Today I wanted to do something a little different and pose to you a question. When the conversation turns to the topic of travel, this is a question that is often thrown out there. Where do you want to travel? It is a simple question but a question that likely triggers a desire in many people to think of their dream destination.
The Two Types Of Answers
There are two types of answers that you might commonly find when it comes to answering this question. You will have the quick answer and the considered answer. Let’s take a look at both of the answers and why you should always answer with the considered answer.
The Quick Answer
You can often pick someone who is answering with a quick answer. Their answer drifts between various locations whichever one is most likely top of their mind. Asked multiple times over a period of months the answer will change for no good reason. It might be Canada one week and England the next week. It just seems like you could book the trip and by the time it came to leave, they would want to change the ticket and go somewhere else.
When you find someone who is answering with a quick answer, it is rarely the result of any deep thought. There is a much better chance that the destination they want to travel to was on TV or in the newspaper. They are happy to go anywhere that is being promoted as a great travel destination. One of the reasons why the answer changes so often because the destinations being promoted change so often.
The Considered Answer
On the other hand, you will find some people who know where they want to travel and that is the place. You will find that when you ask the question “Where do you want to travel?” The answer will remain the same over an extended period.
Often when asked the question they will smile and get a little bit of a dreamy look. The answer is something that seems self-evident like travelling to this destination is the only reason for their existence. Often you may not even have to ask the question, and will just chime in with a thought. Usually making mention of how great it would be to travel to this one destination.
Why The Considered Answer
You may be wondering why the answer you give matters so much. Well, to be honest, it doesn’t. That is unless you are happy to settle for never living up to your dreams.
If you had the option to travel to any random place or the place you have always wanted to go without a thought for the cost. Which would you choose? I can assure you that choosing the destination you have always dreamed of visiting will likely be much more rewarding than any random place.
What’s The Difference?
I have experienced the difference between travelling to both a destination that was a quick answer and a considered answer to this question. Both destinations were part of my time that I spent in Europe in 2012.
When I sat down to start planning the trip I asked myself the question, if I could go anywhere in Europe where would it be. The first place that came to mind for me was my considered answer and the city of Vienna in Austria. It came to mind, not because of a promotion or being prompted, but because it was on a list of places that I wanted to visit in the world. Not just for a week, but for somewhere over ten years.
On the other hand, later in the planning stage, I started making some poor decisions. Instead of following my heart and allocating time to the places I wanted to visit, I began adding destinations to increase a number. One city I added was Nice in France, not particularly somewhere I had even ever thought of visiting before. At the time it seemed good, but now I realise it was just a quick answer to fill in some time on the trip.
The difference between the experiences was night and day. In Vienna, I spent 10-days enthralled by everything the city had to offer. I explored churches and museums, attractions and the city streets. While on the other hand, I arrived in Nice with three days. It was an interesting place to visit, but by the end of my three days, I was happy to be moving along.
Be Amazed, Not Just Happy
If there is one thing that I want for you when you travel it is for you to be amazed. To go out there and explore a city, town or country, and be ready to explore more. If you are travelling to a destination that means something to you, then you should not want to go home at the end.
Where Do You REALLY Want To Travel?
I would love to hear where it is that you REALLY want to travel to? Is there a city, country, state or anywhere that you have a strong desire to visit. I mean somewhere that the media has not thrown in front of you in the last week. What I mean is a place that you have thought about travelling to off and on over the years.
There is a place that is like that for me, even still after visiting 35 countries. The one country that is top of my list as a destination I would love to visit is Japan. There is nothing much standing in the way of me making this trip, beyond that of planning it.
