I Am A Travel Addict

Hi, my name is Valerie, and I am a travel addict. It has been 108 days since my last trip, not counting day trips.

Here is the evidence of my addiction:

1. My Road Trip Playlist has a little over 7 hours of music on it, and there are at least another dozen songs I want on it that I don't yet have.

2. In my after-hours spare time at work, I use Google Maps to memorize the names, capitals, and locations of countries...

3. ... And map out extensive trips in every part of the globe.

4. I own far more luggage than I could ever possibly need. (I should probably start renting it out.)

5. I have a small suitcase full of travel size toiletries.

6. I get antsy to go somewhere if it's been too long since the last trip... or the weather is perfect for travel... or I notice my luggage when I go into my storage room... or I hear a particularly awesome road trip tune on the radio ("Up Around The Bend" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, for example.)

7. I follow multiple travel bloggers on Facebook and Twitter. My favorite can be found at adventurouskate.com. I've been following her blog for several years.

8. I get annoyed by people who don't want variety in their travels. Disneyland and the Caribbean are great, but there is so much more out there!

9. I've attempted to learn languages I will probably never need in the U.S.: Hungarian and Bulgarian.

10. I enjoy packing for travel far more than could possibly be normal.

11. I have five separate Pinterest boards dedicated to travel, totaling 200 ish pins.
Travel
Travel Quotes
Travel Gear
Travel Bucket List
Ghost Towns

What I've Learned From Loreena McKennitt's Music

It's safe to say I'm a pretty big fan of Loreena McKennitt, both her music and herself. It's a pity that I didn't discover how true this was until after I saw her in concert several years ago. There is no one quite like her, and no music quite like hers. She is a true bohemian. She weaves stories of her exotic travels into her music. There's no musical genre to describe how she combines Celtic beats and hypnotic Middle Eastern rhythms with folklore and history. Her albums can be found under headings of New Age world, but they aren't really adequate descriptions. She uses many instruments in her songs that most Americans have probably never heard of, instruments that hail from the Middle East, Africa, and other places.

Before this turns into a fangirl rant, I'll get to my point: I've learned a lot, thanks to her.

"Night Ride Across the Caucasus" led me to research the Caucasus Mountains. I'll bet you don't know what they are and probably haven't even heard of them.

Her live album "Nights From the Alhambra" had me wondering what the heck the Alhambra was.  That's how I came to the dream of a visit to Spain, a country I had never given much thought to.

"Caravanserai" taught me about the way stations along the old Silk Road, now in various states of ruin, and crumbling in the hot desert sun.

"Mummers Dance", the one song of hers that has ever had any radio success in the United States, led to research about members. A mummer is probably not what you're thinking it is.

"Skellig" came to life when my favorite travel blogger visited the very location that must have inspired the song, a rocky island off the coast of Ireland, which houses a very old, weather-beaten monastery.

"Kecharitomene" had me googling the word. I still have no idea what it is, or what it means, but I love the song, and I hope someday I will figure it out. (If you know, I'd love to hear about it.)

"Beneath a Phrygian Sky" gives me visions of standing on the deck of a sailboat, in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Greece, staring up at the night sky.

I love it all. I'm a little bit of a bohemian, I love culture and music, and travel, and doing things that other people think are weird or crazy. (I have yet to meet someone else who thinks Sarajevo would be an interesting travel destination.) Loreena 
McKennitt and her music are a part of that. 

Why I'm A Homebound Gypsy

I have a lot of fantasies about almost every kind of travel. Route 66 by motorcycle, the U.K. by train, Eastern Europe with a backpack, and the Greek islands by yacht top my list.

The sad truth? I don't have a passport, don't have the funds, and have never been further out of the country than Tijuana, Mexico (back in 2002 when it was safe enough to visit). The most exotic place I've ever been is Honolulu, Hawaii, and quite frankly, most of that was on someone else's dime.

True, I've been places. New York, Chicago, L.A.,  and San Francisco, for example. The problem is that some were back when was single, and the others were pre-economic crisis.

What depresses me most some days is that I never knew I would be interested in backpacking across Europe or traveling cross-country by bus until about a year ago. My husband and I were considering an overnight hiking trip, and I searched Google for a suggested list of items to take. I ended up on a website about the *other* kind of backpacking,  -- http://travelindependent.info/index.htm --which led to travel blogs, and I've been obsessed ever since.

Now I am 32, fat, boring, with a husband, 2 kids, a mortgage, and a guilty conscience that kicks in any time I start harboring fantasies about said backpacking-across-Europe trip. I discovered it too late in my life. By the time my kids are grown, my bills manageable, and my guilty conscience faded, I will be 50.

I'm not giving up, but I am willing to face the reality that family trips to Disneyland, maybe 1 more time to Chicago, and various cheapy local trips, are probably it for me. No Spain, Greece, Croatia, or Isle of Mann. My only hope for significant income is becoming a published novelist, and any writer with an adequate sense of reality knows how likely that is. So, for now, I travel via travel blogs, travel memoirs, Google Earth, and the Travel Channel. And that's ok, I guess.

Traveler Vs. Tourist

I've spent some time lately thinking about this topic, and. I am relieved to find that I am more traveler than tourist. I don't like the idea of being herded around like sheep, being given a schedule I have to stick to. I love the idea of going on a road trip where there is no set destination or route. For someone who is easily distracted, this sounds like heaven.

Unfortunately, I can't afford to travel like I want to. Any money I save for this purpose ultimately ends up going toward something else. (With husband, 2 kids, dog, mortgage, car, etc, I suppose it's bound to happen, huh?) I would love to be one of those people who can travel with virtually no money, but I'm not. I'm just high maintenance enough that I need a hot shower every day, and a reliable meal 3 times a day.

I still can't help obsessing about it. I had a little spending money and spent it on travel size toiletries. I make packing lists constantly, often for hypothetical trips. I peruse travel memoirs, travel blogs, and atlases with gusto. Yup, I'm obsessed.

Next trip? Sadly it's merely a family reunion for my mother-in-law's family. Boring. Still, it's something.