The Downside of Travel August 25, 2000
Lest you think the traveling life is just fun, fun, and more fun, here's a reminder of some of the downside of the traveling life.
There are hours spent in the air and waiting at airports with flight delays, union slowdowns, and cancellations. And there's the lost luggage, awful meals, turbulent flights, cramped seats ...
There's the time spent making reservations and checking into yet another hotel or motel. And of course there's the need to remember which room you're in and to find the toilet in the middle of the night in yet another new bathroom.
There's the packing and unpacking: of the car, of the computer, of the suitcases, of the laundry. There's trying to ensure you don't leave anything important behind, and then when you have, trying to get it back!
There are the days when the weather is miserable, messing up all your plans. Same as home, but now there's less to do, and you'll likely have to miss forever what was planned for that particular day.
There are the times when your spouse is crabby, or you just want to be alone. But it's hard to actually be alone; you're pretty much together all the time.
There's figuring out how to convert money into yet another currency and then trying to determine what things cost. And then the embarrassment of taking an inordinate amount of time to sort out the change needed for a purchase.
There's the worry of losing your passport or having your wallet or computer stolen. Fortunately, we've found the world to be safe, so far.
There's the wondering about what there is to do in THIS town now that you've arrived. And do you REALLY want to see yet another modern art museum?
There's leaving things behind or needing replacements for things that are easy to find at home but almost impossible to find on the road -- like a large bottle of aspirin, which can't be found anywhere in the world but in the US, or a pair of size 11 ladies pants in Singapore, where women only come in 5 or smaller.
There's catching a cold and missing the comforts of home and having no way to get a bowl of homemade chicken soup.
And there are the times when you miss your friends and family. But phone calls are expensive, time zones are hard to mesh, and I don't like talking on the phone anyway. So I just wonder how it's all going back home and hope people will write a newsy note now and then.
Still, it is a marvelous adventure traveling the world, visiting new places and meeting people. The fun clearly outweighs the mostly minor hassles. Sooo... we're planning to head around the world again in 2001! Keep tuned and check our itinerary every once in a while to see where we can meet up.