Do you want to travel? Top 20 reasons why travellers take to the world's roads
We agree, you still need a little motivation to undertake a great journey. Here is an anthology of all the reasons I have heard, and it is not exhaustive.
1 -To see the country, how beautiful and big the world is
There, nothing to say, it’s true, the world is beautiful and it’s worth going to see it up close, other than through a TV screen (even plasma).
2 – It was on my list
They saw and reviewed the publications on the theme: 100 places to see, things to do before dying. Yes, there are travelers who make a list of everything they want to see. It’s not always in the form of a To-Do-List with little checkboxes, it can be a colorful thumbtack card, an informed website, a powered blog or an animated Facebook.
3 – In 10 years, there won’t be any more of them
(penguins, maasai, trees, orangutans). It’s an idea that defends my faith, but still, there’s something really sad about that sentence.
4 – I will have things to tell
To my kids when I get some, to my buddies when I get home…
Yes, of course, on the condition that you do something else with your trip than just being a selfie. A little advice, by the way, if that’s really the point, keep a journal, a real one, made of paper. Who knows what will become of your digital data? And be careful, by dint of publishing on FB or Insta, you won’t really have anything to talk about when you get home, everyone will already know!
5 – So that you don’t have to be in the army
Let’s not forget that in many countries, including Belgium, Austria, etc., it is still compulsory to take a short walk at the national barracks.
6 – For photos and selfies
That is a very honest and clear answer. Let’s get to work.
7 – Becoming popular on FB, in my village, in the family
It’s an idea. Some even succeed.
8 – Going all the way, taking up challenges
You don’t have to go to the end of the world to reach the end of yourself, it’s obvious, but if you can also enjoy the landscape, why deprive yourself of it?
9 – Learning English, arabic, chinese
Or Spanish, Russian, (much less candidates for bahasa Indonesia, Persian or Uzbek).
Clearly, a sentence that should make you think about our good old school system. National Education, get up! Your children still have to go abroad for a year or more to learn foreign languages!
10 – For a good cause, to help and support other ones
Saving elephants, building a school, helping the handicapped, the list goes on and on. I applaud with both hands, I’ve come across many just causes on my way: by bike, on foot, on report, by hitchhiking. Combining business with pleasure, with a little (or full) financial support from investors, this is what appeals to the most intrepid travellers. If the cause is just and that it is really for others and not to go on an all-expenses-paid trip, then high spirits!
11 – Take the time to think about what I want to do with my freshly graduated degree
This time of distance, has a name, it’s famous gap is mainly aimed at students at the end of the university cycle, but not only.
Yes, yes and re-yes, it’s a great idea. I thought for a long time that everyone should do this, especially young people. I’m a little more moderate now. In this age of ultra-connection, things have changed a bit. This year of distance was to be dedicated to be face to face with ourselves, to fend for ourselves, to dig, to have time to think, to be inspired … everything that would teach us a little about ourselves poor lost souls. But this concept is less and less relevant.
When you can chat with your loved ones and relatives every night with the video as a bonus, are we really talking about cutting the apron string, rubbing up against life and all that?
12 – For me! Me, me and me
And that means? Rediscovering ourselves, taking distance, taking time to think about what moves us, shaking off the chips. The great journey is conducive to questioning.
13 – To meet new people, meet the world
Men, women, children, travelers, gurus, expats. All those who are or are not like us and who open the doors to another way of living, eating, believing and thinking. Travel is above all a time for exchange, contact and encounters.
14 – Afterwards, when I have a family, I won’t be able to (have fun, travel…)
They firmly believe that you cannot travel when you have a family.Being responsible for your offspring certainly takes time and resources, but even then there is a margin for believing that you will rush life in a never-ending subway-work-sleep life, tied up hands and feet, there is a margin. I have sometimes responded to this sentence, when given the opportunity, by saying: “Do you want adventure ? Have children !”.I have sometimes responded to this sentence, when given the opportunity, with the words: “You want adventure? Make children”.