travel far and wide

Meaning

This idiom means to travel extensively over a very large geographic area, visiting many different places, often in search of something or to gain diverse experiences. It has a slightly poetic or classic feel but is widely used in everyday, neutral English.

Examples

• He traveled far and wide to find the rare ingredients for his restaurant.

  He traveled far and wide to find the rare ingredients for his restaurant.

• Musicians from all over the world travel far and wide to perform at this famous venue.

  Musicians from all over the world travel far and wide to perform at this famous venue.

• She has traveled far and wide, but she still thinks her hometown is the most beautiful place on earth.

  She has traveled far and wide, but she still thinks her hometown is the most beautiful place on earth.

• People traveled far and wide to attend the historic peace conference.

  People traveled far and wide to attend the historic peace conference.

• To build a successful international business, you have to be willing to travel far and wide.

  To build a successful international business, you have to be willing to travel far and wide.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ She traveled far and broad during her summer vacation.

  ✓ She traveled far and wide during her summer vacation.

  The idiom is fixed as 'far and wide'; you cannot substitute 'wide' with 'broad'.

• ✗ They traveled widely and far to seek the truth.

  ✓ They traveled far and wide to seek the truth.

  Changing the word order to 'widely and far' breaks the natural flow of this fixed binomial pair.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The search party looked ___ for the missing hikers.

  💡 Across a very large and extensive area.

  Show answer

  far and wide

• To collect these ancient artifacts, the museum curators had to ___.

  💡 Journey extensively to many distant places.

  Show answer

  travel far and wide