Traveling is far more than that perfect
Instagram photo. The photos that make
every destination seem like heaven on Earth.
A true paradise. The place that
you want to escape your current reality and be in. But, there is far more truth to traveling
than what’s on your Instagram feed.
Traveling doesn’t always mean having the
time of your life. It definitely isn’t
always fun, laughter, kicking back and relaxing on a beach. It isn’t always a time of peace, tranquility,
nor solitude. Traveling can be awful. It
can be hard, lonesome, frustrating, unpleasant, exhausting, overwhelming, and
worrisome, sometimes scary, or worse, terrifying.
Traveling can mean countless hours in
airports, on buses and trains. It can consist
of delayed and canceled flights, missed layovers, and rude and frustrating
airline workers. It can mean unexpected
added baggage or ticket fees, or spending more than you budgeted on. It may consist of nights sleeping on airport
floors or benches and waking every other hour to make sure all of your
belongings are still there. It can mean
a 4 hour bus ride is actually 7 hours or a 5 hour ride turns out to be only 3
and a half because of the speeding driver. Sleeper buses and trains don’t
actually consist of sleeping due to constant stops and unlimited noises. It can mean a myriad of winding, nauseating,
and dangerous bus rides up and down mountainsides by drivers playing chicken
with on-coming vehicles. It can mean not
knowing exactly if your bus or train is going to where they say it is or if
your taxi or tuk tuk actually knows where he’s going. Traveling can be filled with quoted prices
then a last minute switch by the driver, paying double for a bus ride because
they just feel like getting more money from you, making you pay to have luggage
on a bus to the airport although it isn’t really a rule, they just can and
will. It’s being overcharged for short and “cheap” taxi rides. It’s being quoted ridiculous prices when
shopping and then being expected to bargain your way down. It can mean brushing
your teeth and washing your face in airport bathrooms. Traveling can mean being
pick-pocketed or robbed. It can mean lost
luggage or forgotten items.
It can mean being bombarded at shops as
soon as you walk past. It can mean being followed and watched in supermarkets
and stores until you pay and leave because you’re a foreigner. It can mean being
ripped off whenever, however. Traveling
can mean hoping that your driver is legit and is taking you where you tell him
and not trying to take you to a place where he gets commission or somewhere
sketchy, especially when it’s late at night.
It’s hoping that you can find the correct buses and trains that will get
you to where you’re trying to go, safely. It’s to hoping that the guy that has
been staring at you and boarded your same train cart or sat in the seat on the
bus next to you leaves you be. It can
mean being groped on night buses. It can mean ignoring a lot of constant
staring from not only men but women and children too, who act like you’re the
creature from the black lagoon rising from the sea before their eyes. It can mean ignoring a lot of cat-calls,
whistling, “hey baby”, animal sounds, and other harassment from men, all day,
everyday, every moment in some countries. Traveling can mean sleepless nights in loud or
sketchy places or hoping to find a clean-ish Western toilet.
It can mean getting really ill from climate
changes, food, or the water and having to spend several days in bed and trying
to get better with whatever remedies that country may have. It can often mean having trouble finding a
place to buy a bottle of water or decent, sanitary food. It can mean losing
money in dodgy currency exchange rates.
It can mean trying to use whatever currency you may have left to be able
to afford something to eat and drink at the pricy airport stores for your
several hours wait without having to take out more money. Traveling can mean accumulated ATM and bank
fees. It can mean declined credit cards
or held accounts. It can mean a lack or
absence of internet access, especially when you need it the most. It can mean a loss of electricity for an
unknown period of time. Traveling can mean
dealing with natural disasters, storms, or local or political issues. It can mean hoping that you aren’t being
personally judged for being from your country.
Traveling can mean heat exhaustion, sweating every once of water out of
you at all times, stomach pains from tainted food, making friends with the
toilet, catching something from a mosquito, or extreme sun burns or sun stroke.
It can mean being bit by a stray dog or monkey, or having to find a hospital
because of a motorbike accident or other injury.
It can consist of smelling your clothes and
seeing which is still wearable until you find a place to wash them. It can
consist of dousing yourself in bug repellant and sleeping under mosquito nets. It
can mean living off of cheap street food, fried rice, bagged chips, bananas, or
anything else that’s cheap to make your dollar stretch. It can mean seeing
countless stray dogs that are so sick and sometimes mistreated. It can mean
seeing animal abuse. It can consist of frustration due the inability to
communicate or because you’re being told something that you already know isn’t
true. It can mean being lied to, a lot. You
may be cold, wet, or dirty. You may be
alone. You may smell awful. You may be homesick.
It can mean hoarding toilet paper and paper products. It can mean having to
cover your nose and mouth when walking around because of the polluted air or
the coughing and spitting occurring around you. It can mean hoping that you
have done enough good in your life that whatever higher being that you believe
in is watching over you and always keeping you safe.
What traveling can also be is, incredible. It
can consist of meeting remarkable people all around the world, connecting with
people from other countries on many levels, having great conversations, eating
new foods, diving into new cultures, observing new rituals and customs, being
exposed to other religions and beliefs, learning new languages, swimming in the
bluest of waters, climbing the highest hills, sharing laughter and smiles with
new friends, seeing the most jaw-dropping natural landscapes, and observing other
ways of life. Traveling will take you on
amazing adventures, explorations, create new memories, and provide life-changing
experiences. It can leave you wanting to
see so much more.
With the good, bad, beautiful, and the ugly
sides of traveling, the truth is that travel will provide you with so much more
in life than any textbook, online course, or professor in a classroom will. Traveling with enrich your soul and life. It will
teach you not only about the world but about yourself. You will learn just how strong and capable
you are. You will exercise and gain new
skills, abilities, and knowledge. You
will learn the value of money and hard work.
You will become more understanding and accepting of others. You will be challenged mentally, physically,
and emotionally. Your patience and anger
will be tested. You will experience new levels of anxiety and stress. You will learn new ways to manage your
emotions and feelings. Travel will teach
you that you can’t run from your problems, no matter how far you go. Your perspective on the world and on life
will be altered. You will realize your
blessings. You will gain new amounts of appreciation
and gratitude. You will develop new
desires. You will realize the importance of being a good person because in return,
I believe, you will be sent “travel angels”.
Traveling will harden and also soften you. You will become a better problem solver. Travel
will grow and shape your character. You
will become a good navigator, learn to be your own protector, and learn how to
ask for help. You will gain clarity on who
you are, your purpose, and what you want out of your life. You will realize
which relationships have the most meaning and you will develop new and
long-lasting ones. Travel will teach you to be a minimalist and how to be
resourceful. You will learn what matters
the most in life and what you can live without.
Travel will prove to you just who you are. Travel has many truths and one is that it’s
more than just that perfect Instagram photo.
