Traveling sucks, but why? You scroll on social media past people living their best lives ever, seeing exotic places, and experiencing things you only can dream of.
But it’s not always as glamorous as it seems, or is it?
There are a lot of downsides to traveling that no one ever talks about.
Just like anything in life, you only see the positives of traveling on social media, no one posts when they miss a flight and have to spend the night in the airport.
Travel changes you in ways that you can never return to normal life again.
Here are the top 10 Reasons why traveling sucks!
10 Reasons Why Travel Sucks
1. The People You Meet
You will meet a lot of different people as you travel. People from all around the world that have entirely different perspectives and outlooks on life.
You will fight, you will argue, and you will debate with them on who is right.
But at the end of the day, they will become your friends. Even though they don’t have the same opinions as you.
The sad thing about making friends on the road is you will inevitably have to say goodbye them, not knowing if your paths will ever cross again.
People and friends will come in and out of your life at a fast pace and you have to learn to say goodbye, without ever knowing when you will see them again.
2. The Travel Bug
It is almost certain that you will catch the travel bug. The places you want to go and the things you want to see will never stop growing.
As soon as you get back from one destination, you are already thinking about where to go next.
You meet people along the way that tell you about their favorite destinations, and your bucket list keeps growing.
Places that you have never heard about before, but after hearing their stories and seeing their pictures, it is now added to your never-ending list of places to see.
Once you catch the travel bug there is no turning back.
3. The Different Things You Will Learn About
Traveling opens your mind to ways of life you never thought were possible.
Some will be good and some won’t.
Whether it is learning how to use the bum gun in Southeast Asia or getting to use a luxury toilet in Japan that plays music for you while you use it.
You will see different ways of life; how people live, what people think, how people eat, and more.
When you come back from vacation, you will question your life and everyone around you.
You will wonder why we live a certain way and do certain things. You will try to explain to your friends back home the things you’ve learned, but unless they were there with you, they will never understand.
4. The Constant Need To See More
Once you have traveled once, you will constantly have the need to see more and you will never be fulfilled. You will always be daydreaming about traveling once you are back home and constantly trying to plan your next vacation.
You will be trying to maximize your vacation time, missing family holidays and friend’s weddings just so you can squeeze in a few more days abroad.
Coming back home seems strange, and it will start to feel like a foreign land.
5. How Your Family & Friends Will Think About You
Your friends and family will be jealous of your lifestyle and they might not even understand it. Of course, they will be happy every time you come home, but they know you will be leaving soon.
They will try to relate or understand your life choices, but unless they have traveled themselves, they will never truly understand.
You will constantly hear the question “When are you going to settle down?” and no one will understand that you have caught the travel bug and that it’s uncontrollable.
Only the friends you made while abroad will understand what you are going through, but they are all miles away.
6. The Empty Bank Account
Once you start traveling, every penny you earn will go into the travel fund. You will want to spend all your money seeing the world.
The things that excite your friends, like a house or new cars, don’t have the same effect on you.
You would rather spend your money on a riverboat trip down the Amazon or a trekking hike in the Himalayas.
You start to look at life at what experiences you can have rather than desiring the newest tech gadget or car.
7. The Anxiety That Comes With Picking Your Next Destination
Once you are back home from an amazing trip, you admittedly start to plan your next adventure.
However, before you left there were only a handful of places that you wanted to go to, but now your list has grown and you can’t decide where to go next.
There are too many places to go and not enough time to see them.
You start to plan your next vacation, but picking and deciding one destination or one area becomes harder and harder to do.
You will soon realize, that there is never enough time to see all the places and spots that you will want to.
Not ever having enough time, you will have to compromise and give up things you really wanted to see.
Before you left for your vacation, you thought you would have time for everything you wanted to see and do, but you soon realize that it is not the case.
You learn about places that you didn’t see or research before your holiday and you have to sacrifice one for the other.
You say you will come back for it, but your list continues to grow and you would rather visit someplace new.
9. Things Stop Exciting You
After you have hiked through Machu- Picchu or ridden camels through the desert to the surf break in Morocco, things back home that used to excite you no longer do.
The annual fishing trip you used to take with your family to your lake house, seems to lose its excitement. All you can think about is your next trip abroad.
Traveling sucks, it changes you in ways you never thought it would and you can never return back to your normal life and look at things the same way again.
10. The Foods You Will Discover
The foods you will discover while you are abroad will make food back home taste different and wrong.
Once you have had pad thai in Thailand or a Cuba Libre in Cuba, they will never taste the same back home.
You will want to book a flight to go back just to have that same meal again. You will not be able to get exotic fruits that you fell in love with or ingredients that you could only find abroad.
Travel changes your palate.
Traveling Sucks, But You Should Still Do It
Traveling sucks, because it changes you in ways you never thought were possible. It opens your mind to different people, different ideas, and a different way of life.
It is hard or nearly impossible to return to your old way of life.
Your friends are no longer exciting and once you are back home all you can think about is leaving again. If you are going to travel, just be prepared that you will never be the same again.
Megan is the founder of Peter Pan Traveler. She left her full-time career in search of neverland.
Megan has lived in Costa Rica, Mexico, and has sailed around the Caribbean. She is here to help everyone find their neverland and design their perfect vacation.
I always say that traveling is amazing for some of the reasons you mention – meeting new people, discovering amazing places, and so forth. Indeed, we should travel – whenever and wherever we can. 🙂
The benefits far outweigh the negatives. I hate planes these days – I used to love flying but not anymore! If I could transport myself some other way I would!
Thanks for sharing this post! As travel bloggers, we often focus so much on the positives and forget some of the negative or ‘strange’ things we experience whilst travelling! I must say I agree with the majority of these points but I think each one has made me a better traveller and person. Especially meeting people and saying goodbye! Yes, it’s hard but it’s so worth it! Once upon a time, I would have a ‘no point in making friends for a short period of time’ attitude but travelling has changed that 100%.
I absolutely love how you turned this around, such a fun way to talk about travel and why it sucks so much 😉 Having to day bye to people is definitely one of the hardest things I find.. Really don’t mind spending money on a trip but when it’s about anything else, it’s a no haha!
Haha I love the spin on this post! And I can totally relate to allllll of these things. 🙂
Thanks : ) I think most of us, travelers can.
Interesting spin and irony on all the things that make travel amazing! Jaz
Yes! Had to make it fun 😉
I always say that traveling is amazing for some of the reasons you mention – meeting new people, discovering amazing places, and so forth. Indeed, we should travel – whenever and wherever we can. 🙂
Yes! It’s had to stop once you start.
The benefits far outweigh the negatives. I hate planes these days – I used to love flying but not anymore! If I could transport myself some other way I would!
If only teleporting were a real thing, I think a lot more people would travel 🙂
Who doesn’t relate to all of these. The worst is catching the travel bug. No amount of traveling will get it out of your system
It is the worst because there is no cure.
Thanks for sharing this post! As travel bloggers, we often focus so much on the positives and forget some of the negative or ‘strange’ things we experience whilst travelling! I must say I agree with the majority of these points but I think each one has made me a better traveller and person. Especially meeting people and saying goodbye! Yes, it’s hard but it’s so worth it! Once upon a time, I would have a ‘no point in making friends for a short period of time’ attitude but travelling has changed that 100%.
Yes! Traveling teaches us to enjoy life and live in the moment.
Interesting article!! I agree in certain points and disagree in others but it certainly a very good point of view!
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I absolutely love how you turned this around, such a fun way to talk about travel and why it sucks so much 😉 Having to day bye to people is definitely one of the hardest things I find.. Really don’t mind spending money on a trip but when it’s about anything else, it’s a no haha!
Yes! Money spent on experiences is always far superior to money spent on things.