The urge to travel is strong, according to BYU–Hawaii students, and beneficial for personal development.
“Why did man travel to the moon?” asked Corey Convey, a senior double majoring in business management and hospitality and tourism management from California.
“We want to reach for something new and undiscovered. It’s exciting. It’s thrilling. Other people get this feeling by jumping off cliffs or parachuting out of an airplane. It is a way of living outside of our box.”
Drew Putnam, a junior majoring in business from Texas, talked about a road trip he and some friends did over the semester break on the Big Island. “The island itself had a lot to offer. We saw everything from black sand beaches and volcanoes to lava tubes. We hiked up Mauna Kea where it was cold and hitchhiked with Swiss tourists.”
He quoted the movie “Surfwise” and said, “The primitive man had to fight every day not to be hungry, but the modern man has to fight every day to be hungry,” meaning people today can have their needs met so easily, it is easy to fall into a stupor of contentment.
“I like to live places,” said Putnam, who has lived in Germany, Italy, Ecuador, Kauai and Colorado, “to talk to people, to really get to know an area, and to see what people eat and do for fun whether it be surfing or climbing or horseback riding.”
He talked about the importance of an open mind and enjoying spare time to be spontaneous when unexpected opportunities come up.
“When I go to places,” said Kale Lopez, a freshman majoring in biochemistry from Utah, “I don’t like to act as a tourist but like a local and experience as if I were living there.”
He accomplishes this by visiting friends in the destinations. “We go around with them and do stuff that they normally do. It is also a good way to save money, because you get a place to stay.”
Convey added, “You can see things on the Internet, hear about it, but you can’t experience and explore it to broaden your horizon and enlighten your understanding. If I travel far, I love to travel with a lot of friends. It then is more of a group experience and you can share those memories together.”
He also talked about the education factor of meeting people of other ethnicities and cultures and how it improves people.
Remembering his trip to Ecuador, Putnam said, “I have always marveled that it seems the less people have, the more spirit and joy they have. A lot of people give excuses for why they are not happy. I want to be happy, so I am. Everywhere you go you find this new piece of who you are. Your past is a big part of who you are now. Those experiences build us up and teach us if we only let them.”
Lopez said one reason people like to travel is because “people get sick of seeing the same things all the time. They want to get away of their day to day life.”
Even if they don’t travel as often as they like to due to the considerable costs, doing it locally doesn’t take anything away from the experience. Still, traveling comes along with challenges that need to be met.
Convey pointed out “responsibility and lack of monetary funds” as the main obstacle for traveling. “When you have work and have to pay for school you really don’t have that much money.”
He further stated, “For some people it definitely is a form of escaping, much as for the alcoholic it is to flee reality. Some young people want to go travel, enjoying themselves and having a good time instead of settling, taking responsibility and preparing for the future. And who says you can’t travel with your spouse?”
“Plan ahead,” Lopez advised. “Spare moment traveling is way more expensive. Make sure you have an idea of where you want to go and what things you will be doing.”
He counseled to plan with friends about six months ahead and book flights 30 to 60 days prior to the date of the trip.