YOU are a Travel Addict

You are a travel addict and there is no way of getting around it.  New adventure sends your serotonin levels through the roof, keeping you needing more to sustain a healthy level of satisfaction.  You live for new experiences and aim to enjoy life to its fullest potential.

You are a Travel Addict!
You are a Travel Addict!

The first time you got a taste of a foreign land, that person you once were, who had yet to leave the only place they’ve ever known, was no more.  You began to see the world differently.  You started to see your surroundings as you did as a child; with curiosity and amazement.  All of a sudden, the world become your playground.  Now, you continuously pack your bags as often as possible and venture off to yet another foreign land to fulfill that yearning, that want, that need to experience lifestyles and surroundings much different than your own.  Each new adventure intensifies your travel addiction and supports the fact that staying put will never again be an option.  If you try to stay in one place for too long, the free-spirit inside of you, that was unleashed during that first trip, will completely control your being; and the only way to control it is to galavant off to yet another new place for another adventure.

You see, there may be cures to other addictions, but there is and never will be a cure for the travel addict.  The curious explorer is embedded in your DNA.  You are quite aware of it as a child, seeing everything as new and exciting, yet as you get older, that curious explorer takes a little nap as you go about with the life routine that society puts in place for you.  It is only when you step out of your comfort zone and experience a new way of living, that the curious explorer is awakened for good.  It may nap from time to time, but always restlessly.

Travel is addicting for the reason that it stimulates all of your senses at once.

Your eyes grow wide and marvel at the breathtaking landscapes.

On top of the world in the Andes Mountains in Peru
On top of the world in the Andes Mountains in Peru

Your nose is entertained by both unfamiliar good and bad smells.

There are some odd smells in the land of ruins and boulders in Hampi, India
There are some odd smells in the land of ruins and boulders in Hampi, India

Your taste buds are spoiled with the most interesting and intense flavours.

Tajine in Morocco will overwhelm your tastebuds
Tajine in Morocco will overwhelm your taste buds

Your ears flood with harmonically rich sounds of unfamiliar words, busy streets, children laughing, interesting insects and animals, and nothingness.

The sounds of children laughing reminds me of my time in Cape Coast, Ghana
The sound of children laughing reminds me of my time in Cape Coast, Ghana

You feel the warm ocean breeze brush across your cheek as you let the hot silky sand cascade over your finger tips.

Taking a minute in Gili Trawangan Indonesia to feel the warn ocean breeze across my face
Taking a minute in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia to feel the warn ocean breeze across my face

Life is good.  Life is great.  Life will never be the same again.

Are you a travel addict?

When did you realize you were addicted to new places, people and experiences?

Share your story with us in the comment box below!

10 Comments

  • Hahah this fits me to a T. I always love when friends text and the message starts out with “hey, are you in the country right now?” There may be no cure to travel addiction ( would we really want one anyways?) but we can keep on exploring, keep finding new people, places and cultures to keep us busy! Keep up the great work Kristen, live the adventure!

    Reply
  • Wow Kristine…

    My name is Sivan and I recently created my own travel blog- Backpacking Panda.
    while reading this post and ‘Dealing with Post Travel Depression’ I couldn’t stop CRYING. it felt like I’m reading my own words, my own deep feelings. I agree with every single world you wrote. knowing that I share these feelings with people around the world is comforting.

    2 years ago I traveled with my boyfriend to China for 3 weeks. We came back home to routine and a year later we traveled to China again for a month (you can travel a year in China and it wouldn’t be enough)
    after returning home from each trip I felt so depressed. and this depression went on until I booked flight tickets to our 7 months trip to South America, which starts in 2 weeks from now!!!

    I just want to let you know that your blog and your YouTube Channel inspired me a lot. I am an animator, which is for me like being an actress behind my animated characters(=

    you are more than welcome to check out my website!

    Sivan

    Reply
  • For me it happened at 19 after I came back home from a trip to Uganda. It felt as if I was stuck at home in a small prison (the small island of Curacao) while there was a world out there calling my name. Since then I try to experience as much of the world as possible, but I’ve also learned to “travel” in my own little island. It gets a whole lot bigger when you try to see every corner of it.

    Reply
    • That’s such a great point to make. Getting to know you’re own backyard can definitely surprise you! There is so much to discover about where you come from, but we always seem to be intrigued to explore a far away land. I’m trying to explore of Canada and each place I discover, I realize more and more how much I love it here. Uganda must have been incredible. What did you do there?

      Reply
  • When I was 16 I spent 1 year studying in france with a host family. It was the best year of my life and was the beginning of my new addiction… traveling! I have not stopped traveling since then.

    Reply
  • I think the most obvious moment for me was when I got back from a trip, and started receiving emails from some random email I didn’t recognize, detailing travel experiences in the exact countries and cities I had just visited. I thought it was some weird internet troll trying to destroy my soul, but it was actually someone I had met on the trip a few weeks before, who asked for recommendations, and she went exactly where I told her to go. So I literally got jealous of MY OWN trip.

    Reply

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