Women Travelers - You Know You're Traveling Too Much When ...

When I got to my gate yesterday, the Red Coat agent came from behind the counter to give me a big hug since she hadn't seen me in a month (I switched my schedule for my last few flights). I get hugs from hotel people also when I come back for a visit. This made me realize that I must travel way too much if I've become this friendly with gate agents and hotel folks.

A few other signs of traveling too much:

--The neighbors think your husband is a single guy

--You look at every beauty product's size before its price (must be 3 oz or less!)

--Your suitcase is a permanent fixture in your bedroom

--You replace plants every few months because you've killed every one of them due to lack of attention.

--You wake up at home not knowing where you're at.


What are your signs that you travel too much?


Carol Margolis
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/pearlsoftravelwisdom
http://www.smartwomentravelers.com
http://www.twitter.com/smartwomentrav

You dial "9" to get an outside line at home.

Dialing "0" for a wake up call!

You don't know what airport you're at once you get there (happened to me, I think it was EWR but it might also have been PHL).

You keep your travel alarm set to a time zone that's markedly different from your home time zone.

The cats hiss at your suitcase (which as the OP said, never gets put away).

You put your hands under the water faucet and can't figure out why the water doesn't turn on.

A few other signs of traveling too much:

--The neighbors think your husband is a single guy
I had a long-term client that required an on-site presence, so I was always coming and going at odd hours from the airport. Late one evening as I was hefting my bags into the car, my neighbor came to meet me with a stack of pamphlets on marriage counseling and to let me know that I should stay and work it out with my husband. :D

You get annoyed that no one has made your bed, emptied the garbage, washed your towels - then realize you are at home and have to do it yourself.

These are all funny, and unfortunately too true! We live our lives so differently than work-at-home folks, don't we?

When you seriously start to consider purchasing for home that expensive but oh-so-comfortable hotel bed for those infrequent appearances at that place you pay your mortgage on.

People at rental car companies and hotels no longer ask you for your ID or credit card. They see you coming, say hi to you by name, and hand you a key. Without making you wait in any line that happens to be there.

Not only is your suitcase a permanent fixture, it is also never fully unpacked.

You hoard travel-sized cosmetic supplies.

You have clothing at a drycleaner in a different state.

You have items being held for you at a hotel in a different state.

You know all the alternative airports near the one you really want to go to and can rattle then off in a travel disruption.

Several other people who are also upgraded say hi to you on any given flight to or from your home city and want to know where you are heading this time. You already know where they headed last or where they are probably heading. You have no idea what their name is, though, and have never told them yours.

You know what type of plane it is with just a glance. And whether it will have wifi. And what the meal choices will be.

You have a crazy amount of suitcases, totes, travel bags, etc. stashed in a closet.

You have an unlimited monthly access Gogo account.

You have a hair stylist, manicurist, facialist, etc. in states other than the one you live in and they consider you a regular.

You fly more often than you drive your own car.

Haha this post is awesome! And I love the replies too. Everything is so true.

What about:

You forget which town you were in the week before.
You stay at a chain hotel after staying in hostels/BnBs during vacation and it feels like you returned home.
You have a basket of hotel toiletries for your guests.
You don't worry about catching a movie at the theater because you can always catch it on a plane.
You have envelopes of currencies from different countries ready to go.

- Fumbling in your purse for a key card to open your front door, instead of a key
- Trying to swipe your hotel key to get through a subway kiosk

- You have farecards from multiple transport systems in your wallet
- The doormen at hotels know you by name, but the doorman at your home barely recognizes your face
- You have multiple DVRs to record all the TV you've missed while away

You keep your iphone on the 24 hour clock to make flight planning easier.

When your 18 year old car has 76,000 miles on it because you nearly always fly.

You keep your iphone on the 24 hour clock to make flight planning easier.
I wasn't feeling bad until i read that one... BINGO for me.

You have an account with a car service or when you call they know your voice .
You have hotels listed in your Delivery.com address profile
FA tucks you in on plane because she knows you were on the 6am transcon flight That morning and got no sleep.

You have a collection of SIM cards from different countries.

There's a two second gap as you work out how to flush the toilet... :o

Suitcase in the bedroom? Amateur, mine never leaves the area near my front door! :p

How about these:

- You have two full sets of toiletries (Make up, moisturizers, cleansers, deodorant, etc), one that permanently lives in your suitcase, and one at home.
- You no longer need to produce your bag claim ticket at the hotel because all the staff know which bag is yours.
- The room service guy comments on your room change, and brings you free goodies because you're such a good customer.
- The security guys at the airport are the first ones to notice on your new hairstyle.
- You stay home on that one, rare week and the following week your regular morning taxi driver, the security agents, and the check in agents all ask where you were!
- A kippie bag has taken up permanent residence in your purse.

Returning from a trip, you stand dumbfounded in the airport parking lot, trying to remember what your own car looks like.

You know what radio stations you like in another state.

You wake from your in-flight nap, disoriented, until you recognize the FA and realize you are on your way to SFO.

You have a regular group of commuter cohorts that you don't actually work with but always have a bite to eat with at the airport and you all sit together in the same block of 6 seats on a SW flight. When you miss a flight, they wonder what happened and fill you in on all the gossip from the previous flight.

You know the flight schedules for several routes off by heart and are slightly put out when the airline changes them!

The car rental agent upgrades your $22/day rental to a mustang convertible, as "you don't seem to be having enough fun on your trips to Salt Lake City".

My travel schedule must not be too bad compared to others.
- multiple tooth brushes packed and separate make up kits ready at all times.
- summer clothes are never packed away for trips to warm locations in winter.
- Metro card, Charlie Card and other city/state store loyalty cards in your wallet.
- Airport people see you more than your neighbors or company people.
- No time for food shopping or cooking
- usual hair dresser is in a different city/state from home
- multiple cell phones, PDA, gadgets - CDMA, GSM, and mifi ...
- bags stay near the front door and never gets put away - unpack to repack
- 30+ underwears in case I have no time to do laundry

- all your toiletries come from hotels or airlines and you solemnly vow you'll never buy lotion ever again.
- the last dozen movies you've seen have been in-flight and you can't remember the last time you sat in a movie theatre, with popcorn and without headphones.
- you spend more time at home doing laundry than actually living in it.
- you wake up at home disappointed you have to make your own bed and breakfast.
- going to make breakfast you remember the only thing you have in your fridge is a bottle of water and a stale lemon.
- duty-free stores are your savior for birthday and holiday gift shopping.
- you get angry that you're paying for cable tv at home and never watch it, but keep it anyways "just in case".
- your friends stop asking you to bring them back souvenirs or postcards.

- You arrive to your home airport and have to think for several minutes before you remember on which floor you parked your car.

- You get exited when you realize that a new issue has come out of the monthly in-flight magazine.

- You buy your shoes depending on their ability to pass the security check at the airport.

You look for the seat belt after sitting down at the (rare occasion) you go to see a movie.

When your 18 year old car has 76,000 miles on it because you nearly always fly.

In the same vein - when your car is 2 years old and only has 3500 miles on it, even after living in a city with 0 public transit!

This has given me a much needed laugh on a Sunday AM when I'm unpacking the suitcase and doing laundry, to get ready to pack it again!

When your grandma stops giving you the "How are you going to meet a nice man to marry when you're always in different cities?" line. If Grandma's given up, there's no hope!

You have doctors AND dentists in several different states because....well you just never know.

The hotel always calls you by name when you come into the lobby.

TSA agents at the airport call you by name as ask where are you off to THIS time.

Flight Attendants look at you and say, you are in the wrong seat, because the seat you usually book was already taken when you booked that particular flight.

My 3 year old car just hit 5000 miles.

Every suitcase I own has a complete set of toiletries in it, all I have to do is refill the shampoo when it gets low.

Suitcases are always in a partial state of packing and part of the furniture.

When your grandma stops giving you the "How are you going to meet a nice man to marry when you're always in different cities?" line. If Grandma's given up, there's no hope!

Grandma is deceased, but I get this line from my mom at least once a month!

The two sets of toiletries run also rang true with me.

Mine would be - you pick hair care products and skin care products based on how well they will travel.

The two sets of toiletries run also rang true with me.
Me, too, but I have three sets: one for home, one for when I do carry-on and one for when I'm checking a bag (checking luggage = longer trip = larger toiletries).

Mine would be - you pick hair care products and skin care products based on how well they will travel.

Oh heck yeah. I gave up on using Lush's Gorgeous face cream (which really IS gorgeous) because the packaging leaked whenever it hit 35,000 feet. Such a shame, I love that moisturizer.

When you stand in front of the departures board for way too long - not because you can't find the gate number, but because you totally forgot which city you're traveling to that day.

On entering the airplane, the FA gives you a giant hug, then tells the guy behind you "no hug for you!"

You have your best gossip session of the week sitting on a jumpseat.

Your bed feels infirm so you dial 0 to ask the front desk why.

Then you realize there's no front desk at home.

This one just happened to me this week.

You roll over in bed and are extremely startled to find another person there with you--only to realize both you and your husband (who also travels for work) are actually on the same continent and at home at the same time.

It was the first time this month I'd seen him.

Many of these sound entirely too familiar, embarrassingly so... :o This thread also reminds me of the one started in the Travelbuzz forum earlier this year when someone had to buy soap for the first time in years.

- When you get home and think your space looks cluttered and outdated, then think about redecorating it like a specific hotel/chain or decluttering, because clearly you can live out of a suitcase.
- You evaluate moisturizers based on how well they do on long haul flights and if you can buy it at almost any Duty Free, because that's where you'd be able to refill.
- Taking your nephews/nieces to a movie involves a flight first and does not seem at all odd.

The other thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/370953-signs-you-travel-too-much-merged-threads.html

- When you get home and think your space looks cluttered and outdated, then think about redecorating it like a specific hotel/chain or decluttering, because clearly you can live out of a suitcase.

Love that one!

And when you get home you clean your travel clothes and put them back in the suitcase for safekeeping, then schlep around the house in stuff not quite good enough to travel in. Skewed priorities :eek:

Today I stood in front of my office door pressing the key fob to my rental car and wondering why the door wasn't opening automatically. . .(finally realized that my badge swipe was what I needed) :D

I love all of these posts!!!

A couple to add:

When you arrive at your home airport and can't remember how you got there this week (cab? car in long-term?)

When you come home from work and wonder why your bed isn't made and there isn't chocolate on your pillow

Thanks for the laughs!

The one I had this week is that you wake up at 6 am with no idea where you are other than it's a Sheraton. To figure out your location you have to start by narrowing down the continent, then the country :)

When the guy at the check-in counter asks what city you are flying through today en route to your home, and you have to check the departure screen because all you know is what TIME your flight leaves, not where it's headed.

Happened yesterday in BNA. Got a good laugh out of it.

When you're on a first-name basis with all of the employees at your "usual" hotel, but you have no clue what your mail carrier looks like.

When you check in to your hotel and they say "and you're staying 4 days this week... next week... and the week after".

When you explain to your doctor that you can take a monday afternoon appointment only if you can make your 3:30pm flight... after all, it is the last one to your hub of choice that day!

You refer to your flight plans as your commute to the bemusement of your parents, who insist you should live closer to work if your commute takes 6 hours....

You know you're traveling too much when the room service woman hugs you goodbye.

You start choosing flight times based on the meal selections available. (No pizza on the AC Embraer 190)!

You find things you need by remembering which trip you last had them on and pulling them out of the pile on the floor from tipping your case out at the end of the trip

You're driving in an airport carpark and you can't work out which side of the road you should be driving on :eek:

Someone asks you for your room number and you can't remember - is it 125 or 627 or 323 as you've been in them all this week

or... they don't need to ask you for your room number because you always stay in the same one and they know that

the maitre d' remembers your negative comments about a dish the last time you ordered it and picked at it, and asks the kitchen to amend it to make it more to your liking the next time you forget you didn't enjoy it and order it again without saying a word to you (bless him - I realised halfway through there was a lot less chilli in the dish than when I'd had it previously!)

Last night I was getting ready/primping to go out in my own city for a change but was running a bit late. I found myself racing from room to room yelling "where the #%&$ are my liquids?!"

When you're on a first-name basis with all of the employees at your "usual" hotel, but you have no clue what your mail carrier looks like...

Oh boy, that one really strikes a chord! :o :D

I walked in my door at 11pm last night and thought I want to sleep late tomorrow, better hang out the Do Not Disturb sign.

I was in my own home, no Do Not Disturb sign was necessary.

In my defense, I just came home from a trip that was seven nights in four different hotels, it was 5am Paris time (where I'd come from) and I'd been up for 21 hours... but it actually took me a few seconds of looking stupidly at the doornob before realizing that there was no Ne Pas Deranger sign. :o

When you call any of your friends, they start out by saying, What time zone are you in? or where are you calling from?

When you have to schedule a hair appointment at a salon other than your regular one at home. I have had to do this twice in the past six months now. Not bad when you have to get a cut and color in Paris, though. One of the better cuts I have had in ages!

You wonder why your husband has not pulled the car around to the front of the house for you.

You can't figure out why the bed has not been made when you return home in the afternoon.

You can't find your car in the parking lot because you don't remember what kind you are driving this week.

In your mind you calculate how much each meal costs in terms of per diem.

I was in my home town and needed gas so I pulled up at the pump... only I pulled up on the wrong side! I couldn't remember which side the gas tank was on for my own car!

Dental & doctor appointments can only be made when my Delta trip schedule is pulled up.