I set out to do something with a character, but once I accomplish that I start losing interest. Maybe I want to be a master Alchemist. I have fun getting there, but it's just "meh" once my character is awesome. I like working to become awesome, but being awesome doesn't feel that great. Anyone else feel the same way?

Me too.

definately

for me it was the ability to draw my bow quicker..now that ive accomplished that :/

I agree. That's why I never play NG+ when it's available, like in Dark Souls. I get the most enjoyment out of starting a character out with next to nothing, usually on a very high difficulty setting. Once my character has a mastery of whatever skillset I'm striving for I get bored. On Oblivion I finished the main quest once, though I made probably a dozen characters and pursued different questlines.

In a more literal response to your title, I never fast travel EVER. If i'm in a hurry i'll use a carriage. I find that if you just FT everywhere you miss out on half the game. There's always stuff to explore/gather/kill

I had this experience with smithing. The draw for me for these games is constantly looking for better gear/weapons to continually improve my character. So at first smithing was a lot of fun to go out and hunt for materials so I could reach the next tier of armor and weapons. Once I reached 100 however, I felt like I had reached the top and there would be no real desire to go and find something better because I wouldn't find anything outside of rare uniques.

So I started over and am going to avoid smithing and try to take any skills like enchanting and alchemy at a slower pace this time around.

Regarding fast travel...I agree with one exception in my case. I'm not using a pack mule, er companion, so after clearing a dungeon I'm sometimes maxed out on burden. When that happens, I fast travel to sell my loot, then again fast travel back to the dungeon and resume my more leisurely exploration.

hasnt this always been the case with any game ever?