What is traveling? There have been many different quotes written by mega famous and less famous people that it is so hard to define it nowadays. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as: 1. Going to different places instead of staying in one place. 2. Relating to the activity of traveling. 3. Designed to be used by someone who is traveling.  While The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people “traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”. Is this all? It can’t be, right?

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life and travel – leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks – on your body and on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt”. – Anthony Bourdain

“Travel is fatal to prejudice.” – Mark Twain

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R.Tolkien

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

“You lose sight of things… and when you travel, everything balances out.” – Daranna Gidel

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber

“Where so ever you go, go with all your heart.” – Africa Child

“A journey of thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

“The journey not the arrival matters.” – T.S. Eliot

So what is traveling? Traveling is just one word, but for me it means the whole world, the possibility to see new, amazing, exciting places and meeting interesting people along the way. Traveling  opens my eyes, shapes me as a person in so many ways, teaches me many invaluable lessons and encourages to be more independent, respectful, responsible and appreciative of everything around me. Traveling changes you as a person, for better or worse, but you’ll never be the same.

What is traveling for you?

Dear readers, let me know what you are thinking. Looking for new ideas, tips and suggestions. Leave a comment, any positive reinforcement is appreciated.