Seven things I hate about traveling

Today marks a blog milestone for me: this is my 100th post.  I’d like to say it’s hard to believe that I’ve had this much to say, but apparently it’s possible for me to blab about traveling indefinitely.  I still enjoy sharing practical tips and travel guides for places I’ve been, so I don’t plan on ceasing any time soon.  I hope you continue to find these posts helpful, and if not, I’m sure you have ceased reading!

At any rate, I thought about what to share on such a momentous occasion, and I thought I would go for a non-serious post and talk about seven things I hate about traveling.  You’d think I’d pick something more positive about traveling for an anniversary post, but hey, I’m glad I can be unpredictable. So, what don’t I love about traveling, you ask?

1. Long flight delays.  Even though you are mentally prepared to wait, brought a good book and have a delicious beverage, it still doesn’t make it easier.  Especially if the flight before made you nauseous (which I have a sensitive stomach, so it always does) sitting and waiting for that to happen again is no fun.  It’s still shorter than taking a giant boat across the Atlantic, I know, but sitting there waiting is sort of annoying.
2. Weird food.  I could never be a food critic because there are a lot of things that gross me out.  I like trying new foods… to an extent.  There are so many things that just nauseate me and after trying a lot of weird new foods, I just can’t wait to go home and cook eggs and chicken in the oils I’m used to eating.  (This is why the featured image of this post shows met eating fish and chips in England.  I like fish and chips, but I detest peas.  And I was so hungry, I tried to choke them down.  You can see the pain in my face if you look closely, and that is why Jared took this picture.)
3. Exhaustion.  Traveling is tiresome.  Even if you plan “rest days.”  You’re tired from long flights, sitting in cars and buses, walking around, rough nights of sleep in beds that aren’t your own.  You just feel exhausted to the point where everything starts to be a burden.  You dreamed of seeing the Mona Lisa, but you are so tired you’d rather just look at it online while you’re in your own bed.  It’s strange how exhaustion makes you give up on your dreams.  
4. Figuring things out.  Navigating the unfamiliar is fun and exciting ….for about a week.  Then you’re about ready to just not have to figure out how to get somewhere.  You just want to get in your car and drive to your normal stores; not walk around for 20 minutes, reading a map and saying to yourself, “Wait, I think I passed that building three times.  Where am I?”  
5. Wearing dirty clothes.  I pack light, so I bring the same items to wear over and over.  I bring enough to not need to do laundry, since we don’t go for more than two weeks at a time.  By the end, however, you’re wearing the same stinky things you did two days before, and you’re just sort of ready for a clean shirt, and to not have even your clean shirts smell like the jeans you sat on the subway in and split coffee all over.  There are tricks you can use to help, but I think after two weeks you just start saying, “Whatever, I’ll smell good later.”  
6. Local customs.  You never think you care about this stuff, until you spend time without it.  When you go to restaurants and all the customs are different, and you’re constantly trying to figure out how to behave in an unfamiliar culture, you yearn for when you can just be yourself again.  You don’t have to think about how to order food, how long it’s going to take, etc.  You just know.  Basically, you miss being able to brainlessly go somewhere without being confused.
7. Missing my family, friends and dog.  It’s hard to be away from the people you love for long periods of time.  Social media is great, but it’s not the same as seeing someone in person and hearing their voices without the static on a cell phone.  I also miss my furry friend.  I always want to ask whoever picks me up from the airport to bring my dog, but since I know that’s RIDICULOUS, I don’t ask.

There are so many things I love about traveling, but these are things that aren’t so fantastic.  And although all of these things have been a learning experience for me, and helped me learn how I can change my mind in any circumstance, I still yearn for when things will be just a tad bit easier.  I yearn to enjoy my at-home luxuries and familiarity.    I have no idea who said this quote, but I thought it was applicable to me, “She was an adventurer at heart; but oh how she loved drinking this tea from this mug in this chair. Oh how she loved to be home.”  I always love coming home and sleeping in my bed, with my dog at my feet, in my Ohio home.  How unadventurous of me, right?