This exploratory study challenges the predominant static view of travel motivation by providing new insights into the link between travel motivations and behaviors. It assesses when and how tourist travel motives change over time. It further explores the mediating role of travel involvement and the moderating role of economic performance using the time-variant travel motivational framework as a longitudinal, multilevel model. This study advances the literature by demonstrating that travel motivations and their effects on tourist travel involvement and behaviors vary over time, and that such a variation can be explained by the changes in economic conditions. In essence, this study sheds light on the traditional view of travel motivation and builds a dynamic multilevel model of pleasure travel motivation and behavior.