Aspies who travel a lot

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Without travelling, I feel that I am trapped in the middle of nowhere...

Well I really get to travel a lot as I live in Singapore, where almost everything can be 30 miles away.

I travel different routes occassionally when I'm on the bus there and back from college and I could never seem to hang out in the building on my lunch breaks but since it went cold.

I used to love travelling so many places when I was younger and we was richer back then going to London sight seeings with my family, especially in the summer, it feels more like me going out places and also going to the coast of kent.

I sure miss doing that, still go to parties but I find that kinda awkard though.

i live for road trips and driving alone, long distance. it started when i was about 20 in 1989 and have been doing it as much as time and money allows, ever since. the freedom and solitude, autonomy, being able to be myself and listen to music and watch the scenery. i get obsessed with certain roads, the itinerary along a particular route, the music i listen to and places i stop at which become ritualistic. one of my weird interests is the pennsylvania turnpike. i obsess over places i stay, motels and hotels, and will try to always get that same room if possible. i take photos to document the room and its details. and there's nothing i love more than getting to my destination, setting up my room, then going out for food to bring back. i'll just sit and listen to the radio and look out at the view and eat.

there's this one hotel near philadelphia that's right on the delaware river but set back in a little old residential neighborhood between the interstae and the river. i go to my favorite corner cheesesteak joint and take one back to the room, turn on the radio and stare out at the water and the lights of the airport and other industry in the distance, the little boats bobbing in the dark. the place has its own unique smell, even the elevators. the hallways appear grungy and even a little scary, and some would even deem the place 'seedy', but i love it. the room itself is fine. last time i was there i inadvertently got a kitchenette room which rocked even harder. and i dig the retro, orangey-pink tile bathroom.

ok, enough geekout for now; but you understand. where else could i do this?

and now i'm wanting a cheesesteak.

I love to travel - the constant adventure of new experience and the cathartic release of leaving my mundane surroundings behind are too great to pass up. I also find that I am more social when I am on the road. I prefer driving or taking a train. Airports drive me a bit mad but are sometimes a "necessary" evil as air travel is often the most expedient way to get from point A to point B.

I've only been on the plane for a few times in my life. I don't always travel far.

I need a good travel buddy.

We need to start up a WP travel club.

Heh with all the folks here loving travel, we ought to set up some good couchsurfing.

It had always seemed that traveling is something not typical for someone with Asperger's because it takes you out of your routine. I do, however, love to travel, and almost always go on my own. I think one aspect of Asperger's that manifests is self is the exhaustive research I do in advance, spending weeks researching every possible detail of my destination and planning a schedule almost minute by minute. I was in Hong Kong last month and loved it. I felt so comfortable there because almost no speaks English, at least not more then a few words. That meant there was no expectation to carry on conversation or make small talk.

I have travelled to 4 different continents and worked in 3 of them.

I love discovering new places but (these days) I don't enjoy the travelling (which is usually by plane)

Before getting married, I ALWAYS travelled alone when vacationing, epecially as an undergraduate.

I think travelling 'as a group' is probably the worst kind of team sports that I could imagine.

That would probably qualify as an 'extreme sport' for me and make a 'party' seem positively comfortable in comparison.

I still have quite a lot of destinations left on my 'bucket list'.

i love traveling but b/c Continental/United doesn't offer escort services to adult aspies, i'm sort of forced to find my way around the airport myself. last year, i ended up walking to the wrong gate it was the gate where ppl where coming out of instead of sitting and waiting but luckily i had a layover in Denver where i met an aunt i didn't even remember i had until that night! (Divorce. it does crazy things to a persons memory. ) and since she and i were going to the same place, we went to the gate and waited. but when i got there going back home to eugene i had another layover and i was by myself. this time i remembered where all the restaurants were. this year i fly out to Arkansas for Christmas again and this year my grandparents out in Northwest Arkansas are paying for the ticket (last year it was my uncle in Little Rock who payed for one week and my grandparents who payed for another week) when i was a teen (and when i took trips with my brother) i flew Northwest Airlines, this airline's pretty aspie-friendly. the only problem tho is none of the airlines have a Disabled traveler escort service to help passangers traveling alone (i mean they do but this service is limited to ppl who are "obviously disabled" for example wheelchair users, the blind, the deaf, our Low Functioning Autistic neighbors in the spectrum, even elderly ppl with medical problems may need these services, but as for us aspies once we reach 18, we can't be escorted anymore unless we want to be called an "Unaccompanied Minor")

I'm really kinda mixed about traveling.

First, I'm a heavy smoker, so taking an airplane is very, very stressful because I have to go so long without a cigarette. More than 3 hours and I become light headed, more than 5 hours, and I become a basket case. More than 10 hours, I become mean. (I know, I should quit, but that's a whole other topic...)

On top of that, I am claustrophobic around people. Being packed in a tight space with a bunch of people, like an airplane, only adds to my stress level. Then, all the lines & waiting at security checkpoints is a total PITFA*, and the TSA (Theatrical Security Administration) is completely unnecessary IMO. (again, I don't want to get off topic complaining about security) Also, The scheduling around taking flights and trains causes anxiety for me. I don't like being anchored to a clock.

I also have difficulty sleeping anywhere but my own bed, and I can identify with what some others said about routines getting disrupted.

BUT, I really love exploring new places. Road trips are fun when I'm not alone. I just don't have anybody I can road trip with, so, it's been a while. The price of gas also makes road trips more costly these days.

All in all, for me, traveling is more hassle than it's worth. Especially if it's by plane.

*footnote: PITFA: Pain In The F**king A**