Five (5) Reasons Why I Hate Traveling
I have, by the grace of God and God alone, had the opportunity to visit a whopping ten cities in the past twelve months. Not that it matters contextually, but for the readers who care to know the fine details, the following ten (maybe eleven?) cities are as follows:
- Cape Cod
- Dallas
- Houston
- Washington D.C.
- Baltimore
- Miami
- Atlanta
- Minniapolis/St. Paul (The Twin Cities)
- New York
- New Orleans
Call it bad juju, but: I do not like to speak on my aspirations all too much. I will not go into grave detail, but I made a “bucket list” of sorts at the beginning of October of last year recording all that I wanted to accomplish for the years ahead. I was feeling “some type of way”, as the kids say nowadays, when I made it: Winter was creeping in, I felt a little lost with how my life was coming along, and for the cherry on top — I was tired from a boy and his inability to remain consistent. All in all, I didn’t think much about the list. Although it had categories, sub-categories, and fun emojis to dress it up, it was rushed, informal, and a tad bit dumb. Who knew I was actually going to go along with what was written? Well, it just sort of happened.
Once I had checked off a couple boxes, I got some sort of “psycological high” from completing a goal, so I wanted to do more. I was eager to continue. Now here we are: ten whole cities later.
Traveling is an activity that is glorified. In fact, statistics show:
- 50% of millennials using social media now follow travel influencers (Source: Morning Consult)
- Millennials use, on average, 35 vacation days per calendar year (Source: Luggage Hero)
- As of 2020, 55% of millennials travel for leisure (i.e for relaxation) (Source: Expedia Media Solutions)
- 63% of all Americans are likely to “splurge” on a large trip in 2022 (Source: Avail)
One quick, notable stat: Gen Z and Millennials are almost twice as likely to visit a historical site when traveling than going to a nightclub.
Ugh, yes, I still have hope for this generation. LOL. Just kiddinggggggggg. This is a judgement-free zone.
Can I tell y’all something, though? A secret?
Traveling kind of sucks. At least for me, it does.
Obviously, that statement is very objective, but it is the conclusion I have made after Uber-ing back-and-forth from Logan Airport for the 18th time this year. I am not as well-traveled as my counterparts, but I think I have accumulated a good amount of points on Expedia from my adventures, so I have every right to formulate such a sentence.
I said what I said.
I am just an hour shy of a day from coming back from NOLA as I write this, and I could not be happier being in my queen-sized bed, in the comfort of my own home. With food. And air conditioning.
Words are just words if you do not have the receipts to back it up, right?
Right.
So here’s five reason why.
Five Reasons Why I Hate Traveling
- Traveling is expensive — YALL…I do not care what coupon you have sitting in your inbox. I do not care what benefits your employer has. I do not care how many people you tagged along. I do not care if your cousin’s cousin’s baby father’s uncle is the owner of American Airlines HIMSELF. TRAVELING IS EXPENSIVE. PERIOD. I have taste in nice things, so I know lodging at a Holiday Inn Express is more financially plausible than sitting real pretty at a Marriott, I get it, but traveling will eat your money alive.
What I have done: I make color-coded excel sheets for every. single. trip. to compare and contrasts costs. These excel sheets contain flight information, lodging, activities around the area, restaurants, and a tentative schedule to fit everything in the timespan I am there for. If I want something in particular for a trip that may cost a coin (EX. an excursion), I have to sacrifice something else in-place of around equal value. I also give myself a budget on dining: if I happen to stay at a hotel (which is very unlikely; I will get into that in another blog post one day), I try to book one that has free breakfast (or just skip it altogether). If there is a particular activity that is common (EX. going to see a movie), I cut it off my list completely. I also now have been using cash back from my credit card to save a couple hundred on trips: I was actually able to go to New York recently completely free with cash back and employer benefits. For detailed information on how to maximize your credit card benefits, please check out Ramit’s I Will Teach You To Be Rich. Books are amazing resources! You know what else have been great resources? Groupon! Virgin Experiences! Eventbrite! FACEBOOK EVENTS! I have saved so much money, and found numerous things to do, during my travel using these sites. If you have not used them to save a buck or two, get yo life!
2. Traveling is tiring. — Why when I travel, I feel like I am doing more work than being at work itself? No, but seriously: my schedules are always jammed packed to the point where I am rushing to get from one activity to another; I have had absolutely no time to relax on these “vacations” (if you want to call them that). I feel like sometimes I do these things simply for the fact that its “Instagram-worthy”, and not because I truly want to engage.
What I have done: News flash: Not everything has to be televised! I initially, along with the rest of the word, when commencing this travel journey, had the mindset of “if you did not take a picture, then it didn’t happen”. Instead of posting fifteen-second stories on my Instagram every waking moment, I put my phone down and live in the moment. And I call the shots: Christina does only what Christina feels comfortable doing. I collect snippets of my trip instead, and save them to create one, simple TikTok video for enjoyment AFTER the trip has ended. If you take a look on my Instagram, you will also note that I do not have any pictures of actual activities, or of me in the actual city: I prefer keeping it simple by just updating my location on a picture I had just HAPPENED to have taken while in the city I traveled to. And if I did not get a chance to take a photo? Who cares! Not me!
3. Traveling is time-consuming — I take MONTHS to plan a trip, even if the trip itself is a weekend in length — all the hours of planning are taken from the time that I should be studying, working out, spending time with my family, or doing something to better myself.
What I have done: Nothing. Managing my time effectively when it comes to planning travel is something I need to work on a bit more. I would like to reserve just a few hours, 1–2 days a week, to planning, and leaving the remaining hours for more important matters. Suggestions are happily welcomed.
4. Traveling (alone) is lonesome. — There are times that I enjoy my own company, and thus, I prefer to be by myself. Traveling alone has helped me find myself immensely, and I am eternally grateful, BUT there are moments within a trip that I would adore someone else’s company. Its then in those moments that I start missing my friends, family, and an imaginary man that I MOST CERTAINLY do not have. LOL. I absolutely love being on my own time. Best believe I will choose a few days of loneliness over craziness, ya feel me?
What I have done: I have told myself that the next time I do a group trip, I will reserve my own room so I can have the best of both worlds — I simply just need my space sometimes. I may put a slight pause on solo travel for a while (unless there is a place I am dying to visit).
5. Traveling is annoying. — I am a perfectionist, so if one thing (and I truly mean one thing) goes wrong, I am annoyed. I have stayed in bad hotels/AirBNBs, have gotten my period while traveling, have had plans cancelled, flights cancelled, have had bad car/transportation experiences, have been lost, have lost things, I have been in sketchy situations, have met bad people, and I have found myself in unsafe situations. As my parents would say: “Ki es te voye’w?”
What I have done: Live my life. Enjoyment. Things happen. And they will continue to happen. It is up to you to decide how it makes you feel. I do not stress life as much anymore. I let things be. I let people be. I focus on God and my happiness. Epi dats et.
Will I continue to travel? Of course! The world is my oyster: there is so much to see, and I am not getting any younger. I, for now at least, want to re-direct my focus elsehwere now that I have accomplished what I wanted to. I’ll let the dust collect on my carry-ons for a bit. There is truly no place like home.
