Travel is the movement of people or objects (such as airplanes, boats, trains and other conveyances) between relatively distant geographical locations.
Etymology
The term "travel" originates from the Old French word travail. The term also covers all the activities performed during a travel (movement). A person who travels is spelled "traveler" in the United States, and "traveller" in the United Kingdom.
Purpose and motivation
"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."
Saint AugustineReasons for traveling include recreation, tourism or vacationing, research travel for the gathering of information, for holiday to visit people, volunteer travel for charity, migration to begin life somewhere else, religious pilgrimages and mission trips, business travel, trade, commuting, and other reasons, such as to obtain health care or fleeing war or for the enjoyment of traveling. Travel may occur by human-powered transport such as walking or bicycling, or with vehicles, such as public transport, automobiles, trains and airplanes.
Life, as the most ancient of all metaphors insists, is a journey; and the travel book, in its deceptive simulation of the journey’s fits and starts, rehearses life’s own fragmentation. More even than the novel, it embraces the contingency of things.
— Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)
Motives to travel include pleasure, relaxation, discovery and exploration, getting to know other cultures and taking personal time for building interpersonal relationships. Travel may be local, regional, national (domestic) or international. In some countries, non-local internal travel may require an internal passport, while international travel typically requires a passport and visa. A trip may also be part of a round trip, which is a particular type of travel whereby a person moves from their usual residence to one or several locations and returns.
Travel safety
See also: Air safety and Automobile safetyIt's important to take precautions to ensure travel safety. When traveling abroad, the odds favor a safe and incident-free trip, however, travelers can be subject to difficulties, crime and violence. Some safety considerations include being aware of one's surroundings, avoiding being the target of a crime, leaving copies of one's passport and itinerary information with trusted people, obtaining medical insurance valid in the country being visited and registering with one's national embassy when arriving in a foreign country. Many countries do not recognize drivers' licenses from other countries; however most countries accept international driving permits. Automobile insurance policies issued in one's own country are often invalid in foreign countries, and it's often a requirement to obtain temporary auto insurance valid in the country being visited. It's also advisable become oriented with the driving rules and regulations of destination countries. Wearing a seat belt is highly advisable for safety reasons and because many countries have penalties for violating seatbelt laws.
“ If Steam has done nothing else, it has at least added a whole new Species to English Literature ... the booklets—the little thrilling romances, where the Murder comes at page fifteen, and the Wedding at page forty—surely they are due to Steam?”
“ And when we travel by electricity—if I may venture to develop your theory—we shall have leaflets instead of booklets, and the Murder and the Wedding will come on the same page.”
— Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
There are three main statistics which may be used to compare the safety of various forms of travel (based on a DETR survey in October 2000):
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