Note from Sam "1, 2, 9 & 10 are the ones that REALLY resonate with me!"
1. Airport Security
This has to be the most annoying aspect of travel. It is obvious security officials at airports have a tough job to do. They are supposed to be the first line of defense against a possible attack on an airplane. However, with the way one gets treated when going through airport security, some paranoia starts to set in because one is left to wonder if these security officials secretly despise you for having enough discretionary income to go on a vacation. With burly airport officials barking orders at you like; "Take off your shoes!!", "Put your bags through the screener again!!", "Sorry you have to dispose of your water bottle!!!" thus making it an unpleasant experience for anyone traveling. It only adds insult to injury to find out later that during random audits of the efficiency of the airport security process, 95% of banned items make it past the screeners. You begin to feel justified in your paranoia and wish you are able to afford a private jet sooner rather than later.
2. Meeting Someone Awesome On The Last Day Of Your Vacation
You are sitting down in the common area of your hostel or the lobby of your hotel, a stranger comes over and you guys strike up a conversation, you find out this person is actually kinda cool. They find out you are at the end of your vacation and invite you out to explore the city one more time. You guys have a blast and they just went from kinda cool to "brother from another mother or sister from another mister". The problem is that the person is from Canada and you are from... say Thailand. If this person lived in the same city as you maybe this would have been your new best friend. Unfortunately, they live 6,000 miles away and apart from adding them on Facebook and creeping on their photos afterwards you will most likely never have much contact with them again.
3. Not Understanding The Local Language
It is usually a gesture of goodwill and some cultural sensitivity to learn a few phrases of the local language of your destination of choice, but if you are on a multi-country tour you start mixing up phrases from different languages and then you sound even more silly than you would have if you did not bother trying at all.
4. Justifying Your Visit To Curious Locals
This happens to me a lot when I visit the more traditionally isolated parts of the planet. During my last trip to one of the Baltic states, the locals seemed genuinely surprised that anyone would travel so far to visit their country. I was queried relentlessly by the locals trying to see if there were any ulterior motives for me wanting to visit their country. Give a brother a break! I am just curious.
5. Getting Scammed
There is nothing that ruins travel plans like getting scammed while you are on vacation. The Eastern European states are notorious for attractive girls waiting outside bars for young testosterone riddled men, and then getting them to buy drinks for these women. This usually leads to the men getting charged a ton of money and then getting threatened for payment. The scenario usually takes a dark turn where the men find themselves at the mercy of overbearing bouncers staring them down angrily while they withdraw hefty sums from their ATM accounts to pay for the drinks they supposedly purchased at the club. Another scam that is tiring comes from taxi drivers in foreign countries charging hapless tourists exorbitant rates for rides to and from anywhere in your destination country.
6. Overcrowded Hostel Dorms
Anyone who is an avid budget traveler has probably experienced this. You walk into your hostel dorm and it is like the United Nations of "sweat, smelly feet and bad odors". To top it all off, the cute British girl that seemed interested in you when you first arrived has found a more interesting guy from France and now they are having sex on your top bunk. Ouch!! After two weeks of this, you decide maybe it is a good idea to cut the trip short and [A]irbnb it from this point on.
7. Getting Lost
Even with the advent of mobile apps like Here or Google Maps it is still possible to get ridiculously lost while overseas. The street signs could be in a language you don't understand or the city could just be constructed in a way that leaves anyone new to it confused. Getting lost is never any fun and could reduce even the most worldly traveler in a pool of tears every now and then.
8. DELAYED FLIGHTS, TRAINS, OR BUSES
We need not say more, but still, this has to be the most frustrating part of travel, well apart from not having infinite cash to travel permanently. There is nothing fun at all about having to wait around in the airport for a flight that is delayed or canceled.
9. Not Being Able To Travel On A Permanent Basis
There are tons of people still trying to figure this one out. You go overseas and you just don't want your trip to end so you start trying to figure out a way to make it permanent. You start a travel blog and hope you get enough traffic to sustain your lifestyle on the road only to see a balance of $7.48 in your AdWords account after a year of writing top quality blog posts. How about just working for a travel magazine on a freelance basis. You find that is maybe a good idea until they tell you they want to pay you in tweets. You finally realize gallivanting around the globe on a permanent basis is a privilege only a few will ever get to enjoy and then you return home and settle for 14 days a year just like everyone else.
10. AND LASTLY... DREADING A VACATION COMING TO AN END
You had a blast while you were traveling, you got to find out that despite what the news and maybe your parents have to say, the world is actually full of awesome people, great cultures, food, and an almost infinite amount of things to see. Then you realize you have to go back to your mundane life back home and then you start counting the hours, minutes, and seconds hoping somehow the good times won't end. Sadly they do and you have to board the flight or train back home.
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