Why travel ?

travel vb. to go on a trip or tour, to go from place to place, move in a give direction or path, to follow a course

travel n. a journey esp. to a distant or unfamiliar place, the act of travelling esp. to foreign countries

Isn't is curious that the immediate origin of the word travel is the Middle English word travail meaning painful or laborious effort and earlier from the Latin word trepalium, an instrument of torture!

Travel, moving from place to place, does involve physical, mental and spiritual motivation, persistence and endurance. But what inspires people to leave the comfort and relative security of home? Have you ever contemplated why people travel? Why are we curious about a neighbour's pasture? Why do we need to get outside of our daily environment? Why are we inspired to go elsewhere to see nature wonders and great accomplishments of man?

In coming months geoNOMAD will explore the phenomenon of travel, the psychological, cultural and other dimensions of this curious activity?