Well Stu T, I'll raise a toast to you here in Portugal. Happy Birthday in advance!

Matt

When you walk in the door from one trip, haven't unpacked or looked at the mail, and your husband says, "Where are we going next?"

You have 2 shelves in the bookcase in the den with travel books plus 2 file drawers of travel folders for possible future trips.

You already have 3 trips planned for 2006 and it's only Feb.!

You have described me to a T. I am constantly on the lookout for the PERFECT suitcase, travel purse, comfortable shoes, and travel shoes. I have shelves of travel books, my home is decorated with "prizes" I have purchased on my travels, and yes I am hooked on Fodor's, I check in at least a dozen times a day. Now, if I was independently wealthly, life would be FAB! Barb

This is the best thread. Truely I had no idea that some of my weird travel orientated behaviors could be shared!

- I not only don't wear clothes if I decide I will need them for a trip but I buy lots of new stuff, clothes, cosmetics, etc , put them away for packing day. I love getting out all the stuff and seeing things I've forgotten I bought. It all adds to that special feeling of going somewhere.

- I photograph the front of the relevant guide book as a wallpaper on the mobile phone so each time I look at my phone I see my next destination.

_ My husband and I ALWAYS talk about our next trip while we are on the current trip!

- We have instituted a "marriage saver" clause, I choose a trip and them he chooses the next one and so on. But its not like either misses out its so win win.

-I am thrilled to receive those daggy long distanc flight socks as a Xmas present from my son

- My husband got 3 travel books for his 50th! And reads and reads them.
- I keep a guide book under my pillow every night OMG

-I never seem able to cross off anything from a "places to go list" . I get home and that destination just goes back on the list again.

- I watch the beginning credits of TV shows just to hear the themes and see the settings eg CSI New York,

- I cry when I leave somewhere eg Thailand, NYC

- If I see something on TV about a place I have been and loved, I get teary.

- I don't talk travel as much as I want to because I know that people do get annoyed.

- I never think of the money I spend on travel as real money. Its a means to an end wheras I HATE spending money on things like a new stove, or the garden or whatever. Even though I spend way way more on travel!

-I see my time spent on hotel and travel websites as my second "job"

-I don't even mind the hideous distance Australia is from just about everywhere else and all that cramped flying time spent getting somewhere
And almost all the other things people mention here.
And this year its Paris and Dubai in Marach and then LA, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Washington DC and of course NYC in September. Then its the PoorHouse.

honerstly are interested in seeing your friends vacation pictures and hearing ALL about their trip!
My house looks like an international flea market, I tend to decorate with "finds" from our trips.
When I can't sleep I try to count how little of a wardrobe I can get away with packing for our next trip.
Everyone who tells me they're going somewhere gets my help, whether they ask for it or not. This web site is my AA!

All of the above, and...

When you drop your son off at a school dance, as I did last night, and he asks for money and you look in your wallet, and the only cash you have is 200 euro waiting for the next trip and some old French francs you've been meaning to turn in...

When your travel "shelf" has turned into three travel bookshelves and a special custom-made bookshelf designed to hold oversize atlases and maps (sorry Robespierre - love those paper goods!)...

When you get about a dozen free dinners a year from people who are planning a trip and want to pick your brain...

When you actually spend more than a year working with your favorite local wine store to stock your favorite Pécharmants, Bergeracs, and Fitous...

When you dream in French and Italian and German and sometimes in languages you know only in your dreams...

When you're so scared of flying that you have nightly dreams about crashing weeks before getting on the plane - but it doesn't stop you from traveling at least 4 times a year!

That your living room furniture is literally falling apart and being held together by tape, but you won't replace it because that would take away from at least a trip!

That even though you've read all the travel narratives and can pretty much recite them in your sleep, you pick them up again and again just for comfort because you miss being on a trip so much.

I agree with all the others -- where people find me in the bookstore, knowledge of all codes, best gifts, travel box(es), keeping regular tabs on airfaires even though no trips soon, etc etc.

How great to find kindred souls -- my family thinks I'm NUTS (except DH and DS who are right on board!)

You know you're a travelholic when. . .

. . . you stop using a tube of toothpaste when there is just enough toothpaste left inside for use on a trip, and you put it away it in the cupboard, and you do the same with contact-lens-cleaning solution.

. . . there are so many bars of hotel soap in your cupboard, you have not had to buy soap in ages.

. . . during a friend's vacation on a cruise ship, you keep the ship's web-cam open in a browser-window on your computer-screen.

. . . each date on your calendar has a number written under it, indicating how many days remain until the start of your trip.

. . . your own mother asks you how much money you and your husband make because she wonders how you can afford to travel that much.

. . . your travel agent sends you champagne at your hotel.

Sigh... all of the above! (except for saving clothes for travel. ALL my clothes are travel-ready!!!)

When you have websites up for your next trip (with two friends) so they can see all the planning you do (and have a chance to have a say in it!)

When you have figured out a way to deduct the cost of your vacations AND make money off them! (I sell the photos from my trip in my art side-business) (can you tell I'm a tax accountant!!!!)

When you envy your father his frequent flyer miles balance (he traveled twice a month on business for 15 years)

Ah, I truly envy those of you who have spouses who share the bug! Mine is willing to go along, but no passion. He hates flying (he's 6'4 350#, I don't blame him!) but I love love love it

- when you never unpack your personal amenities because you don't have to - you have a duplicate set of everything you need ready to go in your travel case.

- when your husband describes you to others as a "serial traveler"

- when non of your co-workers bother to raise an eyebrow when you write "gone to Ireland back in the office Monday" on the in/out board Wednesday evening on your way out the door.

- when you can relate to everything on this thread and are certain that its all perfectly normal

If this is supposed to make me feel more sane, it's not working.....

-when you start making plans to put your 5-year-old into a kindergarten in France or Italy for a month or two as a language immersion program -- yes it's that bad =

-when your boss and your friends beg you to be their travel agent or take them along anywhere you go next

Weston...I can relate! I packed my next trip planning materials when I evacuated! Wish I had thought to get my passport and tickets out of the safe deposit box (which flooded!) One of my cousins who lives (lived!) in the East decided to join us for a week on the trip...homeless & jobless, but what the heck! Gotta feed the soul! I finalized all the trip plans, and figured out which repairs I could do myself and put that part of the insurance check to the trip

Paid for the new roof with my miles earning credit card...well on my way to the next free ticket!

Anne

Anne-
Thanks for the idea about the credit cards...I am going to start asking the various repair people if they take credit cards..ha,ha..that is if I can ever get anyone to come out! At least earning miles will take some of the sting out of the ka-ching!

We know cash is king here now, but now and then I find someone willing to take credit! I found a good roofer who came out fairly quickly...if you need a recommendation, send me an email at [email protected]. Also have a guy willing to do the smaller jobs no one seems to want to do!

And to keep on topic...you know you're a travelholic when you take a break from checking satelite pics of your neighborhood to check Fodors and slowtrav!

...when you decide to downsize from the "big" house to a condo so you have more money to travel and less to do around the house.

...when you are traveling with two friends and you volunteer to put all three airline tix on your credit card and have them reimburse you because you get double frequent flyer dollars for it.

Forgot one-

-when you've bookmarked the "world clock" website so you can see what time it is in the places you're dreaming about or that you've recently visited.

You plan the next trip on the airplane home.

A few days after coming home, one finds oneself sighing with melancholy and thinking, 'this time last week I was at the Opera Garnier...or at that cafe whatever for lunch..." I'm sighing again..

....you use the time it takes for the pasta water to boil to check airfares, fodor's, hotel rates, viamichelin routes, etc.
Also, I put the bacon on super low so it takes longer to cook which gives me more time to fool around. Several burned batches later I haven't learned my lesson....

... you stuff your travel journal with newspaper and magazine clippings that relate to the travel experiences you’ve had, even years after the particular trip.

ALL 78 responses fit me to a tee!!!