It's finally almost here, the long awaited Italian Tour! I have been on this site non-stop since January when I signed up for the trip and have immensely enjoyed the knowledge gleaned from you world-wide travelers. In fact, it is really T.M.I. (toooo much information). I printed and printed (went through a lot of ribbons), and had to take the 18 inch. pile on vacation closeby to get it read, sorted, and absorbed.<BR><BR>My question: I can't imagine when I will be BACK, although I now understand that it is &quot;contagious&quot;. I believe that I will suffer severe withdrawal from Fodor's, but without a trip to plan, will I still be curious?? Are you? Can't seem to read it without printing it (I read at stoplights and in lines.) <BR><BR>I imagine that I will have a LOT of time to do other things...instead of a few hours a day on Fodor's. Can I withdraw painlessly?<BR><BR>BTW, I am passing on reams of Fodor's printouts to a friend who will do a tour in May.

I think that many people do not come back, but then again, the majority don't &quot;achieve&quot; the satisfaction and &quot;get into it&quot; in the manner which you describe. Heaven knows, you'll be welcome here, and if you find yourself transformed into a &quot;Euro-dite&quot; - - frequently talking about your trip just completed and thinking about how and when the next one will be, maybe for yourself, or someone in your circle of family and friends - - then all the better.<BR><BR>&quot;We&quot; all need more friends here whose lives are (just a little bit too) obsessed with Europe travel - - so that &quot;we&quot; can feel all the more &quot;normal&quot;.<BR><BR>Best wishes... for a great trip... and perhaps the first of a long series of trips...<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

I came back!<BR>Recently returned from a 2+ week trip to Paris. Our first European trip.<BR>Both my husband and I have checked this<BR>site. Curiosity makes me check at least<BR>once a week. Think we will always want<BR>to read and maybe contribute info. This<BR>site was a tremendous help when we were<BR>planning our trip!

Dear Roco,<BR><BR>Please come back and post a trip report. The next best thing after travelling (and planning a trip) is reading about others' adventures. <BR><BR>Also, once you're a &quot;seasoned traveller&quot; you'll be able to help others by answering questions. <BR><BR>Have a great time!<BR><BR>rrr

Sure, if you're addicted now, you will probably come back. I find that planning the trip beforehand and talking about it afterward can extend the pleasure of the trip tremendously.

Roco,<BR>I am an expert on these matters and I regret to tell you, you will experience withdrawal symptoms from Fodors and it is quite painful. Your friends may not know why you are chuckling to yourself when nothing is apparently funny to anyone else, you will find that you have become an expert on spotting American tourists, everything you have ever read that's meaningful on this site will come back into your memory in full detail, you will feel an energy build up in your finger tips and be compelled to find a cyber cafe for a quick Fodor's fix, and with all the amazing things that you will see and experience, you may obsess over how to convey it once you return. Those reams of fodor print outs can get heavy in your travels, but they do make for good plane reading and are a bit of a security blanket. Good luck with managing your symptoms and have a great trip.<BR>Dr. B

Always great to see a return guest appearance from Dr. Betty!<BR>

topping<BR>

Roco,<BR><BR>I, too, starting reading this site this summer and I started planning a trip to England (scheduled for January 2003). Will I come here after my trip? Definitely. I'll do a trip report, but also because once I get back from England, I'll want to start thinking about where to go next (even if it is a year or two away). <BR>There are always great ideas here, and I figure I may &quot;discover&quot; and area to travel to that I haven't thought of yet!<BR><BR>Happy travels,<BR>Karen

Please do come back after your trip and answer questions for others. Sure it's fun getting information to plan your vacation, but it's also great to be able to pass on the things you've learned first-hand on your trip to others who will be able to gain from your experiences. It's a give &amp; take kinda thing!!

<BR>I am still here 8 months later, even though I am mightily put off by the large number of trolls that frequent this site. <BR><BR>When you first return from your trip, you will find yourself jumping in with answers to some of the questions. <BR><BR>Later you will have some aha! moments when, because of your travel, some of the things people say will finally make sense.<BR><BR>Later still, you will read because it brings back memories of your trip. <BR><BR>And later still, you will once again start scheming to go back.<BR><BR>Have a wonderful trip.

I canceled my planned October trip soon after September 11 last year, but I've been lurking here all along thinking about when I will be ready to try to schedule it again.<BR><BR>It seems like no one here thinks about terrorism stuff anymore, but then the airlines still are doing so terrible. Is travel really back to normal?<BR><BR>If nothing else, maybe I have learned here in the past year not to think about that stuff trying to plan a trip.<BR><BR>I'll hang around for quite a while longer. My grandfather gave me $500 for Christmas last year, and told me I should re-schedule while he was still around to hear about it afterward. If he does that again this year, I think I'll shoot for next May.

Oh, Roco, you'll be back! It is such fun to revisit and check out others' comments to where you've been. You'll have such knowledge and experience to share. And...you'll be dreaming of where you're going next! I can't wait to hear all about it. Have a fabulous time!

I think that xxx knows a lot about screaming and pulling hair out.<BR><BR>But nothing about going on a trip. And certainly not on an overseas one.<BR>