Why Europeans have the travel bug

It struck me today that most of the time I am outside here in Amsterdam, its a constant struggle against the elements - the biting cold that makes u want to shrivel up within yourself or the chilly wind thats blowing your umbrella off or that painfully slow drizzle which never gets to be the downpour I love. And this is what people here live with, and have forever lived with. No wonder then they wanted out and they travelled out in their ships the first chance they got. No wonder also that they are so structured and disciplined like machines - humans couldn't possibly have survived in such conditions otherwise.