Why do we travel?
To suspend reality
To create a new one
To have no agenda
To have no boss
To be your own boss
To be off the grid
To be whoever you want to be
To be the envy of all your friends
To take that “look at me” photo
To take that “look what I just did” photo
To take that “I finally got to see this” photo
To take that “I don’t think anyone’s ever seen this” photo
To hear the cacophony of go at a green light in Vietnam
To remember India through your nostrils
To lay eyes on a European plaza when plazas were built to be plazas
To drink Guinness in a Dublin pub on a rainy Irish afternoon
To grip the steering wheel a little more tightly while exploring the Autobahn
For the things you can’t wait to tell people and for the the things you never will
For the heightened senses and decreased stress
For the ten hours of sleep and for waking up with the sun
For same shit and different day never meeting
For the something fresh and your favorite spot
For diving in and diving down
For getting away and getting down
For the snow and the pho
For Gisa and Pisa
For visas and cheetahs
For tattoos and taboos
For crooked border agents and the Straights of Magellan
For the full moon party and Half Moon Bay
For the old world and the New York
For the West Indies and the far east
For the the Northern Lights and The Southern Cross
For the Great Wall and Little Italy
For the Caribbean Blue and the Red Sea
For the rising sun and a New England fall
For the first class upgrades and and the evening turn-downs
For the Dragon Fruit and fresh vegetables
For the new days and bidets
For the passport stamps and the rendezvous
For the universal language of spoken glances
For the scruff and the linen shirt
For the brunettes and baguettes
For the bonding
For the music
For the tan
For the sex
For the chance to see history
For the chance to be part of history
For the chance to make history
For the cultural norms and lost in translations
For the world views and vantage points
For the bonding
For the bargaining
For the baby wipes
For the confidence you feel having your travel documents ready
For the nerves you inexplicably feel when customs asks for them
For the fine print
For the detours and busted plans
For the personal rickshaw drivers and the rug shops you never wanted to see
For you…special price
For that painting you have yet to frame and that shirt you have yet to wear
For the silk scarf you’ll inevitably buy your mother
For driving through a roundabout in Scotland and the little prayer you mutter to yourself when you do
For getting into conversations with people who will never understand you
For thinking that if you speak louder and slower and throw in some hand gestures, they finally will
For the airport layovers and the unexpected VAT
For the shower but no curtain
For the shared twin bed and no AC
For the 6AM flights and the six hour layovers
For the $6 bottle of water and the six mosquitos in your room
For the Yellow Fever and Delhi belly
For the chuckle you’ll have months later thinking about it all
From Magellan to Lindbergh. From Kerouac to Bryson. From Armstrong to Baumgartner. From Neistat to Matt, we’ve always been infatuated with the explorer.
Because travel is the lowest common denominator in the language of “cool.” It elicits interest. It signifies status. It’s the opportunities it beckons, the freedom it implies and the feelings it evokes.
It’s about about doing your life, your way, in that moment.
Travel is an everyman’s fame. Stories are his currency. @bassamtarazi (Click to Tweet!)
Whatever your reasons for travel and no matter how many miles from home you go, all your journeys in life and business are worth it.
Trips are temporary but exploration is a mindset. Always embark towards the limits of your horizons.
Don’t let the best thing about your bucket list be its length of uncrossed items.
And now to continue my story – and why I travel – I’m embarking on one of my craziest trips yet: The Mongol Rally. It’s “10,000 miles of feral, unsupported adventuring chaos from London to Mongolia, and nineteen countries in between, for 450 teams in cars with engines the size of a lawnmower” (1 Liter engines), all for the adventure and to raise money for charity.
Want to follow along the journey visually? Instagram: @bassamtarazi.
Why do you travel/want to travel? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.
Bassam Tarazi is the creator of a motivational framework (Colipera), the author of The Accountability Effect, and the co-founder of the international workshop and adventure for side hustlers called The Ignition Lab. Bassam conducts goal setting classes, corporate workshops, and one-on-one coaching. You can follow him on twitter @bassamtarazi.
