I've felt this my entire life. Except it's a bit different. It's not just wanting to see what's out there. But actually going there. I've become increasingly bored with "real" life and the world we find ourselves in. And the only way out is through video games. Which provide endless new worlds. Perhaps it's because I've never been out of the country (US) and hardly out of my state (California), but I constantly feel like I'm in the wrong place and time. And video games just prove that to me. I still yearn to travel to other countries, and the one that piques my interest primarily is Japan. Though, there's plenty of other countries that do so. I actually have a trip planned to Paris for 12 years into the future (long story). But I feel that no matter how much I travel, that I'll never feel "at home" as I do with fictional worlds. I've started to take a liking to virtual life sims, and other such games. Stuff like Rune Factory (my latest addiction) and as you mentioned in the article, Minecraft (though I've grown bored of that game after a couple years). Live a Live is a key title that not many know about. It essentially lets you play as 8(?) different people, all spread throughout the world and times. You can be a cowboy, a monk, a robot, a caveman, etc, and just live their lives. It's an interesting game, and certainly fulfills the wanderlust you describe. I'd suggest checking it out. It's only in Japanese, but there's a fan-translation patch for it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_A_Live And yea, when I was younger, I devoured fantasy novels. I think I read through the harry potter series in a week or so. And read hundreds of other books. I'm eagerly awaiting my graduation so I can cut my last connection to where I live and finally be free to travel. I'm pretty excited for it.
I feel like I'm in a tree: climbing, climbing in the world and at home.But I feel that no matter how much I travel, that I'll never feel "at home" as I do with fictional worlds.
Haha, alright, I'll explain a bit further, it's not that long of a story (it's a rather short one, actually). The actual reason it's 12 years in the future is due to a reddit thread. This particular comment chain started a reddit meet up at that time: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1n3ewp/what_is_on... And that spawned a sub-reedit that's here: http://www.reddit.com/r/EiffelTowerMeetup/ And I've been wanting to go to paris/france for a while (it's on my to-do list), so I figured why not. And have been semi-active in that subreddit and plan to go to the meet up. Kill 2 birds with one stone. I've never been that interested in most of europe. It just never seemed all that interesting. I'd like to go at least once though. But france just kind of sticks out. Regardless, I still have a few things to wrap up before I can move at all (I've been stuck in california since I've been born, as I mentioned). And I'd like to get a bit of a start on working before I do so. But I have paris planned for 12 years from now (14:27 local time on June 7, 2025.) and I'm hoping I won't miss it. And I'm planning that before then I'll have already left the country. I'm currently playing through Recettear. Great game. I wouldn't say it's that exploration based though. And I haven't heard of the other one so I'll check it out. Great list of games. Mario's always good. Zelda is my favorite series (partly because of Exploration, partly because of Gameplay, and partly because of Story). Haven't heard of the two "no Kiseki" games. Epic Yarn wasn't that great IMO, I'd recommend Return to Dreamland. And Pikmin 3 has been on my to-play list for a while now.You have me interested.
Europe is seriously fantastic. Take 12 - 20 days off a year and just go tour a country France, Germany and UK are my top picks.
Incase you haven't played them I'd recommend Recettear and Cherry Tree High Comedy Club.
Although not exploration oriented in the slightest, the Super Mario Galaxies and Super Mario 3D World also achieve that quite well. Metroid Prime, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Ao no Kiseki, Sora no Kiseki, Kirby Epic Yarn and Pikmin 3 are other games you should look into.