21 signs you might like travel a bit too much
Stamps in a passport aren’t the only way to spot a true supertraveller. In fact, the signs your passion is a full-blown obsession are lurking a lot closer to home. Question is: how many are you showing?
1. You’ve alphabetised your guidebooks
It’s not enough to own the guidebooks. They must be in order… (Jackie Scully)
Aesthetically pleasing, plus you can easily spot those all-important destination gaps that need filling – and visiting.
2. Your idea of interior design is deciding what travel photos to put on the wall next
For years, my partner and I used to challenge each other to see who could take the best photograph of the trip. The winning shot would then be printed onto framed metal polaroids.
We stopped it. The walls couldn’t cope.
3. You’re more likely to the know the temperature in Hanoi than outside your front door
Weather apps are as essential to the travel planning experience as online booking engines. Seeing whether there are sandstorms in Hong Kong or thundery showers in Bangkok to liven up your daily temperature check at home, however, not so essential.
4. Google Translate is your favourite travel companion
Bien sur. NatÜrlich. Absolutamente. Je ne quitte pas la maison sans ca.
5. Your dinner comes with a destination attached
Shame about the lack of outside table, balmy weather and professional chef. There’s also the abundance of washing up to contend with, particularly after tapas.
6. You recreate holiday tipples at home (and rather wished you hadn’t)
Jackie’s homemade tinto de verano (Jackie Scully)
This is not an oversized glass of red wine, but rather a tinto de verano (essentially red wine and lemonade).
A delight quaffed in the blistering heat of Andalucia, but a lot less thrilling sipped on the sofa back home. And a drink you must absolutely not order in a London pub (a barman one refused to serve me, declaring my choice a crime against red wine).
7. You can recite your passport number
No? Just me? Moving on…
8. Your reading list is themed
Escapism is the next best thing to an actual escape. Just avoid the crime fiction…
9. You have a designated travel drawer for your collection of adaptors
Of course, they need their own drawer. Right? (Shutterstock)
Why take just one, when you can fill your entire case with plugs?
10. Sorting your travel photos is a great night in
This involves: labelling them correctly, deleting all the ones where your thumb got too involved, fixing the lighting on the dark ones and then filing away by date and destination.
11. Your playlist comes with travel memories attached
Nothing like a bit too much sunshine and sangria to destroy your taste in music.
12. You think refreshing your airline app will make the trip arrive quicker
Thanks to the British Airways app’s timeline function, you can now count the days, hours and minutes until your next departure.
How did we successfully wish our lives away before without such reminders?
13. You’re as excited about collecting points as you are passport stamps
The joy doesn’t stop with your fully-stamped passport… (Shutterstock)
Tier points, reward bonuses, Avios points, club colours. You name it, I am a member of it – and I bet you like gamifying travel just as much as I do. Anything for a free welcome drink.
14. Every trip comes with its own spreadsheet (and packing list)
How else can you keep track of the key dates, travel times, transfers, paid-for breakfasts, check-in policies, booking terms, day trip itineraries and packing essentials?
(Our list includes tea bags and an ‘elf on the shelf’ that is photographed on every trip to show our nephew where he goes on his time off).
15. You know which flag of the world has an AK-47 on it
You recognise this flag, don’t you? (Shutterstock)
And not just a gun, but a hoe and a book! If you do, then I hope you scored top marks in our trickyflags quiz.
16. You also know more than is healthy about train carriage WiFi hotspots, jet lag hacks and what the sounds on a plane actually mean
Trivia may not make you popular at dinner parties, but worth knowing, if only so you beat your friends at all of our travel-based quizzes.
Try our challenging capital cities and identify the travel photo quizzes to show us just how much of an expert you are.
17. Your idea of a quick travel fix is showering with airline-approved toiletries
Admit it. How many of thesetravel adventureshave you entertained without even leaving the house?
18. Your luggage never actually gets packed away
Probably best to just leave it there, really (Shutterstock)
Why would you pack it away, when it’s more stylish than your furniture?
19. You spend much of your trip planning the next one
It was the moment I booked a flight while sitting at a boarding gate that I realised I needed to spend a bit more time living in the present, and a bit less time wishing my life away.
20. It’s not just your search history that feels like a world tour
A walk around the local area can take on a whole new meaning when even the road signs are a source of travel inspiration.
21. You’re a Wanderlust subscriber (naturally)
Not just a mag, but a way of life…
Wanderlust isn’t a just a magazine, it’s a way of life. While we don’t expect you have a well-preserved copy of our first-ever edition (though we know subscribers who do), a supertraveller just isn’t a supertraveller without a good pile of well-thumbed issues lying around.
