Is it just me or do the words vacation and traveling make you think of two different things? To me, vacation means family time and going away to get some relaxation, while traveling means going to different places for the culture and to experience the lifestyle. For example, when my family goes to Disney, I say I'm going on vacation, but when I talk about my plans to go to Europe, I say I'm going to be traveling. But what's the difference? Is there even a difference at all?

Well, vacation is the act of traveling to a place where you don't live to 'take a break from life'. Traveling is heading to a destination you normally wouldn't go to or don't go to that often (and then there's "backpacking" and "holiday" but those two terms are for a whole other article). So, yes vacation and traveling aren't two completely different things but there's still a difference. It's almost how art and photography are considered two different things even though photography is an art form.

Personally, I love traveling more than taking a vacation. Traveling allows you to get to experience a whole different culture and the experience can't be replaced or matched. I haven't had the opportunity to travel yet, but recently on a vacation, I went to Epcot. At Epcot, the people working in the stores, restaurants, etc are from the country they're working in. So, say you visit the Germany part of Epcot, the workers would be from Germany or have lived there for a certain amount of time. Anyway, when I was in the France part of Epcot I got excited because I am learning french and this gave me an opportunity. So I talked to multiple employees in French - despite the fact I only know very basic french at this point - and I got the same reaction every time. A smile would form as they responded back in french and that's an experience I will never forget and I can't wait to be able to travel to France for real one day.

So this summer, whether you're traveling or going on a vacation take time to take in the culture and experience something new.