10 ways to explain what travelling really is. Not a holiday.

‘You’re always on holiday’
“I go travelling not on holiday”
‘Isn’t it the same?’
No.

Oxforddictionaries.com describes travel as ‘Make a journey, typically of some length’ whereas holiday is explained as ‘An extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home’.

So, to explain to all the people that think that the last few years has just been a bunch of holidays, let me explain how I define travel:

1. Travel is to go on a journey.
2. Travel is to experience something new and to really allow yourself to take it in. This might be culture, wildlife, adventure or simply a new place.
3. Travel is to pushing yourself outside of your boundaries. Travelling to the less touristy places, being adventurous, bungee jumping, paragliding, skydiving, hand-gliding, white water rafting, getting out of your comfort zone.
   

   Bungee Jumping, Jinja, Uganda. Definitely outside of my comfort zone.

4. Traveling can be learning something. It could be learning about the history of a region, learning a new language, learning how different cultures live or simply learning something new about yourself.
5. Travelling is immersing yourself in a different way of life. Every country seems to have its differences, whether they are big or small. Immersing yourself into how another country or culture functions is to accept everything as it is and to try not to judge it because of aspects you do not agree with or believe in (this is often a lot harder than you think).
6. Travelling is creating stories. Experiences that are etched into your memory. They may be sad or happy, scary or bewildering, funny or just plain stupid. Some of the best memories I have of places are from happenings, rather than just looking from the outside in.
7. To travel is not to necessarily always have the greater comforts. It may mean camping, cold showers and bush toilets. It could mean sharing a 20-bed dorm room with a dozen snorers. Sometimes the best comforts in a journey can simply be asking for a single bedroom amongst the noisy streets and people flooding into all the rooms around you.
   

   Taking the road less travelled, Nairobi, Kenya

8. Travel helps you understand the world rather than the little corner that you grew up in.
9. To travel is to experience life at its fullest. Whether it be taking every opportunity that you can or fully understanding and living amongst another culture in a different country.
   

   Two very happy boys at Saidia Orphange, Kenya.

10. Travelling is growing yourself as a person. Learning to be less selfish and more appreciative of life and those around you. Learning that we don’t need material things to be happy. There are people all over the world that live on the bare minimum in terms of accommodation, food and possessions, yet they can still be the happiest of people.

As summed up by Confucius:
Wherever you go, go with all your heart.