American colonization, people often living in makeshift cabins of wood and toiling for subsistence, was happening at the same time that the Renaissance Period w

American colonization, people often living in makeshift cabins of wood and toiling for subsistence, was happening at the same time that the Renaissance Period was in full swing in mainland Europe! People did not come to America because it was comfortable or attractive in normal ways. Far from it, for many centuries there was new disease, hostile natives, and a severe lack of many of the comforts of 'civilized' life. But it offered lots of other things aside from comfort: - Freedom of expression without governmental control. At the time this was primarily related to religion, but expression was and is valuable in and of itself. - The ability to potentially create new social and political systems. Many government systems are driven by inertia, not merit. New lands offers opportunity for improvement. This needn't mean colonization level, but even simple individual autonomy which gets into the next point. - Simply seeking a plot of land for oneself. Throughout Europe feudal governments claimed all land and then nepotistically allocated it. Things such as hunting could face severe consequences if not state approved. Even farming generally required entailed you giving nearly all your production away to the state. - Many were poor people looking to try to find some mixture of the above and more generally to start a new life. They generally made their way to the new land through contracts of indentured servitude. They'd work for 'x' years in exchange for their passage and eventual freedom. And so on. The US constitution is a distinct reminders of the motivations of colonization. We were designed to be a country with a weak central government and strong, effectively independent, state governments. Think about the first five amendments of the constitution: You have free speech, you can gather and bear arms, you don't have to let soldiers into your home, the government can't search you without reason, the government can't force you to speak in court if you feel it is not in your interest. This amendments all speak very strongly to the nature and ethos of those that were coming to the new world. And while the exact details are quite different, I expect we'll see a similar ethos driving people to new planets. Eventually people will come to take Mars' selfies, go on a tour group to Olympus Mons, and of course to have some 0.3g sex. But that time won't be for a very long time to come. The colonies won't be anywhere near ready for that for decades, and even the technology for such stuff is still far off. Planetary alignment means there is a very short window for transiting between the planets. With current and near future tech going to Mars is a 2 year trip minimum. Those seeking novelty will likely need to look elsewhere for quite some time. I think Moon tourism certainly has some potential for these sort of pursuits. Andy Weir already coined it our most latter appeal above -- 'Moon Poon'.