According to my computer’s translation, this is how to ask “How strong is your wanderlust?” in German. The term wanderlust originates from German, combining “wandern” (to hike, roam, or wander) and “lust” (desire or pleasure). See below for some self-assessments of your own degree of wanderlust.
Wanderlust enters the English language in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, through translations of German literature and travel writing, and appears to now be at an all-time high level of usage, according to Google Ngram.
The American Heritage dictionary defines ‘wanderlust’ as a” very strong or irresistible impulse to travel.” Merriam Webster’s is a bit different: a “strong longing for or impulse toward wandering.”
I prefer the second, because of the word ‘wander,’ and not just ‘travel.’ For the stories on this site, they aren’t planned in advance, but found along the way, from Dallas to Lubbock. The purpose is to wander, and to find what we find, and tell and re-tell the stories we hear.
Wandering and ‘The Wanderer’
Wandering, and the character of ‘the wanderer’ are at least as old as recorded history and literature. Odysseus, from Homer’s Odyssey, from the 8th century, BC, is perhaps archetypal wanderer, spending ten years trying to return home after the Trojan War, encountering monsters, gods, and temptations that tested his character and resolve.
Matsuo Basho (1644 – 1694), Japanese haiku master writes: “Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”1
John Muir (1838 – 1914), the Scottish-born American naturalist and “Father of the National Parks” was a well-known wanderer, encouraging others to do the same:2
“The tendency nowadays to wander in wildernesses is delightful to see… Wander here a whole summer, if you can. Thousands of God’s wild blessings will search you and soak you as if you were sponge, and the big days will go by uncounted.”
And from Aragon:
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
— Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (1954)
Modern research on why we humans wander or travel
Until recently–while preparing this page in fact–I didn’t know that ‘travel psychology’ was a distinct discipline, one that dates back to the 1960s. One major stream of research is focused on the reasons why people travel. Motivations for traveling include: escape and relaxation, cultural curiosity, self-development and place attachment and belonging–that is, to forge deeper understanding and connection with places that resonate with us, or are otherwise meaningful for us.
Stanley Plog,3 an early pioneer in the field, classified travellers on a spectrum from ‘allocentric’ to ‘psychocentric’ (later renamed to ‘venturers’ and ‘dependables’).
Allocentric travellers are motivated by adventure; they’re curious, open to new experiences, and more likely to engage in ‘slow travel’ which includes backpacking, road trips, and volunteer travel (‘voluntourism’).
Psychocentric travelers are comparatively risk averse and gravitate to more well-developed (and possibly over-developed) destinations and familiar (i.e. repeat) structured experiences. Most travelers, known as “min-centrics,” fall somewhere toward the middle of this spectrum,
Lee and Crompton4 looked specifically at the travel motivation of ‘novelty seeking,’ breaking it down into four sub-dimensions, for travelers seeking: thrill, change from routine, boredom alleviation, and surprise.
Pearce and Lee5 developed the Travel Career Ladder (TCL) framework for understanding travelers and their motivations. To understand this one, think way back to your high school or university psychology class, where you first learned about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
According to Maslow, human motivation results from the desire to get our needs met. These needs build upon one another, up through the levels of Maslow’s pyramid, beginning with physiological needs (e.g. food and shelter), then safety, then the need for love and sense of belonging, then for self esteem and finally, self-actualization.
Similarly, according to the TCL framework, your motivation to travel depends on, and corresponds with your needs, beginning with the most basic: people are motivated to travel to meet their need for rest and relaxation; then on to successfully higher-level needs and goals–strengthening relationships (e.g. traveling with friends and family); autonomy (e.g. to build confidence and self-esteem); and self-development and -actualization (e.g. travel as a way to gain new and broader perspectives on life, and/or to deepen/strengthen one’s spirituality and self-identity).
Now back to the question: How strong is your wanderlust?
Here are two simplified versions of research-backed assessments to assess your own level of wanderlust.
Novelty-Seeking Scale (Adapted from Lee & Crompton, 1992)
This scale measures your desire for new and exciting travel experiences. Rate each statement from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree), then sum your scores:
- I want to experience new and different things when I travel.
- I enjoy the thrill of being in unfamiliar places.
- I seek unique destinations off the beaten path.
- I prefer spontaneous travel over planned itineraries.
Scoring: Total scores range from 4 to 20. Higher scores (16-20) indicate strong wanderlust, like an allocentric traveler (adventurous, like Aragorn). Average scores in studies (about 12-14) suggest moderate curiosity, common in the general population.
My score here: 19. So 5/5 in all but one–the thrill of being in unfamiliar places. Alas, age takes its toll, and I am a bit more cautious these days, compared to my younger risk-taking self.
Travel Motivation Scale (Adapted from Pearce & Lee, 2005)
This scale adaptation, assesses broader travel motives, including wanderlust. Rate from 1 (Not Important) to 5 (Very Important):
- Exploring new cultures and histories.
- Seeking personal growth through travel.
- Experiencing adventure and excitement.
- Connecting with new people and places.
Scoring: Scores range from 4 to 20. High scores (16-20) reflect deep wanderlust and a quest for meaning, while average scores (10-14) are typical for casual travelers.
My score here again: 19. So 5/5 in all but one aspect–adventure and excitement. These days, my travel and wanderings, cherished though they are, are motivated more by personal enrichment, rather than ‘excitement.’ Although, the rattlesnake i almost stepped on while traipsing through an overgrown cemetery outside Seymour to find a civil war veteran’s grave–that was certainly a kind of ‘excitement,’ albeit of the unintended kind.
We each of us have our own unique motivations for ‘hitting the road’ or getting away. Hopefully these frameworks an help you better understand and articulate your own, and get more from your next travels and wanderings.
Gute Wanderung!
- The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches. Translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa, Penguin, 1966. ↩︎
- Muir, John. Our national parks. Houghton Mifflin, 1909. ↩︎
- Plog, Stanley C. “Why destination areas rise and fall in popularity.” Cornell hotel and restaurant administration quarterly 14.4 (1974): 55-58. ↩︎
- Lee, Tae-Hee, and John Crompton. “Measuring novelty seeking in tourism.” Annals of tourism research 19.4 (1992): 732-751. ↩︎
- Pearce, Philip L., and Uk-Il Lee. “Developing the travel career approach to tourist motivation.” Journal of travel research 43.3 (2005): 226-237. ↩︎