The Dubna Maggid answered this question with the following parable:
A young widower took a new wife, hoping she would care for him and his orphaned son. It wasn’t long before the young orphan realized that his father’s new wife was not too fond of him. She treated him disdainfully, shouting and beating him on a regular basis. All of the young boy’s complaints to his father fell on deaf ears. The father insisted he was overreacting and needed to get used to having a new woman in the house.
Years passed, and the young boy got used to his stepmother’s wild and unjust punishments. One day, the father announced that he had had found the perfect match for his son, a wonderful girl from a distant city who came from a reputable and respected family. On the day of the wedding, father and son traveled together in a horse-drawn coach. Along the way, both of them kept asking the driver how much longer the trip would take. However, they each had different motives for asking. The father was ecstatic that his son was going to begin building a home and family. The son on the other hand, was more excited about leaving his stepmother’s home. The father was most excited about the destination, while the son was most excited about the departure.
The Dubna Maggid explained that Klal Yisroel had suffered years of persecution in Egypt. Although the nation was excited about entering the Promised Land, first and foremost they were glad to be out of the clutches of their nefarious oppressors. They saw the forty-year sojourns as travels as they distanced themselves further and further from Egypt.
Moshe, however, had a different perspective. To him, the nation’s spiritual growth and imminent entry into Eretz Yisroel was paramount.
The verse expresses both viewpoints. “Moshe recorded their findings according to their travels.” To Moshe their “findings” – their spiritual discoveries and growth – were most important. “Their travels” – their increasing distance from their previous exile – was secondary. But to Klal Yisroel, “their travels according to their findings” – their travels were most important.
Rav Hirsch explains the verse in a similar vein: The first phrase expresses G-d’s view. Whenever G-d instructed the nation to “go forth” and travel, He wanted them to progress to the next level of growth. Each time the nation traversed one challenge and learned what they needed to from that location, they were commanded to move on. They were to continue to “journey” toward the destiny He planned for them – l’motza’ayhem l’ma’asayhem; G-d wanted them to go forth on their journey.
The people, however, viewed it differently. It is human nature to be impatient with the status quo and to constantly seek new adventures. Whenever they camped in one place for too long, they became impatient and dissatisfied. When the time came for them to “journey” they rejoiced simply because they had the opportunity to “go forth” – ma’asayhem l’motza’ayhem, their purpose was not their destination, but the journey.
The Nesivos Shalom quotes the Ba’al Shem Tov who related that just as the Torah records the nation’s forty-two encampments, so too every individual must endure forty-two “travels” in his lifetime. Not all of those travels are physical, but every Jew encounters forty-two challenges.
One who understands that life is a process of growth views every challenging situation as a potential conduit of achieving greater heights.