Have you ever had a moment where your heart starts racing and your pulse picks up speed with each passing minute? Your nerves become a little frazzled but underneath it all is a growing excitement that overrides everything else you're feeling?
I had that moment a few days ago. The cause? An error fare — as in when an airline posts airfare that is much lower than the standard amount. It may be due to human error or a glitch in their system. Whatever the reason, the result is a price that elicits excitement and quick action.
When I first spotted the error fare (thanks, Secret Flying!), everything else around me faded and sounds took on a muted, hushed tone. I immediately became laser focused on finding available dates for the fare and communicating the information to my family and my social media followers as soon as possible (sharing is caring, after all). Fortunately, I was successful and managed to snag a few seats for my family before the fare reverted back to its normal amount, a whopping $700 more than what I booked.
Whether the airline decides to honor the error fare or not is to be determined, but one thing that is certain is my addiction to travel. It wasn't until I confirmed everything was sorted on my end that I realized an hour and a half had passed since I first learned about the error fare. That's right — for one and a half hours, I was so consumed by grabbing the deal that I forgot about everything else.
Addicted much?
I think I just might be.
It got me thinking about how to tell if you are addicted to travel. I would imagine whenever you literally drop everything else you're doing to book an error fare, there is a likelihood that travel is something you're pretty obsessed with. So, what are some other ways to tell if you're addicted? I gave the question some thought and compiled the below list of how to know if your love for travel is not just a hobby but an all-out addiction:
1. You get irritable and antsy if you haven't traveled in a long time.
File this under the same category as "back away from me, I haven't had my morning coffee yet."
2. You genuinely want to hear details of a friend's trip because you love hearing about any travel experience, but you're also sitting there desperately thinking, I wish it were me!
When you're addicted to travel, you'll take all the travel you can get in whatever form it comes in, knowing it will only make you want to travel even more.
3. Everyday, mundane things trigger your desire to travel
Ever found yourself thinking, that water fountain kind of reminds me of the Manneken Pis in Brussels, which I found to be so overrated BUT it does make me want to go back to Europe, or maybe Asia, or Africa, or...
4. You obsessively follow travel sites like The Flight Deal, Secret Flying and The Points Guy, and if you ever meet anyone who works on one of these sites, you gush about how much you love him or her like you're a teenybopper meeting someone from One Direction.
Pretty much.
5. When someone asks you where you want to go next, your brain starts to hurt from all the images of countries and cities flying around in your head.
You also may be thinking, will this person take a top 100 list?
6. You talk about travel bloggers as if they're your personal friends.
At least in your head they are (Side note: You're more than welcome to talk about me as if I'm your personal friend. It's okay.).
7. You likely don't have a five-year plan for your life, but you do have a five-year plan for your travels.
Priorities.
8. You could sit in the travel guide section of the bookstore for hours. Or days.
So many guides, such little time.
9. You hoard travel magazines, and to throw one away feels like you're throwing away your arm.
It's that serious. I think my million and one Travel + Leisure magazines are just happy to have a permanent home.
10. You feel as though you've met your kindred spirit whenever you meet someone who has the same level of travel obsession as you.
Separated at birth, travel edition.
There are countless other ways to tell if you're addicted to travel, but if I had to summarize it in one sentence — it's a constant hunger to see the world and an insatiable desire to meet new people, try new things and have new experiences. It's the knowledge that travel has filled your mind and expanded your views of society in unimaginable ways.
Okay, that wasn't one sentence, that was actually two, but I had to get my point across — the point being that travel is the best.
Would you say you're addicted to travel?
