travel
travel — verb
1. 前往一個遙遠的地方，通常需要花費較長時間
前往一個遙遠的地方，通常需要花費較長時間
Every summer, the Tanaka family travels to Japan to visit their grandparents.
travel + to + place for visiting
Vinícius plans to travel across Europe by train after he finishes university.
travel across + region by + vehicle
The sales team travels to different cities each month to meet new clients.
Nellie finds it easier to travel alone than to wait for friends with matching schedules.
My cousin travels from Chicago to Seoul twice a year for her research project.
travel from + place to + place
- travel abroad
- travel by train/plane/bus
- travel to a country
- travel light
- stay
to remain in one place instead of moving
Grammar Patterns
travel + to/from/through/across + place
Usage Note
Intransitive only in this sense. The destination is introduced by a preposition (to, through, across, from, around). Unlike 'visit', the focus is on the movement itself, not necessarily arriving.
Common Mistakes
2. 物品在經過長途運送後是否仍保持良好狀態
物品在經過長途運送後是否仍保持良好狀態
This delicate glassware does not travel well, so we wrapped each piece in thick foam.
travel well — survives transport intact
Kofi discovered that fresh bread travels badly and gets hard by the second day.
travel badly — degrades during transport
The caterer warned us that the cream cakes do not travel well in hot weather.
Red wine usually travels well if you keep the bottles upright and away from sunlight.
- travel well
- travel badly
- does not travel
- withstand relocation
more formal and technical
- keep
simpler synonym for food; 'Does this cake keep?'
Grammar Patterns
travel + well/badly
Usage Note
Almost always used with the adverbs 'well' or 'badly'. The subject is typically a food item, fragile object, or perishable good. Common in shipping and catering contexts.
3. 旅行時只攜帶少量行李，不帶太多物品
旅行時只攜帶少量行李，不帶太多物品
Meera always travels light with just a small backpack and one change of clothes.
travel light — minimal luggage idiom
For the weekend trip to the mountains, Luca decided to travel light and left his suitcase at home.
The guide suggested that everyone travel light because the hike would last six hours.
Kenji packed only a small carry-on bag because he wanted to travel light for his three-city work trip.
- travel light
- pack light
- travel with hand luggage only
- pack light
more specific to packing luggage rather than the journey
- pack minimally
more formal
- overpack
to bring too many things on a trip
Grammar Patterns
travel light
travel with + minimal luggage
Usage Note
The phrase 'travel light' is a fixed collocation. 'Light' functions as an adverb here. This sense is commonly used in travel advice, packing tips, and hiking scenarios.
Common Mistakes
4. 物體、光線、聲音或資訊從一處移動或傳播到另一處
物體、光線、聲音或資訊從一處移動或傳播到另一處
Sound travels through water much faster than it travels through air.
sound/light + travels + through + medium
The bullet train travels at a speed of three hundred kilometres per hour.
vehicle + travels at + speed
News of the earthquake travelled quickly from village to village along the coast.
news/information + travels — metaphorical movement
The spacecraft travelled a distance of five hundred million kilometres to reach Mars.
travel + distance (transitive use)
The bus travels this route every morning and picks up students at seven o'clock.
- travel at speed
- travel through
- travel across
- travel the world
- travel a distance
Grammar Patterns
travel + distance/time
travel + at + speed
light/sound/news + travels
Usage Note
This sense covers physical movement of objects, vehicles, and natural phenomena. Transitive use is possible when specifying a distance or route ('travel the world', 'travel 500 km'). The metaphorical use for news or information is very common at B1 level.
Common Mistakes
5. 以非常快的速度移動
以非常快的速度移動
The racing car was really travelling when it crossed the finish line.
informal: be + travelling = going very fast
Hugo looked at the speedometer and realised they were travelling at over one hundred and fifty.
The cyclist was travelling so fast down the hill that he could not stop at the corner.
Christopher's motorcycle was travelling so fast that the police car could barely keep up.
- really travelling
- travelling fast
- travelling at speed
- crawl
to move extremely slowly
Grammar Patterns
vehicle/person + is travelling + adverb of speed
Usage Note
Informal use. The meaning 'to move very fast' is derived from context — the word 'travelling' alone does not imply speed; it is the surrounding context (racing car, downhill, high speedometer reading) that signals the fast movement.
6. 在籃球比賽中，持球移動三步或以上而沒有運球，屬於犯規行為
在籃球比賽中，持球移動三步或以上而沒有運球，屬於犯規行為
The referee blew the whistle immediately because Owen travelled before passing the ball.
travel (basketball violation) — referee calls it
Coach Williams told the team that travelling is one of the most common violations in youth basketball.
Joshua took three steps after catching the pass, and the referee called him for travelling.
- call a travel
- travel violation
- get called for travelling
- walk
informal synonym among basketball players; 'That was a walk!'
Grammar Patterns
player + travels (without object)
Usage Note
This is a technical sports term specific to basketball. The verb is always intransitive. The noun form 'a travel' or 'travelling' (British: 'travelling') is also used. Learners at CEFR A1-B2 level only need to recognise this sense; they are unlikely to produce it.
travel light
idiom旅行時只攜帶少量必需品
When you go hiking in the mountains, it is best to travel light and bring only water and snacks.
travel — noun
1. 旅行的行為或活動
旅行的行為或活動
Hoa's love of travel began when her family took her to Vietnam at the age of eight.
love of / passion for + travel (abstract uncountable)
The travel industry has changed a lot since online booking became popular.
travel industry / travel agency — compound nouns
Megan quit her job last year to spend more time on travel and photography.
Lucía says that travel broadens the mind because you meet people from different cultures.
Space travel was once just a dream, but now private companies offer short trips to orbit.
compound: space travel / air travel / rail travel
- air travel
- business travel
- space travel
- travel industry
- travel agency
- travel insurance
- travelling / traveling
gerund form; interchangeable with 'travel' as an activity
- tourism
more specific; implies leisure travel to places of interest
Grammar Patterns
travel + noun (compound noun)
uncountable noun
Usage Note
This is the uncountable, general sense — travel as a concept or activity. It combines with many nouns to form compounds (air travel, rail travel, business travel, travel agency, travel insurance). Use 'travels' (plural) for individual journeys (see next sense).
Common Mistakes
2. 特定的旅程或旅途，通常指多次旅行
特定的旅程或旅途，通常指多次旅行
My grandfather recorded all his travels in a leather journal with hand-drawn maps.
sb's travels = someone's journeys
During her travels through South America, Mira learned to speak Spanish fluently.
during + sb's travels + through/in + region
The book describes the explorer's travels across the Sahara desert in the nineteenth century.
Ziad sent postcards to his family from every city he visited on his travels.
- sb's travels
- on your travels
- during his/her travels
- travels abroad
- travels through
- journeys
more neutral; can be long or short
- trips
more casual; can be short or for business
- expeditions
implies an organised journey with a specific purpose
Grammar Patterns
sb's travels + preposition + place
Usage Note
Used in the plural form 'travels' to refer to specific journeys, especially long or notable ones. Often preceded by a possessive (his travels, her travels, my travels) or used in 'on your travels' to mean 'during your trips'.
3. 物體移動的距離、速度或方向
物體移動的距離、速度或方向
The travel of the piston inside the engine is limited to about fifteen centimetres.
the travel of + machine part (technical)
Engineers measured the travel of the robot arm to make sure it reached every point on the assembly line.
The speed of travel of seismic waves helps scientists determine where the earthquake started.
speed / distance / direction of travel
The tour guide checked the direction of travel on his phone before leading the group through the old town.
- direction of travel
- speed of travel
- distance of travel
- range of travel
- the travel of
- movement
broader and less technical
- displacement
strictly physics; the vector measure of change in position
- range of motion
specific to mechanical parts and human joints
Grammar Patterns
the + travel + of + object
distance/speed of travel
Usage Note
Technical or semi-technical sense. Common in physics, engineering, and mechanics. The 'travel' of a mechanical part is the range or distance it can move. 'Direction of travel' is a common phrase in navigation and transportation.
travel — adjective
1. 描述由青少年組成的運動隊伍，隊員需到國內不同地區參加比賽
描述由青少年組成的運動隊伍，隊員需到國內不同地區參加比賽
Dylan joined a travel baseball team that competes in tournaments across three states every summer.
travel + sport = elite youth team that travels to compete
Travel soccer is more expensive than the local league because families pay for hotels and transport.
Nadia's parents drive four hours every weekend for her travel basketball games in neighbouring cities.
The coach said that joining a travel volleyball team helped the girls improve their skills against stronger opponents.
- travel team
- travel baseball
- travel soccer
- travel basketball
- travel league
- club
overlapping but broader; a club team may or may not travel
- local
a local league plays only within the same town or area
Grammar Patterns
travel + sport noun (baseball/soccer/team)
Usage Note
Attributive only — used before a noun (travel team, travel soccer, travel baseball). This is primarily an American English sense describing competitive youth sports where teams travel regionally for games and tournaments. Not used in British English.
Common Mistakes
Word family
- travellernounB1
- travelernounB1
- travelingadjectiveB1
- travellingadjectiveB1
- untravelledadjectiveC1
- traveloguenounC1
Synonym discussion
Sense: verb/1
Travel is the most general word for going from one place to another, especially over long distances. Journey suggests a single long or meaningful trip, often with a sense of purpose or difficulty ('a three-day journey across the desert'). Trip is more casual and shorter in duration ('a weekend trip to the beach'), and can be for business or pleasure. Voyage is restricted to travel by sea or in space ('a voyage across the Atlantic'). Tour implies a planned route with multiple stops, often for sightseeing ('a tour of European capitals'). In everyday conversation, 'go on a trip' and 'travel' are the most common choices; 'journey' and 'voyage' sound more literary or formal.
Common collocations
Etymology
The word 'travel' entered English in the 14th century from Old French 'travail', which originally meant 'to work hard, to toil'. The shift from 'hard work' to 'journey' happened because medieval travel was physically exhausting and dangerous. The French word itself came from Latin 'tripalium', a three-staked instrument of torture — figuratively, any intense suffering. Over centuries, the sense softened from 'painful labour' to simply 'going on a journey', though we still see the original meaning in the related word 'travail' (extreme hardship).