Why do you travel?

How many countries have you been to? What’s your favorite place you have visited? When is your next trip? As a traveler these questions come up often. Living in Doha, these come up almost daily. Recently I have been really struggling with the idea of global travel. Mostly I have been hung up on the following questions:

• Why do people travel?
•  How do you get an authentic experience while traveling?

A recent article I read prompted this post. It was titled “When Tourism Turns into Narcissism”. You can find it here:

http://www.vice.com/read/henry-wismayer-boring-travellers-015

I have met a lot of the “characters” described in the article. There’s the backpacker who spends 3 months in a country staying in their hostel all day to save money but is out every night partying to “experience the culture”. Or there are the individuals whose world travels take them from one five star resort to the next, rarely leaving the grounds.

This leads into the question of “Why do people travel?”. This is likely different for each person. I like to think people travel to expand their global understanding. To help them relate to people that are different than them. To experience a culture different than their own. But I feel it is becoming more common that travel has become fashionable. That people are using travel as a way to prove that they are cultured and globally aware by virtue of how many countries they have been to. People start to look for quantity of experiences over quality. We all have done it. Take out the passport, flip through the stamps, and admire the great work you have done getting around the globe. I am not saying this is wrong, but is there something more?

The challenge is, how do you get an authentic experience while traveling? While many of us would love to visit a country for 6 months, do a homestay, learn the local language, and live an entirely new life, we don’t often get that opportunity. I once had this conversation with a friend trying to figure out the best way to travel and he responded with, “it depends how you want to see the world.” If you want to do a partying tour through Europe to experience the diversity of nightlife, great! If you are a foodie and want to eat your way through South East Asia, fantastic. If you are a football fan and want to visit stadiums in each country you visit, go for it. You need to pick the lens from which you view the world. Getting that authentic experience is a challenge. The best way I have found is to connect with someone who lives in the country. A friend of a friend, a couch surfer, a trusted tour guide, etc. Don’t rely on the mainstream travel books, although they can be a good start.

I often reflect on my own reasons for traveling and if I am making the most of these incredible opportunities. Being the “fit in as much as you can” traveler that I am, I often don’t do cities/countries justice when I visit (read the last post about Munich/Salzburg as an example). But I do like to think that while I am there I am seeking ways to avoid only mainstream sights and find the heart of the place I am visiting. Would love to hear people’s thoughts on this and how they frame it for themselves. Lots of questions, no easy answers. But keep exploring and always push to make the most of each experience.