In a way I guess I've unwittingly convinced some to travel by having a house in Mexico, and at one time, on Maui. This simply brought people out in droves. Perhaps they would have traveled there on their own, but that may have accelerated the process. On another note, I think cruise ships have become more and more popular b/c deep down, there's probably a good amount of people who do dislike the idea of travel. For the life of me, I can't figure out why. Perhaps they just have a low curiosity quotient. But when I talk to friends and they say they're going on a cruise, some mention how much easier it will be to stay put (suitcases et al) and not have to negotiate train stations, buses or rental cars. But to me, the unknown is part of the reason i Love to travel. Meeting that cabbie with a great sense of humor, or the bookshop owner who gives directions and goes into a short history of the neighborhood, or the guide who takes you to a spot you never requested but said you must see, or watching people stroll at dusk around a foreign town square in the summer, or eating the best street food in the world while leaning against a wall on a teeming street, or watching a glorious sunset from a tropical beach with no one else around, or the sounds of a melancholic saxophone echoing in the tunnels of a Metro station, etc etc.
All this is great! That first part is interesting and not something I’ve thought of but that was similar for us when we lived in Colorado and Tennessee pulling friends and family to visit in ways they might not have.
Yeah cruise ships are interesting. I’m not particularly drawn to them but I’m working on a post that will explore all the methods and modes of transportation humans travel and how that shapes our ideas about travel.
And totally, it’s all about the unknown for me as well. Really enjoyed your thoughts Jeanine! Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
I've always loved to travel. I travel full time now. It all started on a sailing trip 24 years ago. A guy came into the bar where I was working and said he had a sailboat that he sailed for 6 or 8 weeks in the Bahamas every spring. Anyone could fly in, sail for a week or so, and fly home. I was all over it. I flew in, sailed for a week and got convinced to help sail the boat back to Charleston, extending my trip another week. I was so seasick crossing the Gulf Stream but it was the most amazing thing I had done in my life. I decided I wanted to live on a boat. Then I met a guy who I'd marry. I told him I was going to live on a boat. He was all in. I'm not sure if I would have followed through without the encouragement, a partner. We have been nomadic for almost 13 years, currently living out of backpacks in South America.
Traveling is hard. I've done it despite anxieties. So I understand people being anxious. I think people don't travel because they don't know how or don't have the skills to organize places to stay or how to get there. This is why I think organized tours and cruise ships are so popular. Or just traveling with a friend - it is easier if you have some to share all the burdens and organization of travel and the rewards.
That is wonderful! I’m envious. A lot of great insights in that last part too and no doubt backed by all your adventures. Greatly enjoyed your thoughts here Duwan. Thank you for sharing!
Love this article. You asked about if someone was influenced by my travels. I would say so. Many years ago when I was an international student in Australia, I had a change of roommates midway through the semester. We became good friends. At the end of the semester, she told me she had the opportunity to go to the US on a 4 month school semester. I told her that she could NOT pass on this opportunity to travel and grow even though she would be away from her family. She did go to the US and now, almost 40 years later, she now lives in Texas with her husband and children. I know not everyone will fall in love abroad or enjoy the experience, but if you do not grasp opportunities to travel and see the world, you will always wonder what could have been. In her case, it was perfect! To this day, I am a huge promoter for study abroad, at any age.
Thank you very much! That's a wonderful story and I think illustrates one of the more important reasons to travel: we open the door of possibilities on our lives. My wife and I met on an archaeology field school years ago and we always talk about how she was incredibly close to not going because she wanted to attend a different one in California instead of this one in Wyoming. There are so many interesting contingencies like that in our lives that hinge on peoples' decisions to take a chance opportunity like travel. Such a fascinating topic. Thanks for sharing your story and thoughts!
This is very much on my mind right now, as I try to reconcile my own travel urges with my husband’s homebody preferences. I was initially made a traveler by force at the age of three, and by age 12 was a reluctant traveler at best. At 25 my internal travel bug was reawakened. Now, at 64 and planning to retire abroad in a couple of years, I tend to start planning the next trip as soon as I unpack from the previous journey. We expect to be “slomads” initially, spending 3-6 months in each place we visit. I’m a little concerned that my husband won’t adapt well, given his preference for home; and as we age, I worry that we both won’t have the stamina for travel. But the only way is to keep going until we can’t!
I love the positive attitude. I think it will be many years until my wife and I can experience the "slomad" (first time coming across the term and I like it) lifestyle but I really looked forward to it. I hope you both find the "slomad" rhythm that works for you both. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Arenosa! Cheers!
I do connect with this article. As a slow travel lover, I seek off-the-beaten-path communities. I often ponder the same questions you raise. I often face a choice: to wander or stay put. I tend to choose adventure over comfort. I love finding awe through slow travel and long hikes in nature. I enjoy pushing my limits. It's fulfilling to expand our comfort zone with a genuine curiosity about the world. There's so much to share and inspire.
I hope your message plants the seed for others to consider. Thank you for such a thoughtful piece. It’s always refreshing to see these topics discussed with such detail.
It's interesting because I am by nature a fairly cautious person, and most definitely not a risk taker, and also quite introverted. But I love to travel, even though it carries all the inherent risks (big and small) that come with leaving my comfort zone. I never left North America until I was an adult, and my first trip to Europe, under the wing of a more well-traveled friend, was definitely was a bit shaky at first. But it gave me the travel bug and inspired me to travel solo on a much larger trip a few years later, and I've continued to travel ever since as circumstances and finances allow. But I can imagine that if some people never have that initial opportunity to travel when they are younger the interest might never arise for them.
Looking objectively, I think that's why these days I'm a bit more of a planner than other travelers -- I research a lot, and plan a lot, to reduce the chances of things going horribly wrong. So far, that's worked for me. I leave room for serendipity and flexibility, of course, but I guess my point is that the fear of the unknown can be reduced a bit, depending on how you travel.
Something else I've mulled is a potential connection between being a ravenous reader and having a desire to travel. I find that a lot of the stuff I read as a young person -- fiction and non-fiction, magazines, books, newspapers, advertising, catalogues, whatever I could find -- opened my eyes to how big and varied the world is. Some writers (and photographers) are so good at making places seem alluring that it creates a seed of an idea in a reader's mind that, maybe, perhaps, one day, they could go and see that place too. So maybe the connection is curiosity. Both frequent travelers and heavy readers tend to be curious about the world.
A lot of great commentary. I think you are absolutely right about a lot of initial inspiration for travel being rooted in having other people in your life, especially while young, to encourage you to travel a long with books and other mediums in the culture to inspire you and embed visions of other places in a nascent mind. I had both of those as well and have heard similar stories from many other people that confirm this. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts here Gary! Cheers!
Sometimes I start as an armchair traveler……especially looking at YouTube videos or National Geographic films. Get some inspiration going. On the other hand, I do like being home and coming back home after a time away.
This is a question I have pondered repeatedly. What is it that makes some people adventurous and others homebodies? One theory I have is that those who lack self esteem are afraid to travel outside the cocoon they have woven. They may fear subconsciously that the cocoon is not as nice as they thought. So better to stay inside than risk the destruction of the world they have built. Because what if they find the outside world to be better than the one they have built? Much easier to stay at home. Those of us with open and objective minds who have the strength to withstand the truth are the travelers.
We often don't know if or when we influence people to travel. One of my articles, simply a story of an adventure while my family was on the road, influenced another family to do the same. I wouldn't have known, except they wrote me a personal note, thanking me for writing about the place, it inspired them to do the same and had the adventure of a lifetime. Now, they might have been travelers, but I felt up until that point, they traveled the safe way, staying in resorts, planning ahead, and my story changed their way to go about travel, as more of an adventure of discovery, an opportunity to meet new people.
On the other hand, I know that some people are afraid of travel or genuinely have no desire to travel. It may be a gene, or upbringing. My adult kids all love traveling, and travel every opportunity they get, but they grew up with us taking them everywhere from an early age, with rarely a fully planned itinerary. I used to take them out of school for trips, telling their teachers that we consider it an educational trip, and they would write an essay about the trip, focusing on what they learned that relates to the class. That also gave them an incentive to look for things during our trips that relates to what they were learning in school.
But many of my friends are afraid to travel. At least to certain places. It was the case with Mexico for example. When we used to tell friends we went to Mexico, they were telling me how dangerous Mexico was, and they would never go. I didn't try to convince them, just told them we never had any of the experiences they are afraid of, and traveled through the country many times, with and without kids. Eventually they did go and had a great time. It wasn't right away, but they seemed to have lost the fear.
So, I think we might influence people without trying. And often without knowing. But I also think that some people just don't like to travel. They love to watch others travel, they love to read travel and adventure stories, but they love being at home, and these stories take them to faraway places without them leaving their comfort. And that is also wonderful, too. They may learn about new places through our writing and enjoy it through us.
Very well said! I love this. I think I’ve come to similar conclusions. I think modeling the behavior you want to see more of in the world is the best one can do to influencing others. Not only talking but walking the walk or like the popular quote from Gandhi being the change you want to see in the world. I think it comes down to values as well and instilling that in your children as much as you can. We are likewise doing that with our son, taking him in plenty of trips and I cannot wait until we can begin some backpacking excursions when he is old enough. I’ve also seen that change in some people too once they’ve seen a friend or two visit someplace unfamiliar they tend to be more amenable to visiting themselves so it seems there are an adventurous few that need to lead the way and show people what can be done and that may be the key to alleviating people’s initial fears of travel. Thank you for the stimulating thoughts! Cheers!
"Nevertheless, I still believe strongly that the benefits of wandering far outweigh the concerns. Yet the method remains somewhat elusive to me." Love a newsletter that doesn't have the pretense of providing a straightforward answer, method, or prescription to a difficult question. Such an interesting question/topic!
We’ve found that most people we know don’t travel because they haven’t included regular travel into their time or money budgets. Since we travel quite a bit, others have noticed that it is possible, if you make it a priority in your life. And have followed suit.
Strongly agree. When I was doing research for my book I came across some interesting sources on time-use studies and how people invest money and that same thing occurred to me and that ultimately so much boils down to whether we value travel and demonstrate it by investing in it the way we do with things like 401ks, healthcare, and education funds for our children.
Great article! Thank you for the thought provoking questions as well as your thoughts! I have directly influenced two people that I know of to travel full-time and they told me afterwards, once they were "on the road". One is a very close friend and the other has become a very close friend since she embarked on her adventure (which is going on 3 years now!). They call me their cheerleader and I feel that way but these people already showed interest. I think if someone is just not interested at all, it won't happen regardless of what we do. I think fear is #1 for people who don't travel. Actually I know it is, because they tell me. And from what I hear, 99% of their fears are unfounded. :( But fear keeps a lot of people complacent and stuck, so it's really no wonder.
That's wonderful to directly influence someone to travel in the way you have. Lately, I've been thinking a lot of how I can be that person for my son, nieces and nephews, and perhaps their friends. I'd love to start public speaking too, but I suspect that our biggest impact on encouraging others to travel is going to be at the local level, being a guide to younger generations, and figuring out how to dispel a lot of the unfounded fears circulating in our society and culture right now. Not an easy task but I believe it's worth trying. Thanks for sharing your story and your commentary Kimberly. Cheers!
I suspect that you will influence them just by showing them it's possible. By doing it yourself, you're setting the stage. And your public speaking goal is great!!! It's absolutely worth trying!!! And few tasks are easy but the rewards outweigh the difficulties IMO.
Love this. I moved abroad about two years ago and find myself evangelizing whenever there’s an opportunity. Last year, a friend had the chance to go to the UK for work, and my travel experiences — and a lot of coaxing — convinced her to add on two extra countries to her trip. Now she’s got the bug to see the world. What a gift.
When I was 12 years old, my sister and brother-in-law moved to Germany. I spent 3 weeks visiting them along with my parents. We went to several locations in Germany as well as Austria, France and Switzerland during the 3 weeks. It was the beginning of my love for experiencing other countries. I can't say that anyone convinced me to travel there. My parents originally planned to leave me home with my grandparents. I had to beg them to allow me to join them. They frequently told me I was behaving so much better than they expected, which I found quite odd. I'm not sure what they thought I might do. The encouragement came from within me.
In a way I guess I've unwittingly convinced some to travel by having a house in Mexico, and at one time, on Maui. This simply brought people out in droves. Perhaps they would have traveled there on their own, but that may have accelerated the process. On another note, I think cruise ships have become more and more popular b/c deep down, there's probably a good amount of people who do dislike the idea of travel. For the life of me, I can't figure out why. Perhaps they just have a low curiosity quotient. But when I talk to friends and they say they're going on a cruise, some mention how much easier it will be to stay put (suitcases et al) and not have to negotiate train stations, buses or rental cars. But to me, the unknown is part of the reason i Love to travel. Meeting that cabbie with a great sense of humor, or the bookshop owner who gives directions and goes into a short history of the neighborhood, or the guide who takes you to a spot you never requested but said you must see, or watching people stroll at dusk around a foreign town square in the summer, or eating the best street food in the world while leaning against a wall on a teeming street, or watching a glorious sunset from a tropical beach with no one else around, or the sounds of a melancholic saxophone echoing in the tunnels of a Metro station, etc etc.
All this is great! That first part is interesting and not something I’ve thought of but that was similar for us when we lived in Colorado and Tennessee pulling friends and family to visit in ways they might not have.
Yeah cruise ships are interesting. I’m not particularly drawn to them but I’m working on a post that will explore all the methods and modes of transportation humans travel and how that shapes our ideas about travel.
And totally, it’s all about the unknown for me as well. Really enjoyed your thoughts Jeanine! Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
And cheers to you Justin! It was a great post!
I've always loved to travel. I travel full time now. It all started on a sailing trip 24 years ago. A guy came into the bar where I was working and said he had a sailboat that he sailed for 6 or 8 weeks in the Bahamas every spring. Anyone could fly in, sail for a week or so, and fly home. I was all over it. I flew in, sailed for a week and got convinced to help sail the boat back to Charleston, extending my trip another week. I was so seasick crossing the Gulf Stream but it was the most amazing thing I had done in my life. I decided I wanted to live on a boat. Then I met a guy who I'd marry. I told him I was going to live on a boat. He was all in. I'm not sure if I would have followed through without the encouragement, a partner. We have been nomadic for almost 13 years, currently living out of backpacks in South America.
Traveling is hard. I've done it despite anxieties. So I understand people being anxious. I think people don't travel because they don't know how or don't have the skills to organize places to stay or how to get there. This is why I think organized tours and cruise ships are so popular. Or just traveling with a friend - it is easier if you have some to share all the burdens and organization of travel and the rewards.
That is wonderful! I’m envious. A lot of great insights in that last part too and no doubt backed by all your adventures. Greatly enjoyed your thoughts here Duwan. Thank you for sharing!
Love this article. You asked about if someone was influenced by my travels. I would say so. Many years ago when I was an international student in Australia, I had a change of roommates midway through the semester. We became good friends. At the end of the semester, she told me she had the opportunity to go to the US on a 4 month school semester. I told her that she could NOT pass on this opportunity to travel and grow even though she would be away from her family. She did go to the US and now, almost 40 years later, she now lives in Texas with her husband and children. I know not everyone will fall in love abroad or enjoy the experience, but if you do not grasp opportunities to travel and see the world, you will always wonder what could have been. In her case, it was perfect! To this day, I am a huge promoter for study abroad, at any age.
Thank you very much! That's a wonderful story and I think illustrates one of the more important reasons to travel: we open the door of possibilities on our lives. My wife and I met on an archaeology field school years ago and we always talk about how she was incredibly close to not going because she wanted to attend a different one in California instead of this one in Wyoming. There are so many interesting contingencies like that in our lives that hinge on peoples' decisions to take a chance opportunity like travel. Such a fascinating topic. Thanks for sharing your story and thoughts!
This is very much on my mind right now, as I try to reconcile my own travel urges with my husband’s homebody preferences. I was initially made a traveler by force at the age of three, and by age 12 was a reluctant traveler at best. At 25 my internal travel bug was reawakened. Now, at 64 and planning to retire abroad in a couple of years, I tend to start planning the next trip as soon as I unpack from the previous journey. We expect to be “slomads” initially, spending 3-6 months in each place we visit. I’m a little concerned that my husband won’t adapt well, given his preference for home; and as we age, I worry that we both won’t have the stamina for travel. But the only way is to keep going until we can’t!
I love the positive attitude. I think it will be many years until my wife and I can experience the "slomad" (first time coming across the term and I like it) lifestyle but I really looked forward to it. I hope you both find the "slomad" rhythm that works for you both. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Arenosa! Cheers!
I do connect with this article. As a slow travel lover, I seek off-the-beaten-path communities. I often ponder the same questions you raise. I often face a choice: to wander or stay put. I tend to choose adventure over comfort. I love finding awe through slow travel and long hikes in nature. I enjoy pushing my limits. It's fulfilling to expand our comfort zone with a genuine curiosity about the world. There's so much to share and inspire.
I hope your message plants the seed for others to consider. Thank you for such a thoughtful piece. It’s always refreshing to see these topics discussed with such detail.
Thank you Alexandra! I wholeheartedly agree. Greatly appreciate your thoughts and the encouraging words. Cheers!
It's interesting because I am by nature a fairly cautious person, and most definitely not a risk taker, and also quite introverted. But I love to travel, even though it carries all the inherent risks (big and small) that come with leaving my comfort zone. I never left North America until I was an adult, and my first trip to Europe, under the wing of a more well-traveled friend, was definitely was a bit shaky at first. But it gave me the travel bug and inspired me to travel solo on a much larger trip a few years later, and I've continued to travel ever since as circumstances and finances allow. But I can imagine that if some people never have that initial opportunity to travel when they are younger the interest might never arise for them.
Looking objectively, I think that's why these days I'm a bit more of a planner than other travelers -- I research a lot, and plan a lot, to reduce the chances of things going horribly wrong. So far, that's worked for me. I leave room for serendipity and flexibility, of course, but I guess my point is that the fear of the unknown can be reduced a bit, depending on how you travel.
Something else I've mulled is a potential connection between being a ravenous reader and having a desire to travel. I find that a lot of the stuff I read as a young person -- fiction and non-fiction, magazines, books, newspapers, advertising, catalogues, whatever I could find -- opened my eyes to how big and varied the world is. Some writers (and photographers) are so good at making places seem alluring that it creates a seed of an idea in a reader's mind that, maybe, perhaps, one day, they could go and see that place too. So maybe the connection is curiosity. Both frequent travelers and heavy readers tend to be curious about the world.
A lot of great commentary. I think you are absolutely right about a lot of initial inspiration for travel being rooted in having other people in your life, especially while young, to encourage you to travel a long with books and other mediums in the culture to inspire you and embed visions of other places in a nascent mind. I had both of those as well and have heard similar stories from many other people that confirm this. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts here Gary! Cheers!
Sometimes I start as an armchair traveler……especially looking at YouTube videos or National Geographic films. Get some inspiration going. On the other hand, I do like being home and coming back home after a time away.
This is a question I have pondered repeatedly. What is it that makes some people adventurous and others homebodies? One theory I have is that those who lack self esteem are afraid to travel outside the cocoon they have woven. They may fear subconsciously that the cocoon is not as nice as they thought. So better to stay inside than risk the destruction of the world they have built. Because what if they find the outside world to be better than the one they have built? Much easier to stay at home. Those of us with open and objective minds who have the strength to withstand the truth are the travelers.
We often don't know if or when we influence people to travel. One of my articles, simply a story of an adventure while my family was on the road, influenced another family to do the same. I wouldn't have known, except they wrote me a personal note, thanking me for writing about the place, it inspired them to do the same and had the adventure of a lifetime. Now, they might have been travelers, but I felt up until that point, they traveled the safe way, staying in resorts, planning ahead, and my story changed their way to go about travel, as more of an adventure of discovery, an opportunity to meet new people.
On the other hand, I know that some people are afraid of travel or genuinely have no desire to travel. It may be a gene, or upbringing. My adult kids all love traveling, and travel every opportunity they get, but they grew up with us taking them everywhere from an early age, with rarely a fully planned itinerary. I used to take them out of school for trips, telling their teachers that we consider it an educational trip, and they would write an essay about the trip, focusing on what they learned that relates to the class. That also gave them an incentive to look for things during our trips that relates to what they were learning in school.
But many of my friends are afraid to travel. At least to certain places. It was the case with Mexico for example. When we used to tell friends we went to Mexico, they were telling me how dangerous Mexico was, and they would never go. I didn't try to convince them, just told them we never had any of the experiences they are afraid of, and traveled through the country many times, with and without kids. Eventually they did go and had a great time. It wasn't right away, but they seemed to have lost the fear.
So, I think we might influence people without trying. And often without knowing. But I also think that some people just don't like to travel. They love to watch others travel, they love to read travel and adventure stories, but they love being at home, and these stories take them to faraway places without them leaving their comfort. And that is also wonderful, too. They may learn about new places through our writing and enjoy it through us.
Very well said! I love this. I think I’ve come to similar conclusions. I think modeling the behavior you want to see more of in the world is the best one can do to influencing others. Not only talking but walking the walk or like the popular quote from Gandhi being the change you want to see in the world. I think it comes down to values as well and instilling that in your children as much as you can. We are likewise doing that with our son, taking him in plenty of trips and I cannot wait until we can begin some backpacking excursions when he is old enough. I’ve also seen that change in some people too once they’ve seen a friend or two visit someplace unfamiliar they tend to be more amenable to visiting themselves so it seems there are an adventurous few that need to lead the way and show people what can be done and that may be the key to alleviating people’s initial fears of travel. Thank you for the stimulating thoughts! Cheers!
Absolutely! You are raising a future traveler, one who will enjoy travel for everything it's worth. :)
Travelling is life-changing. Especially those that are challenging...
"Nevertheless, I still believe strongly that the benefits of wandering far outweigh the concerns. Yet the method remains somewhat elusive to me." Love a newsletter that doesn't have the pretense of providing a straightforward answer, method, or prescription to a difficult question. Such an interesting question/topic!
Thank you Caterina! :)
We’ve found that most people we know don’t travel because they haven’t included regular travel into their time or money budgets. Since we travel quite a bit, others have noticed that it is possible, if you make it a priority in your life. And have followed suit.
Strongly agree. When I was doing research for my book I came across some interesting sources on time-use studies and how people invest money and that same thing occurred to me and that ultimately so much boils down to whether we value travel and demonstrate it by investing in it the way we do with things like 401ks, healthcare, and education funds for our children.
Great article! Thank you for the thought provoking questions as well as your thoughts! I have directly influenced two people that I know of to travel full-time and they told me afterwards, once they were "on the road". One is a very close friend and the other has become a very close friend since she embarked on her adventure (which is going on 3 years now!). They call me their cheerleader and I feel that way but these people already showed interest. I think if someone is just not interested at all, it won't happen regardless of what we do. I think fear is #1 for people who don't travel. Actually I know it is, because they tell me. And from what I hear, 99% of their fears are unfounded. :( But fear keeps a lot of people complacent and stuck, so it's really no wonder.
That's wonderful to directly influence someone to travel in the way you have. Lately, I've been thinking a lot of how I can be that person for my son, nieces and nephews, and perhaps their friends. I'd love to start public speaking too, but I suspect that our biggest impact on encouraging others to travel is going to be at the local level, being a guide to younger generations, and figuring out how to dispel a lot of the unfounded fears circulating in our society and culture right now. Not an easy task but I believe it's worth trying. Thanks for sharing your story and your commentary Kimberly. Cheers!
I suspect that you will influence them just by showing them it's possible. By doing it yourself, you're setting the stage. And your public speaking goal is great!!! It's absolutely worth trying!!! And few tasks are easy but the rewards outweigh the difficulties IMO.
Love this. I moved abroad about two years ago and find myself evangelizing whenever there’s an opportunity. Last year, a friend had the chance to go to the UK for work, and my travel experiences — and a lot of coaxing — convinced her to add on two extra countries to her trip. Now she’s got the bug to see the world. What a gift.
When I was 12 years old, my sister and brother-in-law moved to Germany. I spent 3 weeks visiting them along with my parents. We went to several locations in Germany as well as Austria, France and Switzerland during the 3 weeks. It was the beginning of my love for experiencing other countries. I can't say that anyone convinced me to travel there. My parents originally planned to leave me home with my grandparents. I had to beg them to allow me to join them. They frequently told me I was behaving so much better than they expected, which I found quite odd. I'm not sure what they thought I might do. The encouragement came from within me.
That subconscious fear that a lot of people have is real, but life (not just travel) starts to unfold when this is overcome.