100+ Travel Words

October 15, 2023

Are you looking for unique ways to write about travel? Fortunately, there are extraordinary, unusual travel words out there to replace the overused “wanderlust,” and you can start by incorporating them for your next wandering journey.

Table of Contents

Dérive

Dérive, a travel word, is of French origin and means drift. More specifically, it means to journey an urban landscape on a whim.

So, any time you find yourself exploring new landscapes unplanned while out, you are dériving. Try it the next time you have a few moments. Take that left instead of turning right and see what is out there to discover.

Selcouth

Selcouth is an Old English term that means unfamiliar, rare, strange, but marvelous.

For instance, if you visit any of the world’s wonders, such as the Grand Canyon or Stone Henge, that would be a selcouth. However, any site unfamiliar to you that makes you think “wow” when you see it is also a selcouth.

Hodophile

Hodophile should be easy to add to your list of travel words, especially when you love to travel the open roads! This Greek term means that you are a lover of roads.

Nemophilist

Another Greek term that is related to traveling is a nemophilist. Unlike hodophile, nemophilist means that you love or have a fondness for the beauty of forests. In short, you can confidently that you are a haunter of the woods.

Thalassophile

How about if you have a magnetic attraction to the ocean or sea? Well, you can use the term thalassophile, also a Greek term. So, if you feel at peace near or in the ocean and trapped when away, you are a thalassophile.

Eleutheromania

You may feel your happiest far away from society, scaling a mountain top, hiking through a forest, or surfing a wave. In that case, the Greek term Eleutheromani is applicable to you. You have an intense and irresistible desire for freedom.

Trouvaille

If you are lucky on your dérive, you may find a trouvaille, a French term meaning that you found something lovely by chance. Think of the times you have stumbled across something of beauty that you weren’t expecting to find while visiting a new place.

Coddiwomple

Coddiwomple is an Old English term meaning to travel purposefully to a vague destination.

Another great addition to your current travel words is coddiwomple because, aside from that it is fun to say, it means you are going to travel in a purposeful manner somewhere on a whim without a plan. You may get in your car and drive until you see a place you want to stop or hike on an unmarked path.

Solivagant

Traveling alone may be a scary concept. However, solo travel (solivagant) can provide much-needed self-reflection and personal growth. You may be surprised by what you gain from traveling alone.

Onism

Have you ever felt frustrated that you can’t travel to two places at once because you are stuck in one body? That’s what Onism is: a philosophical yet travel-related term that hits you when you realize you are limited to just one reality, often feeling frustration with the realization.

Flaneur

The French term flaneur, which means a stroller or a passionate wanderer, takes solace in walking the streets and enjoying all of its beauty. It can be a new city you have traveled to or even your neighborhood. As long as your purpose is to wander around happily appreciating what is around you, you are a flaneur.

Fernweh

You feel that gravitational pull in your heart that screams, “I need to travel.” Likely, you have a destination in mind that you have to see. Then, you have a fernweh, a German term meaning an ache to get away and travel to a distant place.

Saudade

When you hit a nostalgic longing for a distant but familiar place, then you are in a saudade state.

It could be a place you traveled to as a child or even home if you have moved away. Most importantly, you feel it in your soul that you need to be there, and you will only feel complete once you have returned.

Ukiyo

Have you ever experienced that feeling when you take a vacation that as if all the bothers of life has been lifted from your shoulders and you are just living in the moment? Well, if your answer is yes, then you are in a state of Ukiyo! This Japanese travel-related word says that if you are in an Ukiyo, you are in “floating world.”