Why do people travel?

St Augustine once said: “The world is a book. Those who do not travel read only one page.” Whether you agree with that statement or not, the fact is that people are beginning to travel more and more and at I Love Meet and Greet we want to know why…

According to The Guardian, only 30% of trips over 50 miles are made for business, which means that in most cases we travel because we want to. Travel is becoming a basic human desire and it seems that the annoyances of the airport are being overlooked by the visceral thrill of visiting some place new.

Several new science papers suggest that getting away is an essential habit of effective thinking. It’s not just about a holiday or escaping your workplace; it’s apparently about the act in itself of putting some miles between home and wherever you happen to be going.

So back to the question, why do we travel? We think that curiosity definitely plays a dominant role when it comes to us deciding to pack our cases and head some place new. Christopher Columbus is a prime example of this, as apart from financial reasons, why did he make that long and dangerous trip which resulted in the discovery of America?

Curiosity.

Another key contender to blame for human’s instinctive obligation to travel is the ability to be able to ‘escape’. Whether it’s the aftermath of a family death or work-related stress that we’re trying to run from, being physically in a different location to our problems somehow makes them seem less important.

An article in The Guardian says: “Most people escape to Paris so they don't have to think about those troubles they left behind. But here's the ironic twist: our mind is most likely to solve our most stubborn problems while we are sitting in a swanky Left Bank cafe.” In other words, our thoughts are confined by familiarity. The article goes on to say: “The brain is a neural tangle of near-infinite possibility, which means that it spends a lot of time and energy choosing what not to notice. As a result, creativity is traded away for efficiency.” However, it’s been proven that a bit of distance helps loosen the chains of cognition, making it easier to see something new in the old and the mundane is grasped from a slightly more abstract perspective.

Whether you are escaping from the stresses of daily life or on the hunt for something new, starting and finishing the journey with as little hassle as possible is essential. Valet parking at the airport gives people more time to focus on their trip and to get in and out of the airport easily. At I Love meet and greet we have the most experienced team of drivers in the industry and we pride ourselves in giving the best service for all travellers.


By Sarah Anglim at 27 Apr 2014

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