"What gives value to travel..."

Today at lunch, after relating some tale of reckless adventure from my childhood, a coworker inquired:

"So, should we all be amazed that you're still here to tell us these stories?"

...and it reminded me of something I had read recently, an essay by Pico Iyer, entitled Why We Travel (takes a while to fully load, but well worth it). In it, Camus is quoted:

"What gives value to travel is fear."

Which is true. I have to admit I was a little aroused by the story my neighbor told me of an abandoned mine on the Olympic Peninsula, cut through a mineral so black that flashlights are rendered nearly useless, and I'm really tempted to try for Kurdistan when I pass through Turkey next year (see "Shooting in Iraq"). But why?

Writer that I am, I know part of it lies in having a great tale to tell. Part of it is seeing something new, something many people will never see. But there are scores of "safe" places which fall into those categories, and "having a good story" and "seeing new places" are the reasons why everyone travels, from socks-and-sandaled cruise shippers to more intrepid wanderers. So why is it that fear, uncertainty, the big Unknown, are all so alluring to those of us who aren't content with our reasonably green grass? The full quote by Camus:

What gives value to travel is fear. It is the fact that, at a certain moment, when we are so far from our own country we are seized by a vague fear, and an instinctive desire to go back to the protection of old habits. This is the most obvious benefit of travel. At that moment we are feverish but also porous, so that the slightest touch makes us quiver to the depths of our being. We come across a cascade of light, and there is eternity. This is why we should not say that we travel for pleasure.