Why Travel Matters.

The thought first occurred to me as I shifted my weight and winced at a tingling knee in my airplane seat on a 747, bound for Lima a few years ago.  I had a backpack and a few friends, ready for a month in Peru.  Since then, the same thought seems to wander into my mind frequently whenever I’m en route Somewhere.  It bothers me, and I’ve never quite settled on an explanation and thus have spent a lot of time pondering. I’ve many a time sat in cramped quarters on my way somewhere, wondering how I would explain the behavior of travel to a martian.  “Well, people who live in modern societies pack up a small fraction of their belongings, get in various modes of transportation for hours and hours, convert their money and forgo many personal hygeine rituals, just for the experience of Being Somewhere.”  Ha!  I mean really, all that travel is is simply existing in another location for a little while.  At the core, you’re just breathing the air in another location, occupying space somewhere else.  The protons, neutrons, and electrons, that make up your body are simply conducting their processes in another place.  ISN’T IT SO WEIRD. 

On a very concrete level, it can be argued that travel really doesn’t accomplish anything.    Nothing is produced, nor eliminated.  When you go back to wherever you came from, you really have nothing to show for the money and time you spent.  People in your circle can peruse your photos, admire your trinkets, and hear your retelling of stories, but no one will ever Get It.  SO why?  We do we do this?  It’s expensive!  It’s inconvenient!  You look terrible for most of the time!  Diarrhea!

Well, the closest I have come to any sort of logical reasoning is this:  while I may not have anything to show for what I did while I was gone, I can certainly vouch for shifting.  Shifting in my mind, in my decision making, in my priorities.  Shifting in my perspective, in the things that I appreciate, and in my mood.  These shifts have led to huge changes, big decisions, and alterations of what I do, what I think, and what I love.  Life satisfaction is all in the shifts, and that’s why travel matters.