Reviving travel addiction posts.

Allan, my grandson asked for a quarter last week. I searched the bottom of my purse where loose coins tend to accumulate. I had to sheepishly tell him Grandma didn’t have a quarter but I could give him a Euro……. I wonder if that is as much a function of operating pretty much cashless here in the US as well as being a travel addict.

One indicator to me was when people started asking me when I was leaving on my next trip. They all knew I had to have at least one planned and coming up.

I have been known to book future trips while sitting in a hotel room in Europe. We returned home from England a little over two weeks ago. We currently have trips booked for September 2026, April 2027 and September 2027. I’m not happy unless I have at least one pending plane ticket. I just started using the flight countdown widget on my phone. Currently at 98 days.

When I approach my husband with a pen and paper, or a video on YouTube, or say "I have an idea!", I have to quickly add "It's not travel related!" and watch him physically untense. Because apparently I talk about travel too much. Pfft.

Ask me about walking Caminos. Fully addicted. Every store, I look at stuff and think wow, that would be great on a Camino, or I wonder how much those socks weigh. As soon as one is finished, I start planning the next one. 6 done, #7 planned for Sept.

You may be a travel addict when your passport never leaves your purse - even when at home. Who knows when I may need to book a trip and leave for the airport in 30 minutes!

Leaving tomorrow for the next 7 week trip.

I wish I could travel as much as I love it, but limited time-off, family obligations and budget keeps my "addiction" controlled. Except compulsively checking all trips daily for better seats.
I currently have 5 "trips" saved on Delta between June - November, plus a road trip with family.
When I bump on someone around town that I haven't talked to in a while, the first thing they ask me is "where are you headed next?".

Ask me about walking Caminos.

Ms. Jo - I have wanted to do Camino for a long time but waiting for kid to get a little older since it's hard to leave home for over 2 weeks due to work and no family nearby to help out. BUT, Camino is one of the contenders for my 50th travel trip in a couple of years. Which route has been your favorite?

From June-Oct 2019, I went to Europe 3 times. Then in Dec of 2019, I took 3 domestic trips. That(with help from Covid) ended by addiction. Now I haven't been to Europe since 2022, but did go to Australia and New Zealand in early 2024.

Carol NR that made me laugh! I had a similar experience a few weeks ago when my seven-year-old grandson came up to me and offered to do a job for me if I could give him some money. I told them I would have to check to see how much I had, so I pulled out my wallet. It contained nothing but Euros and some Romanian coins.

He looked at it and then said indignantly, "Oma, this is fake money!"

I have a travel addiction just like all of you:)

My husband and I have been known to see the Icelandair email specials and come get the other one to see when we can go. Usually I have something booked within about 10 minutes.

We had our 3rd and 4th trips to Iceland booked before we even left on our 2nd trip. That has become a true addiction for us.

This is the first time in many years that I do not have at least one trip booked. My dad was declining, so I have stayed close to home. He just passed a couple weeks ago, but now I am waiting to see when the service etc will be. I am glad we had a great trip to Iceland in March before all of this.

I do have two trips in the works. One to the UK but no date yet as my friend is recovering from surgery so we need to see when she will be up for it. The other will be next May back to Iceland for 2 weeks with my SIL's sister. That is a year away though and feels like forever, even though I have started the planning.

We have a ton of miles that we can use, so I keep looking to see where I want to go and when. Too many places! I am thinking another Christmas Market trip, but need to see who is free to go. My husband hates crowds, so he would not enjoy them.

Mr Jo--That is like me and Iceland. This will be my 10th trip.

When I bump on someone around town that I haven't talked to in a
while, the first thing they ask me "where are you headed next?".

Same as us. Friends even introduce us to people as "the couple that travels."

We get that question too. Church, neighbors, friends and family. Kind of embarrassing? Then the next question…what was your favorite place your latest trip? Uhhgg…hmmmm?

You may be a travel addict when your passport never leaves your purse - even when at home.

I'm on a domestic trip, visiting family. I brought my passport, just in case!

I was thinking that this wasn't me and maybe I'm not at the level of addiction some of you are but we've been back from our 5 week UK trip for less than two weeks and I am on version 8.0 of a trip for next Spring. I also find myself looking at postings from the Traveling Around the UK facebook page and feeling my heartstrings tugged by the photos.

I ran into someone at a local restaurant here in North Idaho yesterday. I said.... I haven't seen you since we bumped into each other in the Amorino on Rue Cler and we both burst out laughing. She had to tell me about losing her passport in Spain a few weeks ago as the group she was with edged to their cars and was trying to get her to come with them, hahaha.

Fun thread! I love the "fake money" Oma.....And Carol's no change except a Euro.

So yes, I did the renewal on my Global Entry this morning which expires in August but I have a trip in November!

Pam, I got my approval notice in 2-3 days and my new card with new expiration date about a week later. The number stayed the same.

This seems relevant to the discussion - it's a FB reel on "training for travel"

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/18kvjnkcG9/

And thanks TTM!

On the topic of Global Entry, I first got it for myself and my kid when she was 5 (since it is requirement for child to have own GE). This was 8 years ago. I renewed it for us 3 years ago and the process was smooth and fast. I was surprised (shocked) they did not require a new photo for her. She is an early teen now and looks VERY different than on that original application. They used same photo on her renewed card. We used Global Entry last month coming back from Mexico and no issues. I guess the scan takes into account aging?? We didn't need to show the card and I'm not complaining but I wonder when they will require her to get a new photo. I'll be renewing it again next year.

Apparently I have a travel addiction because I got called out during a church sermon! Our pastor asked, “Who likes to travel? Who likes to get on an airplane & go places?” “Where’s Jean T…?” “i think she’s our patron saint of travel!”

Yes, I’m on a trip right now, and I have two more booked this year, plus a domestic one, and another one booked for 2027. Two of them are art workshop classes, one is Fall leaves, and one is Christmas Markets.

I am planning to slow down in 2027. But I can be packed in 10 minutes! ; )

I’m reading all of these and finding that my "addiction" operates on a strict seasonal timer! Unlike y'all booking flights from your European hotel rooms, when I get home in late October, I enter full travel hibernation. I don't want to see, hear, or think about traveling.

But right on cue, December rolls around and the itch starts. By the end of February, leave is scheduled, flights are booked and hotels are nailed down. By summer, I’m deep into planning—what I will see and do, plus sorting out local train tickets. Then September winds down, October happens, and the loop resets. I'm not keeping Euros in my wallet year-round, but my calendar clearly has a predictable dependency.

“i think she’s our patron saint of travel!”

St. Jean, I love that story!

Gosh, I still miss Zoe and her wit and always spot-on advice! She’d be amused to live on in the Forum!

Reading the original thread from 2017nis a hoot and still relevant.

Ask me about how many weather apps I have for different countries and why I always know the weather in the Val Gardena, Berner Oberland, and Graubünden.

Jean--That is hilarious! Your pastor knows you well:)

I think I may qualify…… is it an addiction issue if you bring travel books for planning the April 2027 Ireland trip on our May and June lake trip at Lake Whitney Texas? Since I’ve accelerated my travel to 3 European trips a year I’m always on one trip and/or planning the next one. My monthly book group is always surprised to see me and then says where are you going next?

We get back from this camping trip and then start retooling for a long trek to Fairbanks Alaska pulling our travel trailer in July and August. Then another lake trip in September and then Germany in October. I don’t know, seems normal to me 😉.

Yup, still a travel addict. Thankfully, no longer as much dreaming of travel, but actually doing it. And no more snow! Currently on day 65 of 83 nights in Europe!

Here's another one: Me at work this morning 5 minutes into a meeting that could've been an email I started playing on Google Maps and 45 minutes later had the outline of a short trip and notes about how my miles would cover the flights and potential hotels pulled up....

Hello, everyone. My name is Chani I am a travel addict.

I reread Tammy's post and smiled when I read mine, recalling Zoe, of blessed memory, who recommended an out-of-print guide book to 100 Italian towns which I was using recently to plan my October trip to Italy.

It's been a rough few years for me and travel . . . first were the covid years, just a couple European trips, the we had a 2-year war which took away all desire for travel, and just as I was planning a spring trip to Italy the current Iran war began. With the current ceasefire, I have optimistically rebook the trip to Italy (and added 5 nights in Salerno to compensate myself:-) and I also have flights and hotels all booked for 3 weeks in Spain in December.

So I am back in my "happy mental place" with 2 trips in hand and mulling a spring visit maybe to rural France. I often drive past the airport, usually with a plane or two landing over my head, and it depresses me no end if I don't have at least one flight booked.

Travel's an addiction that I believe is 100% beneficial and I encourage everyone to try it. Most of my best friends are fellow addicts.

Mary - Me at work this morning 5 minutes into a meeting that could've been an email I started playing on Google Maps.
This is me to a T.

Me at work this morning 5 minutes into a meeting that could've been an
email I started playing on Google Maps and 45 minutes later had the
outline of a short trip

I can't help but wonder how many of us are/were like that. I didn't retire until September 2024 but I "checked out" not coincidentally at the start of Covid. My new "job" appears to be suggesting itineraries for friends or friends of friends. We were at a wedding on the weekend and we were introduced to a couple as "the people I told you about." That started a conversation with the couple who have been retired for 16 years and they've literally been nowhere further than a 3 hour drive from home. She desperately wants to travel but he won't. She thought maybe if it was all planned out maybe he would go. So on a napkin I gave her some ideas including the idea of a cruise or RS tour and my phone number.

Chani, happy to read that you have some travel plans!

Fun post! Hi. My name is Shellie, and I am a travel addict. So much so that I made a career out of it, flying with two different airlines. My 2 brothers and I lived on Skyline Drive a half mile from an airport growing up and would ride our bikes there to watch the airplanes take off and land. We were even privileged to pick up a special telephone in the terminal and have the elevator dispatched to the ground floor to pick us up and take us to the ATC tower for an exceptional view and experience. Travel and aviation runs in my family - several pilots, travel addicts, and many, many trips! While I miss the job, I can now layover at a destination for however long I want to and it's still unreal to me that, with passport in hand, I can go to the airport and get on an airplane to almost anywhere at anytime. A Mile of Highway Will Take You One Mile, but A Mile of Runway Will Take You Anywhere!

You go to a family reunion and you hang out with the "cool kids" who travel. Currently sitting in my wife's cousin's backyard sharing travel stories with another one of her cousins who recently completed a trip to Antarctica and can brag that she has been to all the continents. Travel is such a good conversation starter.