Hey Travelers Heeeey!!!
Travel presents so many amazing experiences in life such as cultural experiences, perspectives on lives that you may not have had otherwise, the chance to relax in beautiful places that may be out of your normal reach and so much more. Travel can also be a pain. From canceled flights, horrible adventures along the way, or an assortment of unforeseen circumstances that we don’t account for when planning our magical getaways.
Usually, I love to focus on the more positive aspects of travel, but today I want to keep it all the way real, by talking about those painful aspects of travel. Painful may be a very strong word so we will sum it up as pet peeves. Now, these pet peeves can come in many different forms and apply to ANY form of travel. Road trips, flying, riding trains, or even just making it to the airport.
My personal travel pet peeves will take a few blog post because booooooy are there a lot. But I won’t bombard you with the 100s of annoying things that happen during travel…although I could because….people mixed with travel can be mad annoying. So today I’ll bring you 5…and in no particular order.
10. Taking a long time to go through security
Understandably, some people don’t know about the ins and outs of moving through the airports and that’s ok. The issue, MY ISSUE, is when novice travelers…or even seasoned travelers hold up the process of clearing security. For those of you who don’t know, airport security consists of checking each and every person departing or arriving at airport. They scan your electronics, your hands, bags, metals, liquids, EVERYTHING! They are essentially looking for any threats that may cause trouble during your time in the airport or during transit. The peeve comes in when people see the clearly posted signs that state:
REMOVE YOUR BELT
TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES
PUT JEWELRY IN LUGGAGE TRAY
PUT ELECTRONICS IN SEPARATE TRAYS
DON’T TAKE PICTURES
And they continue on as if they have a VIP pass to skip clearance and guess what? YOU DO NOT! ORRRR when people who don’t know exactly what to do and just stand in line not asking for help but holding everyone else up. Ma’am/sir I have a plane to catch, please let me go.
9. Feeling like a terrorist when returning home
As an expat (a person who lives outside their native country) I fly home AT LEAST once a year. And I always look forward to going to see my family and friends. But one drawback of going home, besides the long flight and expensive tickets is the constant questioning that we get bombarded with when we clear security back at home(USA). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to go through the line of questioning that includes but isn’t limited to: Why are you coming from the Middle East? What are you doing in the states? You live there? Why? You’re going back? Why? And aside from the questions, let me not forget to mention the stares at my passport and myself.
I have become so humbled and I feel deeply moved for the travelers from Arab countries traveling to western countries. Sometimes, I wear a shayla or hijab to cover my hair or to show a sign of respect depending where I’m traveling and the looks from security, other passengers and random people in the airport can be so damning as if I’ve done something wrong before I ever even open my mouth or passport cover. It’s annoying, stereotypical and downright WRONG!!
8. Hotel check in-check out times
This is a peeve I know I can’t help BUT it’s still annoying nonetheless. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten to a city super late, maybe 3 or 4am and had to check in to a hotel only to have a check out time of 11am.
SOOOO AGGRAVATING!! Like, give me my full 24 that you are collecting my money for. Again, not anything I can change but still annoying.
7. People who walk in front of my pictures while I’m trying to get a dope shot
You all MUST know that this one really grinds my gears. Now, normally I take a picture quickly. Like, I see a vision, I get in and I get out. QUICK!! (IF the person taking the picture knows what they are doing 👀) But, my real issues come in when people walk DIRECTLY in front of me as if they don’t see me with my camera trying to create art. This one is really self explanatory: WALK AROUND ME!!
6. Travelers who don’t try to learn the language of the country they are traveling to
This is more of a preference than a peeve. But a peeve nonetheless. This one was actually brought to my attention when I traveled to China and witnessed a tourist basically SCREAMING at a local because they did not understand what he was saying. It was disrespectful and right down rude! I was embarrassed for the guy as I knew he was American and I even approached him about his behavior because it was so unacceptable. I don’t think anyone expects people to become completely fluent when traveling but learning a few salutations never hurt anybody or anything .
I always try to learn
“Hello”
“Do you speak english?”
“Where is the bathroom?”
Not only does knowing some general phrases help you when speaking with others; it can also give some relief when navigating through unknown places. Getting lost is never fun.
As I posted above, there are several times in travel where we become frustrated and overwhelmed. I thought it would be funny and relatable to list my most common instances. Next post we will get through my top 5. Make sure to comment any that I may not have mentioned and share your travel pet peeve stories in the comments. Also remember that although we get annoyed during travel at times, one or two or 10 situations don’t have to shape your entire trip. Travel is a gift and only YOU can determine how to react. Take the high road…even if it’s full of travelers who slow you down. 😂
Until next time,
Take The World!!