Hey! I got a badge!

LOL!! Congratulations...and yes, just think about it as if you were spending time with extended family. Family is good, right?

I expected at least one of you to say "Badges??? We don't need no stinking badges!"

"Badges???" We don't need no stinkin' badges!"
(OK, now one of us has said it) :-)

...and one more click for my count/badge.

Perhaps that is an incentive to contribute even more... happy writing

Hmmmmmm............
Is obtaining the next level badge akin to the traveler attempting to jam in too many sites while on a trip?
Chill folks! Just having some fun.

Congratulations! I finally got a badge a few months ago, too. It only took me several years. :)

If I spent as much time studying Italian as I spend on this HelpLine, I'd be fluent by now. :-)

On the other hand, at least I can do this in English.

Yes, but now we're fluent in RS Helpline (uh, I mean Travel Forum)!

And unlike the badges we got in Girl Scouts, nobody has to sew them on!

I'm getting close! I had to laugh when I read "So this is where all my time has gone!". I know exactly what you're saying! That said, I have learned so much from spending all this time reading the forum posts. I think it's time well spent and pays off in dividends when I travel!

And to think I used to make fun of people who spent so much time on websites.... And talked about "friends" they'd never actually met...

But Andi, Pam, and others, you're right - we learn a lot here, and have fun doing it. We worry when we don't see posts from regulars for a while, commiserate with people who have bad experiences, check up on our "friends" in Paris, Brussels, or anywhere else there's trouble.

I'd better stop before I get sappy. Oops, too late!

And it's really bad when you think...when was X going on that Southern England tour or is Y going to Bath this spring or in the Fall?? And no...I have NOT added friend's travel dates to my calendar, lol!