20 Inspiring Ted Talks About Travel

If you’ve been daydreaming about seeing the world, then let me tell you this list isn’t for you. These TED talks will motivate you and make that travel itch even stronger than it already is. Some of them will make you laugh, some may make you cry, some will inspire you to take on a new challenge, but all of them will inspire you to kick your travel bucket list. These TED talks are for any type of traveler – if you’ve been traveling for years or if you’re getting ready to take that first trip! Since there are a lot of travel ted talks, they’re organized by categories – General Travel, Achieving Travel Goals, Benefits of Travel, Eco and Environmental Travel, and Miscellaneous!

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Travel Ted Talks about: General Travel:

Traveling without money – How & Why

Eduard Jaqmin traveled for 21 days without any many.  He talked about the rejection he experienced – asking for food, transportation, and lodging- basic necessities.  My favorite quote is “people aren’t rejecting you as a person, but the idea you represent”. If people didn’t pick him up while hitchhiking, it wasn’t because of him as a person, but rather they just don’t pick up hitchhikers.  Rejection doesn’t mean that you won’t get anything, it just means you’ll get something a little different.

Takeaway Quote: Whepn we look at the rest of the world, rather than fear its diversity, we can better celebrate it.

Kill Your Bucket List – Edward Readicker-Henderson

I absolutely love Edward’s attitude to death and travel. He was told 15 years ago that he had a year to live, and was told that another 5 times, so his relationship with bucket lists is very unique. Why is it that our society is so obsessed with writing lists that ultimately end in our death? If you just live because you’re alive, you’re in a river of time.

Takeaway quote: Don’t do something because someone tells you to, do it because you want to.

Open Road, Open Life – Andrew Evans

His talk is inspiring about how to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. Antarctica was his dream destination, but the cost and travel were prohibitive. So he took buses from Washington D.C. through America, Mexico, Central America, and South America. He talks about the expectations that tourism sets for us. We don’t experience something for the first time, because we already know what it’s going to be like.

Takeaway Quote: This was something I wanted and achieved by traveling simply. It made the destination so much sweeter.

Traveling Quickly is a Waste of Time

Nick Hunt walked eight months to get to Istanbul. Sure, it wasn’t the fastest way to go, but he was able to get more than just a plane ticket. He challenges our culture’s obsession with speed. By slowing down, he was able to see things he wouldn’t normally have been able to experience – the gradual change of landscapes instead of constant change.

Takeaway quote: The journey isn’t a means to an end, but an end in itself. It hadn’t been one journey but multiple journeys with multiple points of arrival.

Surfing in Ice Cold Water

Chris talks about how he went to all the tourist surfing destinations – constantly eating good food, comfortable beds, and wifi connection. He acknowledged that any career has the ability to become monotonous. Then he realized that the warm water is only a small portion of the water on earth. That’s when he started exploring the cold water.

Takeaway Quote: In life, there are no shortcuts to joy, anything that is worth pursuing is going to require us to suffer, at least a little bit.

Travel Ted Talks about: Achieving Travel Goals:

The Real Reason I Traveled to 196 Countries

Cassie De Pecol traveled to 196 countries in only 18 months! While this isn’t my type of travel (a bit too fast-paced for me) you have to admit its a crazy feat. It took her 3 months of planning and an incredible amount of detail to be qualified for the Guinness Book of World Records. She urges us to stop judging people based on HOW they travel – some do it fast, some slow, some cruise, some fly.

My takeaway: “We all have our own way of traveling and discovering a culture and it doesn’t matter what you see or where you go, what matters is your own experience while you’re there.

Favorite Quote: “One brief experience can shape your life”

Key to Living a Life of Adventure

Ginger Kern talks about the most common barriers people have when they travel – money and time. She left her town in the Midwest to explore the world. I love that she focuses on the human connection of travel (which is also my favorite part… aside from the food… but I digress). Adventure and connection is based on us and the connections that we make with strangers. Choose a traveler’s mindset.

Takeaway Quote: There’s someone about 100 feet away from you that has a story and background that you can learn from (and they can learn from you too) all you have to do is start a conversation.

My Journey to the North Pole & Beyond

Jade Hameister became the youngest person to ski to the North Pole from anywhere outside the Last Degree – at only 14 years old! She only went skiing once before deciding to ski to the North Pole. She talks about the limitations society places on young women and how we should strive to do better. This is one of my favorite TED Talks about travel!

Takeaway Quote: To expand what we believe is possible, we must have courage. We must be prepared and be willing to fail. Don’t wait til you think you can do it perfectly, just get started.

Travel Ted Talks about: The Benefits of Travel

Life is Short – Travel Now

Jared Komrowski discusses the impact travel has on our work and how beneficial it is to actually TAKE our vacation days! Travel is important, no matter where you travel – to the Maldives or to a cabin in the woods – doesn’t matter. What matters is connecting with the world around us. Did you know that 212 million vacation days go back to employers EVERY YEAR. The irony? People who take vacations are actually more productive and more likely to get promoted at work!

Takeaway Quote: Push yourself to take the vacation, try new things, and visit new places. But most importantly, have fun and live without regret.

How 10 years of travel helped me find belonging

Infused with humor, Phil Cha talks about finding his identity while traveling the world. Sure, he made lists of things to do, but the real thing he needed to do was something he had to do alone. He started traveling with friends and when they had to go home, that’s when the real transformation began.

Takeaway Quote: When you leave the people who tell you who you want to be, you get to be who you are.”

The Value of Travel

Rick Steves is so well known in the travel world for his knowledge and sweet personality.  He has spent the majority of his adult life traveling, guiding people to amazing places. In this Ted Talk, he talks about connecting with people – that there are other heroes and other battles in countries that you may not know about.  We primarily know our culture and history – and when we travel, in order to connect, we should learn about others’. This Ted Talk inspires me to not only connect with people but also to learn from others.

Learn to Travel: Travel to Learn

The most common regret people have is not traveling more – they don’t wish they worked harder or longer.  He talks about the truths he’s learned while being a travel writer.  He took a risk after an accident and booked a round-the-world ticket to five continents.  Robin talks about the people you connect to while traveling and what they teach you along the way. 

Takeaway Quote: Whatever decision I make, has to be the right one.  You have to believe that. Wherever you are is where you’re supposed to be. 

The Road Less Traveled

Eco Travel Ted Talks

Kristin Weis makes you think about how tourism can have a massive impact on the world. Sometimes we don’t think about it as travelers – our impact on where we travel. We must remember that we are visitors, and therefore we must think about the people, places, and animals that call that place home. She gives three tips for being a smarter tourist!

Takeaway Quote: Think of yourself as a visitor and the places around you are gracious hosts instead of something to consume.

Stunning Photos of the Everglades

Mac Stone has traveled the world photographing some of the most remote places in the world. He started photographing his “backyard” the Florida Everglades to show the magic of the swamps. We used to want to drain swamps and bring in agriculture, but now we’re backtracking to save this ecological treasure chest.

Takeaway Quote: The idea is that these photos will help people realize how important these places are for the animals we live with.

Animal Tales from Icy Wonderlands

Very few travelers visit the Arctic and Antarctic regions of our planet, meaning they don’t get to see some breathtaking places. Paul Nicklen has visited here and photographed these remote places so we get to enjoy them. His stories are as captivating as his photos. If this doesn’t move you to help our planet, I don’t know what will.

Takeaway Quote: “The biggest threat to many animals is the disappearance of ice in the North because of the lives that we’re leading in the South.”

Travel Ted Talks about: Miscellaneous Travel

For more tolerance, we need more….tourism

Aziz Abu Sarah has a unique perspective on the benefits of tourism. As a Palestinian, the first time he met a Jew that wasn’t a soldier was when he was 18 learning Hebrew. He later founded a company that has a Palestinian and a Jew tour guides that give two very different perspectives of places.

Takeaway Quote: Imagine if the 1 billion people who travel each year…. actually connect with people.

Reclaiming the Globe

Evita Robinson created a group of over 20,000 millennial travelers of color. She gives a history of black travelers and the limitations put on them by society – from Jim Crow laws to the media stereotypes. Her passion shines through for not only the travelers she sees, but for the world in general.

Takeaway Quote: We went from being literally chained, to literally being able to fly, with some turbulence along the way.

In Praise of Vulnerable Travel

Lois Pryce rode her dirt bike from Alaska to Ushaia, Argentina. When she told people in her life she was doing this, she was bombarded with negative messages and stereotypes. So she overpacked with weapons and clothes to protect herself. Eventually, she got rid of the physical and emotional baggage. The power of being vulnerable (especially as a woman) can lead us to experiences we never thought possible.

Takeaway Quote: It was when I was the most vulnerable that the most rewarding experiences occurred.

Where is Home?

Pico Iyer is 100% Indian by blood, but was educated and grew up in England, and moved to the United States as a “permanent alien”, and then moved to Japan on a tourist visa. We’re moving to a more international multi-cultural world – where home is a constant change. Traveling is like being in love – all of your settings are turned to “on” and you become engrossed in what is surrounding you.

Takeaway Quote: Home has become less of a piece of soil, and more of a piece of soul.

I hope this list has inspired you to plan your next trip – whether it’s in your home town or some daring adventure. Traveling is more than just going somewhere to check a “must-see” item off that ever-growing bucket list – it’s a connection. A connection to the world we live in, the people around us, the nature we need to survive.

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