enjoy the travel not the destination

The journey is more important than the destination (quotes)

The journey is more important than the destination.

• A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. Lao Tzu
• A journey takes time. And the lessons we learn best, they come from the journey, not the destination. Jordan Dane
• An unanticipated destination, perhaps, but you must admit,all the best journeys take unexpected detours. Lisa Mangum
• Focus on the journey, not on arriving at a certain destination. Chris Hadfield
• I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that this is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get. Anna Quindlen
• It’s the journey, not the destination. I truly believe that. Jason Sudeikis
• It’s the not the Destination, It’s the journey. Ralph Waldo Emerson
• Roads were made for journeys not destinations. Confucius
• Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination. Drake
• When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way. Wayne Dyer
• Sometimes it’s worth lingering on the journey for a while before getting to the destination. Richelle Mead
• That roads are for journeys, ma’am, not destinations. Margaret Landon
• The destination is more important than the journey
• The dream is not the destination but the journey. Diane Sawyer
• The experiences are so innumerable and varied, that the journey appears to be interminable and the Destination is ever out of sight. But the wonder of it is, when at last you reach your Destination you find that you had never travelled at all! It was a journey from here to Here. Meher Baba
• The journey has to feel the way you want the destination to feel. Danielle LaPorte
• The journey is the destination. Dan Eldon
• The journey is the destination. That’s what you have to tell people. Audie Cornish
• The journey, Not the destination matters. S. Eliot
• The journey, not the destination, becomes a source of wonder. Loreena McKennitt
• The journeythe journey, I promise you, is the greatest thing ever. The destination always takes care of itself. Ray Lewis
• The joy is in the journey, not the destination. We have a better chance of seeing where we are when we stop trying to get somewhere else. John Bingham
• The road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination. Marion Zimmer Bradley
• There is no difference in the destination, the only difference is in the journey. Hazrat Inayat Khan
• There’s no destination. The journey is all that there is, and it can be very, very joyful. Srikumar Rao
• To God, our journey is JUST as important as our destination! Beth Moore
• You don’t always need to know your destination when you set out on a journey. Carole Wilkinson
• The importance of a journey is not measured by the distance covered, but by the destination reached. Narendra Modi

Enjoy the journey as much as the destination

• Enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Marshall Sylver
• Enjoy the journey, because the destination is a mirage. Steven Furtick
• That’s why it is important to enjoy the journey not just the destination. In this world, we will never arrive at a place where everything is perfect and we have no more challenges. As admirable as setting goals and reaching them maybe, you can’t get so focused on accomplishing your goals that you make the mistake of not enjoying where you are right now. Joel Osteen

Life is a journey, not a destination

• Education is a lifelong journey whose destination expands as you travel. Jim Stovall
• Exercise is a journey, not a destination. It must be continued for the rest of your life. We do not stop exercising because we grow old – we grow old because we stop exercising. Kenneth H. Cooper
• Fitness is a journey, not a destination; you must continue for the rest of your life. Kenneth H. Cooper
• Life before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before Destination. Brandon Sanderson
• Life is a journey, not a destination; there are no mistakes, just chances we’ve taken. India Arie
• Life is a journey, not a destination. Happiness is not there but here, not tomorrow but today. Sidney Greenberg
• Life is more about the journey than the destination. Mary Alice
• Life is not a destination; it’s a journey. It’s not a series of goals; it’s a series of steps, of events unfolding as you make your way. Life is not all about accomplishment; it’s all about doing, participating, progressing, growing, learning. Mike Hernacki
• Life is not a journey, it is a destination. Piero Scaruffi
• Life isn’t about the final destination or the accomplishments and accolades; it’s about the journey and the opportunities for learning—and how we grow as a result. Michael Eisen
• Life’s a journey, not a destination. Steven Tyler
• Now I’ve got that [life is a journey not a destination] tattooed on my arm because it just reminds me of that time, and I think it’s just an amazing quote. John Newman
• Remember, Life is a journey, not a destination. Bruce Lee
• The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination. Carl Rogers
• The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination. Don Williams
• The spiritual journey does not consist of arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he did not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one’s own ignorance concerning oneself and life, and the gradual growth of that understanding which begins the spiritual awakening. The finding of God is a coming to one’s self. Aldous Huxley
• Rather than the destination it is the journey that lends meaning to our lives, great Neelkanth. Being faithful to our path will lead to consequences, both good as well as bad. For that is the way of the universe. Amish Tripathi
• The future is a process, not a destination. Bruce Sterling

Happiness is a journey, not a destination

• Attaining lasting happiness requires that we enjoy the journey on our way toward a destination we deem valuable. Happiness is not about making it to the peak of the mountain nor is it about climbing aimlessly around the mountain; happiness is the experience of climbing toward the peak. Tal Ben-Shahar
• Find happiness by enjoying the journey, not by awaiting the destination. Peter Sheppard Skaerved
• Happiness is a mindset for your journey, not the result of your destination. Shawn Achor
• Happiness isn’t a destination; its a journey. Austin Carlile
• I’m somebody who considers happiness a journey, not a destination. Neil Gaiman
• The purpose is not the destination but the journey itself. Only those who understand this simple truth can experience true happiness. Amish Tripathi
• The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination. Dan Millman
• To me, ultimate happiness is a journey, not a destination. It’s not somewhere you end up, it’s making choices every day to make yourself happy. Lizzie Velasquez

Success is a journey, not a destination

• Remember, success is a journey not a destination. Have faith in your ability. You will do just fine. Bruce Lee
• Success and happiness are not destinations, they are exciting, never-ending journeys. Zig Ziglar
• Success for me isn’t a destination it’s a journey. Everybody’s working to get to the top but where is the top? It’s all about working harder and getting better and moving up and up. Rihanna
• Accomplishment will prove to be a journey, not a destination. Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Success is a journey, not a destination. It requires constant effort, vigilance and reevaluation. Mark Twain
• Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome. Arthur Ashe
• Success is every minute you live. It’s the process of living. It’s stopping for the moments of beauty, of pleasure; the moments of peace. Success is not a destination that you ever reach. Success is the quality of the journey. Jennifer James
• Success is not a destination that you ever reach. Success is the quality of your journey. Jennifer James
• Success is not a destination: It is a journey. The happiest people I know are those who are busy working toward specific objectives. The most bored and miserable people I know are those who are drifting along with no worthwhile objectives in mind. Zig Ziglar
• Success is not in reaching the destination, but in making the journey. Bruce Lee
• The journey is the destination. The process you’re in is the goal. Success is never defined by the outcome but by the process. Paul Young
• And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived. Brandon Sanderson

Writing is a journey, not a destination

• Writing isn’t about the destination-writing is the journey that transforms the soul and gives meaning to all else. Sue Grafton

Transformation is a journey, not a destination

• Transformation is a journey without a final destination. Marilyn Ferguson
• Change comes more from managing the journey than from announcing the destination. William Bridges
• Christlikeness is a journey, not a destination. The joy is in the journey. Charles R. Swindoll
• Reaching your potential is a disciplined process. Like losing weight or getting in shape – there is no final destination and it requires you to dust off atrophied muscles. You have to work at it. If you do, I think you will dramatically improve your leadership. Robert S. Kaplan
• Reformation, like education, is a journey, not a destination. Mother Jones

Creativity is a journey, not a destination

• The creative process is not like a situation where you get struck by a single lightning bolt. You have ongoing discoveries, and theres ongoing creative revelations. Yes, its really helpful to be marching toward a specific destination, but, along the way, you must allow yourself room for your ideas to blossom, take root, and grow. Carlton Cuse

Character is a journey, not a destination

• Character is a journey, not a destination. William J. Clinton

Excellence is a journey, not a destination

• Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that never ends. Brian Tracy
• Perfection is not a destination; it’s a never-ending process…Enjoy! Jim Bouchard

Truth is a journey, not a destination

• Knowledge is a destination. Truth, the journey. Terry Goodkind
• Science is an intellectual journey, and to me, it’s not the destination, it’s the journeyto get there. It’s a way of thinking and it’s an intellectual curiosity, a desire to know how the world works, and to know what the fundamental principles of the world are, and to know our place in it. I think once we stop asking questions like what is the age of the universe, or how are the instructions of DNA carried out on a microscopic level, once we stop asking questions like that, we’re dead. Alan Lightman
• Discovery is the journey; insight is the destination. Gary Hamel
• One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things. Henry Miller

Love is a journey, not a destination

• Love is a journey, not a destination. Ramon Bautista

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Why happiness is a journey, not a destination (and 5 ways to enjoy the ride)

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Instead of striving for happiness through end goals or objects, try cultivating day-to-day well-being. Because, as Calvin Holbrook  explains, science shows that happiness really is a journey and not a destination.

'Happiness is a journey, not a destination’ is an often-heard saying, and many people would argue that the search for well-being is the greatest motivator of all humankind. But does this motto really hold true? And what does science have to say on the subject?  

The expression suggests that humans shouldn’t believe that reaching a certain life goal will award them with happiness. The destination in question could be one of numerous end-points we're often striving for in life: that dream job, buying a first home, meeting the perfect partner, or snagging that huge pay rise you've been working so hard for.   

RELATED:  Money can't buy happiness (except when you spend it like this!)

Chances are if you do reach one of your destination life goals, you may indeed feel happier – but only temporarily. Why? Because of our happiness set-point .  

Happiness journey vs destination: set-point

Our set-point largely determines our overall well-being, and all of us have different levels. Therefore, those with higher set-points will be happier most of the time compared with those that have a less joyful outlook (due to their lower set-point).

Going through our life journey, we oscillate around this set-point. Unhappy life events shift happiness levels below their set-point while positive or exciting events boost your happiness levels above it.  

RELATED: Is happiness genetic?

However, sooner or later, when that event becomes normalized or changes, happiness levels return to the original set-point (for example, when we feel the 'holiday blues' after coming back from the high of a recent holiday).

Likewise, once you reach your supposed happiness destination, it may not last, or something may get in the way of the perceived happiness you thought it would bring. For example, after getting what you thought was your dream job, you actually discovered it brought you a lot of negative stress due to the additional workload (and your demanding new boss). That dream new apartment you bought? Well, the noisy neighbours upstairs are doing their best to destroy your peace. Just met your 'perfect' partner? You'll soon discover all the things about them that drive you up the wall! Well, you get the picture.

“Chances are if you do reach one of your destination life goals, you will indeed feel happier – but only temporarily.”

Additionally, at some point these final destinations may dissolve all together. Indeed, as the only consistent thing in life is change, believing that happiness is a destination rather than the journey itself makes little sense.   In fact, this pursuit of happiness – the constant desire and drive to achieve things we believe will boost our well-being and joy – often ends in disappointment (the so-called ‘ happiness trap ’. )

Improving your journey to happiness

As discussed, according to Lyubomirsky, our genetic set-point is responsible for around 50 per cent of our happiness. The remainder depends on our circumstances (10 per cent ) and our life activity (40 per cent).

However, some studies suggest that by changing our day-to-day life activity – focusing on our journey and not a final destination – we can boost our internal set-point to a higher level and become happier. Indeed, there are many smaller, everyday activities we can choose to improve our general well-being. So, here are five that you can employ right away.

Studies show we can fix our happiness set point higher by helping others. In fact, according to one — analyzing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Survey – the trait most strongly linked to long-term happiness increases is a regular commitment to altruism. It showed that the more compassionate we are, the happier our life journey seems to be.   RELATED: The benefits of kindness

This was backed up by another study by Sonja Lyubomirsky published in the Review of General Psychology in 2005. When she had students perform five weekly acts of kindness over a period of six weeks, they noticed a significant increase in happiness levels compared to a control group of students.  

2. Practise gratitude

Cultivating gratitude is scientifically-proven to increase your happiness journey, and is one of the simplest life changes you can make as it requires little effort.  

“As the only consistent thing in life is change, believing that happiness is a destination rather than the journey really makes little sense.”

According to a 2003 report in the journal of Social Behavior and Personality , grateful people tend to appreciate simple pleasures (defined as "those pleasures in life that are available to most people”). Indeed, a study published in The Journal of Happiness Studies showed that writing a daily or weekly gratitude journal can make finding happiness easier.  

3. Meditate

Starting your day with just five to 10 minutes of meditation will help you to develop your happiness. Try meditating in the morning shortly after waking: the immediate heightened inner clarity it will give you will set you up for the rest of the day.

And, according to Psychology Today , meditation is the strongest mental practice that has the power to reset your happiness set point, thus turning you into a more joyful person: regular meditation practice can literally rewire your brain so you can become happier.  

4. Build quality relationships

If happiness is a journey and not a destination, then it’s the people that are with you on your journey that can make all the difference. Science is clear on this: you can find and maintain happiness through developing quality relationships.

Humans are a social species and need regular contact. In a 75-year, multigenerational study , Robert Waldinger measured happiness levels in people from Boston’s poorest neighborhoods. He found that the most joyful were those with high-quality social connections.

5. Choose happiness

Bronnie Ware, a palliative care nurse who devoted her career to working with end-of-life patients, found a theme in those coming to the end of their lives: they has a deep regret about not ‘letting’   themselves be happy. Ware, the author of The Top Five Regrets Of The Dying , penned a blog for the Huffington Post , in which she wrote: 

“Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice . They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives.

“Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again ... Life is a choice. It is your life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness .”

RELATED: Cherophobia – the fear of happiness explained

Conclusions

All to often we are led to believe that by obtaining goals or possessions we will feel happier. But the reality is – and science agrees – that when we reach those destinations, our happiness levels quickly return to their original set-point. Indeed, happiness often leads to success, but success does not always lead to happiness. Instead, research shows that the best way to maintain consistent well-being is to focus on the everyday changes you can make in your life, with altruism, gratitude and quality relationships being important factors: happiness really is a journey and not a destination. 

In fact, research in the field of positive psychology has shown that happiness is a choice that anyone can make. As psychologist William James put it, “The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude.” ●

Main image: shutterstock/Olga Danylenko

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Posted August 16, 2021

Reminds me of the verse by Alfred D. Souza that goes:

"Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life.

But there was always some obstacle in the way, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.

At last, it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.

This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. 

HAPPINESS IS THE WAY.

So treasure every moment you have and remember that 

time waits for no one."

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Posted June 24, 2021

Happiness is a journey. I am not sure if I agree with the picture. However, I agree with the point made in the article. Happiness is not a destination that you reach, and then it's all sorted. The picture of the journey still implies a destination, and that's what seems wrong to me. I'll keep thinking of an image that resonates better with me.

Posted May 11, 2021

Such an interesting article, and I think it's always important to remind ourselves that happiness is a journey, not a destination. It's so easy to think you'll be happy once you've reached a certain goal, but the most important thing is really to enjoy the journey you are on and look for happiness in the smallest thing along the way. Don't compare yourself to others! 

Posted October 5, 2020

The purpose of this letter is to express my appreciation for sharing your valuable insight into personal growth. Its articles like “Why happiness is a journey, not a destination (and 5 key ways to enjoy the ride)” which gives those who are struggling hope for the future, as it pushes them to keep fighting their depression. I admire your view on happiness and your explanation of how it is a journey and not a destination. I also appreciate that you have provided readers with an amazing set of healthy coping strategies such as being kind and practicing gratitude. As when a person is depressed and/or anxious it may become very tempting to turn to unhealthy coping strategies such as drugs or alcohol to provide an ‘easy way out.’ However, these unhealthy coping mechanisms provide temporary happiness and will end up making them feel worse in the end. I thank you for taking the time to provide those who are struggling, with healthy and natural ways to bring themselves some relief. 

Posted April 30, 2019

Nice article

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“Happiness is a direction, not a place.” ~Sydney J Harris

Being happy is for most of us one of the key aims in life. But where we often go wrong is in figuring out which path to take to achieve that happiness.

My own path has been a somewhat unconventional one. In my last year at college, most of my peers were busy applying for full-time jobs with large companies, but I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do.  

I wanted to see the world, which (long before gap years became so common) was met with disapproval by many. But excited, and somewhat scared, I set off alone on my travels.

I didn’t return for good until over seven years later, traveling around the world twice over, working as an English teacher in Istanbul and Barcelona, as a fruit picker on a kibbutz in Israel, in a ski resort, on a campsite in France, and in a fairground in Australia.

I drove across the US, rode the Trans-Siberian railway across Asia, and took precarious bus journeys through the Himalayas and the Andes.

It was a fantastically exciting time and left me with some amazing memories that will last forever. I knew that by doing this I’d probably be sacrificing any chance of reaching the upper echelons of the corporate tree, but that didn’t hold any appeal to me anyway.

Of more concern was the pressure I felt from family, friends, and society to settle down and find a “proper” job. But I’m really glad that I resisted that pressure and didn’t stop traveling and working abroad until I’d seen and experienced all that I wanted to.

I felt that there was plenty of time to have a conventional job after my traveling days were over, and this has proved correct.

The traveling taught me so much about myself, and life, and made me think about what I wanted from this short time on earth. I realized that I wanted to acquire experiences rather than money, and in my subsequent career that is what I have done.

I’ve done a variety of jobs: I’ve been a musician, graphic designer, novelist, and journalist. Much of the time, these have been precarious freelance jobs and not well paid, but they’ve all been fantastically interesting and given me a wealth of life experience.

I always wanted to have no regrets with the way I spent my life, and so far I haven’t. I know that if I’d spent my whole life trying to climb the corporate ladder I wouldn’t have been happy and would now have been lamenting what I hadn’t done in my life.

I’ve always found it really important to enjoy each step of the journey that I’ve been on and not just hoping to be happier at some point later in my life.

The path I’ve chosen may not be for everyone, but it is an example of the importance of choosing your own path in life, and ignoring the pressure from family, friends, and society. 

I’ve seen how some people are pressured into certain jobs, often because they are considered prestigious, but hate the path they have chosen. Others may be pushed to get further up the career ladder, but then find out they hate the managerial responsibility that this generally brings.

People also often think that when they have more material goods or money they will be happier . But while it may be hard to be happy in the western world with no money (although some people achieve it) making lots of money and buying lots of things may not necessarily make you content.

Buying a new car or yacht is often only a short-term happiness boost and it seems that after a while, each upgrade to the car, house, or yacht gives less and less extra happiness.

Surveys have shown again and again that once people reach a certain wage—around the average wage in western countries—happiness levels do not increase much.

With relationships, it’s also important to find the right path for ourselves, and to be as sure as we can that we have chosen the right partner. And when we’ve hopefully found them, it’s so important to enjoy each moment of that relationship, not always be looking to the future.

We might think that having children will make us happy, but then when we have them we realize all the responsibilities and difficulties that brings, and may look back on our days without children with fondness. Or if we have young children we might wish they were older, but then they become teenagers!

The common pattern in all this is choosing the right road for the type of person we are and finding happiness at as many places along that route as we can.

So it’s important to look at all the good things in our lives and to enjoy them to the full right now. That is much more likely to bring happiness than waiting for it to appear around the corner.

Photo by woodleywonderworks

About Alex Lloyd

Alex is a writer and life coach. He writes regularly for websites including The Happy Hut , and is the author of the book How to be Happy .

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It's the Journey, Not the Destination—or Is It?

Culture influences our focus on the past, present, or future..

Posted January 30, 2018

Current culture in the United States emphasizes a focus on the present . “It’s the journey, not the destination”. It’s not where you’ve been or where you’re going. What is important is where you are now.

Scripture in the Book of Matthew tells us to be like birds who don’t worry. Worrying cannot add a single hour to our lives. A popular song when I was young told us to “ live for today and don’t worry ‘bout tomorrow”. Recent research shows that mindfulness meditation , which focuses on the present, reduces depression .

But what if the destination is better than the journey? Arriving in Hawaii is much better than the plane trip there. And being in Hawaii is much better than the plane trip back. The plane trips are tolerable only by anticipating being in Hawaii or good memories of being there. Sometimes where you’ve been or where you’re going is better than where you are.

A focus on the present sometimes has negative consequences. In a study of over 72,000 social media users, a focus on the present was associated with depression. In contrast, those who focused on the future were less likely to be depressed. If the present is unpleasant, an ability to see past it can be helpful. Eleanor Roosevelt said that the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams .

Research shows that focusing on the past can also have mental health benefits. These include recovery from depression and trauma . Analyzing a past problem can provide a perspective on it. As George Santayana famously said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".

Not everyone is as focused on the present as people in the United States are. People from East Asia have been found to be more focused on the past and future than people in the United States. This is because the past and future provide a context for the present. People in East Asia tend to be more interdependent than those in the United States. Relationships are highly valued. So, focusing on the past and future guides one to behave in a way that will maintain relationships.

A key reason that people in the United States are more focused on the present than people in East Asia is that they are also focused on themselves . People in the United States tend to be independent . They are not as concerned about how their present behavior will affect past or future relationships. But an extreme focus on the self— narcissism —can result in depression for oneself and for others .

A balance between the past, present, and future is needed. And a balance between the self and others. Where you’ve been, where you are, and where you are going are all important. And who you’re with.

Dawood, S., & Pincus, A. L. (2017). Pathological Narcissism and the Severity, Variability, and Instability of Depressive Symptoms. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment . Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/per0000239

Gao, X. (2016). Cultural differences between East Asian and North American in temporal orientation. Review of General Psychology , 20 (1), 118-127. doi: 10.1037/gpr0000070

Goldberg, S. B., Tucker, R. P., Greene, P. A., Davidson, R. J., Wampold, B. E., Kearney, D. J., & Simpson, T. L. (2018). Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review , 59 , 52-60. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.011

Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review , 98 , 224–253. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224

Park, G., Schwartz, H. A., Sap, M., Kern, M. L., Weingarten, E., Eichstaedt, J. C., . . . Seligman, M. E. P. (2017). Living in the past, present, and future: Measuring temporal orientation with language. Journal of Personality , 85 (2), 270-280. doi: 10.1111/jopy.12239

Tokarev, A., Phillips, A. R., Hughes, D. J., & Irwing, P. (2017). Leader dark traits, workplace bullying, and employee depression: Exploring mediation and the role of the dark core. Journal of Abnormal Psychology , 126 (7), 911-920. doi: 10.1037/abn0000299

Watkins, E. R. (2008). Constructive and unconstructive repetitive thought. Psychological Bulletin , 134 (2), 163-206. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.134.2.163

Gordon C. Nagayama Hall, Ph.D. , is a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon with a focus in culture and mental health.

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Journey vs. destination: Motivation experts break down which one to focus on to reach your goals

New studies reveal how to use metaphors to motivate yourself.

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There's nothing more natural than using path- and travel-related metaphors. We've all spoken of "long roads ahead", "heading in the right direction", or "taking a wrong turn." Szu-Chi Huang and Jennifer Aaker , psychologists at the Stanford School of Business, say that path-metaphors aren't just a convenient way to describe our goals. They recently conducted six studies involving over 1,600 people who were pursuing fitness, diet, and educational goals and found that whether people focus on "the journey" or "the destination" makes a big difference to motivation and success. We reached out and asked about the differences between the two kinds of metaphors, and how we can use them to motivate ourselves at each stage on the way to our goals.

Journey versus destination

The destination is "like a dot on the map," says Huang, "It's the desired end-state of all our striving." If you're trying to lose 20 pounds, then 20 pounds lighter is the destination. According to Huang, thinking about the destination highlights the difference between where we are now and where we want to be: "Knowing there is an ideal state and they are not there yet, that gap motivates people," she says. It's not just the beauty of our goal, it's the pain of not yet having achieved it.

Journey metaphors, by contrast, "draw a line from your current state to your future state and illuminate what it looks like." Thinking about the journey calls our attention to all the things we'll need to do, the obstacles and milestones, the highs and lows along the way.

Starting the journey

Big goals can be exciting, but they don't come with directions. It's easy to say "I'm going to get into great shape this year," but that doesn't tell us what to do tomorrow. Therefore, thinking about the journey is especially important right at the beginning.

If you're setting out on a fitness journey, for example, Huang recommends prepping the same way you would for an actual physical trip. "What do we do when we're going on a trip? We buy the equipment we need: the appropriate shoes, the gym membership, whatever tools we need. We prepare by reading books or taking a course." Also, notes Huang, most people don't like to travel alone, so this is the time to find travelling companions with similar goals.

Focusing on the journey also "helps us to map out the milestones and sub-goals that we'll need to reach along the way." At the outset, focusing only on the final destination can be discouraging if we don't have a clear path to get there. Huang says setting out milestones gives us immediate direction, allows us to experience small successes along the way, and builds in opportunities to review whether our companions and equipment are still right for the next stage in the journey.

On the path to victory

According to Huang, whether we should keep our eyes on the prize or focus on putting one foot in front of the other depends on where we are in the journey.

In research for a 2017 article, she found that thinking about the destination can be demotivating in two ways. When our goals seem unattainable, "we tend to disengage because we don't like to commit to things that are impossible." This is especially a problem in the early stages of a journey when the destination is still far-off and we haven't proved to ourselves that we can hack it.

Yet we also disengage when goals are too attainable. "It's a tortoise and hare effect," says Huang, "Losing one more pound sounds simple and I won't care about it much, so maybe I'll just go grab a dessert." When a journey is going well and the end is in sight, small sub-goals seem less relevant and we start to slow down.

When this happens, "It's time to bring back that big destination." Huang suggests using visualization to help bring your final goal to life. "If I want to lose five pounds, I visualize the dress I want to look good in or imagine myself in a situation where my friends can compliment me on feeling so much fitter in my workout class." When we visualize things, it engages our emotions and makes it personally relevant. For Huang, saying she wants to "lose five pounds" won't do the trick, "A number is just a number. There's no emotion around it, no relevance."

How to keep climbing once you've reached the summit

When we reach our goals, it's normal to relax and forget about the long slog that got us there. This makes sense when our goals are limited in scope. But many goals are really about lasting personal change. As Aaker puts it, "The point of education is not the diploma, it's to keep learning in the future. The point of getting in shape is not to lose the extra five pounds, it's to keep the weight off and maintain your healthy habits into the future.… In this light, success isn't the short-run win; it's the subsequent activity that you adopt after you achieved your goal."

If we're trying to establish long-term changes, focusing on a destination that we've already reached might hurt our chances. We've closed the distance where we are and where we want to be that used to motivate us. This is why people tend to revert to their old behaviours once they've achieved a fitness or weight-loss goal. 

The six studies on fitness, dieting, and educational goal that Aaker and Huang recently published revealed that, "Across each of these studies thinking about success as a journey helps people see greater change and personal growth," says Aaker, "which fuels them to continue eating healthily and continue learning after achieving their original goals."

The reason that focusing on the journey helps people keep up their good behaviour is that it reminds us of the distance we have crossed, the gap between who we were when we set out and who we are now. "When we have positive change, we want to hold onto it. We don't want to go back to how we were," says Huang.

It also helps us internalize the behaviours that we used on the way. As Huang puts it, "If I think about the journey, I feel like I've changed. I'm now the person who works out or is mindful about eating." And when the behaviours become part of her identity, Huang says "I'll do it with or without reward. You don't need to incentivize me and give me points for going to the gym anymore, this is part of who I am."

How do we take advantage of this powerful effect? When you've achieved a goal, take some time to reflect on how you got there. Think of the ups and downs on the way and link the behaviours that you used with the positive change that you experienced. To make this reflection more powerful, Huang recommends documenting your progress along the way. "Take photos if it's a physical change. Journal and take notes along the way, the more personal the better." If you haven't recorded your journey, says Huang, it's still worth doing. "Close your eyes and think for a few minutes about what happened last month. What changed in the last month? These are the things we want to make a connection to using this journey mindset." Either way, the key is to find a sense of positive growth and link it to the behaviours that helped you achieve your goals.

Clifton Mark writes about philosophy, psychology, politics, and other life-related topics. Find him  @Clifton_Mark  on Twitter.

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Quote Investigator®

Tracing Quotations

Life Is a Journey, Not a Destination

Ralph Waldo Emerson? Lynn H. Hough? Aerosmith? Anonymous?

Question for Quote Investigator: Ralph Waldo Emerson is often credited with the following:

Life is a journey, not a destination.

I’ve searched the RWE.org database without luck and did a text search through over 1100 pages of his essays. I believe this is a misattribution. Any insight you have into the lineage of this quote would be much appreciated.

Reply from Quote Investigator: An exact match for the expression above has not been found in the oeuvre of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Yet, Emerson did write a thematically related remark: 1

To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.

This sentence suggested a psychological vantage point in which the intermediate advances of the journey were representative of the completion of the journey. This is arguably a distinct statement from the questioner’s saying which is listed in “The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs” without attachment to a specific person. 2

The earliest close match located by QI appeared in 1920 in a periodical called “The Christian Advocate”. The phrase was used by the theologian Lynn H. Hough within his outline for a Sunday School Lesson discussing a letter from Simon Peter. Bold face has been added to the phrase here and some phrases below: 3

He wanted his friends to realize that life is a journey and not a destination ; that the heart must be set upon those matters of character which are eternal and not upon those matters of sensation which pass away.

Interesting precursors of the expression were in circulation in the previous century. In 1854 “The Sunday at Home: A Family Magazine for Sabbath Reading” printed a “Page for the Young” with the following advice: 4

You should learn in early youth that your life is a journey, not a rest . You are travelling to the promised land, from the cradle to the grave.

In 1855 another religious text used a variant phrase and provided an explanation: 5

All life is a journey, not a home ; it is a road, not the country; and those transient enjoyments which you have in this life, lawful in their way,—those incidental and evanescent pleasures which you may sip,—are not home; they are little inns only upon the road-side of life, where you are refreshed for a moment, that you may take again the pilgrim-staff and journey on, seeking what is still before you—the rest that remaineth for the people of God.

A decade later the passage above was reprinted in a collection entitled “A Cyclopaedia of Illustrations of Moral and Religious Truths”; however, it was labeled ANON. 6

Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.

In 1920 “ life is a journey and not a destination ” was written in a book by the pastor Lynn H. Hough as discussed previously in this article.

In 1922 another variant of the saying was printed which emphasized an experiential theme instead of a religious one: 7

But we stupid mortals, or most of us, are always in haste to reach somewhere else, forgetting that the zest is in the journey and not in the destination .

In 1926 the trope was applied to the domain of love within a verse using eccentric capitalization: 8

LOVE To SOME men Is NOT a DESTINATION. It is just A FLIGHT OF FANCY . A RUSHING EMOTION between BUSINESS and AMBITION that Keeps them FOREVER ON THE HOP.

In 1929 an essay by a high school student employed a version of the saying with the word “success”. The words were enclosed in quotation marks suggesting that the adage was already in circulation: 9

You know, “ success is not a destination, but a journey .”

Yet another variant of the expression was in circulation by 1930: 10

Prof J. C. Archer of Yale University will speak on “ Religion a Journey and Not a Destination ” at the monthly “church night” gathering at Memorial church tomorrow night.

In 1935 a story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer presented a variant: 11

“Helen, somebody has said that happiness is a journey—not a destination . You have it as you go along. You’ve been very happy with two different people.

In 1936 the book “I Knew Them in Prison” by Mary B. Harris invoked two versions 12 of the adage at once: 13

Reformation, like education, is a journey, not a destination.

In 1937 another instance of the maxim about education was printed in a California newspaper: 14

Reporting on education, Mrs. S. G. Stooke said that education is a journey and not a destination , for we must keep developing.

In 1993 the rock band Aerosmith released the song Amazing as a single. The lyrics were written by Steven Tyler and Richie Supa, and they included an instance of the saying: 15

Life’s a journey not a destination And I just can’t tell just what tomorrow brings

In the 2006 movie “Peaceful Warrior” a character named Dan Millman was led on a three-hour trek to a remote location by his mentor, a character named ‘Socrates’ who embodied a wise man archetype. Millman was excited and happy during the trip because he expected to be shown something important and when he was shown a non-descript rock he was initially disappointed. But after reflection Millman said the following to Socrates: 16

Dan Millman: The journey… the journey is what brings us happiness… not the destination

Many of the examples above conform to the following flexible phrasal template. The linguistic term snowclone is used for these collections of related phrases:

X is a journey, not a destination

In conclusion, current evidence indicates that the phrase under investigation is an anonymous modern proverb that entered circulation by 1920.

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Jack Herring for his query on this topic. This question was constructed by QI based on his inquiry. Also, thanks to Dan Goncharoff for noting the relevant quotation due to Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Update History: On September 2, 2012 the 1844 citation for Emerson was added together with the reference to the film Peaceful Warrior. On February 27, 2024 the format of the bibliographical notes was updated.

• 1845 (Copyright 1844), Essays: Second Series by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Second Edition, Essay: II Experience Start Page 49, Quote Page 65, James Munroe and Company, Boston. (Google Books full view) link ↩︎
• 2012, The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, Compiled by Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro, (Phrase: Life is a journey, not a destination), Page 142, Yale University Press, New Haven. (Verified on paper) ↩︎
• 1920 February 19, The Christian Advocate, The Sunday School Lesson, Conducted by Lynn H. Hough: First Quarter – Lesson IX –  February 29, 1920, Quote Page 266, Column 2, The Methodist Book Concern Publishers, New York. (Google Books full view) link ↩︎
• 1854 December 7, The Sunday at Home: A Family Magazine for Sabbath Reading, Page for the Young: The Midnight Feast and Its Lesson, Quote Page 512, The Religious Tract Society, London. (HathiTrust) link   link ↩︎
• 1855, The End: Or, The Proximate Signs of the Close of This Dispensation by Rev. John Cumming, Quote Page 392, John Farquhar Shaw, London. (Google Books full view) link ↩︎
• 1865, A Cyclopaedia of Illustrations of Moral and Religious Truths, Edited by John Bate, Second Edition, Section: Life, Quote Page 535, Elliot Stock, London. (Google Books full view) link ↩︎
• 1922, Roads of Adventure by Ralph D. Paine, Quote Page 404, Houghton Mifflin company, Boston. (Google Books full view) link ↩︎
• 1926 August 27, Richmond Times Dispatch, (Freestanding verse titled: “You Said It, Marceline” On “Flights of Fancy.”), Page 6, Column 4, Richmond, Virginia. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
• 1929 May 12, Times-Picayune, Convent School Wins News Prize by Wide Margin: Third Prize Winning Essay by Irene Wadlington, Quote Page 26, Column 1 and 2, New Orleans, Louisiana. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
• 1930 February 12, Springfield Republican, Yale Professor to Give Address, Page 8, Column 4, Springfield, Massachusetts. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
• 1935 January 25, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Shadows in Paradise by Inez Wallace, Page 8, Column 4, Cleveland, Ohio. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
• 2012, The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, Compiled by Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, and Fred R. Shapiro, Phrase: Education is a journey, not a destination, Page 66, Yale University Press, New Haven. (Verified on paper) ↩︎
• 1936 May 27, Christian Science Monitor, ‘I Knew Them in Prison’: Through the Editor’s Window by Millicent Taylor, (Book Review of “I Knew Them in Prison” by Mary Harris; Quotation about education is reprinted in the review), Quote Page 14, Boston, Massachusetts. (ProQuest) ↩︎
• 1937 December 8, San Diego Union, Civic Unit Warned of Dishonest Businesses, Page 7, Column 4, San Diego, California. (GenealogyBank) ↩︎
• YouTube video, Amazing by Aerosmith, (Quote is sung at 2:04 of 6:50 minutes), Uploaded by AerosmithVEVO on Dec 24, 2009. (Accessed youtube.com on August 31, 2012) link ↩︎
• YouTube video, Video excerpt from Peaceful Warrior (2006), Title: “‘It’s the journey, not the destination’ – Peaceful warrior”, (Quote spoken at 2:39 of 3:11 minutes), Uploaded by lordkostas on Jan 4, 2009. (Accessed youtube.com on September, 2012) link ↩︎

117 Inspirational Travel Quotes to Fuel Your Wanderlust

Who doesn’t love a good travel quote? When I’m feeling a bit glum or stressed (let’s face it, we all do from time to time), I love reading inspirational travel quotes from travellers of centuries past.

I’ll admit – I used to dismiss travel quotes as trite sayings that were clichéd and overused – and you know what, some are. But there’s a lot to be learned from the words of Maya Angelou, Ibn Battuta, T.S. Eliot, John Steinbeck and their ilk.

Somehow, there’s always that one travel quote that is just what you are looking for to brighten your day, the one that reminds us we can really go out and conquer the world – or that taking that first solo trip is never as scary as it seems.

So here we are, the best travel quotes, inspirational travel quotes, journey quotes , adventure quotes and solo travel quotes to help perk up your day. Are you ready?

Inspirational Travel Quotes

“The World is a Book and Those Who do not Travel Only Read One Page.” – Saint Augustine

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

“The soul of the journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do just as one pleases.” William Hazlitt

“For always roaming with a hungry heart, much have I seen and known.” Alfred Tennyson

“Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you travelled.”  The Prophet Mohamed

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”  John Steinbeck

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

“I travel because it makes me realize how much I haven’t seen, how much I’m not going to see, and how much I still need to see.” – Carew Papritz.

“A ship in a harbor is safe, but it not what ships are built for.” – John A. Shedd.

“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” – Alan Keightley

“Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” – Michael Palin.

“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” – JRR Tolkien

“Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God.” – Kurt Vonnegut.  

“Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” – Roy M. Goodman

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends” – Maya Angelou

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac.

“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends.  You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” – Susan Heller

“At its best, travel should challenge our preconceptions and most cherished views, cause us to rethink our assumptions, shake us a bit, make us broader minded and more understanding.” – Arthur Frommer.

“Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”  – Gustave Flaubert

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”  Mark Twain

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

“Live your life by a compass not a clock.” – Stephen Covey

“The open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself.” – William Least Heat Moon.

“If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.” – Anthony Bourdain

“You know more of a road by having travelled it than by all the conjectures and descriptions in the world.” –  William Hazlitt

“Journeys are the midwives of thought. Few places are more conducive to internal conversations than moving planes, ships or trains.” –  Alain de Botton

“People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” –   Dagobert David Runes

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”  – Henry David Thoreau

“How you live your life is up to you. You have to go out and grab the world by the horns. Rope it before it ties you down and decides for you.” –  Sarah Reijonen

“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float; to gain all while you give; to roam the roads of lands remote; to travel is to live.” –  Hans Christian Andersen

“For the born traveller, travelling is a besetting vice. Like other vices, it is imperious, demanding its victim’s time, money, energy and the sacrifice of comfort.” –  Aldous Leonard Huxley

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less travelled by.”  Robert Lee Frost

“Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.” – Isabelle Eberhardt

“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert

“Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” – Ray Bradbury

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

“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.” – Jamie Lyn Beatty

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru.

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

“Travel is only glamorous in retrospect” –  Paul Theroux

“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do — especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” –  William Least Heat Moon

“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” -Bill Bryson

“Own only what you can always carry with you: known languages, known countries, known people. Let your memory be your travel bag” – Alexandr Solzhenitsyn

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.” – Jack Kerouac

“Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel’s immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way.” – Ralph Crawshaw

“Every exit is an entry somewhere else.” – Tom Stoppard.

“Travel is never a matter of money but of courage.” – Paulo Coelho

“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”- Greg Anderson

“The journey itself is my home.” – Bashō Matsuo

“He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own.” – Wolfgang Goethe

“Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” – Jennifer Lee

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

“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” – Randy Komisar

“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain

“The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have.” – Anna Quindlen

“The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life.” – Agnes Repplier

“Travel empties out everything you’ve into the box called your life, all the things you accumulate to tell you who you are” – Claire Fontaine

“Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.” – Wendell Berry

“Adventure is allowing the unexpected to happen to you. Exploration is experiencing what you have not experienced before. How can there be any adventure, any exploration, if you let somebody else – above all, a travel bureau – arrange everything before-hand?” – Richard Aldington

“I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for me. I am then never less alone than when alone.”-  William Hazlitt

“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.” –  Cesare Pavese

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” –   Ralph Emerson

“I address you all tonight for who you truly are: wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventurers, and magicians. You are the true dreamers.” – Brian Selznick.

“Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty – his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.” –-Aldous Huxley

“Traveling outgrows its motives. It soon proves sufficient in itself. You think you are making a trip, but soon it is making you – or unmaking you.” – Nicolas Bouvier

“I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side.” – Roman Payne

“Whenever you go on a trip to visit foreign lands or distant places, remember that they are all someone’s home and backyard.” – Vera Nazarian

“The journey is part of the experience – an expression of the seriousness of one’s intent. One doesn’t take the A train to Mecca.” – Anthony Bourdain

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

“We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfilment.” – Hilaire Belloc

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” -Terry Pratchett.

“To get away from one’s working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one’s self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.” –  Charles Horton Cooley

“Too often. . .I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.” – Louis L’Amour.

“We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” – John Hope Franklin

“Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.” – John Muir

“People who don’t travel cannot have a global view, all they see is what’s in front of them. Those people cannot accept new things because all they know is where they live.” – Martin Yan

“The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine

“NOT I – NOT ANYONE else, can travel that road for you, You must travel it for yourself.” – Walt Whitman

“An adventure may be worn as a muddy spot or it may be worn as a proud insignia. It is the woman wearing it who makes it the one thing or the other.” – Norma Shearer

“Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.” – Judith Thurman

“Great things are done when men and mountains meet.” – William Blake

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

“ Paris is always a good idea.” – Audrey Hepburn

“In travelling, I shape myself betimes to idleness and take fools’ pleasure.”- George Eliot

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” – Lawrence Block

“In Life, It’s Not Where You Go, It’s Who You Travel With” –   Charles Schulz

“I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.” – George Bernard Shaw

“Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.” – Ernest Hemingway

“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret” – Oscar Wilde

“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves – in finding themselves.” – Andre Gide

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” –  Anais Nin

“It is not down in any map; true places never are.” –  Herman Melville

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”  – Oscar Wilde

“A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse…and thinks of home.” – Carl Burns

“I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine.” – Caskie Stinnet

“Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, “I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.” – Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

“All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.” – Samuel Johnson

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travellers don’t know where they’re going.” –  Paul Theroux

“Remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman

“A journey, after all, neither begins in the instant we set out, nor ends when we have reached our doorstep once again. It starts much earlier and is really never over, because the film of memory continues running on inside of us long after we have come to a physical standstill. Indeed, there exists something like a contagion of travel, and the disease is essentially incurable.” – Ryszard Kapuściński

 “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” –  Tim Cahill

“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Dame Freya Madeline Stark

“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It’s lethal.” – Paulo Coelho

“I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on earth, then I ask myself the same question.” – Harun Yahya

“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” – Rudyard Kipling

“Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of the experience.” – Francis Bacon

“Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.” – Izaak Walton

“Surely, of all the wonders of the world, the horizon is the greatest.” – Freya Star

“The farther you go, however, the harder it is to return. The world has many edges, and it’s easy to fall off.” – Anderson Cooper.

“If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet” – Rachel Wolchin

“The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.”- Christopher McCandless

“Never hesitate to go far away, beyond all seas, all frontiers, all countries, all beliefs.” – Amin Maalouf

“You thought too hard. Same with travel. You can’t work too much at it, or it feels like work. You have to surrender yourself to the chaos. To the accidents.” –  Gayle Forman

“No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be.” – Chuck Thompson

So, there we are – the best travel quotes to fuel your wanderlust! Looking for more travel inspiration? Check out the best travel memes.

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I’m Julianna Barnaby - a professional travel writer and geek extraordinaire. I started The Discoveries Of to help you to discover the best of new destinations from around the world.

Discovering new places is a thrill - whether it’s close to home, a new country or continent, I write to help you explore more and explore differently.

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• THE BIG IDEA

Why travel should be considered an essential human activity

Travel is not rational, but it’s in our genes. Here’s why you should start planning a trip now.

In 1961, legendary National Geographic photographer Volkmar Wentzel captured two women gazing at the surf off Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. This and all the other images in this story come from the National Geographic image collection.

I’ve been putting my passport to good use lately. I use it as a coaster and to level wobbly table legs. It makes an excellent cat toy.

Welcome to the pandemic of disappointments. Canceled trips, or ones never planned lest they be canceled. Family reunions, study-abroad years, lazy beach vacations. Poof. Gone. Obliterated by a tiny virus, and the long list of countries where United States passports are not welcome.

Only a third of Americans say they have traveled overnight for leisure since March, and only slightly more, 38 percent, say they are likely to do so by the end of the year, according to one report. Only a quarter of us plan on leaving home for Thanksgiving, typically the busiest travel time. The numbers paint a grim picture of our stilled lives.

It is not natural for us to be this sedentary. Travel is in our genes. For most of the time our species has existed, “we’ve lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers moving about in small bands of 150 or fewer people,” writes Christopher Ryan in Civilized to Death . This nomadic life was no accident. It was useful. “Moving to a neighboring band is always an option to avoid brewing conflict or just for a change in social scenery,” says Ryan. Robert Louis Stevenson put it more succinctly: “The great affair is to move.”

What if we can’t move, though? What if we’re unable to hunt or gather? What’s a traveler to do? There are many ways to answer that question. “Despair,” though, is not one of them.

In this aerial view from 1967, wall-to-wall seaside sunbathers relax under umbrellas or on beach towels in Ocean City, Maryland .

A 1967 fall festival in Guadalajara, Mexico , starred traditionally costumed musicians and dancers.

We are an adaptive species. We can tolerate brief periods of forced sedentariness. A dash of self-delusion helps. We’re not grounded, we tell ourselves. We’re merely between trips, like the unemployed salesman in between opportunities. We pass the days thumbing though old travel journals and Instagram feeds. We gaze at souvenirs. All this helps. For a while.

We put on brave faces. “Staycation Nation,” the cover of the current issue of Canadian Traveller magazine declares cheerfully, as if it were a choice, not a consolation.

Today, the U.S. Travel Association, the industry trade organization, is launching a national recovery campaign called “ Let’s Go There .” Backed by a coalition of businesses related to tourism—hotels, convention and visitor bureaus, airlines—the initiative’s goal is to encourage Americans to turn idle wanderlust into actual itineraries.

The travel industry is hurting. So are travelers. “I dwelled so much on my disappointment that it almost physically hurt,” Paris -based journalist Joelle Diderich told me recently, after canceling five trips last spring.

(Related: How hard has the coronavirus hit the travel industry? These charts tell us.)

My friend James Hopkins is a Buddhist living in Kathmandu . You’d think he’d thrive during the lockdown, a sort-of mandatory meditation retreat. For a while he did.

But during a recent Skype call, James looked haggard and dejected. He was growing restless, he confessed, and longed “for the old 10-countries-a-year schedule.” Nothing seemed to help, he told me. “No matter how many candles I lit, or how much incense I burned, and in spite of living in one of the most sacred places in South Asia, I just couldn’t change my habits.”

When we ended our call, I felt relieved, my grumpiness validated. It’s not me; it’s the pandemic. But I also worried. If a Buddhist in Kathmandu is going nuts, what hope do the rest of us stilled souls have?

I think hope lies in the very nature of travel. Travel entails wishful thinking. It demands a leap of faith, and of imagination, to board a plane for some faraway land, hoping, wishing, for a taste of the ineffable. Travel is one of the few activities we engage in not knowing the outcome and reveling in that uncertainty. Nothing is more forgettable than the trip that goes exactly as planned.

Related: Vintage photos of the glamour of travel

Travel is not a rational activity. It makes no sense to squeeze yourself into an alleged seat only to be hurled at frightening speed to a distant place where you don’t speak the language or know the customs. All at great expense. If we stopped to do the cost-benefit analysis, we’d never go anywhere. Yet we do.

That’s one reason why I’m bullish on travel’s future. In fact, I’d argue travel is an essential industry, an essential activity. It’s not essential the way hospitals and grocery stores are essential. Travel is essential the way books and hugs are essential. Food for the soul. Right now, we’re between courses, savoring where we’ve been, anticipating where we’ll go. Maybe it’s Zanzibar and maybe it’s the campground down the road that you’ve always wanted to visit.

(Related: Going camping this fall? Here’s how to get started.)

James Oglethorpe, a seasoned traveler, is happy to sit still for a while, and gaze at “the slow change of light and clouds on the Blue Ridge Mountains” in Virginia, where he lives. “My mind can take me the rest of the way around this world and beyond it.”

It’s not the place that is special but what we bring to it and, crucially, how we interact with it. Travel is not about the destination, or the journey. It is about stumbling across “a new way of looking at things,” as writer Henry Miller observed. We need not travel far to gain a fresh perspective.

No one knew this better than Henry David Thoreau , who lived nearly all of his too-short life in Concord, Massachusetts. There he observed Walden Pond from every conceivable vantage point: from a hilltop, on its shores, underwater. Sometimes he’d even bend over and peer through his legs, marveling at the inverted world. “From the right point of view, every storm and every drop in it is a rainbow,” he wrote.

Thoreau never tired of gazing at his beloved pond, nor have we outgrown the quiet beauty of our frumpy, analog world. If anything, the pandemic has rekindled our affection for it. We’ve seen what an atomized, digital existence looks like, and we (most of us anyway) don’t care for it. The bleachers at Chicago ’s Wrigley Field; the orchestra section at New York City ’s Lincoln Center; the alleyways of Tokyo . We miss these places. We are creatures of place, and always will be.

After the attacks of September 11, many predicted the end of air travel, or at least a dramatic reduction. Yet the airlines rebounded steadily and by 2017 flew a record four billion passengers. Briefly deprived of the miracle of flight, we appreciated it more and today tolerate the inconvenience of body scans and pat-downs for the privilege of transporting our flesh-and-bone selves to far-flung locations, where we break bread with other incarnate beings.

Landscape architects work in their Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , studio in 1955.

A tourist photographs a towering century plant in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1956.

In our rush to return to the world, we should be mindful of the impact of mass tourism on the planet. Now is the time to embrace the fundamental values of sustainable tourism and let them guide your future journeys. Go off the beaten path. Linger longer in destinations. Travel in the off-season. Connect with communities and spend your money in ways that support locals. Consider purchasing carbon offsets. And remember that the whole point of getting out there is to embrace the differences that make the world so colorful.

“One of the great benefits of travel is meeting new people and coming into contact with different points of view,” says Pauline Frommer, travel expert and radio host.

So go ahead and plan that trip. It’s good for you, scientists say . Plotting a trip is nearly as enjoyable as actually taking one. Merely thinking about a pleasurable experience is itself pleasurable. Anticipation is its own reward.

I’ve witnessed first-hand the frisson of anticipatory travel. My wife, not usually a fan of travel photography, now spends hours on Instagram, gazing longingly at photos of Alpine lodges and Balinese rice fields. “What’s going on?” I asked one day. “They’re just absolutely captivating,” she replied. “They make me remember that there is a big, beautiful world out there.”

Many of us, myself included, have taken travel for granted. We grew lazy and entitled, and that is never good. Tom Swick, a friend and travel writer, tells me he used to view travel as a given. Now, he says, “I look forward to experiencing it as a gift.”

Related Topics

• TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
• VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHY

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• ◉ Share Your Story ◉

Happiness is Not a Destination: How to Enjoy the Journey

What is happiness? Is it a destination or a journey? If happiness is a journey, then how do you focus on the journey, not the destination? And who said that happiness is a journey, not a destination? Which is a more important journey or destination when it comes to happiness?

We need to learn how to make the most of where we are today and enjoy the journey ; because If we spend our whole lives working, rushing and dashing, and trying to get to the ideal destination, we miss the journey getting there.

How to Enjoy the Journey When All You Want to Do is Reach Your Destination

If you’re not where you want to be in life, I want to let you know that, although the associated feelings may not be delightful, this is actually a good thing.

This means that you have aspirations and goals that you’re striving towards, and in striving towards them, you are growing and evolving into a better version of yourself.

All your wildest dreams just haven’t been realized yet , which may cause you to experience a bit of impatience and hopelessness, feelings that may be supplemented by inadequacy when you find yourself scrolling through other people’s highlight reels on social media. Having experienced this multiple times in my life, I’d like to share with you 4 lessons that I’ve learned along the way that may be useful for you on your journey.

1. Trust The Process

Several years ago, after one year out of the workforce, I decided that it was time to apply for jobs again. The job search process felt like an emotional roller coaster – I’d submit my resume, unsure of whether or not I’d hear back. When I heard back, I’d feel excited for the opportunity to go on an interview, and after the interview, I’d feel dejected because, through the interview, I realized that the company and I were not a good match for each other. This dragged on for weeks, which turned into months.

However, through the job search process, in order to keep myself grounded, I cultivated a daily meditation and yoga practice, which I maintain to this day. Had I secured a job right away and not gone through the emotional roller coaster, I probably would not have developed my personal mindfulness practice that has been a game-changer in my life. When I finally did land a job months later, it felt right –  it met every criteria I was looking for in a job.

2. Everything is Happening for You

When I was a college senior, I got a job in consulting through on-campus recruiting and was slated to join the Products & Services team at my firm. However, because I deferred my start date for a year, when I joined the firm a year later, there was no longer a need in Products & Services, and instead, I was placed on the Financial Services team, for which I had no interest.

In fact, I spent the bulk of my time at the firm trying to make an internal transfer to join another team where I felt like I could better leverage my skills and experiences.

Unfortunately, as I watched other people successfully transfer from one team to another, I was still stuck on the same team and wondered why I wasn’t able to do the same. My immediate thoughts were, “This sucks, and this isn’t fair.”

Then it dawned on me that if I’m unable to make an internal transfer, then maybe it’s time for me to look for another job outside of the firm.

Within weeks, I found a new job and moved to a company that was more aligned with what I studied and what I cared about.

With hindsight, I can see that it was a good thing that I was denied the internal transfer.

3. The World is an Abundant Place 

In college, I knew that there was only a limited number of seats available for coveted consulting jobs. So, if someone landed a spot, my chances just went down. As such, I believed that opportunities were hard to come by, and I developed a scarcity mindset .

I acknowledge that the job market may be tight and competitive at times. However, I also acknowledge that there are also 7.8 billion people globally, and with that many people, there are opportunities out there.

When we focus on the competition and how tight the job market is, life will become a self-fulfilling prophecy where we work to prove ourselves right. We focus on growth, so if we, instead, choose to focus on the fact that there are so many possibilities out there, some that we can’t even fathom right now, our minds will subconsciously work in ways to find those opportunities.

4. Everything has Always Worked Out, and It Will Continue to Do So

I was incredibly stressed out in high school and obsessed over every paper, quiz, and exam. If I could go back in time and visit my high school self, I’d tell her to stop worrying so much about getting into college, that everything will work out!

I was also very stressed out as a college senior because I was worried about my employment prospects. If I could go back in time and visit my college self, I’d also tell her to stop worrying so much about getting a job, that everything will work out!

When we are caught in the thick of things, it feels like we’re drowning in our worries, and it’s hard to come up for a breath of air and notice the horizon beyond where we currently are.

Perhaps you’ve felt stuck in the same place for a long time, worried if things will change. I promise you that the efforts that you’re making are propelling you forward, even if the results are not yet evident.

Your progress is inevitable – you may not see clear results tomorrow or the next day. However, a year from now, you’ll be at a much different place, where you’ll be able to look back and see how all that worrying was for nothing. When you trust that you’ll reach your destination, you’ll learn to enjoy the ride getting there.

photo source | adobe 

READ NEXT: How to Take Your Life From Stuck to Absolutely Amazing

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Atlas & Boots

The UK's most popular outdoor travel blog

95 most inspirational travel quotes ever penned

Our favourite inspirational travel quotes have encouraged us to travel with abandon over the years. Perhaps they will do the same for you…

For us, there is no such thing as luxury travel; travel is, by default, a luxury. It is a privilege provided by the country of our birth, a privilege that many are not as fortunate to enjoy.

Sometimes, we have to pinch ourselves at just how ridiculous our lives have become: an ex-teacher and jobbing writer travelling the world for a living. It is absurd, it is astonishing, it is luxury.

When I first went travelling at 21 years old, my father gave me this quote scrawled on a piece of card.

It infused me with wanderlust. It encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone, make the most of my time, see the world and enjoy the freedom that comes with being on the road. It remains one of the most inspirational travel quotes I’ve read (even if Twain did not actually say it).

Today, 20 years and almost 100 countries later, it’s still in my wallet. Despite its tattered and dishevelled appearance, it’s every bit as important to me now as it was then.

With that in mind, we’ve collated our most beloved inspirational travel quotes to encourage readers to “explore, dream and discover” for themselves.

inspirational travel quotes

1. “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

2. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

3. “Travel is never a matter of money, but of courage.” – Paulo Coelho

4. “With age, comes wisdom. With travel, comes understanding.” – Sandra Lake

5. “When overseas you learn more about your own country, than you do the place you’re visiting.” – Clint Borgen

6. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

7. “Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the moon.” – Paul Brandt

8. “The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau

9. “The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” – Rudyard Kipling

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

11. “When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” – Susan Heller Anderson

12. “No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be.” – Chuck Thompson

13. “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

14. “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

15. “There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.” – Charles Dudley Warner

16. “A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships were built for.” – John A. Shedd

17. “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux

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

19. “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. “Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli

21. “Once a year, go somewhere you’ve never been before.” – The Dalai Lama

22. “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

23. “What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re travelling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon

24. “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

25. “Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” – Paul Theroux

26. “A traveller without observation is a bird without wings.” – Moslih Eddin Saadi

27. “Your true traveller finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.” – Aldous Huxley

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

29. “All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.” – Samuel Johnson

30. “Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.” – Anatole France

31. “I can’t control the wind but I can adjust the sail.” – Ricky Skaggs

32. “We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfilment.” – Hilaire Belloc

33. “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” – Dagobert D. Runes

34. “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

35. “The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson

36. “You don’t have to be rich to travel well.” – Eugene Fodor

37. “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou

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

39. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost

40. “Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

41. “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

42. “Once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” ― Michael Palin

43. “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill

44. “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

45. “When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman

46. “There are far, far better things ahead than we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis

47. “Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art.” – Freya Stark

48. “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” – Aldous Huxley

49. “All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveller learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.” – Paul Fussell

50. “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain

51. “The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

52. “Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation.” – Elizabeth Drew

53. “People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck

54. “Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” – Ray Bradbury

55. “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert

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

57. “Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator.” – Robert Orben

58. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

59. “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” – Oscar Wilde

60. “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

61. “If an ass goes travelling, he’ll not come home a horse.” – Thomas Fuller

62. “Travelling tends to magnify all human emotions.” – Peter Hoeg

63. “To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote: To travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Andersen

64. “To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark

65. “I am not the same having seen the moon shine from the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

66. “I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on earth. Then I ask myself the same question.” – Harun Yahya

67. “I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad.” – George Bernard Shaw

68. “A wise traveler never despises his own country.” – Carlo Goldoni

69. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide

70 “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

71. “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin

72. “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

73. “The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

74. “A man of ordinary talent will always be ordinary, whether he travels or not; but a man of superior talent will go to pieces if he remains forever in the same place.” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

75. “He who would travel happily must travel light.” – Antoine de St. Exupery

76. “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

77. “The more I travelled the more I realised that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine

78. “Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” – Stephen Covey

78. “Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” – Lawrence Block

80. “Take only memories, leave only footprints.” – Chief Seattle – or Si’ahl

81. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller

82. “It is not down in any map; true places never are.” – Herman Melville

83. “We live in a world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

84. “The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself” – Wallace Stevens

85. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch

86. “Paris is always a good idea.” – Julia Ormond (although it is often wrongly attributed to Audrey Hepburn)

87. “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the trip.” – Babs Hoffman

88. “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

89. “Jobs fill your pocket but adventures fill your soul.” – Jaime Lyn Beatty

90. “It is in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown. The only true failure would be not to explore at all.” – Sir Ernest Shackleton

91. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” –  Jack Kerouac

92. “Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things can not be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain

93. “Live with no excuses and travel with no regrets.” – Oscar Wilde

94. “Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” – Roy M Goodman

95. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain (or possibly H Jackson Brown Jr )

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Why Happiness Is A Journey And Not A Destination

by Christian

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Updated on January 29, 2023

“Happiness is a journey.” You’ve definitely heard this before. So what exactly does it mean? If happiness isn’t a destination, then how do we find it? And if happiness is a journey, does that mean we never really get there? Many people swear by this common saying – so are they right, or is it just a cliche?

Your happiness depends on a lot of things, like genetics and life experiences – but as much as 40% is in your control. The way you conceive of happiness can have a big impact on just how happy you are. If you go chasing after it, you may find it slips through your fingers. The expression “Happiness is a journey” is all about thinking about happiness the right way – and finding ways to enjoy all the steps.

There are a couple of different ways to interpret this expression, and each of them will teach you something important about happiness. In this article, we’ll look at all the ways happiness can be thought of as a journey, with examples and actual research to help you apply them to your own life.

I’ll be happy when …..

Affective forecasting in science, a little happiness every day vs a lot of happiness at once, creating your own happiness, active anticipation vs happiness, enjoying the journey and the destination, closing words, happiness as a goal in life.

We often talk about happiness as a goal — something to be attained, like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The problem with this approach is that we forget to enjoy the present moment. There’s nothing wrong with setting goals for yourself, but if you think achieving a certain goal will finally bring you happiness, you may be in for a disappointment . One reason is that the predictions we make about how we’ll feel in the future aren’t very accurate.

When I was studying psychology at university, one of our professors asked us at the beginning of the course to fill out a survey. Several of the questions had to do with what grade we thought we’d get, and how we’d feel if we got a better or worse grade. At the end of the year, after we received back our grades, we were asked to note our emotional response.

It turns out that almost all our predictions were incorrect. Those of us who got a better grade than we’d predicted at the beginning of the year didn’t feel as happy as we thought we would – and those of us who got a worse grade didn’t feel as bad as predicted!

The ability to accurately predict our future emotional states is called affective forecasting and it turns out that humans are pretty bad at it . We make consistently bad predictions about how we’ll feel:

• When a relationship ends
• When we do well in sports
• When we get a good grade
• When we graduate from college
• When we get a promotion
• Just about anything else

There are a couple of different reasons why we’re so bad at this, but two of the main ones are because we usually overestimate how intensely we’ll feel an emotion and for how long .

Another important reason we’re bad at predicting our emotions is that we usually fail to take into account the complexity of future events. You might think you’ll be happy when you get a promotion – but you may find yourself over-worked, with too much responsibility and not enough time.

Finally, this study found that the more people equate goal-achievement with happiness, the more they’re likely to be miserable when they fail to achieve that goal. If there’s a lesson to be learned from poor affective forecasting, it’s that you shouldn’t count on specific events to make you happy.

Another reason why it’s not great to put all your happiness eggs in one basket is that your happiness depends more on the frequency of happy events , and not the intensity.

In other words, it’s better to have lots of little happy moments than one or two bigs ones. Not only this, but research has shown that happiness from individual events doesn’t actually last that long . And it turns out that one of the best ways to prolong feelings of happiness following an event is to relive what it is that made you happy .

These three studies together tell us something very important about happiness: you should try to maximize the number of small, happy events in your life as much as you can.

Why is happiness a journey and not a destination? Because whatever you think is the destination, it probably won’t make you as happy as you’d like, and you may end up miserable if you don’t get there. It’s better to enjoy little events along the way.

I came across this cute and clever meme today in the gym. Maybe you’ve seen it.

It got me to thinking that one of the reasons why lots of people are unhappy is because they go out looking for happiness, rather than cultivating it in their lives. In a previous article, we explained how happiness is an inside job – it’s something that you can build up from the inside, without having to resort to external sources.

One overview of the paradoxes inherent in seeking happiness came to this conclusion:

Happiness is pursued indirectly as the by-product of meaningful activities and relationships.

While the reasons are manifold (and a bit complex), it looks like “searching for it everywhere” is just about the worst way to go about it. Maddeningly, this study found that valuing happiness as an end goal or destination may “lead people to be less happy just when happiness is within reach.” Finally, when we’re focused on happiness as a destination, we end up feeling like we have less time to enjoy it . So if happiness isn’t a destination we can find and get to, how do we create it?

Well, I already mentioned one article, but the Learn To Be Happy Blog is full of advice based on real-world examples and research on how to cultivate happiness in your day to day life. Some examples include journaling for self-improvement , spreading happiness to others , and (of course!) being physically active . There are lots of ways to create happiness in your life, and studies have shown it’s a lot more effective than looking for it.

Why is happiness a journey and not a destination? Because you may never find the destination, in which case you’ve got a long, long journey ahead of you. So enjoy it! When you get happiness from the journey, you can stop looking for it elsewhere.

Happiness on the horizon

I love facts. Did you know that we share 50% of our DNA with lettuce? Or that a piece of paper folded 42 times would reach the moon? (Turns out you can’t fold a piece of paper more than 8 times. Sorry NASA).

Well, here’s another one of my favorites: people are typically happier planning vacations than after going on them .

In fact, the anticipation of an event is often more enjoyable than the event itself, and we’re happier looking forward to it than we are remembering it. Why is that? Well, it’s due in part to what we talked about in the first part of this article, affective forecasting. We overestimate how much a vacation or some other event will make us happy. But we love imagining it, planning it and getting excited about it!

This is called active anticipation and it’s a fantastic way to enjoy the happiness journey. There are lots of ways to practice active anticipation of an event – you can journal about it, watch movies or read books in a similar vein, or do research on things to do. The important thing is to enjoy the process as much as you can.

This also means you’ll be happier if you always have something good on the horizon, whether it’s a trip, a play, a dinner with friends, or just a nice meal at the end of the week.

If that seems contradictory to the first two interpretations of Happiness as a journey, remember to focus on active anticipation — take as much pleasure as you can in planning the details.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy yourself at the party! But it does mean that you should try to enjoy planning it too. Don’t attach your happiness to the upcoming event. You can look forward to the event without saying to yourself, “I’ll finally be happy when I go on vacation”, or “I’ll finally be happy when I see my friends!”

The point is to enjoy all of it – the journey there and the destination.

Why is happiness a journey and not a destination? Because the journey can be a lot more fun than the destination itself, and if you take the time to really enjoy each step along the way, you’ll spend more time being happy. Having something to look forward to helps you be happier in the present, which means that the journey is never really over. When you reach one destination, just keep on trekking!

💡 By the way : If you want to start feeling better and more productive, I’ve condensed the information of 100’s of our articles into a 10-step mental health cheat sheet here. 👇

This Cheat Sheet Will Help You Be Happier and More Productive

Thrive under stress and crush your goals with these 10 unique tips for your mental health.

We’ve seen a number of different ways that happiness is best thought of as a journey and not a destination. It turns out that people are happiest when they have something to look forward to, when they enjoy the steps that take them there, and when they don’t attach too much importance to individual events.

On the flip side, focusing on happiness as a destination to be found or reached, putting all your hopes on big life events, and aiming for one or two really happy moments rather than a series of little ones, are all things that can make you less happy. It turns out the cliché is true: happiness really is a journey, one to be enjoyed to the fullest.

Now I’m looking forward to hearing from you! Have you experienced things similar to what I discussed in this article? Did I miss something? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Academic researcher and writer with a passion for statistical analysis, neuropsychology and mental health.

2 thoughts on “Why Happiness Is A Journey And Not A Destination”

Great article. I was a very unhappy person when I was younger and it took me a long time to realize that happiness was up to me, not up to the world or people around me. Now, I look for things to be happy about every day. It has changed my life.

Thanks for sharing, Sherri!

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How to Enjoy the Journey; Happiness is not a Destination

by Adam Eason | Jul 14, 2022 | Blog | 0 comments

“ Happiness is a direction, not a place”- Sydney Harris.

We often get so caught up chasing after goals or our dreams that we forget that real happiness can be found in the journey. You may think that you will be happy once you get the promotion you have wanted for so long, or you will be happy once you fulfil your lifelong dream of travelling the world. But the truth is that happiness usually lies in the journey and not just the outcome. With each dream, you have fulfilled or each goal you have accomplished, you may well continue to push the goalpost further and further away or continue to set further goals and work towards additional dreams.

As it turns out, no dream or goal is likely to make us happy forever. You may use your dreams and goals to motivate you, but don’t let your dreams get in the way of enjoying the journey of life to the fullest. Remember that you can give it your best shot but can’t always totally control the outcome. So, don’t let your happiness depend upon the outcome; try to make the most of the present moments – those that make up your actual life.

Once you do so, you will begin seeing things differently. You would start looking at the journey as an opportunity to learn rather than as a series of challenging landscapes you have to cross for your dreams to come true, appreciate what life throws at you because it will allow you to develop and grow stronger. You will stop looking for shortcuts to success and respect the progress you have made so far.

Here today are seven ways to enjoy life’s journey without missing it and getting bogged down with a destination so many get consumed with.

• Be grateful for the present moment.

Practising gratitude for all you have can make you see how lucky, privileged, and abundant you are. Don’t associate being grateful with settling for what you have. You can be grateful for what you have and still strive for more of your dreams to come true. Being grateful for what you have will allow you to enjoy the journey rather than depend on the destination as your only source of happiness.

Therefore, instead of being upset and sad that your business is not necessarily taking off, be grateful that you have accomplished your lifelong dream of running a business of your own. Be positive; hopefully, you will bounce back from this setback stronger. Don’t take anything for granted, and practice gratitude every day. Try listing down the things you have and the things you are grateful for every day. This list will remind you about the good that has befallen you, and this practice will keep negative thoughts at bay and make you much more optimistic.

You have so much to be grateful for. You are beautiful, strong, healthy, and resilient. Not only will being more grateful serve as a mood booster, but it will also positively affect your mental and physical well-being and allow you to enjoy the journey of life in a much better way.

• Identify how you want to feel.

You think you will be happy once you buy your dream house. This likely means that it is not the house you are after; it is the happiness it brings you that you want. You may not necessarily want a lot of money ; rather, you want to feel the freedom and confidence that comes with it.

You may not want the big promotion; you may want the respect and appreciation that comes with it. It is how certain achievements make you feel that you are usually striving for, not the things themselves. So do more things that make you feel respected, worthy, and happy. If you spend more of your life feeling how you want to feel when you reach the destination, you will be able to enjoy your life much more. If you have no clue how you can identify the way you want to feel, don’t worry.

On a daily basis, list two to three feelings that you want to feel. It can be happy, appreciated, respected, peaceful, satisfied, or joyful, for example. Then on the same piece of paper, write how you can create a situation that makes you feel that way right now instead of waiting to get to the destination. Then make those feelings happen. Schedule activities that would make you feel the way you want.

• Know that we spend all our time on the journey

We are always on the journey. We accomplish a dream, reach the destination, and then move on to the next journey. So, it naturally makes sense to enjoy the journey where you spend most of your time. Once you realise that it is the journey on which you spend most of your time, you will begin to enjoy your life much more. An example of holidays is relevant here. Most of us enjoy the holidays before Christmas more than Christmas itself. So, think of your journey as the holidays before Christmas and start enjoying it right now.

• Set milestones for yourself

While setting goals for yourself, make sure you break them into smaller milestones to make your journey more doable and uplifting. You can use the SMART goal criteria to plan and achieve your goals. SMART is a mnemonic acronym that George Doran first proposed. S stands for specific, M for measurable, A for achievable, R for realistic, and T for time-bound (though I prefer ‘Trackable’).

Setting goals using this criterion would allow you to get better results. Breaking down your ultimate goal into smaller goals would help you acknowledge the real progress you have made. It would motivate you and make you want to continue the journey. You will realise that you are constantly learning and making progress, which will help you keep going. Not doing so can make you feel demotivated compared to breaking down your ultimate goal into smaller milestones.

Seeing that you have spent this much time and money but have not achieved your goal can make you despair. So, set realistic and achievable goals for yourself that make you want to continue the journey and make it more joyful. Then enjoy the steps you take to get there and celebrate your progress along the way.

• Establish a routine for yourself

Creating a routine for yourself makes you closer to accomplishing your goal. Thus, in a way, it routinely makes you feel happier. On the other hand, not having a routine can make you feel the opposite of happy. It can cause you a great deal of stress and anxiety, hampering your productivity. According to Rachel Goldman, a licensed psychologist in NYC specialising in health and wellness, “when people don’t have a routine or structure to their day, it can cause increased stress and anxiety, as well as overwhelming feelings, lack of concentration, and focus.

” The word “routine” can be scary for some people as they feel it robs away their freedom. If you are one of those people, our advice is to see routine as a way of making your life more organised and productive. Break away from the stereotypes and stop thinking of having a routine as a cool thing, eliminating spontaneity and surprise from life. Not having a routine can increase the feelings of distress.

So, if you want to create a routine for yourself, Dr Goldman’s advice is that “a good place to start with creating a new routine is to set wake-up and bedtimes, as well as mean and activity times.” Hopefully, a routine will add more structure to your destination and make your journey more productive and satisfying for you. Read this brilliant article for more on this topic: Why you need routine in your life .

• Don’t focus on what you don’t have.

It is only human to make unhealthy comparisons and be hard on ourselves for things we don’t have. But just because our brains normally work this way doesn’t mean we have to stay this way. Good news! Science has discovered that we can re-grow our brain cells and change the structure and function of our brains by changing how we think. This means we don’t always have to be victims of unfair comparisons. It is important to realise that comparing yourself with others can negatively affect your mental wellbeing. It robs you of all the joy and causes you unhappiness. Comparing yourself with others is a trap. It makes you feel unsatisfied with life and overcomplicates your life. Read this article for more on this topic: Stop Comparing Yourself to Others .

Moreover, when you compare yourself with others, you tend to feel insecure about your accomplishments in life. This leads to misery, jealousy, and self-destructive behaviour. Don’t fall into this rabbit hole. You can easily put an end to this habit by focusing on things you do have. When you focus on the things you do have, you feel motivated, empowered, and confident. You start believing in yourself and become more resilient. It gives you the courage to bounce back from any setback that you might experience in your journey.

Moreover, it changes your outlook on life. You become more positive, which helps you enjoy the journey of life. So if you feel that you haven’t featured in a lot of films, unlike all the other popular actors, remind yourself of your acting skills. Doing so will motivate you since you will know it is just a matter of time before you get your big role.

A good way to enjoy the journey on your own instead of missing out on it because of your destination is to unplug now and then. Unplugging ourselves from technology and work can help us get more clarity in life. Although it is good to have goals to focus on, it is important to realise that the burnout culture is extremely detrimental to our health. It causes physical and mental stress and also manipulates us into thinking that our destination is our happiness, robbing us of our happiness and freedom.

Unplugging allows us to live in the present moment and savour it. It makes us appreciate the present and embrace that there are things beyond our control. We have a few tips for you if you struggle with work-life balance and find it hard to unplug. Don’t answer any work-related calls or emails after working hours. You can set up technology-free zones. For example, no phone or gadget in the dining room or bedroom.

Practice mindfulness. The mindfulness exercise aims to focus and live in the present moment and understand your present feelings without self-judgment. Mindfulness practices such as breathing exercises, meditation, and guided imagery are scientifically proven to fight anxiety, help reduce stress and relax the body and mind. Simple mindfulness practice can make a big difference in how you see yourself and your life. Hopefully, learning how to unplug will help divert your focus from the endgame to the journey.

The journey of life is one of the most beautiful things life has to offer. So, don’t miss it! Don’t second guess yourself and change your path just because you have received a few minor setbacks. And don’t waste your journey by searching exclusively for happiness in the outcome.

Although changing your concept of happiness is hard, it is not impossible. Remember that your destination will be so much more joyful if you enjoyed the journey that helped you reach this destination in our experience of setting milestones for ourselves, reminding ourselves that we spend most of our time on the journey, and being grateful for where we are works best when trying to learn how to enjoy the journey. All we have is right now. Life is short, so enjoy the journey for as long as it lasts. Stop seeing your destination as an accomplishment of a goal and let your destination be a surprise to you after a joyful and adventurous journey. And who knows? Maybe the destination we get to is a much better one than we imagined for ourselves.

It would only be right to end this article with a quote by Greg Anderson, “focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”

Happy travelling!

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Quotes About Journeys You Will Love

Best Journey Quotes

Find quotes about journeys for every type of adventure. From inspiration and motivation to beautiful sayings you can share with family and friends. 

It is amazing how much a few well-crafted words can mean. There are so many ways that quotes can speak to us and they touch each one of us differently. 

The quotes shared here are all about travel , use them as inspiration when you are planning your next trip,add them to your travel diary or pass them along to a friend who is about to embark on a journey of their own. 

Keep reading to find some truly beautiful journey quotes. 

Table of Contents

Travel Journey Quotes

Happy journey quotes.

These quotes are for those about to embark on an exciting new adventure. These are perfect for a happy journey message to a friend or anyone you know who appreciates new journey quotes.

1. “A holiday is an opportunity to journey within. It is also a chance to chill, to relax. It is when I switch on my rest mode.” -Prabhas

2. “For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.” – Leonardo da Vinci

3. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” -Andre Gide

4. “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

5. “Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” -Ray Bradbury

6. “Get out, explore. Thrive. Challenge authority. Challenge yourself. Evolve. Change forever.” -Brian Krans

Safe Journey Quotes

Have someone that is traveling soon? Give them the best journey wishes with these beautiful safe travel quotes and safe journey messages.

7. “The world is waiting for you. Good Luck. Travel Safe. Go!” – Phil Keoghan

8.“The more you weigh the harder you are to kidnap. Stay safe. Eat cake.” – Unknown

 9. “I wandered everywhere, through cities and countries wide. And everywhere I went, the world was on my side.” – Roman Payne

10. “The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place.” -Barbara De Angelis

Long Journey Quotes

If your next journey is longer than your average vacation maybe these journey quotes are more suited? 

11. “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labor.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

12. “Let me recommend the best medicine in the world: a long journey, at a mild season, through a pleasant country, in easy stages.” – James Madison

Quotes About Enjoying The Journey

The best part of a journey is taking the time to soak it all in and really enjoy each moment. Always be reminded of that with these enjoy the journey quotes.

13. “Aim for the sky, but move slowly, enjoying every step along the way. It is all those little steps that make the journey complete.” – Chanda Kochhar

14. “She chased rainbows and never once was after the gold. For her, it was merely about the feeling of being alive and finding herself at the end of it. There’s no greater treasure in this world than knowing you are made of the things you believe in.”-Zachry K Douglas

15. “Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.” -Helen Keller

16. “And the purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

17. “Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aesop

The Journey Is The Destination Quote

Sometimes it is not the actual destination but the journey itself that is most important. Get inspired for your next journey with these beautiful inspirational destination quotes. 

18. “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” – Ursula K. Le Guin

19.”Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”- Greg Anderson

20.“The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.”  – Norton Juster

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

22.“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

Quotes About Journey And Destination

• “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai
• “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. “ – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.” – Drake
• “The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday.” – Steve Maraboli
• “Success is a journey, not a destination.” – Ben Sweetland
• “A journey is a gesture inscribed in space, it vanishes even as it’s made. You go from one place to another place, and on to somewhere else again, and already behind you there is no trace that you were ever there.” -Damon Galgut
• “The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” – Don Williams, Jr.

Quotes About Beginning A Journey

The start of a journey is often the most exciting part! Get motivated and inspired with these quotes about starting a journey. 

• “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ – Lao Tzu
• “Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy
• “Going by my past journey, I am not certain where life will take me, what turns and twists will happen; nobody knows where they will end up. As life changes direction, I’ll flow with it.” – Katrina Kaif
• “I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything.” – Bill Bryson
• “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.” –  Saint Augustine

Quotes About The End Of A Journey

The end of a journey can sometimes be just the start! 

• “Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy
• “Everyone of a hundred thousand cities around the world had its own special sunset and it was worth going there, just once, if only to see the sun go down.” – Ryu Murakami
• “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.” – Anthony Bourdain
• “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” – Ernest Hemingway
• “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

Journey Together Quotes

Having a friend by your side on a journey always makes it twice as fun. Find the best travel with friends quotes here.

• “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill
• “In Life, It’s Not Where You Go, It’s Who You Travel With” –  Charles Schulz
• “Friendship is a deep oneness that develops when two people, speaking the truth in love to one another, journey together to the same horizon.” -Timothy Keller
• “Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life.” – Pythagoras

Famous Quotes About Journeys

We all know the, every journey begins with a single step quote but famous quotes are famous because they’re good! Find more famous journey quotes below. 

• “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West
• “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
• “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” – Tony Robbins
• “I travel not to go anywhere but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
• “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

Quotes About Roads And Journeys

• “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman
• “To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give, to roam the roads of lands remote, to travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Andersen
• “All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination. ” -Earl Nightingale
• “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter,the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac
• “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trust The Journey Quotes

Sometimes a journey can seem like it is leading us in all the wrong direction and we have to have faith in our adventures. I think trusting the journey you are on is the perfect way to end this post. 

• “Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be…Close your eyes let your spirit start to soar, and you’ll live as you’ve never lived before.” – Erich Fromm
• “It is better to travel well than to arrive.”- Buddha
• “The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning.” – Ivy Baker Priest

Travel with Meraki – Use these gorgeous quotes in your travel journal, or in handwritten cards for your loved ones. It’s amazing how special a thoughtful note will make someone feel. 

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71+ Best Destination Quotes To Help You Enjoy The Journey

Best Destination Quotes

Destination quotes, journey and destination quotes, destination quotes from movies, book quotes on destination.

Life is a journey and everyone has a destination.

Travelling and journeying to a specific place also requires a destination. Even though it's said that the journey is the important part, we most definitely enjoy the destination too.

We always fix a destination before going on a journey. So, it's the most important part. In the same way in life, we have goals.

If you think life to be a journey, then those goals are our destination and it's equally important to have them. Otherwise we are lost in life. Read up on these destination quotes below to know more about it.

If you liked our destination quotes go check out funny travel quotes and live in the moment quotes.

Travel around the world and reaching one's destination is the best feeling. Here we have the best and most beautiful of destination quotes like from Martin Buber and more for your every day inspirational dose.

1. "Perfection is a road, not a destination. Every time I live, I get an education."

- Burk Hudson.

2. "Happiness is not a destination. It is a method of life."

- Burton Hill.

3. "Always remember that your present situation is not your final destination. The best is yet to come."

- Zig Zigler.

4. "The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination."

- Carl Rogers.

5. "My destination is no longer a place, rather a new way of seeing."

- Marcel Proust.

6. "You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight."

- Jim Rohn.

7. "You will reach your destination even though you travel slowly."

- Icelandic Proverb.

8. "You have a destination far beyond where you find yourself standing today."

- Guy Finley.

9. "One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things."

- Henry Miller.

10. "I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."

- Jimmy Dean.

11. "Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."

- Maya Angelou.

12. "All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination."

- Earl Nightingale.

13. "The road leading to a goal does not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it."

- Charles DeLint.

14. "When you lost sight of your path, listen for the destination in your heart."

- Allen Walker, 'D-gray Man'.

15. "All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware."

- Martin Buber.

The path to one's destination is not easy and change on it is the only constant. These positive destination quotes below depicts that change and importance of destination.

16. "You are the grim, goal-oriented ones who will not believe that the joy is in the journey rather than the destination no matter how many times it has been proven to you."

- Stephen King.

17. "Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life."

- Steve Jobs.

18. "The development of our minds and our destination in future lives is in our hands. No one else can help us. It is very important that we each take responsibility for ourselves. Sustain mindfulness 24 hours a day."

- Tenzin Gyatso.

19. "Success is not a destination, but the road that you're on. Being successful means that you're working hard and walking your walk every day."

- Marlon Wayans.

20. "You too can determine what you want. You can decide on your major objectives, targets, aim and destination."

- W. Clement Stone.

21. "Booksellers are the most valuable destination for the lonely, given the numbers of books that were written because authors couldn't find anyone to talk to."

- Alain de Botton.

22. "It's not the destination that matters. It's the change of scene."

- Brian Eno.

23. "What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive."

- Barbara Kingsolver.

24. "In this respect early youth is exactly like old age; it is a time of waiting for a big trip to an unknown destination. The chief difference is that youth waits for the morning limited and age waits for the night train."

- Bruce Catton.

25. "Certain things are common. And we do learn things from each other's experience. On a spiritual journey, we all have the same destination."

- A. R. Rahman.

26. "You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks."

- Winston Churchill.

27. "Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all."

- Garrett Hardin.

28. "By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination."

- Christopher Columbus.

29. "Follow what you are genuinely passionate about and let that guide you to your destination."

- Diane Sawyer.

30. "Writers and travelers are mesmerized alike by knowing of their destinations."

- Eudora Welty.

31. "Everything happening around me is very random. I am enjoying the phase, as the journey is far more enjoyable than the destination."

- Sushant Singh Rajput.

Journeys are a part and end step of the way to destination. Here's some journey not the destination quotes and why do we travel quotes that you'll love.

32. "Winning and losing isn’t everything; sometimes, the journey is just as important as the outcome."

- Alex Morgan.

33. "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

- T. S. Eliot.

34. "Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination and the journey. They are home."

- Anna Quindlen.

35. "The road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination."

- Marion Zimmer Bradley.

36. "It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."

- Ursula K. Leguin.

37. "Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going."

- Paul Theroux.

38. "Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it."

- Greg Anderson.

39. "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else."

- Yogi Berra.

40. "Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time."

- Lyndon B. Johnson.

41. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Watch your step."

42. "Sometimes, it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination."

43. "The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination."

- Don Williams Jr.

44. "Focus on the journey, not on arriving at a certain destination."

- Chris Hadfield.

45. "Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome."

- Arthur Ashe.

46. "We advance on our journey only when we face our goal, we are confident and believe we are going to succeed."

- Orison Swett Marden.

There's a been quite a few movies about destination like, 'Destination Wedding' quotes and more.

47. "Death... doesn't like to be cheated."

- William Bludworth, 'Final Destination 5', 2011.

48. "There are seven billion people in the world. So when one of them behaves badly toward you, he's actually doing you a great favor because he's saving you time. He's telling you that he's not worth your while."

- Frank , 'Destination Wedding', 2018.

49. "General Thayer: On the Moon! Jim, Doc, we're on the Moon!

Joe Sweeney: And we're alive - holy cow! General, the next time you tell me you can get to the Moon, I'll believe you!"

- 'Destination Moon', 1950.

50. "I'm going to make the most of every moment I have left. So I'm gonna do what I do best … If I'm dying, I'm trying."

- Hunt Wynorski, 'The Final Destination', 2009.

51. "It's human nature to find pain in any situation however relatively fortunate."

- Lindsay, 'Destination Wedding', 2018.

52. "By the grace of God, and the name of the United States of America, I take possession of this planet on behalf of, and for the benefit of, all mankind."

- Dr. Charles Cargraves, 'Destination Moon', 1950.

53. "Equal... in death's eyes? All of us? How can you say that? Dude, think it through: Charlie Manson, made it to 70. Where's the equality in that?"

- Ian McKinley, 'Final Destination 3', 2006.

54. "I consider it a triumph of the will that there aren't shallow graves dotting my back yard."

- Frank, 'Destination Wedding', 2018.

55. "I can remember a time when every city street would lead me back to you. When the road signs guided me home and I was never lost."

- Jon, 'Destination Anywhere', 1997.

56. "Some people say there's a balance to everything. For every life there's a death, for every death, there is a life. But the introduction of life that was not meant to be, that can invalidate the list, force Death to start anew."

- William Bludworth, 'Final Destination 2', 2003.

57. "Lindsay: Why didn't we meet seven years ago?

Frank: Just lucky I guess."

- 'Destination Wedding', 2018.

58. "Life is about courage and going into the unknown."

- Cheryl, 'The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty', 2013.

59. "In death there are no accidents, no coincidences, no mishaps, and no escapes."

- Bludworth, 'Final Destination 1', 2000.

60. "I believe that there is nobody for anyone."

61. "To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life."

- Walter Mitty, 'The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty', 2013.

Lastly we have some quotes on destination from various books.

62. "Even at time of fear and uncertainty, I never went to the darkness. Light was always my destination- the light at the end of the tunnel."

- Chaker Khazaal, 'Ouch!'.

63. "When things don’t go as planned in the journey to your destination, don’t give up. Defy defeat. Resist submission. Hold onto hope."

64. "Uninvited guests may force you to take an unplanned trip to an unknown destination; doesn’t hurt to be in your Sunday clothes."

- Anurag Shourie, 'Half A Shadow'.

65. "I don't know whether you can look at your past and find … the path that will point to your final destination."

- Jodi Picoult, 'Handle With Care'.

66. "When you establish a destination by defining what you want, then take physical action by making choices that move you towards that destination, the possibility for success is limitless and arrival at the destination is inevitable."

- Steve Maraboli, 'Life, The Truth, And Being Free'.

67. "Having a goal with no plan of action is like wanting to travel to a new destination without having a map."

68. "She was my destination. I was always on the way to Lena, even when I wasn't. Even when she wasn't on her way to me."

- Kami Garcia, 'Beautiful Darkness'.

69. "Even a snail will eventually reach its destination."

- Gail Tsukiyama, 'The Street Of A Thousand Blossoms'.

70. "I made up my mind not to care so much about the destination, and simply enjoy the journey."

- David Archuleta, 'Chords Of Strength'.

71. "There’s something about arriving in new cities, wandering empty streets with no destination."

- Charlotte Eriksson, 'Empty Roads And Broken Bottles: In Search For The Great Perhaps'.

Here at Kidadl , we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for destination quotes then why not take a look at study abroad quotes , or find yourself quotes ?

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More for you, 73 best lunch quotes to savor your midday moments, 60 family travel quotes, 165+ family time quotes.

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

Rajnandini Roychoudhury Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

With a Master of Arts in English, Rajnandini has pursued her passion for the arts and has become an experienced content writer. She has worked with companies such as Writer's Zone and has had her writing skills recognized by publications such as The Telegraph. Rajnandini is also trilingual and enjoys various hobbies such as music, movies, travel, philanthropy, writing her blog, and reading classic British literature. 

1) Kidadl is independent and to make our service free to you the reader we are supported by advertising. We hope you love our recommendations for products and services! What we suggest is selected independently by the Kidadl team. If you purchase using the Buy Now button we may earn a small commission. This does not influence our choices. Prices are correct and items are available at the time the article was published but we cannot guarantee that on the time of reading. Please note that Kidadl is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. We also link to other websites, but are not responsible for their content.

2) At Kidadl, we strive to recommend the very best activities and events. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability. Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.

3) Because we are an educational resource, we have quotes and facts about a range of historical and modern figures. We do not endorse the actions of or rhetoric of all the people included in these collections, but we think they are important for growing minds to learn about under the guidance of parents or guardians.

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Why It Is Important To Enjoy The Journey & The Destination.

March 17, 2021 Blog , Clients Leave a comment

3 Powerful Reasons Why We Must Learn To Love And Enjoy The Journey Of Our Life.

“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” – Arthur Ashe –

We are all on a journey towards a destination. That destination could be to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee or to climb the summit of Mount Everest.

We may have a goal to purchase a new car, start our own business, travel to another country, change careers or get married and have a family. Every destination presupposes a journey and that journey is in most cases much longer than the time spent at the destination.

If you tend to get caught up not enjoying the journey, and only focusing on the destination, you need to explore the following reasons why the journey in some cases is far more important than the destination or goal.

Reason No 1 – We spend 99% of our time on the journey. That’s right, we spend most of our time on the journey of our life. We reach our goal and we are back on another journey towards another destination.

Doesn’t it make so much more sense to enjoy the 99% as well as the 1% destination? Makes perfect sense to me.  

Planning for a holiday is a good example. What’s the best part of a holiday? For me, it’s the days, weeks, or months before the actual holiday. We are so looking forward to the holiday that we can already start to enjoy it now, in our imagination, before we even pack our bags.

When we stop to think that our whole life is a journey of one sort or another. We are always on the journey of life towards a specific destination.

Let’s put things in perspective and start to enjoy our journey, so when we do reach our destination, it will be all that much more enjoyable.

Reason No2 – Keep an elevated emotion to attract the destination.

When we understand how energy works in our life, we realize that like energy attract each other.

I need to be vibrating at the same energy frequency during the journey as the energy frequency at the destination. When I can do this, I will be pulling that destination much closer, sooner, into my reality.

When I’m not enjoying the journey, frustrated, upset, or angry I will be a miss-match of energy at my destination, and I will be pushing it away, I will be repelling rather than attracting.

Everything is energy so we need to understand how to vibrate at the same energy frequency as my destination.

Not only will I enjoy the journey more, but I will also reach my destination sooner in most cases.

Reason No3 – Expand our positive life experience.

I’m a coach, and I’m passionate about helping Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, and C Level Management to enjoy their moment-to-moment life experiences and their destinations.

Our life is one big experience that we are having every moment of the day. When business Executives are so focused on the outcome, destination or goal they tend to lose the ability to enjoy the present moment.

This is a psychological muscle that has become so weak over the years of building the business. It’s become so weak they have forgotten how to expand their positive experience of the present moment.

By expanding our positive experience of the present moment we become a different person. We are happier, more relaxed and focused, more creative, and easier to work with.

If we live in the fight or flight mode for too long, worrying about the future destination, not being present, not enjoying the journey, we risk our own health and the health of the company.

“ The great science to live happily is to live in the present.” PYTHAGORAS

Conclusion:

Have your destination, your outcomes, and goals, and remember they exist so we can become the person to own them.

The journey is a becoming. It’s becoming the person we need to be to be able to have the destination. If my destination is to be a millionaire, I need to become a millionaire before I can have the million dollars.

All the work, growth, expansion, and enjoyment are in the journey, not the destination. Once we arrive at the destination it will be so much more enjoyable if I first was able to enjoy the journey. After a few deep breaths and enjoying the destination, we are back on another journey.

Paul Simos is an accomplished Executive Life Coach, Health Coach & Certified Trainer. He has a fundamental belief about his clients which frames how they work together i.e. they already have everything they need to achieve success. His role as a coach is to stimulate and challenge his clients to unlock their successful beliefs, skills, and behavior patterns.   Free Masterclass Training , How To Get More Successful Outcomes In Your Professional & Personal Relationships… By Saying “NO” (The Right Way)…

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130 Best Inspirational Travel Quotes to Inspire Wanderlust

There are so many quotes that inspire wanderlust and travel that I wanted a place to put all my favorites. This will be updated regularly as I come across new quotes (or as you tell me your favs!) This is an ongoing updated this to create the ultimate list of inspirational travel quotes. The best travel quotes are meant to inspire you – to book the ticket, take the adventure, and to check off that bucket list (so I’ve tried to avoid cliche’s as much as possible).

There’s a mix of short travel quotes, long travel quotes, travel quotes by famous travelers (like Anthony Bourdain) and some lesser-known. Some are funny travel quotes while others are a bit more serious travel quotes. Some are quotes about traveling with friends or traveling with family, and others are about solo travel – you can do both! I hope this list inspires you to get out and explore the wonderful world we live in.

Don’t forget to check out these 25+ travel quotes by Anthony Bourdain when you’re done here!

If you like this post, be sure to sign up for my e-mail list for travel inspiration (and get your FREE budget printable), or connect with me on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , or Pinterest .

100+ Inspirational Travel Quotes:

• “You will never be completely at home again because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.” ~ Miriam Adeney This is my ultimate favorite quote – I even got it tattooed on my back! I have pieces of my heart all over the world!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram to see weekly travel quotes, new destinations & #realtravel talk!

2. Live your life by a compass, not a clock ~ unknown There is something about travel that destroys our routine – and it’s amazing. It’s something I try to do once in a while even when I’m not traveling.

3. Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey ~ Babs Hoffman There are always potholes, but trying to enjoy the journey despite them is important.

4. “ I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” ~ Rosalia de Castro I’ve come to accept that I’ll get lost wherever I am, so I just have to keep going!

5. There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign. – Robert Louis Stevenson

6. The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes- Marcel Proust

7. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. ~ Omar Khayyam

8. You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. ~ Unknown

9. Somewhere on your journey, don’t forget to turn around and enjoy the view. ~Anonymous

10. To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted. ~Bill Bryson

11. Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow. ~ Anita Desai

12. All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it. ~ Samuel Johnson

13. It doesn’t matter where you’re going, it’s who you have beside you. ~ Unknown

14. A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles. ~Tim Cayhill

15. Travel doesn’t become an adventure until you leave yourself behind. ~ Unknown

16. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all. ~ Helen Keller

17. It’s a big world out there, would be a shame not to experience ~ JD Andrews

18. I’m in love with cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met. ~ MelodyTwong

19. Travel… the best way to be lost and found at the same time. ~Breanna Smith

20. We travel, some of us forever, to see other places, other lives, other souls. ~ Anais Nin

21. Fill your life with adventures, not thing. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show. ~ Unknown

22. It’s a big and beautiful world. Most of us live & die in the same corner where we were born & never get to see any of it. I don’t want to be most of us. ~Oberyn Martell, Game of Thrones

24. I want to make memories all over the world – Unknown

25. Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. – David McCullough Jr.

27. Never go on trips with anyone you do not love – Hemingway

28. Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man & the universe – Anatole France

29. The important thing is to never stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. – Albert Einstein

30. The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life – Agnes Repplier

31. You only live once, but if you do it right, once in enough. – Mae West

32. The journey is my home – Unknown

33. It’s not the destination where you end up… but the mishaps and memories you create along the way – Unknown

34. Traveling is an adventure that comes with a breathtaking view – Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

35. Great things never came from comfort zones – Anonymous

37. You can shake the sand from your shoes, but you can’t shake it from your soul. – Anonymous

38. Don’t quite your day dream – Unknown

39. Fear is only temporary. Regret lasts forever. – Anonymous

41. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover – Mark Twain

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

43. Without new experiences, something inside us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken. – Unknown

44. I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world – Mary Anne Radmacher

45. Because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing. – Unknown

46. In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years. – Unknown

47. The ‘traveler’ rush that hits you upon arrival to a new place is like a drug. And like a drug, the more you expose yourself to it, the more you want it. – Clayton B. Cornell

48. Travel is not a reward for working, it’s education for living – Anthony Bourdain

49. We travel, some of forever, to see other places, other lives, other soulds – Anais Nin

51. The farther I travel, the closer I am to myself – Andrew McCarthy

52. Stop dreaming about your bucket list, and start living it! – Annette White

53. Travel opens your heart, broadens your mind, and fills your life with stories to tell. – Paula Bendfelt

54. The ideal is to feel at home, anywhere – everywhere – Geoff Dyer

56. Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. ~ T.S. Eliot

57. Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. ~ Mark Twain

58. You don’t have to be rich to travel well. ~ Eugene Fodor

59. Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire. ~ Jennifer Lee

60. Don’t count the days. Make the days count. ~ Muhammed Ali

61. You need not even listen, just wait .. the world will offer itself freely to you, unmaking itself. ~ Frankz Kafka

62. You do not travel if you are afraid of the unknown, you travel for the unknown, that reveals you with yourself. – Ella Maillart.

63. We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment. – Hilaire Belloc

64. What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road. – William Least Heat Moon.

65. Nothing lasts forever, except the day before you start your vacation. – Gayland Anderson

66. Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen – Benjamin Disraeli

67. The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharp – WB Yeats

68. It doesn’t matter where you are. You are nowhere compared to where you can go. – Bob Proctor

69. If we travel simply to indulge ourselves we are missing some of the greatest lessons life has to offer. – Unknown

70. The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. – Oprah Winfrey

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

72. It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Way and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while, you fumble for words, trying to vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and what’s happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there – with your eyes open – and lived to see it. – Anthony Bourdain.

73. The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper – WB Yeats

74. Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world – Gustave Flaubert

75. It doesn’t matter where you are. You are nowhere compared to where you can go. – Erick Widman

76. Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown. – Anthony Bourdain

77. If we travel simply to indulge ourselves, we are missing some of the greatest lessons life has to offer. – Unknown

78. The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust

79. We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm, and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. – Jawaharial Nehru

80. When a man is a traveler, the world is his house and the sky is his roof, where he hangs his hat is his home, and all the people are his family. – Peter Hoeg

81. Travelling in the company of those we love is home in motion. – Leigh Hunt

82. Take the time to put the camera away and gaze in wonder at what’s there in front of you. – Erick Widman

83. I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it. – Rosalia de Castro.

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

85. The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. – GK Chesterton

86. Travelling tends to magnify all human emotions – Peter Hoeg

87. To see the world, things dangerous to come to. To see behind the walls, draw closer. To find each other. And to feel. That is the purpose of life. – Secret Life of Walter Mitty

88. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. – Helen Keller

89. To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, to gain all while you give, to roam the roads of lands remote: To travel is to live. – Hans Christian Anderson

90. Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag. – Alexander Solzhenitsyn

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

92. Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life – Marcel Proust

93. How is it possible to feel nostalgia for a world I never knew? – Ernesto Che Guevara

94. Meals make the society, hold the fabric together in lots of ways that were charming and interesting and intoxicating to me. The perfect meal, or the best meals, occur in a context that frequently has a very little to do with the food itself. – Anthony Bourdain

95. Once the travel bug bites, there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life. – Michael Palin

96. Travel, not to escape life, but so life does not escape you. – Unknown

97. When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable. – Clifton Fadiman

98. Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of every day, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art. – Freya Stark

99. There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign. – Robert Louis Stevenson

100. To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. – Aldous Huxley

101. The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it. – Rudyard Kipling

102. Not until we are lost do we begin to find ourselves. – Henry David Thoreau

103.  I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within. – Lillian Smith

104. The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land. – G. K. Chesterton

105. Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. – Mark Twain

106. A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. – Lao Tzu

107. We must not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time. – T. S. Eliot

108.  Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference. – Robert Frost

109. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

110.   I have worn the dust of many foreign streets, but to brush it off would surely be a crime. I have the memories of many foreign adventures, but to forget them, would surely be a sin. So, breathe in the dust, and keep the memories in. – Rowland Waring-Flood

111. I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on earth. Then I ask myself the same question – Harun Yahya.

112. A traveler without observation is a bird without wings. – Moslih Eddin Saadi

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

114. All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time. – Paul Fussell

115. Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain. – Jack Kerouac

116. One of the great things about travel is that you find out how many good, kind people there are. – Edith Wharton

117. We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost. – Ray Bradbury

118. As soon as I saw you I knew a grand adventure was about to happen. – A. A. Milne

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

120. Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else. – Lawrence Block

121. A traveler without observation is a bird without wings. – Moslih Eddin Saadi

122. All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time. – Paul Fussell

123. For my part, I travel not to go anywhere but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move. – Robert Louis Stevenson

124. He who does not travel does not know the value of men. – Moorish proverb

125. Investment in travel is an investment in yourself. – Matthew Karsten

126. If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home. – James Michener

127. Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures. – Lovelle Drachman.

128. Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “Wow! What a Ride!” – Hunter S. Thompson

129. Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life. – Dolly Parton

130. No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. – Lin Yutang

131. No one has ever described the place where I have just arrived: This is the emotion that makes me want to travel. It is one of the greatest reasons to go anywhere.” – Paul Theroux, The Pillars of Hercules.

132. The World is a Book, and those who do not Travel, Read only one page. – Agustine of Hippo

133. I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train. – Oscar Wilde.

134. The heaviest baggage for a traveler is an empty wallet. – English proverb

135. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. – John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley

136. Better to travel hopefully than to arrive. – English Proverb

137. The Journey itself is my home. – Bash ō Matsuo

138. Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. – Andre Gide

139. In the desert of life, the wise travel by caravan, while the fool prefers to travel alone. – Arab Proverb

139. I did not write half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed. – Marco Polo

140. So shut up, live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry. – Jack Kerouac

141. The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination. – Don Williams, Jr.

142. Arriving there is what you are destined for. Ithaka gave you the Marvellous Journey – C.P. Cavafy

143. I did not write half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed. – Marco Polo

144. A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. – John A. Shedd

145. We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parentheses in eternity. – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

146. We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. – T.S. Eliot

147. I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are. – Diane Von Furstenberg.

148. Every man can transform the world from one of monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure. – Irving Wallace

149. The life you have led does not need to be the only life you have. – Anna Quindlen

150. The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. – Samuel Johnson

151. The true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. it’s the symbol of his liberty- his excessive

152. Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. – Miriam Beard

153. The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: The desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to experience an exotic landscape, to risk the unknown. – Paul Theroux

154. We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there. – Pascal Mercier

155. The greatest justification for travel is not self-improvement but rather performing a vanishing act, disappearing without a trace. – Paul Theroux

156. When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money. Susan Heller

157. Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. – Unknown

158. Plane travel is nature’s way of making you look like your passport photo. – Al Gore

159. Travel is a new experience that can transport you out of your everyday routine to create memories with the ones you love. – Brian Chesky

160. He who has not traveled widely thinks that his mother is the best cook. – African Proverb

161. I think one travels more usefully when they travel alone, because they reflect more. – Thomas Jefferson

162. It is always sad to leave a place to which one knows one will never return. Such are the melancholies du voyage: Perhaps they are one of the most rewarding things about traveling. – Gustave Flaubert

163. A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you can control it – John Steinbeck

1 64. Culture shock is often felt sharply at the borders between countries, but sometimes it doesn’t hit fully until you’ve been in a place for a long time. – Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Mind’s Eye

165. If you are planning to travel where corn grows, you should take a sickle with you. – Ethiopian Proverb

166. You go away for a long time and return a different person – You never come all the way back – Paul Theroux, Dark Star Safari

167. The traveler sees the world in its true proportions: Small enough to hold within his arms, yet large enough to encompass him. He feels himself part of the universe, instead of separate and apart from it – James Michener

So there you have it – 167 incredibly inspirational travel quotes (so far) to get you to live your best life.

Discover more travel inspiration.

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19 thoughts on “130 Best Inspirational Travel Quotes to Inspire Wanderlust”

Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow is my favourite. It’s so true

I love travel quotes. They are so inspirational. Since I’m a solo traveller, #35 really resonates with me.

This is a hard one! Which would my favorite be…? I’m between my compatriot Rosalia de Castro and the unknown “Live your life by a compass, not a clock”. Thanks for sharing!

Wow, quote number one hit differently! Pieces of my heart have been left in nearly every place I’ve ever visited, any place I’ve ever made a memory with new or old friends.

“I’m in love with cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met.” I think that pretty much sums up why I’m driven to travel 😀 Great list!

Thanks for sharing these quotes! “Somewhere on your journey, don’t forget to turn around and enjoy the view.” is one that resonates with me most strongly. It is such an important reminder that sometimes when we’re traveling we need to put down our tour book and busy agenda and just stop to appreciate the new and exciting surroundings around us. Thanks for the reminder!

Absolutely! It’s easy to get swept up in all the “must sees” instead of what the destination is trying to show us!

Traveling is an adventure that comes with a breathtaking view is my favorite. Cant wait to travel again. Hope this pandemic ends soon

I completely love the first quote you mentioned!! I can see why you got it tattooed. After reading them all, the other one which stands out to me the most is the one about us being the foreigners!

So many beautiful quotes! I can’t wait to be able to travel again

Oh I just loved these quotes. Thanks for the great post!! I miss traveling so much!

Same here! Glad you enjoy them!

I love these! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

This is so inspirational! Love it!

Love these inspirational travel quotes! My favourite is number 11. It’s so true that a destination stays with you long after you leave it whether it’s a smell, a dish etc.

So many beautiful quotes! Love the positivity and inspiration during this crazy time we are in 🙂

So many great quotes, thanks for sharing. It reminds me of travel days.

This is a fantastic list of inspiring travel quotes! I’ve heard of most of them but also there a few that are new to me, so I really appreciate this! This one is one of my all time favorites –“Travel is not a reward for working, it’s education for living” – Anthony Bourdain

Thanks for including that one on this ultimate list!

Haha that’s my favorite reminder that work is just work. – Which (at least in America) is often forgotten.

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35 Enjoy the Ride Quotes to Keep You Enthusiastic

We’ve gathered the best enjoy the ride quotes to provide you with the words of encouragement you need whenever you feel down.

As many say, life is like a roller coaster. While on this ride, you’ll go through many ups and downs and even feel like you’re upside down.

This may cause you to feel lost, scared, or even downright terrified of what you’re facing. However, the best way to go about life is to enjoy every second of the ride you’re on!

Painful experiences are a part of life, too. Without them, we won’t feel the light that shines through the happier days.

So, no matter what, just enjoy the ride and the journey of life! We all have a limited time on this planet, so make sure you take advantage of every second you’re given.

To help you cultivate a positive mindset, read these enjoy the ride quotes we’ve gathered. Make sure to take note of quotes that really made an impact on your worldview!

And don’t forget to check out these tomorrow is not promised quotes .

Best Enjoy the Ride Quotes

1. “Just start. Start now. Fail often. Enjoy the ride.” – Seth Godin

2. “Life is a one-way journey, so enjoy the ride.” – Debasish Mridha

3. “Life is an adventure filled with many detours, stops, and turns along the way. It is this variety that makes it such a fascinating journey. Enjoy the ride.” – Anonymous

4. “Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination. Enjoy the ride.” – Anonymous

5. “One day at a time—this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone, and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering. Happiness is a journey, just as life is. Enjoy the ride.” – Ida Scott Taylor

6. “Never try to be the passenger of life. Be the driver and enjoy the ride.” – Debasish Mridha

7. “Enjoy all the rides in life. Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you cannot change. Life is short, yet it is full of wonders.” – Anonymous

8. “Always enjoy the ride, because you don’t know where it’s going, but it’s going to be alright.” – Kimberly Williams-Paisley

9. “Stop chasing shadows; just enjoy the ride.” – Anonymous

10. “In life, you find pleasure. In life, you find pain. Pain and pleasure is an example of the duality in life. Enjoy them both; they are part of the ride. The key is to not turn the pain into something else—regret.” – J.R. Rim

Meaningful Quotes About Enjoying the Ride of Life

11. “Life’s meant to be sweet! Grab a cupcake and enjoy the ride!” – Kimmie Easley

12. “Remember, you have only one ride through life, so give it all you got and enjoy the ride.” – Jon Gordon

13. “Life is like a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs. But it’s your choice to scream or enjoy the ride.” – Anonymous

14. “It’s never too late to start working on yourself. Act now. Don’t stop. Enjoy the ride.” – Anonymous

15. “It is not how you start in life, and it is not how you finish. The true joy of life is in the trip. So enjoy the ride.” – Steve Gilliland

16. “It’s alright to enjoy the ride while you’re going through the ups and downs in life.” – Anonymous

17. “Life’s a roller coaster. Best damn ride in the park. You don’t close your eyes, hold on, and wait for it to be over, babe. You keep your eyes open, lift your hands straight up in the air, and enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.” – Kristen Ashley

18. “Life is like a ferris wheel; sometimes you’re up, and sometimes you’re down. In the end, you just have to learn to enjoy the ride.” – Anonymous

19. “Life is a bumpy ride. The trick is to relax, absorb the bumps—and learn to enjoy it.” – Gary Hayden

20. “Life is just a ride. You have two choices: fear or love. Enjoy it, and leave your fears at the entrance.” – Anonymous

Enjoying the Ride Quotes to Open Your Eyes to Opportunities

21. “Keep your eyes fixed where the trail meets the sky, and live like you ain’t afraid to die. Don’t be scared; just enjoy the ride.” – Chris LeDoux

22. “Dreams are so important. You need to have big goals and expect a lot of yourself, but you have to enjoy the ride, too.” – Sidney Crosby

23. “It is not always easy, but if we are able to embrace the journey, we can enjoy the ride.” – Richard L. Curwin

24. “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman

25. “Make new friends, make mistakes, be playful, live on the edge, and enjoy the ride that life has to offer.” – Anonymous

26. “Trying to figure it all out is impossible. But what isn’t impossible is to have gratitude, stay positive, have faith, be friendly and kind, listen first, speak second, do your best, and try to be the best. Enjoy the ride!” – Charles F. Glassman

27. “It’s all about the ride. If I can enjoy myself, bring some degree of happiness to others, and leave things a little better than when I got here, it wasn’t a wasted trip.” – Rock Cowles

28. “I really would not change anything. Have a passion for what you do, work hard, have great people with good personalities, and enjoy the ride.” – Wayne Huizenga

29. “Definitely do the work. Don’t expect to blow up overnight. Go out, do the work, and enjoy the ride. That’s really my mantra. I’m not in a hurry to be anywhere fast. I’m just enjoying the ride.” – Kam Williams

Enjoy the Ride Quotes for Those Who Need Advice

30. “If you’re always racing to the next moment, what happens to the one you’re in? Enjoy the ride.” – Anonymous

31. “There is no straight way to a destination. So enjoy the ride even when you get lost.” – Debasish Mridha

32. “Relax. Don’t rush. Don’t force. Don’t stress. Let things happen, trust the process, and try to enjoy the ride.” – Lori Deschene

33. “Don’t be in such a rush to see how things turn out. Pave your course, adjust when you need to, and enjoy the ride.” – Charles F. Glassman

34. “The only way to get what you want is to admit you don’t really know what you want. But in the end, of course, you never truly get what you want. So just enjoy the ride.” – Gregor Collins

35. “Because I don’t expect or demand perfection, and I’ve learned to enjoy the ride no matter what happens. I don’t waste time on lost causes.” – John Carlton

What’s the Most Thrilling Experience You’ve Ever Encountered?

As we grow into adults, we slowly come to terms with the reality that life is not all colors and rainbows. Even so, we must all remember that the good will always outweigh the bad.

No matter how harsh reality is, life is still packed full of beautiful experiences we all deserve. So, don’t only think of your bad experiences; just hold on and enjoy the ride!

As you progress through life, you’ll have many new experiences, meet new friends, and even discover a new version of yourself. All these are part of the journey of life.

So, take things as learning and growing experiences. Take every opportunity the world gives you and become the best version of yourself!

By doing so, no matter how low you fall or how high you soar, at the end of the day, you can say that you’ve enjoyed the ride through life as best as you can! With that, we hope the list of quotes above was able to serve as the perfect go-to source of motivation for you!

Life is incredibly short. Make sure you experience and enjoy every second of it!

• 40 Enjoy the Moment Quotes for a Worry-Free Life
• 60 Enjoy Life Quotes to Make You Feel Happy and Fulfilled
• 30 People Come and Go Quotes on Moving Forward

Karen Danao

Hi, I’m Karen , a content curator and writer for Quote Ambition; I’m also a marketing and advertising professional. Beyond the keyboard and the screen, I’m someone who’s out to enjoy every bit that life has to offer!

Poetry, philosophy, history, and movies are all topics I love writing about! However, my true passion is in traveling, photography, and finding common ground to which everyone from different cultures can relate.

With the many places I’ve been to, I found that love, inspiration, and happiness are some things that bring people together. No matter how different we are on the outside, I’m a true believer that our emotions don’t lie; if you dig deep into our psyche, we’re all the same inside.

This belief was further amplified when I joined Quote Ambition. Through the quotes I’ve read, collected, organized, and written about, I found that humans are resilient, creative, and compassionate.

We take from each others’ hearts and courage, and it’s through our individual experiences that we learn how to rise above our challenges and pain. In so many ways, Quote Ambition is a platform that allows people from all over the world to gain the inspiration they need anytime, anywhere!

You can find me on MuckRack and LinkedIn .

Travelling Without a Passport

Every Travel Quote Ever

Say goodbye to scouring the internet in search of inspirational travel quotes to keep you focussed on saving for that next big trip. Instead take a read through our list of every travel quote ever. We dare you to try and not be inspired.

Are we missing one of your favs? Share your own travel quote in the comments and we might just include it!

Inspirational Travel Quotes

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

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Unknown

“I am not a great book, I am not a great artist, but I love art and I love food, so I am the perfect traveller.” – Michael Palin

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

“He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” – Moorish proverb

“People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck

“The best journeys in life are those that answer questions you never thought to ask.” ― Rich Ridgeway

“To travel is to evolve.” – Pierre Bernardo

Take the first step, the rest will follow. Book the ticket, apply for the job, send the email, jump into the water. The rest gets easier from there. – Abi from http://www.insidethetravellab.com/

“A person does not grow from the ground like a vine or a tree, one is not part of a plot of land. Mankind has legs so it can wander.” ― Roman Payne, The Wanderess

“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

“You don’t have to be rich to travel well.” – Eugene Fodor

“He who is outside his door has the hardest part of his journey behind him.” – Dutch Proverb

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain

“He who would travel happily must travel light.” – Antoine de St. Exupery

“Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.” – Anatole France

“It is not down in any map; true places never are.” – Herman Melville

It’s never too late to have a life you love. Don’t ever feel like you’ve missed the boat, don’t have what it takes or can’t achieve your dreams. Instead of removing your dreams, remove the doubts and fears keeping you from them. It’s never, ever too late. – Phoebe from https://littlegreybox.net

“Without travel I would have wound up a little ignorant white Southern female, which was not my idea of a good life.” – Lauren Hutton

“I met a lot of people in Europe. I even encountered myself.” – James Baldwin

“I was not born for one corner. The whole world is my native land.” – Seneca

“Travelling — it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” — Lawrence Block

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Scott Cameron

“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” – Oscar Wilde

“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” – Rudyard Kipling

“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” – Alan Keightley

“Tourists visit. Travellers explore.” – Unknown

If you don’t do it now, when will you do it? -Monica from http://thetravelhack.com/

“Travelling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.'” – Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

“I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on Earth. Then I ask myself the same question.” – Harun Yahya

“Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.” – Ernest Hemingway

“Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.” – Unknown

“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.” – Seneca

“NOT I – NOT ANYONE else, can travel that road for you, You must travel it for yourself.” – Walt Whitman

“You don’t choose the day you enter the world and you don’t chose the day you leave. It’s what you do in between that makes all the difference.” – Anita Septimus

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends… The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” ― Clifton Fadiman

“I haven’t been everywhere but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag

“Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” – Roy M. Goodman

Adventure Travel Quotes

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

“My life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport.” ― Steve McCurry

“The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine

The biggest addiction a person can have is discovering the unknown. Once it takes hold, there is no getting out and the only way to get your fix is by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and exploring new horizons, cultural, and places. – Stephen from A Backpacker’s Tale 

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”― Andre Gide

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

“If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” ― Unknown

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” ― John A. Shedd

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ― Mark Twain

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.” ― Martin Buber

“May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home.” ― Trenton Lee Stewart

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

“Make voyages! Attempt them… there’s nothing else.” – Tennessee Williams

“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” ― Freya Stark

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” ― G.K. Chesterton

The more borders you cross, the more your mind opens — Paul from Global Help Swap

“One travels to run away from routine, that dreadful routine that kills all imagination and all our capacity for enthusiasm.” – Ella Maillart

“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost

“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener

“When overseas you learn more about your own country, than you do the place you’re visiting.” – Clint Borgen

“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu

“Every man can transform the world from one of monotony and drabness to one of excitement and adventure.” – Irving Wallace

“A traveller without observation is a bird without wings.” — Moslih Eddin Saadi

“I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine.” – Caskie Stinnett

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

“Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” – Unknown (thanks to Melissa Bond for the contribution!)

“Investment in travel is an investment in yourself.” – Matthew Karsten

“It is better to travel well then to arrive.” – Buddha

“Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aristotle

“We all become great explorers during our first few days in a new city, or a new love affair.” – Mignon McLaughlin

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin

“Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” – Mohammed

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang

“The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

“Adventure without risk is Disneyland.” – Doug Coupland

“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.” – Cesare Pavese

“How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else.” – R. Buckminster Fuller

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” – Rosalia de Castro

“I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment” – Hilaire Belloc

“If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey most of us would never start out at all.” – Dan Rather

“The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson

“Airplane travel is nature’s way of making you look like your passport photo.” – Al Gore

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travellers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux

“It is not fit that every man should travel; it makes a wise man better, and a fool worse.” – William Hazlitt

“You develop a sympathy for all human beings when you travel a lot.” – Shakuntala Devi

Which is the best tourism quote?

Pick your next destination on TourRadar.com !

Which is the best marketplace for travel tours?

It is TourRadar.com , that with more than 40,000 tours and 2,500 operators is the best place where to find your next destination.

Which is the best tour pic caption?

Why should i touring.

“With getting time away from work and your ‘normal’ life becoming more and more difficult, your time off is more valuable and precious than it’s ever been. Absolutely nobody has time for mediocre experiences and modern-day touring has adapted to fit these requirements. Nowadays group tours can be anything and everything: what you do, depends solely on you.”

Travis Pittman, TourRadar co-founder and CEO

Which is the best nature travel quote?

Find all our nature tours on TourRadar.com!

Jackie is a travel-addicted Canadian who currently resides in Vienna, Austria. When she’s not writing travel guides or reading her new favourite book, she’s planning her next weekend getaway somewhere in Europe.

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“Its the not the Destination, It's the journey.”

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Why Traveling Isn't About The Destination, But Rather What You Choose To Take Away From It

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

We all travel for different reasons and we all travel in our own unique ways. Some of us travel to explore, some of us travel to soul search, some of us travel for a quick holiday, or for work, an adventure or simply to taste food.

However, all of our different reasons for traveling revolve around one idea: the idea of seeing and experiencing new and different things.

Oftentimes, when we choose to travel, we think of the destination as if it is the only thing that matters. I have always wanted to go to Spain and have always wanted to find romance in the streets of Paris and go parasailing on the shores of Sao Paulo.

There is nothing wrong with dreaming in this way. In fact, I highly encourage you to do so, as well. However, at the end of the trip, the destination is not what makes your traveling experience memorable or not-so memorable. It is the journey that dictates how you will feel when you leave.

When we travel, we take things with us. From a tired body longing for relaxation to a broken heart, we take things with us whether we realize it or not.

On our arrivals, we seek out new sights, thoughts, things and ideas foreign to our own in order to feel better, look better and enjoy life better. By the time we leave, we will feel differently. Whether those feelings are positive or not is solely up to the individual and how he or she approaches travels.

So yes, it is up to you, just like anything else in life is up to you. If you allow it, traveling is a key to changing the way we think and approaching our lives for the better. It teaches you about yourself, about life and about what you need to be happy to live the life you desire.

By doing so, we discover our likes and dislikes, step out of our comfort zones, gain new perspectives, learn about similarities and differences in cultures and cope with new situations. Essentially, we do things we previously failed to appreciate or actually understand.

There will be times when the destination is not exactly as you hoped or dreamed it to be. When this happens, you can leave disappointed or you can leave with a newfound appreciation of the life you have back home.

Now, wouldn't it be great if you could be the person you are on your travels all the time, rather than solely when you’re traveling? When we travel, somehow we do things and say things we most likely wouldn't do or say in our daily lives. Why? It is your attitude?

Yes, the destination of your travels helps, but most importantly, it is the mindset you have on your travels that contributes to your disposition at the end of it all.

What am I trying to say? When you leave a destination, choose to take the positives with you and leave behind any negative thought, feeling or attitude you harbored.

Challenge and encourage yourself to take forward steps toward achieving your vision by dreaming bigger, listening to your body and focusing on the little things in life that truly matter to you. By doing so, you are choosing to take a purposeful and joyous road in your life that will make you feel better and live a happier life.

Remember, every moment you are alive is an experience from which to grow and learn. The sooner you realize this and accept it, the sooner you will feel more alive and better than before.

This world is a beautiful place, and we have very little time to see and experience it all. So, pack up your bags and travel, but live your travels and choose to take the positives along with you. It is all about the mindset, baby!

Photo Courtesy: We Heart It

6 ways to enjoy the magic of autumn in KZN this Easter and beyond

A utumn is an underrated season for travel. It starts with the Easter celebrations as most families are out and about in KwaZulu-Natal.

The beauty of the province is that it has the beach, safaris, the berg and laid-back towns to explore, making it a popular destination for many during Easter and well into Autumn .

KZN is the perfect place for a mini-break or to let down your hair, as the weather is milder in the lead-up to autumn but the vibe is as warm as ever and there are plenty of activities that are guaranteed to keep you entertained.

The kingdom of the Zulu is also an affordable destination to explore and has something to suit every budget.

If you’re looking for ways to enjoy this beautiful province through travel, here are six ways to enjoy an autumn break this Easter and beyond in the province, according to Tourism KwaZulu-Natal.

Redefine your holiday

Stop for a moment and consider what it means to take a holiday. Getaways do not have to be expensive. You can always opt for self-drive or self-catering options and put the idea of jetting off to a five-star resort on pause.

“A holiday should be about having fun and sharing that fun on Instagram, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. Having a good time at an unexpected destination still makes good photographs,” said TKZN.

The tourism authority recommended saving for one big ticket activity such as ballooning in the Drakensberg or shark diving off the KZN coast and then do what you never get a chance to do, like spending time beside the pool, walking in the mountains or along the beach and enjoying a braai with the family under a perfect, starlit sky.

Benefit from last-minute deals

Flights might be more expensive booked at the last minute, but accommodation isn’t.

The tourism authority revealed that when bookings fall through, resorts offer specials to fill the spaces and you could benefit from last-minute discounts and “stay for two nights and get one night free” deals.

“Visit www.zulu.org to find some great special offers and discounts that extend from the countryside to the coast.

“Trawl social media to find offers from folks who have been forced to cancel their trips but want to offer them to others just to cover expenses,” they said.

Do the maths

TKZN said many resorts offer interesting add-ons to entice guests. A quick look at the deals on www.zulu.org will show how resorts throw in free game drives, both dinner and breakfast, and even spa treatments which would ordinarily have guests out of pocket but get allocated to the accommodation budget instead.

“Granny Mouse Country House, for example, includes a free spa treatment plus a gourmet wine-tasting and six bottles of wine,” highlighted the tourism authority.

Rethink your destination

According to the KZN travel aficionados, taking up last-minute special offers can mean having to settle for places that you wouldn’t ordinarily consider.

“Make that part of the adventure and, chances are, you’ll find hidden gems that you would have never experienced.

“The High Croft Retreat and Lodge near Umzumbe, for example, allows you to relax and unwind in a cozy chalet, soak up the sun in the fairy-tale forest gardens and even recalibrate in its powerful Chakras Labyrinth,” they said.

Stay close to home

Travel costs and budgets mean that far-away destinations might be out of reach ‒ but KZN has one of the most diverse offerings of all.

“A destination that is just a few hours away can have you feeling like you’re in another world – the journey from the city to a Big 5 resort, the top of a mountain or catching waves along the beautiful KZN North Coast could be no more than a few hours away,” said TKZN.

They added that too many travellers head off far and wide and don’t get round to enjoying their own province, when even the smallest trip can launch you into new experiences, cultures, cuisines and communities and give you a whole new take on life.

Avoid the weekends

Its no secret that it is easy to get away for a weekend, but there are great specials to be had if you stick to weekdays.

The tourism authority revealed that Lake Eland, near Oribi Gorge, offers 30% off as a Midweek Special and aptly named Midweek Madness, the Qambathi Mountain Lodge in the Kamberg Valley is also running a midweek special for those planning a getaway to the Drakensberg.

“You may also find other packages that allow a third guest to stay free if two stay over, or even for kiddies to bunk down for nothing with their parents.

“If you are travelling without a family and are not confined to school holidays, then KZN is really your oyster as rates are lower and off-season specials abound,” said TKZN.

Mexico emerges as a destination for Americans seeking reproductive health services – not for the first time

Assistant Professor of Spanish, Michigan State University

Disclosure statement

Alejandra Marquez Guajardo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Michigan State University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation US.

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When its six-week abortion ban went into effect on May 1, 2024, Florida joined nearly two dozen other U.S. states that ban abortion or greatly restrict it.

These laws came into effect after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade ended nearly 50 years of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.

Florida health officials in 2023 reported more than 84,000 abortions statewide, including nearly 7,800 from out-of-state residents.

The Tampa Bay Times recently reported that about 2 in 5 abortions in Florida over the past six years occurred in the first six weeks of pregnancy, meaning that roughly 60% of the procedures performed over that time frame would be illegal under the new restrictions.

The new laws in Florida and other states are sending some Americans across the border into Mexico to access an abortion, where the procedure was legalized in recent years.

Clinics in Mexico do not require proof of residency, so solid numbers about who they are treating are hard to come by. But providers in Mexico report they have been seeing more Americans.

In 2022, Luisa García, director of Profem , an abortion clinic in the border city of Tijuana, told NPR that the percentage of patients coming from the United States had jumped from 25% to 50% in just the two months following the Dobbs decision.

My research and teaching focuses on gender and sexuality in Latin America and the Caribbean. I often ask students to think about the differences between the United States and Latin America — and the struggles the two regions share .

Different paths

In recent years, the U.S. and Mexico have each struggled over access to abortion care, with the two countries moving in opposite directions.

The year before the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled the criminalization of abortion by the northern state of Coahuila unconstitutional. This decision set a precedent that led to decriminalization at the federal level in 2023.

Change has since been slow. Only 13 of Mexico’s 31 states have modified their penal codes to reflect the court’s resolution, with Jalisco being the latest state to do so, in April 2024.

Unlike in the U.S., federal laws in Mexico do not automatically overrule local ones. But Mexican women living in states where abortions are illegal can still have one in a federally run hospital or clinic . And the federal statute protects the staff of those facilities from punishment.

Marea Verde movement

A crucial force behind the legalization of abortion care in Latin America is a movement called Green Tide, or Marea Verde , which emerged in Argentina and expanded across the region over the past two decades.

Although it began as a collective fight for abortion rights, Green Tide has grown to encompass issues such as the prevention of violence against women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as femicide – the violent death of women motivated by gender .

Expansion of abortion access in Mexico

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2022, Mexican organizations offering abortions have expanded locations to increase choices for Mexican and U.S. residents seeking care. For example, Fundación MSI opened its newest clinic in Cancún late last year.

It chose this location intentionally , MSI’s Latin America regional managing director told the health news website Stat . Cancún’s status as a popular tourist destination means that multiple U.S. airports offer direct flights for about US$400 round trip . In-person abortion services range from $250 to $350. MSI’s website caters to Americans by offering information in English and featuring links to search for flights.

To assist those traveling to Mexico, Mexican and American abortion rights groups created the Red Transfronteriza , a transnational network that supports those crossing the border in search of care but whose primary mission has become the shipping of misoprostol and mifepristone, the pills generally used to induce abortions, into the United States.

One group that is part of the network on the Mexican side of the border is Guanajuato-based Las Libres, or The Free Ones. In September 2023, its founder estimated that her organization had sent abortion pills to approximately 20,000 women in the U.S. since the Dobbs decision.

Red Necesito Abortar , or I Need to Abort Network, was founded in 2017 by Sandra Cardona and Vanessa Jimenez in the northern city of Monterrey, Nuevo León, to help those seeking abortion services.

History of abortion, US-Mexico border

Although the Dobbs decision brought renewed attention to the issue, the relationship between the United States and Mexico and people from both countries seeking abortions has a long history.

Women’s studies professor Lina-María Murillo , who studies the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and teaches a course on global reproduction, explains that abortion in the United States was legal and performed by midwives before the Civil War. In the following decades, declining birth rates and gender inequality led to restrictions across the country and a nationwide ban in 1910 .

As Murillo’s research has documented, criminalization led women seeking abortions to travel to Mexico more than a century ago.

These border crossings ultimately declined as Mexican abortion restrictions were enforced and clinics shut down by the late 1960s. At the same time, U.S. activists and doctors contributed to the narrative that portrayed Mexico as a dangerous place where “back alley” abortions were performed by “butcher” physicians. Murillo argues that these myths contributed to a loosening of abortion restrictions in several U.S. states like California and New Mexico, helping set the stage for Roe v. Wade.

As elections loom closer in the United States, abortion will likely take center stage once again – including in Florida, where a referendum to reverse the six-week ban will be on the November ballot .

• Reproductive rights
• Abortion law
• US Supreme Court
• Women's rights
• Abortion ban
• US reproductive rights

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Southeast Asia Travel Guide

Last Updated: November 27, 2023

Backpackers have been traveling through Southeast Asia since the late 1960s and early 1970s, leaving a well-worn trail around the region.

Starting in beautiful Thailand, the trail makes its way to up-and-coming Laos, through Vietnam, and to the temples of Angkor Wat. It then winds back into Thailand, where people head south to party in the Thai islands before moving down to Malaysia and Singapore.

There are a few variations to the trail, but this is what it mostly covers.

I’ve been visiting this region since 2004 and spent years living in Thailand . I love backpacking Southeast Asia and have written extensively about it as I know it like the back of my hand.

It’s an especially great region for new travelers because it’s easy to travel around, it’s safe, and there are lots of other travelers you can meet. But it’s also perfect for veteran travelers too as there are tons of off-the-beaten-path destinations that the standard backpacker trail doesn’t cover.

In short, Southeast Asia has something for every traveler — and every budget.

This Southeast Asia travel guide will help you travel the region like a pro, ensuring you save money and make the most of your time in this fun, gorgeous, and lively corner of the world.

Table of Contents

• Things to See and Do
• Typical Costs
• Suggested Budget
• Money-Saving Tips
• Where to Stay
• How to Get Around
• How to Stay Safe
• Best Places to Book Your Trip
• Related Blogs on Southeast Asia

Click Here for Country Guides

Top 5 things to see and do in southeast asia.

1. Admire Angkor Wat

One of the greatest human creations in history, the Angkor Wat temple complex is best explored over the course of a few days. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site created by the Khmer Empire and absolutely enormous. Temples to visit include Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple which has 216 gigantic stone face carvings, and Ta Prohm. I spent three days here and that simply wasn’t enough. A one-day pass is $37 USD, while a 1-week pass is $72 USD. If you’re here for multiple days, be sure to hire a driver and see some of the more out of the way ruins away from the main temple complex (and the crowds).

2. Explore Bangkok

Bangkok is the hub of travel activity in Southeast Asia. You can get anywhere you want from here. Though I hated it at first, the more I’ve spent time here the more I love it. Bangkok is like an onion whose many layers need to be peeled back. Some things not to miss include the spectacular Bangkok Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Chatuchak Market and Asiatique, and a canal trip on the Chao Phraya River. This is a city for foodies and wild nightlife.

3. Relax on some tropical islands

No visit to Southeast Asia would be complete without a visit to at least one of the thousands of tropical islands in the region. My top five include the Perhentian Islands (Malaysia), Rabbit Island (Cambodia), Ko Lanta (Thailand), and Boracay (Philippines). Lombok Island (Indonesia) has a chill vibe with unspoiled, perfect “desert island” beaches. There’s so many islands to visit. Be sure to add at least one to your trip. The country guides will have more information for you.

4. See Ha Long Bay

Sailing trips to this island-filled bay with stunning emerald waters, limestone formations, and marine life give you an appreciation for the natural beauty in Vietnam. Tours from Hanoi start at around $110 USD for two-day trips and increase from there. I love the colorful grottoes, hanging stalactites, and stalagmites of Surprise Cave (Sung Sot), Fairy Cave (Tien Ong), and Heaven Palace (Thien Cung). Make sure you go with a reputable company though as some of the cheaper boats are less than ideal. If you’d rather just visit for one day, day trips from Hanoi cost $55 USD.

5. Wander Kuala Lumpur

Other things to see and do in southeast asia, 1. go jungle trekking.

This region of the world is covered in amazing jungles with diverse wildlife, plentiful camping opportunities, and cool waterfalls. The best jungle treks are found in northern Thailand, Western Laos, and Malaysian Borneo (the latter are also the hardest and most intense). Some of my favorites include Danum Valley (Borneo) for its incredible wildlife; Ratanakiri (Cambodia) for its pristine wilderness and thousand-year-old trees; and Pu Luong Nature Reserve (Vietnam). Costs vary but jungle trekking generally costs $30-50 USD per day.

2. Attend the Full Moon Party

The biggest one-night party in the world welcomes up to 30,000 people with a party that stretches until dawn. Cover yourself in glow paint, grab a bucket of booze, and dance the night away with new friends on the island of Ko Phangan in Thailand. As the name would suggest, the party is on the night of the full moon. If you miss it, there’s always the half-moon party, quarter-moon party, and black-moon party. Really, every night is a party on Ko Phangan . Just avoid the flaming jump rope that occurs — I’ve seen people get burned badly!

3. Learn to dive

There are many great dive sites around the region for those interested in underwater exploration. You can learn to dive here at a fraction of what it would cost back home too. Some of the best places are Ko Tao (Thailand), Sipadan (Malaysia), as well as Gili Islands (Indonesia) and Coron, Palawan (The Philippines). A typical diving course is completed in three days. A PADI course typically runs $275 USD in Thailand, including three nights’ accommodation, though at smaller schools you can often negotiate down to $250 USD. Day trips for certified divers start at $165 USD. For information on Ko Tao, check out this blog post .

4. Eat street food in Singapore

Singapore is a foodie’s heaven. Try the hawker stalls of Singapore as well as Little India and Chinatown for some of the best and cheapest food in Asia. If you’re looking for a nice place to sit down and eat, eat at Singapore’s famed restaurants during lunch when restaurants offer discounts, making them a great deal. You’ll also find the most affordable Michelin-starred restaurants here (Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice and Hawker Chan), offering world-class meals for just a couple of bucks!

5. Overload on temples

You can’t turn a corner without seeing a Buddhist temple in this part of the world. You’ll get temple overload at some point but visit as many as you can as each is unique to the country and region of the temple. There are so many places with high concentrations of ornate and beautiful temples. Check out Chiang Mai’s Wat Doi Suthep Temple and hike up the 300 steps to the golden Chedi that’s 600 years old!; Bagan’s Shwesandaw Pagoda from the 11th century with its stunning golden dome; Angkor Wat’s Ta Prohm is covered in iconic vines and enveloped in ancient jungle roots; Hue’s colorful Thien Mu Pagoda is perched atop a lush green embankment; Hoi An’s Quan Cong Temple with incredible Chinese architecture with hand-carved beauty and skill, and Luang Prabang’s Vat Xieng Thong with its golden, canopied roof. Most are free to enter, however, dress codes are enforced (you need to have your shoulders and legs covered).

6. Dive Sipadan

Located off Malaysian Borneo, Sipadan is one of the best dive sites in the world. If you have your dive certificate, make sure you venture out here. I absolutely love this area because it’s teeming with live turtles, diverse cave systems, sharks, dolphins, colorful coral, bright fish, and everything in between. Not a lot of people make it to this part of Malaysia, but it’s worth it to go the extra mile and make your way off the tourist trail a bit. Don’t miss Barracuda Point and The Drop-Off. Keep in mind that only 176 permits to dive at the island are issued each day, costing 140 MYR per person. The resorts on the neighboring islands each get a specific number of permits per day and require divers to stay with them for a few days. So you’ll need to stay at those resorts and dive into the surrounding areas before they can get you a Sipadan permit.

7. Fall in love with Bali

Bali is the most popular destination in Indonesia, and its famous Kuta beach is known for its wild parties and surfing ( though I think it’s overrated ). However, there is much more to Bali than just wild nights and sun-soaked days. If you’re a thrill seeker, hike up to the top of Mount Batur, an active volcano, for a breathtaking sunrise. Paragliding and white water rafting are also super popular here, as is surfing (it’s an affordable place to learn if you’ve never done it). There are also lots of hot springs to enjoy, the Ubud Monkey Forest (a popular temple and nature reserve home to hundreds of monkeys), and numerous places to scuba dive, including the Liberty wreck and Manta Point.

8. Take in Ho Chi Minh City

Frantic, chaotic, and crazy, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam is the embodiment of the controlled chaos that rules Southeast Asia. You can’t quite figure out how this teeming mass of people and cars work together, but it does. Highlights here include touring the tunnels used by the Viet Cong in the 1960s, taking in the view from the Saigon Skydeck, eating your way through the street food scene, and seeing the city’s numerous temples.

9. Admire the sunrise over an Indonesian Volcano

One of the most popular tourist attractions on Java is Mount Bromo and its National Park. Don’t miss out on getting a photo of the smoldering Bromo volcano as it lies surrounded by the almost lunar landscape of the Sea of Sand. Get up early to catch one of the most memorable sunrises of your life. If you’re there in mid-August, you’ll be just in time to see Upacara Kasada, the traditional Hindu ritual of the Tenggerese, a Javanese tribe of the region.

10. Hike in Khao Sok National Park

Located in southern Thailand, Khao Sok National Park is constantly rated as one of the best parks in Thailand, with incredible trekking, camping, limestone karsts, cooling rivers, and a glistening lake. Visit for semi-challenging hikes, tons of wildlife, walking paths, and breathtaking sunsets. Park entrance costs around $6 USD while full-day guided tours are $95 USD. I highly recommend spending at least one night here to get the full experience.

11. Visit Kampot

Most people come to Kampot to enjoy the scenic riverside views, as well as the rolling hills that surround the city. Since you can explore easily enough on foot or by bicycle, Kampot is a great place to slow down and relax. There’s not much to do here but have lazy days by the river, chill, and eat (don’t miss the famous Rusty Keyhole for BBQ!). Don’t miss the pepper farms, as this region of Cambodia is filled with pepper farms where you can learn about the history of the spice, see how it is grown, and pick up what is considered some of the finest pepper in the world. Tours are usually free.

12. Take a cooking class

Food from this region is as varied as the countries themselves and learning how to cook a few dishes is a great souvenir of your time here. Even if you don’t plan to cook back home, you can still spend a day making and eating scrumptious food. Most big cities have cooking schools offering classes of 2-6 hours, often including a trip to the local market beforehand to select ingredients. I absolutely love cooking classes and urge you to take one at least once. They are a fun experience!

13. Take a food tour

If you’d rather eat instead of cook, taking a food tour is a fun way to gain insight into the region’s amazing noodle dishes, fresh seafood, sweets, and street food while learning about the history and culture behind the cuisine. Most major cities in Southeast Asia offer food tours. These include tours around local markets, street stalls, and tours to locally-owned restaurants and cafes where you can sample the local cuisine and connect with a local chef. If you’re nervous about street food, this is a great way to try some in a controlled setting. Tours usually last 2-4 hours and include multiple stops and several different dishes, with prices costing $40-75 USD per person.

14. Visit an elephant sanctuary

While riding an elephant is on many a Southeast Asia bucket list, once you know how much the animals suffer from abuse in order to provide these rides, you might think twice about taking one. An even better way to interact with elephants is to volunteer at or visit the Elephant Nature Park near Chiang Mai in Thailand. It’s a phenomenal place, allowing you to give back to the community and these magnificent animals all at once. After coming here, you will understand why you should NEVER ride an elephant. A one-day visit costs $70 USD.

15. See The Killing Fields

A visit to Choeung Ek, also known as the Killing Fields, may not be the most cheerful way to spend an afternoon, but it makes for an educational and memorable experience. Over 3 million people were killed by Pol Pot’s regime, including countless women and children. I recommend getting a guide so you can really understand what you’re seeing as you explore the area. Also, this horrific tragedy took place less than 50 years ago and is still very present so please be respectful as a visitor.  The site is located 10 miles from Phnom Penh. Half-day guided tours start at $66 USD.

16. Swim with Whale Sharks in Donsol

If you’re in the Philippines, check out the Donsol Whale Shark Interactive Ecosystem Project because there are not many experiences quite as adrenaline-inducing as swimming with a whale shark for the first time in crystal waters. These incredible creatures are around 45 feet (14 meters) long and yet incredibly gentle and curious. I loved floating at the surface being able to look below and see them slowly swim below me. Get some people together and rent a boat for a half day, explore the area, and go ‘shark-seeing’ for a good cause.  

  For a ton more information, visit my country specific travel guides for more detailed information on each place:

• Cambodia Travel Guide
• Indonesia Travel Guide
• Laos Travel Guide
• Malaysia Travel Guide
• Singapore Travel Guide
• Thailand Travel Guide
• Vietnam Travel Guide

Southeast Asia Travel Costs

Accommodation – Accommodation in Southeast Asia is really cheap, making it the perfect place to travel if you are on a budget. Hostels are plentiful, as are budget guesthouses and hotels. It’s also very cheap to splash out here if you’re in need of some luxury.

Generally, you can find hostel dorm rooms for as little as $6-8 USD in Cambodia and $3-6 USD in Laos. In Thailand, 4-6-bed dorm rooms are $8-12 USD, while in Vietnam you can expect to pay $5-7 USD. In Indonesia, prices range between $5-10 USD for a 4-6-bed dorm room. Expect to pay at least $15-20 per night for a private room with air conditioning. Free Wi-Fi is standard in most hostels, free breakfast is common, and many hostels even have pools. In more remote areas, hot water isn’t common so make sure to check in advance if that’s an issue for you.

Simple guesthouses or bungalows throughout Southeast Asia generally cost $12-20 USD per night for a basic room with a fan (sometimes air conditioning) and hot water. If you want something nicer that includes a more comfortable bed and a TV, expect to pay $25-35 USD per night.

For backpackers, budgeting around $10 USD per night for accommodation is pretty safe no matter where you go in Southeast Asia. If you’re looking for a higher-end hotel room with more amenities, expect to pay $20-50 USD per night for a room. Anything over that is luxury territory.

Camping is available in certain areas, usually for just a few dollars per night for a basic tent plot without electricity. However, this is about the same price as hostels so it’s not really any cheaper.

Food – While each country’s cuisine varies, overall, Southeast Asian food is aromatic, spicy, and flavorful. Typical spices and herbs include garlic, basil, galangal, cilantro, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, chilies, and fish sauce. No matter what region you’re in, you can expect to find a variety of curries, salads, soups, noodle dishes, and stir-fries.

Rice and noodles are central to Southeast Asian food, while the meat is usually pork, chicken, fish, or seafood, which is everywhere on the islands and coastal areas.

While traveling Southeast Asia, street food is the most popular food and cheapest option. On average, these meals cost $1-5 USD. You find these stalls throughout this region lining most streets and every market. They are ubiquitous in the region. In Singapore, street food (from “hawker stands” as they’re known there) costs around $4-5 USD for a meal. Even if you go into small local restaurants, the price doesn’t increase that much.

Food that costs $2 USD at a street stall generally only costs $4-6 USD at a local restaurant. If you went into a restaurant in Thailand, you’d pay around $3-4 USD for a pad Thai that would have cost $1-2 USD on the street.

In Cambodia, street food is around $1-2 USD, while restaurants charge around $3-5 USD for a dish like amok (a coconut milk dish) or luc lac (pepper gravy beef).

Western meals, including burgers, pizza, and sandwiches usually cost around $7-10 USD. But these generally aren’t that great. If you want something that actually tastes as it does back home, expect to spend at least $10-12 USD for your meal.

While cheap, alcohol can take a bite out of your budget if you’re not careful. Those $1-2 USD beers add up! Wine and cocktails are more expensive, generally around $3-5 USD. A cappuccino is typically around $2 USD. Bottled water is plentiful and costs less than $1 USD.

There’s a growing cutting-edge foodie scene in the region and, if you want to splurge, you can do so on some really good meals. Big cities like Bangkok, KL, and Singapore, all have world-class Michelin star restaurants as well some incredible fusion restaurants.

Since dining out is so cheap in the region, there’s no point in grocery shopping unless you’re looking to get some pre-made salads or fruits. Additionally, a general lack of kitchens in most hostels and hotels makes it difficult to cook even if you wanted to. If you do purchase your own groceries, expect to spend around $25 USD per week for basic groceries like local produce, rice, and some meat (while avoiding expensive imported items like cheese and wine).

Backpacking Southeast Asia Suggested Budgets

On a backpacker budget of $45 USD per day, you can stay in hostel dorms, eat out at local markets and street stalls, limit your drinking, do mostly free activities, minimize paid activities, and use public transportation to get around. You’re not going to be able to splash out but you’ll be able to live the typical backpacker experience without really stressing over expenses.

On a mid-range budget of $85 USD per day, you can stay in budget hotels or private hostel rooms, eat more restaurant meals, do more paid activities like cooking classes, take some taxis, and enjoy a few more drinks. You won’t live large, but you won’t be missing out either.

On an upscale budget of $150 USD or more per day, you can stay in nicer hotels with more amenities, eat out as much as you want, do more paid tours including private tours, hire a driver, fly between destinations, and basically do whatever you want. The sky is the limit with this kind of budget!

You can use the chart below to get some idea of how much you need to budget daily, depending on your travel style. Keep in mind these are daily averages — some days you’ll spend more, some days you’ll spend less (you might spend less every day). We just want to give you a general idea of how to make your budget. Prices are in USD.

Southeast Asia Travel Guide: Money-Saving Tips

Backpacking Southeast Asia is cheap. There’s little opportunity to spend a lot of money since everything is already so inexpensive unless you intentionally are trying to splash out on fancy meals and high end hotels. The two reasons why most travelers end up overspending is that they eat a lot of Western food and drink way too much. If you want to save money while traveling in this part of the world, cut down on your drinking and skip the Western food. While country guides have more specific ways to save money, here are some general ways to save money in Southeast Asia:

• Stay with a local – Accommodation is cheap in Southeast Asia but nothing’s cheaper than free! Use Couchsurfing to stay with locals who have extra beds and couches for free. You’ll also meet great people who can show you around and share their insider tips and advice.
• Book tours and day trips as a group – You have more negotiation power when you’re with a group of people buying multiple spots or tickets. Traveling alone? Meet a friend at a hostel and see if they want to join the same tour as you. I’ve met some great friends over the years doing this and highly recommend it.
• Don’t book in advance – Don’t book any tours or activities before you get to your destination. They’ll be much cheaper when you arrive as you’ll be able to negotiate a lower price as you’ll find companies are often offering the same tour and competing. Anything you see online is more expensive than you need to pay!
• Eat on the street – The street food is the best food. The food is the best and cheapest you’ll find. It’s a great way to try new foods and get to chat with locals as well. This is where locals eat so if you want insight into local culture, good food, and savings, eat the street food. Look for where locals are eating to ensure that it’s safe to eat.
• Bargain hard – Nothing is ever at face value here. Bargain with sellers as most of the time, the price they’ve quoted is way higher. There’s a haggling culture in the region so play the game and save some money. It’s important not to convert it in your head to your own currency because it will usually sound cheap even though you might still be getting ripped off. You’ll never get the local price, but you might come close!
• Minimize your drinking – Drinks really add up. Even with cheap drinks, if you’re not aware, you’ll end up spending more money on beer than on food and accommodation. If you want to drink, head to the supermarkets, drink at the hostel, or check out the local happy hours.
• Pack a water bottle – A water bottle with a purifier comes particularly in handy in Southeast Asia since you can’t usually drink the tap water. Save money and thousands of plastic bottles and get a bottle that can purify the tap water for you. My preferred bottle is LifeStraw as it has a built-in filter that ensures your water is always safe and clean.

Where to Stay in Southeast Asia

I’ve been traveling Southeast Asia since 2005 and have stayed in hundreds of places. Here are some of my favorite places to stay in Southeast Asia:

• The Siem Reap Pub Hostel (Siem Reap)
• Onederz Siem Reap (Siem Reap)
• Mad Monkey Siem Reap (Siem Reap)
• Onederz Sihanoukville (Sihanoukville)
• Monkey Republic (Sihanoukville)
• Onederz Phnom Penh (Phnom Penh)
• Sla Boutique Hostel (Phnom Penh)
• The Magic Sponge (Kampot)
• Indigo House Hotel (Luang Prabang)
• Sa Sa Lao (Luang Prabang)
• Sanga Hostel (Pakse)
• Nana Backpackers Hostel (Vang Vieng)
• Dream Home Hostel (Vientiane)
• Traveller Bunker Hostel (Cameron Highlands)
• De’Native Guest House (Cameron Highlands)
• Kitez Hotel & Bunks (Kuala Lumpur)
• Sunshine Bedz Kuala Lumpur (Kuala Lumpur)
• Ryokan Muntri Boutique Hostel (Penang)
• Mad Monkey Hostel (Bangkok)
• D&D Inn (Bangkok)
• Kodchasri B&B (Chiang Mai)
• The Royal Guest House (Chiang Mai)
• Green Leaf (Khao Yai)
• Lonely Beach Resort (Ko Chang)
• The Sanctuary (Koh Phangan)
• Na-Tub Hostel (Koh Phangan)
• Pineapple Guesthouse (Phuket)
• Dream Lodge
• The Pod Capsule Hostel
• The Scarlet
• Under the Coconut Tree Guesthouse (Hoi An)
• Fuse Beachside (Hoi An)
• Pretty Backpackers House (Da Lat)
• Hanoi Old Quarter Hostel (Hanoi)
• Luxury Backpackers Hostel (Hanoi)
• The Hideout (HCMC)
• City Backpackers Hostel (HCMC)

How to Get Around Southeast Asia

Public transportation – Public transportation costs from a few pennies to a few dollars, with Singapore and Malaysia offering the most comprehensive public transportation systems. In Thailand, local buses cost around $0.25 USD per trip, while the Metro and Skytrain in Bangkok cost $0.50-1.50 USD per trip. In Cambodia, a bus ticket in Phnom Penh costs just $0.40 USD per ride.

Major cities generally have subway systems but mostly you’ll be using the bus or shared taxis to get around.

Tuk-tuks (small, shared taxis with no meter) are available around much of the region and require a bit of haggling. They usually have 3-6 seats and generally cost more than public transportation but are faster. To find a reputable driver, ask your accommodation as they usually know someone. Tuk-tuk drivers can often be hired for the day for a discounted rate (this is what a lot of people do to visit the Killing Fields and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, for example).

Taxi – Taxis in the region are generally safe, though it’s not uncommon to have to haggle. Scams to rip you off aren’t uncommon either, so always ask your accommodation to call you a taxi whenever possible so you know you’ll get a reputable company.

In Singapore and Indonesia, taxi drivers do put on the meter. In Bangkok, you can get taxi drivers to use the meter, but if you’re hailing one in a tourist area, he might try to avoid using it. In Vietnam, the meter is sometimes rigged, but if you can get a reputable company like Mai Linh, you won’t have any problems.

Ridesharing – Grab, DiDi, and Gojek are Asia’s answer to Uber. They work the same way: you hire a driver to take you somewhere via the app, and you can pay via the app or in cash. It’s often more affordable than a regular taxi, though drivers are a bit unreliable as the practice is not as widespread here as in other parts of the world.

Just keep in mind that some drivers are driving motorcycles so be sure to double check what kind of vehicle is picking you up if you don’t want to ride on the back of one.

Bus – The easiest and cheapest way to travel around Southeast Asia is by bus. The backpacker trail is so worn that there is a very well-established tourist bus system to take you anywhere. Buses costs vary between $5-25 USD for a 5-6 hour journey. Overnight buses cost $20-35 USD depending on distance (they often have reclining seats so you can get a decent sleep).

You can check ticket prices and book tickets for all the different bus companies across Southeast Asia at 12go.asia.

Train – Train service is limited in the region and not something to really consider when you travel Southeast Asia. You can take a train up and down the coast of Vietnam and there’s some limited scenic rails in Malaysia. Thailand is the only country that has an extensive train system that lets you travel all its regions (and onward to Singapore) from Bangkok.

The train prices in Southeast Asia are determined by distance and class. Night trains with sleeper cars are more expensive than day trains. The night train to Chiang Mai from Bangkok takes twelve hours and costs $27 USD for a sleeper seat. However, that same train during the day is $8-9 USD. In Vietnam, trains run up and down the coast and cost $60 USD from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

Flying – The cost of flying around Southeast Asia has come down in recent years due to the rise of low-cost airlines. Scoot, Jetstar, and AirAsia are the biggest. Nok Air has a lot of flights within Thailand , and VietJet Air is popular in Vietnam . Lion Air serves Indonesia , but its safety record is really spotty and I personally would not fly them. If you book early, you can save on fares, as most of the airlines offer deeply discounted fare sales all the time, especially Air Asia.

Just make sure that the airport these budget airlines fly into isn’t too far out of your way (transportation from the secondary airport sometimes negates the savings from using the budget airline itself).

Also, keep in mind that you usually must pay to check your baggage on these cheap flights. If you wait to pay for your luggage at the gate, you end up paying almost double. Travel carry-on only to avoid this added cost.

All in all, I only recommend flying if you are pressed for time or find a super cheap deal. Otherwise, stick to the bus.

Hitchhiking – Hitchhiking in Southeast Asia is safe, though popularity of the practice varies by country (it’s more common in Malaysia, but not so much in Cambodia). Dress respectably, smile while making eye contact with drivers, and use a cardboard sign to tell people where you’re headed. Be prepared for long bouts of no pick-ups, especially if you’re traveling through more rural areas. Pack plenty of water and food. Also, make sure the people picking you up understand you’re hitchhiking and not flagging down a taxi.

Hitchwiki is a great resource for hitchhiking tips.

Car rental I don’t recommend renting a car in Southeast Asia. Rental cars are expensive ($40 USD per day or more) and the roads here are in poor shape. I would never drive around the region.

When to Go to Southeast Asia

The best time of year to visit Southeast Asia is from November to April when temperatures are milder (though temperatures vary drastically by region). It may be mild in Thailand in January and hot in Malaysia but in Northern Vietnam, it’s cold! Also, one of the biggest mistakes people make is not taking into account the rainy season. In some cases it won’t make a big difference but definitely does if it’s a beach trip.

In Indonesia, the best time to visit is April to October. Temperatures average 24-30ºC (75-86ºF), and the weather is mostly dry. July to September is the peak holiday season and when you can expect to pay the highest rates. December to February is the rainy season.

In Malaysia, January-March and June-September are the best time to visit, as these months have the lowest average rainfall. It is still hot and humid during this time though. The rainy season is from October to December. Singapore’s climate/weather is much like Malaysia’s.

In Vietnam, the weather varies by region. In Central Vietnam (including Hoi An and Nha Trang), January-May is the best time to visit because it is dry and the temperatures average 21-30°C (70-86°F). June to August is also a decent time to visit. If you want to stick around Hanoi, March to April is great, or October to December (for mildest temperatures). The rainy season is May-September.

Thailand has three seasons: hot, hotter, and hottest. It’s always warm, though the weather is nicest between November and February (which is also peak tourist season). Bangkok is “coolest” and driest during this time (but still averaging a hot 29°C/85°F each day). April and May are the hottest months, and the rainy season is June-October. The gulf islands get pretty rainy from August to December.

The dry season in Cambodia is from November-May and the cool season is from November-February (and when most people visit). Temperatures during this time are still high, but humidity is lower. Laos has the same cool season as Cambodia, with the dry season running from November-April.

In the Philippines, it’s mostly warm all year long with an average daily high of 26°C (80°F). There are rainy and dry seasons and temperatures are hot and dry from March-May and cooler December-February. The best time to visit is between January-April when it’s less humid. Monsoon Season is July-October.

For more information on when to go to places, visit the specific country guides.

How to Stay Safe in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is an incredibly safe place to backpack and travel — even if you’re traveling solo and even as a solo female traveler. Violent crime is super, duper rare. Petty theft (including bag snatching) is the most common type of crime in Southeast Asia, especially around popular tourist landmarks. Always keep your valuables out of reach on public transportation and in crowds just to be safe. Never leave your valuables unattended while at the beach and always keep a hold of your purse/bag when out and about as bag snatching is common.

That said, outside touristy areas, theft is really rare. Heck, it’s pretty rare in touristy areas too! But a little vigilance goes a long way and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

There are some common scams around that you’ll want to be aware of, such as the motorbike scam. This involves a bike rental company trying to charge you for damage to the bike that you didn’t cause. To avoid this, always take photos of your rental before you leave so you can protect yourself from baseless claims.

Another common scam involves a tuk-tuk driver taking you somewhere you didn’t want to go in hopes you’ll buy something from the shop/restaurant he dropped you off at (he gets a commission if you do). Simply refuse to buy anything and demand to go back to where you were — or find another driver.

For other common travel scams, read this post about major travel scams to avoid in the region .

Solo female travelers should feel safe here, though it’s generally a good idea to avoid walking around alone at night just to be safe. It’s always a good idea to carry some extra cash to get home in a taxi if you need to. Additionally, always keep an eye on your drink at the bar and never accept drinks from strangers. Be sensible when it comes to dating while traveling and meeting people in public places. As I’m not a woman, please check out some solo female travel blogs to get the best insight.

Overall, the people who get in trouble here tend to be involved with drugs or sex tourism. Avoid those two things and you should be fine. Keep in mind that it’s not always obvious how old someone is or if they’re a sex worker so be mindful when getting involved in romantic interactions. Also, penalties for drug use in this region are stiff so even if you’re here to party, skip the drugs.

Always trust your gut instinct. Make copies of your personal documents, including your passport and ID. Forward your itinerary along to loved ones so they’ll know where you are.

For more in-depth coverage of how to stay safe in Southeast Asia, check out this post that answers some frequently asked questions and concerns.

The most important piece of advice I can offer is to purchase good travel insurance. Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. You can use the widget below to find the policy right for you:

Southeast Asia Travel Guide: The Best Booking Resources

These are my favorite companies to use when I travel. They consistently have the best deals, offer world-class customer service and great value, and overall, are better than their competitors. They are the companies I use the most and are always the starting point in my search for travel deals.

• Skyscanner – Skyscanner is my favorite flight search engine. They search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites tend to miss. They are hands down the number one place to start.
• Hostelworld – This is the best hostel accommodation site out there with the largest inventory, best search interface, and widest availability.
• Agoda – Other than Hostelworld, Agoda is the best hotel accommodation site for Asia.
• Booking.com – The best all around booking site that constantly provides the cheapest and lowest rates. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation. In all my tests, they’ve always had the cheapest rates out of all the booking websites.
• Get Your Guide – Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace for tours and excursions. They have tons of tour options available in cities all around the world, including everything from cooking classes, walking tours, street art lessons, and more!
• SafetyWing – Safety Wing offers convenient and affordable plans tailored to digital nomads and long-term travelers. They have cheap monthly plans, great customer service, and an easy-to-use claims process that makes it perfect for those on the road.
• LifeStraw – My go-to company for reusable water bottles with built-in filters so you can ensure your drinking water is always clean and safe.
• Unbound Merino – They make lightweight, durable, easy-to-clean travel clothing.

Get the In-Depth Budget Guide to Thailand!

My detailed 350+ page guidebook is made for budget travelers like you! It cuts out the fluff found in other guidebooks and gets straight to the practical information you need to travel around Thailand. You’ll find suggested itineraries, budgets, ways to save money, on and off-the-beaten-path things to see and do, non-touristy restaurants, markets, bars, safety tips, and much more! Click here to learn more and get your copy today.

Southeast Asia Travel Guide: Related Articles

Want more info? Check out all the articles I’ve written on Southeast Asia travel and continue planning your trip:

The 4 Best Hostels in Singapore

The 6 Best Hostels in Bali

The 22 Best Things to Do in Bangkok

5 LGBTQ Travel Tips for Asia

Is Southeast Asia Safe for Travelers?

Backpacking Cambodia: 3 Suggested Itineraries for Your Trip

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Avelo starts flying this week from Knoxville to New Haven, a neighbor to New York City

For the first time in more than a decade, a new airline lifted off from McGhee Tyson Airport.

New Haven, anyone?

Avelo Airlines , a budget carrier founded in 2021 that specializes in short flights between small airports, will fly from Knoxville to its Connecticut hub twice a week on Thursdays and Sundays beginning May 9.

When the airport announced Avelo would be its first new airline since Frontier in 2011, there was some collective head scratching. Few Knoxville residents had heard of the airline, and perhaps fewer could list attractions in New Haven, Connecticut.

But the flights allow McGhee Tyson and Avelo to create a gateway to New England through New Haven, a spot for great pizza and an academic hub thanks to Yale University.

Despite a connecting train, Knoxville is the real Avelo destination

The coastal city also has a train station that takes riders on a two-hour trip directly into New York City's Grand Central Terminal. Despite that, Knoxville is the real destination here.

Behind the scenes, Avelo learned Connecticut travelers want to fly to McGhee Tyson. One of the main reasons is to visit Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is the most visited national park in the country.

Welcoming 13.3 million visitors in 2023, it's not even close.

"We're the destination, not the other way around," Brian Simmons, chair of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority's board of commissioners, told Knox News at the February announcement.

Knoxville to New Haven offers more connections to New England cities

The Avelo announcement was welcome news for locals with connections to New Haven, especially Yale alumni and those with family and friends in Connecticut. Tweed New Haven Airport is within a short drive of other New England cities − roughly 45 minutes to Hartford, 90 minutes to Providence, Rhode Island, and just over two hours to Boston.

"By the time you get to Tweed and take a train over to New York City, you're probably still on the runway at LaGuardia," Avelo spokesperson Courtney Goff said.

If you want to test the theory, McGhee Tyson offers flights to LaGuardia on American and Delta.

Could Avelo be the airline that inspires others to expand in Knoxville?

Knoxville's airport now has nonstop flights to 30 destinations on six airlines, the most in its history. It also has more passengers than ever before.

In 2023, the airport served a record 2.8 million flyers and expects to break the record again this year.

Some travelers weren't so thrilled with the Avelo announcement. The airport teased a new airline and destination were coming, leading some to believe elusive carriers like Southwest or JetBlue might be on the way.

But any new airline brings with it the opportunity for more destinations and other airlines.

"We are growing organically with existing airlines, but we also have other airlines that are very interested in coming here, and we're proving that we can have a new airline come and establish service and be successful," Simmons said.

'Crawl, walk, run method' could mean more Avelo flights are coming

Avelo belongs to a class of airlines known as " ultra low cost carriers ," which were critical in helping U.S. airports recover from the pandemic by taking leisure travelers on domestic vacations. The airline uses a "crawl, walk, run method" for new flights, Goff told Knox News via email.

That means adding service slowly at first, like the twice-weekly trip to New Haven, before adding more flights if there's demand. Avelo has left other similar airports after only a short stay but is confident Knoxville is a good fit.

Inbound seats on the inaugural flight are nearly full, Goff said.

Avelo fleet comprised of Boeing 737 planes, but not those 737s

Avelo's fleet is composed of Boeing Next-Generation 737 planes, not to be confused with its 737 Max planes, which travelers are avoiding after a series of fatal crashes and non-fatal mechanical failures.

Other ultra low cost carriers are Allegiant, Breeze Airways, Frontier, Sun Country Airlines and Spirit Airlines. Allegiant operates a base at McGhee Tyson, stationing four Airbus A320 aircraft there.

Breeze, Sun Country and Spirit are likely contenders for the next airline to come to Knoxville.

Seven new flights at McGhee Tyson just in time for summer travel

Available airplane seats from Knoxville could increase as much as 40% this summer compared to last summer, thanks to new destinations and bigger planes. Legacy airlines American, Delta and United will swap regional jets for larger aircraft on select flights.

McGhee Tyson is adding seven new flights this summer:

• Avelo Airlines to Tweed New Haven Airport beginning May 9.
• Frontier Airlines to Philadelphia International Airport beginning May 16
• Allegiant Air to Orlando International Airport beginning May 17
• Delta Airlines to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport beginning June 7
• Allegiant Air to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport beginning June 13
• Allegiant Air to South Bend International Airport beginning June 14
• Allegiant Air to Jacksonville International Airport beginning June 14

Avelo's inaugural flight took off from Knoxville around 10:50 a.m. May 9 after a water cannon salute and a ribbon cutting. Flights to Connecticut can be booked at aveloair.com for as low as $56.

Daniel Dassow is a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy. Phone 423-637-0878. Email  [email protected] .

Support strong local journalism by subscribing at  knoxnews.com/subscribe .   

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Ltc rules for central government employees released: who is eligible, who is not find out here.

The Leave Travel Concession (LTC) initiative offers government employees a discounted travel option to go to any destination in India or to their home town during a a block of four years. . Are all central government employees eligible for LTC? What are the terms and conditions of LTC? All you need to know.

What is a Leave Travel Concession (LTC) for central government employees?

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