Travel Gives the Partially Insane Sanity

It's National Travel & Tourism Week from May 7-14, 2011 according to the U.S. Travel Association, America's public-private partnership to promote travel to the US.

However, we, like you, celebrate travel every day of every week.

Nonetheless, we appreciated that two travel insurance companies took this opportunity to ask followers in their Facebook and Twitter communities just what they liked about traveling.

The companies, CSA Travel Protection (CSA) and Europ Assistance USA note that as one of America's largest industries, travel generated $1.8 trillion in economic output last year, with $759 billion spent directly by domestic and international travelers that spurred an additional $1 trillion in other industries. That's big.

It led them to ask: "Why does travel matter to you?" Here is a sampling of responses from around the country:

• "Travel is fun to me because it opens my mind up to new perspectives. I start questioning my way of life and what I can improve." (Julie Wagoner -- Boulder, CO) 
• "Travel matters to educate your children (and sometimes yourself) on how others live outside your own small circle. Travel matters to bring to life our country's history and culture. Travel matters to showcase this world's glorious creations." (Sharon Kenagy-Finley -- Emporia, KS) 
• "Travel matters to me b/c I like to think I'm a cultured individual lol. I can always brag about which places I've been to!" (Christina Gregor -- San Diego, CA) 
• "For the mind opening experiences it provides!" (Kirsten Khire -- East Lansing, MI) 
• "The people and the habitats are important to me, the more I travel, the more I get to experience the diversity of both." (Brenda Boitson -- Lancaster, PA) 
• "Travel matters because (for our trips) it is just about fun and being with the family. We get time to not get caught up in work, chores, or other tasks. We just get to get up, explore, and enjoy the new place we are in." (Kim Jester -- Menifee, CA) 
• "Here's a Mark Twain quote I've always loved and expresses why travel matters: 'Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.' -Mark Twain" (Michelle Schamberger -- Leadville, CO) 
• "Travel matters: I get quality time with people I love. I see new places and expand who I am. I learn. I get a break from reality." (Natalie Wardel -- San Diego, CA) 
• "You really have no real concept of places -- and the distance between them -- until you have been there. As others have said, travel helps us understand regional differences and experience life outside of ourselves." (Kellye Crane -- Atlanta, GA) 
• "Travel matters because it allows your mind to 'travel' or wander away from your life. It gives the partially insane sanity even just for a few days. It gives the home sick a touch of memories, it can provide the cluster-minded business people, a vacation. Because whether you're a mom, a dad, a bum, a business executive, a garbage man, or a retired grandparent, travel gives you that few seconds of freedom from every little thing you want to escape from." (Breanna Humphrey -- Oceanside, CA) 
• "Because it helps us remember that the world is bigger than just us and that there is always an adventure just around the corner... and the obvious, it gives us a chance to get away from the 'norm' and refresh our souls." (Jean Chadwick -- Los Angeles, CA) 
• "Travel brings reality to non-fiction." (Angela Bailey -- Independence, MO)

Feel free to add your comments on what travel means to you.