Travel narratives have been recorded since the invention of writing, surviving as myths, epics, official records, diaries, and personal accounts. Despite this long history, their significance remains largely absent from contemporary studies of travel and tourism. Bringing together philosophical, historical, and anthropological perspectives, this book examines what these narratives reveal about the nature of travel experience. It shows how accounts from the past illuminate the enduring fascination with what lies beyond everyday life. Situating tourism within a longer history, it argues that, despite its contested impacts, travel reflects a persistent human impulse that continues to shape contemporary practices.