I've been receiving the nicest, most supportive comments lately from friends and family about my trip in Europe. I always appreciate the comments, as they brighten my day, and give me a chance to reflect on my trip thus far. I've gotten a few of the "I'm so jealous!" comments today, and in honor of these, I figured I had to post about the not so great parts of travel.
I most regularly post pictures and comments to Instagram, because it seems like the easiest and quickest way to chronicle the journey. As with all social media, though, it doesn't fully represent my experience. I post photos that inspire me or express some sort of weird fact of life about the place I'm staying. Lot's of cool buildings, monuments, art, and especially tourists or locals taking in the scene. The occasional outfit post or selfie also inevitably make the cut. What I don't post, however, are all the shitty travel quirks that pop up unexpectedly and just can't be captured in a photo. I don't post about being lonely or homesick, or wanting to death throttle all the other tourists when I'm feeling a bout of travel rage. I don't post about feeling guilty when I'm not constantly happy or thankful for the experiences before me, because jeez what a freakin' bummer! No one wants to read or see that! But it happens, man, it definitely happens.
Let's make a quick list of some of the less appealing parts of travel:
1. Making travel plans. Some people find this part super fun and invigorating--researching for hours and booking hostels or compiling the dopest itineraries, but this part drives me mad. I swear, if I didn't book the first big ticket to another country, I wouldn't travel around at all. The in betweens of travel--booking carpools, buses or trains, and then sorting out a hostel situation, and then researching the city and what should be done in and around the city--this is the part that takes me forever. I'm always the last minute traveler and I miss out on a lot of good deals and prime lodging locations because of this, but the idea of planning is sometimes so unappealing that I don't care how last minute plans get.
2. Making mistakes and losing money in the process. On this Europe trip, I flew into London and had one full day there. Because I was running behind, I booked a last minute airbnb that seemed close to the city center to me, but was actually a large distance away. Long story short, I spent LOADS of money on a taxi to get to my location, only to spend one night in a super shitty house/room and I didn't even get to explore London's city center before I had to catch my flight to Amsterdam the next day. Another epic London fail: I took the wrong series of trains to get to the airport and ended up missing my flight. It was really and truly the worst way to start the trip. I was distraught as I was out eighty pounds, but I just had to grit my teeth and buy a new flight.
3. Being tired from travel and not feeling as productive as I could or should be. I often feel guilty if I'm too tired or hungover to fully engage with the city I'm staying. Whenever I'm not fully appreciative or feeling sorry for myself, I get to feeling super guilty about it. Even so, I've gotten better at accepting these moments and looking at this trip with a long term lens instead of just boom, boom, boom, tourist sightseeing machine.
4. Hauling luggage. AHHHHH I hate my luggage. I hate carrying it. I hate what I've packed. I hate unpacking and repacking once a week and thinking about the way to best distribute the weight of my pack. I just want to burn all of it and travel with a small satchel and never lug around anything heavy again. I've already sent 5kg worth of stuff home and I'm still getting rid of as many things as possible. I always tell myself I'm going to pack lighter, and I do, but even a backpack and small suitcase seems like too much now. I again have to think about my travels in the long term and not be too hard on myself.
5. Feeling lonely (single tear). While traveling alone is usually a completely invigorating and empowering experience, I do go through bouts of loneliness. I miss talking to my parents on the phone and hanging around with my brothers, and I often wish that I had a companion (friend or lovah!) to share certain moments with. Like, "hey baby, let's get us some gelato and take a walk on this ancient bridge while these pink streaks of sunset rest upon house after house of stacked stuccoed rooftops all while we contemplate history, art, beauty, nature, mankind, THE WORLD!" You get the idea. I love making friends with the locals and hostel bums alike, but it would also be nice to (sometimes) share the experience with a significant person in my life.
I'm gonna keep the list at five to keep from sounding like a whiny baby. I won't tell you the full story about my most recent full day of travel which ended with four cracked open eggs all over the inside of my new leather bag. Goop galore for the delirious and wearied. I'll save the part about dragging my roller luggage across cobblestone streets at 10pm at night--truly the most abrasive clacking noise I've ever heard, a machine gun of clacks, no way to mask it, slow or fast--all while onlookers gaped, following my path as I walked in circles in search of my hostel. I'll save these and other travel woes because shit happens, things don't always go as planned, and hey, it's all a part of the journey, man!
I most regularly post pictures and comments to Instagram, because it seems like the easiest and quickest way to chronicle the journey. As with all social media, though, it doesn't fully represent my experience. I post photos that inspire me or express some sort of weird fact of life about the place I'm staying. Lot's of cool buildings, monuments, art, and especially tourists or locals taking in the scene. The occasional outfit post or selfie also inevitably make the cut. What I don't post, however, are all the shitty travel quirks that pop up unexpectedly and just can't be captured in a photo. I don't post about being lonely or homesick, or wanting to death throttle all the other tourists when I'm feeling a bout of travel rage. I don't post about feeling guilty when I'm not constantly happy or thankful for the experiences before me, because jeez what a freakin' bummer! No one wants to read or see that! But it happens, man, it definitely happens.
Let's make a quick list of some of the less appealing parts of travel:
1. Making travel plans. Some people find this part super fun and invigorating--researching for hours and booking hostels or compiling the dopest itineraries, but this part drives me mad. I swear, if I didn't book the first big ticket to another country, I wouldn't travel around at all. The in betweens of travel--booking carpools, buses or trains, and then sorting out a hostel situation, and then researching the city and what should be done in and around the city--this is the part that takes me forever. I'm always the last minute traveler and I miss out on a lot of good deals and prime lodging locations because of this, but the idea of planning is sometimes so unappealing that I don't care how last minute plans get.
2. Making mistakes and losing money in the process. On this Europe trip, I flew into London and had one full day there. Because I was running behind, I booked a last minute airbnb that seemed close to the city center to me, but was actually a large distance away. Long story short, I spent LOADS of money on a taxi to get to my location, only to spend one night in a super shitty house/room and I didn't even get to explore London's city center before I had to catch my flight to Amsterdam the next day. Another epic London fail: I took the wrong series of trains to get to the airport and ended up missing my flight. It was really and truly the worst way to start the trip. I was distraught as I was out eighty pounds, but I just had to grit my teeth and buy a new flight.
3. Being tired from travel and not feeling as productive as I could or should be. I often feel guilty if I'm too tired or hungover to fully engage with the city I'm staying. Whenever I'm not fully appreciative or feeling sorry for myself, I get to feeling super guilty about it. Even so, I've gotten better at accepting these moments and looking at this trip with a long term lens instead of just boom, boom, boom, tourist sightseeing machine.
4. Hauling luggage. AHHHHH I hate my luggage. I hate carrying it. I hate what I've packed. I hate unpacking and repacking once a week and thinking about the way to best distribute the weight of my pack. I just want to burn all of it and travel with a small satchel and never lug around anything heavy again. I've already sent 5kg worth of stuff home and I'm still getting rid of as many things as possible. I always tell myself I'm going to pack lighter, and I do, but even a backpack and small suitcase seems like too much now. I again have to think about my travels in the long term and not be too hard on myself.
5. Feeling lonely (single tear). While traveling alone is usually a completely invigorating and empowering experience, I do go through bouts of loneliness. I miss talking to my parents on the phone and hanging around with my brothers, and I often wish that I had a companion (friend or lovah!) to share certain moments with. Like, "hey baby, let's get us some gelato and take a walk on this ancient bridge while these pink streaks of sunset rest upon house after house of stacked stuccoed rooftops all while we contemplate history, art, beauty, nature, mankind, THE WORLD!" You get the idea. I love making friends with the locals and hostel bums alike, but it would also be nice to (sometimes) share the experience with a significant person in my life.
I'm gonna keep the list at five to keep from sounding like a whiny baby. I won't tell you the full story about my most recent full day of travel which ended with four cracked open eggs all over the inside of my new leather bag. Goop galore for the delirious and wearied. I'll save the part about dragging my roller luggage across cobblestone streets at 10pm at night--truly the most abrasive clacking noise I've ever heard, a machine gun of clacks, no way to mask it, slow or fast--all while onlookers gaped, following my path as I walked in circles in search of my hostel. I'll save these and other travel woes because shit happens, things don't always go as planned, and hey, it's all a part of the journey, man!
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