The Other (Unglamorous) Side of Traveling

A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.

How many times have you heard from your friends and family that “you are so lucky to travel”, “you are having a perfect life”, “your life is wonderful, every day is stress-free” and “you don’t need to worry about anything”?

Shoes in a boat, China, Fenghuang
Exploring Fenghuang, Hunan province, China by boat

They all wish they could swap with you, but not many of them realize how stressful, exhausting, dangerous and uncomfortable traveling might be. There is a lot of risk we, whether full-time or part-time travelers, take every single day when backpacking through South-America, Asia, Africa or even Europe.

Of course nobody can see it when when looking through our photos of beaches, pictures of delicious food and us smiling with locals and beautiful landscape in the background, posted on social media channels.

St.Paul in Macau 2 The Other (Unglamorous) Side of Traveling
Exploring Macau on a very hot day

In today’s post I would like to share our “bad” travel experiences to prove not everything is so perfect as it looks like when you travel.

1. Sickness

Yes, traveling is so much fun. You might have a blast every single day meeting different people and experiencing new things. Everything might go smoothly and you may enjoy every single second of it until you… get sick. Nobody likes to be sick, right? But it feels even worse when you are alone in a foreign country, you don’t speak the local language, you are not insured and you are seriously sick (and I’m not talking about having a cold or a running nose here).

CEZ POSTCARD.019
The Get Well card sent by fellow travel bloggers of Travel World Passport

So far, it happened to us 4 times – twice to me, twice to Cez. My first time sick was back in 2011 when I firstly came to China. While sleeping in my bed at night, I was bitten by a toxic spider and my whole neck and face got infected by the poison. I was transferred to the hospital within a few hours after the bite, got some painful injections and I was prescribed some medicines I had to use for the next 2 months until I fully recovered. My whole body was swollen, I had a rash all over my body and I sometimes could not breath properly. Luckily, I recovered within 2 months and the wounds disappeared after 4 months.

See also  10 Dream Trips that Every Traveler Should Experience

The second time I got seriously sick was again in China (guess it’s been unlucky place to me), in around April 2012 when I passed out during one of my jogging sessions at school I was working in at that time. I was given a drip in one of local hospitals that made my body shiver and when I woke up after few minutes (with bruises all over my body after reanimation) I was told I was clinically dead for 42 seconds (this is exactly what you want to hear right after you regain consciousness, right?).

a white boy is sleeping in a bed, hospital
Cez in Dongguan hospital after his knee accident

Cez suffered from dengue fever (infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus and its symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain) while in Cambodia and he seriously injured his knee during one of his classes in China.

Chinese girls are visiting Cez
Kindergarten teachers have paid Cez a visit during his recovery

How do you feel when you get stuck abroad seriously injured or sick? Although we are both tough people, these 4 times made us realize how fragile and unpredictable our lives were. We missed our friends and families, but we luckily had each other’s support. Let’s  imagine someone traveling solo getting a food poison, malaria or even something worse. It is not much fun then, huh?

2. Missing home

When you live in China, a country not necessary familiar with Christmas, Easter and other common (for us) holidays you celebrate annually in your home country, there are moments when you miss home terribly. You wish you could just teleport yourself back home in the blink of an eye and share the happiness with the loved ones. Instead, you are working your ass off to be able to support your travels and carry on making your dreams come true (which is amazing, I’m not complaining here).

Agness is celebrating Christmas with her family
First Christmas back home after 2 years of voyages across Asia

There are moments during your travels that you miss your family and friends and you feel kinda guilty for missing out another wedding of your cuisine, your mom’s birthday or the birth of your niece. Calling home helps a bit to leverage this feeling, but it’s just not the same as being there in person.

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3. Tiredness

Think of all of these hours spent on the train, at the airport and on local buses. Wasn’t it exhausting? Gosh, traveling is tiring! You can feel absolutely knackered after 10 hour overnight bus ride or your 8 hour flight back home.

Sleeping at bus stop in Laoag the Philippines The Other (Unglamorous) Side of Traveling
Sleeping at a bus stop in Laoag, the Philippines

Think of how many times you got stuck at the airport as your flight was delayed or how many times you had to wait for the next bus to come as the last one just left. There are times when you don’t take a shower for a day (or even longer), you sleep on the floor or you don’t sleep at all feeling frightened you might get robbed while asleep!

Beijing- Cez1
That’s how we travel in China when all regular tickets are sold out

4. Risking your life

When you travel and you are not very familiar with local areas, customs, prices, etc., you might often become a target of local scams.  It is ok if you get ripped off from time to time when buying some food and souvenirs, but sometimes things might get more complicated. Think of all solo female travelers who hitchhike at night or have to take an overnight local bus but they have no clue where they are going. There are moments when we need to trust some random people we meet in the middle of night and hope they can help us out find the right direction without robbing us or worse!

DSC06516 The Other (Unglamorous) Side of Traveling
Visiting a local family in China

Me and Cez are extremely open people who enjoy interacting with locals a lot. We rarely turn down dinner or lunch invitations and often get invited by locals to their homes. What if these people were psychos or murderers? We could get easily killed and nobody would even know where our bodies were buried (I guess I’ve watched too many horror movies). The point is that we take a risk every single day when being on the road, doing some extreme sports we never had a chance to try back home or trusting random people.

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5. Dirt and stench

Everyone’s travel style is different. There are some travelers who like to travel in a very posh and expensive way, stay in glamorous hotels and drink a glass of champagne before their bedtime. There is nothing wrong with that, but for me and Cez (as you know we call ourselves tramps not without a reason) every single dollar counts when it comes to spendings and controlling our travel budget. We travel under $25 a day and we mean it. Due to our budget limit, we often need to stay away from high quality hotels and stick to cheap motels or hostels.

room in vietnam
Our room in Vietnam

We often stayed in very gross, filthy and grubby rooms with no windows or proper toilet. There were days when we had no access to the hot water or internet so taking a shower or contacting our families wasn’t an option.

The toilet in one of Sri Lankan trains
The toilet in one of Sri Lankan trains

When you travel cheaply, you become a friend with cockroaches, ants and bed bugs. As first you are shocked and disgusted to see them crawling on the floor of your room, but after sometime you get used to your new roommates, especially in Vietnam, Cambodia and some other south-east Asian countries where the level of hygiene is not and never been a top priority.

IMG 9641 The Other (Unglamorous) Side of Traveling
Our roommates in one of Vietnamese rooms

To sum up, although traveling is the best thing that ever happened to us, not everything is as perfect as it looks or seems to be. There are some hard moments we all experience during our epic voyages such as feeling lonely, sick, tired or disgusted. At the end of the day though, we all remember the good things and make fun of the bad which makes each journey unforgettable.

Have you ever experienced loneliness or sickness on the road or have any bad travel memories you would like to share?

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Picture of Agness Walewinder
Agness Walewinder
Travel freak, vagabond, photography passionate, blogger, life enthusiast, backpacker, adventure hunter and endless energy couchsurfer living by the rule "Pack lite, travel far and live long!"
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96 thoughts on “The Other (Unglamorous) Side of Traveling”

  1. Avatar of Charlie

    Love the sleeping photo, I’ve got similar! There’s certainly an unglamorous side to travelling, it can be hard and dangerous. One time that sticks in my mind: when I had to swim through potentially crocodile invested waters because I didn’t really know the area. Most terrified I’ve ever been – wouldn’t have happened at home!

    I have to disagree, though, when you say most people don’t realise travel is unglamorous at times. Among the people I know at least, its one of the main reasons they don’t do it (along with money). They like the idea of the sightseeing and the beaches but they’re put off by nights in dirty hostels and potentially being in danger. They realise travel isn’t all easy sailing, and that’s why when it comes down to it they’re happier to stay at home.

  2. Avatar of Kerri

    It’s so refreshing to hear real life take on travel. I think people forget that behind the nice photos and laughter, life is very real and can be very challenging. Great post!

  3. Avatar of Catherine

    Dead for 42 seconds?!? That is so scary! Do you know what is was that made you collapse?

    Glad you still think travelling is the best thing to ever happen to you though – made me even more keen to start my travels!

  4. Avatar of Loz in Transit

    Perhaps we need to get more real in our social media messaging ;)
    I think any of us who’ve had comparable life experiences realise the “behind-the-scenes” of the stories people share. Life never is a bed of roses. To achieve anything great, we need to sacrifice, beat out the competition and go out on a limb. The view wouldn’t be as sweet if you didn’t climb the mountain to get there. Thanks for the post, just some of the hazards of living an interesting life.

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      Hey! So true – life never is a bed of roses :-), but we always cherish good memories and bad memories from the road ;-).

  5. Avatar of Halida A.

    I’ve spent my whole life in Asia and I’m still not used to these toilets. I don’t like dirty toilets, I don’t like squat toilets. It’s agonizing when I have to spend hours on the road and they become inevitable. my least favorite aspect of traveling!

  6. Avatar of Priya

    So true. Even though I’ve just began traveling (in a westernized country at that), every day isn’t the best day ever. You have your good days and you have your bad days. But the good days always outweigh the bad ones.

  7. Avatar of Sand In My Suitcase

    Goodness gracious! You’ve suffered a bit of bad luck traveling! The toxic spider bite sounds rotten… So far, cross fingers, we’ve been really fortunate not to get seriously ill (apart from the usual food poisoning, bad colds, eye infections, etc.) while traveling, and we haven’t had a bad accident requiring a doctor’s visit. Hope that time never comes… But the more time away from home, the more the chances of something bad happening is greater…

  8. Avatar of Linda McCormick @EcoTraveller

    Oh man, loving the last few pics of the room in Vietnam! That must have been a right shocker. The first room I ever stayed in on my first backpacking trip in Thailand resembled the rooms from the opening of ‘The Beach’. Weirdly, because I was so excited to be travelling I didn’t mind too much, just laughed. Still make good memories, don’t they?

  9. Avatar of Anna

    I’d also add that if you’re traveling on a budget you’re mentally prepare for those situations to happen… When you’re a posh traveler only you don’t expect that f.e. a place you’re staying at might be gross or you can get lost, therefore you’re really in trouble when it happens ;)

  10. Avatar of Mike

    Agness, this was absolutely powerful and amazing! I’ve told you and Cez many times how much I worry about you two. You mention the risk and that is first and foremost my worry. You two are very smart and for that I am thankful. The spider bites…gawd, I’m so sorry that happened. I have a major case of arachnophobia just so you know. I think you posted that picture of you sleeping on a park bench before in the Philippines and that one really got me back then too. That bathroom?? I literally got nauseated! I HAVE to have at least a clean toilet!! All that being said Phoenix and I are always so very proud of you and send you watchful, angel blessings for your safety every day! We are incredibly proud of your courage and fortitude to never let a setback get you down for long. We love you both bunches our two special friends! :)

  11. Avatar of Becky Padmore

    I’ve stayed in a few rooms like that ;-) I think the worse one was when they was a dead rat squashed underneath the mattress in Bangkok. All part of the experience I guess :-D

  12. Avatar of Stef

    I agree with you 100%. Luckily, I haven’t been really sick while being on the road. Knock on wood. Your spider story made me shiver.
    Tiredness is my worst enemy. I’m so bad at sleeping in planes, busses or airports which is not the best thing when you arrive in a different time zone in the morning.
    We risk our lives everyday. Wow that sounds dramatic but actually it’s true. You never really think of it in such a dramatic way. But by trusting strangers you never know what’s going to happen it might be the best experience in the world or it might be the worst.

  13. Avatar of Anna | slightly astray

    This is all so true! And I think it’s definitely not easy for people who make their living traveling (like you and Cez and many other bloggers). I know without a doubt that you guys work your asses off, waaaaay harder than people with “normal” jobs! Other people just see pretty pictures and don’t see the hard work! And OMG, I wanted to throw up a little at that toilet picture. I have a fear of public bathrooms so having a clean toilet is the only necessity for me!!!

  14. Avatar of Alexis Kensey

    So very true. I had my first experience of bed bugs and it.was.terrible. Yuck yuck yuck. I haven’t been really sick since morocco but I am sure I will come across some issues when I go to Nepal. And the tiredness thing- YES. Why is sitting around all day so so SO exhausting? And the not sleeping thing gets very old.

    None the less- ALWAYS so worth it!!! :)

  15. Avatar of Mandie @ RamblingMandie
    Mandie @ RamblingMandie

    Love this, Agness! Yes, travel is amazing and worth it, but sometimes it’s just plain scary and gross. I’ve gone 3 days without sleeping properly, and TWO WEEKS without a shower beyond the cold one on the beach. Haven’t been seriously sick YET (knock on wood) but I have had a raging case of PMS. ;) Haha

      1. Avatar of Slaine

        She had the cold one at the beach to use, just not a hot one. That’s quite different to two weeks without washing one’s smelly parts!
        “There were days when we had no access to the hot water or internet so taking a shower or contacting our families wasn’t an option.”
        Try getting a PHONE with an international SIM card and learning what the ‘G’ in GSM stands for! Some aren’t THAT expensive (use it sparingly). Once again, learn how to use technology to one’s benefit, not be kept in a cage by the schemes of the money-men who tell us how we can and can’t use it just because that way they don’t have to be more intelligent to make money (they instead, use FORCE, rather than intelligent, good management of business model, in effect). Oh, and travel insurance isn’t THAT expensive, is it? You mention not being insured…

  16. Avatar of memographer

    Love this post, Agness! The other side of travel.
    I haven’t been clinically dead… Spit three times :) But, three years ago I thought I would die of food poisoning in India.

  17. Avatar of Heather

    Being sick on the road is the worst! You want to make the most of every day, but all you feel like doing is sleeping. We had to cancel our biking trip through the Mekong Delta because my husband got terrible food poisoning in HCMC. But it happens to everyone at some point.

  18. Avatar of Freya

    Hi Agness, great article. Travel is indeed not always glamorous and not always fun but there are for sure more good than bad experiences. I’m not a budget traveler and also go home on a regular basis between trips so most of the time I do not face the issues described (luckily). Many of the items described in your article are exactly the reason why I would never want to be a full time traveller.

    1. Avatar of Agness Walewinder
      Agness Walewinder

      Thanks Freya. I agree, it’s not always fun, but I always cherish every single minute of being on the road!

  19. Avatar of Charlie

    Oh my gosh, Agness, those are thw worst travel sickness experiences I have ever heard! That must’ve been so awful for you, and for your family. I’ve actually never been sick when travelling, which is craazy lucky, I always think everyday how lucky I am to have not been sick but how it’s gonna happen eventually haha. Fingers crossed though!

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