Why do we travel?

S: Do we think that all the pictures of the Eiffel tower
that we have seen online may be cropped or morphed? Why is it important for us
to look at it with our own eyes? Do we think it’s going to look any different
when we see it with our own eyes? 



Sherry: Well. Obviously it’s going to look the way we expect
it to look and it’s not whether we believe the pictures. It’s about the
experience. 



S: A friend recently posted some pictures on Facebook with the
Eiffel tower as a backdrop and with the caption that read “I love Paris so much
that I want to live here for all my life”. Do you think he really means it?”



Sherry: Probably not. Facebook is a publicity stunt machine.
And people say things there they don’t really mean. But that doesn’t necessarily
mean there aren’t people in the world who want to live in Paris ONLY because it
look beautiful to them.








Reproduced above is a conversation that I had a week ago with
a friend en-route to Paris. Virtually everyone that I have ever met in my life
wants to travel, explore new place and be where s/he has never been before and
everyone has different reasons for it.



Personally for me, I travel to come in contact with people
from all over the world. It is of particular interest to me when I meet people
whose first language, religion, skin colour and ways of thinking about life are
different than my own. Sure places and monuments are important as well but it is
the fresh crispness of extraordinary interpersonal experiences that drive many
of my decisions to travel and explore. I enjoin upon others to share their
reasons to travel often in person, but I have noticed it doesn’t elicit the
sort of response that I require. The responses are typically of the sort that makes
this question seem trivial and pointless, which in my opinion is anything but.