100 Travel Stories
25 Travel Quotes & Travel Stories
Inspirational Travel Quotes, Stories and Photos
Enjoy my favorite travel quotes coupled with stories I lived and photos I took during my travels.
1.
“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown and accept whatever comes in the spirit in which the gods may offer it.” – Freya Stark, Baghdad Sketches
“I do believe in the happiness I have found in Japan” – William (wooden prayer tablets, Tokyo)
Why we travel? For excitement, discovery, adventure, enlightenment, romance.
2.
“No drug I can imagine, few love-affairs I might dream of, can match that simple, shocking excitement of arriving in a truly foreign place.” – Pico Iyer
Banjul, The Gambia
The most thrilling experiences are when you first arrive in a new country, especially if the country is so different from yours. Pico Iyer would call it “The Shock of Arrival”. For me was Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Read More: Rush Hour in Kathmandu
3.
“I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth, then I ask myself the same question.” – Harun Yahya
Hong Kong © Trey Ratcliff / Stuck in Customs
One of my longest and most exciting flight was the 16 hours non-stop flight from Chicago to Hong Kong in a Boeing 747 thirteen years ago. The flight path was going North, in an arch, with beautiful views of Greenland and Siberia, and coming South towards Hong Kong.
- Read More: Exciting Hong Kong
4.
“Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.” – Ray Bradbury
Koh Lipe
Welcome to Koh Lipe island, in the Andaman Sea, Thailand! White sandy beaches and turquoise blue waters are an invitation for exploring and relaxing.
- Read More: The Island Paradise of Koh Lipe
5.
“Certain places seem to exist mainly because someone has written about them.” – William Faulkner
Banjul, The Gambia
Banjul, the Gambia. Everything that worked in other parts of the globe, doesn’t work anymore here. “This is Africa, Ovi!” – my friend Joyce kept repeating…
- Read More: No Photos in Banjul!
6.
“I want to be on the road again, to see things I’ve never seen before, and may never see again.” – Willie Nelson
Navaratri cheeks piercing
So many things I’ve never seen before, such as the piercing ritual witnessed at the Navaratri Hindu Festival in Bangkok.
- Read More: Hindu Devout Pierces Her Cheeks with Spear
7.
“The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, feel, do just as one pleases.” – William Hazlitt
Havana, Cuba
Falling in love with Havana and in Havana is easy! The city is so unique, so vibrant and yet so tranquil…
- Read More: Havana, Mi Amor
8.
Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, “I would stay here and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.” – Lisa St. Aubin de Terán
Japanese aesthetics
I love Japan! But I also love many, many other countries. A photo can capture the beauty of a country, but it cannot capture its soul. Take a photographic journey through the world and discover its beauty.
- View: Photos of Our World
9.
“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton
The wonder of Angkor Wat
Each country brings memories of adventure, love, discovery… In Cambodia is Angkor Wat – trully impressive, a masterpiece of the past.
- Read More: The Wonders of Angkor Wat
10.
“Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.” – Benjamin Disraeli
Kuala Lumpur
A view of Kuala Lumpur through images: the streets, the people, the attractions and the food.
- View: Images of Kuala Lumpur
11.
“After midnight, the moon set, and I was alone with the stars. I have often said that the lure of flying is the lure of beauty, and I need no other flight to convince me that the reason flyers fly, whether they know it or not, is the esthetic appeal of flying.” – Amelia Earhart
Everest
Stunning view of Everest from Air China flight Kathmandu to Lhasa! The entire chain of Himalayas covered in snow can be seen. Mt. Everest is on the left side of the airplane. All the passengers from the right side of the plane moved and even jumped over the passengers from the left side, to have a better view of the highest peak of the world (8,848 m). The shift in weight repartition, made the plane to tilt to its left side!
- Read More: Tibet: Om Mani Padme Hum
12.
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta
Peles Castle
One of the most beautiful castles in Europe is located in the Carpathian Mountains, near Sinaia, Romania.
- Read More: A Beautiful Castle in Transylvania
13.
“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru
Everest Base Camp
A trip to Tibet and Everest Base Camp is highly recommended. It can be exhausting and the high altitude affects people in different ways, but the views are breathtaking and the experience is unforgettable.
- Read More: Everest Base Camp Tibet
14.
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller
Dakar, Senegal
Adventures in Dakar! Wrong hotel and no cash. one day of tricks and more.
- Read More: Dakar Escapades
15.
“We travel for romance, we travel for architecture, and we travel to be lost.” – Ray Bradbury
Halong Bay, Vietnam
I think you can measure the level of excitement by the number of photos you take. And in the two days Halong Bay cruise I took a lot of photos.
- Read More: The Bay of Descending Dragons: Halong Bay
16.
“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, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese
Strange Taipei – frog meat
Take a walk on the wild side of Taipei. Get lost at night wandering through night markets, snake alleys and massage parlours. Try a snake soup or enjoy a dinner in a toilet!
- Read More: 8 Strange and Cool Taipei Experiences
17.
“Die I must, but let me die drinking at an inn!” – Walter Map
Sake barrels
Walking the streets of the old town of Takayama, I stumbled upon a sake store. Easy to recognize after the beautifully decorated bottles and big barrels of sake placed at the entrance of the store…
- Read More: Happy Sake Day!
18.
“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
Singapore
One of a sudden I decided to go to Singapore without too much of a preparation. Singapore is a modern, rich, civilized and clean city, whose daily life is governed by a multitude of laws and rules that are strictly enforced.
- Read More: Let’s Go to Singapore!
19.
“Travel only with your equals or your betters. If there are none, travel alone. – Dhammapada”
Travel buddies, Jaipur, India
Down the road I met many wonderful people, locals and other travelers, making my trips very enjoyable.
- Read More: Travel Buddies
20.
“I feel like I’ve never had a home, you know? I feel related to the country, to this country, and yet I don’t know exactly where I fit in… There’s always this kind of nostalgia for a place, a place where you can reckon with yourself.” – Sam Shepard
Koh Chang
Find your own Paradise! Once you don’t have a home can be liberated. Your home is the world!
- Read More: Island Life
21.
“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin
Taj Mahal, Agra, India
India is a country of huge contrasts. I visited just a small part of it, the North-East India. The first impressions can be shocking when you pass the border from Nepal to India. The crossing was done by walking and what a difference few meters can make!
- Read More: Holly Cow! The Incredible India
22.
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” – Lin Yutang
Lonely Beaches
One hour by speed boat from Koh Chang Island, Koh Mak is a small, beautiful island, only 16 square meters. So wild and undeveloped, that even the Russians from Koh Chang didn’t venture here…
- Read More: Lonely Beaches
23.
“A class of men who are exceedingly tiresome are those who, having traveled, talk of nothing but their adventures, the countries which they have seen or traversed, the dangers, whether real or fictitious, which they have encountered, repeating the same things an hundred times over.” – St. John Baptist De La Salle
Tokyo art
It was the end of the day, after visiting the Longshan temple in Taipei. It is a busy area, with people chatting in front of the temple. While walking between them I noticed this girl and she noticed me. Something about her was different, something was intriguing…
- Read More: Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind
24.
“The best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” – Pico Iyer
Vienna
What a city, Vienna! It is one of the most tranquil and civilized cities in the world!
Get a glimpse of the imperial grandeur by visiting the Belvedere, Schönbrunn and Hofburg palaces, or just walk through the old city centre starting from the Stephansplatz. The sound of music will follow you: Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Liszt, Brahms and many others…
- Read More: Postcards from Vienna
25.
”I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag
More Travel Quotes