When you’re planning a trip, in the middle of a journey, or reflecting on an amazing experience or daring adventure, it’s always helpful to have some words of wisdom and motivation to keep you inspired. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the most inspirational travel quotes for you to reference when the travel bug bites.
These quotes come from a variety of sources, including famous explorers, writers, and celebrities. If you’re looking for travel quotes for your journal, an Instagram caption, or some DIY home decor, you’ll find plenty of options below.
If you’re going to spend your time traveling around other countries (or even your own!), you might as well spend it with the best inspirational travel quotes.
Best Travel Quotes (Personal Favorites)
These are the best travel quotes that continue to provide travel inspiration for me. No matter if I’ve had a long flight, a travel fail, or I’m just simply tired, I read these travel quotes to get that second wind to explore this wonderful world we call home.
1. “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it is lethal.” – Paulo Coelho
Starting off our list of travel quotes with one that I can really relate to – if I’m stuck doing the same thing day in and day out, I get depressed and lose sight of my love for exploration. While a good adventure can be full of risks, that’s the sort of fun that I’m after.
2. “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.” – Liz Carlson
Sure, I spend all my paychecks on travel, but each travel experience truly leaves me feeling happier, luckier, and full of intangible riches.
3. “Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret” – Oscar Wilde
Thinking about booking that last-minute flight to a spot you’ve never been? Wondering if you should try a solo trip to your dream destination if you can’t rally a group? Go for it – you won’t regret it.
4. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide
Trying new things – and traveling to new places – can be scary. But… is only by working through our anxieties and pushing ourselves that we can grow. It’s okay to lose sight of the shore because you never know what’s waiting on the other side of the sea.
5. “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” – Helen Keller
This is one of those quotes that’s always resonated with me. If we aren’t out there discovering – what is it that we are doing?
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6. “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine
Our worldview is shaped by the things we do. You’ve got to get out and see how others live, experience different cultures, and try new things in order to really experience and understand this wonderful world.
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7. “Happiness is having a large, loving caring close-knit family…in another city.” – George Burns
This one cracks me up, and those of us with big families can certainly relate to the feeling of freedom you get from flying a bit farther from the nest.
8. “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta
This is one of the best inspirational travel quotes on our list. After all, don’t you feel inspired to write about your travels, to share your photos, to shout from the rooftops about the best meal you’ve ever had in a little BBQ hut on the side of the road in New Jersey? Or is that just me?
9. “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck
Steinbeck was one of the greatest American travel writers, and he penned one of my favorite travel quotes on a trip from Maine to California, as documented in Travels With Charlie: In Search Of America.
10. “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
This Tolkien line is one of the most famous travel quotes of all time. This was originally part of a poem from the Fellowship of the Ring, about how things aren’t always quite what they seem. It was quickly adopted by those who live life by the seat of their pants and prefer to travel without much planning, going as the wind blows.
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Travel Quotes From Legendary Adventurers
11. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain
This is a core belief of mine – that when you experience other cultures, meet people of various backgrounds, and experience things beyond your own upbringing, you’ll find yourself more accepting, more empathetic, and a more well-rounded global citizen. To me, life begins with the decision to empathize with others, and traveling helps develop a local worldview.
12. “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.’ – Oprah Winfrey
For me, living a life where I’m able to travel is the life of my dreams. Of course, though, building the life you want to live doesn’t come easy. It takes sacrifice, planning, and a big leap of faith to escape life as you know it, and start a real voyage of discovery.
13. “To travel is to live.” – Hans Christian Andersen
Did you know that Hans Christian Anderson spent a good bit of his career writing travel literature? It was a true passion of his – wanderlust and fairytales do seem to go hand-in-hand, and his words resonate as one of our favorite travel quotes.
14. “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” – Amelia Earhart
Many get wrapped up in the tragedy of this famous aviator’s disappearance, but the truth is, she was an adventurer through and through, and she was doing what she loved most until the very end.
Anonymous Quotes About Travel
15. “Every two years travel somewhere that’s been forgotten.” – Anonymous
This anonymous travel quote just seems like a bit of a challenge. Sure, spend your vacations hitting all the standard bucket-list spots, but why not make it a point to mix it up and find hidden gems along the way? You never know what strange town you may encounter.
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16. “Travel will only make you wealthy” – Anonymous
What we gain from a life filled with travel cannot be measured – after all, this is our only life, and we might as well fill it with memories as we travel happily around.
17. “It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.” – Asian Proverb
Here’s a bit of travel inspiration – get out and go! Stop flipping through guidebooks or waiting for the perfect timing to set off on a trip – hit the road, and figure it out on the way because you’ll never get to see the world from behind a desk. Whether you’re traveling to a foreign country or a town a few states over, you’re sure to find it worth the trip.
18. “Work, travel, save, repeat.” – Anonymous
Relatable. Is this the best way to live your life? We’re going to find out.
19. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Anonymous
This is one of the best travel quotes for anyone apprehensive about solo travel. It gets easier the more you do it – so start small, and soon you’ll be a globetrotter blazing your own path.
20. “Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” – Anonymous
I’m sure a lot of us can relate to the meditative qualities of travel. Spend enough time in different situations and you’re sure to find out what grounds you, what makes you happy, what makes you sad, and what you love best.
21. “Collect moments, not things.” – Anonymous
By nature, many a good traveler is a minimalist. We believe in experiences over possessions – unless, of course, you’re asking us about our favorite backpacks or luggage.
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22. “It feels good to be lost in the right direction.” – Anonymous
Do you travel without much of a plan? If so, you know what it’s like to be lost in the right direction.
23. “Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.” – Anonymous
You might not remember every tiny detail of your trip ten years ago, but chances are you remember the people, the cultures, the food, the feelings, and the experience.
24. “If happiness is the goal – and it should be, then adventures should be top priority.” – Anonymous
This is one of those travel quotes that we can all relate to; after all, if you’re halfway through a list of 50 travel quotes, you must be someone who loves an unusual adventure.
25. “We travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us.” – Anonymous
As John Lennon once said, life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. Don’t let life escape you, and don’t miss out on memories and adventures while you’re sitting at home scrolling. Get out there, see the world, and experience life the way it’s meant to be lived.
26. “In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” – Anonymous
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Nobody sits around reflecting on how good of a choice it was to not book the flight, or to not take the zipline tour.
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27. “Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” – Anonymous
This one is a bit deeper than most of our other travel quotes because I like to think of it as a bit of a nod to a moral compass, as well. Live the way you want to live, don’t count the minutes, days, and years until it all adds up to nothing.
28. “Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.” – Anonymous
Happiness isn’t a place, it’s often the road you take and who you choose to walk it with. Don’t spend your life chasing happiness as a destination, but instead, take time to enjoy what it takes to get through.
29. “Travel. See the world.” – Anonymous
It’s as simple as that! Get out. Go. Travel. See the things you’ve been dreaming about.
Travel Adventure Quotes
30. “Ask me “Where have you been?” I don’t know, I don’t know, because I don’t know where to begin” – Barry Privett
When you make travel and adventure a tenet of your life, it’s hard to answer the question “well, where have you been?” because our experiences shape our entire lives. This particular quote comes from the song “One Prairie Outpost” by a band called Carbon Leaf that’s been on the road touring consistently for about 25 years.
31. “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Louis L’Amour
You’ll find that all the places you see, and all the people you meet, leave lasting impressions on who you become.
32. “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill
You don’t have to travel far from home to find yourself immersed in new cultures, new cuisines, and new scenery. Oftentimes, it’s the friends you make along the way that make your travels truly life-changing.
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33. “The more I traveled, the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine
One of my favorite books is the Lonely Planet travel anthology called “The Kindness of Strangers,” which tells more than two dozen tales of strangers helping strangers along in their travels just out of the kindness of their hearts.
I take the lessons I learned from this book with me in my journeys – we’re so built up to fear each other that we often miss the sort of memorable interactions that make a trip something you remember for life.
34.“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener
If you’re going to travel, travel with an open mind! It truly makes all the difference – you’ll miss out if you only order comfort food, and you should always take the time to learn some local customs.
35. “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” – Samuel Johnson
We’re all guilty of daydreaming when we’re “supposed” to be working – but why stop there? Get out and see the places your imagination dreams of, and bring a dose of reality to your visions.
36. “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you traveled.” – Mohammed
You can read all of the books in the world, and you can gather degree after degree, but until you see the world and meet people from all walks of life, you’re truly not a student of the Earth.
37. “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” – Aldous Huxley
Travel is one thing that breaks prejudices and paints true pictures in the minds of those who visit.
38. “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” – G.K. Chesterton
Some people plan out their travel days hour-by-hour, book tours, and make a point to hit all of the biggest landmarks and must-see spots. While there’s nothing wrong with that sort of tourism, many travelers go with the wind, floating along to see whatever happens to come up as they wander.
39. “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
This is a way of thinking that’s crucial to traveling with an open mind. Be willing to let the places you visit shape your experience, rather than the other way around.
40. “Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it.” – Mark Twain
This goes back to what we’ve said about travel exposing stereotypes and squashing prejudice. You can only get to know a place, or a culture, by experiencing it yourself.
Inspirational Travel Quotes
41. “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber
You can plan out every minute of your next trip, but you’re sure to discover plenty of things that you never expected along the way.
42. “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes”. – Marcel Proust
Even he places you’ve visited time and time again can look brand new, if you travel with an open mind and open heart.
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43. “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is quite the traveler, and reading through his books you’ll find plenty of travel quotes. It’s the truth, too, that everyday things look different when you’re experiencing them in an new place.
44. “People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” – Dagobert D. Runes
It’s also true that sometimes we miss out on the things we love about our own homes by romanticizing the places we travel to see. Be sure to find space in your heart and your imagination for your hometown or city and you’ll find the joys of travel in your everyday life.
45. “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” – Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou hit the nail on the head in this quote, sort of a counter to Mark Twain’s famous quote about travel being fatal to prejudice. While experience does shape worldview, it’s not an automatic occurrence, and there has to be a bit of effort to realize how new cultures and new people can affect our own minds.
46. “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
I can relate to this one – I love the act of traveling itself. Put me on a plane, a train, or a car for hours at a time and I’ll find a way to make it an adventure on its own.
47. “I’ve driven across deserts driven by the irony that only being shackled to the road could ever I be free” – Frank Turner
Another relatable quote from a musician that seems to always be on tour. This travel lyric is from Frank Turner’s song “The Road,” and it’s one of the best travel anthems I’ve ever heard.
48. “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
Some people choose to stay at home, surrounded by familiar faces and places, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you are a traveler, though, chances are it’s in your blood to get out and explore, and you aren’t satisfied unless you’re on an adventure.
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49. “Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux
Sure, it’s easy to plan a trip every year to see some sort of crowded attraction, but those build up and up, and soon you don’t know where you’ve been or what you’ve seen. If you choose to live the life of a traveler, you’re always thinking ahead, trying to decide your next move, or letting the wind take you wherever it’s supposed to.
50. “When overseas you learn more about your own country than you do the place you’re visiting.” – Clint Borgen
You can learn so much by noticing the differences between your home and the places you visit!
Why Are Travel Quotes So Inspirational?
There are many reasons why these quotes are so motivating. Simply put, they emphasize the importance of travel and exploration. They remind us that there is so much to see and do in the world and that we should take advantage of every opportunity to explore.
They also emphasize the personal growth that can come from travel. We learn new things about other cultures and ourselves when we step outside our comfort zones and venture into the unknown.
These quotes remind us that travel is a great way to connect with people from all over the world. In today’s increasingly digital world, it’s easy to forget that there is so much to learn from face-to-face interactions.
How Should You Use These Travel Quotes?
These quotes can be used to inspire travelers in a number of ways. Print out a few and keep them on your desk or by the bed as a daily reminder to stay motivated and excited about travel. Save a few to keep as inspiration when planning future trips. Scroll through, reflect on past experiences, and remember all the amazing places you have seen and people you have met.
And, of course, pick a few travel quotes for Instagram captions or Pinterest boards and you’ll capture the emotions you find in your photos and videos.
I hope you feel inspired to travel by this collection of travel quotes. If you haven’t been on an adventure lately, it’s time to get out there. Find motivation in the words of these famous travelers and hit the road. We hope these quotes have inspired you to get out there and explore the world.
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