With over a year of border closures and travel bans, we’ve spent time flicking through old travel images and reminiscing over the experiences we miss the most.
For months we’ve dreamed of that first gust of heat that hits our faces when first exiting the plane, the ice-cold ‘Bintang’ we enjoy at the hostel with the new mates we’ve met, renting scooters, booking tours, hopping islands, or travelling to a new city every day.
Sure, there are so many beautiful moments that happen once you’ve booked that ticket, buckled up your backpack, and boarded that one-way adventure. But there are also those little everyday travelling efforts and the small struggles of being a backpacker that can occur from now and then. And to be honest, it’s been so long we’ve experienced them, we’re actually excited to experience the sh*t bits again too.
At the time we huff, we moan and we might even let out a tired tear. But usually, these are the memories that make the best stories, which is why we want to remember and experience them all. So, we asked some friends, team members and travel enthusiasts like ourselves, what are the little sh*t bits they miss about travelling, and we’ve been howling at the outcome…
Hostel Horrors
“Arriving at the hostel after a late flight and you have to try to find your top bunk in an 8-bed room with your phone torch as everyone sleeps. But then you just sleep fully clothed without brushing your teeth because searching in your backpack when it’s pitch black is not the vibe.”
“When someone in your hostel room is a snorer and you and your mate don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
“The constant joke about how much you would kill for a ‘warm bath’ right now.”
“The stress of searching for something that’s at the bottom of your backpack”
“When you’re near the end of your travels and you’re tired of people asking ‘where are you from?’, ‘where are you travelling to?”
Asia Feels
“Admiring all the fancy restaurants as you walk towards 7-Eleven again to get your toasties & instant noodles.”
“When a sunset walk on the beach turns into an ‘all you can eat buffet’ for mosquitos.”
“Buying fried tofu off the street vendors in Bali thinking your paying 50c when you’ve actually paid $50”
“Wanting to walk down the street but getting beep at every second by every taxi driver in town.”
“Being called 90’s pop stars such as ‘Shakira, Del Boy, David Beckham, Kylie Minogue’ by all the street sellers so they can convince you to purchase the same fake Adidas sneakers & shell anklets.”
“Bali belly.”
Saving Hacks
“Sleeping at the airport the night before an early flight so you save $$ on accommodation”
“Deciding to walk to the hostel hoping it isn’t far away, tortoise-ing a 30 kg backpack in 30-degree heat.”
“Giving up carrying your trainers and coat around, but realising in the next city you needed them.”
“Trying to wash your undies in the hostel bathroom sink.”
“People putting their seat back on short internal flights on shitty budget airlines… Like Ryan Air”
Travel Heartache
“Having to say goodbye to a friend/friends you’ve met along the way and spent an intense amount of time within the most amazing places.”
“Falling in love with a location and having to finally leave.”
“Losing your favourite ring when you go swimming in the ocean. But knowing it belongs to Greece now.”
“The bittersweet goodbye, where you need to go home for a shower and normality but also don’t want to get on that flight back.”
“Coming home and trying to tell your friends and family the experiences you have, but knowing they will never really understand them.”
Travel Fails
Have you got any funny travel fails stories or sh*t bits you miss about travelling that you want to share? Message us on our socials, we’d love to hear it… Insta, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
