For the genuine travel addict, routine living is a bit too… routine. Daydreams of foreign city streets, sampling flavours of food you never imagined, and embarking on adventures elsewhere are far more enticing than fixed living. Sound familiar? Here's 10 signs you need to hit the road long-term ASAP!
1. You buy WAY too many travel books
Whether it's A-Z photo-filled books of every country in the world or your fiftieth Lonely Planet guide, each page injects you with a little wanderlust, and you can't get enough.
2. You're obsessed with anything that inspires travel
Travel movies, books, and blogs consume hours of your evenings and weekends. Each story and scene further fans your itch to ditch your life and pursue your own cinema-worthy adventures. And it's completely incurable.
3. You have a slight addiction to maps and globes
Scratch maps. Wall maps. Fridge magnet maps. Work desk maps. One thing's for sure, “too many” and “maps” can never occur in the same sentence.
4. The end of one trip means it's time to plan the next
Snippet annual trips break your heart in a way you can’t describe. Your arrival home only means it's time to plan the next adventure. More travel is the only cure!
5. Travel daydreams carry you through routine living
Travel is the dangling carrot that coaxes you to get through each day. Boredom, stress, and work-life are pacified by thoughts of a trip you haven’t even booked.
6. You have an insatiable curiosity about the world
Is Japan as bizarre as they say? Do Koreans really eat live octopus? Are the wildlife in Galapagos truly fearless of humans? Your Google search history entails an assortment of curiosities about the world. And that is totally okay.
7. Your “to-see” list has become impossible to complete over decades of 2-week holidays
You happily add countries to the infinite list of places you want to see, ignoring the fact that it will be impossible to ever achieve if you continue at the rate of 2-week per year vacations.
8. Documentaries about travel and global culture intrigue you more than mainstream TV
America’s Next Top Model or a documentary on the history of Angkwor Wot? A question you'd never even ask.
9. Seeing others travel photos leaves you both envious and inspired
You hate seeing all 100+ photos of your friend's trip through Europe, but cannot stop yourself from clicking every last one.
10. You catch yourself reading lists like these
You know the answer but are afraid to confront the terrifying, exciting truth: you need to long-term travel, and you need to do it STAT!
So what are you waiting for?! Other inspiring reads to help you make your travel dreams a reality: