The word for today is…

excursion (noun) – 1. A usually short journey made for pleasure; an outing.

  1. A roundtrip in a passenger vehicle at a special low fare.
  2. A group taking a short pleasure trip together.
  3. A diversion or deviation from a main topic; a digression.
  4. (Physics) (a) A movement from and back to a mean position or axis in an oscillating or alternating motion.
    (b) The distance traversed in such a movement.

Source : The Free Dictionary

Etymology : In Latin, the prefix ex- means “out of” and the verb currere means “to run.” When the two are put together, they form the verb excurrere, literally “to run out” or “to extend.” Excurrere gave rise not only to excursion but also to excurrent (an adjective for things having channels or currents that run outward) and excursus (meaning “an appendix or digression that contains further exposition of some point or topic”). Other words deriving from currere include corridor, curriculum, and among newer words, parkour.

Peter is a fourth-generation New Zealander, with his mother's and father's folks having arrived in New Zealand in the 1870s. He lives in Lower Hutt with his wife, some cats and assorted computers. His...