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If you have the urge to explore the world as much as possible, you may have wanderlust. This powerful feeling can be difficult to distill into a simple quote. However, plenty of people throughout history were able to delve deep into this concept.
Our Favorite Wanderlust Quotes for 2023
Here are some quotes you should know if you have wanderlust, or want to know more about it. Use these on Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, or anywhere else!
- “All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
- “Because he had no place he could stay in without getting tired of it and because there was nowhere to go but everywhere, keep rolling under the star.” — Jack Kerouac, On the Road
- “There’s something about arriving in new cities, wandering empty streets with no destination. I will never lose the love for the arriving, but I’m born to leave.” — Charlotte Eriksson, Empty Roads & Broken Bottles: in search for The Great Perhaps
- “Nostalgia in reverse, the longing for yet another strange land, grew especially strong in spring.” — Vladimir Nabokov, Mary
- “You’re not sorry to go, of course. With people like us, our home is where we are not… No one person in the world is necessary to you or to me.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, This Side of Paradise
- “He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
- “There’s a race of men that don’t fit in, A race that can’t sit still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will. They range the field and rove the flood, And they climb the mountain’s crest; Their’s is the curse of the gypsy blood, And they don’t know how to rest.” — Robert Service
- “The desire to go home, that is a desire to be whole, to know where you are, to be the point of intersection of all the lines drawn through all the stars, to be the constellation-maker and the center of the world, that center called love. To awaken from sleep, to rest from awakening, to tame the animal, to let the soul go wild, to shelter in darkness and blaze with light, to cease to speak and be perfectly understood.” — Rebecca Solnit, Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics
- “A person does not grow from the ground like a vine or a tree, one is not part of a plot of land. Mankind has legs so it can wander.” — Roman Payne, The Wanderess
- “The Wanderlust has got me… by the belly-aching fire.” — Robert W. Service, Rhymes of a Rolling Stone
- “What if it’s the there/ and not the here/ that I long for?/The wander/ and not the wait, the magic/ in the lost feet/ stumbling down/ the faraway street/ and the way the moon/ never hangs/ quite the same.” — Tyler Knott Gregson, Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series
- “What is a Wanderess? Bound by no boundaries, contained by no countries, tamed by no time, she is the force of nature’s course.” — Roman Payne, The Wanderess
- “No one can live without relationship. You may withdraw into the mountains, become a monk, a sannyasi, wander off into the desert by yourself, but you are related. You cannot escape from that absolute fact. You cannot exist in isolation.” — Jiddu Krishnamurti
- “I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.” — Hilaire Belloc
- “We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost.” — Henry Rollins
- “It was so much fun to have the freedom to wander America, with no assignments. For 25 or 30 years, I never had an assignment. These were all stories I wanted to do myself.” — Charles Kuralt
- “The French word for wanderlust or wandering is “errance.” The etymology is the same as “error.” So to wander is to make mistakes. In other words, to make mistakes, to make errors is sort of the idea of learning through trial and error, allowing the mistakes to be part of the process.” — Robyn Davidson
- “People who wander are nicer to be with. Movement militates against hoarding possessions and against bigotry because you are constantly moving across boundaries and having to negotiate with people.” — Robyn Davidson
- “It is quite cruel that a poet cannot wander through his regions of enchantment without having a critic, forever, like the old man of the sea, upon his back.” — Marianne Moore
- “I wander around, get the lay of the land and try to imagine what kind of people would have lived there in that historical period. What would they eat? What kind of clothing would they wear? How did they shelter themselves? How did they get around?” — James Welch
- “I travel to be replenished with beauty, for travel makes the beauty of this world seem like a Christmas that never ends.” — Carew Papritz
- “You must go on adventures to find out where you belong.” — Sue Fitzmaurice
- “The real home of man is not his house but the road. Life itself is a travel that has to be done by foot.” — Bruce Chitin
- “Look for chances to take the less-traveled roads. There are no wrong turns.” — Susan Magsamen
- “Life is about the adventures you take and the memories you make. So travel often and live life with open eyes and an open heart.” — Katie Grissom
- “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust
- “A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” — John Steinbeck
- “The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who… looked enviously at the birds soaring freely through space… on the infinite highway of the air.” — Wilbur Wright
- “Certain travelers give the impression that they keep moving because only then do they feel fully alive.” — Ella Maillart
- “The attention of a traveler should be particularly turned, in the first place, to the various works of Nature, to mark the distinctions of the climates he may explore, and to offer such useful observations on the different productions as may occur.” — William Bartram
- “There comes a moment on a journey when something sweet, something irresistible and charming as wine raised to thirsty lips, wells up in the traveler’s being.” — Patrick MacGill
- “My wife and I have so much fun when we travel and find anything… like stray cats and squirrels.” — Eric Roberts
- “My message, especially to young people, is to have courage to think differently, the courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, the courage to discover the impossible, and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people.” — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
- “Everywhere is nowhere. When a person spends all his time on foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances but no friends.” — Lucius Annaeus Seneca
- “Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and baggage and chatter.” — John Muir
- “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” — Mark Twain
- “I have found adventure in flying, in world travel, in business, and even close at hand… Adventure is a state of mind – and spirit.” — Jacqueline Cochran
- “The land created me. I’m wild and lonesome. Even as I travel the cities, I’m more at home in the vacant lots.” — Bob Dylan
- “Travel is a new experience that can transport you out of your everyday routine to create memories with the ones you love.” — Brian Chesky
- “Christmas to a child is the first terrible proof that to travel hopefully is better than to arrive.” — Stephen Fry
Frequently Asked Questions
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Below are some frequently asked questions about wanderlust:
What is the origin of wanderlust?
The concept originated back before humans even had a word for it. The first known use of that word was in 1902. Its primary use is related to being a journeyman or wandering to be closer to the natural world.
In etymology, the word comes from the German words for hike and desire. Now Germans use the word fernweh to get at a similar concept.
Is wanderlust a positive or negative feeling?
Wanderlust is not necessarily good or bad since each case varies so widely. Positive aspects of wanderlust include growth, adventure, learning, and social literacy. Some negative aspects include fear of commitment, dissatisfaction, and an inability to focus on the present moment.
Which Wanderlust Quote Will You Use?
Wanderlust is a fascinating concept relating to the human urge for growth and discovery. There are plenty of quotes that capture all the facets of wanderlust. Read these quotes and pick a few to use to capture the feeling. So what are you waiting for — stop dreaming and start booking your trip!