by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: May 13, 2009

The power of travel is something which probably supercedes all of our immediate expectations or perceptions. Travel is not just about the simple act of leaving Point A and the journey to and arrival at Point B. Travel is a whole different world in its own right, which we can open up to ourselves simply by undertaking this simple activity.

When many of us think of travel, we perhaps tend to think about simply getting away for a break, a holiday or a vacation. It is not where we are going or how we are getting there so much that counts as the fact that we are indeed going and our perhaps mundane day to day routine will be freshened up for a time as we engage in different activities in new and unfamiliar surrounds. This is of course a part of travel but equally travel offers so much more.

Travel affords us the opportunity to see new places and new things and to learn in the process of doing so. Whether it be the beautiful geological features of a strange, new landscape, magnificent and ancient structures, or simply beautiful towns and cities in their collective form, travel introduces us to diversity in this respect and gives us an altogether new view of creation and humanity.

It is not only the physical characteristics of the places which we visit, however, which makes travel so educational and beneficial. Travel equally introduces us to other cultures, other ways of life and even other beliefs. Learning as we travel in this way can serve to help us overcome a wide variety of prejudices, which have only ever existed in each of us largely through a simple lack of education and familiarity with what seemed like such strange perceptions.

Travel has the power to re-invigorate each and every one of us and to fill us with a new passion for life. As our travel experiences grow and develop, so to will our knowledge, our tolerance and our appreciation of the wider world around us. It is an addictive experience is this respect, as the more we see on our travels, the more we are inclined to want to see.

The power of travel can therefore perhaps be loosely defined as being recreational, educational and motivational. Travel and the lure of travel holds the power to capture every one of us in its clutches, never to let us go for as long as we are capable in any way of indulging in its whims. The power of travel is something which none of us should ever underestimate, or even seek to resist.

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