Appease the Ache of Wanderlust Today by Embracing Your Nomadic Spirit

You don’t only love to travel… you NEED to travel.

• When your vacation is (sadly) over, you’re already planning your next trip.
• You feel a pang of melancholy when you drive past the airport, wanting to turn the car’s wheel, park, and hop on a plane.
• You scroll through travel photos and sigh, counting your remaining vacation days.
• You subscribe to travel blogs and bookmark travel websites that show amazing, far-off, exotic places you are determined to see.
• You check airline prices daily to find out if and when you can fly.
• Seeing new sights is therapy; it keeps you sane.
• You want to escape, as often as possible.
• Traveling makes your world turn. It’s what you live for.

If all of this is true about you, there’s a name for your condition.

What you have, my friend, is wanderlust.

“Wanderlust” is a useful word that came to us from across the Atlantic. Now it’s standard in every English dictionary.

In German — a language that predates and contributes much to English — Lust (pronounced “loost”) is a desire for something. In English the word “lust” suggests something a bit more sensual, but in German, it is simply a choice. Ich habe keine Lust means “I don’t want to do it,” or more so “I don’t feel like it.” This applies to food, activities, or anything a German is looking to do… or not do, in this case.

Lust is also a craving or longing for something. Germans have many Lust-filled words, including Arbeitslust (longing to work), Geldlust (desire for money), and Lachlust (wanting laughter). They might say, Ich habe Lust auf eine Pizza. (I have a craving for pizza.)

Historically, curious Germanic peoples were nomads and explorers of the world. In modern days, Germans are known to spend more on travel than any other country. Today, they come in third behind China and the U.S.A. when it comes to travel and tourism spending. Because of their inborn appetite for discovering new places, they yearn to wander, or travel about. This need to roam has become “wanderlust.”

And you’ve got it, too.

You need to go somewhere: feel no shame. Embrace your nomadic self and see as much of the world as you can. Take advantage of your Lust for adventure.