These words refer to travel. While journey is the most general of these, it is now usually used of travel by land and often suggests the covering of considerable time or distance, with no necessary implication of a return: their transcontinental journey by car. Voyage , by contrast, is now usually used of travel by water: a long ocean voyage to England.

Where both journey and voyage are relatively formal, trip is the more informal substitute for either. In this case, however, the covering of a shorter time or distance is suggested and an eventual return to the starting point is often implied: He went on a trip to the nearest seaside resort during his holidays. In psychedelic slang, trip indicates an extended meditative or introspective sequence, whether drug-induced or not: He turned on and was soon off on a long trip ; good and bad trips ; strobes and screen projections guaranteed to send you on a trip .

Tour indicates a trip in which many places are visited, often by means of a circuitous route: a tour of Italy that included stops at Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome. In a related use, the inspection of a much smaller area may be indicated: a tour of the castle. Excursion serves as a more formal substitute for trip or tour ; it emphasizes a temporary departure from a given place and specifies a return to it. It can point to a sea or land tour or to a short outing: an excursion that would take us to several Aegean islands and return us to Athens after two weeks; an excursion to the beach, complete with picnic hampers and bottles of cold drinks.

Pilgrimage indicates a journey taken to a specific place that has religious or emotional significance: the annual pilgrimage to Mecca; a pilgrimage to Resident Kennedy’s grave at Arlington. Jaunt and junket , by contrast, both suggest excursions for recreation or pleasure. Jaunt suggests a short trip or outing: a weekend jaunt to the snowfields. Junket is more specific in pointing to the trip of a public official whose expenses are paid, usually from public funds. While such trips may be authorized and connected with an official purpose, describing them as junkets often casts suspicion on this legitimate explanation and implies that these trips are non-essential pleasure-seeking jaunts : a junket of several Parliamentarians to the pleasure capitals of Europe.