I rarely dream about traveling, go figure. But, I do loose sleep thinking about traveling. I usually come up with a great itinerary right as I go to sleep and of course, I refine it throughout the night.

When I dream of Europe, for me as well, it is exactly as if I was actually there. I tease my friends, calling it my cheapest vacation.

I require all hotel employees to grovel, bow, and lick my Ferragamo loafers.

I pay small children one dollar to carry my Louis Vuitton luggage 5 miles through the street of Paris.

I not only have a glass of gin at 5 PM, I also have one at 10, 11:30, 1, 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1 AM.

I can't bathe without my collection of sandalwood soap from Farmacia Santa Maria Novell. I don't care if the hotel has L'Occitane in the bathrooms, I need my SMN.

I can't stand to eat cheap food. Or eat at a restaurant without tableclothes and CLOTH napkins. Paper napkins are for welfare recipients or those on the dole.

I have to have a manicure and pedicure, or I can't leave my hotel room.

I have to ridicule, rather loudly I might add, poorly dressed tourists. I have been known to throw profiteroles at sloppy Americans in white trainers and Lee jeans.

I have to carry my pills in a special container made for me by Hermes.

I can't abide a breakfast buffet without an open bar.

What a fun thread this is, sweetie.

Cheers,
John G.

ThinGorgous - You really are a down to earth type of guy aren't you :)

Curious though, how can you remember any part of your trip if you are drinking Gin practically every hour on the hour?

In my coffee table drawer lies a travel alarm clock stopwatch bought in Budapest that still beeps every night at 9:45...we can't bear to turn it off!

I read and reread my European travel guides even when not planning a trip.

I keep all of my receipts and nostalgically peruse my old bank statements from times that I was in Europe.

I argue people constantly who call me extravagant for travelling abroad, yet (as another poster said) will spend 2x that on a trip to Vegas or Disney.

Last of all, I read this board constantly even when I am not planning a trip just to hear about others' trips!

I feel more at home in Italy than I do in my "real" home even though I can only speak 2 phrases ("thank you" and "can you please recommend a nice red wine?").

My only souvenirs used to be single prints or postcards suitable for framing and hanging on my walls at home.

My favorite souvenir is my husband. Met him at the Madrid airport even though he was living in Minneapolis and me in DC.

I rarely have dessert at home. On trips, I rarely have a meal without dessert.

I love a hotel room with a bidet.

I'm about to take my third trip to both Venice and Brugge, yet I still can't articulate what I do there or why I like it so much...it's just the way they make me feel.

I always pack an extra pair of pants in my carryon thanks to the "ginger ale incident."

I have a spreadsheet at work that tracks my available vacation days (and how I'm going to spend them) through the end of 2006. I've allotted one full day of vacation time for "family time" and am selfishly spending the rest on travel. (I think you all know that visiting family does NOT qualify as "vacation").

I love having leftover Euro after a trip...it's an excuse to go back for another adventure.

Mnapoli.....Yes..every place does have a different smell......
AND EVERY CITY IS A DIFFERENT COLOR!!
Paris is mauve...
London is gray...
Rome is burnt umber...
Siena is of course siena...
Dublin is...?
((*))

Although I don't dream about traveling I agree with beanweb24, I feel like I belong in Europe. I've just never hankered to travel to other continents yet. The plane lands on the tarmac and I have no feelings of "foreigness" even though it's so very different from home. Thingorjus, thanks for revealing what many of us secretly think. We are superior to other tourists. I cannot help but think my trip is always better than someone else's (not those on this website) because I have researched, planned and prepared better. I seek out the best restarants, accommodations, sites, etc. even if I am sleeping in a train compartment while munching on a slice of pizza.

My Confessions:

I never travel thinking "What Would ThingGorgous Do?" because I can't afford it, and I can't drink that much gin, even at sea level.

I DO wish I spoke more French, but vow to learn more before I go to Paris again.

I DO love having people look at me green with envy because I went to Paris "again."

I relish hitting the ground with a full itinerary, knowing full well I'm going to blow some of it off in favor of a sit-down, 2-hour drink(s) at a cafe.

I thoroughly enjoy staying in a bar in Paris past midnight, when all the tourists are gone except for me, and the French are decidedly friendlier than usual.

I like a budget hotel, centrally located, for less than $100 Euro a night that still has a hair dryer in the bathroom and a cafe au lait waiting for me in the breakfast room.

I love any interaction with foreign police. They approach me because I'm not where I should be, but I'm a non-threatening white girl from The States, so I get away with it.

I secretly wish everyone would go to Turkey at least once in their lives.

I secretly don't like Italy as much as I probably should have.

I know who Robespierre is in French history, not just here on the Fodor's board.

Jules

Bailey -
Dublin is loden. And Venice is gold.

This is such a fantastic thread!

Isabel, this is me too, to a T!!
"My life consists of three phases: planning a trip, taking a trip, editing the photos and writing up the journal from the trip. I am always in one of those phases, I HAVE to start planning my next trip before I'm done printing the photos of the previous one or I go into withdrawal." hahaha

I do my very best to look the part. My trip to Paris this past spring, a woman next to me said she was shocked I was American, because she thought I was a native Parisian - I swear, I was glowing for 2 days straight!

I try anything to NOT look like a tourist.

My husband and I take at least 1200 pictures during a one-week trip.

We get up at 7am and go to bed at 2am, and the only time we "relax" is during wine time.

I don't see a need to stay at anything nicer than a 2star hotel for the above reason, we spend max 8hrs in the room per day!

I need wine every day, just as I need gelato every day.

I look forward to recapping the day each evening in my travel journal.

I make a detailed itinerary in Excel for each day - and each day always has about 30% more stuffed in there than is humanly possible.

I study the language, and in some countries I do ok, and in others, I am a disaster. But I try and try and try!

Each month I feel, I have my 'top 3' trips that I want to take next. And each month, I feel they change - I don't think I will EVER tire of traveling. Our family and friends think we're crazy and rich for doing what we do, but really, they are probably spending just as much to their trip to the Caribbean in Jan/Feb with every other New Englander, while we suck up the brutal winter and look forward to our European travels.

Thanks LindaL for starting this thread, I am amazed at how many similarities are between us all!

To think, I thought I was the only one obsessed with foreign travel.

I also start planning the next trip as soon as we return but go into full swing January 1 for our June travel.

The most bookmarks I have are under foreign travel.

I receive a word a day in my e-mail and work very hard at it.

My wallpaper on my PC is always some place I want to visit.

I re-read my journals because its amazing how much detail you forget.

My kitchen needs major re-modeling and my last 3 trips would have provided a state of the art kitchen but I would rather have the memories.

My favorite time ever is to wake up on the day we depart. I'm so excited with the apprehension of the adventure ahead that I am diliriously happy.

We always take a really nice limo to the airport instead of driving ourselves. It makes the beginning of the trip special.

I too look down on those who repeatedly go to the Islands or Disney World. I think they have no imagination,sense of adventure or desire to learn.

I always buy a piece of jewelry and perfume that is then evocative of the place I visited. I love when someone asks where I purchased a bracelet and I can say "Paris."

I always have a glass or two of wine late in the afternoon in a cafe and write in my journal.

While I love to be with my husband, we always separate on a trip for a day or part of a day because I love to be alone in a city.

I too watch movies for background that I might recognize. I read a lot of history of places I've visited especially English history.

I have sexy lizard shoes that I only wear to our last dinner in Paris. I can't bear to wear them at any other time.

This was a fun, enlightening thread.

Carrying a bag of groceries is the best fashion accessory to not look like a tourist and have local people speak to you in French (spanish, italian...)

What fun! I'm glad I'm not the only one to plan trips in my head. I have more trips planned than I will ever live long enough to take or have money enough to spend on. Sometimes I have to plan for 3 or 4 years before it happens, but then all the details pay off. (oh gosh, don't end sentences with prepositions).

I love this thread.

My husband and I are taking a trip to Germany next summer - my first trip, he was stationed there once upon a time. So I am all about the guide books, the maps, travel shows on PBS, and all that.

We have gotten a few snide comments about "it must be nice to have money". It is definitely about the priorities though. We aren't rich, but we want to travel, so we are planning accordingly.

Thank goodness I can tell my husband I'm normal - we leave for Switz/Italy in 10 days and while I'm still perfecting that, I'm ALSO planning our 8 day trip within the US this June.

I get 'almost' as excited about a trip to a new place within the US as I do a trip to Europe.

I also cannot read a map to save my life!

I spend too much of my discretionary money on travel books - guides, narratives, to give as gifts to friends...

I hate that my husband is not a night person - particularly in Venice.

I get overly crazed by things on vacation that take more time than I think they should - trains arriving late in Italy for example. (When I only have X days, how can I be expected to wait for an extra hour for transportation, or luggage, or for the bill, or for something to open...)

I secretly hope my husband will someday surprise me with a trip to a European city we haven't been to. (but since I plan every spare day in our year, how would he ever be able to?)


Someone else mentioned their kitchen. DH has tried to replace floor/counters for 2 years and I say "Do you understand where we could go with that amount of money???"

Lastly, I KNOW, not hope, that I will spend at least a month in Venice during some point of my life (I'm in my 20's).

Regarding our yearly trips to Paris...
I do 'theme' photos for each trip--one year it was Parisians with their dogs, one year interesting storefronts, etc. When we go to Hawaii in two weeks I'll forcus on weird street/town/beach signs.

I only use a Canon Sure Shot, no digital, and have my photos processed at our local grocery stores for cheap immediately after my trip. (DH has all this fancy equipment, and still has photos in his camera from last January!)

I love those hot dogs sold at stands on the streets.

I buy greeting cards (blanks or French language) to give to people in the US.

MY DH and I each spend several days apart exploring the city--he does the 'photo guy' thing, I do the 'watch the people and scenery' thing.

I prefer a good baguette to a fancy pastry any day.

We swear by VRBO for accommodations--and don't really care where it is as long as it is on a Metro line.

Our pockets have NEVER been picked--probably because we exercise simple common sense when out and about.

We like to eat dinner early, so we can walk around and enjoy the evening, and then go back and watch french TV. No, we can't understand most of it, but we like it (we don't watch much TV at home).

I bring a box of chocolates for the FAs and always get great service on the flights.

No cheesy souvenirs for me--I always manage to bring home heavy or fragile (ceramic canisters, colored Leonardo drinkware, etc) household items that must be carried on the plane--and my DH indulges me!

I wear black tights and comfortable shoes with a slight heel--never sneakers.

I firmly believe that planning the trip is as important as the trip itself!

I can look at European maps for hours.

I always buy clothes with the "can they travel" consideration.

I was completely disoriented when I woke up in my own room after 2 1/2 weeks in Italy.

I begin planning my next trip on the plane home.

I know the streets of Paris better then those of any city in the US.

I spend too much time at work reading this site but have finally given in and begun posting.

It is nice to know that I am not crazy. I thought I was the only one that thought Disney was over priced, over visited and under cultured.

Yes, I do take pubic transportation. Where else can you hear such wonderful conversations? The view from the second story of a bus is much better than than of the passenger seat of a car.

The only thing I don't do is plan my iternaries. I know where I start and stop, but otherwise make plans everyday based on the weather, local events and recommendations from those I meet on the way. Life is too short to be bound by a schedule.

Has anyone else discovered that Paris Metro tickets make the perfect book mark?
Great thread.
Judy