Jan

I'm new to this forum and am quite impressed with everyone's expertise and enthusiasm for travel. I've never been outside the USA and reading these posts has inspired me to think seriously about visiting Europe! What one or two factors have made you such a travel junkie (a GOOD compliment!)?

Bob Brown

You should get as many different answers as there are responders to this question. I was asking myself that question this morning driving in to my office. Why do I travel? I finally decided that travel was educated into me at an early age by my dad. He had itching feet and loved to get out and go, sometimes just for the action of going. I think his motto was "To strive, to seek, to find ..." (From the Lotus Eaters). As a child, I made many trips because my dad drug me along. As a young man, I spent a year in Europe as a student -- more travelling than studying I think. But I learned a lot just bumming around Europe when the dollar was very strong.($1 was equal to about 300 or so francs in France rather than 6, but of course $8,000 a year was an excellent salary for many people.) <BR> <BR>I think there are several reasons: <BR>1. I like mountains, so most of my trips are to Colorado, the Sierra Nevadas, Canada, and Switzerland. <BR> <BR>2. I like to see different parts of the USA, Canada, and Western Europe. <BR> <BR>3. Travel abroad is a challenge, something to keep the senses alive in retirement. <BR> <BR>4. I like art, and many wonderful paintings are to be seen only in Europe. <BR> <BR>5. The travel gives me an escape from daily life and also gives me something to talk about. Like contributing to this forum. <BR> <BR>I will bet you get a wide variety of responses. Is that a real email address?

Paul Rabe

I suppose I inherited a love for travel from my parents as we grew up in the midwest. I was, quite literally, created on their trip to the Grand Canyon! I had my first big family trip at age seven (to the Mackinac Bridge and to the Soo Locks), and then a HUGE trip west in 1962. Ever since, almost all my dreams have been, "where will I travel next?" I can remember a business meeting where I simply could NOT stop daydreaming about hiking the Grand Canyon; if my boss had asked "What's your opinion, Paul?" I would have responded "I think I should hike down the Kaibab and come back up the Bright Angel." :^)

elvira

So I'm not the only one whose parents would suddenly announce "get in the car, we're going to (name a state) today"... <BR> <BR>My grandmother traveled (took the QE2 ONCE, declared it was too slow, and flew after that!) all over, and took me on my first overseas trip after college (thereby my love of the whirlwind tour ...3-week-Cooks-Tour-See-All-Of-Europe) <BR> <BR>And to Jan, who brought up this interesting topic: I didn't travel for many years after that (except to other parts of the U.S.) because "it was too expensive"...lo and behold, once I decided I *had* to see Paris again...the money came. Now, I make two to three trips to Europe every year. There was a very good string not too long ago about how we (the Fodies) all manage to travel on limited budgets. I like the Field of Dreams theory: Build it and they will come...Plan the trip, and the money will come... <BR>And when (notice I didn't say "if") you decide to go, this forum will give you lots of good info - always do a search first to get lots of info from the Forum archives. If you can't find what you need, just post (we have lots of obscure information!)

Brian in Atlanta

My high school European history class.

Trina

Let's see...I guess there are a few contributing factors. Maybe I love to travel because it's in my genes (my father was a truck driver). Maybe it's because I was envious of Robbie in second grade when he brought a complete slide show from his trip to Disneyland and I'd never even left my own backyard (in a po-dunk Texas town). Or maybe it's because I love the thrill of personally visiting sites that, as a child, I'd only read of in books and never imagined actually getting to see them. Then again, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm fortunate enough to have lived in Germany for the past five years and can't help but take off whenever the sun finally comes out!

michele

My parents. I don't think there was one school vacation where we stayed home. They even allowed my sister and me to travel to Europe alone when we were both teenagers. By the way, they are now in their mid-eighties and just got back from Jordan. I am hoping to carry-on the tradition.

cp

I think it had to do with Mom & Dad dragging me to Europe when I was 4 (they planted the bug early). That, or those dang National Geographics that kept showing up month after month loaded with fantastic photos of far off places. Or maybe it was being the child of a 1st generation American on 1 side and a DAR on the other, or maybe it was my college major in European history...

dan

A lifetime interest in history (weird I know, but I absolutely lived in encyclopedias when I was growing up, and when the rest of the second grade class was doing something else I would be drawing the flags pictured on a poster in class). Essentially a lifetime interest in anything foreign and different. I got the interest from books, as the most my family ever travelled was the occasional trip to somewhere like Florida or Colonial Williamsburg - never out of the South. <BR> <BR>Now I travel to learn more about other cultures (experience cannot be matched by reading about it), to compliment my love of photography, and to see all the places that I read about in the history books. Some people worry about languages, but for me the more different the better. My first foreign journey was to Japan and China. I always get pleasure out of communicating with someone who speaks a different language, whether it be by speaking the other language or by using hand signals.

Robin

<BR>And as mentioned by Elvira, I'd always believed that Europe was too expensive, couldn't afford it yada-yada. And then my friend Liz moved to Rome a few years ago. I decided the opportunity was there and I had to go visit. Yes, the 'build it, it will come' theory kicked into play and somehow the money came and before I knew it I was on my way there. Since then, I've been to London, Paris, back to Italy again, a wonderful R & R trip to Mexico (Rio Caliente Spa outside Guadalajara) and this is all within the past 2 years! <BR>It can be quite addictive - the more I go, the more I want to see.

Tammy

It is hard to say what has influenced me the most regarding my love for travel. For as long as I can remember I have always loved history, and even minored in it in college. Everytime I learned something new in class, I had this overwhelming desire to see it, especially everything in Europe. In 1997, I finally took the worldwind tour of Europe. Instead of quenching my thirst for travel, it only made it worse. I now jokingly call it my habit. Some people play golf, some decorate their house, some buy new cars every couple of years, but I travel. That's what I want to do, so I do it. In April I had the chance to return to London, and I am already trying to narrow down where I want to go next spring, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal? I can't decide so many places that I want to visit.

becky

What I'm wondering is, for all of you who travel often, how do you manage the money aspect of it? Also, does everyone here have more than 2 weeks of vacation a year? Sorry if these questions are a bit basic, but I'm a recent college grad who would like to travel more often.

Bob

I was very fortunate to be drafted by the Army in 1969 and sent to Germany instead of Viet Nam. From the bad (drafted) came a great experience (living in Europe right after college graduation). I took my new wife with me and we had a ball. Now thirty years later we still go back to Europe as often as possible. I have friends that have never left the state they grew up in. They are missing a lot. My wife and I did Europe on zero money while in the Army and now can afford a litle more but the times with the zero money are the ones we still laugh about. Jan, go for it. You will get hooked with the rest of this group.

Linda

An avid reader as a child with an over developed imagination, I dreamed of visiting far away lands with castles and princesses and centuries old cottages with thatched roofs. A deep seated curiosity button triggers an urge in me to travel to Europe annually to get my "fix". I have never been disappointed over the past 8 years since I started my journeys. I take 2 weeks each year to go on my trips (although I have 3 weeks vacation - I have a high stress job which makes taking 3 weeks impossible) and look forward to early retirement when I can go for longer peiods. The money is not an issue. I, like other people using this website, plan accordingly and budget for each trip. You will be surprised how easy it is to do without things you thought were necessities after you return from your first trip. My car has 80,000 miles on it and believe me it's going to last awhile longer, cause I'm going on vacation!! The factors that have made me a travel junkie is my love of wanting to see different things and having an open mind. <BR>

elvira

Becky: <BR>There's a great string under "Immensely Wealthy" that has everyone's methods of affording travel. Read through the answers, and you'll pretty much find a common thread. <BR>When I had just two weeks vacation, I made sure I planned my vacation around a long weekend (so I got Monday free), leaving Friday night, and returning Monday the next...still had another week off. Now, thank the Goddess of Travel, I have 4 weeks vacay and I use every spare moment on a trip. Also, I've done long weekends (London makes a great visit for 3 days) during WAY off-season with the airlines practically paying ME to get on a flight...

Mary Ann

I think as bob mentioned above, it is somewhat a challenge and also an adventure. Speaking for myself, I won't be flying off to the moon or climbing Everest, but a driving trip around Europe is an adventure. It's history, art, geography, communication, <BR>gourmet all rolled in one big road rally. You find yourself looking for excuses, a relative stationed in the service, your daughter doing a semester, you have frequent flyer mileage. Once you start going, it is addictive. We are going back this fall to Europe and probably next year to Australia. I guess overall it makes you feel more a part of the world and more alive to see it first hand from the beauty of the Alps, to monet's garden to the overwhelming impressions of Dachau or Normandy to the quiet pleasure of eating a Belgian waffle in Belgium at a sidewalk cafe just watching people pass by. Are you hooked yet?

judy

I certainly didn't get my love of travel from my parents. My beloved father was a workaholic with his own business who never took time off, and I often say if it hadn't been for my visits to allergy clinics (a fairly new thing in the 50's), I would have never left my small hometown. I loved literature and therefore studied history along with it, and when a lifelong friend moved to England for several years and invited me for a visit, I went. Actually the impetus for this visit came a year after I had been diagnosed with cancer, and I realized there are worse ways to die than in a plane crash. It also was apparent that life is extremely short and if you don't do it now, the chance may not come again. Now I am a cancer survivor of 19 years, and I have traveled to Europe several times along with many trips around the U.S. . Still haven't gone as many places as I would love to, but I'll keep going as long as I can. My own daughter "caught" my fever and spent last summer backpacking in Europe for 9 weeks. How I envied her for living her dream. <BR>

April

I think I was just born with a curiosity about the world. It's definitely not a strong gene in our family. I was fascinated at a very early age by stories of Egypt and then of Holland. An avid interest in east African animals meant I had to go there. Other trips were inspired by a song, or by postcard or calendar pictures. The first trip probably hooked me for life. It's the greatest way to get out of the small world and to see the bigger picture.

Paul Rabe

Note to Becky -- there are many ways to handle the money aspect of it. Here are the ways I do so-- <BR> <BR>1) I reduce expenditures on other items in order to have more money to travel. <BR>2) I camp a lot. <BR>3) I stay at budget places (I'd save even more if I'd stay at really cheap places, but my wife and I got tired of motels with hookers in the lobby. This is NOT a joke). <BR>4) I travel during the off-season, making it easy to find bargains. <BR>5) I buy food at grocery stores instead of restaurants while traveling. <BR>6) I refuse to visit places where the entrance fee isn't worth the attraction (extremely subjective, but, basically, do consider this). <BR>7) I visit a lot of places near to us; not EVERY trip has to be to the Riviera!

dan

To add to what I posted earlier. Another poster reminded me of another main reason that I like seeing the world. When I hear about something happening in another part of the world (riots in Paris, Embassy attacks in China, elections in Mexico, etc.) it is all so much more meaningful because I have been to these places. In fact, it can go even further, and you can become more aware of and more interested in all the other parts of the world that you have not seen just because you are an experienced world traveller. That is the real beauty of travel - it makes the world a smaller place. Just like photography, it helps you see things in a completely new way.