Since the beginning of time man has had an insatiable curiosity that has driven him to seek out new lands, new people and new ideas.

History recounts endless tales of bold men going where no man has ever been before, and the heroes of our history books are those that have dared to seek the unknown lands for the betterment of humankind. They sought new food sources, new farming lands, new cultural methods, medicines and commerce. But as the world opened its doors to technology, travel became a sought after commodity in itself.

The Ease of Travel

“Transport to travel is what armies are to conquest: the better the former the easier the latter.” – The gap year

The more that technology developed, the easier travel became starting with the invention of the wheel (horse and cart), ships and other sea-faring vessels, trains, motor vehicles and then finally the airplane. In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer circumnavigated the planet over a three year period. We can now do that in less than three days.

A massive transition occurred when travel was no longer the life-blood and power source of an Empire and thus crossed over into a romanticized concept reserved for the wealthy initially (around the 17th Century), up to now where travel is seen as essential to health and happiness in our western cultural lifestyles.

Wanderlust: Will it be lost?

It makes me wonder though, that with travel now one of the fastest growing industries on the planet, and global travel becoming so cheap and easy, will the romantic notion of wandering the world be reduced to another dull activity that we so easily take for granted? Is it just about going places, meeting new people and seeing scenes unlike our natural environment, or is it something much deeper within us that drives us to search and search and never cease?

“Wanderlust: The insatiable desire to travel to understand one’s very existence.”

The Essence of Travel Today

The best in the travel industry today will do well to capture the essence of travel; the deep dissatisfaction that the human race have with sitting still. There is a thirst for deeper, wider, experiences. A desire for knowledge beyond ourselves. For experiences that expand our minds; that touch our hearts; that motivate our passions; that dig deep into our souls, revealing who we are and who we really want to be.

We learn from our environments. We are stretched by what we do not know. We are motivated to strive for that which is beyond ourselves. This is the reason we travel. It has always been the reason, and for as long as man walks the planet, it always will be.

And no, I do not believe that the intense desire to travel will ever be lost in the ease and accessibility that is now allowing people from all over the world to wander. It will continue to expand us as a human race. The more connected we become, the greater the co-operative intellect, which will continue to birth new eras of discovery and advancement. Knowledge was what early explorers came home with when travel first began. And knowledge is what we will unpack from our suitcases today, tomorrow and for the many years to come.

 

“The world is a book, and those that do not travel read only a page.” – St Augustine