The Reasons We Travel… and How They Change (Us)

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Intrepid Travel

Think back to the first trip you took without your parents. Where did you go? Why did you choose that city / region / country? What types of things influenced your decision (books, movies, magazines, friends)?

My first independent trip was to Paris when I was not yet 20 years old. I had finished theatre school and was working at a restaurant in downtown Vancouver to pay the bills while I waited for my agent to call with the next audition.

My roommate at the time mentioned Paris offhand; a (now ex) boyfriend made me watch countless French New Wave films (Godard, Truffaut, Rohmer, Chabrol…); I began slowly picking up books by Beauvoir and Colette, and then devouring books by imports like Hemingway, Stein, Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller. In no time, I was completely obsessed with Paris. (When the film Amèlie was released, my mania was renewed!)

A sketch of me done in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris.

A sketch of me done in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris.

I saved all of my tips from the restaurant and put them into my “Paris fund,” which was then promptly spent on plane tickets and a hotel for a month. (I actually faxed my credit card information over on a hand-written cover letter – see photo below.)

My hand-written letter to reserve my hotel, faxed over.

My hand-written letter to reserve my hotel, faxed over.

I was young. Paris represented sophistication, elegance, maturity, independence, all things I craved in my life at that time. It did not disappoint. My favourite quote from my journal is: “I’ve gained as many layers as I’ve taken off and learned as many lessons as I’ve thrown away.”

Paris has now become a city I go to for reflecting, digesting the whirlwind that my life often feels like, re-assessing where I’m at, and a change for when I need to get out of this casual west coast attitude (I’m in Vancouver) and dress it up with some high fashion. My Parisian experience has changed because I have changed (aka. gotten older). Perhaps why and how we travel is a reflection of what we need more of in our “regular” lives, or for others, what we want to escape from?

Now, when I plan a trip, I seek out other things – locally grown food, lush wilderness, creative people, cultural traditions not my own – all things I love to have in my life. Before my last trip to Kyoto, I read up on geisha (called geiko there) and maiko, which gave the streets of Gion and Pontocho a whole new life for me.

My favourites quotes from the Picasso Museum in Paris: "If you know exactly what you are going to do then what is the point of doing it" and "Je suis pour la vie / contre la mort / Je suis pour la paix / contre la guerre."- Pablo Picasso

My favourites quotes from the Picasso Museum in Paris: “If you know exactly what you are going to do then what is the point of doing it” and “Je suis pour la vie / contre la mort / Je suis pour la paix / contre la guerre.”- Pablo Picasso

Tell me about your first trip: Where did you go? Why did you choose that city / region / country? What types of things influenced your decision? What influences it now? How does this reflect who you are and how you’ve changed since that time?

Intrepid Travel

 
  • Sandy Alby

    Ooooh, I remember my first trip by myself. I went to Thailand. Although I spent most of my time on backpacker’s road hanging out with other travelers. These days I try to integrate more with the locals and stay away from people I can meet at home!!

  • Sal

    For me it was doing a school exchange to Rome. It changed my life! I realized the world was so big and full of interesting places! The family I stayed with taught me so much about how Italians live and that made my think about how I live. I haven’t been back to Rome but I travel as much as I can. Usually it’s things I read online that give me ideas and hearing about friends trips. I wish I could travel all the time!

  • http://www.facebook.com/colleen.friesen.travel Colleen Friesen

    You’ve got me thinking Lori. Hmmm…there are many versions and many different stories. I think it might have been camping when I was in my teens but maybe the first trip without my parents and that involved an airplane (which is somehow what I associate with as ‘real’ travel) would have been to Texas and Louisiana when I was 18 or 19.
    A girlfriend and I twirled my globe, shut our eyes and stabbed it to an abrupt stop. My finger covered the little dot that said Houston. We looked at each other and said, Why not? So we flew there, rented a car, drove to New Orleans and Galveston and I’m quite sure, had an army of angels working overtime for us :)
    Great question. I’ll be thinking about this some more. Thanks!

  • http://lorihenry.ca/ Lori Henry

    That’s a good change to make in your travel style – isn’t one of the points of travelling to try to understand other cultures? But it’s so much easier to talk to someone who speaks English and is similar to us. :-)

    I also went to Khao San Road when I was in Bangkok, as I heard it was fun there on the Thai New Year. It was! But next time I’d venture out to where it’s less busy and try to experience some of the older water traditions that go along with the New Year rituals.

  • http://lorihenry.ca/ Lori Henry

    What a great experience to do when you’re young! I think that’s one of the best forms of education for students: get outside of your own little world (if you can afford it) and learn that there is much more out there to explore.

  • http://lorihenry.ca/ Lori Henry

    Ah, the ol’ spin-the-globe trick! What a great way to be spontaneous! It reminds me of a couple I met at TBEX’11 in Vancouver: called Adventures By Chance, they encourage people to roll dice and let them dictate their direction (their website is down, but here is their app on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zufall.zfa&hl=en). It looks fun!

  • http://www.budgettraveladventures.com/ Jeremy Branham

    Great post! Granted I’ve told you all about my first trip already – to Estonia. It opened up a whole new world to me. Travel has taught me many things throughout many stages in my life. Some have been tough, some have been good. I love to travel – it gets me out of my comfort zone and challenges me. It allows me to see the world and myself differently.

  • http://lorihenry.ca/ Lori Henry

    I think that’s one of the biggest benefits to travel: to get out of our comfort zones, to challenge us, to see the world and ourselves differently. If everyone had the privilege of being able to travel, I think we would all understand each other a lot better. Maybe then we could co-operate more. :-)