"Confessions of a Travel Addict" Rodan44's Profile

Hello, my name is Justin, and I am a travel addict. I first starting experimenting with traveling as a young boy, when my parents would go on long family drives around the US in our camper van. Then as a teenager, I started getting into the harder stuff, like flying cross country or to Hawaii or the Caribbean. I even made it all the way to Honduras for a month during one particularly gratuitous travel binge. But the whole time I figured I had it under control. I could stop any time I wanted to.

Then after graduating college and getting a job, I met my wife to be, Trisanna. She too had experimented a little with recreational traveling as an adolescent, mostly to Europe to visit family. But like me, she was ready to put those days of travel debauchery behind her and finally go straight.

But after our wedding came the dreaded honeymoon. We had both been clean for a while, but the prospect of one final over-the-top travel binge was too much to pass up. We took the plunge into the pit of travel vice... a honeymoon in France! I'm not exaggerating when I say that I am still trying to shake off that massive travel hangover.

After hitting rock bottom with the honeymoon, we promised ourselves never again. But then the cruel hand of fate intervened, and my company sent me to live and work in Singapore for a 10 month stint, with my wife naturally accompaning me. That's when the downward spiral began.

You see, travel in the United States was not only expensive, but it was usually pretty low-grade stuff, making it all the more easy to quit cold turkey. But travel in southeast Asia... ooh boy, that is some primo travel, let me tell you! I'm talking cheap airfare, cheap hotels, cheap food, and all with amazing quailty that knocks you out cold and would cost you easily twice as much in the US. The temptation was too great. All the other Singapore expats were doing hardcore traveling like it was no big thing. I'm talkin truly insane travel the likes of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia. In the end, the temptation was too much. We gave in.

Man, after a taste of SE Asia travel, how can you go back? How can you ever visit the Jersey shore again knowing that a place like Langkawi Island in Malaysia exists? How can you be content visiting Branson Missouri after you've been to Bangkok Thailand? How can you possibly get high on the sight of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota when you've taken in Angkor Wat in Cambodia?

My fellow travel addicts, I stand before you today a defeated man. My addiction is too strong to overcome at this point, especially as long as I continue to live in Singapore. But don't cry over me, for I am beyond redemption. I can only hope that my tragedy will scare straight a few young people who may be considering a road trip to Florida or spring break in Cancun. My only advice to them is "Just say NO!"

- Justin, May 2004

Pagan worship of the evil dairy god

*** September 30, 2002 - arrive Singapore ***
Oct'02 - Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Nov'02 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nov'02 - Hong Kong
Dec'02 - Bintan, Indonesia
Dec'02 - Melaka, Malaysia
Feb'03 - Hanoi, Vietnam
Mar'03 - Siem Reap, Cambodia
Apr'03 - Langkawi, Malaysia
May'03 - Bali, Indonesia
Jun'03 - Bangkok, Thailand
Jul'03 - Kuala Lumpur / Melaka, Malaysia
Jul'03 - Chiang Mai, Thailand / Tachilek, Myanmar
Aug'03 - Netherlands / Belgium
Sep'03 - Penang, Malaysia
Sep'03 - Bali, Indonesia
Sep'03 - Bangkok, Thailand
Oct'03 - Hoi An / Da Nang / Hue, Vietnam
Feb'04 - Jakarta, Indonesia
Feb'04 - Bangkok, Thailand
Apr'04 - Luang Prabang, Laos
May'04 - Jordan / Bahrain
Jun'04 - Vientiane, Laos / Loei, Thailand
Aug'04 - Chennai, India
Sep'04 - Melaka, Malaysia
Sep'04 - Phuket, Thailand
Oct'04 - Songkhla / Hat Yai, Thailand
Oct'04 - Sarawak, Malaysia
Dec'04 - Central Coast, California
Jan'05 - Bangkok, Thailand
Jan'05 - Hong Kong / Macau
Feb'05 - New Zealand
Feb'05 - Chiang Mai, Thailand
Mar'05 - Phuket, Thailand
Mar'05 - Pulau Dayang, Malaysia (diving certification)
Mar'05 - Maldives
Apr'05 - Bangkok, Thailand
Apr'05 - Sri Lanka
May'05 - Phuket, Thailand
May'05 - Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Jun'05 - Pulau Batam, Indonesia
Aug'05 - Northern Luzon, Philippines
Aug'05 - Bangkok, Thailand
Aug'05 - Phuket, Thailand
Sep'05 - Bangkok, Thailand
Sep'05 - Phuket, Thailand
Sep'05 - Slovakia / Czech Republic
Oct'05 - Bangkok, Thailand
Nov'05 - Hong Kong / Macau
Nov'05 - Delhi / Jaipur / Agra, India
Dec'05 - Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
Dec'05 - Hong Kong
Jan'06 - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Apr'06 - Bangkok, Thailand
Apr'06 - Victoria, Australia
Jun'06 - Taipei, Taiwan
Jun'06 - Dresden, Germany
Jul-Aug'06 - Saxony & Berlin, Germany
Nov'06 - Tokyo, Japan
Nov'06 - Bangkok, Thailand
Mar'07 - Manila, Philippines
Apr'07 - Sydney, Australia
May'07 - Shanghai, Xi'an & Beijing, China
Aug'07 - Bali, Indonesia
Sep-Oct'07 - Istanbul, Turkey / Bavaria / Austria / Switzerland
Jan'08 - Seoul, South Korea
Feb'08 - Hokkaido, Japan
Apr-May'08 - Cape Town, South Africa
Oct'08 - Kyushu & Honshu, Japan
Mar'09 - Bangkok, Thailand

Sleeping off yet another travel hangover

No trips currently planned.

For even more shameful evidence of my self-destructive sojourns, please visit my personal website.