The Value of Travel

[Malamute]

I came across a piece on the ADVRider forum about how adventure travel changes the brain, and can help it stay sharper and more flexible as we age. In the article was a link to a Rick Steves video of a Ted talk he did titled The Value of Travel. Both the ADVRider article and the video are good, and reflect many feelings Ive had about a life spent much more mobile than average. 

 Theres various discussions about why people take to nomadic or semi-nomadic vehicle living, but a large part of it to me was the desire to feel more freedom and seek adventure in life, and at times it almost felt like a genetic compulsion or drive. The times and places Ive traveled in the past are some of my best memories, some of the people I met are some of the most interesting or intriguing to know.

https://advrider.com/how-adventure-...utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=11_02_2021

 Robert Service had some great thoughts on the subject of travel and adventure, this is one of many,...

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/amverse/BAD8607.0001.001/1:10?rgn=div1;view=fulltext

 

[eDJ_]

When you speak of travel and the value it holds for one's mind,  Mark Twain once made this observation:

[font=arial,sans-serif]“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”[/font]

 

[WanderingRose]

I have read articles in recent weeks about how travel helps keep our brains sharp, that the mental tasks associated with changing environments are good for us as we age.

Love the Mark Twain quote, and he is exactly right.

 

[MrsBackRoads]

Like many of my fellow Americans the last 2 years of this pandemic has left its mark. My planned trips bring me joy. From start to finish I can’t help that happy feeling. I have seen so many interesting places. I now find myself researching the history of these old cities. It is relaxing.

My simple trips have helped chase the darkness of depression away.

It all started because of limited movement because of my bad back, then the quarantine. Taking off for weeks at a time has changed my outlook.

 

[Tony's Dream]

I think travel makes your mind open up and take in all the new sites. When you are on the hampster wheel....you see the same 4 walls of your home, the same sites on your drive to work, and the same 4 walls at your office. Have you ever driven down the road and then suddenly realize you are almost at your office and you can't recall your morning road trip? I think our brains shut down to seeing the same ole things everyday. I can't wait to get out on the road again next summer.

 

[abnorm]

"Robert Service had some great thoughts" .........."The Cremation of Sam McGee"

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45081/the-cremation-of-sam-mcgee

 

[eDJ_]

In earlier times I traveled with family in cars where it seemed we always stayed in a motel.  Later in school days when I traveled in my own car I would pull in roadside rest stops and I'd see Pickup Trucks with slide in campers and people staying in those. I'd never owned a Pickup Truck yet and didn't really relate to it.  But one of the things I realized when traveling in those days was the urge/desire to have a bed I could sleep in when I grew tired.  Like those Pickup Truck Campers had.  Some way to rest and refresh myself before moving on.

Call this a learned value from traveling,  but it is one of the reasons I've so loved having my Van with bed, kitchenette, and store of supplies to sustain me while on the road.  Today,  when looking at the cost of motels & restaurants,  I can justify in my mind the cost of fuel & oil as well as the lower gas mileage of the rig to have the conveniences of home with me as I travel.  In the car I'd get a little over twice the miles from a tank full of fuel where in the rig I'd be saving $60 a night in a motel which would translate to a full tank of fuel.  Eating in the van could save $5 to $15 dollars per meal at a restaurant or truck stop (up to $25 dollars a day) where meals in the rig could amount to $8 dollars a day or less.  Lets say in the rig it may be around $70 a day if using a full tank an  $150 a day in the car using a full tank.  Of course these are round figures. But this is a value I've learned that having a rig to live out of as well as travel in will provide the richest travel experience.

 

[MrNoodly]

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness,..."

Sadly, I've known a few well-traveled people who managed to remain prejudiced, bigoted and narrow-minded.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I think Marc Twain’s «travel »  meant outside of one’s culture, driving from one Walmart to the next does not extend or challenge a persons perspective,

 

[user 423]

^
You can drive to Walmarts located throughout the U.S. but also in all regions of Canada,Mexico and even down into some South American countries.

So if you wanted to, you can definitely experience different cultures by driving to Walmarts.

 

[eDJ_]

Hmmm......this may be an opportunity for a Van Nomad to run a Youtube Video Blog/show from his/her rig.  Using Walmarts as "Beacons of Culture" from the USA & beyond.

Charles Coruault did his show "On the Road with Charles Corualt" in an FMC RV.

Rick Steves , Rudy Maxa, and Burt Wolfe have done this. (not using Walmart of course) Now even Larry the Cable Guy is doing something like them  in his "Only in America" TV show. 

I know where I live people call Walmart, "The Appalachian Culture Center".

Perhaps several people in rigs could network while going out ahead doing this as "Front Men/Women" to find interesting stories.  Consider since Walmart has run out much of their competition these days they have inadvertently become community centers.  Looki for little known things of interest.

A guy named Dave Lavender who worked for the Newspaper in my home town did some of this and titled his book "Dave Trippin"  for interesting Day Trips.  His book is in Amazon now.

Dave Trippin