The crystal clear waters of Antigua, the rich greenery of the Cliffs of Moher, and the vibrant blues in Morocco, our words can truly paint a picture of the world’s most incredible places.
When you’re itching to travel again, check out a few other words for travel used to describe what you’re feeling and write it in your travel journal.
Here are 57 creative travel words that will inspire the wanderer in you.
Wanderlust
[won-der-lust]
Noun | German
A strong longing for or impulse toward wandering.
Eleutheromania
[ell-uth-ero-may-nia]
Noun | Greek
A mania or frantic zeal for freedom.
Fernweh
[feirn-veyh]
Noun | German
A deep desire to get away to a foreign place. Direct translation: “distance-sickness.”
Cockaigne
[ko-keyn]
Noun | French
An imaginary land of luxury and idleness. This term comes from the French phrase pais de cocaigne, which means “the land of plenty.”
Quaquaversal
[kwah-kwuh-VUR-sal]
Adjective | Latin
Everything is moving or happening in every direction, wanting to do and see all the things at once in a new place.
Dérive
[derry-vay]
Noun | French
An unplanned journey where a traveler allows themselves to be guided by the landscape. Dérive means “drift,” so even if one drifts, they will end up on the right path.
Sonder
[son-der]
Verb | Unknown
The realization that each person that passes through your life is living a life as complex as your own.
Heimweh
[hime-vay]
Noun | German
A longing for home or a homesickness for foreign lands.
Hygge
[hoo-ga]
Noun | Danish
A quality of coziness and comfortable friendliness that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.
Serendipity
[ser-en-dip-ity]
Noun | English
The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
Resfeber
[race-fay-ber]
Noun | Swedish
The restless race of the traveler’s heart before the journey begins when anxiety and anticipation come together. Most often just before buying plane tickets, a mix between excitement and sickness.
Strikhedonia
[strick-a-donia]
Noun | Greek
The joy of being able to say, “to hell with it”.
Musafir
[myou-sa-fur]
Noun | Urdu
A traveler.
Vuslat
[voos-lot]
Noun | Turkish
A reunion after being apart for some time, between oneself and one’s beloved.
Yūgen
[you-gen]
Noun | Japanese
A profound awareness of the Universe that triggers emotional responses too deep and powerful for words.
Dépaysement
[dé-pé-i-ze-man]
Adjective | French
The feeling of not being in one’s own country, like a fish out of water.
Gadabout
[ga-du-bowt]
Noun | English
A person who travels often or to many different places.
Hireath
[he-rith]
Noun | Welsh
A homesickness for a home which you cannot return, maybe one that never existed.
Sturmfrei
[sh-turm-fry]
Adjective | German
The freedom of being alone and having the ability to do what you want.
Ecophobia
[eco-phobia]
Noun | English
A fear or disliking of one’s home, wanting to be somewhere else.
Numinous
[noo-muh-nuhs]
Adjective | Latin
The feeling of being in awe, a combination of both fear and fascination, by what is before you. Also refers to having a strong religious or spiritual quality, but can be used to describe feeling in awe for what is before you.
Schwellenangst
[Sch-vell-enn-ong-st]
Noun | German
Schwelle (threshold) and angst (anxiety), come together to explain the feeling of crossing a threshold to start a new chapter. The feeling before you decide to set out on a new journey, of whether or not you are making the right decision.
Vagary
[vay-ga-ree]
Verb | Latin
A whimsical or roaming journey.
In Latin, vagārī means “to roam.”
Trouvaille
[troo-vy]
Noun | French
A chance encounter on a journey, with something wonderful or unexpected.
Saudade
[sou-dod]
Noun | Portugese
The state of nostalgia or longing for someone or someplace far away. Described as “The love that remains” after someone is gone.
Solivagant
[soh-LIH-va-ghent]
Adjective | Latin
Hopeless wanderer. An adventurer who travels or wanders the globe solo. The Latin word solivagus, means lonely or solitary.
Sehnsucht
[zane-zoo-kt]
Noun | German
A wistful longing and yearning in the heart for travels past and future, or a longing for a far-off place, but not one which one can identify at the moment.
Acatalepsy
[Akk-at-a-lepsy]
Noun | Greek
In philosophy, it is incomprehensibility or the impossibility of comprehending or conceiving a thing.
Livsnjutare
[livs-new-tara]
Noun | Swedish
A person who loves life deeply and lives it to the fullest. In Swedish, this word translates to “enjoyer of life.”
Commuovere
[como-vary]
Verb | Italian
The ability to touch or move something to tears.
Yoko meshi
[Yo-ko-meh-she]
Noun | Japanese
The stress of speaking a foreign language. In Japanese, “meshi” means “boiled rice” and “yoko” means “horizontal,” altogether it means “a meal eaten sideways.” “Yoko” also references the fact that Japanese is often written vertically when most languages are written horizontally.
Onism
[own-ism]
Noun | Danish
Refers to the understanding and frustration that one will never be able to see it all, that one can only occupy one space at a time.
Flâneur
[flan-air]
Noun | French
A person who strolls aimlessly, simply wandering to explore a new place and observe the life that is there.
Wayfarer
[way-fair-er]
Noun | English
A traveler. Someone who lets the wind blow them wherever they are meant to go.
Hodophile
[Ho-dough-phile]
Adjective | Greek
Someone who loves to travel, or “lover of the road.”
Novaturient
[no-va-tur-ee-ent-a]
Adjective | Latin
A desire to change your life.
Coddiwomple
[codd-ee-womp-el]
Verb | English
To travel with purpose to a destination, not concerned about how long the journey takes.
Selcouth
[sell-cuth]
Adjective | English
Finding beauty in the unfamiliar or strange. Experiencing a new culture and place that feels different, but still fascinating and beautiful.
Eudaimoni
[u-day-mon-ee-a]
Noun | Greek
The state of happiness one experiences while traveling.
Nefelibata
[Neh-fell-ee-ba-ta]
Noun | Portugese
“Cloud-walker,” or an unconventional person. One who lives with their head in the clouds.
Vorfreude
[for-fr-oy-da]
Noun | German
The excited feeling before you journey off somewhere new. Joyful, intense anticipation of all the exciting things to come.
Nemophilist
[nee-mo-fil-ist]
Noun | English
A person who loves the forest in all its beauty and solitude.
Querencia
[kay-ren-see-ya]
Noun | Spanish
The place where you feel the most at home.
Komorebi
[ko-mo-reh-be]
Noun | Japanese
The sunlight that filters through the leaves of the trees.
Smultronställe
[smul-trons-tell-ah]
Noun | Swedish
A special place that’s been discovered and returned to for relaxation or solace, “place of wild strawberries.”
Thalassophile
[Thal-ass-o-feel]
Noun | Greek
A lover of the ocean.
Mångata
[mon-ga-ta]
Noun | Swedish
The reflection of the moon on water.
Yu yi
[you-yee]
Noun | Mandarin
The desire to see with fresh eyes and feel things just as intensely as you did when you were younger — before expectations, before memory, before words.
Photophile
[fo-tow-feel]
Noun | English or Greek
A person who loves photography and light.
Waldeinsamkeit
[Vall-d-on-zom-kite]
Noun | German
The feeling of being alone in the woods, in a positive, peaceful, relaxing way.
Meraki
[meh-rah-kee]
Adjective | Greek
Doing something with soul, creativity, and love. Putting a part of yourself into what you’re doing.
Forelsket
[fur-ell-skit]
Adjective | Danish
The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love with a person or a place.
Peripatetic
[perr-a-puh-tet-ik]
Adjective | Greek
Traveling from place to place, in particular working or based in various places for relatively short periods.
Sprachgefühl
[sh-prock-guh-foo-l]
Noun | German
A person who has the ‘feel’ for a language.
Natsukashii
[not-soo-ka-she]
Adjective | Japanese
A happy recollection of an event or memory in the past, but still missing it. Derived from the verb, natsuku, “to get used to and keep close; to become fond of.” The word used to describe wanting to keep something close, wanting to express fondness for something.
Ukiyo
[oh-kee-yo]
Adjective | Japanese
“The floating world,” is a state of mind emphasizing living in the moment, detached from the difficulties of life.
Wabi-sabi
[wah-be-sah-bee]
Noun | Japanese
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. Appreciating beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature.
Now that you’ve seen our list of other travel words that will inspire wanderlust, what did you think? Did we miss any? Leave us a comment below!
