Why Travel Matters: A Guide to the Life Changing Effects of Travel
Now in Paperback
Buy this Book
When you travel you have a choice: you can be a tourist and have a nice time or you can be a traveler—and change your life. This is a book for those who want to change their life. For centuries the travel giants—famous travelers and great travel writers—have celebrated the life-altering effects of travel, explaining how it broadens your horizons, deepens your understanding, changes your perspective, adds to your personality. But how do these things happen? What exactly are the mechanisms by which travel changes who you are? And how can you make sure these wondrous things actually happen to you? This books answers these questions, with the help of more than 75 of the great travel writers.
“Why Travel Matters is not a travel book, but a book about travel; an engaging, intelligent and entertaining exploration of why we do it, how we do it, and what it does to us. I've not read anything like it before. Like the act of traveling itself, it shifted my perspective on the world and helped me see familiar terrain in unfamiliar ways.”
— Nick Hunt, author of Where the Wild Winds Are,
a 2017 Spectator Book of the Year
“A highly intelligent and deeply engaging book that examines not only the beauty, but also the importance of travel.”
— Thomas Swick, author The Joys of Travel:
And Stories That Illuminate Them
“You may have visited the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China, but if you haven't read this book, you may not have traveled. From deep experience and insight, Craig Storti, with clarity, humor, and a grand sense of history, shows how travel does matter. In practical steps, he demonstrates ways we can go beyond mere tourism to become enlightened participants in new places everywhere. For all travelers, not to mention interculturalists, this book is a must.”
— Fanchon Silberstein, Former Director
The Overseas Briefing Center, US Dept. of State
“In this invaluable book Craig Storti compellingly answers the question: "Why does travel matter?" He differentiates between travel and tourism then makes the case that travel guarantees that the person who set out on a journey is not the same one who returns. His treasury of quotes vividly illuminates his points, adding rich context to this captivating work. The farther I got into this book, the more I wished I had read it 50 years ago. Craig captures concepts that took me a long time to learn on my own---both about how the world works and about myself. His point: travel is both an inner and outer journey.”
— Sandra M. Fowler,
Past President SIETAR USA
“Storti's book is a graduate school seminar, an education on how to travel, even if you never go anywhere ever again. My suggestion for your next trip is that it's best if you forget the guidebooks, forget DK, Frommer or Lonely Planet, and slip instead into your backpack Why Travel Matters and read it on the flight. Then when you land, follow Craig Storti's advice.”
— John Coyne, co-founder and editor,
Peace Corps Worldwide