Benefits of travel : needs versus constraints in uncertain environments

Why do we travel? Because we want to – or because we have no other choice? Some thoughts are presented about the benefits of travel from an individual and societal perspective. Travel is considered to represent induced demand in that the spatial configuration of land use and facilities requires individuals and households to travel in order to participate in their daily activities, which in turn are instrumental to achieving their needs, desires, and aspirations. Travel is however often more than only an episode of negative utility between two activity episodes. It may be a positive act of a temporary break from routines or an opportunity to release frustration, chill down, and recharge for things to come. Moreover, travel is also an opportunity to having a moment for oneself and enjoying the passing of the landscape and the brief non-obligatory, superficial encounters with others. These notions are used to derive a formalization that identifies the conditions under which the utility of travel becomes positive.