I came across this phrase in a city guide to Malmö yesterday in a description of the genesis of The Malmö Festival:

Which (proving its point), led me to this Matthias Claudius poem from 1786, which starts:

Wenn jemand eine Reise tut,
So kann er was verzählen;
Drum nahm ich meinen Stock und Hut,
Und tät das Reisen wählen.

The poem, as it happens, was set to music by Beethoven in 1805:

My wise brother Steve told me once that he thought I travel as widely and as often as I do primarily to accumulate good stories; I think this is what he meant.