Experiencing COVID-19 has certainly been an eye opener in many respects.  Some issues have been expected but in a more concerted form, some issues are new.  With the virus effecting most individual’s travel plans, it brings about the question which gained more exposure in 2016-2017–can individuals be addicted to travel?

I have always been interested in travel–my first job at age 16 was at a travel agency where I planned others’  trips until I left to attend graduate school.  I once planned an entire “armchair trip” to Paris for myself because I was bored!  While my current career has nothing to do with travel, it certainly intersects with the area of addiction.  For the first time in years I do not have confirmed travel plans set in place for future trips (because who knows when this virus will let up) and that is downright “weird” for me.  The thought occurred to me as to whether I have a healthy amount of “wanderlust”, or an addiction to travel?  I can’t imagine I am the only person wanting to get back on a plane and travel to new or much loved places.

To review some basics about addiction, there are several issues inherent in an addiction which are not typically present in other behaviors.  Where travel is concerned, it goes something like this:

• preoccupation with travel (guilty)
• compulsion to travel–a feeling that one has to travel with a vague sense that something bad will happen if you don’t, re. “I’ll go crazy”, “I won’t be able to make it”, etc. (not guilty–knowing what one needs to stay functional and healthy and feeling a pressure to do something are two different things)
• less ability to control travel-related behaviors so that travel begins to consume one’s life to the possible detriment of relationships, finances, etc. (not guilty–yet)
• you need more and more travel experiences to produce the same amount of pleasure (I need about 3 trips a year to maintain my own mental health, but that hasn’t escalated recently, so the verdict is not guilty)
• withdrawal symptoms, such as depression or anxiety, if travel cannot occur (some anxiety, so partially guilty?)

OK, so I don’t have a travel addiction, but enough “guilty/partially guilty” votes means an attention to the matter may be needed.  That leaves the concept of “wanderlust” to consider.  Did you know that a gene variant, DRD4-7R, has been discovered and is now referred to as the “wanderlust gene”?  Without going too much into brain physiology, DRD4 is a receptor gene in the brain which helps to control dopamine levels (dopamine is released when we experience something pleasurable and helps us “feel good”).  The gene variant 7R is associated with lower dopamine sensitivity–you need a higher degree of pleasurable experiences in order for the brain to release dopamine.  Those individuals may be more prone to engage in intensive, riskier behaviors whether they be travel-related or otherwise.  I’m not itching to climb Mt. Everest, nor am I willing to give up my job to travel around the world, but I do need fairly frequent travel experiences to feel like myself.  7R variant or not?  Who knows.

Here is a fun list of questions you can ask yourself about your travel inclinations to see if you may be “addicted to travel”.

• staying in one place for 3 months makes you anxious
• going home is a vacation from traveling
• you prefer to spend your money on experiences rather than things
• you don’t take sick days at work because you prefer to save those days for trips
• you work to fund your next trip
• it’s not uncommon for you to plan your next trip while currently taking another
• a 9 to 5 job has less appeal
• you enjoy Travel Channel and like to read travel blogs in your spare time
• you cry/get tearful on a more frequent basis when you have to return home from a trip
• preoccupation with/feelings of excitement when thinking about your next travel adventure

Hope you had some fun reading this as well as getting you to think about your relationship with travel during a difficult time.  What is your opinion?  Is there such a thing as a “travel addiction”?