We travel for the challenge

Paradise is overrated.

- By Guy Nicholson

We return from our dropdown-menu destinations exactly as we departed: nothing ventured, nothing gained, nothing absorbed. Beach parties, infinity pools, fine dining, luxury hotels: these are the stuff of travel fantasies that I've indulged, too. But fantasies lack challenge. Easy getaways may put life's troubles on the shelf for a few days, but they don't help us overcome anything.

That's why I say travel is no time to ignore personal growth. Why not return home at least a little better than when we departed? Growth is meaning, and a challenge is a plot point in life's grand narrative. Our species has come this far not just because we've used our precious time to relax and pamper ourselves, but because we've used it to overcome and grow. That shouldn't stop while we're in Maui or the Maldives.

After all, those who overcome great travel challenges aren't remembered as lapsed pamperers; they're revered as adventurers: Ibn Battuta, Amelia Earhart, Jacques Cousteau, Cheryl Strayed. George Mallory took on Everest just because it was there. How badass is that? Yes, he died trying. But Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay picked up the mantle and in doing so, expanded the limits of human capacity.

The adventurer types aren’t just in it for personal growth, of course. It’s more than that—they’re hardwired for excitement. “All of my life I've been afraid of having nothing to do, having no challenges to meet, being bored,” Hillary told Outside magazine. “The whole of my life has been a battle against boredom.”