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• Sep 11, 2022

Travel Bug, what it is and when you know you have it

Ever felt anxious not having any flights booked? Some of you might have heard about ‘catching the Travel Bug’ or the ‘feeling of wanderlust’ but what are they exactly?

What is the Travel Bug

Every single trip we take in life has an enormous power of changing us. If you are a travel lover like me, you will likely get back to your home town, with your usual routine, with the same people around you and the ‘fake freedom’ you initially think you have in your life, and realise how much happier, free and especially alive you felt while being on the other side of the world.

Picture this: You have just come back from a long trip, you saw new places, met new people, cultures, you were able to experience things you could have never imagined and every single day was a challenging adventure. You are now back home, tired but happy with your mind full of amazing memories that will forever have a special place in your heart. You remember the sense of freedom and excitement you felt while away, so you close your eyes and start daydreaming but suddenly a sense of anxiety starts to grow inside of you and you feel the need to book a new trip straight away and escape once again from your everyday life. Does it sound familiar to you? Result: Well… you caught the Travel Bug!

The term Wanderlust and why you catch the Travel Bug

The official definition of the German term ‘Wanderlust’ translates as:

‘ a strong desire to travel’, or ‘a man/woman consumed by wanderlust ’.

Although, it is much more complex than that. All of those who feel fulfilled with travelling and are on a constant search for new challenges and adventures, will sooner or later catch the Travel Bug, there is no way to escape it and it’s also highly contagious! Of course everyone enjoys a good holiday and some time away from work but for those who caught the Travel Bug, travelling literally becomes part of their everyday life. It’s their drive and inspiration for everything they do. When you are a traveller (not a tourist, there is a huge difference) you are always a traveller, every single minute of your life.

However, this sense of Wanderlust and therefore the love and insatiable need for travel and adventure might also emerge or more specifically be triggered, not only due to the love for travel, yet also from other aspects of our life. A good amount of full time travellers for example, decided to leave everything behind and travel the world after a big event in their life.

The sense of frustration that some have of everyday life, a relationship that doesn’t make you happy as it should, but also due to the ‘boredom’ of western societies, the life ideologies and milestones that we are kind of ‘forced’ to achieve since birth such as finishing school, getting a degree, finding a good job, getting a partner, getting married, having kids are simply not for all of us (and by the way you can do all of those things while travelling as well if you really want it!). Just because one wants to do things differently than the rest of society, it doesn’t mean that that person is wrong and others are right or vice versa, it simply means that what makes that person happy might not be a happy place for someone else. Happiness comes in different forms and colours and for those who caught the Travel Bug, happiness is exploring the amazing world we live in, every single corner and shape of it.

How long does it last

There is just one straight forward answer to that. Once you get it that’s the end. There is no turning back and no way to get rid of it. It’s simply FOREVER! You get it, you're screwed!

How I caught mine

For me, it was another usual day in cold and rainy London back in 2015 when me and two friends decided that we wanted to visit Thailand. Before that trip I had already been to a few countries around Europe, yet that would have been my very first long trip and international flight. A huge Airbus was waiting for us at Heathrow Airport ready to take us all the way to Bangkok. Well, that trip had the power to change me. The level of excitement when arriving in Bangkok was out of this world and since the very first day everything I saw, learned and experienced in that country changed me and my approach to travel forever. That trip was my transition from a tourist to a real traveller! We spent over two and a half amazing weeks exploring the crazy streets of Bangkok, the beautiful island of Phuket, and the paradisiac nature and beaches of Phi Phi and The Similans. Maybe it was the kindness of Thai people, the amazing nature, the thought of knowing that being so far away from home in a country where most things we are used to in western societies are so different, but I was certain that I have never felt more alive! I was free, curious, fearless, amazed, excited and felt a sense of happiness that I had never experienced before. Once back to London I could not resist. My heart was telling me to start looking for my next adventure right away! Being caught again in everyday life made me realise that routine was not for me. I needed to be on the move, explore new countries, cultures, talk to people I never met, challenge myself and get out of my comfort zone to see what I was really capable of. Well, since that moment I knew it. I had caught it, the Travel Bug and feeling of wanderlust would have never abandoned me again!

How to deal with it

It sounds crazy but for some the desire to travel might be so strong that a constant sense of anxiety and depressive feelings might arise. The reason why I’m saying it it’s because I experienced it on my own skin. The pandemic was a jail I could not escape from. When I heard the news on TV that Airports were being shut down due to the virus and I could not travel or go and see the rest of my family back home for God knows how long, it was unbearable! The sense of Wanderlust kept growing more and more every day…

I believe that there is no straight forward answer on how to deal with your sense of Wanderlust, and if there is it might be a different one for all of us. Many start to look at ways that will allow them to work remotely to be able to travel the world full time, some try to manage their holiday at work as best as they can, while others decide to momentarily, please their sense of wanderlust by taking a sabbatical year in South-east Asia… Personally, as I’m currently still working full time. I feel lucky to have a job that allows me to take short breaks every month, as well as longer trips (usually not more than two weeks) at least two to three times a year. Therefore, I manage to satisfy my desire to travel looking forward to my next trip. If you are in full time employment but caught the travel bug, spend your time planning your next trip, watch travel vlog, read about the places you want to visit and get ready for your new adventure. Trust me it helps! And most importantly, don’t be one of those people who think that travelling full time is impossible. It is, and thousands are doing it right now, especially with the popularity that smart working has gained after the pandemic. Look for a way that will allow you to leave everything behind, be free and travel the world the way you want to.

Time is the most precious thing we have in life and it should not be wasted living a life you don’t feel as yours!

However, with such ideas in mind, I perfectly understand that many people might think that you are a weirdo, that you should stop dreaming and get back to planet earth. So if you are one of those lucky people, who like me, caught the Travel Bug, you might feel lonely in your own world sometimes but promise yourself not to ever give up on your dream, no matter how crazy they sound!

If you need a bit of a push, have a look at one of my related blog post here or at the bottom of this page .

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The Travel Bug

Read by Kamil Ellis

In a land of long grasses, where small insects crawl, lived a strange little bug, with no name at all.

A strange little bug doesn't know who he is or where he's from. Even his name is a mystery. So he sets off to seek answers. He journeys the world meeting wonderful creatures, seeing amazing sights and eating delicious food. Adventures he has, but still no one knows what insect he is. Maybe, just maybe, the path he is on is the answer he seeks.

The Travel Bug is a gently philosophical picture book about identity, fate, the joy of travelling, and the discovery of kindness and kinship across cultures. Written by author Benjamin Gilmour and with fabulously detailed illustrations by James Gulliver Hancock,  this story of a little bug with an identity crisis and his journey is beautifully read by actor Kamil Ellis and will warm everyone's heart.

Benjamin Gilmour

Illustrated by

James Gulliver Hancock

Performed by

Kamil Ellis

Published By

Penguin Books Australia

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Read by Kirli Saunders

The Last Peach

The patchwork bike.

Read by Zahra Newman

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Read by Jane Kennedy

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*Another* Trip?!? How to Explain the Travel Bug to Those Who Just Don’t Have It

You announce to your friends or family that you’re planning yet another trip. Instead of being excited or even plain jealous, these people just look at you quizzically, totally unable to comprehend why you would want to go away again , and especially to a place they’ve barely heard of or can’t imagine in their entire lives ever wanting to visit.

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These are people who don’t understand the travel bug.

I’m guessing there are quite a few travelers out there who have experienced this situation and I sympathize with you. If you’d really like these people to understand why you’re hitting the road again — or if it’s important that they do, because they’re your significant other or someone else affected by your travels — here are a few ways I’ve found to try to get them a bit more on side.

Don’t expect to convert them to travel addicts — it’s possible, but more often it’s just something you’re born with — but you might be able to at least elicit a normal reaction out of them when you start arranging your next trip.

#1: Information is Persuasion

Pass on some of your pre-trip research to your doubting friends and family so that they can know something concrete about the destinations you’re all hyped about. Be careful not to overdo this, of course. Just give them a small sample of websites or brochures or whatever info you have, carefully selected to be the kinds of things they’re most likely to be interested in — art galleries perhaps, or statistics about the cost of living. Pretty pictures can work miracles.

They don’t need to love your destination — you just want them to understand why you do.

Just make sure you do this without coming across all teacher-like or you’ll only be putting them off the idea more. Unless you’re trying to persuade them to come with you (a much harder proposition), they don’t need to love your destination — you just want them to understand why you do.

#2: Emphasize the Benefits

Many non-travelers just don’t see the point of it all. Their idea of taking a trip is limited to something like a package deal to a sun-kissed island where they’ll stay at the resort all week (by the pool) with one zany excursion into the local town for two hours. To these people, travel is equivalent to mere relaxation, and anything more complicated than that sounds much too exhausting.

If your traveling needs go a bit beyond this — and if you’re reading this site, the chances are very high that they do — it is (sometimes) possible to educate others about why you really want to go somewhere different. Angles include:

• Excitement. Just mention that you’re a bit hard to please when it comes to something that grabs your interest, and you need to head out further afield to satisfy your adrenalin cravings.
• Self development. Explain that travel helps you to push the boundaries in life and you hope it’ll lead to a few insights into your personality and the way forward for you.
• Financial. Personally, I don’t care too much about the fiscal side of things, but others do: if you’re planning to work as part of a longer trip, or you can sell stories of your trip afterwards, you can make your trip sound much more logical to some by mentioning the monetary benefits.
• Intercultural experience. There’ll be times when having deeper intercultural experiences will make you more employable, or just help you to deal with the kinds of people you meet in your everyday life at home, too.
• Language practice. Also good for the resume.

#3: Personalize Your Motivations

Everybody has a passion for something. We just belong to a bunch of people that have this passion for travel. Narrow down the passions of your friends and explain your travel bug in terms of their own favorite indulgence.

Yes, this could lead to conversations like this:

• “You know that new tire on your racing bicycle? How you kept stroking the new rubber and admiring its perfect fit? That’s how I feel about this airline ticket to Papua New Guinea.”
• “Remember when you got your first girlfriend? How exciting that was? That’s how I feel when I decide on an obscure country that I just have to visit.”

But heck, whatever it takes, just say it.

#4: Bugs Can Be Contagious

It’s not called the travel “bug” for nothing. For a start, it infects you and will never let go for your entire life. You just have to live with that (I certainly haven’t heard of any cases where it’s gone away). But the bonus is that sometimes, the travel bug is contagious.

The bonus is that sometimes the travel bug is contagious.

When I first announced I was going to live abroad and travel for an extended time, probably years, I received mixed reactions. Some of them bothered me. But when I was living far from home and just sending monthly emails to most of my friends, rather than having any particularly personal contact, I couldn’t really care about what their reactions were to my travels.

That’s when a funny thing happened. I started to get a lot of emails — particularly if I hadn’t sent an update for a while — where people said that they were traveling vicariously through me. They’d caught the travel bug, or at least a passive form of it. And over the years, some of these friends started going on trips inspired by some of the places I’d visited, and they even asked me for advice. So perhaps the lesson is that not caring so much about what people think is the best thing to do.

If You Don’t Succeed … Give Up and Travel Anyway

If you’ve tried all this and your friends or family members still don’t have the vaguest idea why you want to travel, it’s okay to give up. Give up on convincing or persuading them, that is. Then just throw yourself into trip preparations and fly off into the sunset.

This is some great advice. We often get the “didn’t you just get back from ?!?” looks from our friends.

We’ve been to four countries and eight states so far this year and love every minute of it! Portland, OR and Ireland are still coming up. :)

I have found, however, that I don’t really need the understanding of those around me about why we go so many places. I have my hubby as my travel partner and a pup to come home to, so life is good.

It’s wonderful how you reach out and relate to so many of us who have tried to “explain” why. My husband’s family, most of whom have never left Texas, let alone, the USA after many years of courting themn, as you suggest, gently, next tactic:we even sent them passport applications and offered to pay, we finally realized that they are among those who can’t really figure out WHY and (after fifteen years of being on the road) we would want…why anyone would want…to be, as they refer to it “down there somewhere”…i.e. Central and South America….Well, your “give it up and travel anyway” advice is sound. Don’t limit your horizons looking for approval of family and friends. WWe never did and never will. Thanks for another great article, Jody

Thanks for the nice feedback, Leandra and Jody. Sounds like you’re both lucky enough to have perfect travel partners (and so am I) – but I know people whose own partners don’t understand the travel thing and that’s tough!

I am the only one in my family who really has the travel bug. It’s impossible to try and explain why I like traveling and living overseas. I get sick of the question “so when you are going to settle down?”

For me I LOVE the planning aspect. I’m not a good gardener – but just like those cultivate seeds and watch their plants grow I enjoy poring over maps, learning the streets, hunting for interesting places before I leave and while there.

I’m an adventure traveler – and love running around cities, catch subways, and taking in as much as I can. But I don’t diss anyone who just wants to sit on the beach for a week. Some people have more stressful jobs – so to them its well deserved.

http://www.futuregringo.com

Also I try and take two big trips a year – one in the spring and one in the fall when the weather is good everywhere. (and long weekends closer to home in between.)

That means I’m always on the lookout for good airfare deals or scouting out my next place the rest of the year.

I really do enjoy the planning – and its fun when its finally confirmed and booked – and you get to truly pencil in your dates and tell your friends about your plans…

@ james, yes, planning is definitely a big part of the fun. I don’t like to make lots of actual definite plans, but love reading about where I’m headed and especially then picking up a few novels that were written there to get a feel for the place

@ Mike, I hate that “when are you going to settle down” question too! I’m sure everybody who asks it is just jealous, really ;-)

People ask me how I can afford to travel or how I can justify the expense. Then they tell me about the new high-def, flat-screen monstrosity they just bought. It doesn’t occur to them that for the price of that new TV they could have enjoyed an incredible trip to another country.

Traveling has educated me in too many ways too count and made me a better person. I have awesome stories to tell and a sense of accomplishment. A television is only something to stare at while you sit immobile in one place.

Jim conversely people see travel as a one time thrill that doesn’t last, where as a TV serves you for a few years.

I see the opposite: At the end of my life I don’t remember fondly a new plasma TV or fancy car – but time with friends, weekends in the mountains with friends, and travel to places abroad gives you great memories

and it is tangible through people you meet, photos, and stories you keep.

james…

@ Jim and James, the idea of a TV being better than a trip is kind of a shock to me, but I can see the logic – but I’m grateful I don’t think that way! You’re both right, I think, that you have better stories to tell and memories to linger on from taking trips.

Good article, but I am of the belief that you will never be able to successfully make anyone understand why you do what you do (if they’re not travelers themselves, that is). This is because travelers are a different breed. We see things from a much different angle than people who don’t travel. Basically, we see life differently…most people have a notion that all there is to life is go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, buy a house, retire at 65 and live off your pension.

This is ingrained in us from the moment we’re born. There doesn’t seem to be much thought towards any of those things…they’re taken for granted that “that’s just what you do”. Enter the traveler…curious, wide-eyed, a sense of the entire world, willing to question everything we are taught in life.

In a sense it is isolating, which is why traveling communities exist, because we can relate to each other. Friends and family from home feign a passing interest in what I’m doing, but in the end just don’t and can’t understand it. Which isn’t to say they are any less of friends…there should just be a mutual respect that you’ve chosen your path in life. The only one that needs to understand why you do what you do, is you.

Fantastic article Amanda!

What particularly resonated for me was the realisation that family/friends may come around to understanding one’s need to travel, but it’s no biggie if they don’t

My husband doesn’t like travel near as much as I do, because he grew up very poor and never traveled outside of his hometown of Lima, Peru as a child.

I, on the other hand, LOVE travel – and since we live in Lima now, I want to travel and see everything there is to see in this amazing country.

These tips might help me make him a little more enthusiastic about it!

Great article. Most of our family and friends were very supportive when we told them of our plan to take a year off and travel the world. There were those who thought we were crazy and didn’t understand why we’d ever want to sit on a bus for 24+ hours or sleep in less than stellar conditions, but those are people who just have different priorities. There’s a lot of great advice here in the article and in comments. We don’t have to try to convert non-travel lovers, cause chances are we won’t. But we can share our experiences, and who knows, they might want to expand their interests a bit?

I enjoyed this post, thoroughly. In my family not everyone has a travel bug, what is weird my mother has it and that’s one of the few things in common between the two of us. Most people are supportive though, some don’t understand the financial part of it – yes, travel is not something I would call cheap, but it’s also not as expensive as some people might imagine.

I absolutely LOVE to travel and it is hard to explain to people, especially my mom, why I love it so much. It’s funny she and my dad were the ones who inadvertantly planted the seed years ago when she would pack my brother and me up and ship us off to relatives in Louisana, Arkansas or wherever anyone was willing to take us for the entire summer. I grew up thinking all kids went away after school got out and found out that many of my friends never left the block. We had special experiences that were priceless!! I don’t try to explain anymore, it’s my pleasure and vice and no one will ever “get it” if they don’t already have the bug :)

Great tips, though, as you say, some people just won’t ever get it. I’ve been traveling for almost 2 years now (working on and off as an English teacher and freelance writer) and still to this day, every time I speak to my mother, she always asks when I’m going to stop “playing” and come home to “reality”. For some people, travel is reality. And beside, we’re pretty happy so that’s all that should matter right?

• Pingback: How to Explain Your Desire to Travel to Those Who Don’t Get It | World Inhabit - The Online Travel Guide

Great article, I’ve done one in the past about breaking it to family, mainly my brother. I grew up in an EXTREMELY conservative family and at the mere mention of chasing some dream of mine I was usually mocked.

Then the day came when I had my tickets booked and it was two weeks before I left the US for the first time. When I went and told my brother about it, I expected him to be outraged, call me stupid, and think it was the most irresponsible thing ever.

I was very wrong, it was much worse.

He actually disowned me and told me if I left the US I would no longer be his brother. Being that he is the only blood I have left on this planet, you can imagine I was crushed.

I still went though. He was not there to say farewell at the train or the airport, and for 4 months he didn’t speak a word to me. After a while I broke through and we began chatting again, but it has still been rough ever since.

But it is important that you try your hardest to have them see why this travel dream is so important, and if they can’t, you must continue on your path.

Great article!

Great tips! I just finished Law School and I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment. I want to take a year of and then come back and work. Everybody is giving me a hard time when I tell them I want to travel.

Next time I speak to someone about me taking one year off I’ll try your tips and see how it goes.

Thanks for shearing have a wonderful day! :)

Hi Amanda and Paulina,

Fabulous tips! I just finished law school as well and I planned an around-the-world trip on miles to visit friends from my previous time abroad living in Paris and a year in Sydney before that. The grind of law school is absolutely suffocating to free spirited individuals.

When I announced I was going traveling, yet again, I got the “you are refusing to participate in reality,” talk from friends and confused looks from my parents.

I was a little sad at the lukewarm and apathetic response to my trip, so much to the point that I began to doubt my decision. This felt strange after spending so much time living abroad; suddenly trying to “manage perceptions” of those around me? I never needed anyone’s blessing before! What has law school done to me?

After some introspection, I discovered I wanted others to validate my decision. The truth is the only validation I need is my own. Developing an authentic sense of self and finding the courage to make decisions that generate happiness for your innermost self is an essential life skill and component of creating a lasting, fulfilling existence.

Leaving just after Christmas. Totes excited! Maybe I’ll see you both on the road.

Cheers, Grant

Thanks for sharing your experience, it sounds a lot like what I’m going through right now.

See you on the road! :)

Greetings, Paulina

I wish I had found this article years ago :p I have struggled greatly trying to explain travel to people and most people just don’t get it so I just give up!

That’s alright, I always tell my backpacker friends…”Yup. We’re the ones that got life right”

I’m about to head out on an 18 month rtw again this jan!

Thanks for posting such an inspiring article. We can 100% relate to this!

We quit our jobs, sold our house and all our belongings and set off on a 13 month backpacking trip. Most people were super skeptical of our choice and didn’t think we’d last on the road. They thought we were pretty crazy for giving up everything.

After an amazing, eye-opening, life altering trip, we returned to Canada to “real” life….and realized we didn’t belong there anymore.

So, we planned another trip and mos people were shocked. “What? Another trip, but you just got home” The thing was, this wasn’t home anymore, we were used to a completely different style of life now.

We left Canada again after one year and have been travelling now for 22 months and we don’t second guess a minute of it.

People don’t understand it, they don’t really want to hear about travel stories, but you know what? We don’t mind anymore. We have new friends that we’ve met on the road and we have each other, so basically if you find people who can relate to you, it’s all good.

Thanks a lot for this post!

Safe Travels. Goats On The Road

There is no need to explain. You get confused looks and questions of why. All I can do is laugh. People going to work each day with nothing to look forward to than their two weeks vacation don’t get it. Seeing the sun rise in the Andes, sitting on the beach in Belize, looking over a rain forest from the blue glacier in Washington, walking the streets of Salem for Halloween, the adventure never ends. I have worked part time for an airline for the last 15 years. Waking up in the morning knowing that I am 45 minutes from a flight that will take me anywhere in the world makes it hard to sleep some times.

I found that when I finally decided to do my trip my way on my own, that friends of mine were eager to meet up with me while I was in destination. I met up with three different friends from my city on my trip to Europe –some who were going to be there anyways; and others who were inspired that I was going and kind of had an excuse or a friend to be with while in destination. WIN WIN. Trust your instincts and others will follow.

So true… just travel and enjoy…. you’ll meet and discover new friends along the way :)

happy travelling…

“Are you going away again? When are you going to settle down? It’s time you buy yourself a new car…..”

I hear it all the time! But I still NEED to travel. To meet new people, see new places, experience new things and learn!

And I also love the planning, research, etc (although I do minimal bookings except for my inbound/outbound flights and first few nights accomodation).

I will settle down in the near future, but that does not mean I have to give up travelling. Just travel in a different way…

I’m glad there are people that don’t have the travel bug… at the famous places, it’s unbelievably crowded as it is. I’ve traveled to many places where i was the only or one of a few tourists in the area… I like it that way.

Hi, im better than you because I travel, I’m glad you don’t travel because that means its less crowded for me. This is the most egocentric bs I’ve ever heard. Moderator won’t post this because she will be biased. So this and the last message is for you. You are not better than one person, not posting my comments proves you have an issue with your ego and are too stubborn to post someone elses opinions that might conflict yours as your concered how it will look on “your cool travel page guide”. Oh please, do us all a favour, move to a 3rd world country without internet and live out your traveling dreams.

Oh please, There is no such thing as a travel ‘bug’ or contagious illness to travel. I do travel, often off the beaten road, this article however made my toenails curl. I can’t stand people who think that they are better people because they have been here or there, quite frankly this article screams that. I would love to travel more but can’t afford it, just because I don’t go on about traveling all the time doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it. People are far to concerned now days about what other people think about what they are doing. If you want to go traveling, do so, don’t bore myself and all of your friends of the planning details, I can’t think of anything worse. Isn’t part of the idea to go there and see what happens, rather than a regimented trip? For someone who is a travel writer, and been to over 30 countries (would of expected more from a travel writer) this article seems as it was written by a 18 year old girl who just got back from a gap year and is desperately trying to get as much attention and reaction as she did when she announced her first trip. Thank you for confirming that the majority of people who travel are yuppy ego centred twits.

Grr … sounds like someone needs a hug ='(

Thats a very patronising way to dance away from the point i’ve raised, bravo.

No problem, James. Patronizing self righteous assholes is what we do best here.

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Evidently, nice hat by the way.

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Season 4 – The Travel Bug

Where to watch, the travel bug — season 4.

Watch The Travel Bug — Season 4 with a subscription on Prime Video.

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Popular tv on streaming, season info.

The Travel Bug

What it is and how to get it, voyageous infectus:.

An extreme urge to get out and see stuff.  This not-so-rare affliction displays symptoms similar to that of Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO).  It is most often contracted by looking through friends’ photo albums, though cases have also been reportedly linked to researching ancestry, scuba diving, and post-honeymoon withdrawal.

Symptoms include:

My Zanzibar screensaver

• Your screen savers are better than the ones that come with the computer
• You volunteer to plan other peoples’ trip itineraries
• Invariably you find yourself in the travel section of any bookstore you walk into
• None of your decorations at home match because it’s all from random countries

While unfortunately there is no known cure (other than visiting Baltimore), the CDC compiled a list of home remedies. Scientific studies have shown these remedies will make Travel Bug symptoms more tolerable:

• Put all your daily purchases on a credit card for frequent flyer miles on purchases.  Omaha to Madrid in business class for $28? Not bad. Find a card that offers massive travel points just for signing up – Visit Travel is free , Johnny Jet or Nomadic Matt to keep tabs on these offers.
• Visit Travel Adventure Shows. I go to these whenever I can to wander around, listen to industry experts who travel constantly and chat with representatives from destinations I plan on traveling to get the real scoop.
• Find a travel buddy: My two favorite travel buddies are my wife, (who can put up with me for hours on end and tolerates listening to audio books at triple speed) and my dog, Mitch, who is always up for any adventure (to include Nebraska, Michigan, hiking in Utah, Colorado, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, ocean time in North Carolina, and a trip to Niagara falls).
• Set up travel alerts for your airport of choice: Kayak, Momondo, FareDealAlert or AirFareWatchDog can all keep track of special deals from your home airport and destination of choice.
• Travel.  Do it.  Go.  Take two weeks, or quit your job and hike for two months. People do it more often than you think.

If you find yourself displaying these or other symptoms, do some homework , and make sure to read up on overseas safety before you go.  A bad experience can be detrimental to the travel bug – get out there, but be smart about it.  Finally, though some may tell you otherwise, I fully support donating half your stuff and putting the rest into storage while you explore the world!

How do you stoke your wanderlust?

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The Travel Bug Idiom Meaning, Usage With Example, Synonyms

• Updated on  
• Aug 11, 2023

The travel bug idiom refers to a person with a strong desire to travel and explore new places. It’s a metaphorical term to describe the feeling of wanderlust, or the urge to travel and learn about different cultures, enjoy the picturesque scenery and engage in outdoor activities.

People termed as a ‘travel bug’ often feel a sense of restlessness and excitement when they haven’t been to new places in a long time. It’s a way of describing the psychological and emotional attachment to travelling and tourism.

Also read – Brainstorm Meaning

Usage With Example

‘The travel bug’ phrase can be used in different ways to describe a person who loves to travel. To understand where this term can be used appropriately, here are some examples which you can consider.

• ‘Ever since he went on the Europe tour, he’s had the travel bug and now he can’t stop planning his next trip.’
• ‘My father is saving money to satisfy his travel bug by going on an all-India trip.’
• ‘He had the travel bug for months now and he constantly browses travel websites and is dreaming of exploring different places.’
• ‘Once you catch the travel bug, it will be very difficult to stay in one place for a long time.’
• ‘Thanks to my grandparents because of whom I’ve been bitten by the travel bug: they used to take me to different places every season.’

The Travel Bug Idiom Synonyms

The idiom ‘travel bug’ has a lot of similar words and synonyms that can be used in different ways and aspects. Here are some similar terms to this idiom that you can consider.

• Desire to travel
• Longing to travel

Also read – Strike While the Iron is Hot Meaning

The Travel Bug Idiom Quiz

After completing his education abroad, Anurag returned home with a travel bug and now

• Wants to explore different places
• Tired of travelling
• Wants to spend time with family and friends.

Ans. Wants to explore different places

Also read – Fever Pitch Meaning

This was all about the travel bug idiom meaning and examples. Hope you understood the concept where it’s used. For more such blogs, follow Leverage Edu .

Shiva Tyagi

Shiva is a professional content writer with an experience of 2 years. Most of his content is focused on helping students with their education and future plans. In his spare time, Shiva enjoys reading biographies and real-life stories.

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Is This Maternity Hospital Haunted, or Is It All a Pregnant Metaphor?

In Clare Beams’s eerie new novel, “The Garden,” nefarious things are afoot.

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By Claire Oshetsky

Claire Oshetsky’s novel “Chouette” won the 2022 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Their latest novel is “Poor Deer,” published in January.

THE GARDEN, by Clare Beams

Irene Willard is a midcentury American woman with a history of miscarriages and a husband who is eager to start a family. Still childless, now pregnant for the sixth time, Irene dutifully packs herself off to an isolated ancestral estate that has been repurposed by a husband-and-wife medical team into a care center for high-risk pregnancies. This place is more haunted manse than hospital. The doctors are prone to say things like “now for your first injection” — and they won’t take no for an answer. Small indefinable living things skitter in the shadowed corners of the rooms. And: There is a neglected garden out back that has the power to bring dead things back to life.

With such a richly gothic setup, you might forgive me for thinking “The Garden” was about to deliver some blood-splattery fun and maybe even some zombie babies by the end. But that is not this book — or at least, that is not the whole story. Tucked inside this story’s gothic envelope is a tale inspired by a horrific chapter in the history of obstetric medicine.

“The earliest whisper of ‘The Garden’ came to me in the history of diethylstilbestrol” (or DES), Beams writes in her acknowledgments. “That drug’s story … set mine in motion.” A synthetic estrogen that was prescribed for decades to prevent miscarriage, DES did nothing to prevent miscarriage; what it did instead was cause cancers, infertility and birth defects. How could such a medical tragedy have continued for so long? Beams borrows facts from history to fashion an answer to that question in the guise of a horror story.

Irene is savvy and skeptical and she has doubts from the beginning about the hospital and its so-called state-of-the-art treatments. But her fear of triggering another miscarriage keeps her paralyzed and compliant: She “would never go home by choice to wait for the wave, the streak, the clot, the pool, the groan, the clench, the seep, the first slight cramp, each moment a terrible balance of hoping and dreading, listening and trying not to listen, feeling and trying not to feel.”

When Irene discovers that the garden out back seems to hold supernatural gifts, she feels newly empowered, and enlists two fellow patients to corroborate its miracles of resurrection. In a twisty echo of the experimental treatments being done to their bodies inside the house, the women begin to conduct life-and-death experiments of their own: First, they kill only small things — a beetle, a pill bug, a baby garter snake — and bring them back to life. Soon enough, they’re speculating about how to use the garden to prevent or reverse a miscarriage. Of course they are. And by the time Irene’s baby begins to move inside her in ways that remind her chillingly of the pathetic creatures she has helped reanimate, we’ve entered full-on horror territory.

The genius of the novel is the way Beams continually intertwines fictional elements with true-to-life obstetric practices. The women here are injected with mysterious drugs in ever-changing dosages. Psychiatric sessions are laughably mercurial. Every now and then, a patient goes into labor and disappears upstairs to another floor of the hospital. Sometimes she comes back without a baby. Sometimes she doesn’t come back at all.

“They’re doing a lot of things to us without exactly saying why, aren’t they?” one woman hesitantly ventures to ask another. “And still changing it all as they go.” Although Beams works to remind us how pregnancy creates a dangerous power imbalance between the pregnant person (who wants every good outcome for her developing child) and her doctor (who is promising to deliver nothing but good outcomes) — an imbalance that can lead to a medical disaster like DES continuing for decades — the novel never feels preachy. It never drags. I loved the poetic grossness of “pale, glistening chicken,” which perfectly captures the women’s institutional meals. Music when played at this hospital sounds “liquid, swampy.” Humor blooms at the least expected junctures.

Make no mistake, this is a serious story, even an angry one. Even so, there is something delightful about the way Irene and her co-conspirators are at first too squeamish to kill a salamander, but then quickly evolve into wild women who are ready to make any sacrifice necessary for the sake of their gestating children.

The publisher compares the novel to “Rosemary’s Baby,” but in at least one important way, they are very different. In “Rosemary’s Baby,” the Devil comes to claim his hellspawn in the end and that’s that. (At least in the film version.) But Beams leaves us purposefully, chillingly in doubt. Is the power of the garden real? Is it a delusion brought on by Irene’s fear and isolation? Is the women’s belief in it all a hallucination induced by the unknown drugs injected into their bodies each day? When things go off the rails — as they are wont to do, both in high-risk pregnancies and when messing with dark forces — is it because of the doctors and their experimental treatments, or because of what Irene and her friends did in the garden?

“What have you heard, exactly?” one woman says to another.“That their organs, their feminine organs — that there are things wrong sometimes,” she replies. “It’s the result of having given us all those drugs.” “Well, but we did things too,” the first woman says. Some readers are going to miss getting answers to this novel’s questions, but the ambiguity floating freely through it is perfect for Beams’s intentions.

Just as the pregnant women who were prescribed DES endured decades of fear and guilt about how the drug’s harms would manifest in their children, the patients in “The Garden” learn there is nothing they can do to take the doubt away. There is no monster for them to slay, or be defeated by. There is no catharsis. There is only one woman at a time, trying to navigate a world where, when it comes to her child’s welfare, she can never be completely at ease.

THE GARDEN | By Clare Beams | Doubleday | 304 pp. | $28

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Worth It: Dolce & Gabbana Eye Dare You! Multi-Use Palette

Eyeliner, eyeshadow, and blush all in one place? Sign me up.

Welcome back to Worth It, our weekly seal of approval on noteworthy launches and bespoke collaborations in the worlds of beauty and fashion. If it's featured here, consider these investments worthwhile.

The Promise

When it comes to eyeshadow palettes , I like options. But not just a depth of shade ranges, I like a variety of finishes that offer limitless looks. Enter: Dolce & Gabbana's Eye Dare You! Multi-finish Eyes and Cheeks Palette . It contains twelve colors, from subtle neutrals to vibrant pinks, displaying a healthy mix of mattes, shimmers, and glitter shadows . As the name indicates, the palette is for multi-use lovers. The black gel is meant to double as eyeliner , the bright pink can be used as a blush, and the shimmers can function as soft-focus highlighters. Simply put, if you lead a hectic life, this lineup is for you.

At first glance, the mix of shades and finishes seemed great, but I'm skeptical of multi-use palettes. I find the formulas sit funny on my skin when used in ways other than eyeshadow. But, because Dolce & Gabbana promises versatility, a long-lasting, high color payoff, I decided to give it a shot.

The Dolce & Gabbana Eye Dare You! palette boasts a diverse collection of shades that work for everyday routines and statement looks alike.

Why I'm Obsessed

Before opening this palette, I was forced to appreciate the packaging. The palette comes in a heavy black and gold case with the Dolce & Gabbana logo emblazoned on the front. As if that weren't enough, a detachable gold chain allows users to clip it to any bag, keychain or belt loop.

Practically speaking, having it hang on my side doesn't make the most sense; I'm constantly on public transit—what if someone bumps into me and it spills in the ground? However, keeping in on the inside of my tote makes the most sense for me. Typically, I rummage through the abyss of my bag, tossing items aside as I go, to find my makeup palette. But now, I can clip my palette to the zipper of one of my tote's inner compartments to stay organized. I also appreciate peeking at the luxurious emblem inside of my bag. I feel so special!

In terms of the palette itself, I was immediately impressed. The product stays true to its promises of providing highly pigmented colors. All of them—even the colors lighter than my skin tone—showed up as advertised with just one swipe. The glitters were much easier to incorporate into an everyday look than I expected. I could create a soft, work-friendly wash with one layer but easily build up the shimmer for nighttime.

One Saturday afternoon, I created a subtly shimmery look by layering "Outrageous," a silver glitter, over my otherwise matte look. The next day, I used that same shade to make a dramatic smoky eye so luminescent that it could be seen halfway across the room. My favorite shade by far is "Impulsive," a swirly-looking hue that the brand describes as "melange bronze." It incorporates hints of brown, gold, and yellow, making it multi-dimensional enough to be worn independently.

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Other favorites include "Spoiled," a buildable pink that looks great on my brown eyes —but also makes me look naturally sun-kissed when used as a blush. "Slick" and "Outrageous" can double as highlighters if you're in a bind. The pigmented black color, "Wanted," can be used as an eyeshadow or gel liner, and the palette's dual-ended brush has the precision of a newly sharpened pencil.

The Eye Dare You! palette can create a multitude of styles, including this muted, contoured purple look that's perfect for spring.

Speaking of the brush, it's an unsung hero of the palette. The pointy end can be used as eyeliner, lining the outer edge and upper lid in darker shades (my go-to's are "Unapologetic," a matte taupe, and "Provocative," a matte purple). Meanwhile, the fatter side of the brush is perfect for adding a base shade (like the matte nude "Scheming"). I'd rely on my at-home extensive collection of brushes for especially intricate eye looks, but this add-on is more than sufficient in a pinch.

Eye Dare You! has become my new travel companion (yes, even on the train), offering a world of color possibilities. More importantly, it's turned me into a multi-use palette convert, and I will be forever thankful.

Gabrielle Ulubay is a Beauty Writer at Marie Claire. She has also written about sexual wellness, fashion, culture, and politics both at Marie Claire and for publications like The New York Times, Bustle, and HuffPost Personal. She has worked extensively in the e-commerce and sales spaces since 2020, including two years at Drizly, where she developed an expertise in finding the best, highest quality goods and experiences money can buy. As a film school graduate, she loves all things media and can be found making art when she's not busy writing.

Fashion insiders weigh in on their favorite styles.

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No one can argue that the NFL tight end isn’t unapologetically himself.

By Danielle Campoamor Published 12 April 24

Don't hold your breath for an apology, folks.

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