Situation - Dating someone new (about 2 months, not very well-travelled, no passport). We haven't yet taken a trip together yet, though I have taken a few in that time. I have been trying to explain that "you really won't understand all of this until you travel with me!" Fortunately will be at about 75K mi YTD by next week, so only a few more silly 2001 trips will be necessary. I am curious as to how others here have explained this, that the trips are "for a good cause", that I'm not looking to go ... and ... some strangers in some exotic destinations, and so on. Or even why I spent a night at a hotel 10 miles from home recently. We know Premex2000 has the ever-understanding wife, And some others here, too.

I'm interested as to what feedback I'll receive, including your excuses, rationales, and acceptance by people that like or love you, but think there may be a few screws out of place

sometimes you just hvae to have a little faith in the intelligence of the person you're dating. try appealing to your partner's common sense. And if he/she doesnt understand a simple concept like a mileage run in about 30 minutes, find someone smarter to date.

I started out the beginning of the year with something like: "Some people spend every weekend skiing, spending a small fortune on equipment, clothing, lift tickets, lodging, and just getting there and back. That's what they do for fun. This is what I do for fun, only it's not as expensive and I'm much less likely to get my legs broken in the process."

Easy.

Send them on a trip somewhere. But send them out in First class, and the return in cattle class. They'll most likely figure it out in short order.