Flag Planters and Travel Addicts

I have never knowingly met John, a marathon runner whose commitment to the sport has placed him squarely in the "fanatic" category.  He is currently in his early seventies and claims to have successfully entered and finished marathons in more countries of the world than any other runner...not to mention all fifty states of the USA.  Now, though, his mounting health problems have forced him to give up this undertaking.  I'm sad about that, because over the past few years I had become fond of reading about his adventures on his blog.  I may have even inadvertently "run" into him without knowing it, since we were entered in the same races twice, in Gainesville and Ocala...well, actually, he was running the marathon in them and I was doing the half-marathon...

John is an example of someone whom I term a "flag planter"...as well as a "travel addict". Flag planting involves accumulating states and countries that one has visited and/or involved in their designated activities.  Travel addiction, not necessarily attributable to people who like to go on occasional vacations or special trips, refers to those who seem incapable of staying put in any one locale for very long. The two designations can coincide, as in John's case, but they can also be disjoint.  For example, people can be engaged in hobbies that don't necessarily involve travel but still involve counting how many countries (or states) they are covering with it.  As a kid, I used to have a hobby in which I would listen to my own cheap little AM radio (back in the 1960s) and try to pick up long-distance stations.  From southern Florida, I managed to get stations from 31 different states (and I remember them to this day).  Nowadays, though, with the Internet available, this doesn't seem like such an accomplishment.  And a few years ago, quarters were issued for each state as well, with many coin collectors trying to "fill the map" with that numismatic endeavor...

Travel addicts rarely openly admit to their affliction.  Instead, they usually have come up with some grand cause to justify their unceasing travels, be it through employment, education, religion, maintaining family contacts, or other rationales.  John is a case in point, with his goal of planting his flag across the country and world through his marathons.  But you can't do what he did over the years without getting off on travel.  Of course, travel costs money and some people need to have someone else foot the bill for their movements hither and yon.  Social media tends to affirm these habitually restless people as they document, photograph, and publish their various forays with almost assured multiple "likes"...

I am neither a travel addict nor someone who still feels the need to "plant my flag" in different places with my exploits.  That clearly distinguishes me from John, but there is one thing in common between us: we like to run and we are both getting older and more prone to medical/health issues that can limit that running.  John, who is about 14 years older than me, just happens to be a little ahead of me in that regard...