A caravan is a group of people traveling together, usually across dangerous or difficult terrain like deserts or mountains. For thousands of years, merchants formed caravans to cross places like the Sahara Desert or the Silk Road, bringing spices, silk, and other goods between distant cities. Traveling in a group meant protection from bandits and help if someone got lost or injured. Think of it like a long line of camels, horses, and wagons moving together across empty sand dunes, with travelers camping together each night.

The word also means a covered wagon or vehicle used for living and traveling. In Britain, people use caravan to describe what Americans call a camper or trailer: a small home on wheels that you can tow behind a car for vacations. Circus performers used to travel from town to town in colorful caravans.

When your class takes a field trip, you might hear someone joke about a “caravan of buses” heading to the museum. The word suggests both the journey itself and the sense of traveling as a group, everyone moving toward the same destination together.