A person leaves home, spends time elsewhere, and returns. That complete outing is a trip. The word covers everything from a same-day excursion to a multi-week journey.

Trips are defined by purpose, duration, distance, and companions. Planning intensity ranges from spontaneous departures to months of preparation. The quality of a trip depends on expectations, logistics, health, weather, and the unpredictable encounters that occur along the way.

People recount trips as stories with beginnings, middles, and ends. Souvenirs, photographs, and journals help fix them in memory. In tourism statistics, trips are the basic units used to measure volume and patterns of movement.

• Journey to another place and usually back again
• Defined by purpose, length, and destination
• Can be spontaneous or highly planned
• Basic unit of personal travel experience