Wanderlust (Middle High German: wandern, to wander, and Lust, desire) is a German loanword. It is commonly defined as a strong desire to travel, or by having an itch to get out and see the world.[1] Some consider it to be a simple linguistic compound of wander and lust.

Wanderlust in fiction
Wanderlust is used in the series of books Dragonlance to describe a genetic process that a race called "Kender" (Which are akin to wood elves or hobbits) go through, during which they are overpowered by an insatiable urge to leave behind any permanent location for residence and simply explore.