Travel: What Makes Humans Human
What makes us human? Travel.
What makes us human? What differentiates us from every other thing on earth? Smart people say we are human because we have a conscience. I say we are human because we are the only animals on earth who travel for fun when there is zero need.
Humans have certain unique biological and social traits. The size of our brain relative to our body is one. We were thought to be the only species on the planet to have sex for pleasure. We also hack our environment to make tools no other animal has before us. We think about thinking. We believe in god. We feel guilt. A more morose list if unique human traits- we are the only species to simultaneously lie, steal, gossip, cheat, and wage war. A much more curious answer to the question what makes us human is travel.
We are the only species to simply go places for the fun of it. Not for survival, for seasons, or for mating reasons. Ok, sometimes for mating reasons (Vegas!). Point is, humans crave the experience found in places and events (Coachella!). What makes it all the more unique is humans do it voluntarily and on a consistent basis. Animals don’t.
Voluntary travel is a gift exclusive to humans. We don’t exercise the gift as often as we should. The stimulating risk of exploration, discovery of something new, the element of surprise, being engulfed in novelty, are all things only humans experience through travel. Every human should make it a priority to explore, discover, and be overstimulated by novelty at least once a year.
Think about it — do seagulls ever plan to fly to Vegas for the neon cathedrals? If dolphins could talk, would they confess Hawaii is the place to relax between mating seasons? How about salmon who travel from ocean to freshwater to poop eggs that become babies who must now travel back to the ocean. Are any of them traveling for fun? No. Are you? If not, better start. It would be inhuman not to.
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