. . . your friends are no longer surprised that you are going on another trip; they are only surprised when you are not.

. . . you own an electrical converter and at least three different plug-adaptors.

. . . you find that the best part of the airline's in-flight magazine is the world map showing the airline's flight routes, and you could gaze at this for hours.

. . . you enjoy spending an evening just reading one of the many travel journals you kept during past trips.

. . . you daydream about spending the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays abroad for a change, even though you know your family always expects you to spend the holidays with them.

. . . although you only go on trips during school breaks because you would never encourage truancy in your children, you do envy the parents who don't care and simply take the children out of school to go on a trip.

. . . you never give out your phone number to potential telemarketers, but you will if it's required to enter a sweepstake where the prize is a trip.

. . . a wedding invitation is just an excuse to travel.

. . . you would rather travel to Disneyworld than travel nowhere at all.

...when your guest room isn't available for your out- of -town company because it's a depository for all the travel items you keep finding...and the bed is buried beneath day packs, clothes lines, plastic bottles, etc.

...when you hear someone speak French in a coffee shop or store and your heart leaps with joy.

...when you go on Netflix and only pick films from France, Italy or Spain...or whatever country is on your agenda.

...when you only look at clothes that are dark (they won't show the stains)..

...when it's more exciting to go to a travel store than to Nordstoms.

...when the librarian at the local library marvels at the number of travel books you have requested.

.....you won't even look at imported ceramics and linens because if you're going to buy them you'll buy them in the country of origin, thank you very much!

you associated everyday weather patterns with a certain European city or a special vacation.. happened to me today as I walked out of my office for lunch. It was bright and sunny but a chilly breeze, I caught a whiff of someone cigarette and immediately thought... ahhh Paris...I also think about Paris when it's cold and rainy outside.

- when you start collecting cookbooks from every country you've been in and go on international "cooking sprees"

- when you need to buy a new bookcase for all your travel books

- you spend an entire day going through your travel photos, journals, ticket stubs, etc.

. . . you read all the new posts on Fodor's Talk forum, go do something else for two minutes, come back to the forum again, and are disappointed to find no new posts.

Yipes. Looks like I am "normal" afterall. At least with this group.
How about
- a file full of packing lists for different trips/climates and activities (weights included) as well as lists by season to give to housesitters and friends
-all your bills are charged to the credit card that gives the "miles"
-you have the travelbook bookshelf as well as the dedicated file cabinet and dedicated coffeetable always covered with current trip plans
-you plan your garden so blooms and veggies will happen before and after that next trip
-there is always at least one suitcase parked where it gets fallen over-but never ever put away (and has those never put away toiletries and travel clothes in it)
-your screensaver always has photos showing all the hits of your last trip so your coworkers can never escape the latest travel story.

When I just got canned from my job last week and I wanna sell everything I have a go live overseas for a few years!!!!!! I love travel but corporate america has never let me do it as much as I desire.... Well, things are about to change.....

Stevo

Go Steve go!

...the first sentence out of your friend's mouth when they haven't seen you for a couple of days is...So, when is your next trip planned and where are you going?

...you are spending an evening having dinner out with friends and 2 of us (luckily I have one friend who is as much of a travelholic as I am)are sitting at one end of the table discussing airfares and the difficulty finding a hotel room during the World Cup in Germany this summer.

...you arrive home from your latest trip at 3am and sit down at your computer to transfer all your digital photos from the memory card onto your computer before you have to get up for work in a few hours.

...you start a blog to keep all your friends informed about when your next trip is, and any funny stories that happend on the last trip.

...a friend mentions they know someone who is looking to exchange Euro back into dollars and want to know where they can do that and you jump at the chance to take the Euros off their hands, since you may be needing it sometime in the next year.

...I realized I suffer from each and every other "affliction" mentioned on this thread! :)

Thanks Sandi !!!!

I am guilty of so many of these! But my worst travelholic symptoms are:

-When you read up on other destinations while on a trip (most recently I was perusing a book on Belize I found at one of our hotels in Costa Rica - my husband told me to put it down!)

-when you get almost as excited about other peoples trips as you do about your own...

-when you're having coffee with your coworkers and you describe the next trip you're taking (for me it's San Francisco in March) after just returning home from another one (Costa Rica in January) and they say: "but I thought you were going to New York this year in May" and you sheepishly grin and say, "yeah, I'm doing that too" and they all stare at you like you must be crazy/insanely rich/spoiled rotten...

-when you almost get cranky when someone you know DOESN'T consult you about their upcoming trip...

-when you know the airport codes of places you've never been, just because you like to check for cheap deals to those places so maybe that'll be the next trip....

. . . you ask a friend for more detail about her trip than she can remember.

. . . you cannot have any pets or even plants because you do not want to have to deal with where to keep them when you travel.

. . . you apply for a credit card only because the card-issuer does not charge a currency-conversion fee.

. . . you sit through tedious pledge-a-thons on PBS (public televison) just to watch their excellent travel shows.

. . . you know how to write a note to the housekeeper in various languages to ask for extra towels.

. . . you know by heart your frequent-flyer number for your favorite airline.

. . . you cook foods from so many different cuisines around the world that when people ask you what you cook for dinner, you don't know where to begin.

. . . you buy only appliances that are dual-voltage.

. . . you practice with purported jet-lag preventatives and remedies in your spare time, like a willing, human guinea pig.

. . . you secretly dream of being a contestant on the reality show "The Amazing Race."

loisco - you really hit a nerve for me. My guest room is so full of travel stuff I can't even see the bed any more. I have a huge box of travel sized toiletries, and accessories, four different size suitcases, three different styles of toiletry bags, and travel pillows. I even bought large plastic bins to organize it all, but the bins are still empty. It's almost overwhelming now. I have years worth of travel journals and every single brochure, bus, train, metro, ferry ticket I've brought home. Tons of plastic bags, including the kind you press the air out of. I even have shopping bags from Paris and Rome that are just too cute to throw away, including those really sturdy duty-free plastic bags, which just might come in handy for something. I have three dedicated bookshelves for travel books, more boxes of notes, maps, fodor print-outs, and another large plastic bin for all my travel photos (in albums I must say). I always buy new clothes to travel in, but I have to stop that. Last trip, three of the things I bought and saved for the trip either didn't fit well, wrinkled or shed so bad I never wore them after the first wearing. Next trip will be clothes I know fit and work well for traveling.

So, yes, I am a true travelholic and don't care.

When you tell your husband he might just get buried in Cimetiere Du Pere Lachaise so I have lots of reasons to return to Paris ;;) Deborah

DeborahAnn- That makes me think about a recent conversation I had with DH concerning my own demise. He has agreed to sprinkle some of my ashes in Aspen, some by the fountain in Fountain Hills, some on a bike path near home, and some on the field at Ohio Stadium.

I'm only 42 so if I live to be a ripe old age the guy may have to travel the world sprinkling teaspoonfuls of "moi" on all the many new favorite places in my life.

OMG, all of the above is me and more! :-)

How about...

...when you ask about someone's trip (as in did you go/do etc?) and know about all the destinations, hotspots and things to do, and you haven't even been there yet!

54 days and counting to Thailand!

I know I'm a travelholic because my study resembles a Travel Agents office! Maps, notes & travel books everywhere.
At book sales I buy books on places I might never get to, but hey, at least I get time to do a bit of research! I LOVE reading the trip reports even if I have never set foot in the place.

. . . when the book entitled _1000 Places To See Before You Die" causes you anxiety: that's a very long to-do list.

. . . when you forgo restaurant meals in your hometown so as to put money in the bank for restaurant meals abroad.

you promise your doggie that someday you will take her to that special place (paris) where she can stay at the finest hotels, and go to all the restaurants and sites, travel the metro, without getting "the look", or worse. (hubby thinks you are kidding, but you and her know it is just a matter of time.....;)
Your friends family and coworkers do not make a travel move without consulting you first..
Christmas gifts from all of the above seem to have a theme...guides, camera
media cards, photo albums and frames..

...the MD conducts an intense discussion of beneiftis/risks associatied with necessary surgery, concluding, "Are there any questions?" and all you can think of is "Can't this wait 'til I get back from my trip to Europe?"
...you open another humongous credit card statement, but don't feel tooooo bad about it because you got miles for all those charged dollars, and besides, there's no other way you could afford to go on your next two trips!
...your grown kids start planning THEIR own trips without you, and use Fodors as a resource.
Adding to Amanda's "when you almost get cranky when someone you know DOESN'T consult you about their upcoming trip"...
...acquaintances tell you they had only a so-so time at a certain place, hotel, cruise, and instead of commiserating, you think "What a waste!" and ask "Why didn't you talk to me FIRST?"
... hearing the key turn in the front door, you hurriedly log off the computer before getting teased again by your family for planning another unaffordable trip.
...you're REALLY making progress when you finally get photos from three trips ago into an album.

Thanks for a grat fun thread, DejaVu!

Oh so true to all of the above!! When someone mentions one itsy bitsy thing about travel, I can't stop talking for hours!

I'll plan my trip but start planning my next one at the same time!

My office at home is filled with travel books and it continues to grow.

I sigh when I see Italian ceramics at a store here in town and say "I can get that cheaper in Italy...gotta plan another trip!" The same goes for the wonderful Provence soaps. We all know where the best deals are.

I work all day but think all the time of traveling and what I'll see, where I'll go and what I'll be eating. Yum!

I don't carry a converter anymore because I have my own European hair dryer!

You've been to a city at least 2-3 times and don't even need a map to get around!

You surf the tv to find a travel related movie or show. (Boy I wish the Travel channel would get their act together).

There's more to my list, but I better get back to wor....no better think more about my May trip to Italy.

Monica ((F))

...you know your child is due in September, and you wonder exactly how long you have to wait before introducing that little person to the joys of traipsing all over Europe! :)

(We have too, too many places to see here before we move home to the States again to postpone longer than necessary! :)

And, Gardyloo, what is FEBO?

You have the entire next year of trips not only planned but booked!

Diz01 - you are very lucky!

I have another one... the reading material in the WC is a Paris Eyewitness guide book...which it really is!

CaliNurse, I did the medical thing. I had to have immediate surgery and told the doctor I had a trip booked to Greece the next month. He said he thought it would be okay, and I climbed the Acropolis on the six-week anniversary of the surgery. The next day I climbed to the top of the fortress at Mycenae, and my daughter who accompanied me and is a nurse said at that point she quit worrying about me.

BRAVO to you, Carolyn!!!
Nothing like facing illness to make you appreciate the time you DO have to do the things you love with people you love!
Doc agreed to a pre-op trip, but wanted to Rx Dilantin and Prednisone (to avoid seizures--the surg was brain-related). I said "no way." Off we went. I told my daughter exactly what to do and who to call if Mom had any weird (beyond the usual) behaviors, and all was fine. We had the best trip ever!! (I say that after nearly every trip--another travelholic symptom?)
Came home, glad to have had that special time before surgery, and recovered nicely, partly with lots of on-line Fodors time!! So thanks again for sharing your stories and ideas, fellow Fodorites!!!

FEBO is an acronym related to how they serve food on an airplane... from the Front on Even numbered flights, from the Back on Odd numbered flights.

...planning a trip for 10 to Ireland and loving every minute of it.
...can recite the entire 2 week itinerary by heart even though it is still 5 months out.
...taking both Italian and French at the same time, knowing that I will make it to one or the other this year.
...and every other symptom on this thread.

I forgot this one...
...knowing how to get around Paris better then my own town of Sacramento.

..when you look at the Sunday New York Times travel section, see that there is an interesting place to go, and save it...and then suddenly there is a hugh stack of newpapers in the spare room...

...when the majority of your passwords have the letters..P..A..R..I..S..in them, and the numbers are a date when
want to go back...lately its ParisAug06

When your friends say...Paris, again??

When you watch a movie, recognize the sights, and say to yourself..if they were really going from...X...to Y...they wouldn't drive past "tourist site"...movie French Kiss as an example

when you get excited about ANY trip, even within own country (Canada) or US...every trip is a chance to see new things, try new restaurant, go to museum, ball game,etc...

... you’re ignoring the work you do as a freelancer, the work that pays the bills, the work that allows you to travel, and you spend your time instead responding to a thread like this about travelholism.

Also,when you have bookcases full of albums of travel photos which you look at frequently.

I can get around in London, Paris or Florence better that I can downtown LA :-B

I can even get excited about a trip for my wife's family reunion in Iowa

I forgot this one:

That you drive over to your local airport ( mine is Ronald Reagan National), just to walk around the concourse even if I don't have a flight. I just walk around, breathe deeply, stare at the planes and leave.

Wow, tripgirl. Now that's hard core.

. . . when someone asks where your based and you have no idea how to answer!
. . . when you call your friends and the first thing they say after hello is "Where are you?"
. . . when your answer to that question almost always changes.
. . . when someone says "Oh, I am going to (blank)" and you say "will you bring me back (something obscure and totally delicious)? I am out."
. . . when you refuse to buy products from your favorite country on-line, saying in your mind I'll just go over and get them myself."
. . . when you can convince yourself that the latter is actually cheaper.
. . . when your mother, who knows you best, actually admits to her friends that she has no idea where you are. "I have lost track."
. . . when you get upset if you see anything under the Christmas tree because all you asked for were airline tickets.

That's right, people. It is a crazy life.

jolie,

yes, pretty sick, huh???

And I even know the locations of each and every bathroom at Reagan and Dulles!!

tripgirl,

there are worse afflictions I can think of. At least you are not alone here :-)

When I hear a train whistle I think of sitting on a platform somewhere exotic and not about the filthy train depot a few miles from my home.

one more...

at any given hour inthe day, I glance at the time and then calculate what time it is in Europe, Asia, australia...