for years afflicted; symptoms worsening

my birthday is in less than a week. then i will officially be too old to get a working holiday visa for ireland, france, and a bunch of other places. not that i was planning on uprooting and living abroad for any extended period of time. but now that i realize that option is forever being taken away, it makes me want it! blah blah, the whole wanting what we can't have thing. i'm sure if i could go at any time in my life, i wouldn't be one bit fussed about it. but now my mind if racing - i've only got a few days to apply for that visa or i'll never get to live in france! ARGH!

i'm never going to live in france. accept it, it'll be fine.

i know why they call it the "travel bug". it really is like a disease. so i don't know why people refer to it all cutesy like. "oh, she's got the travel bug, time for a little va-cay!" Ok, thankfully no one has used the annoying and in no way cutesy term va-cay to me. but the travel bug should not be taken lightly! once you've been bitten, you have it for life. and as far as i'm aware, there is no known cure. i contracted it early on, as a young teenager. it's highly addictive, so my condition only worsens over time. i mollify the bug with holidays whenever i can, hoping that a long weekend in vegas will placate it and allow for some restfulness and contentment at home. but the periods of respite grow shorter before withdrawal symptoms set in and i'm in need of a travel fix. i look back at last year - a couple of visits to vancouver, toronto, vegas, 2 weeks in costa rica, not to mention over 3 weeks in thailand - and i'm still jonesing for more!

withdrawal is difficult. i can't focus on anything else except where i'm gonna score my next hit. i hoard money for my next escape. i look at the lonely planet books on my shelf and get lost in flashbacks. i relentlessly explore google earth, zooming in to ogle the details of victoria falls or sigh at the beauty of a remote pacific atoll.

 

 

and like any addiction, i keep pushing for a greater high: something to top the last. come on, i need a fix. whatcha got, whatcha got? you know a little week in mexico ain't gonna do it for me, man! europe? that's for noobs! nah man, nah, i need something with a little more oomph, a little more wow-you're-going-where-awesome, ya know? africa is still my holy grail - anywhere from kenya, tanzania, zambia, botswana, nimibia.... or all of the above! but i'm open to other suggestions.

i'll take what i can get and keep chasing for more. after all, i'm a travel junkie.