Travel, trip and journey. The first thing that comes to mind is, are they the same words? Well, yes and no. In Spanish, we might translate all three as “viaje” or “viajar” but they have slightly different meanings in English. So, what’s the difference between these three traveling words? Read on to find out.

Travel:

Travel is often used as a verb. For example:

He often travels for business.

She’s hoping to travel the world during her retirement.

We can sometimes use it as a noun, usually uncountable, when talking about the activity of traveling. For example:

Does this job offer the possibility of travel?

Air travel has been affected by the current restrictions.

A useful idiom:

To travel light: to take very little with you when you go on a trip

Trip:

Trip is often used as a noun to describe traveling to another place and coming back again. For example:

Has he returned from his business trip yet?

Let’s take a trip to Paris next summer.

We often use these verbs with trip:

Go on a trip

Take a trip

You can also take some specific types of trips:

A business trip is when you travel for work.

A day trip is when you travel somewhere but don’t stay overnight.

A road trip is when you travel by car.

Journey:

The train journey from Seville to Madrid is only 2.5 hours.

A journey is the act of traveling from one place to another, but we usually use it to refer to the part of the trip that takes place when you’re actually traveling, not the part when you’re in your destination. It often refers to the transportation you’re taking. For example:

We take games for the children when we go on long journeys.

Similarly to “trip” we use these verbs with journey:

Go on

Take

You may hear the phrase:

“First-leg of the journey” when a journey has several parts to it. For example, imagine you’re flying from Madrid to New York, via London. The first leg of your journey is Madrid-London and the second leg of your journey is London- New York.

Are you ready to test your knowledge with some exercises?

Complete the gaps with travel, trip or journey:

1. The _____ itself was fairly uneventful.
2. I’ve just been on a _____ to France.
3. He has to ____ abroad a lot on business.
4. It costs less if you _____ at the weekend.
5. I had to take a last-minute business ____ to Prague.

1. The journey itself was fairly uneventful.
2. I’ve just been on a trip to France.
3. He has to travel abroad a lot on business.
4. It costs less if you travel at the weekend.
5. I had to take a last-minute business trip to Prague.

Now leave me a note in the comments to practice!

Where do you love to travel?

When are you going on your next business trip?

What’s the longest journey you’ve ever taken?