Why I’m Tired of Defending My Travel Lifestyle

I am tired of defending myself. I am tired of justifying why I have traded in my suffocating cubicle for a chance to see the world—is this lifestyle truly so difficult to comprehend?

As travel lovers, travel writers, travel bloggers, and the like, we are constantly reading and writing articles related to ‘Why We Travel,’ or ‘Why I Travel,’ or ‘Why I Love Travel.’ And while it is pleasantly satisfying to read along and nod in agreement at those reasons that strike a chord and remind us that we are not alone in this passion for travel and our reasons for it, I can’t help but wander to the other side of things and ask: why don’t people travel?

Why are we forever defending our reasoning for travel, explaining why we love it, and justifying why we are taking ANOTHER trip? Our explanations resonate solely with those of like mind (or those with the potential to be converted to like mind) and fall on deaf ears of those that will never understand us. What about people who just don’t travel, who don’t particularly care for it? Are they busy defending themselves to those of us who cannot fathom why they are approaching age 33 and still in possession of a completely bare passport, sans a single stamp? No. They are not.

I had to know. I had to know what reasons the non-travelers in my life had for not traveling. I wanted to know why they didn’t feel the insatiable appetite for travel that I did, why the travel bug has not bitten them.

Naturally, I was met with an array of different rationale, all of which would send any avid traveler into a minor state of shock and disbelief. I was poised for battle, but in the interest of research, I kept an open mind and I listened:

“I like home.”

“I don’t have the luxury in my job to travel.”

“The cost of travel is too high and I’d rather spend my money elsewhere.”

I didn’t know what to say. Actually, I had everything to say and I didn’t know where to begin. Trying to comprehend ideals that are in such stark contrast to your own is like trying to get a Yankees fan to cheer for the Red Sox. It’s never going to happen.

I could refute every claim. You like home? Well you might like other places too if you had ever seen them. Can’t travel because of your job? Try using your vacation for an actual vacation! You’d rather buy another flat screen television instead of taking an unforgettable trip to Egypt or Fiji? Sigh. Clearly, we are not the same.

We are not the same because I have learned that the more I travel, the more I discover, and the more places I fall in love with. We are not the same because I will not allow work to separate me from travel for any lengthy stretch of time. We are not the same because I would sacrifice a new flat screen any day of the week for the chance to travel, explore, and make memories that will stay with me forever.

But it is okay that we are not the same. It is okay that these non-travelers don’t have the same fierce passion for travel that I do. I will not force them to explain themselves every time they DON’T take another trip. However, if I hear one more:

“What are you doing with your life?”

“Your constant travel is reckless.”

Or,

“It’s not smart to be wasting your time and money on all this traveling.”

I will let them have it.

Sure, I travel for most, if not all of the same reasons that we travelers are always using in our defense. I want to see the unfamiliar, I want to find myself, and I want to read more than one page of this book that is the world. But at the end of the day, it all boils down to Robert Louis Stevenson’s flawlessly made statement, “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” For my life, I choose travel, and so far, I have no regrets.