Why I Travel

First, some quotations I particularly like that may sum up my reasons for travelling;
"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page" - St Augustine
"Experience, travel - these are as education in themselves" - Euripides
"Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living" - Miriam Beard
"Travel teaches toleration" - Benjamin Disraeli

So why do I travel? Because I want "to feel a sense of the places that I go to, the people and their culture & history". This world we live in is an amazing place, home to so many interesting peoples and their unique history and cultures. We all want to read more than one page of the 'World book'. We all want to be more educated and tolerant about the ways of the world and we all want to change for the better in the ideas of living.

Before travelling anywhere, I usually do a lot of travel reading; hence many books in my library are travelogues (e.g. Spain by the horns, Travelog Haji, A Voyage by dhow) and guidebooks (Lonely Planet, The Rough Guide, Insight Guides, Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Travel, National Geographic Traveller). You could say that I also 'armchair travel' a lot. I travel vicariously through books and TV (read TLC) too. I still have not been to so many places in this world, but I feel I do have some sense of them anyway through this 'second hand' experience. But of course nothing beats the real thing.

So am I a traveller or a tourist? Is there even a difference? The dictionaries define both quite similarly, except for the emphasis that the tourist does the travelling for pleasure. So I guess if  one travels with a tour group, one is a tourist because everything has been planned for (by the tour company) and one just goes along for the pleasure of enjoying the sights. The independant traveller on the other hand has to plan everything from A to Z, but is free to be flexible and linger anywhere if need be. The traveler has a greater/higher purpose to travel than just for pleasure, perhaps? But can I call myself a traveller if my experiences have really been what the cynics would call 'walks in the park'?

Though we all may travel to the same places, each of our experiences are unique. My postings on travel tell of my very own unique experience of a place, so they will often be titled 'My (place/country name)'. It is my take on the country and some aspects of it I have been privileged to experience.