THE RIGHT WORD

While all of these nouns refer to a course of travel to a particular place, usually for a specific purpose, there is a big difference between a jaunt to the nearest beach and an expedition to the rainforest. While a trip may be either long or short, for business or pleasure, and taken at either a rushed or a leisurely pace (: a ski trip; a trip to Europe), a journey suggests that a considerable amount of time and distance will be covered and that the travel will take place over land ( | a journey into the Australian outback). A long trip by water or through air or space is a voyage ( | a voyage to the Galapagos Islands; a voyage to Mars), while a short, casual trip for pleasure or recreation is a jaunt ( | a jaunt to the local shopping mall). Excursion also applies to a brief pleasure trip, usually no more than a day in length, that returns to the place where it began ( | an afternoon excursion to the zoo). Unlike the rest of these nouns, expedition and pilgrimage apply to journeys that are undertaken for a specific purpose. An expedition is usually made by an organized group or company ( | a scientific expedition; an expedition to locate new sources of oil), while a pilgrimage is a journey to a place that has religious or emotional significance ( | the Muslims' annual pilgrimage to Mecca; a pilgrimage to the place where her father died).