Vivienne,
Why would people want to travel for if they experienced fear, discomfort, ill-health and neurosi.
You can get that at home sitting on your tail.
People travel to escape. Haven't we read that word "escape" written a million times in travel brochures until it causes nausea.

I am looking forward to reading the 'Travellers Tales' for the very reasons that Vivienne describes. Travelling is never really an escape, or if so only in the sense that we extricate ourselves from the everyday, the responsibilities that contribute to the daily grind. This extrication frees our thinking and selves for the potential of self-reflection in the face of new and challenging experiences (including nasty ones). It is in in these different circumstances that we can be potentially rejuvinated (in the parlance of the travel brochure)or in the face of so much that is foreign/dangerous or scary discover something new about ourselves, even if it is the sure knowledge that we are different or even more similiar that we may have imagined.