Honest truths about travel

Every day 40% of your FB feed is filled with  travel photos of your friends.

“X traveled to Great canyon and took amazing shots”, “Y went to spain and did sky diving”. This can make you feel a tinge of jealousy and sometimes want to punch yourself and think what am I doing with my life.

Even when you get to travel you might be disappointed as it is not as you pictured it to be! Thats because there is a gap between reality and expectation.

Here are somethings no one says about travelling. Presenting some honest truths about travel..

1. Things are not as rosy as it seems

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No one puts up what happens behind the scenes. Because no one wants to know.! Everyone wants to see glorious pictures of the destinations you travel to- You read it right- the destination and not the struggle you went through to get there.
Successs is about the journey and not the destination. Even then we only see pictures of overnight success of people and feel like shit

2. Travel planning can be a daunting task

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Those who travel a lot can relate to it. Its a different story if you go through some tour package that has a predefined itinerary. But if you need to do it yourself, my god, the websites you need to browse for cheap flights, places to stay , places to go, transportation is endless  and it can take a toll over you.
Not to forget the documents you need to gather if you need a get a visa. If you are travelling with friends usually no one wants to do the planning and one person takes this responsibility. See how it feels if it is you 😛

3. Its exhausting

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The refreshing feeling in the photos are not real. Travel involves running around to catch bus, waiting at the gate in flight, standing long queues to get tickets, Pushing through the crowd to get to a place. Its exhausting ! It required hard work. If you are a traveler and not a vacationer you will know it is equivalent to trekking up a mountain.

4. You are not alone. You will be bombarded by tourists

No matter where you go the tourists will chase you. The tourism industry has boomed over the years  and now there are herds of people everywhere. I had this incident when I was jumping around in Dubrovnik and hit a walking stick of a old lady and she hit me back with it. It was partly my fault as I was jumping around and partly the crowds fault for pushing me but the bad memory remains. You plan on taking a picture and there are a fifty people beside you and a fifty more staring at you for taking their place for a photo. You need to learn to ignore the crowd if you want to have a romantic time with friends or family.

5. Be ready to face the Jet lag and  travel exhaustion fatigue

It is something I have always been battling against. When you arrive at a place you are hit with flight exhaustion fatigue. Then the jet lag. If you want your travel time to count you need to consciously get over jet lag as soon as possible

7.Not that delicious Food you see on TV

My sister visited me in Netherlands. She ordered pork ribs, barbecue sauce and chips and was extremely disappointed as she imagined it to be in some way and it did not taste as she wanted. You might see delicious mouth watering food in Travel living channel and think how nice would it be to go to Mexico and eat the beef burger. Well please do try. There is no better food than what you get at home. This is true for people of all nationalities. It is a hard learned truth after so many months of living away from my home town. When you travel you eat to survive and not to satiate your taste buds.

I have a habit of trying the local food atleast once during the trip. I go to a fairy expensive hotel and try their delicacy. Its that photo that comes up on Instagram. Every other time of the day I survive on chips and edible bread to eat on the go. I prefer taking indian spices and masalas when I travel. I buy rice,tomatoes and baked beans from a supermarket and  cook at my airbnb apartment at night. I make a gravy, add masalas and eat it with boiled rice. Once a day, I have an Indian meal and I am satisfied 🙂

6. You will lack the comfort of home- Learn to get used to it.

Forget all luxurious back home. You live in an airbnb apartment, it doesnt have a bead toaster, live with it. You get only mashed potatoes in vegetarian food option, live with it. The station you need to wait in is filthy, accept it. It is raining heavily and you still need to get to your destination, go for it. Travel is not about luxury but about sacrificing material comforts to get where you want- pretty much like life (So much philosophy.. coughs). I have been literally living out of a suitcase for a year. I have shifted houses 5 times in a year- moving out, moving in. Every other time I pack I let go of something behind because its not worth it to carry it around. Now I can live on the essential stuff I need for months.

I have literally gotten out of my comfort zone after I started travelling. I cant relate to people at home now worrying about the painting their house, rearranging furniture and coming back early from work to take car to garage. I have survived on bare minimum and enjoyed life to the fullest. That makes me genuinely, truly free!