ABSTRACT
Travel motivations relate to a need for change. Depending on the prominence of different motives for travel, the disengagement is experienced either as release or detachment. The prominence of escape motives provides release, whereas the prominence of search motives creates detachment. A conventional tourist trip can also be a rite of passage ritual, albeit to a lesser extent. Because of the initiatory character of having visited certain places and sights, our status in the eyes of those who stayed home changes. The idea of travel away from home is often geography of dreams. However, even travel within a pronounced tourist space with very similar experiences to many others, still produces very personal memories. These can have such specific meanings that they do not necessarily need support from a framework that has primarily public origins. Some degree of culture confusion can be experienced after returning home.
