People in the past were motivated to explore the world because of the wealth that new land was supposed to have. There were rumors of gold and riches. They also wanted to be favored by the people and the kings. Curiosity played a big part in this as well, people just generally wanted to know what was out there past what they knew. Basically looking up the words i put in the dictionary would have explained it. Why do people travel? That is why they explored new places. THINK!