There’s an art to travel

Travel is an art,But as you start planning your summer trips,Perhaps the ability to be a good traveler can be inherited from one of your parents.

Curio Collection by Hilton recently tested 30 frequent traveling social media influencers for the gene to evaluate the role curiosity plays in travel and found nine of them had the DRD4-7R allele — about 1½ times the national average.

So what’s the art of travel? And how do you master it? It all comes down to understanding the purpose of travel, knowing the right people and processes and having a productive attitude, experts say.

That art also is about harmony, notes Jacob Marek, founder of IntroverTravels, a travel agency. “It means that all of the moving parts work in tandem and that moments of serenity are punctuated with those that thrill, surprise and delight,” he says.

It could be a coincidence, but Virtuoso, the agency consortium with which he’s affiliated, professes to specialize in the art of travel. At least that’s what its agents claim in their email signatures. I asked a Virtuoso representative what it meant by that, and not surprisingly, her answer involved consulting a travel agent. I should have seen that coming. But there’s more.

“It means living every moment to the fullest while traveling, following passions and growing as a person and traveler, courtesy of the new experiences you’re enjoying,” Virtuoso spokeswoman Misty Belles told me.

Point taken. You need to know why you travel and how. A competent agent can certainly help. If you don’t hire a pro, make sure you’re a meticulous planner. You’ll need to be in order to become a virtuoso.

You need to know why you travel and how.If you don’t hire a pro, make sure you’re a meticulous planner.

It’s the little details that set the Rembrandts apart from the Bob Rosses of travel: Did you leave a copy of your important travel docs with a friend? Do you have a recent color photo with you? Will your cellphone work where you are going? Did you make a “before I leave the house” checklist and follow it? That’s expert stuff.

Travel artists aren’t just people who do everything right on the road. They also travel for the right reasons. What separates them from the rest of us.

“Want to master the art of travel?” asks Gary Arndt, a photographer and world traveler. “Just travel more.”