Originally published on American Airlines BlackAtlas.com on January 11, 2013
My name is Tracey Friley and I am a Wandermaniac. I also have TDD, which—for those of you who aren't in The Know—is also known as Travel Deficit Disorder. (And yes, I made it up.)
My symptoms include the following: I'm inattentive at work; I keep checking my email inbox for airline confirmations (there aren't any), I think I have a fever (they're probably hot flashes), and I'm jumpy as all get out. Like I need to be on a plane or book a trip. Or SOMETHING. Yesterday, I went to The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa just so I could set foot in a swanky hotel property before I went bonkers. It's less than 10 minutes from my house and, while driving there doesn't really count as travel, I was still good for about an hour. But let me tell you this: If I don't go somewhere really soon, I might just bust open. Like, for real. And it won't be pretty either. Oh my word, I need help.
Every January, I'm typically on some kind of vacay. Last January, I was sailing in the British Virgin Islands. The January before that, I traveled between Barbados and Martinique. This January, I'm AT HOME, people. At. Home. And while the San Francisco Bay Area is a tourist's dream, I ain't no tourist and this just won't do. But here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to share with you 13 ways to cope with TDD because, you know what? I know I'm not alone. I know there are tons of folks out there (you?) who wish they could be somewhere else, too. And since all of us dromomaniacs are in this together, here's what I propose we do:
1. Sleep with the television turned on to the Travel Channel.
2. Annoy our social media friends by posting dozens of travel photos...every few minutes.
3. Come up with a cool travel moniker and leave traveltastic comments on our favorite travel blogs.
4. Replace one of the living room chairs with a beach chair. Sit in it wearing sunglasses and drink all beverages out of a plastic pineapple cup.
5. Visit a local hotel and pretend we're visitors. Don't forget to Foursquare. #done
6. Actually become a tourist in our own town. #notetoself
7. Hire a taxi to the airport and hang out for a few hours. Take a suitcase. Ask a flight attendant to take a photo and Instagram it.
8. Make a reservation online and hold it. When it expires, make another one. Repeat.
9. Buy someone we love a passport. =) If you don't have one, buy one for yourself.
10. Pack up a toiletries kit with travel essentials and leave it where it can be seen.
11. Go to a restaurant that serves the cuisine of a never-before-visited place and order something new. Eat it with your eyes closed and pretend you're in that country.
12. Do what the Latino culture traditionally does at the start of every year and walk around the block with a suitcase, thus ensuring travel in 2013. #yeahIdidit
13. Go to a Travel and Adventure Show and enter every single vacation giveaway in your name and your momma's name.
And hey, if 1-13 above fails, OR you find yourself even more frustrated, OR you get arrested for being a nuisance at the airport, book a trip (after you've been released from jail) and actually go somewhere. Like, now. It beats busting open, right? (That can be so messy.) *Shrug* Do you have any better ideas?
Safe travels and Happy New Year!
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