Packing a whole philosophy into one small phrase is nearly impossible, yet we tend to try and do it anyway. Travel quotes are no different. Who among us hasn’t heard JRR Tolkien’s phrase, “Not all those who wander are lost” taken from his poem written back in 1954? Or perhaps the coined phrase, “Traveling is the only thing you can buy that will make you richer?”
I think we can agree these quotes are timeless, but also a bit dusty. Although some travel quotes are definitely more worn than others, there are still several floating around that are both quirky and perhaps a bit more unconventional. Here to offer a fresh vantage point is my own small collection of 20 not-so-well-known inspirational travel quotes for your reading leisure!
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“Travel is rebellion in it’s purest form” – Anonymous
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“Travel because you have no idea who you are until you experience yourself through different people and realize that we’re all the same” – Anonymous
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“Travel has made me more aware of me. I learn more about myself while on the road than anywhere else. It’s given me the I can make it happen attitude” – Jessica Johnson
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“She is clothed in strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future” – Proverbs 21:35
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“Sometimes, we are so attached to our way of life, that we turn down a wonderful opportunity simply because we don’t know what to do with it” – Paulo Coelho in Like the Flowing River
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“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place” – Miriam Adeney
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“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live” – Hans Christian Anderson
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“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind” – Anthony Bourdain
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“You get a strange feeling when you leave a place, like you’ll not only miss the people you love, but you miss the person you are at this time and place because you’ll never be this way ever again” – Azar Nafasi
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“If I were really, really, ridiculously wealthy I wouldn’t buy a mansion, just tiny apartments in every city I love” – Mara Wilson
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“I urge you: Go find buildings and mountains and oceans to swallow you whole. They will save you, in a way nothing else can” – Christopher Poindexter
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“The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” – Chris McCandless, Alexander Supertramp!
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“Traveling carries with it the curse of being at home everywhere and yet nowhere, for wherever one is, some part of oneself remains on another continent.” – Margot Fonteyn
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“It is a big and beautiful world. Most of us live and die in the same corner we were born and never get to see any of it. I don’t want to be most of us” – Oberyn Mertell, Game of Thrones
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“When traveling you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterday’s on the road” – William Least Heat-Moon
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“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers, and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky. All things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it” – Cesare Pavese
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“And once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life, and you can’t go back to being normal; you can’t go back to meaningless scenes stitched together by the unforgettable thread of wasted time.” – Donald Miller
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“It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realize what’s changed is you” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
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“Wanderlust consumed her; foreign hearts and exotic minds compelled her. She had a gypsy soul and a vibrant hope for the unknown” – D. Marie
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“Life is out there waiting, so go and get it!” – Mary Poppins
I love this quote means alot to me thank you so much for sharing ! Awesome “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” – Chris McCandless, Alexander Supertramp!
Happy ya like it!
The 14th quotes hit me the most, “It is a big and beautiful world. Most of us live and die in the same corner we were born and never get to see any of it. I don’t want to be most of us.” I don’t want to be like most of us either, LOL! I am 30 something years old(my real age is a secret, haha)and I have been in the same spot all my life. That is pathetic. My husband and I are planning to move my family to Alaska. I want to see that beautiful state and explore… Read more »
I hear ya, Melissa! And good for you! Sounds like that quote by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
Quote #14 really captured my attention. I retired from the Army in 2008 and then worked in Corporate America for another 9 years. All that while there was something in me that was just not satisfied with the life I was living. On top of that I have always been an entrepreneur at heart and I wanted to pursue that dream Just about a month ago I resigned and left a great paying job in California. I am now living in the Philippines and pursuing my lifelong dream of traveling and working from home. There is such peace in following… Read more »
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, Nathanial. Corporate America just sounds so mundane. I worked for nearly a decade in the Disability Care field which consisted of 100 hour work weeks, I agree that tearing away from that sort of lifestyle can really do a lot of good. Balance in everything! So happy you followed your dreams and found your inner peace!
This is really awesome. My favorite word has to be strikhedonia, there are times when you just have to say that.
Haha, so true! Thanks for stopping by, Luci! Hope to see ya around again!
These are amazing. I want to pin this post asap for future reference. “A gypsy soul and a vibrant hope for the unknown” – that she may just be me ♥️
That’s one of my favorites too, Viveena! Happy you enjoyed this! Happy Pinning!
“You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place” – Miriam Adeney This is exactly how I feel. When I’m at my house here in Arizona typing away on my computer day in and day out I always feel that there is somewhere else I should be. Thailand is one my my favorite places on earth. I feel completely at home while I’m there. All of my Thai friends are always asking me… Read more »
Justin, Thanks so much for sharing this with me. I also fell in love with Thailand during my two months there. The people, the culture, the landscapes, the sea and islands… I absolutely kept a part of it in my heart when I left. As for Mexico, I have also been but not to Colima specifically. Sometimes the right decision for our betterment is the harder one, but we need to do what’s best for us and it sounds like that is what you have done. Congratulations on graduating! That’s super big! And on month #5 of your website! You… Read more »
The 8th quote by Anthony struck me instantly. Not every travel is pleasant. But I always choose to turn it into a great one so that I can make some good memories before I leave. It’s a good quote!
Thanks for stopping by, Jay! Travel can definitely have it’s ups and downs, I love your positive attitude!
I think the quote by Mara Wilson is by far my favorite of the ones above. While I’ve certainly been to places I love I don’t think there’s anyway I’d want to just stay the rest of my life in one spot. If I had a boatload of cash I’d be trying to visit a bunch of different places that I really enjoy. One of the biggest reasons for this is of course the seasons, I would want to visit different spots at different times of the year to see how locals celebrate or deal with each season. I would… Read more »
Hey Craig! Yeah of course traveling requires money, but you’d be surprised as to how far you can go with just a little cash! Have you checked out any of my Cheap Travel Tips? I utilized several of them during my six month SE Asia adventure, and only went with around 2500 USD. It’s totally doable! I agree that there are so many places to visit, I wouldn’t want to live the rest of my life in one spot either! 🙂