Yesterday was a difficult day. The type of day that makes me wonder why I keep travelling and if I shouldn’t just throw in the white flag, pack my bags, and head for the nearest airport.
For starters, we had booked and paid a good price for tickets on an overnight VIP bus, or so we thought. VIP turned out to look more like the local bus. The nine hour journey through bumpy Burmese roads was torture. Between the bad Burmese comedy blasting until midnight, the woman across the aisle who obviously suffered the worst form of motion sickness, and the reclined seat jamming into my knees for nine whole hours, I barely slept. That’s bad, but a combination of being down on our luck and my sleep deprivation ensured the morning would be no better.
At 4AM, we were dropped in a small town unfrequented by tourists. The bus door was immediately swarmed by tuk-tuk drivers and locals trying to get our attention. I did not deal with this well. Instead of politely telling the five men following us around to move on, I snapped. I started yelling at them to leave me alone. When they laughed, I screamed louder. It wasn’t my finest moment.
So, we walked the two kilometers to the area with guest houses. Perhaps as retribution for my unladylike behavior toward the touts or perhaps because of my lack of sleep, half way through our walk I fell over. I don’t mean that I kind of toppled to the side a bit. I mean I fell flat on my face in the middle of a dusty, dirty Burmese road. I have no idea how it happened, but the screaming pain in my knee made it evident that yes, it had happened.
Too proud to call a tuk-tuk evenat this point, I hobbled the remaining distance to the hotel, only allowing myself to look at my swollen and bloody knee once I was seated comfortably inside. That plan didn’t go well either. Once we had found our hotel, the receptionist refused to honor our “confirmed and paid for” online booking. They were all out of the room type for the night. Apparently the idea that there are more online booking websites than agoda.com baffled them. Two arguments and two and a half hours later, the manager finally decided that she would let us stay in a room of the type we booked which was now mysteriously available. Tired, smelly, and in pain, I gratefully retreated to bed for the next several hours.
Travelling isn’t always peaches and cream. It requires long and often boring journeys. It also increases the risk of being ripped off or injured. After a negative incident like mine yesterday, it’s easy to feel a lack of motivation to continue.
Here are my five tips for regaining some momentum:
1. Say no to pressure.
Maybe you are supposed to make it another three hours down the road or you are $10 over your budget for the day. Just stop thinking about it. Forcing yourself under the pressure of plans that may or may not be realistic won’t help. Make a new plan for the day and get back on track tomorrow.
2. Escape
Now might be the time to check yourself into a nicer hotel, go to the cinema, or buy tickets to the local pool. Whatever little bit of luxury you can think of to help you relax. This will alleviate some of the burn out you are feeling and help you to avoid the constant culture shock you may feel.
3. Remember all the things you have done
Stop and take a moment to reflect on the things you have seen and experience so far on your trip. If you keep a journal, read back through it. If not, look back through the photos you have taken. The realization that not everything has gone terribly wrong and in fact, you have rather enjoyed yourself will help get you through.
4. Keep a bucket list of things you still want to accomplish
If you are on an extended trip, this list may be long. If you are on a short one, this list may only have one entry. But pick something to look forward to. Write it down. Are you still able to accomplish it? (Don’t pressure yourself if you aren’t. Just pick something else.) Focus on the desire to cross off this entry in your bucket list. The bumps in the road will seem like funny stories once you meet your goal.
5. Don’t blame yourself
Don’t pretend that what happened is your fault. It’s not. Personalization of negative events will only lead to beating yourself up when most likely you had no control over the event. The best thing to do in this situation is believe that some other force of nature simply handed you some bad luck. Now it is your turn to make it better.
Have you had a bad, awful, no-good terrible travel day like mine? How did you deal with it? I’d love to hear your stories and tips in the comment section below.
Hi Sarah,
You were in my dream a few days ago. WE were on some travel adventure together. During our hike we had to cross a canyon and as you crossed they drained the water out… now it was a huge gorge and I wasn’t sure I could make it especially with the bicycle. Anyhow, there’s more and it was a little wacky but I enjoyed waking to thinking of you.
The story above reminds me of my wild taxi ride in Naples, Italy. I did things my own way, ha, imagine that and ended up in a crazy yelling match with the huge man out in the street because he wanted to charge me 5 times the amount I had paid the weeks prior. Anyhow, I “won”. He laughed because he couldn’t believe I wasn’t afraid of him. He then had me get back in the cab and took me the extra distance right to the Ferry door.
I’m thinking I’ll make another adventure this June. It’s been a while.
Be well and use those Tips 😉
Love,
Aunt Kathryn
What a crazy dream and a crazier taxi story! Taxi drivers are a special breed and arguing with them has become a bit of a past time for me. Where are you thinking of heading in June? It was great to see you in NOLA!
Love,
Sarah
Merry Day after Christmas!!
You were missed.
I have no idea where I’ll go but I’m thinking its time again. It will probably include surf and yoga this time 🙂
Be well,
Love AK
Sarah, someday you will look back at these experiences, bad as well as good, and you will be able to laugh at such unfortunate events. Sorry to hear you had a few unpleasantries on your trip. Hope it is better now.
I can remember just trying to get home from Colorado once with my roommate and we had two flat tires, stopped for speeding and a snow storm where we were stuck overnight in Nebraska!! At the time we thought we would never reach our destination but somehow we managed and all was well.
Keep your end goal in site.
Wow, what an unfortunate road trip you had! I am glad that you made it and it is a rather funny story now. Things are looking up for us. We are spending a few days recuperating from Burma in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. Miss you!
Hi Sarah,
In my opinion, these are the stories that remain. Everyone traveling over a longer period of time experience has very bad experiences, looses control out of tiredness or whatever reason. It is not glorious, it is human… That is just the way it is, and as you wrote: traveling is not (only) a walk on the beach.
I agree with 4 points you mention, but #4 surprises me: traveling is partly improvising. The unexpected will turn into your best moments, don’t you think? Bucket List is great, if you are 50+ 😉
Such stories? How about being dropped 5 km from your destination by a shared cab and going in deep-knee mud? Knowing that no other car would come as the road was blocked… (that was in Panama).
Or buying a ticket from 4.000 Islands in Laos to Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and having the driver dropping you after the border saying: only 2 passengers, I don’t drive to Phnom Penh, I don’t care if you have a ticket…
Both cases, I was not very quiet…
Cheers & enjoy Myanmar!!! Will be there in 2 months
Gilles
Hi Gilles! So great to hear from you! Myanmar was awesome and I hope that you enjoy your trip there. Sounds like you have had your fare share of bad travel days. I’m always afraid that a bus driver will decide he doesn’t want to take me any further and drops me in the middle of nowhere! But you are right, these infuriating incidents turn into the best stories. You are also right that traveling is improvising. I only meant by #4 that having something to look forward to can alleviate some of the stress of a bad day. I’m not entirely sure, but I would probably bet that when the bus driver dropped you at the border of Cambodia, seeing some attraction in Phnom Penh or perhaps the Angkor Wat was a motivation that helped you want to solve the problem. Anyways, those are just my musings, maybe I’m completely off. Do you have any set plans for Myanmar? How long will you be there? I will be posting some things about Myanmar in the coming days. I’d love to hear your thoughts on them.
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your answer.
Myanmar: I have partly set plans, partly it will be complete improvisation: I will be there 4 weeks, and the last 2 weeks a friend will join. Since she is on a “short vacation”, I will cover the “touristy part” with her (Mandalay, Bagan, Inle, Yangon), and there we have made room reservations. The rest, we will improvise once there. The first two weeks will be travel as it comes… And there, I really want to go Off The Beaten Track.
I will check what you write about Myanmar, I am definitely interested in first hand information.
(Bad) Travel experiences: yes, I had my share, as many travelers had. Nothing bad, that is the good point, at times really bad things happen. But infuriating and frustrating. Definitely. The 2 examples where a selection of a larger number. But I consider those as “Stories to tell”. Afterwards you laugh about the situation and about loosing your temper.
And for Bucket Lists: I got your point. What kept me going in Cambodia after the driver dropped us? Really want to know: anger & frustration. I don’t like people or things to meddle in my plans, and it increases my motivation! I am no bucket list fan except if you are somewhat older (I am currently taking my father on a Bucket List Trip, but he is 76). My experience is that the list of countries I want to discover changes very quickly, so I prefer to follow opportunities and passions. And if I don’t see one of those “7 wonders of the world”… Hell, ok! I will survive 🙂
Keep in touch & keep traveling! It was just a tiny small bad experience. Hope your knees are better!
Happy New Year (few days in advance), Happy Travel, and all the best from the Mekong Delta, South Vietnam.
Cheers
Gilles