I’ve heard it said that Americans are the most hyperactive travelers in the world. My hosts at the B & B where I stayed last in Germany said that the "Amis" get into a place late in the day and always leave early in the a.m. They thought it was some kind of nervous condition we seem to have. From Tom Waits’ song, "Foreign Affair":

Most vagabonds I know
don’t ever want to find the culprit
that remains the object of their long relentless quest
The obsession’s in the chasing
and not the apprehending,
the pursuit, you see, and never the arrest.

Question to Americans and others: Is this truly a national characteristic? Does anybody stay anywhere longer than a couple days? If this is true, what are we running from? Why do the people with the least vacation time in the developed world not want to relax a bit on their vacations?