How I Deal With My Travel Pet Peeves

My Travel Pet Peeves

As you guys know I absolutely love to travel and see new places, experience new things and learn about other places. But just like most people that travel I also have a couple of travel pet peeves that can kind of ruin the whole experience of travelling. Recently, I took a poll/survey on what I should blog about or what posts I should write on and this was one of the suggestions and I thought it was a good idea so I decided to write about it. Here are my travel pet peeves and how I deal with them:

Food

I’m plant based so that makes finding food during travel a bit more difficult and complicated and it does not help that I have a bunch of allergies. And of course airplane food is not always the best. I tend to find it a bit bland and it has that airplane food taste- I don’t know how to describe it but it just has this very specific taste and smell that kind of makes me nauseous. It’s also difficult to find vegan food in certain airlines. It can all be a bit frustrating and it can end up being a hassle when you do decide to travel.

Therefore, there are two things I like to do to help deal with this. Firstly, I do a lot of research and find out what airlines or whatever form of travel I choose to go buy offers vegan options. I also like to do research in advance and find out that the place I am planning to travel to has vegan options because not all places are very vegan friendly.

Next, I also like to make sure that I carry some food with me. For example, if I am going on a long flight where I know I will get hungry I try to pack a meal that is easy to carry with me or at the very least I try to carry some snacks like some Clif bars or a pack of chips or something.

Delays

One thing I hate that really gets on my nerves are delays. It’s especially annoying when you have to catch a connecting flight because you need to get there by a certain time. Honestly though, delays are kind of a part of travel and as annoying as they can be they are inevitable because you can’t really control the time, weather or external factors that may cause delays. The best thing to do is be prepared for them.
I would highly recommend not booking flights that are really close together. Instead have a couple of hours in between flights in case one of them gets delayed. Also, always keep an extra pair of clothes and some other necessary items with you in case you are forced to spend the night at your stop over city/country/state.

People

I like people in general but let’s be honest. There is nothing like a really long flight with crying babies, arguing adults and loud sleepers to make you hate humanity. Travelling is great and you will end up meeting lots of awesome people but you will also end up meeting some of the worst people ever. Like seriously EVER.
To deal with this what I like to do is always have headphones with you to drown out the noise and keep a book or books with you that you can read so as to tune out what is going on around you. I know these don’t fix everything but they do help a lot.

Rude Workers

I have been very lucky to have mostly dealt with really great people while travelling but once in a while you do run into really rude people who are working for the airline or whatever form of travel you are taking. Unfortunately, since they usually control a lot of stuff to do with your travel you are kind of forced to be the bigger person and just stay calm as much as possible.
The best way to combat this is to remain patient and not lose your temper. Try to keep calm and talk to them as politely as possible. If you feel like this is still not going anywhere try to talk to someone else who seems more friendly or helpful.

Dirty Bathrooms

Dirty bathrooms are such a travel pet peeve of mine and they are so often unavoidable when travelling especially when you travel by plane. For me, the best way to deal with this has been to make sure I always carry a bunch of hand sanitizer, wet wipes and lots of tissues with me when I travel.

Your Thoughts

Do you like to travel? Do you travel often? What is one place you really want to travel to? What are some of your travel pet peeves? How do you deal with these travel peeves?


For similar posts click here.

If you enjoyed this post don’t forget to like, follow, share and comment!

Enjoyed this post? Then follow me on social media:

Twitter Instagram Pinterest LinkedIn HubPages

Email me on(guest posts welcome!): insomniacwithanaccent@gmail.com

Lifesfinewhine Services

89 thoughts on “How I Deal With My Travel Pet Peeves

  1. I definitely agree about the bathrooms! Always makes me want to clench all the way to my destination! I also have a pet peeve of feeling dry like an Egyptian mummy after a transatlantic flight. I also hate aisle seats, so I get a window as much as possible. God help anyone who comes between me and my window seat! My worst peeve is when someone is sitting in my seat right when I get there and you have to tell them its your seat!

    1. Yes I hate aisle seats too!! I always try to get the window seats as well. I have kind of dry skin as it is so I try to moisturise to make sure I don’t get off looking like an Egyptian mummy lol.

      1. I prefer window seats too. And it’s because I feel weird when I fall asleep to sitting at the aisle😅. ‘Cause i usually kill travel time with sleep… the quiet kind

      2. Lol. For me it’s not looking like a mummy, it’s feeling all dried up and needing to drink a lot of water afterwards to restore my tissues. One time, I freaked my Mom out acting like I was right out of The Mummy when we were jet lagging!

  2. You’ve hit the nail on the head with many of these. Thank you for also suggesting solutions to each. Stay calm, work through whatever problem you’re facing as patiently as you can, and it will work out.
    I like travelling, but am not very good at it on my own. Crowds and rushing when necessary are two things I do not deal with well. Just like you say, having a plan for if something goes wrong has definitely helped me on more than one occasion.

    1. Thank you! Staying calm really does help because freaking out will just frustrate everyone and make the situation worse. Travelling alone can be difficult for sure.

  3. I miss traveling to Michigan so much! Usually twice a summer. I’ve seen some rather nasty airliner toilets, shame on them. Delays make anyone angry,I’ve been stuck at Chicago O’Hare too many times between Las Vegas and my Michigan destination.

    1. Yeah some of those toilets are disgusting. It’s like people never got potty trained or something. And delays are definitely the worst but they do happen a lot so you just have to deal with them.

    1. Haha, me too, Hilary! Although there was this one time I was travelling Air India and had zero leg room and this guy in front insisted on reclining his seat all the way back. Had to keep pushing his seat with my knees just to ease my legs (and get him to stop)! He complained to the air hostess who took one look at the amount of room my legs had with him reclining, smiled at me and told the guy to go and sit somewhere else. Yay for kicking seats (sometimes).

  4. I don’t travel for lack of money, but I do carry hand sanitizer with me and have for over twenty years. Here’s why: when you have a baby, toddler, or child at just about any age you will need to clean the baby changing counter, toilet seat, or baby holder seat before setting said child on any of them. Seriously, if adults can’t do a hover stance over the loo, how do we expect a child to do it? Sorry for the potty mouth 😂!!!

    1. Haha I understand the struggle. Travelling with kids is definitely extremely challenging. I think carrying hand sanitizer is a good idea no matter what- I usually always have one with me at school too.

  5. I just about lived one the move for most of my business years. My chief cause of irritation is to be bumped off the passenger list even after reconfirming the flight in some parts of the world. I don’t like having to go into a little office of some corrupt official and pay them just for the privilege of being reinstated on the flight or train booking list but its necessary unfortunately or you don’t make your appointments. Second peeve is to arrive late at a transit point and miss the connecting flight. I order Asian vegetarian in advance and have had no trouble at all getting that on a flight. Don’t know about vegan.

    1. I have never been bumped off a passenger list but I can imagine how frustrating that must be. It’s awful that they do that when you have already purchased the ticket. My sister gets Asian vegetarian too which she does not have a problem with but getting vegan food is a bit harder on certain airlines.

  6. I love traveling-just another thing we have in common my fellow Jedi- and share you pet peeves. One thing I learned when traveling international is to not have 2 stops in the USA. I live in an area that necessitates flying to an international airport. If I only fly from my city or a city one hour away to the international airport, it helps so much. BUT if there are 2 stops in the USA after flying from my city, it invites problems.

    1. We Jedi’s do have a lot in common! Hmm that’s very interesting. I’m glad you were able to figure that out and hope it saved you some trouble over the years.

  7. Great list. My pet peeves were always managing my kids. Now that they are older they are pretty self sufficient as long as I am paying….
    Covid has really crushed our travel plans this year. We wanted to go to the kentucky derby and we also had a trip planned to Ireland. Both were cancelled. Im hopeful that 2021 brings us back to some kind of normalcy. We could make the trip to Ireland but we want to do it when things have calmed down.

    1. It is definitely difficult travelling with kids especially when they are young.
      A lot of my travel plans got ruined too but fingers crossed for 2021. I totally understand- I don’t want to travel till the pandemic is over either.

  8. Yours are the same as mine and I deal with them in a similar way. When it comes to really helpful staff, I’ll write to the airline afterwards saying how helpful they were and, if somebody wasn’t, they’ll get mentioned in despatches too.

  9. Such great tips!
    I recommend using the washroom at the airport over using the on a flight because the ones at the airport are more regularly cleaned or usually there is someone around that you can request to clean the washroom you intend to use.
    Sleep masks help to drown out any light and make sure people don’t bother you during the flight.

  10. As you can see from the photo reports on my blog – I love to travel. Ideally, I like to stay in a place for a while and explore, to meet people and find out of the way places and the food and culture. Often though I’ve been visiting for a day and have to cram it all in and not waste a moment.
    You have highlighted the problems – getting there can be a pain, delays, bureaucracy, tiresome, uncomfortable travel (particularly on planes), crap food, rude people, officious customs, searches, unsanitary conditions, travel bugs – coughs, stomach upset,
    But it is so worth it when you get there!!!

  11. That’s a really helpful post. I am a vegetarian and wish to switch to a vegan diet in future. My biggest fear is that I might end up eating only fruits on my trips due to lack of preferable options. Thanks for giving out such helpful tips. I love travelling too and this post made me reminisce my old trips.

    1. I used to vegetarian as well and now that I’m vegan I feel like it is slightly more difficult but if you’re vegetarian you already kind of know the struggle and I think it’s pretty manageable in most cases except for a few specific places. I was totally thinking of my trips while writing this too- I can’t wait till we can travel properly again!

  12. Ooh! Dirty bathrooms! Now that is one that I hate so much that whenever I go to the mall, if it’s time to use the bathroom then it’s time to go home. Long travels are so much hassle because I obviously cannot go back home. I also bring lots of wipes and tissues and I must admit, even a tiny bottle of bleach! With regards to rude people, shouting and arguing doesn’t bother me that much but sneezing and coughing so openly is a huge no! I used to travel with face mask even before covid because I hate catching colds from random people. These are all great tips that you posted! Thank you for sharing!

    1. Thank you!
      Carrying bleach is actually a good idea I think I’ll add that to my bag from now on as well because I really do hate dirty bathrooms. I’m the same way- I would rather go home than use mall bathrooms.
      People coughing and sneezing is so annoying and gross. I never wore a mask before but I did try really hard to avoid people who seemed sick because I get sick really easily.

      1. Yes! I don’t understand why some people are even comfortable about it! I can only just shake my head. Ooh, I relate with you so well! I’m sorry that my reply took so long! I’m trying to catch up now. Anyway, I hope you have a good weekend! ❤️

    1. Yeah long travels are so difficult because you have to sue the bathroom at some point so I just try to be prepared as much as possible lol!

  13. I don’t travel much or like to fly but once I’m at my destination I’m good. One of my pet peeves is when people are rude to the staff. It really makes me angry.
    Bringing your own food on the plane is a really great idea for long flights, especially when you have dietary restrictions and allergies.

  14. You didn’t even mention the shrinking seat sizes that make you feel like you’re part of a sardine can, the enormous people that really ought to buy two seats to fit them, and yet you end up squeezed beside them with no room to breathe, let alone airports and security, which can take more time than the flight. And, to top it all off, COVID has increased the risk of travel in general – and planes are getting worse than the floating petrie dishes they call cruise ships. Time to stay home?

    1. Yes, all of those are definitely very frustrating! I hate the security checks for sure because they really take forever. I am definitely staying home till the pandemic ends.

  15. Although I’m not plant-based, I totally relate to your food struggle because I’m Gluten-Free and have other allergies as well. Some airports have such poor food options! I need to start packing snacks or checking out what is available to me beforehand!

    1. I feel like gluten-free may actually be harder than vegan so I definitely understand the struggle. Yes packing snacks is a really good idea when you have a limited/specific diet!

  16. All these are a major problem. Other than this, I think uncomfortable outfit can be also one of them. Wise decision should be made while choosing for the outfit as it should be stylish as well as comfy at the same time.

  17. Argh! Rude workers are irksome. I can’t deal so if it isn’t a flight like if I have to catch a bus, I’ll rather board another because I hate when people disregard me especially when I’m patronising their service.

    1. Me too- I am such a neat freak in general so dirty bathrooms really bother me. Rude workers are awful and they can really ruin your trip. Thank you!

  18. Good ones! I never use the bathrooms. I will hurt myself trying to avoid the bathrooms. And the people part! Hi-la-rious! I always end up in the seat right in front of the crying baby. Mad annoying!

  19. The actual travel to the destination can be tough! Extra leg room has been the best thing we’ve discovered for long flights. That little bit of extra space makes such a difference over 14 hours!

  20. I feel like it is slightly more difficult but if you’re vegetarian you already kind of know the struggle and I think it’s pretty manageable in most cases except for a few specific places.

Leave a Reply