Why we travel
The confines of our homes make life seem monotonous and dull. Travel provides the adventure and thrill that excites us. In the words of the great writer Albert Camus, “what gives value to travel is fear”. And this fear demands us to be more alert and active.Travelling Makes us Question the Fixity of IdentitiesWhile travelling, a person visits many places and meets many people. He absorbs certain elements of various places and its people. One’s identity, therefore, does not remain fixed or singular. A traveller acquires a curious amalgam of identities of various languages and cultures. The writer quotes Sir Thomas Browne who said that “We carry within us the wonders we seek without us.” This implies that we carry multitudes within us and no human is confined to one singular identity.ConclusionThis way, Pico Iyer concludes that travelling is essential to keep the human mind active. It prevents the soul from getting exhausted due tothe boring routine of everyday life. It keeps a check on our prejudices. Travelling reminds us that the world is too vast and complex, just like the vast expanse of the human inner self.Most people dream about sudden trips to exotic lands or planned voyages to previously familiar locations, but what is it that drives us to seek to leave our home? Why is it that we travel, even if we are completely comfortable in the country we live in? Pico Iyer, in his travel essay titled ‘Why We Travel’ states different reasons why he believes we seek the unknown. One of the points he claims that we travel for the “self and anonymity”. As he expands on this idea, it is clearto the reader that Iyer believes one of the reasonswe travel is to be able to be “free of caste and joband standing” in order to better comprehend ourselves. In a different environment where no
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