There’s nothing quite like the perfect travel quote to kick your wanderlust into overdrive and inspire you to get out exploring. Sometimes you stumble on a travel quote that really speaks to you and stays with you throughout your life and travels. Below I’m sharing all my favorite travel quotes in the hopes you’ll find them as inspiring as I do.
Travel Quotes
1. Travel Quotes to Inspire You to Go2. Travel Changes You
3. Finding what you Seek (and Maybe Getting Lost Along the Way)
4. Travel is Worth it
5. Travel Reminders
Travel Quotes to Inspire You to Go
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag
I literally say this all the time. I’m a big list-maker, and I’m constantly adding new places and experiences to my bucket list. So while I may not have been to a destination yet, I’m likely planning on it.
“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” – Dalai Lama
Our Global Studies professor on my Semester at Sea voyage included this concept in his “10 Joyful Travel Tips,” and I’ve been on a quest ever since to keep exploring.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo (more accurately John Feltham and Thomas Fielding both attributed similar quotes to St. Augustine)
Being an avid reader, I absolutely love this travel quote! There is so much to see and do in this world, and if you don’t travel, you’re missing out on so much of it. I do wish there was a clearer source for who wrote it, but it seems to be a paraphrase of a paraphrase much like a game of telephone where the end result has little resemblance to the original message.
“Better to see something once than hear about it a thousand times.” – Asian Proverb
There’s no comparison with actually visiting a place. You might find that it’s actually smaller or much larger than you imagined. Maybe it doesn’t live up to the photos you’ve seen, or maybe its magic cannot be captured by any technology created by mere humans. Until you’ve seen it with your own eyes, you just don’t know.
“Life is short and the world is wide, the sooner you start exploring it, the better.” – Simon Raven
There is an endless number of places to see and explore while you only have a finite amount of time to see them. Go out there and get started!
“There is freedom waiting for you, on the breezes of the sky. And you ask ‘What if I fall?’ Oh but my darling, what if you fly?” – Erin Hanson
For someone who worries and stresses over everything, this is a quote that really inspires you to go out there and try anyway. It reminds me that the risk is falling is worth it if I have the chance to fly.
“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.” – H. Jackson Browne Jr.
Although this quote is frequently attributed to Mark Twain, there’s no sources to back up the claim he ever wrote this or said it. However, H. Jackson Browne Jr. used it in his book P.S. I Love You. This quote inspires me in my travels because I rather try something once than miss out on the opportunity. I don’t regret biking La Ruta de las Cascadas in Baños, Ecuador even though it’s not my favorite travel experience, but I definitely would have regretted not going.
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that’s not why ships were built.” – John A. Shedd
Whenever, family or friends express concern over the safety of my travels, I remind them that I could easily walk out my front door tomorrow only to get hit by lightning. Staying home may seem safe, but is this the life you want to live?
“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
This is a great reminder to go out and do the things that you might be encouraging others to do. Sometimes we get stuck in a rut in our lives and forget that we can make changes.
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – André Gide
Setting out on a new adventure can be scary as you don’t know what to expect or what might be lurking just around the next bend. However, like this quote points out, you’ll never see something new if you never leave home. This was an especially relevant quote to my Semester at Sea experience too since I was losing sight of the shores of my home to go out and explore new places.
Travel Changes You
“I am not the same having seen the moon shine from the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
Travel gives you a whole new perspective through which you view the world. Take the time to soak in a place and even look up at the night sky (in case you didn’t know, you can see different constellations from different places).
“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
This is one of those travel quotes that resonates with me deeply. I remember being asked if I had ‘gotten it out of my system’ after returning from my Semester at Sea voyage and laughing because my case of wanderlust had only gotten worse after a semester immersed so fully in travel.
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert
If visiting a big city makes you feel small, just remember there are many, many more big cities all around the world. Feeling like a little ant scurrying around yet?
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain
Travel can open our eyes in unexpected ways. The more people I meet while traveling around the world, the more I notice our similarities with shared sorrows and joys. People all around the world have friends and family they love and a smile is understood in any language.
“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. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.” – Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain inspired so many to travel with the way he connected with people from other countries and cultures using food as a unifying medium. Gone too soon, I love watching his shows and soaking up the wisdom he left behind.
“So much of who we are is where we have been.” – William Langewiesche
The experiences we have while traveling can have a profound effect on us and shape the people we become. People make fun of the students who return from a semester studying abroad and that semester or country is all they talk about anymore. However, that experience has likely changed them in deep ways and shaped who they are as a person.
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta
There are so many places and experiences that leave you at a loss for words while you’re there. However, once you’ve had time to process the experience, you might find you have more stories to tell than you know what to do with.
“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
You may find that the people you meet traveling are more like you than you expected or thought at first glance. When you make the effort to get to know them, you can make lifelong friends.
“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
There’s so much truth in this quote from Anthony Bourdain as you can’t grow until you leave your comfort zone. I know all my travels have left their mark on me, and I hope I’ve left some positive impacts behind as well.
“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 believe to be the right and only way.” – Ralph Crawshaw, M.D.
There’s no one right way to live our lives, and I find traveling to be the best reminder of this fact. Even if you’ve been stuck in a rut, travel can stretch out your thinking to help you look at everything a little differently.
Finding what you Seek (and Maybe Getting Lost Along the Way)
“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J. R. R. Tolkien
I’m already a huge Tolkien fan as you may know if you’ve read how the Hobbit has helped inspire my travels. This quote resonates so strongly as someone who enjoys wandering. I love to just wander to find hidden corners, but in those quiet moments you have the opportunity to reflect and learn as much about yourself as the place you’re wandering. Continued traveling doesn’t necessarily mean someone has lost their way or that they’re running from anything.
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” – W.B. Yeats
Traveling has honed my senses to see the little things everyday that make life so beautiful. A fuzzy bumble bee landing on a summer bloom or the way the setting sun’s rays reflect off the clouds are things easily overlooked, but traveling to new places tends to open my eyes to these everyday delights.
“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
Many people talk of travel that they didn’t enjoy or destinations that fell short of expectations, and I think we’ve all been there. However, I think it’s important to go ready for anything and keep seeking out new adventures as you’re bound to find it if you’re looking.
“Not until we are lost… do we begin to find ourselves.” – Henry David Thoreau
So many times you learn more about yourself when challenged outside of your everyday comfort zone. You might discover a love for yoga or that you pick up languages easily in another country. If you don’t go, how will you know?
“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you don’t allow your travel experiences to change you going forward, what was the point? Go to find the beautiful places and experiences and hold them tight.
“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
I definitely feel that travel brings a new appreciation for home. Not just homesickness that makes you miss the familiarity of it, but truly appreciating what makes the place special. I’ve often heard people joke about playing tourist in their own city, region, country, but I think that’s just getting to know your own home.
“Still round the corner, there may wait, a new road or a secret gate.” – J. R. R. Tolkien
One of the things I love best about traveling is the little surprises and discoveries you make while exploring a new place.
“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener
Since those are some of the best parts of travel, James Michener has a point. I love diving into the local cuisines and observing the customs of the places I visit. No matter what the religion is, I often find religious sites to be wonderful places to visit with beautiful buildings, shrines, and ceremonies.
“The traveller sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.” – G.K. Chesterton
I hate to get into the argument of being a tourist vs a traveller, but I think this is a good reminder to keep your eyes open to see all that a destination has to offer rather than just what drew you there to start. There’s more to Paris than the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, explore places a little deeper to get a better understanding of them.
“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” – David Mitchell
Travel takes you out of your comfort zone and challenges you in so many ways that many people will travel with the intention of learning more about themselves.
Travel is Worth it
“Travelling tends to magnify all human emotions.” – Peter Hoeg
Travel can be stressful, overwhelming, and utterly amazing all at the same time. When traveling, you’re more vulnerable to experience life in full force.
“Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aesop
For me, this quote feels so obvious. Of course adventure is worthwhile, but I have no doubt some people out there who aren’t sure and need the reassurance that it is. Believe me – it really, really is.
“Bizarre travel plans are dancing lessons from God.” – Kurt Vonnegut
Things go wrong, plans go awry, and yet people adapt and find ways to get where they need to be. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches and hope for the best.
“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
I definitely feel the most alive when I’m out having a new adventure and exploring new places. These beautiful words by Hans Christian Andersen poetically describe how traveling makes me feel.
“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman
Potholes will be there whether or not you worry about them, and they’re unlikely to stop you. Relax and don’t worry about the things that can go wrong. If you hit one of those potholes, you’ll deal with it at that point in time, so why worry about it ahead of time?
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller
Considering how many obstacles Hellen Keller faced in her lifetime, I love that she had this outlook on life! What would be a life without any adventure anyway?
“Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” – Paul Theroux
I try to avoid glossing over the rough parts of travel too much, but you tend to remember the best parts and forget about how messy getting there was. During many of my favorite travel experiences, I was hot, sweaty, tired, cold, hungry, grumpy, etc., and yet when I look back I only remember the beauty of watching the sunrise over the Great Wall of China or how gorgeous the views were over the city and bay after hiking up Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.
“I’m in love with cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met.” – Melody Truong
This is one of those travel quotes that speaks to my wanderlust. I’ve seen so many pictures and read so much about some destinations that I’m just longing to see for myself as I’m already half in love with them.
“I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine.” – Caskie Stinnett
Travel quotes like this one make me smile at the audacity of routine interrupting one’s life when so many swear by it. Yet it also makes me want to travel more to get away from the comfort of routine so that I can experience more of what life has to offer.
“May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home.” – Trenton Lee Stewart
No matter where we are in the world, I love going on adventures with loved ones. It’s so lovely to be able to look back on those memories you made together while traveling.
Travel Reminders
“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
While traveling, I often find my surroundings to be exotic to my eyes and have to remind myself that this is the home of the locals. It’s a great reminder that you’re visiting the home of other peoples and to be respectful of their lands and ways.
“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.” – Cesare Pavarese
I love this since so many people advocate traveling light with few objects with you to make it easier to get to and from your destination. However, leaving all the things Cesare Pavarese suggests behind would no doubt make your soul feel lighter when traveling too.
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Some of my favorite travel memories were to less popular destinations. Do what you brings you joy even if other people think what you’re doing is odd.
“Wherever you go, go with all your heart!” – Confucius
Like anything in life, travel is better if you go all in! Don’t spend a hike in a National Park complaining about the lack of cell service, be in the moment and soak up the experience.
“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
This is a really good reminder for anyone traveling. Every culture is different and what might be standard at home for you could be something wholly unusual at your destination.
“Once you have travelled, 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
Many times after returning from a trip, I find myself replaying the things that happened and reliving those experiences again. They become a part of you and your travels live on in your mind forever.
“Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli
Some things escape memory while others become etched in so deep that you’ll never forget. You’ll remember so much more than just the sights you saw or the museums visited, you’ll remember how these places made you feel which is so much more meaningful.
“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
Oh how true this is! There are definitely people I enjoy traveling with, and those whose company can ruin an entire trip. May you learn the difference early and manage to avoid traveling with the latter as much as possible!
“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 love how accurate specific travel quotes can feel. Travel allows you to flirt with destinations, go on a few lovely dates to explore the possibilities without the commitment of staying there forever.
“Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints!” – attributed to Chief Seattle (Si’ahl)
This quote serves as a great reminder to follow the Leave No Trace principals so that the places you visit remain beautiful for future generations to enjoy.
I hope all my favorite travel quotes inspire you to get out there and explore!
Do you have any favorite travel quotes that I didn’t include? Share them in the comments!
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