Am I Weird, or what???
 

Here it is February (pretty dreary where I live).<BR>My 2 week vacation for June is planned~flights, hotel, fun tuff~reservations made (thank you fellow Fodorites for your help).<BR>Now I'm already thinking about my next destination!<BR>When will my "next" vacation be? Where will I go? Is this an obsession, or what? Other people I associate with (including my family) are not like this!<BR>Is there help for me out there???

I have the same problem. Once the bug bites there is no cure, keep traveling...

Happiness is having a ticket in your drawer at all times -- or better yet, having a few stacked there! :o)

I don't know if weird is the best word for it...but it probably lies some where on the left side of the bell curve. I have the same "problem". I have a trip scheduled for the end of March - cruise from St. Thomas to Lisbon, and short stay in Portugal, and I am already thinking of where to go for possible vacation in November. Am thinking of Nicaragua or Honduras or Saba in the Carib. Any ideas out there?

Tricia-If that is weird, we should all be happy to be weird :) There are many people in the "weird club" I think.And although I don't actually have the tickets in my drawer, we are planning multiple holidays too...gets you through the day!

Some days it's the only thing that keeps me in a good mood!<BR>Unfortunately, I've passed this "weirdness" on to my 9 years old son, who's been more places than alot of adults, and always wants to know where we are going next!

Laura, that is soo great! I love to hear that parents pass the travel bug along, more adventurous little people are a good thing! I too, have a couple of travelin young'uns:) One just back from London,planning to go to Germany,the other has seen just about every country in Western Europe and all of the states in the US..now living in Asia..I just think it might be time for them to take me with them next!sort of parental payback? :0)

I am also afflicted. I once told a friend that if I don't have a vacation in the works, there is just no reason to go on living! We are about to put to bed our 10 night trip to Hawaii for April, but are already discussing an end of summer vacation. Then we always do something around the holidays too. Sure hope I don't get laid off!

Thank heaven I'm not alone!<BR>I have one son who still has souvenirs on display in his room from when he was 3 years old! He's become such a "collector". My son's rooms are filled with stuff they have acquired over the years from our travels. Our last day of vacation is always spent with Matthew finding that one special something that he can keep forever. :) <BR>I hope I pass on some of this "wander lust" to them!<BR>Now, where to go for a quick trip (just me & hubby this time)in November.....<BR>

I wonder if there is a TA group around, similiar to AA; I like to plan the next trip right after all the flights and hotels are set for the previous one-SICK??

And I thought I was the only one .... surprise, surprise! Tricia, I can totally relate to you, and everyone else here. I currently have three trips in the works for this current year. Leaving for Rome in three weeks and planning two extended weekend trips. Montreal in late April and Chicago over Labor Day Weekend. <BR><BR>For the Rome trip, everything has been planned for two months now and I feel like I'm just sitting idle now. I've read all the travel guides I can possibly find at my library, have my itinerary planned for every day I'll be there. The planning stage is so much fun to me, and I can't help but think of what's next even before I've gone on the most recently planned trip. <BR><BR>Sickness it may be, but at least some other people out there understand the affliction. <BR><BR>Sandi

Tell me about it. My husband thinks my whole family and I are certifiable because we're all like this! I've got 3 vacations planned, for March, July and end of August, and I'm already getting antsy trying to see if I could squeeze another vacation in the very week the kids get out of school in June and be back before the July trip. <BR><BR>My sister and I have part time jobs and guess what every penny goes to? Right, travel. As she says, there's no point in working if you can't go somewhere!

Join the club-right now I have a trip planned to Kauai in March; Maritimes in August; currently planning an Australian trip next Dec.; and believe it or not-thinking about Tucson for Mar. 2003!! The planning is almost better than the actual trip!!

Count me in. And here's my dirty little secret: I plan our annual family reunions. And since it's "so much work" I always get assigned the master bedroom with the jacuzzi...I swear I try to protest, but what can you do?

I'm so relieved that there are others like me. We hadn't even left for our trip last December to Mexico before I had planned and bought the trip we're taking in March to Brazil! And of course, as soon as we got back from Mexico, I had started planning our September trip. (Booked it already). My fiance thinks I'm crazy due to the sad fact that many of our friends think a vacation is a luxury, not a necessity. I would not be able to will myself out of bed to go to work if I didn't know that I was working towards a trip. I agree that the planning is nearly as much fun as the actual trip!

I love this thread!!! I am a frugal traveler, therefore it is a necessity for me to travel not luxury!! Went to Ireland in Nov. Just got back from snowboarding in Austria, got my ticket in the drawer for Paris in March!!! I guess I am not alone in this sickness!!

I get very depressed when I return from a trip and the only cure is to book another right away, I took 5 trips last year and believe it or not I'm finally sick of traveling I'm going to take a break for a while that I'm really looking forward to.

Count me in. I like nothing better than browsing through travel info, dreaming of where to go next. The travel itself is almost an afterthought. <BR><BR>I once called the division of travel and tourism in all 50 states, most of the Canadian provinces, and several U.S. reps for maybe 15 European countries and ordered their standard travel info packages. My mailman hated me. <BR><BR>But my coworkers loved me--any time they had a travel question on this state or that country, they knew I'd have the information. And this was years ago, before the Internet got popular--so good, up-to-date info on destinations was harder to come by then.<BR><BR>Oh, to have more than three weeks of paid vacation a year. At least I have my subscriptions to Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel and Leisure, etc. to keep my mind wandering when I can't physically get away.

Another addict reporting in! But my feeling is, if someone suddenly says, "Let's get away for ________ " I want to be prepared! And as the above poster said, our friends and coworkers really reap some benefits from our obsession!

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Tricia: You are NOT weird! I wish everybody had your attitude. Even when I'm not traveling I still love to check out new places,people, & cultures in books, on T.V., in magazines & on the web. It's a passion that helps to create a healthier mind, soul, & lifestyle. It will teach you tolerance & patience. You will grow to have an open mind & rid your brain of ignorance & bigotry. I say travel until you go to your grave.

My arms way up over here. I can completely relate. First, decided to make a little jaunt to Chicago just for the day to see the Art Institute's Museum. Five months later, I went to London/Paris for 4 days (all the vacation time allowed) just so that I could SEE the cities. Now I go again in April with a best friend of mine. In June, I take the family to South Dakota for a family reunion (haven't been there in 20 years). Have plans to go to Italy next year with a sister of mine. And the year after that, I'm taking the kids to the UK. It never ends... : ) And I still haven't even been to DC or NYC. I think maybe next Christmas?

Mary,<BR>Did you ever work at Wang in Lowell?<BR>If so, I remember you!<BR>

What's weird to me is some family and friends and coworkers who NEVER travel, at least anywhere too far from home. WE'RE the normal ones, living life to the max, not afraid of something new...

Mary-when are you coming to NYC?<BR>Serendipity? Scrabble? a wander through the Metropolitan Museum?

Troy-that is sooo true! That is what I think...how can people be content to stay in the same place all their lives??Aren't they the least interested in what it is like out there! What things taste like out there! How much better the chocolate is :)<BR>Oh well, as long as there are enough of us "weird" ones to keep traveling and seeing things...tasting things...keeping the world interesting~

so??? what happened, please1

Dear Wondering, if you mean Lowell, Mass, I've never been there. Sorry. In fact, never have travelled to/thru New England (but have been thru most of the rest of the US - the South, North, midwest, out west, etc.). But I've always wanted to go to Lowell just to see Kerouac's grave.<BR><BR>Yes, Troy, I agree with your philosophy. Am very independent and have decided if I want to go somewhere then I will go. Life is too damn short.<BR><BR>Frankly, Scarlett (oh wait, I've already used the d-word). Yes, all three! Won't you join me in a game of Scrabble at Serendipity after a jaunt thru the museum? And maybe afterwards, we'll take a ferry!<BR><BR>Yes, C, the chocolate! Always the chocolate. I ate a croissant today at Panera Bread (do you have those there?) and I was drafting a letter in my mind requesting they do a pain au chocolat!!

Birds of a feather...

Great thread! I know just what you mean. Right now I have a trip planned for Hawaii in March and a 3 week trip to China in September. The China trip is taking a big bite out of my travel budget and vacation days - which means the rest of the year is going to be small weekend trips - already have several planned. <BR><BR>And I've been saving my FF miles up the past several years and have enough for a free first class to Australia - so that is on the plate for 2003!<BR><BR>And then there is Oberammergau Passion Play in 2010!!!<BR><BR>And my "fantasy" trip is an Antartica Cruise - if I could only justify the cost.<BR><BR>Troy is so right - it kills me that so few of my friends/co-workers travel (many never leave the city or state). Thank goodness this board exist!<BR><BR>

Of course you're not weird. People who have no curiosity about the rest of the world are the weirdos! I have so many co-workers and friends who never go anywhere or do anything. Their idea of an ideal vacation is to drive down to the Keys (we live in S Florida) and sit on a beach and get drunk for a week! How sad is that? Or worse, their going to paint the house, clean out the garage, or organize the closets during their precious vacation. What a waste! I always keep my toiletries bag stocked and have my packing list on a spreadsheet....always ready for a trip!