Travel is an art

He began writing his seminal work, which would become a bedside book not only for travelers but for all professional travel designers, not at a desk, but on the banks of a river of time, dusty with the accumulation of centuries. Before him lay neither a single path nor a single era; the footprints of humanity were intertwined, some fossilized, others scattered by the wind, stretching out into the distance. He set out to collect these traces with a patience and almost ceremonial attention, as if feeling each one with his fingertips.

He would spend every morning as if standing before a great map: a map that showed not so much continents and oceans, but the contours of curiosity, the dark corridors of migrations, and those first courageous steps taken toward the unseen faces of the world. The person who continued writing not with the cold-blooded restraint of a historian, but with the heartbeat of a traveler, was none other than Löschburg.

Was travel not, in fact, humanity's oldest question? To go... to wonder... to seek the unknown... In his famous work "A Cultural History of Travel," German historian Winfried Löschburg provided the answer to this ancient question. Travel was not merely a record of journeys taken; it was a poetic map of how the human soul had migrated, changed, and transformed its view of the world over the centuries.

Yes, travel began with curiosity. At one point, merchants realized that there were different people, different cultures, and, furthermore, a completely different heritage in the world. In other words, the process of humanity getting to know the world emerged through travels based on trade. The first great voyages of discovery began with the invention of the wheel. Thus, the geographical descriptions of Ancient Greece merged with the organized travels of the Romans. The first trade and transport routes, built thousands of years ago from Mesopotamia to Egypt and the Indus Valley, were now evolving into the most advanced roads of the ancient world, such as Rome's "Via Appia." These narrow, stone-paved roads of the Middle Ages were now filled not only with merchants but also with pilgrims, jugglers, and knights. The culture of travel had found a place in the lives of different social classes.

With the Renaissance, the first voyages of discovery also increased. Wealthy European families, affluent gentlemen and ladies, and young aristocrats—mostly British—began the first programmed travels for aesthetic and cultural purposes, which would come to be known as the "Grand Tour." The Grand Tour, a tradition of long journeys for educational and cultural purposes that was common in Europe, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, was an experience that could last months or even years, undertaken to see classical culture, art, and history in person. Travelers, particularly through their journeys to geographies such as Italy, France, and Greece, learned about the heritage of Ancient Greece and Rome firsthand, gaining knowledge of painting, sculpture, and architecture; these experiences also provided them with social status and intellectual prestige. For elite youth, a cultural tour of Europe was the final stage of their education during this period.

After the Grand Tour era, travel evolved into another dimension with the Industrial Revolution. Steamships and trains were being invented, and the romantic spirit of the Renaissance travelers was slowly fading. By the time the engine noise of the first automobiles began to echo on the roads toward the end of the 19th century, a completely different concept of travel would emerge. People were no longer setting out to travel, but to reach a destination. Goethe, who lived during the intersection of the Age of Enlightenment and the Romantic movement and left his mark on this era with his works and scientific studies, would utter his legendary words at this very moment, inviting travelers back to that old spirit of discovery:

“A traveler does not travel to arrive, but to discover.”

Today, travel culture continues to evolve. Travel dynamics in the modern world are changing and accelerating, and tourism continues to develop on its way to becoming a major global industry. We have reached a point where we can complete the journeys of Renaissance and 19th-century travelers like Madame Carla Serena, or medieval travelers like Ibn Battuta—which could last a quarter of a century—in a few weeks or even a few days by plane. But do we possess the same spirit of discovery or the same traveler's romanticism? Are we those who travel to arrive at a destination, or those who go to discover, as Goethe said?

It is possible to return to this spirit through travels that consist of experiential tour designs rather than the understanding of travel shaped by the modern world. It is possible to experience discovery travel with an approach that is planned with the excitement and meticulousness of an artist for their work, and that views every journey as a creative discovery and a new work of art rather than an ordinary trip. It is possible not just to see, but to be a part of a real story. That is why I must say: Travel is an Art.

From now on, we will talk about the art of travel every Sunday in 12punto's travel column. This will not be about where to eat, where to stay, or where to visit; it will be a cultural gathering where we will open the doors to the seven continents, become a part of local life, and blend geography with philosophy and travel with art. For now, goodbye.