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Published: November 6th 2012
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
So it’s our fifth travel blog birthday today (any excuse for chocolate cake!), and we wanted to mark it with a post. As much as we love travel, we also have some personal gripes about it, so we thought we’d provide a balanced view by writing about both. For every yin there’s a yang, right? So here goes...
TRAVEL LOATHES... here are a few things that exasperate and annoy us SHE SAID... 1) Queue jumpers… I know some people seem genetically predisposed to struggle with the concept of queuing; and I firmly believe that my purpose on this earth is to help them with this disability. When I do, Andrew tries to pretend that he’s not with me. They are usually the same people who have to rush on to the plane like there wasn’t assigned seating, and on landing they jump up before the seatbelt sign has gone off - to rush down the aisle before people stand up - so they can rush off the plane. And then they all have to wait at the luggage carousel just like the rest of us.
Patience grasshopper.
2) Space invaders… A close relative of
the non-queuer is the close-stander. You know that feeling when the person standing behind you is so close you can feel their breath on the back of your neck - ew! I’m shorter than the average bear and on packed public transport it’s not unusual to have armpits in my face or backpacks on my head. And for some reason people also seem to think that I need less space in my plane seat and they deserve more in theirs. I don’t mind giving up the communal armrest to the other person; in fact, I do it as an offering of goodwill to a stranger in the hope that it is the defining demarcation between their space and mine. However, much too often they not only take 100% ownership of the armrest, but then feel free to hang their elbows over and nudge my ribs. And don’t even start me on what sometimes happens under the armrest! As much as I empathise with large people having to fit into the ever shrinking airline seats, I have on occasion yearned to have the courage to ask them to un-attach their thigh from mine and get it off the space my bottom
should be. I can’t talk about my personal space being compromised without touching on the subject of airplane tray table meddlers, seat kickers and pullers of seat headrests – and no, they are not always kids.
Get the ants out of your pants, and please just sit still for one minute! 3) Nasty business… I’m just not a fan of the idea of public toilets; I can avoid them at home but there’s no chance of doing so when travelling. I really love countries where you have to pay to use them because then there’s a small chance that they will be clean. Conversely, regardless of how basic a hotel room is, the hoteliers have a duty to (at the very least) provide us with fresh sheets and a clean toilet. It grosses me out when I walk into a hotel bathroom and see the half used toiletries from the previous guest still in there; or my worst nightmare – short curlies sprinkled around the room.
Sighting short curlies are a deal breaker! 4) Put them away girls… If travelling in a traditional country or area, it really isn’t that outrageous that we have to cover up our
lady bits. ‘Working on a tan’ isn’t reason enough to make people uncomfortable in their own country. And traditional country or not, no one walks down their own suburban streets in skimpy bikinis or topless (or maybe they do in eastern Europe?), so I find it incredibly offensive that people are happy to do it elsewhere.
You are old enough to freakin know better - have some respect.
5) ‘Back homers’… These guys continuously wish to affirm that everything is better ‘back home’, even the local food is apparently better in their own country! There was a collective cringe at the table when an Australian kept declaring that the Turkish food in Melbourne was much superior to the Turkish food in Turkey.
Stop comparing apples and oranges, because you look like a right banana when you do that.
6) Rebels without a cause… When signs say ‘do not walk’ or ‘do not take photographs’ they are not suggestions, they are directives. It can’t even be written off as a language issue, because the message seems to be eluding local tourists too. I have heard the most hilarious reasons from tourists taking forbidden photos - ‘accurate documentation’ and ‘anthropology’
always crack me up. No matter how they try and defend it, it is at best sneaky and at worst an arrogant statement by the photographer. For the love of god, there are about a hundred other scenic spots where they can go and take a hundred memorable photos.
If it says don’t, just don’t.
7) Calm down grumpy… Yes, touts are bloody annoying creatures, and yes, they are quite likely trying to rip us off – but I don’t think that’s reason enough to lose it and cause a scene (unless of course in circumstances like being manhandled or feeling unsafe). In perspective, they’re trying to scam us so they can do things like feed a family or educate their kids (they are hardly living the highlife with the $10 they are trying to overcharge us). I really wish the culture of touts didn’t exist, especially when we have to deal with them when we are at our most exhausted and hungry. However, they are providing a service that some tourists use. If no one did, they wouldn’t do it. But it’s deceptively easy – if you don’t wish to buy, don’t.
Walk away and don’t reward bad behaviour.
8) Snakes of the trouser kind… We travel to see the world, but this means seeing the worst of humanity too. People travel for all kinds of different reasons, but of them all, sex tourism is the one I find most vile. I know that it is a complex social, financial and moral issue, but all the arguments pale in significance when put in the context of a power play. I just cannot see the positives in an unregulated sex industry borne out of desperation on one side and money and exploitation on the other; and where the women involved have no rights and little protection.
She doesn’t love you long time. True story.
9) Lowest common denominator… It annoys me when locals think that all tourists are loud, obnoxious, promiscuous and have potty mouths. Granted this is not unwarranted in places like Bali and Phuket (I’m Australian and I know this is where most of the loud and potty mouthed Australians holiday); but given locals can make the distinction of potty mouthed vs non potty mouthed people amongst their own country-people, there is no reason to believe that all foreigners behave the same way.
Yes, I’m Australian, but no, I’m not a bogan.
10) Soldiering on… When I get sick all I want to do is have comfort food and hot drinks, and crawl into my own bed (with fresh sheets) to sleep it off. However, when we are travelling, one of these desires is impossible and the other two are not always feasible either. I’m not a good sickie at the best of times, and I really really hate getting sick on a trip.
Suck it up princess and stop being such a sook! HE SAID... 1) Intolerant travellers… This is my absolute number one travel gripe (possibly because I hate intolerance of any kind). Why travel if you can’t tolerate difference? I’ll never forget an exceptionally repulsive Australian woman in Venice once snorting: “I refuse to stand at a bar to eat my breakfast or drink coffee.”
2) Impatient travellers… People who refuse to wait for anyone or anything – these travellers are particularly loathsome in queues and at luggage carousels.
3) Exhibitionist travellers… People who have an insatiable need to be the centre of attention at all times – usually at the expense of the culture surrounding
them.
4) Selfish travellers… People who believe their needs and wants are of much higher import than the needs and wants of everyone and everything around them.
5) Grumpy travellers… People who travel to find happiness, yet never seem to find it (possibly because they’re not happy to start with).
6) Box ticking travellers… People who travel for no other reason than to say they’ve been to a particular destination, with little (or no) desire to experience the culture of the destination.
7) Recording travellers… People who travel through the lens of a camera, recording everything but experiencing nothing of the culture surrounding them.
8) Frightened travellers… People who travel in a shroud of anxiety, terrified by difference and in constant fear of change.
9) Bad food… Bad food is a rarity, but what a huge letdown when you experience it. Non-local food also fits into this category, where locals are badgered by intolerant travellers to serve food they know (eating pizza in Nha Trang because we couldn’t find anything else when we arrived late at night springs to mind)!
10) Unwelcoming locals… Feeling unwelcome in a different culture is a rarity, but
it is disconcerting when you experience it (walking around Konya in the early evening and feeling uncomfortable with the large groups of young men springs to mind)!
TRAVEL LOVES... here are a few things that we enjoy and adore SHE SAID... 1) It’s a big world out there… Deciding where to go is the first step, but sometimes it’s the hardest one too. The process of picking a country to travel to is so very very exciting for me. Andrew and I talk about different options for hours, and we are also quite swayed by good travel programs like Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and Rick Stein’s odysseys around the globe. If I had my own way, we would start on one side of the world and systematically work our way anti-clockwise around the globe. But apparently that would be too OCD of me.
I want to go everywhere, see everything and do everything (but not buy the tshirt)! 😊
2) Travel geek… I know there’s a lot to be said about being spontaneous and not researching your destination to death (something I’m sometimes guilty of), but I love love love planning and doing travel research.
There’s the basic stuff like understanding the weather conditions, checking for possible civil unrest around elections or outbreaks of disease etc. However it’s reading about the history, traditions and modern culture of a place that really fascinates me. I also love immersing ourselves in films from and about that country before we go.
Geek is chic you know.
3) Plane, trains and cyclos… Some people dislike ‘travel days’ but I actually love the logistics involved in getting to places, and the transport involved in doing so. I especially love trains, but different modes of local transport can be extremely fascinating. I know I’m in a minority here, but I also love airports! I’ve heard them called ‘the purgatory of travel’ because (I suppose) of the discomfort, long waits, being deathly tired and not having a choice about eating crappy over priced food. All this is true, but there are also fantastic aspects to airports. I think you can tell quite a lot about a country by observing people who enter it and depart it. We love wandering around the shops, and we love watching others who, like us, are sitting in ‘purgatory’ (watching and waiting).
Airports= emotional people=dramas=great people watching.
4) The way to my heart is definitely through my stomach… As you may have picked up from my first point, food and travel are very linked for us. We love eating the local food, and eating it where the local people eat it. On the first few days it can be hard to figure out what exactly the food is or how to order it, but we just watch the locals and do what they do. Pointing and smiling is really useful in these instances. Food and travel are such a delicious combination. For me there is nothing more satisfying than ending a travel day in a very local eatery eating traditional food and drinking their traditional drinks.
I love food. Need I say more? 5) Sharing the travel love… There is absolutely no doubt that a good travel partner can make or break your travel experiences. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t think a good travel companion is someone who is exactly like you. In our case, our shared travel experiences are enhanced by the differences in how we perceive things, our diverse strengths and our sometimes dissimilar interests. It brings a sense of balance
to the trip and also makes both of us consider things we wouldn’t normally have considered if we were travelling alone.
Andrew would like me to consider doing a 40km bike ride in Cambodia. 😊
6) Variety is the spice of life… My interest in travel is nurtured by encountering different cultures, people and ways of thinking. And eating different food. The greater the point of difference between what I know and the place we are travelling to, the happier I am. This can sometimes really push me out of my comfort zone, but for me that’s the whole point of it.
Same Same is NOT different.
7) Virgin moments… One of the things that has made me totally and utterly addicted to travel is that feeling of being somewhere or seeing something for the first time – first time excitement is hard to top! Strangely it’s not a huge driving force in our travels decisions, but when we come across that sort of heightened travel excitement, it can leave us feeling weak at the knees.
If it feels good, do it. If it feels great, do it again.
8) The human element… We have met some
very cool people on our travels, and I love talking to them about their lives and their philosophies on life. It gives us an insight into ideas and ways of thinking that we wouldn’t come across otherwise. The other bonus is that we have also met some brilliant fellow travellers from all corners of the globe – some are good friends for that journey, and others remain good friends for much longer.
Travel addicts unite! 😊
9) The daily grind… I love our sedentary non-travel life as much as I love our travel life. However, when we are travelling I really adore being free from little things like making the bed, doing the dishes or hanging the washing out. Funnily, I really quite like the routine of these things when at home, but I think I like the hotel life when travelling a bit more. I also enjoy the brief freedom from the bigger things in life. Travel simplifies everything, and I love it when the hardest decision of the day is deciding where to eat.
Escapism is not always a dirty word.
10) Travel tragics… We talk about choosing travel destinations carefully and being partial to countries
with good food etc, but the bare-faced truth is that if someone gave us tickets to a place that sounded like the most horrendous travel destination on earth, we would still go and check it out. We travel not because we think it’s a nice holiday idea, but because we have an urge to explore; and neither of us can see this hunger to see the world ever being satisfied. We would give up our day jobs (as much as we love them) and become travelling nomads in a heartbeat...but only if we could take our beloved home and our four-legged babies with us too.
Beware of travel addiction, there’s no known cure.
HE SAID... 1) Experiencing new foods… …on the streets and in local eateries where you can barely translate the menu.
2) Experiencing new cultures… …and being exhilarated by the difference.
3) Sharing new foods and cultures… …with someone you love (it’s the reason I travel).
4) Relaxing on planes and trains… …and taking time to reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re going.
5) Exploring the backstreets… …of any big city or small town.
6) Sitting in cafes and bars…
…and watching daily life as it slowly unfolds before your eyes.
7) Being welcomed by locals… …and sharing the typical aspects of their daily life.
8) Speaking in another language… …and being understood.
9) Getting lost… …and somehow stumbling upon the place you set out to find.
10) Coming home… …and realising how lucky you are to travel.
Well people, that's it for our musings for the moment.
Until next time. May your travels live long and prosper! 😊
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aspiringnomad
Jason
Are you loathsome tonight?
To sum up then, the thing you loathe most about travel is travellers;-)