Why Travel and Transportation Make People Horny

There’s nothing sexy about a bus. In fact, I would even go as far as to declare the bus the least sexy mode of transportation. And yet, in my younger and more financially vulnerable years when I was bus folk, I often noticed a vague and unwelcome sensation creeping upon me during long bus rides — one of random, seemingly unprovoked horniness.

While an unexpected hit of sexual arousal can certainly be an enjoyable feeling in the right context, being horny on a bus is a rather unsettling, unwelcome sensation, in large part because buses are gross. But even as I’ve graduated to less gross, slightly more luxe methods of transportation such as trains and planes, I’ve often noticed a similar effect, by which I have been similarly confused. What is it about being en route to a destination — seemingly any destination at all — that triggers this hot and bothered effect? Is it the subtle stimulation of constant, rhythmic jostling? Is it that a certain period of uninterrupted time alone with one’s thoughts will inevitably turn them impure? Or am I just a perv who shouldn’t be allowed on public transportation?

Fortunately, it turns out I’m not alone. The strange phenomenon of the travel hornies is well documented, from frisky mile-high clubbers to surprise car ride boners.

“Anecdotally, this is something I’ve heard about from many people,” says Dr. Justin J. Lehmiller, research fellow at the Kinsey Institute and host of the Sex and Psychology Podcast. While Lehmiller doesn’t know of any studies that have specifically looked at travel-related arousal, he tells InsideHook that reports of fantasies taking place outside of regular home environments, “such as in cars or airplanes, on a beach or in some exotic location,” were “extraordinarily common” in the survey of more than 4,000 Americans’ sexual fantasies he conducted for his book, Tell Me What You Want. “This suggests that there is something to the idea that being outside of your usual environment often enhances arousal,” he says.

Lemiller says there are a number of factors that may be at play here. For one thing, “Travel puts us in a novel environment and breaks our regular routines,” he says. “This novelty can create a heightened state of generalized arousal — and that arousal, in turn, can amplify sexual arousal, especially if you’re engaging in new and exciting activities. In psychology, we call this ‘excitation transfer.’”

Indeed, some level of sexual excitement surrounding travel is so well established that many people — and companies — plan entire vacations around sex itself. As Claudia Aguirre — Co-founder and Vice President of Luxury Lifestyle Vacations, a travel brand curating fantasy-like travel experiences, workshops and cruises for sex-positive travelers — puts it, her company is literally “founded on the very principle that people want to explore every sense of indulgence when they travel, including their desires and intimate fantasies.”

For many, travel is itself a kind of fantasy realized, and whether or not that fantasy is inherently sexual, it often has the potential to turn that way. “What lies at the center of travel horniness for me is the thrill of being someone else — a hotter, more adventurous and spontaneous version of myself,” says Sofiya Alexandra, Co-founder and Co-Host of Private Parts Unknown, a podcast exploring love and sexuality around the world. “I even get turned on by the idea of airports, because of all the possibilities they’re a window into.” After all, she adds, “There’s a reason vacation sex is a thing, and the reason is when you feel happy and fun, sex sounds like a no-brainer.”

It’s obviously easier to get in the mood when you’re relaxed and distanced from the distractions and/or mundanity of everyday life. “People are often traveling for leisure and relaxation, so they’re leaving work and stress behind at home,” says Lehmiller. “This can open the door to feeling more arousal because you’re not distracted by other things and you’re feeling less stressed.” Moreover, he adds, “There’s also the fact that you may be seeing and meeting new people — people you don’t see at home who you may find to be attractive.”

Alexandra agrees. “I like making stories up in my head about different travelers around me, and getting a little horned up about it,” she tells InsideHook.

Obviously, travel to a new, luxe location is bound to spark some level of excitement, sexual or otherwise. Certainly, as Alexandra puts it, “It’s a lot easier to feel horny and fun when you’re feeding on new things that stimulate your brain, emotions and soul instead of slogging away at your job and experiencing people through Zoom squares.” But what if you’re not embarking on an exotic, luxury vacation and are instead, say, taking a bus back to your hometown in rural Massachusetts? What’s the deal with travel horniness then?

According to Lehmiller, “Transportation itself can sometimes contribute to arousal. Part of the reason for this is because people often have fantasies about having sex in cars, boats and airplanes.” Meanwhile, even if you’re not in the sex plane of your mile-high fantasies, the vibration one experiences on certain modes of transportation might be enough to get you physically aroused. Add in the novelty of the experience and the strangers you’re sharing it with, and a bus, train or airplane quickly turns into “a huge vibrator full of people,” as as sex educator Carol Queen told Mic earlier this year.

Still, travel horn manifests differently for us all. For some, the simple vibrations of a bus or plane might do the trick, while for others, “It might be more about being in a hotel, visiting a bar where you’re surrounded by new and different people, or something else,” says Lehmiller. “I’ve heard from many people who say that they get horny in hotel rooms. This may be because they associate hotel rooms with sex, or because they’re not surrounded by all of the cues they have at home that might interfere with arousal — such as having their office inside their bedroom.”

Regardless, whether you get your travel hornies by way of plane, train, automobile, hotel room or luxury swingers vacation, I wish you all safe and horny travels.