Thinking About Faraway Places Creates Pain in Your Soul? You've Got Fernweh

Suffering for somewhere else? Thatʻs Fernweh.

Germans are well-known for being world travelers. They are a nationality with a reputation for having stepped foot on every single country and into every remote region on the planet. There is told in some parts of the world the story of an Englishman who was exploring a deep and dense part of a remote jungle. He spent hours slashing his machete through the flora, making a path, believing himself in uncharted territory, fighting off biting insects and tripping over vines and snakes. A shocking surprise waited for him at the end of the trail he had carved out. In a clearing surrounded by tall trees, he was taken aback by an uncommon sight. There, in the thick of the primeval forest, calmly sitting on a newly-sawn tree stump, was an intelligent-looking man in khakis and hard hat. Smoking a pipe and cooking some fish in a pan, the man grinned a knowing smile, stretched out his hand and said, “Willkommen! Nehmen Sie Platz!” (Welcome! Have a seat!)

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This story about the Englishman and the German may be a bit of a stretch… but it doesn’t stretch too far from the truth. Germans love traveling so much that they invented a word for the pain they experience when they can’t.

In olden times, when travel was an impossibility due to reasons such as lack of food or means of transportation, many people – especially those who had the travel gene inside them – became nostalgic for movement. And a lot of us have the condition, too.

Germans invented a word for this “faraway pain” or longing to stray far from home. It is Fernweh (pronounced “FAIRN-vay”), and it stems from the words fern for “far” and Weh for “pain.” Fernweh is wanting to be somewhere else so badly it hurts.

During the recent pandemic, the U.S.A. was mostly off-limits to Europeans, and Hawaiʻi was even more restrictive. Fernweh among travelers all over the world was palpable. Many Germans who wanted to visit this beautiful place were forced to frequent locales in their own country, or simply wait, staying home.

But now that has changed. With loosening restrictions and borders opening up, Germans – and people from around the world – can come to Hawaiʻi to live out their childhood dreams, relax on the beach, learn to surf, or swim near a dolphin.

And there is nowhere else on earth that can dissolve your Fernweh faster than beautiful and welcoming Hawaiʻi.

Be respectful to Hawaiian land, people and culture, and you will be repaid in kind. (photo by KS)

When you come to Hawaiʻi, always be respectful to the locals and of their culture. The islands

will reciprocate in kind, letting the surf wash - and the trade winds whistle - your worries (and Fernweh) away.