The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: February fourteenth, traveling on the wings of love.

Valentine's Day has long been an annual opportunity to express one's love. A feast day to honor the memory of a third century Christian martyr, the holiday was based on the mid-winter Roman festival of Lupercalia. To ensure the fertility of the flocks, fields, and people for the coming year, Roman women wrote their names on love notes, which were put into a container for the neighborhood. The man who drew the note was entitled to seek that woman's favors. Vatican II removed Valentine's Day from the church calendar, but greeting card companies still make mounds of money helping lovers kindle their passion. So do travel companies, who make romance and love a primary theme in much of their advertising.

Travel's apparently an aphrodisiac, and while taking a trip together these days can be a stiff test of love, it appears that many couples are passing that test. At least, that's the implied conclusion of several surveys, which we pass along in the spirit of the day.

One cruise line asked passengers about their amorous activities. Eighty percent admitted they came packed for passion with sexy clothes and other romantic enhancements; 60 percent claimed they made love within ten hours of embarkation. Another vacation survey found the most romantic couples had been married at least five years, weren't trying to diet but did exercise daily. And this final item: vacationing couples who play tennis against each other are much more likely to have romantic moments than those playing on the same side of the net. Is that why when there is no score, they call it "love?"

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