An argument for return travel

Seeing a place for the first time—whether Paris or Machu Picchu—has magical moments that stay in our memories long after the trip is over. And for travelers who want those new experiences, it's tempting to discourage or eliminate return travel. While I'm drawn to places I haven't yet visited, there are destinations that I return to multiple times—and have new and magical experiences each time.

If I stopped visiting New Orleans after that very first time back in the early 1990s, I'd see the city as if it were restricted to the French Quarter, sickeningly sweet hurricane drinks, amazingly tasty food and some of the best music on the planet. But more than 30 visits later, my view has been enriched by a greater collection of experiences that I've been able to add to the picture of the Crescent City in my head.

Does that mean I know everything about that one place or any place I visit multiple times? Absolutely not. Return travel has served as a way for me to get a more complete picture of a culture or a place, but the destinations that draw me back each time are so rich that there will always be something new. In that way, the place keeps surprising me as if it were my first visit.

How about you? Do you savor return travel, or do you prefer moving on to the next new place?