Yes, I think you can argue that I'm also guilty of / infected with Paper Acquisition Syndrome (and some of the 'papers' I've tried are not even close to containing paper--like Pictorico Hi-Gloss White Film). That said, first, arguably compared to most newly-acquired gear, the paper choice makes a bigger impact on your prints. Second, trying new papers does not have to be nearly as expensive as Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Got an interest? Get a 20- or 25-sheet pack of letter- or A4-size paper and try it!
In addition to all of the 'standard' OEM papers (I have an Epson at home and we have a Canon at work), I have bought full boxes of Hahnemuhle, Red River, Inkpress, and Mitsubishi Pictorico papers; smaller (< 20 sheets) packs of Canson and Inkpress papers; and some Red River samplers. I don't like them all, but I think I have learned something from them all.
The biggest problem for me is that for many papers, the paper manufacturers don't supply ICC profiles for the little old Epson R280 I have at home.* In some cases they supply Epson 1400 profiles, and often (but not always!) those are quite close. In some cases they supply Epson Artisan 1430 (a/k/a 1500) profiles, and those have been more of a mixed bag for the R280. In some cases I've found nothing useful. My next plan for cheap exploration is to rent a basic X-Rite device from LensRentals.com and make some profiles myself, for papers that seem promising or look good on the Pro-100, but for which I don't have a profile for the R280.
Regardless, for me this is a hobby and an interest, and trying new papers is fun!
* They almost always have profiles for the Canon Pro-100 at work, so that gives me a reasonable testbed for any paper for which dye inks are a good choice.