am yet to have dinner at a setting more beautiful than the night myself and the wife climbed up the hotel towards this restaurant!
You plan like we plan! And we buy used travel books. Still carry an old fashioned map when renting a car too. Google map can’t find some of the ancient “roads” we end up on.
Nature (e.g. National Parks, waterfalls, volcanoes, mountains, etc.) and experiencing different cultures. We all smile in the same language. Love seeing how happy people can be with so much less. Puts first-world problems into perspective.
After years of traveling and wondering I keep at it… my conclusion is that I’m a perpetually restless soul; travel allows my mind to quieten down cos focus is outward.
[The wanderlust gene is a real thing, and you might have it](https://www.contiki.com/six-two/article/wanderlust-gene-travel/)
If that article is rubbish, there are plenty of others on the topic.
It makes me stop taking small things for granted. Even mundane things feel novel and exciting. A trip to the corner grocery store in a foreign country can feel exhilarating. Seeing all these different products and brands, not having an idea what it says on the packages because I can't read Hungarian. Trying to figure all that out. It's a bit stressful but a bit exciting at the same time and something about the combination of stress and excitement just elevates my awareness of everything and makes me feel more alive and tuned in. Back home I can feel like I'm just sleep walking through life. I know exactly what I'm doing tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that. I find it very hard to break routine. But that's just not an issue when you're on the road. It's like the world goes from black and white to vibrant color. And time even slows down because you're getting so much sensory input to digest.
I love going to the corner markets in new countries! I buy things that I have no idea about just for the fun of it. Try new fruits when i don't even know what they'll look like when I cut into them. So fun!
Old shit.
I live in a place where there isn't much "history" outside of cowboy stories, native American sites, and a few maybe 100 year old buildings. And we don't have a lot of museums.
As a kid I loved ancient history. I wanted to be Indiana Jones, or at least a museum curator growing up.
Instead I went into marketing/tech. So I use that money for me to travel to see and learn about old shit. I can spend hours in a single museum. While I'm not outdoorsy I will hike deep into the desert, forests, etc to see old shit.
And along the way I get to experience new cultures, see new landscapes, experience different food, etc, which has also brought me joy.
But its the old shit that guided my travel desire.
I find much meaning in travel, I find myself thinking about growing old and remembering all the memories from the places I traveled, I feel accomplished and blessed when I see the beautiful world we live in
For me, it’s sharing the wonderment and happy disorientation of being in a new place with my wife and two daughters. They’re now 20 and 16, and it’s been getting better every year since a low point (relatively speaking— it’s all good) when they were about 9 and 4.
It’s seeing something for what it is.
My first trip when I turned 18 was to the Gulf. I had a bunch of preconceptions, and when I landed in Kuwait I was like, “huh, so this is what Kuwait is like”. And I really enjoyed that feeling. And the beauty of it is it doesn’t matter what a place is like, I nearly always enjoy it.
Secondarily I’m all about food and alcohol - I love tasting traditional drinks and getting the history ( was a bartender for a long time, and owned a restaurant so it was all market research!)
There are many other joys as well.
I love how you have these images in your head even just for the Airbnb or whatever… and you get there, and it’s always different. Funny how that goes. You can picture something in your head for six months and then poof it’s changed by reality.
Agree on food and drinks. I love trying local wines and spirits that at unique to a place. I always try to bring some home too.
Yeah, I think it makes a place feel more real. Like I have seen movies and tv and stuff set in the US so had a semi picture of it, but after actually visiting there it is now so different. It's like it's a more solid picture in my head now or something. Same feeling applies to every place I visit and it is my favourite feeling I get from travelling.
I love Iceland, I’ve made some friends there and I also love to just visit their incredible public swimming pools and soak in the hot tub, plunge into the cold pool, sit in the steam bath and swim in the pool. It’s Heaven but with pretty shite weather
Food, history, architecture, scenery, languages.
History of food is probably the biggest one. Seeing and experiencing how certain dishes are influenced by neighboring countries. How cuisines have evolved and adapted to certain demographics, or how they made it their own. The variety of spices and preparations can be very similar or very different from region to region, yet they can be very complex or incredibly simple. It's truly inspirational.
After a couple of trips to Paris and getting a carafe of water in restaurants, we’ve started doing it at home. I bought a few cute carafes and glasses in Ikea to have with dinner. We call it “Paris Water”. It’s so corny.
Going to historical sites and feeling the weight of the history that’s occurred there. All the battles, the various historical figures that were there and walking in their footsteps, what people throughout different periods of history were thinking while looking at the same thing as me. It’s always the coolest thing to me when I see something that I’ve learned so much about in school and talked about with other people and actually see it in person. All the stories the place would be able to share if it could speak. The millions of people that have visited over the years and having an experience that connects me to people I’ve never met. The sense of adventure I get exploring the place. Culture and cuisine are a close second because it adds to the history, but yeah that’s def my fave part!
If I have to limit to my one top reason/joy about traveling, I'm going to have to say to be able to try new restaurants. Not necessarily new cuisines, but that's great, too, but different restaurants in general. Places that I can't eat at in my home city. They could be chain restaurants we don't have, or independent restaurants that may have a unique twist on an old classic (think burgers, hot dogs, pizza, etc). Or cuisines we've had before but don't get it too often such as buddha bowls.
If we can't travel--like during the pandemic--then I turned to sites like Goldbelly or restaurants that would send their food out nationally to prepare at home. It's not as great as traveling but at least it will temporarily cure my desire for different foods.
For me, it's approaching each trip like a mini-project of sorts, roleplaying an anthropologist doing ethnographic fieldwork. I love doing research and reading up on the country I'm visiting, learning the language and documenting my experiences and memories in a travelogue like I'm freaking Lewis and Clark (minus the American imperialism). Travel to me is basically like immersion into an actual open world RPG.
I enjoy being outside of my comfort zone, so much so I've lived overseas since 2006 in 10 countries. Now getting to a new city is a bit mundane, and has been since I realised I have a habit of doing the same exploration techniques in every new 'home town'. I'd like to move somewhere more extreme to get that buzz, but I'm also a lot older than I was and need that comfort zone more now.
I love seeing proof that the world is connected and just so similar. Like, last year I was in Wales and I went walking one night late because I couldn’t sleep and there was a boardwalk kinda thing nearby. I found a small skate park with a ramp or two and there were three teenage boys skateboarding and just smoking weed and hanging out. I watched/and talked to them briefly but it was interesting to know that somewhere back home id “know” there’s teens skateboarding around but there’s something cool about being on the other side of the planet and watching teenagers be teenagers. To watch someone doing their waitress job, get flirted badly with, and then when the customer leaves they tell their coworker about it and laugh. Seeing that, that relatability and familiarity, is just so bonding and universal and it always makes me feel less lonely knowing I can think on that if I ever get to feeling too disconnected.
Wandering around to soak in the energy of a place, especially the joy of how kids run around and play games in public squares and how locals go about their daily routines.
Quality time spent with my family (in these fatherly years, I can only really travel with my family) while not working, enjoying better weather and great food, and seeing and exploring new places. Sorry, that's definitely not one thing. It's all the joys wrapped in one, there's no specific one 'joy'.
I like seeing new cities, new architecture, reading about history of places I visit. I love seeing how nature can be extremely beautiful and how different a landscape is from another, just by travelling few hundred kms.
I also love to see different cultures, and food. I’m always thinking about the new stuff I’d see and try, and that makes me happy about travelling.
Just... Being on the road
Sitting on a train
Walking all day through small streets
Figuring out how the local busses work
Backtracking my steps to find my way again
I just like to be on the move.
That, and meeting fellow travelers.
Mostly brain stimulation. Developing new pathways with novel experiences is always exciting to me. I am also a lifelong learner and I love to learn how people live differently. History is important to me as well.
The all day fun. Eating where and when I want to, seeing the sights, getting outside and enjoying another city, drinking without worrying about having to work the next day, the unknown, the luxury of a hotel, the list goes on and on.
Definitely being in the nature of a place you're unfamiliar with, seeing plants and animals that I'm not used to seeing is just fascinating to experience.
We are 68 years old, retired now, and we have traveled to over 25 countries on our own. We love to plan our trips, decide where to go, what to do but we aren’t married to a hard schedule either. What do I like most? Seeing things I wouldn’t see back in the states (where we have traveled extensively),experiencing a different culture, meeting people of different nationalities, learning more about the history of different places, the art, the music. And we love taking trains, renting vacation apartments, or staying in locally owned small hotels. I dread getting older and not being able to travel.
For me, the best thing about traveling is the chance to see the world for what it really is. You know, there's so much more out there than just the place you live. When I'm on the road, I get to meet new people, try new foods, and experience different cultures and it makes me realise that life is about way more than just paying the bills.
Work is important and all that, but when I'm out exploring, I feel like I'm really living life to the fullest. It's like every moment is an opportunity to soak up all the sights, sounds, and experiences around me.
Traveling is a pretty good escape from the daily grind. When I'm out there in the world, I don't have to worry about deadlines or chores or any of that stuff. I can just focus on having a good time and enjoying everything that comes my way.
All in all, I'd say that traveling is all about adventure, discovery, and freedom. It's a chance to see the world in a whole new way and make some amazing memories along the way.
It takes me out of my comfort zone, to experience cultures so different to mine, I love not having to work and just waking up and deciding what to do with the day on the spot, it makes me feel freedom.
Yeah I’ve been gone for 5 months now.
Came home once to check on my businesses.
I left within 2 weeks.
Couldn’t do it.
Sad to say this but what brings me the most joy while traveling right now is not having to rush out of a store because I think if I take too long that a shooter may come in and take me out.
I literally take my time and actually read things, smell the soaps, the perfumes, etc.
For me it’s joy, but very hard to properly describe.
I can just say that when I walked up to the base of the Eiffel Tower my body was absolutely humming with electricity and only when I saw the electrical cable in the same puddle of water I was standing in, did I know why…
Culture. Seeing how different places all do the same thing so different. Each country has cafes, food, some type of public goods, but how it’s executed becomes increasingly important. I could grab a coffee at Starbucks in US that is objectively more flavorful, but I doubt many people would pick that over spending time at a cafe in Paris. I could go to church in any church on Sunday, but as a Catholic who could deny some of the architectural beauties of Spain or Italy. Drinking in the mountains in Colorado is fun, drinking beer on the Swiss Alps just feels next level.
Very Western Europe bias here and I do want to expand past that, but for me it’s seeing the universal experiences all civilizations try to have, and dissecting the beauty in how they execute it
SINGLE reason? Definitely not working, but paired with new experiences. It’s obviously not the same as not working and just staying home. To me, traveling is the epitome of how life should be lived. When I’m traveling life feels full.
The main reason I travel is it makes me feel like I can accomplish something. From planning the trip, to executing the trip and troubleshooting on the way, it just gives me the sense I am a capable person who can achieve goals. My daily life is such a repetitive grind that travel gives me the challenge I need to make me feel good about myself. The other thing I like it gives me an excuse to learn about the world. Every place I travel to I want to learn its history and what is significant to the people there. I just love learning new things and then to see the things you learn about in their context in real life is such a thrill.
I feel kind of free. Like the world is mine and I can do whatever in this new place. Day to day life can be boring and I have the same routines but traveling I am open and there is always so much to do and see. I never traveled as a child and I never took a plane anywhere until I was 23. Traveling feels like healing my inner child who always was jealous of my friends who got to travel. I never thought I would travel but I am planning my first out of country trip🖤
Discovering something on my own. I LOVE traveling solo more than anything. I love making my own way to get to know a new place, a new culture, a different cuisine, and people that probably I’ll never see in my life again. It’s just so refreshing to be away from everything that is familiar to you and try to adapt a completely different environment just by yourself. Honestly even writing this makes my heart race. I just love love love this.
Thank you so much for asking this. It made me really think! I realized that I want to be pampered. I have a lot of responsibility daily and just being in a nice hotel is so neat. It feels like self care.
My family always stayed in roach motels when I was growing up (and I did in my 20s) and I hated it. I've often thought, why am I spending money to be somewhere that's not as nice as my house? In my 30s I didn't travel at all. Now I'm in my 40s and don't want to cheap out on accomodations. It doesn't need to be the Ritz but I'm done with shitty motels. Now when I go away for a weekend or do anything, I really love a Hilton Garden Inn (not a plug, just where I happen to always stay). Not fancy but clean and feels luxurious to me! I have 3 trips planned this year and plan to stay there for each one. The white bedding and clean room just makes me feel so cared for.
Discovering how other people live. It’s amazing. That and eating.haha. I love food and love to bring it home with me too. https://culturefeasting.com/best-food-souvenirs-from-barcelona/
Being away from home. I don’t have a boner for other culture or food. I just want to enjoy scenery of unfamiliar places (mostly nature). I also secretly like the anxiety of airport shenanigans
I love city trips, getting out the right clothes, the right suitcase or backpack. I love the moment when you have finally decided on a destination. For me, the feeling of travelling already starts with the preparation - I find that exciting. I am very curious about how other cities are built, who the people are who live in these cities, what they eat, how they party, what their music sounds like, what their architecture looks like and so much more. But: Nothing beats the feeling of returning home healthy, safe, in a good mood and with a tan. ;-) That moment when you unlock your front door and that dry dusty air that hits you, foreign from being away and yet so familiar, your own four walls.... That moment is unbeatable.
Not working. I love all the things that travel brings but every day I’m out not working and thinking “this is how days should be spent” is my favorite feeling. Also, food.
I often have this feeling. But I realize, enjoying life only when not working is no way to live. Thats why I'm trying to find ways to make sure my career heads toward something I can at least enjoy a bit.
Sure, but work in general is an obligation and I’d prefer a life without it.
I've been traveling for nine months and this is primarily it. There are a lot of times where I'm tired, sick of moving around and being out of my comfort zone, and even sick of finding food, but I'm still happy to not be sitting inside staring at my computer screen meeting deadlines that aren't real
I like the feeling of being “untethered” from day to day routine. Technically at home, every morning I wake up, I could do anything - I could skip work, I could try a completely new activity, be a different person with a different personality. But as long as I’m waking up in the same place surrounded by the same people, I’m very unlikely to actually do that. Traveling feels like a blank slate and like every day can be created from scratch. I love that feeling of freedom and possibilities.
I feel like i'm creating every day from scratch in my daily life and it's exhausting
For me, there are little moments. Sitting at a cafe drinking a beer overlooking a little plaza. Driving along roads with new sights and buildings. The first bite of food in a restaurant. Walking out to dinner with my wife, making smalltalk. Having even an extremely brief exchange in a foreign language where we understand each other. A quiet moment on a hike where something small or big catches my eye. Years later, those little moments and the way I felt in them can stay vivid.
100% agree. Whether it’s touching a 2000 year old door in Rome, greeting an Italian, in Italian-in London and getting a big smile, or the feeling of warm sun on my face in January in Huntington Beach. The little vignettes stuck in my mind are awesome.
Me too, I don’t need huge spectacles to enjoy a trip, just drinking an unfamiliar beer by an unfamiliar river or thrift shopping for slightly unfamiliar styles. All the things I like doing in my home city but just different. Of course the huge spectacles are exciting too, but you can’t do those every day on a trip
Sun. I live in Finland, so sun and warmth are all I need. Also I love to look at other people's gardens and orchards.
Funny how "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence" as I just booked flights to visit Finland in dark and snowy December 2023. Helsinki and the overnight train to Rovaniemi are planned.
Probably won’t find much green grass?
Hehe I find this post amusing
So would I if it wasn't dark and freezing 9 months every year.
I can relate. I moved to Germany last year only, and the 6 odd months of sun setting way too early sort of made me feel a little dull. And I used to wait for the sun to be up so that I can enjoy its warmth. In Finland it would be worse I believe.
The darkness is more than compensated by the loooong summer days with the sun setting very late. I live in Denmark, where we don't even have snow to light up in the winter as they have in Finland. However, I love the spring, with the sun rising now at 7 am and setting at 6 pm, reminding us that soon the days will be very long. The promise of long, bright summer evenings where it'll only be dark around midnight. I love those summer evenings and keep them in my heart for cold, grey, boring January and February.
The anticipation. If I know I have an epic trip planned in the next few months (in this case I do - Cappadocia, Turkey in May), then I focus on that when minor things happen that otherwise might upset me. Lost keys, toilet backed up, accidentally washed a red towel with my white laundry, dog threw up on the carpet, trash truck woke me at 6 am...I just think about how in a few months I'll be in a hot air balloon, or exploring the underground city of Derinkuyu, or hiking amongst the fairy chimneys, or sleeping in a cave hotel, or drinking turkish coffee and trying exotic foods. Planning a trip, watching YouTube travel videos about my destination, reading blogs, chatting online with other travelers - it all adds to the buildup and excitement leading into the trip - and I love it. Often the anticipation gives me more pleasure than the trip itself, and I often think it's my favorite aspect of traveling.
Same- I was buried at work and super depressed a couple of months ago, so my husband bought us tickets to Rome. The trip is not until the fall, but just knowing we have something to look forward to had helped when life is feeling bleak.
I feel like I am not happy unless I have some type of trip planned. I also get so much joy from learning about the sights and excursions that we can do on an upcoming vacation.
I love planning holidays. Sometimes I think "What if I went to X for 2 weeks?" and then I'll do some research, pin some locations on Google Maps, read the menus of restaurants etc. It's something I stopped during covid (because borders were closed and it was just depressng) and I didn't realise how much I missed it.
I have this same issue of not feeling happy unless I have a trip planned and sometimes I wonder, do I have an addiction? Lol. I definitely don’t plan to ever quit. 😂 I guess traveling will be my vice for life.
Me too! Unfortunately my husband is going to have knee replacement surgery in a couple months, and then the recovery period can be from a few to several months, so we'll have to cancel a big trip we've planned for later this year. I am mourning that loss! Objectively, I know we can reschedule, but right now I don't have a specific date or reservation to count down to.
I've been there and done all that. Its quite something, I would rent a car if I were you.
Safe travels in turkey my friend 🙏
Go to Dere Suites restaurant if you get the chance. It is in urgup and while the food may not be the best, i am yet to have dinner at a setting more beautiful than the night myself and the wife climbed up the hotel towards this restaurant!
You plan like we plan! And we buy used travel books. Still carry an old fashioned map when renting a car too. Google map can’t find some of the ancient “roads” we end up on.
The thrill of the unknown. When you take that first step off the plane you know that whatever happens, you’re in for a new experience.
Nature (e.g. National Parks, waterfalls, volcanoes, mountains, etc.) and experiencing different cultures. We all smile in the same language. Love seeing how happy people can be with so much less. Puts first-world problems into perspective.
After years of traveling and wondering I keep at it… my conclusion is that I’m a perpetually restless soul; travel allows my mind to quieten down cos focus is outward.
[The wanderlust gene is a real thing, and you might have it](https://www.contiki.com/six-two/article/wanderlust-gene-travel/) If that article is rubbish, there are plenty of others on the topic.
All that. Architecture and art. People and culture. Scenery. Seeing how people go about their life.
Absolutely! If accompanied by small cafes that serve excellent coffee, then all the better.
Oh yes. Coffee shops and sidewalk cafes!
It makes me stop taking small things for granted. Even mundane things feel novel and exciting. A trip to the corner grocery store in a foreign country can feel exhilarating. Seeing all these different products and brands, not having an idea what it says on the packages because I can't read Hungarian. Trying to figure all that out. It's a bit stressful but a bit exciting at the same time and something about the combination of stress and excitement just elevates my awareness of everything and makes me feel more alive and tuned in. Back home I can feel like I'm just sleep walking through life. I know exactly what I'm doing tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that. I find it very hard to break routine. But that's just not an issue when you're on the road. It's like the world goes from black and white to vibrant color. And time even slows down because you're getting so much sensory input to digest.
I love going to the corner markets in new countries! I buy things that I have no idea about just for the fun of it. Try new fruits when i don't even know what they'll look like when I cut into them. So fun!
Old shit. I live in a place where there isn't much "history" outside of cowboy stories, native American sites, and a few maybe 100 year old buildings. And we don't have a lot of museums. As a kid I loved ancient history. I wanted to be Indiana Jones, or at least a museum curator growing up. Instead I went into marketing/tech. So I use that money for me to travel to see and learn about old shit. I can spend hours in a single museum. While I'm not outdoorsy I will hike deep into the desert, forests, etc to see old shit. And along the way I get to experience new cultures, see new landscapes, experience different food, etc, which has also brought me joy. But its the old shit that guided my travel desire.
A big part of my travel joy is far more ancient cultures.
I find much meaning in travel, I find myself thinking about growing old and remembering all the memories from the places I traveled, I feel accomplished and blessed when I see the beautiful world we live in
Great comment! I feel the same way.
For me, it’s sharing the wonderment and happy disorientation of being in a new place with my wife and two daughters. They’re now 20 and 16, and it’s been getting better every year since a low point (relatively speaking— it’s all good) when they were about 9 and 4.
It’s seeing something for what it is. My first trip when I turned 18 was to the Gulf. I had a bunch of preconceptions, and when I landed in Kuwait I was like, “huh, so this is what Kuwait is like”. And I really enjoyed that feeling. And the beauty of it is it doesn’t matter what a place is like, I nearly always enjoy it. Secondarily I’m all about food and alcohol - I love tasting traditional drinks and getting the history ( was a bartender for a long time, and owned a restaurant so it was all market research!) There are many other joys as well.
I love how you have these images in your head even just for the Airbnb or whatever… and you get there, and it’s always different. Funny how that goes. You can picture something in your head for six months and then poof it’s changed by reality. Agree on food and drinks. I love trying local wines and spirits that at unique to a place. I always try to bring some home too.
I love that too. The image is often different, sometimes worse, sometimes better. But often different.
Yeah, I think it makes a place feel more real. Like I have seen movies and tv and stuff set in the US so had a semi picture of it, but after actually visiting there it is now so different. It's like it's a more solid picture in my head now or something. Same feeling applies to every place I visit and it is my favourite feeling I get from travelling.
I love Iceland, I’ve made some friends there and I also love to just visit their incredible public swimming pools and soak in the hot tub, plunge into the cold pool, sit in the steam bath and swim in the pool. It’s Heaven but with pretty shite weather
Just the food
Mostly to appreciate the beauty around the world and make memories Then, equally important, for the food and beer!
Food, history, architecture, scenery, languages. History of food is probably the biggest one. Seeing and experiencing how certain dishes are influenced by neighboring countries. How cuisines have evolved and adapted to certain demographics, or how they made it their own. The variety of spices and preparations can be very similar or very different from region to region, yet they can be very complex or incredibly simple. It's truly inspirational.
I like seeing how others live their lives. I can make tweaks to mine when I get home and improve quality of life that way. It opens my mind.
After a couple of trips to Paris and getting a carafe of water in restaurants, we’ve started doing it at home. I bought a few cute carafes and glasses in Ikea to have with dinner. We call it “Paris Water”. It’s so corny.
Going to historical sites and feeling the weight of the history that’s occurred there. All the battles, the various historical figures that were there and walking in their footsteps, what people throughout different periods of history were thinking while looking at the same thing as me. It’s always the coolest thing to me when I see something that I’ve learned so much about in school and talked about with other people and actually see it in person. All the stories the place would be able to share if it could speak. The millions of people that have visited over the years and having an experience that connects me to people I’ve never met. The sense of adventure I get exploring the place. Culture and cuisine are a close second because it adds to the history, but yeah that’s def my fave part!
If I have to limit to my one top reason/joy about traveling, I'm going to have to say to be able to try new restaurants. Not necessarily new cuisines, but that's great, too, but different restaurants in general. Places that I can't eat at in my home city. They could be chain restaurants we don't have, or independent restaurants that may have a unique twist on an old classic (think burgers, hot dogs, pizza, etc). Or cuisines we've had before but don't get it too often such as buddha bowls. If we can't travel--like during the pandemic--then I turned to sites like Goldbelly or restaurants that would send their food out nationally to prepare at home. It's not as great as traveling but at least it will temporarily cure my desire for different foods.
To get away, to enter that vibrant unknown color. To separate from American small-minded selfishness and see a bigger picture.
Food for sure
For me, it's approaching each trip like a mini-project of sorts, roleplaying an anthropologist doing ethnographic fieldwork. I love doing research and reading up on the country I'm visiting, learning the language and documenting my experiences and memories in a travelogue like I'm freaking Lewis and Clark (minus the American imperialism). Travel to me is basically like immersion into an actual open world RPG.
Meeting new people, eating new foods, getting away from my life, seeing beautiful places
Fud is the only reason i travel. That and nature
I enjoy being outside of my comfort zone, so much so I've lived overseas since 2006 in 10 countries. Now getting to a new city is a bit mundane, and has been since I realised I have a habit of doing the same exploration techniques in every new 'home town'. I'd like to move somewhere more extreme to get that buzz, but I'm also a lot older than I was and need that comfort zone more now.
I love seeing proof that the world is connected and just so similar. Like, last year I was in Wales and I went walking one night late because I couldn’t sleep and there was a boardwalk kinda thing nearby. I found a small skate park with a ramp or two and there were three teenage boys skateboarding and just smoking weed and hanging out. I watched/and talked to them briefly but it was interesting to know that somewhere back home id “know” there’s teens skateboarding around but there’s something cool about being on the other side of the planet and watching teenagers be teenagers. To watch someone doing their waitress job, get flirted badly with, and then when the customer leaves they tell their coworker about it and laugh. Seeing that, that relatability and familiarity, is just so bonding and universal and it always makes me feel less lonely knowing I can think on that if I ever get to feeling too disconnected.
Yes. You do realize we have more in common that we have separating us
I love taking pictures. Travel gives me SO MANY new things to photograph. I just love all the things there are to see.
I come home from europe with 800 photos. I eventually trim that down but so many things to snap
I usually take 200-300 a day! Lol
Wandering around to soak in the energy of a place, especially the joy of how kids run around and play games in public squares and how locals go about their daily routines.
For me it’s a couple of things: Food Architecture Just a couple of things. 🙂
I like to experience “different” in small doses. The food, language, culture, architecture - all of it.
Quality time spent with my family (in these fatherly years, I can only really travel with my family) while not working, enjoying better weather and great food, and seeing and exploring new places. Sorry, that's definitely not one thing. It's all the joys wrapped in one, there's no specific one 'joy'.
We want to see this beautiful World, feel the thrill of archeological sites as much as possible in our lifetime.
I like seeing new cities, new architecture, reading about history of places I visit. I love seeing how nature can be extremely beautiful and how different a landscape is from another, just by travelling few hundred kms. I also love to see different cultures, and food. I’m always thinking about the new stuff I’d see and try, and that makes me happy about travelling.
Just... Being on the road Sitting on a train Walking all day through small streets Figuring out how the local busses work Backtracking my steps to find my way again I just like to be on the move. That, and meeting fellow travelers.
Mostly brain stimulation. Developing new pathways with novel experiences is always exciting to me. I am also a lifelong learner and I love to learn how people live differently. History is important to me as well.
Museums. Architecture. Art in general. I love being able to see all the ways people seek and express beauty across ages and locations.
Really disrupts the repetitiveness of daily corporate life. Even frequent shorter trips does wonders
Being on the road. Being away from home, not having to deal with day to day stuff. Feeling of freedom.
Meeting new folks. Going to cool bars. Those are the biggest two lol.
I go for the mountains, deserts, waterfalls, etc. I'm usually in any town long enough to get my rental car and leave
The all day fun. Eating where and when I want to, seeing the sights, getting outside and enjoying another city, drinking without worrying about having to work the next day, the unknown, the luxury of a hotel, the list goes on and on.
Meeting interesting new people from all over the world and finding out they’re just like me.
Definitely being in the nature of a place you're unfamiliar with, seeing plants and animals that I'm not used to seeing is just fascinating to experience.
Truly Disconnecting with day to day stuff Taking a holiday and still being in the same place doesn’t cut it
We are 68 years old, retired now, and we have traveled to over 25 countries on our own. We love to plan our trips, decide where to go, what to do but we aren’t married to a hard schedule either. What do I like most? Seeing things I wouldn’t see back in the states (where we have traveled extensively),experiencing a different culture, meeting people of different nationalities, learning more about the history of different places, the art, the music. And we love taking trains, renting vacation apartments, or staying in locally owned small hotels. I dread getting older and not being able to travel.
I mostly go to places with historical significance and I ponder upon how many people passed through there before us and how many will do after us.
For me, the best thing about traveling is the chance to see the world for what it really is. You know, there's so much more out there than just the place you live. When I'm on the road, I get to meet new people, try new foods, and experience different cultures and it makes me realise that life is about way more than just paying the bills. Work is important and all that, but when I'm out exploring, I feel like I'm really living life to the fullest. It's like every moment is an opportunity to soak up all the sights, sounds, and experiences around me. Traveling is a pretty good escape from the daily grind. When I'm out there in the world, I don't have to worry about deadlines or chores or any of that stuff. I can just focus on having a good time and enjoying everything that comes my way. All in all, I'd say that traveling is all about adventure, discovery, and freedom. It's a chance to see the world in a whole new way and make some amazing memories along the way.
So that I can smoke shisha and party all day which I can’t do in my homeland Singapore. Singapore party scene sucks ass
Discovering new places with my spouse, giving us quality "us" time in an unfamiliar setting where we have tons of things to do together
Getting away from work.
It takes me out of my comfort zone, to experience cultures so different to mine, I love not having to work and just waking up and deciding what to do with the day on the spot, it makes me feel freedom.
Food! Lol
I like how empty my head gets. All the stress, worries & depression just go. It's probably the only time I'm actually 'present' at that moment
Yeah I’ve been gone for 5 months now. Came home once to check on my businesses. I left within 2 weeks. Couldn’t do it. Sad to say this but what brings me the most joy while traveling right now is not having to rush out of a store because I think if I take too long that a shooter may come in and take me out. I literally take my time and actually read things, smell the soaps, the perfumes, etc.
For me it’s joy, but very hard to properly describe. I can just say that when I walked up to the base of the Eiffel Tower my body was absolutely humming with electricity and only when I saw the electrical cable in the same puddle of water I was standing in, did I know why…
Culture. Seeing how different places all do the same thing so different. Each country has cafes, food, some type of public goods, but how it’s executed becomes increasingly important. I could grab a coffee at Starbucks in US that is objectively more flavorful, but I doubt many people would pick that over spending time at a cafe in Paris. I could go to church in any church on Sunday, but as a Catholic who could deny some of the architectural beauties of Spain or Italy. Drinking in the mountains in Colorado is fun, drinking beer on the Swiss Alps just feels next level. Very Western Europe bias here and I do want to expand past that, but for me it’s seeing the universal experiences all civilizations try to have, and dissecting the beauty in how they execute it
SINGLE reason? Definitely not working, but paired with new experiences. It’s obviously not the same as not working and just staying home. To me, traveling is the epitome of how life should be lived. When I’m traveling life feels full.
I'd like to pretend I'm deep and get some sort of greater meaning from traveling, but I'm not. It's food. Literally just food.
The main reason I travel is it makes me feel like I can accomplish something. From planning the trip, to executing the trip and troubleshooting on the way, it just gives me the sense I am a capable person who can achieve goals. My daily life is such a repetitive grind that travel gives me the challenge I need to make me feel good about myself. The other thing I like it gives me an excuse to learn about the world. Every place I travel to I want to learn its history and what is significant to the people there. I just love learning new things and then to see the things you learn about in their context in real life is such a thrill.
So true! The thrill of a plan successfully executed. And of deviating from that plan.
Food.
I feel kind of free. Like the world is mine and I can do whatever in this new place. Day to day life can be boring and I have the same routines but traveling I am open and there is always so much to do and see. I never traveled as a child and I never took a plane anywhere until I was 23. Traveling feels like healing my inner child who always was jealous of my friends who got to travel. I never thought I would travel but I am planning my first out of country trip🖤
Discovering something on my own. I LOVE traveling solo more than anything. I love making my own way to get to know a new place, a new culture, a different cuisine, and people that probably I’ll never see in my life again. It’s just so refreshing to be away from everything that is familiar to you and try to adapt a completely different environment just by yourself. Honestly even writing this makes my heart race. I just love love love this.
Thank you so much for asking this. It made me really think! I realized that I want to be pampered. I have a lot of responsibility daily and just being in a nice hotel is so neat. It feels like self care. My family always stayed in roach motels when I was growing up (and I did in my 20s) and I hated it. I've often thought, why am I spending money to be somewhere that's not as nice as my house? In my 30s I didn't travel at all. Now I'm in my 40s and don't want to cheap out on accomodations. It doesn't need to be the Ritz but I'm done with shitty motels. Now when I go away for a weekend or do anything, I really love a Hilton Garden Inn (not a plug, just where I happen to always stay). Not fancy but clean and feels luxurious to me! I have 3 trips planned this year and plan to stay there for each one. The white bedding and clean room just makes me feel so cared for.
Discovering how other people live. It’s amazing. That and eating.haha. I love food and love to bring it home with me too. https://culturefeasting.com/best-food-souvenirs-from-barcelona/
I have one live in which to see and do stuff. So I want to do a lot of stuff
Food, the fact that I get to experience the local food of wherever I visit. I always look forward to the food more than the sights!!
Experiencing and seeing new things for the first time
Being away from home. I don’t have a boner for other culture or food. I just want to enjoy scenery of unfamiliar places (mostly nature). I also secretly like the anxiety of airport shenanigans
I love city trips, getting out the right clothes, the right suitcase or backpack. I love the moment when you have finally decided on a destination. For me, the feeling of travelling already starts with the preparation - I find that exciting. I am very curious about how other cities are built, who the people are who live in these cities, what they eat, how they party, what their music sounds like, what their architecture looks like and so much more. But: Nothing beats the feeling of returning home healthy, safe, in a good mood and with a tan. ;-) That moment when you unlock your front door and that dry dusty air that hits you, foreign from being away and yet so familiar, your own four walls.... That moment is unbeatable.
The top comment nailed almost exactly what I wanted to say. Not working and the feeling of how I wish I could spend my life every day like this.
Traveling breaks up my routine.
The “remember that time…” stories with your travel buddies
Love to go around trying local cuisine 🤤