An in-transit location is a location between your From Location and To Location.
Example : If you are trying to move stock from US to Europe.
In the Transfer Order, when you post the shipment, the stock is removed from the US location.
When you post the receipt, the stock is added to Europe location.
What happen if you posted the shipment, but not the receipt ? Your stock does not exist in US and not in Europe.
The stock is stored in an in-transit location, basically saying it is currently on-the-road.
It could mean that your stock is currently on a truck, in a plane, or in a ship heading to Europe.
If you want to use Transfer Order, you need to create a new location and set it as In-Transit Location.
And use that, when you create Transfer Order.