There’s nothing like a powerful travel quote to get the adventure inspiration flowing and dreams of far away places flying through your mind in a wanderlust-induced daydream.
Travel quotes are also incredible for providing a kick in the bum to start planning a trip you’ve always wanted to go on, or to simply electrify your day with a jolt of pure vagabond vibes.
I’ve already covered some of my favorite inspirational travel quotes that helped me overcome the societal-induced dread about turning 30, even though my 30s have actually held the best adventures of my life. But I wanted to shake off the 2020 bad mojo as things in 2021 look brighter and more possible for travel this year, and help you do the same.
First off, I want to dive into a bit of how I came to the choices for my best travel quotes list, what was my personal thinking behind the choices, and why you might connect with them.
What makes a good quote?
"In the end…we only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make."
Now THAT is some good inspiration. Except, from what I can find this quote DID NOT come from Lewis Carroll. Say what?! Though the internet seems to think it does without any proof. Which leads me to what makes a good quote — a real one.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve mistakenly used a lot of quotes that didn’t come from the source I thought, and that’s totally fine. And many quotes get changed or evolve and take on meanings of their own, like the one above.
This quote feels like an awesome travel quote that I personally would apply to travel and taking chances. Some might feel it speaks more to life in general, or family and love. Wherever a quote does come from and whatever its original meaning, at least it’s tugging on some kind of emotional string.
And that’s what I feel makes a good quote — one that connects to people on a personal level and inspires some type of change or awareness or appreciation to something. At least with life and travel.
The list of quotes below are the best travel quotes that I personally love and that connect with me. I’ve tried my best to double check the sources but alas, the internet is filled with tons of mistaken identities and misquoted things. Either way, I hope that they will inspire something in you as well, or at least uplift your day a bit. And I’d absolutely LOVE it if you shared some of your favorites as well.
Let’s get inspired.
55 Best Travel Quotes for 2021 and Beyond
1. "We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us."
2. "Once a year, go somplace you've never been before."
3. “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.”
4. “Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”
5. “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”
6. “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see."
7. "To travel is to take a journey into yourself."
8. “Not all those who wander are lost.”
9. "I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on earth. Then I ask myself the same question."
10. “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”
11. "A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving."
12. "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."
13. "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
14. “Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.”
15. "To travel is to live.”
16. “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.”
17. “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
18. “And then there is the most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”
19. “We travel, some of us forever, to seek other places, other lives, other souls.”
20. “It feels good to be lost in the right direction.”
21. "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
22. “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
23. "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."
24. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”
25. “Adventure is worthwhile in itself.”
26. "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking."
27. “My soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that, and I intend to end up there.”
28. “The goal is to die with memories not dreams”
29. “I’m in love with cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met.”
30. “When was the last time you did something for the first time?”
31. “There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.”
32. “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It’s lethal!”
33. “If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.”
34. “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train.”
35. “Jobs fill your pockets, but adventures fill your soul.”
36. “Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport.”
37. “Cover the earth before it covers you.”
38. “If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.”
39. “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”
40. “All good things are wild and free.”
41. “It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
42. “Live your life by a compass, not a clock.”
43. “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
44. “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
45. “The world is not in your books and maps; it’s out there.”
46. “It is never too late to be who you might have been.”
47. “There are 30,000 days in your life. When I was 24, I realized I’m almost 9,000 days down. There are no warm-ups, no practice rounds, no reset buttons. Your biggest risk isn’t failing. It’s getting too comfortable. Every day, we’re writing a few more words of a story. I wanted my story to be an adventure, and that’s made all the difference.”
48. “I travel because I’d rather look back at my life, saying ‘I can’t believe I did that’ instead of ‘if only I had’.”
49. “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
50. "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."
51. “I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, “This is what it is to be happy.”
52. "Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow."
53. “The best travel is a leap in the dark. If the destination were familiar and friendly what would be the point in going there?”
54. “To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure.”
55. "Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
BONUS! “I let out a deep sigh, and felt the absolute essence of life fill my lungs. This is what life should be about -- oldies on the radio and good vibes on the wind. People sharing this beautiful place together with no claim to anything at all, except for our mortal bodies and the brief flickering flame of ones life.”
Yes, that last quote is mine, but I figured since I included one of mine in the last one inspo quote post, I should share one in this list. That quote is from my personal journal that I take with me everywhere. It was a thought that I had while anchored in a breathtaking marine reserve at Mljet National Park in Croatia. I was working on a sail boat that summer for my 4th season, doing a job that involved my passion in a scenario I could have never imagined growing up.
That moment encompassed all of the inspirational aspects in these travel quotes about chasing dreams, taking chances, breaking out of your comfort zone, doing what you love, and more. It was a moment that I found myself in, simply appreciating everything about my life and reflecting on what had led up to that moment. Reflecting on my old life pre-travel working jobs I hated and living a life I was unhappy with.
Travel quotes and travel blogs are what helped me to take that first step to begin traveling the world and has led me to a life that was once unbeleivable. The unbelievable dream became reality, and is still reality to this day.
What is the best quote?
This will of course vary for you or me and what kind of quote it is. And really, how to we decide what the “best” travel quote is? So I will just tell you what the best quote is that I’ve come across in my searches for me. The best travel quote I’ve ever come across and one that relates to my years of travel is:
“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”
This quote is the best for me because, as far as I can find, it’s “anonymous” which allows me to feel like it can be my personal little treasure. I can hold it close and think about it when I need to boost my mood a bit. It also relates so much to how I view life after I began traveling in 2011 and how travel opened up so many possibilities, allowed me to experience unbelievable things, and taught me such incredible life lessons.
Deciding to travel, as I’ve said many times, was the best decision of my life. And though I did travel at first to run away from some very dark things that haunted me in my past, it evolved into something that helped me appreciate life as a whole. To look forward instead of behind. To feel like things were possible. To know that time is fleeting and every single moment counts. That to me is why I love this quote.
What was your favorite inspirational travel quote? Tweet or share it on Pinterest!
