Anytime I see an uplifting, motivating, or inspiring vacation quote I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with both wanderlust, and happiness. It may seem strange, but for me it’s like I just can’t get enough of these. If I’m having a rough day at work or feeling a bit stressed and overwhelmed with life in general, there’s something about seeing travel quotes that settles me down and redirects my energy in a positive and uplifting way.
I’m Always Dreaming About Travel
For those of you who know me, you know that my wanderlust is off the charts. For me, planning a vacation is cathartic. But it’s not just the planning part. Browsing online, including social media such as Pinterest, or indulging in my favorite travel book or movie I have around the house helps me to relax, clear my head and put an optimistic and positive focus on the future. Sure, I’m a bit of a dreamer. But what’s wrong with imagining the future? Thinking of all the possibilities of where you can go, what you can see, who you can meet, and how you can soak up all those experiences into yourself.
I love travel. It’s not just an obsession, it’s a way of life.
So I have gathered here in this post some of my absolute favorite vacation quotes that inspire me, excite me, and motivate me. I hope that you get as much enjoyment out of them as I do, and that they can help pick you up for the day and inspire your wanderlust for travel, adventure and exploration.
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Best Travel & Vacation Quotes (My Personal Faves!)
Of all the vacation quotes out there, there are some which stand out as being my absolute top favorites. These quotes really sum up how I feel inside when it comes to travel and what I hope to project out into the world when it comes to influencing others to get out there and travel. Seeing the world really brings about such a new perspective, and it adds so much value to our lives. And these vacation quotes really sum up the travel experience even better than I am able to in my own words.
“You can always make money. You can’t always make memories”
This is a mantra Josh and I live by. I’m not really sure if it’s a quote from a specific person, or just a combination from different people because I’ve seen a few versions out there. But it really sums up life for us and why we have prioritized traveling in our lifestyle and how we budget and save our money. So I had to put this up here at the top because it’s one of our all-time favorite travel and vacation quotes.
“Do not wait until you are dying to go on vacation. I think if I had to give you one piece of advice that would be it. We put things off. We do not mean to, but we do. We carry around the assumption that there is plenty of time to do whatever needs to be done.” – Marty Cauley
“To Travel is to Live.” – Hans Christian Andersen
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller
“Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.” – Lovelle Drachman
“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai
“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
Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer – Anonymous
“I’m in love with cities I’ve never been to and people I’ve never met.” – John Green
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – Augustine of Hippo
“Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret.” – Oscar Wilde
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
“Some of your best ideas come when you’re on vacation.” – Gautam Singhania
Both Josh and I 100% agree with this statement! And it’s not just because we love taking vacations. Seriously there is no better way to clear your mind. And when your mind is clear and you are relaxed, you are inspired and motivated. Absolutely some of our very best ideas come to us when we are on vacation. Which is why you should not be ashamed to take a vacation from work!!!
“Don’t Count The Days. Make The Days Count.” – Muhammad Ali
“Think about it; how do you feel when you are planning a vacation? You feel excited and happy. Your stress level is diminished, and this also affects your work in a positive way.” – John Morgan
“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
“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” — Sydney J. Harris
“Vacations are necessities, not luxuries.” – Linda Bloom
“No matter what happens, travel gives you a story to tell.” – Jewish Proverb
“He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.” – Chinese Proverb
“To travel is worth any cost or sacrifice.” – Elizabeth Gilbert
Inspirational Travel Quotes
Those were just some of my top favorite vacation quotes. However, there are SO many other wonderful inspiration travel quotes as well. Some of these are pure inspiration, while others are a bit more motivating. Especially if you are feeling like “I need a vacation,” then these may help satisfy that feeling. For me, I enjoy these because they not only encourage my mind to wander and dream, but for me to also take action. Getting up off my butt and having an adventure.
Adventure always feels good. – Liz Smith (Peanuts or Pretzels)
“An upcoming vacation gives us something to eagerly anticipate.” – Jaime Kurtz
Seriously, this quote above was practically written for me! I can’t tell you how alive I feel when I’m anticipating an upcoming trip.
“Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation.” – Leo Tolstoy
“Now more than ever do I realize that I will never be content with a sedentary life, that I will always be haunted by thoughts of a sun-drenched elsewhere.” – Isabelle Eberhardt
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag
“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide
“Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination.” – Roy M. Goodman
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” – Mark Twain
“Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind.”– Seneca
“The paradox of relaxation is the renewal of mind; rekindle of spirit and revitalize of strength.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita
“Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” ― Michael Palin
“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller
“We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfilment.” — Hilaire Belloc
“If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.” – Rachel Wolchin
“Investment in travel is an investment in yourself.” —Matthew Karsten
“I travel because it makes me realize how much I haven’t seen, how much I’m not going to see, and how much I still need to see.” – Carew Papritz
“A person susceptible to ‘wanderlust’ is not so much addicted to movement as committed to transformation.” – Pico Iyer
“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” – Anais Nin
“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your soul.” – Jamie Lyn Beatty
“Take only memories, leave only footprints.” – Chief Seattle
“Live your life by a compass not a clock.” – Stephen Covey
“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
“Oh the places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss
“Adventure is worthwhile.” – Aesop
“It is not down in any map; true places never are.” – Herman Melville
“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” – Dalai Lama
“People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu
“The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see.” – Henry David Thoreau
“Travel brings power and love back into your life.”– Rumi
“Neglecting vacation is neglecting success because every success needs an accumulated positive energy!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
“The vacation we often need is freedom from our own mind.” –Jack Adam Weber
“A vacation helps to relieve stress and boredom, gives us a change of scenery, provides us with adventure, and helps to bring us closer to the people in our lives.” – E. S. Woods
“Travelling unveils new dimensions of this world not known to the naked eye.” ― Wayne Chirisa
“Take a vacation from your stressful thoughts by changing your thoughts.” ― Debasish Mridha
“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost
“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustav Flaubert
“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” – David Mitchell
“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark
“The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine
“A journey is best measured in friends rather than miles.” – Tim Cahill
“Vacation must be more than a word if it is meant to provide a total change of scenery and mindset. While it is recognized that the ideal vacation varies from person to person, or family to family, a vacation should always provide the absence of stress and regeneration of the spirit.” – Byron Pulsifer
“A proper vacation does three things. It takes you away from the stresses and demands of your daily life; it gives your body time to heal and rejuvenate; and, it invigorates your mind by returning you to your natural rhythm.” – Sage Wilcox
“In matters of healing the body or the mind, vacation is a true genius!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
“Don’t wait for a vacation to enjoy life. Start to enjoy it now, today, wherever you are.” ― Debasish Mridha
“A wise man travels to discover himself.” –James Russell Lowell
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”– Marcel Proust
Funny Travel Quotes
Laughter is an important element to our life. In general, Josh and I don’t take things too seriously because in my experience, some of the best memories are usually not of the serious kind. So here’s a short collection of some of the more funny travel quotes that give me a good chuckle and remind me of some of the crazy adventures we’ve had over the years.
“Jet lag is for amateurs.” – Dick Clark
“When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money.” – Susan Heller
“I want someone to look at me the way I look at a travel magazine.” – (I don’t know if someone said this…but I love it!)
“No one wants to die with vacation time on the books.” ― Andrea Goeglein
“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” ― Jack Kerouac
“Laughter is an instant vacation.” – Milton Berle
“Isn’t it amazing how much stuff we get done the day before vacation?” – Zig Ziglar
“The worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognize you as a tourist.” – Russell Baker
“I’ve been to almost as many places as my luggage.” – Bob Hope
“When all else fails, take a vacation.” – Betty Williams
“Having someone cook all your meals is the best vacation ever!” – Tamra Davis
“Life’s short. Eat dessert first, work less and vacation MORE.” – Lea Mishell
“Taking a vacation can actually increase the likelihood of getting a raise or a promotion.” – Shawn Achor
“If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal” ― Paulo Coelho
“Don’t feel guilty about vacationing. What are you truly living and working for anyways? Death is all too real.” ― Richie Norton
Favorite Movie Travel & Vacation Quotes
Another way that we are inspired to travel and rejuvenate ourselves when we feel a bit worn down is to kick back and watch one of our favorite travel movies. Oftentimes, it’s not just the scenery or an entertaining escape we enjoy, but some of the quotes from these movies are truly beautiful. Below are some of our favorite travel quotes from movies we love.
“You don’t make a life. You live one.” – Emilio Estevez character in “The Way”
“Don’t get stuck in your own little world. Because the purpose of life is to explore and experience.” – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
You’re just living, man. You’re just there, in that moment, in that special place and time – the freedom and simple beauty is too good to pass up… – Christopher McCandless (Movie / Book) “Into the Wild”
I don’t want to think. I want to live. – Chasing Liberty
“There is a whole world at your feet.” – Mary Poppins
“I was amazed that what I needed to survive could be carried on my back. And, most surprising of all, that I could carry it.” – Cheryl Strayed “Wild”
Travel Quotes for Couples
Josh and I went on our first major international trip together just a few months after we started dating. Some people thought I was crazy. But I knew traveling together would be the ultimate test. To see how we were able to get along when reading maps in a foreign country, driving on the other side of the road (and the car), long days of sightseeing and nights crashed out on a hostel bed above a noisy bar (we literally stayed above the famous Temple Bar in Dublin). To me, travel is the very best way to really get to know someone! So here are just a few of my favorite travel quotes for couples.
“What we find in a soul mate is not something to tame, but something wild to run with.” – Robert Brault
“As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was about to happen.” – A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
“Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures” – Lewis Carroll
“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain
Family Vacation Quotes
Growing up in a traveling family, we were constantly on the go. From weekend camping trips, regular trips to Disneyland…and everything in between. I also grew up in a decent-sized family of 6 (and a dog). So there was always a bit of craziness going on. And reading some of these family travel quotes takes me back to growing up and traveling with my family all those years.
“In the end, kids won’t remember that fancy toy or game you bought them, they will remember the time you spent with them.” – Kevin Heath
“In America, there are two classes of travel: first-class and with children. ” – Robert Benchley
“The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories” – Og Mandino
Solo Travel Quotes
Traveling has always been a very important part of my life. After I left home and before I met Josh, I did plenty of solo travel on my own. I figured, if no one could travel with me then I wasn’t going to let that stop me. In fact, when I went on my first date with Josh I had actually just returned the week before from a solo trip to Hong Kong. When discussing it on our first date, I think that’s when Josh was blown away by the fact that I traveled half-way around the world by myself…just for fun. Here are some of my favorite solo travel quotes that I enjoy reading when I’m reminiscing about my solo travel days.
“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau
“There are some places in life where you can only go alone. Embrace the beauty of your solo journey.” – Mandy Hale
“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark
“Don’t be scared to walk alone. Don’t be scared to like it.” — John Mayer
“If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone.” – Maxwell Maltz
“The inner journey of travel is intensified by solitude.” – Paul Theroux
Anthony Bourdain Travel Quotes
Anthony Bourdain was a gift. He captured the essence of travel, and of humanity. I watched all his shows religiously, and while I enjoyed the travel and the food, more than anything it was his writing that captivated me. His narration. His ability to capture the spirit of travel in words that I would never be articulate enough to string together. His wisdom was profound and I would often pause his shows when he made a statement that struck me. I would sit there and marinate on it a bit. Below are some of my most favorite Anthony Bourdain quotes.
“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
“If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them – wherever you go.” – Anthony Bourdain
“It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.” – Anthony Bourdain
“Travel is about the gorgeous feeling of teetering in the unknown.” – Anthony Bourdain
Do You Have a Favorite Travel or Vacation Quote?
These are just some of my absolute favorite vacation quotes that inspire me. If you have a special travel or vacation quote that fills you with wanderlust and a sense of adventure, please share in the comments! I’d love to hear which ones resonate with you!
