So often you hear people going on about how wonderful travelling is and what a truly life changing experience it can be. It is, BUT on the other side of the coin there is plenty to hate about it too.

There are millions of reasons why I travel. There are millions of reasons why I think everyone who is able to travel, should travel. But there are a few things that even I can’t stand about the whole travel process. There are probably more than 10 to be honest, but that seemed like a good round number to begin with…

1.Money – Or Lack Thereof

Things cost money and travel is no exception. In fact, it can be bloody expensive! You find yourself handing over your well-earned dollars, sometimes for a lot more than you bargained (or budgeted) for. Everything costs $$ – flights, transport, insurance, food, that ornament of Big Ben that you just HAD to have because lights up but haven’t even looked at for over 2 years. Well you get the drift.

And lets not even get started on the exchange rate! Ok lets… if there is one thing Aussies & Kiwi’s hate, its travelling to the UK – not because the UK is so far away but more often than not, we will lose around half (or sometimes more!) of our money to the British Pound. Which can be very annoying when you’re trying to budget and the exchange rate keeps changing so much.

2.The Language Barrier

You’ve thought of everything – all your accommodation, tours etc are booked & paid for. You know exactly what you’re doing and when. Then you get to your destination and you don’t even know how to say ‘hello’ or ‘where’s the toilet?’ in the local language. Yes, English is widely spoken by most places but when you’re walking through Paris and the people there won’t even acknowledge you when you ask for directions, it can be pretty tough – though I think that says more about the Parisians than anything else!

This isn’t so much a “I hate everything that’s not in English” thing, it’s more of a “I’m completely sorry & embarrassed that I’ve butchered your beautiful language” thing.

3.Booking Accommodation

One of my biggest peeves of travel is booking accommodation – I mean, it is the one thing I wish I could get someone else to do but only if they find me the perfect place! I have three things that I look for in accommodation – a) is it close to transport?; b) is the cost reasonable? & c) does it have a good review rating?

Now I don’t expect 5 star hotels but I do expect some kind of comfort and I will pay up to a certain amount to get it. I certainly am not a hostel kind of gal though which means shelling out more money for accommodation than others might do.

When it comes to the rating review, I look at the overall number more than the actual reviews themselves. People complain about the weirdest (and completely unnecessary) things. But of course, the higher the review rating, the more likely I’m going to look at staying at a place.

But more importantly for me, it has to be near public transport so that it’s easy for me to get around. When booking accommodation, I’ve been known to have 2 or 3 places booked in the same city for the same time (thank you booking.com & their free cancellation!) so that I can make sure I get a good deal and I can think about what I really need.

Trying to get a combination of all three is where the fun begins – and when I say ‘fun’ I totally mean complete and utter frustration.

4.Long Haul Flights

These are a necessary evil when you live so far away from anywhere like I do – I mean, it takes nearly 6 hours just cross this damn country!! But it doesn’t mean I have to like the whole flying experience: The seats are too small. Too many people are crammed into economy class (or the more apt ‘cattle class’). The headphones don’t always work (yes I am looking at you Singapore Airlines with your crappy headphones that don’t even fit into the jacks properly). And when people DO NOT KNOW WHEN NOT TO PUT SOMETHING IN THE OVERHEAD LOCKERS!!!!

One thing I hate the most is that coming from Australia, you tend to arrive at your destination at 6am after a 20+ hour flight and you can’t even check in to your hotel room for a bloody shower unless you pay for an extra night.

I am really hanging out for the day we’re able to be beamed somewhere like in Star Trek. Surely that day can’t be too far off..

5.The Inevitable Delay

We’ve all had them and we are going to continue to have them. Yes delays are annoying but it’s the reactions of people that really make me mad. THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN!! The situation is not automatically going to change just because you’re yelling at someone, who has no control over the situation, in anger. You can’t magically make things happen so just sit down, shut the hell up and bloody well wait like the rest of us.

Or better yet, continue to act like a jackass so someone can video it, upload it to YouTube for it to go viral and then you become the ‘biggest idiot of the moment’.. whatever works for you.

It’s like those people who press the lift or pedestrian button constantly.. yes that 15th time you pressed the damn button is the reason we can now walk across the road, you’re such a freaking hero!

6.Lack Of Motivation

I have a huge lack of motivation at the best of times – you should see me in the morning trying to get ready for work or coming back to work after lunch – or just being at work in general. And unfortunately lack of motivation will hit me when I’m travelling too. I use to think that if I didn’t go out and do stuff on my holidays then I wasn’t really making the most of it, but then I realised that “hey, this is my holiday and I’ll do what I damn well please!”

Sometimes it’s good to just take a day, afternoon or whatever and not do anything – maybe catch up on what’s happening at home; do your laundry; write that blog post that you know you should be writing but you’ve been procrastinating and keep putting it off… just remember – this is YOUR vacation!

7.People

People annoy me in general but when you throw planes, trains & automobiles into the mix, they just get worse. One of my biggest bugbears is going through airport security – it’s not a secret that you must have your liquids separate and take everything out of your pockets. There are numerous signs up telling people to take their laptop/tablet out of the bag. So why then is it so hard for people to comprehend???

Or when people can’t listen to simple instructions: “Rows 15-25 can now board” – well I’m in seat row 5 so that must mean me right? “Be back at the bus in 20 minutes” – well I’ll just mosey on back after 45 minutes when I’ve kept everyone waiting and now we can’t go to that other place we were going to go because I couldn’t listen to SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS!!!

I have a real issue with people who appear to have no common sense and sadly I think this breed of people is increasing dramatically.

8.Loneliness

I love travelling on my own. I get to do what I want, when I want… on the other hand, it can get lonely. I am pretty good in my own company but just occasionally I wish there was someone with me to share the experience I’m having or even share expenses.

I think sometimes, I’d do more things if I had someone with me so part of me feels like I’m missing out but another part of me is I’m glad I have the freedom to do what I want & not feel obliged to do something I might not want to do.

Solo travel is a toughy really. It can be extremely liberating and restraining at the same time.

9.When You Can’t Take Photos

This is my latest issue. So I’m going back to England and I want to visit Westminster Abbey because I haven’t been there yet (yes I know, I’m a philistine).. anyway what I object to is paying an entrance fee of £20 (as of 20/10/16 around $32 AUD – which is actually quite good at the moment but it will probably go down in a couple of months time when I’m due to leave) and I can’t even take photos of the experience.

This is especially annoying when I’ve been into other cathedrals and churches for free or a small donation, and you can take photos to your heart’s content.

One thing really annoyed me a few years ago. I’ve been to the British Museum and took loads of photos – as you do. We had a visiting Mummy exhibition in Brisbane a few years back, from said British Museum – it cost about $25 to get in, yeah, ok I can understand that part BUT then, you weren’t allowed to take photos!!! This seemed crazy to me – so basically if I was seeing the same exhibition AT the British Museum, I could take photos but because I was at an exhibition in Brisbane, I couldn’t take photos!?! Yeah.. that makes complete sense.

10.Coming Home

Ok admittedly, sometimes by the end of my trip I am looking forward to coming home and being back in my own space BUT as soon as I get home, that desire to go away again rears it’s not so ugly head.

And then the whole process starts all over again…

What do you hate about travel?

via Daily Prompt: Millions