Travel: why do humans crave it?

(This was originally posted on my blog Selfhood Pending on June 29, 2016. It lives here until I decide to remove it from the Internet. In the move to its new home, the piece lost a photo which used to appear at the end of the article. Feel free to fill this hole with an imagined image of a place you love.)

You may be wondering, why should I travel? What’s the draw? Or perhaps you are longing to get away, and feel beyond trapped in your little, old hometown. Either way, there is something to be said both for the urge to travel, and the absence of it.

The basis of our craving

People travel for a lot of reasons. To explore. To escape. To find themselves. And travel does a lot for you, as you open your mind to new people and come to appreciate your insignificance on this big, beautiful globe. I think traveling, and not just sight-seeing, can help make you a better person.

But, you shouldn’t have to travel to become a better person.

It’s so easy to believe that a new place means a new you, but just going to Paris isn’t going to make you a romantic person. You have to make you a romantic person. That’s the problem with the longing to travel, believing it will solve problems that you could be solving without ever leaving this rusty hometown.

I associate my hometown with a lot of baggage, a past self and bad memories that seem to overwhelm the good. It’s natural to want to leave behind the place tying you to an identity you no longer want to possess. But, it’s possible to change without abandoning the place, and I would argue that this is a much stronger means of transformation. Instead of leaving your baggage behind you, kick it right out your own front door.

Avoid running away syndrome.

So, before I go off to travel the world, I am going to try to explore and escape and find myself without going too far from the house I’ve spent the last eighteen years calling home. I believe I’ve already done this a lot, within the halls of my high school. I just graduated, and I can think back to my freshman year and list several ways I wasn’t nearly as confident or capable as I am today. Every once in a while, some little incident will remind me of how far I’ve come.

For example, last week, I was at a graduation party for some good friends, and I found myself sitting outside for a moment of silence. A stranger was walking her dog on the street, and passed where I rested on the sidewalk beside my car. I stood up, and she chastised her dog, who was trying vehemently to capture my attention.

“I’m sorry. He wants to love everybody.”

I replied, “It’s okay. That’s not a bad problem to have.”

She paused. “There are three kids on this street that graduated. Isn’t that funny?” she said, though she did not stall her strut for long.

I nodded along, as she commented on the graduation parties as if they were a group of clouds that might soon sprout rain. When she came to an end of her train of thought and began to continue on her way, I began to move around my car, back towards the house.

Then, I stopped to shout after her, “Have a great day!”

“You too,” she said, already exiting the reach of my soft voice.

I smiled. Not only proud that I had survived, but actually having prospered from an interaction with a stranger.

Four years ago, I would have barely been able to suffer through the same encounter with a familiar neighbor. And, I would have fled as soon as possible, with no thought of a kind goodbye. Yet, I realized, I now know that strangers are not something to fear on principle, but just people. There is no reason you shouldn’t make one another smile.

That self-discovery didn’t require much movement from my normal domain. That is the type of bravery I want to be able to have here, at home, that will make my ability to enjoy my time traveling all the better.

So, yes, travel.

Get away and present yourself with new challenges. But, before that, I dare you to face a few that exist at home. Meet that friend you’ve only ever seen at school or work for coffee. Go to the tourist destinations nearby and appreciate the beauty of the world in your own backyard.

Personally, I find my camera as a good inspiration to get out and explore in my hometown. But, perhaps your fix comes from a pen or paintbrush or just the feeling of sun on your skin or an excuse to be around good people. This is a photo I took while discovering my downtown. What will you create, both inside and outside yourself, if you take the time to explore yours?

Leave a comment about your hometown travel expedition. Or, tell me about why travel does or doesn’t appeal to you. I’d love some different perspectives!