Well? What does travel mean to you?

shopaholic01 · 24-05-2012 03:00PM

Nice meal in the evening followed by way too much alcohol, sleeping it off on the beach the next day, some sightseeing and relaxing.

The main thing is the freedom - not having to worry about time or needing to be somewhere.

stovelid · 24-05-2012 03:05PM

Sykk wrote: »

I'll tell you what travel doesn't mean to me.

All the clowns in Australia I know that get thrashed every night, eating tayto in scruffy murphies and drinking pints of magners, while living in a hostel with 20 other Irish people aren't travelling. Even though they say they are.

True.

It means finding the most godawful farflung locations that only the locals nailed to the place wlould ever countenance being in for more than a day.

Then haggle with said locals for five hours to get a reduction on a 5 cent ehtnic keepsake and then just as the poor fuckers try and set up some sort of toursit industry to bring some money into their miserbale lives, loudly declare the place "over" and having "lost its soul" and decamp back to the student union bar to decry the materialism of once-unspoilt destinations and noble savages.

Ruralyoke · 24-05-2012 03:06PM

shopaholic01 wrote: »

The main thing is the freedom - not having to worry about time or needing to be somewhere.

Nail. Head.

I deliberately don't wear a watch on holiday.

forfuxsake · 24-05-2012 04:06PM

If

teach is what a teacher does.
farm is what a farmer does.
and bake is what a baker does.

by that logic travel means:

breeding horse and dogs, laying tarmac, recycling scrap metal and racing sulkies.etc.

Sleepy · 24-05-2012 04:09PM

One of the great joys of travel for me is getting lost in new cities and just wandering around them soaking up the atmosphere.

Checking into a hostel and wandering down to the common area with a few beers to see if there's anyone interesting to meet (there usually is).

Not worrying about time or any of your responsibilities at home. Having a beer in the middle of the day if you feel like it, getting out of bed when you wake up rather than when the alarm goes, trying new things (activities, food, drinks, etc.)

I think possibly the greatest thing though is escaping the expectations of those around you. Whether you're known as the "sensible one" or the "class clown" at home, you're under no pressure when you're travelling and can just be yourself (assuming you travel solo or only go with those who you can be yourself around).

Of course, I rarely get to travel now. It's family holidays these days. The sun, swimming, no work and time with the kids is nice but I wouldn't really classify it as travelling. Can't wait til they're old enough to go travelling with them though!

Biggins · 24-05-2012 04:29PM

Escape.

bamboozle · 24-05-2012 04:40PM

leave Ireland, switch off phone, have no radio, tv, newspapers distracting me......and Relax.

its only when i come home and the radio's on in the car and some gombeeb's blabbering on about NAMA or austerity or Bankers and i realise i needed a break from life in Ireland.

of course as for travelling itself, its all about wandering about getting a taste of the local culture, food, local wines & beers etc

jaja321 · 24-05-2012 04:41PM

Being out of contact (should I want to), getting a feel for a new place; the sights, sounds, smells; experiencing new types of food, music etc .. enjoying good weather. I love everything about travelling.. from getting an idea about where to go, to getting up at 5am to go to the airport, to not having a clue what you're going to do when you get there.

mongdesade · 24-05-2012 04:43PM

Experiencing new cultures, cuisine, architecture, scenery & fine ales & wines...love it

veloc123 · 24-05-2012 04:46PM

Kev_2012 wrote: »

SUN, SEA, SEX, SAND, BOOZE, SEX, MINGE, FANNY AND TITS.

Ya forgot reverse piledriver that is always good on the holidays...

af_thefragile · 24-05-2012 04:46PM

I like discovering new scenery...

Could do without the people. Don't like people....

CruelCoin · 24-05-2012 05:12PM

Sights,
Those "wow" moments (bubbling mud pools, being charged at by angry bull elephants),
New cultures.

FoxT · 24-05-2012 05:31PM

Spending an entire week or ten days with Mrs. FoxT & the kids. No internet. Barbecues, swimming, exploring. Doing stuff together, having fun. Sunshine, laughing till we wet ourselves, then laughing some more...

Dudess · 24-05-2012 06:37PM

Travel to me means: enjoying myself, relaxing, indulging, pampering. Not testing my endurance levels, like dragging myself around a stinking, super-humid south-east Asian city. Each to their own, but nothing will ever make me want to do the back-packing/hardship/no western comforts/insanely harsh climate thing.

I think I should work for a tourism company. :pac:

old hippy · 24-05-2012 09:36PM

Dudess wrote: »

Travel to me means: enjoying myself, relaxing, indulging, pampering. Not testing my endurance levels, like dragging myself around a stinking, super-humid south-east Asian city. Each to their own, but nothing will ever make me want to do the back-packing/hardship/no western comforts/insanely harsh climate thing.

I think I should work for a tourism company. :pac:

I don't think so

af_thefragile · 24-05-2012 10:20PM

I think I'll probably end up spending my life living in different places. Still haven't found a place I feel that I "fit in" so I guess once I graduate from college, I'm gonna move around a few countries and see which country suits me best and keeps moving around till I finally find somewhere I feel I "fit in" if I ever find such a place that is... Anyway life is a journey so I'm not too worried about it...

24-05-2012 10:40PM

Seeing and experiencing new things. You don't even have to leave Ireland.
Package holidays would be excluded from this imo.

beks101 · 24-05-2012 10:57PM

Learning something new about the world and about myself.

okiss · 24-05-2012 11:20PM

Travel for me is a chance to get away from home.
To find out information about a place before I go to and decide what I want to do and see when I am away.
When I am traveling I like to try out different food and have a look around different shops. I like meeting new people also.
Some times it is a chance to sit out in the sun and watch the world go by.

Sappa · 24-05-2012 11:26PM

Dudess wrote: »

Travel to me means: enjoying myself, relaxing, indulging, pampering. Not testing my endurance levels, like dragging myself around a stinking, super-humid south-east Asian city. Each to their own, but nothing will ever make me want to do the back-packing/hardship/no western comforts/insanely harsh climate thing.

I think I should work for a tourism company. :pac:

Ehh no you shouldn't,the whole point of travel is living in a different country for a while without your dummie to suck on.

cruais · 24-05-2012 11:28PM

Travel for me is to get on a little green plane and get the feck outta this little green island for a fewdays/weeks.

I love the holiday vibe you get the minute you have landed, the sun, the sand, the sea, the smell of sun creams, the feeling you have to get all romantic with himself ;-), food, drink and site seeing! Pure bliss!

24-05-2012 11:31PM

Sappa wrote: »

The whole point of travel is living in a different country for a while without your dummie to suck on.

In your opinion.

fortwilliam · 24-05-2012 11:34PM

Cadburys Chocolate Fingres...

Larianne · 24-05-2012 11:37PM

Stepping off a plane, boat or train knowing nobody knows me and the feeling of not knowing what to expect.

Experiencing the food, the people, the country's culture and comparing it to others. Looking at the architecture. Trying to figure out the public transport.

Making friends with the locals and sometimes brought to places you'd never find yourself.

Go looking for a magnet to stick on the fridge for when you get home.

hondasam · 24-05-2012 11:41PM

Time to relax and enjoy different things, get away from everyday life. As much as I like to travel I love when it's time to get back home again.
If I'm on a city break I would research it first and mark the places I want to see and then often get sidetracked and do something the total opposite of what I had planned.
I love the buzz of the airport and people watching.

Dudess · 25-05-2012 12:18AM

Sappa wrote: »

Ehh no you shouldn't,the whole point of travel is living in a different country for a while without your dummie to suck on.

No it isn't. It's what you personally make it.

kissthesky · 25-05-2012 12:30AM

I love going to a really out of the way place, maybe off the beaten path in the middle of the jungle somewhere that takes about 3 days through malaria infested swamps and and making my way upriver while dodging opportunistic cannibals. Its all worthwhile when I watch the sun rising and the morning mist is beginning to lift.
Then, if I'm lucky , I'll find an ancient monument that has hidden beneath the vines for millennia and unseen to human eyes for centuries. After carefully examining this wonder of the world for signs of damp/mildew
I BLAST IT WITH PISS and then laugh at the Gods on whose behalf countless tribemembers were sacrificed. I then cover it up again and sheepishly head for home thru the aforementioned swamps, cannibals etc

fortwilliam · 25-05-2012 01:17AM

kissthesky wrote: »

I love going to a really out of the way place, maybe off the beaten path in the middle of the jungle somewhere that takes about 3 days through malaria infested swamps and and making my way upriver while dodging opportunistic cannibals.

That is where I live right now !

Eve_Dublin · 25-05-2012 01:19AM

I love travelling and why? I'm a people watcher and just love to wander round observing how the locals go about their business and how they enjoy themselves. Love watching their body language, how they flirt, how they argue, how they relax, how they are with their kids or how kids are with their parents and how old people spend their day. Love comparing and contrasting to what I come from.

I love the feel of a new place and I love me grub. Love going somewhere local and trying out what they'd eat regularly. Love the sound of a different language around me and guessing what they could be talking about from intonation and body language.

Love getting into random chats with the locals if we've a common language. Love finding something in common to laugh about and feeling a sense of unity with them and realising we're not all that different regardless of where you go.

If I've been away long enough, I always try to find similarities to home to stave off homesickness. Travelled around S. America on my own for 11 months and on occasion I'd seek out the familiar to not feel so alone.

I love travelling because it takes me out of myself and give myself a break from being me in my own world.

I've seriously itchy feet and hope I get going again soon....

LH Pathe · 25-05-2012 01:25AM

Travel is.. sitting down in my favourite armchair to think outlandish thoughts

Well? What does travel mean to you?

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