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You don’t really need a TED Talk to inspire travel, but it’s fun to expand our mind and conscience to motivate us towards our goals of “traveling more” or “visiting more countries.”
TED Talks are fantastic for inspiring travel, expanding our minds, learning about new topics, ideas, and products. We love watching them and even use them as part of our homeschool curriculum.
We’ve selected the 4 best TED Talks that inspire travel. You may not see a direct correlation between travel and these Talks, but we’ll help you understand the reason we picked each one.
TED Talks That Inspire Travel: Chris Burkard The Joy of Surfing in Ice-Cold Water
How does surfing in ice-cold water inspire travel, you may ask. I’ll tell you.
Watch the video. Chris talks about getting outside your comfort zone. Isn’t that what travel is all about? Pushing your limits and experiencing new things. That’s what this video was all about for Chris. Taking his career and life in a new direction.
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing, at all. — Helen Keller
Watching someone else do these crazy things also makes me want to go plan our next daring adventure. Where’s our next travel destination that will push us out of our comfort zone? Embark on new experiences? Experience new cultures?
The other part of this video that I just love is that Chris went looking for desolation, wilderness, the path less taken. Growing tired of the crowded beaches that normally attract surfers, he wanted to get away from it all.
This “getting away from it all” likely sparked your own desire to travel. You’ve had enough of your boss, the traffic, the soccer games, of it ALL! Travel provides an opportunity to escape and decompress. Or, at least it should.
Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread. — Edward Abbey
Oftentimes, though, especially with popular destinations, you simply go from one rat race to another…with a different view. I recently read a book by the author of the quote, above called Desert Solitaire
TED Talks That Inspire Travel: Ben Saunders Why Bother Leaving the House?
In this video, Ben discusses the “why” of travel. Why do we travel? Why don’t we just sit on the sofa, at home, in comfort?
One of the primary lessons I learned from Ben’s Talk speaks to the unique personal experience travels provides. With Google Earth and YouTube, you can “experience” just about every travel destination in the world. It won’t be “your” experience, though. Only through travel…..your OWN travel, will you truly experience a destination.
You might smell something different, get a look at a different angle, feel a strange rush of wind, the crowd will sound different every day….every minute! The individuality of each person’s travel experience directs us all to get up off that comfy sofa and get out there and experience LIFE!
As we depart from Ben’s Talk, I wanted to point out a section that I just love. Ben says, travel and adventure “…is a bit like a crack addiction. It has the ability to burn up all the cash you have and destroy all your relationships.”
TED Talks That Inspire Travel: For More Tolerance…
We need more tourism, says Aziz Abu Sarah. Aziz discusses growing up Palestinian in Israel. Likely one of the most contentious areas in the world.
Aziz grew up with opposing experiences with his own Palestinian culture and the Jewish culture. Today, he owns a travel company that guides guests through both the Jewish and Palestinian regions of Israel. Each of his tour groups has a Jewish guide and a Palestinian guide.
I’ve found, in my own travels, that the one-on-one conversations with the local people breaks down barriers and false ideas, quickly. All the geo-political garbage tends to fall away when you’re just sitting down for a drink with another human being.
TED Talks That Inspire Travel: Less Stuff Equals More Happiness
What the heck does less stuff have to do with travel?
Well, I can tell you, Allison and I would have NEVER been able to travel like we do with debt. Two car payments, a mortgage payment, credit card payments, a boat payment……the more these payments add up, the less you have to spend on travel. We’ve been debt free, except for our house for YEARS. We haven’t had a car payment in this century. We do, however, spend our disposable income on travel — not a bigger house or a newer car or the latest gadget or gizmo or the latest fashion trends.
This also carries over to our travel packing. We continually work to reduce the amount of “things” we take with us on our travels. My personal goal is to get down to one carry on bag for anywhere we travel in the world and no matter how long. It’s just SO MUCH less stressful. I don’t have to worry about, “did I pack that?” or “Am I over the weight limit?”