Travel and travail may share a root in a Roman torture device
The word travel came into English in the 14th century from Old French travailler, to toil. Simon Winchester traces both travel and travail further back to the tripalium, a Roman instrument of torture whose name means three stakes, a hint at how gruelling long journeys once were.
Travel means people moving between distant places, on foot, by bicycle, car, train, bus, boat or plane, one way or round trip, sometimes with stays in between as in tourism. Motives range from holidays, research and visiting family to business, trade, pilgrimage, migration and seeking medical care. It can be local, domestic or international, the last usually needing a passport and visa, and some countries even require internal passports for travel within their borders.
Leisure travel is ancient. Wealthy Greeks and Romans retreated to summer villas in places such as Pompeii and Baiae. Medieval journeys were harder but kept society running: merchants joined caravans and sea voyages, peddlers walked from village to village, wandering monks and friars carried religion to remote areas, minstrels toured, and pilgrimages drew streams of travellers across both Europe and the Islamic world. Going by water was often faster and more comfortable than going overland, at least until railways spread in the 19th century.
From the late 16th century, young European aristocrats rounded off their education with the Grand Tour through cities such as Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome, a custom the French Revolution brought to an end. Once trains made journeys less of an ordeal, travelling for fun took hold, and Thomas Cook began selling packages that booked rail and hotels together.
Speed changed everything. Columbus needed more than 10 weeks to sail from Spain to the Americas in 1492; aircraft now make the trip overnight. Airships and planes took over long-distance travel in the 20th century, especially after the Second World War left a surplus of aircraft and pilots. Flying is now so routine that Alexis Alford visited all 196 countries before turning 21.
Source: Travel
