Why do we travel? I have asked that question of fellow travelers and myself and I’ve concluded that the answers are as diverse as the people who travel. My friend, Gerhardt, is a planner. He spends hours on the Internet researching where to go, what to see, and how to get there. For him, travel is a “challenge.” He asks, “Can I achieve my plan?” Another travel companion, Marleen, enjoys collecting destinations. She’ll go anywhere and gain satisfaction by adding to her list of “destinations visited.” Alicia is the perennial student and Mike is the master photographer. These are only a few examples supporting the reasons why people travel and I’m interested to know yours.
“The Case Against Travel” in The New Yorker magazine, June 24, 2023, provoked my thinking on the subject when the author, Agnes Callard, defines a traveler as one who visits a place “for the purpose of experiencing a change.” Having recently returned from an adventurous trip to Cameroon and Gabon, am I “changed”? Arguably, yes, and in many ways. The night spent observing (and to a limited extent participating in) Bwiti rituals was a privilege that I shall long remember. I didn’t consume enough of the iboga root to hallucinate but I have no doubt others did and they were transformed by their experience. Animalist and modern religious beliefs coexisted before my eyes in that ceremony and in a way I never imagined. During the same trip, we visited a family of lowland gorillas and marveled at the apparent intelligence they displayed. Then, of course, we remember the forest bull elephant that evening on the beach at Gabon’s Loango National Park which was as curious about us as we were about him.
Am I “changed”? In many ways, yes. Maybe most of all because I traveled with three others. We started as strangers but quickly gelled into a cohesive cadre of friends on a mission to see and do all we could. We are already planning our next adventure and look forward to sharing more “changes” in the years ahead.
The New Yorker article argues “Travel is a boomerang. It drops you right where you started.” To me, this argument is disingenuous. At the end of the trip, we return home. What do you expect? But the observation does remind me of a conversation I had with my mother (a non-traveler) when I declared, “The best part of travel is coming home.” She responded, “Then, stay home.” In her way of thinking, this would save money for more durable pursuits (like painting the house) and would be a whole lot safer. I tried to explain to her that the joy of coming home could only be fully realized because travel filled me with gratitude for my many blessings. Observing the lives of others reminds me to celebrate all that I have and make the most of every day.
Why do we travel? There are many reasons and I invite you to share your motivations on the TCC WhatsApp or email me at the end of this message. While travel is certainly not for everyone, the cynical article in The New Yorker fails to value the memories created by travel. Someday, I won’t be able to power walk from one terminal to the next or wade through mangroves to track the lowland gorilla; but I will savor my memories. I will thumb through photos, pick up the phone and call travel companions who have enriched my life.
I’m not sure who wrote this quote but I’ll conclude with the following message: “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”
