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noun as in journey

Strongest matches

  • sightseeing

Strong matches

  • commutation
  • peregrination

Weak matches

  • globetrotting

verb as in journey on a trip or tour

  • cover ground
  • get through
  • go into orbit
  • knock around
  • make a journey
  • make one's way
  • take a boat
  • take a plane
  • take a train
  • take a trip

Example Sentences

You just travel light with carry-on luggage, go to cities that you love, and get to hang out with all your friends.

He did travel to China and Australia while the story was unfolding.

In doing so he exposed the failure of other airlines in the region to see the huge pent-up demand for cheap travel.

“The tribe is really made of people who put travel as a priority in their entire lifestyle,” says Evita.

Brands like Lo & Sons and Delsey are already tapping Travel Noire to connect with black travelers.

One thing was certain: Grandfather Mole could travel much faster through the water than he could underground.

The mothers know better than any one else how hard a way the little girl will have to travel through life.

He could lie in bed and string himself tales of travel and adventure while Harry was downstairs.

Under ordinary circumstances these men can travel with their burden from twenty to thirty miles a day.

The rules regulating travel on highways in this country are called, "the law of the road."

Related Words

Words related to travel are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word travel . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

verb as in tour

verb as in flow

  • mill around
  • move around

noun as in systems of information exchange

  • information technology
  • public relations
  • telecommunications

verb as in make good time

  • make headway
  • make strides

verb as in sail

  • keep steady pace
  • push off/push on
  • wander about

Viewing 5 / 93 related words

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

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Synonyms and antonyms of travel in English

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Synonyms for travel

  • make a journey
  • take a trip
  • make your way
  • wend your way
  • be transmitted
  • get through
  • burn rubber
  • go hell for leather
  • go like a bat out of hell
  • go at breakneck speed
  • go like (greased) lightning
  • globetrotting
  • peregrination

to make or go on a journey

  • peregrinate

to move along a particular course

To become known far and wide, the act of going from one place to another, related words.

  • circumnavigation
  • vagabondage
  • horseback riding
  • on the road
  • water travel
  • commutation

a movement through space that changes the location of something

  • change of location
  • circulation
  • gravitation
  • progression
  • translation

self-propelled movement

  • brachiation

change location

  • betake oneself
  • travel purposefully
  • take the air
  • move around
  • slice through
  • travel along
  • travel rapidly
  • bucket along
  • cannonball along
  • stay in place

undertake a journey or trip

Make a trip for pleasure, travel upon or across, undergo transportation as in a vehicle, travel from place to place, as for the purpose of finding work, preaching, or acting as a judge.

  • trash barrel
  • trash collection
  • trash pickup
  • traumatic epilepsy
  • traumatology
  • traumatophobia
  • Trautvetteria
  • Trautvetteria carolinensis
  • travel agency
  • travel agent
  • travel allowance
  • travel and entertainment account
  • travel bargain
  • travel expense
  • travel guidebook
  • travel iron
  • travel plan
  • travel reimbursement
  • travel time
  • traveler's check
  • traveler's joy
  • traveler's letter of credit
  • traveler's tree
  • Travancore kingdom
  • Travancore National and Quilon
  • Travancore province
  • Travancore-Cochin
  • Travaux Conception Duplication Service
  • Travaux de La Vallée de La Lys
  • Travaux Dirigés
  • Travaux Electriques du Midi
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  • travaux preparatoires
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  • travel across
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Synonyms of travels

  • as in journeys
  • as in traverses
  • as in speeds
  • as in associates
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Thesaurus Definition of travels

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Synonyms & Similar Words

  • pilgrimages
  • road - trips
  • peregrinates
  • knocks (about)
  • perambulates
  • passes (over)
  • proceeds (along)
  • cuts (across)
  • crisscrosses
  • cracks (on)
  • steps on it
  • makes tracks
  • cannonballs
  • shakes a leg
  • gets a move on
  • hotfoots (it)
  • accelerates
  • fast - forwards

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

  • hangs (around or out)
  • slows (down or up)
  • decelerates
  • dillydallies
  • collaborates
  • fraternizes
  • rubs shoulders (with)
  • falls in with
  • takes up with
  • pals (around)
  • keeps company (with)
  • rubs elbows (with)
  • consociates
  • messes around
  • interrelates
  • is friends with
  • confederates
  • splits (up)
  • cold - shoulders
  • dissociates

Thesaurus Definition of travels  (Entry 2 of 2)

  • peregrination
  • commutation

Articles Related to travels

woman looking at departures board

Is it ‘traveling’ or...

Is it ‘traveling’ or ‘travelling’?

A tale of two variants

Thesaurus Entries Near travels

traveling cases

Cite this Entry

“Travels.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/travels. Accessed 23 Sep. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on travels

Nglish: Translation of travels for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of travels for Arabic Speakers

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The Intrepid Guide

28 Beautiful Travel Words that Describe Wanderlust Perfectly

Travel words and wanderlust synonyms

Describe your travels with these unique and beautiful travel words from different languages around the world.

I love travelling and I love languages, so imagine my excitement when I came across a treasure trove of travel words and wanderlust synonyms that describe how we feel before, during, and after we travel. 

Just like a photo can’t fully capture what it feels like to stand on the edge of a fjord , neither can ‘wanderlust’ fully express how we feel when we crave our next adventure. These travel words are literary gems which have been gathered from languages around the world. From Japanese to Swedish , Latin to Greek , travel brochures of the future will be peppered with travel words like of resfeber , livsnjutare, and coddiwomple .

Wanderlust meaning

As you’ll see in the list below, every language has its own variation of how it explains and defines what wanderlust is. In English, wanderlust means to have a strong desire for or impulse to travel, wander and explore the world.

Learn a language from home

During these times it can be bittersweet to think about travelling when we have to stay at home and practice social distancing, let this list of wanderlust-filled words inspire you to a learn a language from home and prepare yourself for your next trip. Being travel fluent is the best way to enrich your travel experiences.

Without further ado, here are 28 beautiful travel words you should slip into your vocabulary. When you’re done, take and look at this collection of inspirational travel quotes . I’d love to hear which ones are your favourites in the comment section below.

1. Resfeber  (n.)

Origin: Swedish

Definition: The meaning of resfeber refers to the restless race of the traveller’s heart before the journey begins when anxiety and anticipation are tangled together.

It’s that moment just after you buy your plane tickets and excitement and fear floods in all at once, creating a mixture of emotions that make you feel anxious or physically ill.

Resfeber Tote Bag

For more inspiration, don’t miss my guide to cool gifts for language learners and the best travel accessories and travel gadgets here.

2. Sonder (v.)

Origin: Unknown

Definition: The realisation that each passerby is living a life as complex as your own.

The full definition, taken from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows reads:

[Sonder is] the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries, and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.

I often feel this way when I pass groups of strangers, speaking a language that is completely foreign to me, and realise just how incredibly big the world is. We all have a life that is full of different connections, memories and possibilities. That’s sonder.

The internet suggests this may not be a real word, either way, the concept is beautiful.

3. Solivagant (adj.)

Origin: Latin

Definition: Wandering alone. A solitary adventurer who travels or wanders the globe.

Not all those who wander are lost, but all those who wander alone are definitely solivagants . From the Latin word solivagus , meaning lonely or solitary, solivagant describes anyone who enjoys meandering around new countries, alone, in order to take it all in.

4. Fernweh (n.)

Origin: German

Definition: This German word,means an ache to get away and travel to a distant place, a feeling  even stronger than wanderlust. If wanderlust wasn’t poetic enough for you, allow me to present fernweh , a German word that literally translates to “distance-sickness.”

While someone with wanderlust might sit at home and happily fantasise about all the places they might visit, someone with fernweh would feel a deeper sense of longing, a sort of homesickness but for foreign lands.  For me, it’s wanting to be back in Rome . Fernweh is one of most those beautiful untranslatable words I’ve ever come across.

Carry this beautiful word with you with my Fernweh T-Shirt available in men’s and ladies styles and black or white. Buy it here.

Gifts for language learners and travellers - Fernweh T-Shirt

5. Sehnsucht (n.)

Definition: A wistful longing and yearning in the heart for travels past and future.

One author translated it as the “ inconsolable longing in the human heart for we know not what .” Another compared it to “ a longing for a far-off country, but not one which we could identify.”

When you return from travelling and wish you could do it all over again and experience every moment like it was the first.

Travel-Words-Sehnsucht

6. Eleutheromania (n.)

Origin: Greek

Definition: An intense and irresistible desire for freedom.

We all want to be free, and travelling shows us how the freedom in the lives of others that is different from our own. Eleutheromania describes a person who has a strong desire and obsession for freedom.

7. Cockaigne (n.)

Origin: French , Middle French

Definition: An imaginary land of luxury and idleness.

Every destination seem like a wonderland or cockaigne before you set foot there and see it for yourself.

The term c ockaigne ” comes from the Middle French phrase pais de cocaigne, which literally means “the land of plenty.” The word was first popularised in a 13th-century French poem that is known in English as “The Land of Cockaigne.”

8. Quaquaversal (adj.)

Definition: Moving or happening in every direction instantaneously.

This perfectly describes my state when I’m in a new place and want to see and do everything at once.

9. Dérive (n)

Origin: French

Definition: A spontaneous and unplanned journey where the traveller leaves their life behind allows themselves to be guided by the landscape and architecture.

Literally translated as “drift”,  dérive is the idea that even if you drift you will end up on the right path. This could describe life in general, but it also describes small journeys. When you’re wandering through a new city and you just happen to wander on a path that takes you to great discoveries.

Travel-Words-Derive

10. Ecophobia (n.)

Origin: English

Definition: This word came into English word via Greek and means a fear or dislike of one’s home.

I don’t dislike my home, but recently I can’t stop thinking about going back to Lofoten, Norway.

11. Numinous (adj.)

Definition: A powerful feeling of both fear and fascination, of being in awe and overwhelmed by what is before you.

Originally, this word refers to having a strong religious or spiritual quality; but it can also be used to describe how you feel when you see things that are so beautiful that you realise how wonderful the world is and the small part you play in it.   Hiking Trolltunga was a numinous moment for me.

12. Schwellenangst (n.)

Definition: Fear of crossing a threshold to begin a new chapter.

From s chwelle (“threshold”) and a ngst (“anxiety”), this word explains that feeling you get before deciding to set out on a new journey. Argh! Did I make the right decision?

13. Strikhedonia (n.)

Definition: The pleasure of being able to say “to hell with it”.

Another personal favourite word on this list. Not only is it the joy I feel, but the freedom to be able to say “to hell with it” and book that next trip and embark on your next adventure.

14. Vagary (v.)

Definition: A whimsical or roaming journey.

From Latin, vagārī meaning “ to roam”, is an unpredictable idea, desire or action to travelling without knowing the destination, and not caring.

15. Livsnjutare (n)

Definition: Literally meaning, “enjoyer of life”, this describes a person who loves life deeply and lives it to the extreme.

If you’re reading this, that’s probably you!  Need more inspiration?

16. Commuovere (v.)

Origin: Italian

Definition: To stir, to touch, to move to tears.

Just like the euphoric emotions I felt whilst whale watching.

17. Sturmfrei (adj.)

Definition: The freedom of being alone and being able to do what you want.

Literally translating to “stormfree”, this describes the freedom of not being watched by others and being alone in a place where you have the freedom and ability to do what you want.

Another great German word. Travelling solo can be especially rewarding because you have complete control. No compromises, no one else to please. Just you and the big wide world.

18. Saudade (n.)

Origin: Portuguese

Definition: This Portuguese word describes the emotional state of nostalgia and longing for someone or something distant. S audade  was once described as “the love that remains” after someone is gone.

Saudade  is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places, or events that brought excitement and happiness but now triggers the senses and makes one live again.

19. Yūgen (n.)

Origin: Japanese

Definition: A profound and mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe.

An awareness of the Universe that triggers emotional responses too deep and powerful for words.

20. Acatalepsy (n.)

Definition: The impossibility of comprehending the universe.

Henry Miller said “ One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. ” Do we ever really understand the world and what we see on our  travels,  and how they mould us? Sometimes, if at all, it takes time to discover how these things change our lives.

21. Trouvaille (n.)

Definition: A chance encounter with something wonderful.

Whether it’s stumbling across a hidden back street, a quaint cafe, or connecting with a local, trouvaille describes those magical moments we experience in our journeys. 

22. Hygge (n.)

Origin: Danish

Definition: Pronounced hue-guh , hygge describes the warm feeling you get while enjoying the company of great friends and all life has to offer.

Hygge is the conscious appreciation of recognising everything you have and enjoying to the present moment.

23. Onism (n.)

Definition: The world is a big place as not everyone will get to see it. Onism describes understanding that we’ll never get to see it all. It’s the frustration of being stuck in just one body that can only inhabit one place at a time. I felt this way before going to Copenhagen !

Similar to the Swedish word ‘resfeber’, onism describes the feeling of knowing that you’ll never be able to see it all. They say that the more you travel, the harder it gets to stay in one place.

24. Novaturient (adj.)

Definition: A desire to change and alter your life.

This was exactly how I felt when I quit my job and moved to Rome . There was this strong urge that pulled me towards my dream of pursuing a life of speaking Italian and travelling. I knew I  wouldn’t be living my life if I didn’t go.

25. Yoko meshi (n.)

Definition: This untranslatable gem describes the stress of speaking a foreign language .

The Japanese word ‘meshi’ literally means ‘boiled rice’ and ‘yoko’ means ‘horizontal,’ together it means ‘a meal eaten sideways.’ The Japanese have created a beautiful way of describing the unique kind of stress you experience when speaking a foreign language. Furthermore, ‘yoko’ also references the fact that Japanese is normally written vertically, whereas most foreign languages are written horizontally. Clever, right?

Related: 69 Wonderful Japanese Expressions That Will Brighten Your Day

26. Selcouth (adj.)

Origin: Old English

Definition: When everything you see and experience is unfamiliar and strange, yet you find it marvellous anyway.

It’s that feeling you get when you travel to a foreign land and food, culture, customs, or language, is strange and different to everything you’ve experienced before, yet you love it and find it fascinating.

27. Eudaimonia (n.)

Definition: A state of being happy whilst travelling and everything feels great.

That intense excitement and appreciation when you travel and everything feels great. Seeing the Northern Lights was one of the best experiences of my life, a feeling I won’t forget.

28. Coddiwomple (v.)

Origin: English slang

Definition: To travel purposefully towards an unknown destination.

A brilliant word, coddiwomple is when you have a vague idea of your destination within a care for how long it takes to arrive. A great example is when you go hiking, you know you’ll eventually reach the summit, but every part of the trail along the way is just as beautiful.    Like the time I hiked Norway’s Trolltunga.

Travel Words Coddiwomple

If you enjoyed these words, then let wordsmiths Stephen King, Mark Twain and the Dalai Lama transport you around the world with these inspirational travel quotes or start using some of the beautiful untranslatable words from other languages.

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Over to you!

Which one of these travel words do you identify with the most? What others would you add? Let me know using the comments section below or join me on social media to start a conversation.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post.

Like what you see? Subscribe using the form below to have all of my posts delivered directly to your email.

travel on another word

Michele creates language learning guides and courses for travel. What separates her from other instructors is her ability to explain complex grammar in a no-nonsense, straightforward manner using her unique 80/20 method. Get her free guide 9 reasons you’re not fluent…YET & how to fix it! Planning a trip? Learn the local language with her 80/20 method for less than the cost of eating at a tourist trap restaurant Start learning today!

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124 inspirational travel quotes that’ll make you want to travel in 2022, 12 comments.

travel on another word

Amazing list! One word I’d add is the Dutch word “gezellig” or “gezelligheid” – similarly to hygge, it describes a feeling of warmth/comfort/coziness/quaintness in certain settings or around certain people.

Thank you so much for sharing this Heba. So interesting to learn that Dutch has a similar word :)

travel on another word

This is such a fun article! Love these words and phrases!

Glad to hear it! Thank you so much, Eric :)

travel on another word

So many of these describe me or my feelings about seeing the world. But, if I had to pick one, the one that best describes how I choose my destinations would be “selcouth”. I so want to be a stranger in a strange land. To have my belief that there is no such thing as “normal” affirmed again and again and over again.

What a beautiful word. Thanks for sharing, Janet :)

travel on another word

Thanks Michele what a wonderful list of inspirational words. It nearly made me cry as I realised that I suffer from acute eleutheromania! ha

Thanks Juliana :) I’m so glad you enjoyed this list. Eleutheromania? I know how you feel hehe

travel on another word

Unique list i must say – If you want to add one more word than check this !

In Hindi language (India) traveler called as “Musafir”

thanks Niraj :)

travel on another word

Thanks for sharing this! Really enjoyed it a lot ❤

Thanks Donah, I’m so glad you enjoyed it ;)

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Travel Synonyms And What They Reveal About Travel

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The word “travel” has a very broad definition, and there are many travel synonyms that help encapsulate what travel is all about.

The Oxford Dictionary defines travel as, “Make a journey, typically of some length.” But, if travel is simply to “make a journey”, then why do we love and crave the word? After all, we make journeys and travel every day. We travel to work, we travel back home from work, etc.

So what is it about the word “travel” that carries such excitement when the word itself can describe so much of our mundane activities?

A Code Word

In reality, there is little doubt that “travel” is actually a code word for adventure, exploration, discovery, escapism, new experiences, and more. Hidden away in the small word “travel” is a vast ocean of possibilities, dreams and fulfillment.

But then what happens if our travels provide none of these sensations? What happens when our vacations, travels or escapes from the mundanity of life are, in actual fact, a real let down? Then what is “travel”?

Travel Synonyms

Perhaps some travel synonyms, in this case, could be presumption, wishful thinking, or even misplaced hope? We as humans often feel like we’re missing out and that the grass is greener on the other side, so perhaps “travel” simply hides and covers our own self-deficiencies and dupes us into thinking the problem is external rather than internal?

After all, if I could just be somewhere else, change my city and start over, then everything would be fine and dandy…right? This idea is explored more here . And what about inward travel? If one contemplates life are they “traveling”? If, as the Oxford Dictionary puts it, travel is just to ”make a journey”, then can you travel into yourself? And more on that idea here .

And why is it that some of us yearn for “more” out of life? What is it that we’re actually looking for? What is it about travel that seems to tap into that vein of longing? And why can’t I shake off the wanderlust? Why is it that, with Bono, I’m left saying (or singing when in the shower), “But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for!”

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Bono, Travel Synonyms

But let’s just brush aside all the artsy fartsy rhetoric for one moment, is travel simply just for “fun”? Perhaps I’m overcomplicating it?

But then what is travel when we, as tourists, spoil the “fun” for locals, make fools of ourselves and bring discredit to our home countries by acting like idiots? And what about the loved ones we leave behind? Is it “fun” for them hardly ever seeing us?

Moreover, perhaps “travel” is to learn and grow as an individual. But how do we know if we’re “growing” in the right direction? In short, my friends, what IS travel? What is it, really? And why do we ACTUALLY do it?

Well, sorry to disappoint, but I don’t attempt to answer all those questions. However, at the very least, here is the etymology of word travel and a few travel synonyms I’ve taken from a Thesaurus that may help us understand a bit more about what this travel business really is all about.

The Etymology Of Travel

Our English word “travel” comes from the 14 th Century ye olde French word “travailen”. This word means, in essence, to make a difficult journey.

This word is also closely linked to our modern word “travail”, which means “work, labor, toil, suffer”.  The word “travailen” emphasized the difficulty and danger that often accompanied travel in the Middle Ages.

In short, for our great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents, “travel” was a bit of a pain. It was difficult and arduous.

Sure, it had positives such as fleeing danger, finding work, or escaping to find a new promising, hopeful and better life, but, in our modern day and age, how many of us actually travel to start a new, promising life or to escape any real danger? And, if we do, are our reasons as justifiable as our great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents?

In reality, probably not for the majority of us.

I cannot help but think that, in actual fact, our travel can often be quite selfish and consumeristic in comparison to these travelers of old.

Marco Polo in Tartar Outfit, Travel Synonyms

That’s not to knock travel at all (I’m writing in a TRAVEL magazine after all!)

But I just wonder if, perhaps, we can sometimes be so consumeristic in our traveling that the very traditional notions of “work, labor, toil, suffer” never enter our minds. Perhaps “travel” is supposed to be hard and arduous to some degree? To include a bit of work among the joy? And, if we never find our travels difficult, demanding or stretching, can we really even call it “travel”?

Only Travel Masterminds Will Score 10/10 On This Country Capital Quiz

Only Travel Masterminds Will Score 10/10 On This Country Capital Quiz

Travel synonyms.

I know, I know. I’ve just asked even more questions rather than provide answers—I promise I’ll stop. And so, taken from the Oxford Dictionary, here are a few travel synonyms alongside a few personal reflections (and a few more questions…yes, I lied):

1. “go on an excursion” (that certainly has the travailing vibe mentioned above!)

2. “roam” (that interestingly sounds a bit aimless, I suspect a few of my “travels” were more accurately “roams”)

3. “wend one’s way” (so perhaps “My Way” by Frank Sinatra should be on every traveler’s playlist?)

4. “gallivant” (that certainly encapsulates the consumeristic thinking I mentioned above)

5. “odyssey” (now I feel like Captain Kirk from Star Trek)

6. “go” (fair enough, this one at least makes sense to me)

7. “trek” (had to include that for our namesake)

8. “progress” (what if you get lost and go the wrong direction? Can negative progress be a thing? Anyway, I thought travel was supposed to be a break from all these performance markers?!)

9. “roll” (I personally opt to walk rather than roll, but each to their own…)

10. “backpack” (that’s an interesting one, more on that here )

11.  “go round“ (I’m sure Genghis Khan told the Chinese they were just on their innocent travels when he and his Mongol horde decided to “go round” the Great Wall of China)

12.  “go rapidly” (semi-true: although airplanes are getting faster, airports are DEFINITELY getting slower)

13. “pilgrimage” (as a Catholic, I like this one. Surely shows the otherworldly side to travel and how, in going somewhere new, one can learn more about their old predictable selves, while even traveling into the very depths of God—if one has faith, that is. PS. I really, REALLY want to go on a Joan of Arc pilgrimage. Just throwing that out there)

14.  “exploration” (we begin life curious, so is it any wonder that we find ourselves curious of other cultures and people later in life too?)

15. “jaunt” (as an Englishmen I would use this word if I wanted to take a stroll to the pub for tea—and by “tea” I mean dinner)

So many questions, so little answers. However, just like me, I hope you found some of these travel synonyms interesting and mildly helpful in coming to terms with this whole “travel” business!

Thanks for reading and comment below if you have any more interesting travel synonyms or your own thoughts on why we’re all acting like irresponsible adults by avoiding life with travel! 😉

Suggested next reading:  Why You Need To Ditch The Noise & Escape Into Silence ASAP

travel on another word

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Chris Newton

Published by Chris Newton

Hi, I'm Chris - a web developer who likes to travel. My favourite travel destinations are Italy and France; Italy because I loved seeing all the religious history in Rome, and France because I met my beautiful wife there! While becoming a dad has kept me from travelling lately, I still enjoy learning French and learning from different cultures. If you'd like to know more, you can read more about me here . View all posts by Chris Newton

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Travel Words

Words related to travel.

Below is a massive list of travel words - that is, words related to travel. The top 4 are: journey , trip , adventure and tourism . You can get the definition(s) of a word in the list below by tapping the question-mark icon next to it. The words at the top of the list are the ones most associated with travel, and as you go down the relatedness becomes more slight. By default, the words are sorted by relevance/relatedness, but you can also get the most common travel terms by using the menu below, and there's also the option to sort the words alphabetically so you can get travel words starting with a particular letter. You can also filter the word list so it only shows words that are also related to another word of your choosing. So for example, you could enter "journey" and click "filter", and it'd give you words that are related to travel and journey.

You can highlight the terms by the frequency with which they occur in the written English language using the menu below. The frequency data is extracted from the English Wikipedia corpus, and updated regularly. If you just care about the words' direct semantic similarity to travel, then there's probably no need for this.

There are already a bunch of websites on the net that help you find synonyms for various words, but only a handful that help you find related , or even loosely associated words. So although you might see some synonyms of travel in the list below, many of the words below will have other relationships with travel - you could see a word with the exact opposite meaning in the word list, for example. So it's the sort of list that would be useful for helping you build a travel vocabulary list, or just a general travel word list for whatever purpose, but it's not necessarily going to be useful if you're looking for words that mean the same thing as travel (though it still might be handy for that).

If you're looking for names related to travel (e.g. business names, or pet names), this page might help you come up with ideas. The results below obviously aren't all going to be applicable for the actual name of your pet/blog/startup/etc., but hopefully they get your mind working and help you see the links between various concepts. If your pet/blog/etc. has something to do with travel, then it's obviously a good idea to use concepts or words to do with travel.

If you don't find what you're looking for in the list below, or if there's some sort of bug and it's not displaying travel related words, please send me feedback using this page. Thanks for using the site - I hope it is useful to you! 🐵

show more

  • change of location
  • international
  • visit other country
  • see new place
  • accommodation
  • exploration
  • destinations
  • choose destination
  • destination
  • transportation
  • adventure travel
  • intercontinental
  • cruise ship
  • go to airport
  • backpacking
  • holidaymakers
  • extreme tourism
  • hand luggage
  • get on plane
  • on the road
  • hospitality
  • go back home
  • communication
  • immigration
  • experiences
  • peregrinate
  • circumnavigation
  • save your money
  • accomodation
  • round trip ticket
  • return ticket
  • business trip
  • get somewhere
  • volunteer travel
  • travel long distance
  • peregrination
  • sightseeing
  • arrive at destination
  • accommodations
  • drive your car
  • translation
  • train ticket
  • caravanning
  • return home
  • cybertravel
  • learn foreign language
  • move around
  • autobiography
  • cosmopolitan
  • buy souvenir
  • experience different culture
  • globetrotters
  • amazon rainforest
  • overnighting
  • go somewhere
  • plane ticket
  • fly in airplane
  • fellow traveller
  • reservations
  • travel purposefully
  • kilometrage
  • vacationers
  • overnighters
  • entertainment
  • lose something
  • motion sickness
  • circumnavigate
  • board plane
  • book holiday
  • bedroom community
  • take the air
  • mode of transportation
  • get to work
  • passenger ticket
  • visit relative
  • water travel
  • circulation
  • gravitation
  • brachiation
  • itineraries
  • mt. everest
  • vagabonding
  • hypertravel
  • go someplace
  • toll highway
  • mode of transport
  • road warrior
  • head for hill
  • spring break
  • get driver's license
  • vagabondage
  • horseback riding
  • telecommuting
  • county highway
  • time space convergence
  • reverse commuter
  • manipulation
  • commutation
  • thanatourism
  • human migration
  • pilgrimages
  • hang around
  • progression
  • betake oneself
  • slice through
  • bullock cart
  • telecommute
  • between deck

That's about all the travel related words we've got! I hope this list of travel terms was useful to you in some way or another. The words down here at the bottom of the list will be in some way associated with travel, but perhaps tenuously (if you've currenly got it sorted by relevance, that is). If you have any feedback for the site, please share it here , but please note this is only a hobby project, so I may not be able to make regular updates to the site. Have a nice day! 🐈

60 Beautiful Travel Words Every Travel Lover Should Know

Travel Words

Are you dying to perambulate? Dreaming of the day when you can coddiwomple around? Wondering what the heck those things even mean? If the latter rings true, well, we’ve got some travel words you need to add to your vocab ASAP. Because, let’s be honest , being a lover of travel is almost a language unto itself already . If you’ve got roam in your bones and run across someone else in the world who does too, you just sort of get each other. And so hearing words that capture the inherent magic of being a traveler is bound to stir something inside of you. Or, at the very least, stir you into planning your next trip .

As an added bonus, the following lexicon can serve a few other excellent purposes for the wandering soul — like making for a great tattoo, or helping you beast all of your friends in Scrabble. So, keep reading, but be forewarned… you’re going to want to pack your bags and book a flight by the time you’re finished.

Other Words for Travel

  • Pilgrimage (n.): A journey; the course of life on earth.
  • Trek (n.): A trip or movement, especially when involving difficulties or complex organization; an arduous journey.
  • Voyage (n.): An act or instance of traveling; a course or period of traveling by other than land routes.
  • Gallivant (v.): To travel, roam, or move about for pleasure.
  • Perambulate (v.): To travel over or through, especially on foot.
  • Expedition (n.): A journey or excursion undertaken for a specific purpose.
  • Excursion (n.): A usually brief pleasure trip.
  • Odyssey (n.): A long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune .
  • Walkabout (n.): A short period of wandering bush life engaged in by an Australian aborigine as an occasional interruption of regular work — often used in the phrase go walkabout; something (such as a journey) similar to a walkabout.
  • Migrate (v.): To move from one country, place, or locality to another.
  • Globe-trotting (adj.): Traveling widely.
  • Itinerant (adj.): Traveling from place to place.
  • Sojourn (v.): To stay as a temporary resident.
  • Traverse (v.): To go or travel across or over; to move or pass along or through.
  • Circumnavigate (v.): To go completely around, especially by water .
  • Peregrinate (v.): To travel, especially on foot; to walk or travel over.
  • Peripatetic (n.): Movement or journeys hither and thither.
  • Coddiwomple (v.): To travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination.
  • Dérive (n.): A spontaneous and unplanned journey where the traveler is guided by the landscape and architecture.
  • Hitoritabi (n.): Traveling alone; solitary journey.

Words for Travelers

  • Nemophilist (n.): One who is fond of forests or forest scenery; a haunter of the woods.
  • Gadabout (n.): A person who flits about in social activity.
  • Flâneur (n.): A person who strolls the city in order to experience it; deliberately aimless.
  • Nefelibata (n.): One who lives in the clouds of their own imagination or dreams, or one who does not obey conventions of society, literature, or art; “cloud walker.”
  • Hodophile (n.): One who loves to travel; a traveler with a special affinity for roads.
  • Wayfarer (n.): A traveler, especially on foot.
  • Livsnjutare (n.): One who loves life deeply and lives it to the extreme.
  • Thalassophile (n.): A lover of the sea; someone who loves the sea, ocean.
  • Musafir (n.): “Traveler” in Arabic, Persian, Hindu, and Urdu.
  • Nomad (n.): An individual who roams about.
  • Solivagent (adj.): Someone who wanders or travels the world alone; a solitary adventurer.
  • Luftmensch (n.): An impractical dreamer, literally an air person; someone with their head in the clouds.

Creative Travel Words

  • Sturmfrei (adj.): The freedom of being alone and being able to do what your heart desires.
  • Resfeber (n.): The restless race of a traveler’s heart before a journey begins; a ‘travel fever’ of anxiety and anticipation.
  • Hireath (n.): A homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.
  • Sonder (v.): The full definition, taken from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows , is: “[Sonder is] the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries, and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.”
  • Fernweh (n.): An ache for a distant place; missing places you’ve never been before.
  • Sehnsucht (n.): A craving for adventure; an intense yearning for something far-off and indefinable.
  • Numinous (adj.): A powerful feeling of both fear and fascination, of being in awe and overwhelmed by what is before you.
  • Vagary (v.): An unpredictable instance; a wandering journey; a whimsical, wild, or unusual idea, desire, or action.
  • Saudade (n.): A nostalgic longing to be near again to something, someone, or some place that is distant, or which has been loved and then lost.
  • Trouvaille (n.): Something lovely discovered by chance; a windfall.
  • Yoko meshi (n.): The peculiar stress induced by speaking a foreign language.
  • Selcouth (adj.): Unfamiliar, rare, strange, and yet marvelous.
  • Yugen (n.): A profound, mysterious sense of the beauty of the universe that triggers a deep emotional response .
  • Novaturient (adj.): A desire to seek powerful change in one’s life; the feeling that pushes you to travel.
  • Travitude (n.): When you start to feel grumpy and sassy because you miss traveling.
  • Eudaimonia (n.): The condition of human flourishing or of living well.
  • Ukiyo (n.): Living in the moment, detached from the bothers of life; “the floating world.”
  • Strikehedonia (n.): The joy of being able to say “to hell with it.”
  • Solivagant (n.): To wander alone. Someone who is a solo adventurer who travels the world. This word comes from the Latin word solivagus , which means lonely or solitary.
  • Eleutheromania (n.): A great or incredible desire for freedom. This is a person who has an intense longing for liberty and independence.
  • Cockaigne (n.): A place of luxury or idleness. This word comes from the French word cocaigne, which means “the land of plenty.”
  • Ecophobia (n.): An abnormal fear of home surroundings.
  • Morii (n.): The desire to capture a fleeting moment.
  • Exulansis (n.): This is what you feel when you stop trying to explain or talk about an experience because the surrounding people cannot relate to it.
  • Rückkehrunruhe (n.): The feeling of returning home after a trip and finding that you keep forgetting you’ve been away. The person has to constantly remind themselves that the excursion even happened.
  • Absquatulate (n.): To flee or leave abruptly without saying goodbye.
  • Onism (n.): The awareness of how little of the world you’ll experience. The frustration of being stuck in just one body that inhabits only one place at a time.
  • Hygge (n.): The cozy feeling of relaxing with friends while having a meal or drinks. A quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a sense of contentment or well-being.

This article was originally published on Jan. 8, 2021

travel on another word

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  21. Travel Synonyms And What They Reveal About Travel

    Our English word "travel" comes from the 14 th Century ye olde French word "travailen". This word means, in essence, to make a difficult journey. This word is also closely linked to our modern word "travail", which means "work, labor, toil, suffer". The word "travailen" emphasized the difficulty and danger that often ...

  22. Travel Words

    So although you might see some synonyms of travel in the list below, many of the words below will have other relationships with travel - you could see a word with the exact opposite meaning in the word list, for example. So it's the sort of list that would be useful for helping you build a travel vocabulary list, or just a general travel word ...

  23. 60 Beautiful Travel Words Every Travel Lover Should Know

    Traverse (v.): To go or travel across or over; to move or pass along or through. Circumnavigate (v.): To go completely around, especially by water. Peregrinate (v.): To travel, especially on foot; to walk or travel over. Peripatetic (n.): Movement or journeys hither and thither. Coddiwomple (v.): To travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague ...