Long and Short Trips

Have you been on a trip lately? How long was the journey? Did you enjoy the sea voyage? Most of the above mentioned English words can simply be translated as putovanje in Croatian, but what kind of putovanje are we talking about? To clear any misunderstandings, if you are going on a trip you will be travelling for a short period of time, whereas a journey implies a longer period and/or distance. We often use phrases such as a day trip as opposed to a long journey or even a journey of life. As children, many of us loved books by Jules Verne, often featuring a lengthy adventurous journey, such as described in ‘The Journey to the Centre of the Earth’.

And what about travel(s) and travelling? These terms are used more generally, usually when describing moving from one place to another, e.g. His travels abroad provided a lot of interesting material for the book he is writing or I don’t do as much travelling as I did before. Furthermore, we use the word travel in collocations such as travel documents, travel tickets, travel agency, travel agents, travel arrangements, travel sickness, air travel etc.

The story about travelling doesn’t end here. If you are travelling by ship or boat to visit a number of places, you are cruising or are on a cruise. A long journey aboard a ship is called a voyage. And while the word cruise denotes travelling for pleasure, voyage implies travelling by boat. Travelling in a spaceship is also referred to as a voyage – remember Star Trek and the voyages of the starship Enterprise? If you travel over a period of time to visit a number of places and then return to where you started from – you go on a tour. If you go on a short trip with a group of friends for the purpose of sightseeing – you go on or take an excursion. As part of a cruise on the River Nile, for instance, you can take an excursion to the Pyramids.

There are other types of travel with a more specific purpose, such as an expedition – an extended, carefully prepared journey with the aim of scientific exploration, or a pilgrimage – a journey to places of religious or spiritual interest. Good luck wherever you go! And have a safe journey!