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https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/travel here you can read this:

• Travel is only used as an uncountable noun. ✗Don’t say: a travel | the travel

• Travels is always used as a plural noun in this meaning. ✗Don’t say: her travel | my travel

But I come across natives saying "I can enjoy my travel without...."

Why is it that the dictionary's advice is neglected in reality?

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    These natives (of where?) must be using travel as an uncountable noun 'the activity of travelling' rather than speaking of an individual journey.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 16:35
  • So if I want to talk about an individual journey I should NOT say "my travel"?
    – user1425
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 17:54
  • No, you shouldn't (say 'journey'!).
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 17:55

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It would normally be considered an error to say:

"I can enjoy my travel without...."

This doesn't mean that native speakers never use such constructions (everyone makes mistakes) but (1) they are rare, normally one would say "enjoy my journey" or "enjoy my holiday", and (2) You would be judged by other native speakers.

Now you may not care what other people think and that's okay; many native speakers don't care much. But if you are trying to speak correctly, you should avoid this construction.

It might be worth noting that it is quite common to use "travel" as a noun adjunct in expressions like "enjoy my travel writing" or "enjoy my travel blog".

Thus "travel" is a defective noun. It has countable and uncountable senses, but the countable sense (meaning a series of journies) is only used in the plural. The uncountable sense can't usually be determined with words like "my" or the.

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  • "The uncountable form can't usually be determined with words like "my" or the." What? Why not? You can say for example: Here is the news, They were all anxious to increase their knowledge
    – Kyamond
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 21:15
  • The uncountable sense of the word travel is not normally determined with "my". Of course other uncountable nouns often have such determiners. @Kjaamond
    – James K
    Commented Oct 9, 2023 at 21:39
  • There definitely are situations (dialects? jargons?) where travel is modified by a possessive. In my on-the-job experience (in the US), it is 100% idiomatic to say things like, “Has Jim’s travel to Salt Lake City been approved?” where travel is essentially synonymous with trip. Likewise, “I completed my travel without any major headaches.” I note though that we would not say something like *”His next travel is to Washington.”
    – Paul Tanenbaum
    Commented Oct 10, 2023 at 0:32

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