Every long haul traveler, intrepid adventurer or insatiable road warrior knows the emotion. The feeling of disassociation, of being mind numbingly tired, of knowing you don’t quite belong where you are after crossing too many time zones, passing through too many countries or spending too many nights away. Some call it jet lag, but for those of us with wanderlust we simply call it a lifestyle. This is code of a travelholic.
When you travel for work or are lucky enough to be able to travel a lot for leisure, time and space often blur into one endless cycle of wake, travel, don’t sleep. It’s a little like the traveler’s version of a shampoo bottle’s instructions, “lather, rinse, repeat.” But for us it’s the sequence of a life spent exploring.
Usually the wanderlust comes back after the jet lag subsides.
Don’t get us wrong, most people who travel consistently love their homes, love their lives. But they have a compulsion, a burning desire to see, feel, hear and experience the world. For many the joy of being home after a long trip is tempered by the agonizing tiredness of having crisscrossed the globe combined with the daunting tasks of getting caught up with family and friends and catching up at work. This is always made worse by the sleepless nights, exhausting days and ravenous cravings for carbs normally associated with jet lag. But they’re glad to be home, glad to be with familiar faces and glad to sleep in their own bed.
Though there’s a predictability to their pattern of the life of a travelholic. As the jet lag subsidizes the desire to head back out again comes back. It begins slowly by surfing the net and checking out airline or hotel deals, then it escalates into long reads about far off locations and finally ends with making plans for another excursion.
When you travel for work your trips are usually guided by business decisions. When you travel for pleasure they’re usually guided by economic considerations. But those of us with wanderlust somehow find a way to make a new destination make business and/or economic sense every once in a while. It’s maybe how a travel addict gets their fix.
A lot of us who travel regularly (some may say obsessively) are imparted with a semi-permanent feeling like we’re not here, not there, not anywhere. When you’re in Hong Kong at one moment and New York 12 hours later, it’s easy to forget where you belong. But trust us you belong here, there and everywhere. This is your world.
Our team travels a lot for business, we love it, we lust after it. This is the rush enjoyed by a travelholic. But we also have good advice. You belong everywhere. This world is meant to be explored and enjoyed and so as long as you’re not impacting your health, your relationships or your pocketbook we say get out there and travel. Travel as much as you can. You’ll be glad you did.
