My Not So Glamorous Traveling Experiences

Traveling isn’t always what you see on Instagram.

From being searched like a criminal at an airport to getting injured and going to a foreign hospital, I had my fair share of not-so-glamorous experiences when I spent a little over a year living in and traveling around South East Asia.

When you read about traveling and follow the travel Instagrams, it appears the be so glamorous — full of sunshine, rainbows, and stunning beaches.

While traveling can offer quite incredible experiences, it’s safe to say that there are some ugly sides to traveling. I’ve got a few of my own not-so-glamorous traveling experiences from my seven-country adventure on the other side of the world.

Solo With a Broken Foot

Just three months after arriving in Vietnam from the U.S. having never left the country before, I had an accident and broke my foot in two places. It was absolutely terrible. I sat in the dirt crying and shaking and all alone. I called my boyfriend at the time who was oceans away like there was something more than listen to my sobs that he could do. Finally, an amazing Vietnamese lady who spoke English came to help. She got a taxi for me and rode with me to the hospital. She stayed with me the whole time until a friend arrived to help me figure out the next steps.

It’s quite miserable laying in bed for 2 months in a foreign country that is not made for non-walkers (zooming motorbikes everywhere, uneven roads, and stairs to just about every place you want to go). No glamourous photos were taken for quite some time there.

Creepy Dates

Eventually, my foot healed, that boy and I broke up, and adventures resumed. So, I decided to date. Dating can be creepy at home, sure, but it’s even weirder to go on creepy dates in unfamiliar places. Back home, I once had a terrible date, left him at dinner alone, and met my friends out at the bar. In Thailand, I once had a date tell me about the time he killed someone and I had to figure out how to run away from him in a place I had only been at for 1 day where I knew no one.

Then, there was the orange necklace man that I met in Bali. Creep is an understatement. In fact, dates in Bali are not nearly as glamourous as one would think the perfect sunset beach spot would be.

A Bad Time in Malaysia

Oh, that time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I really didn’t like that place. I have to say I found so much goodness in the six other countries I went to and while I was happy to meet up with travel friends in KL, I was not upset when my time was up.

KL was filled with lots of dodging photos being taken of me on the streets even though I tried to be respectful and cover up more than I usually would in such a hot climate. I got tired real fast of men in charge (at restaurants, coffee shops, and my hotel) telling me what to do. I don’t like being told what I must eat or that I must have milk in my drink when I don’t drink milk.

I still regret not having spent more time in this country. I wanted to find more good, everywhere has it, and I have heard that Malaysia does. I just chose a piece of it that I didn’t vibe with.

Airport Disaster

I must say that for a girl who’d never left the United States before the age of 28, I did a damn good job of packing up and heading over to Asia solo. I almost always arrived and departed from airports smoothly. I pretended like I knew what was going on from day one. Fake it til ya make it type thing. This always worked.

Until my time living in and traveling around Asia was over. I guess I am grateful that it wasn’t until my twenty-fifth flight of the adventure that disaster happened.

I landed at the airport in the Philippines, the first layover of my long journey home to the states. It was about a 2-hour layover, so it should’ve been ample time to run to the restroom, maybe grab a snack, and be on my way to my longest flight of the trip (13-hour flight). Well, Manila had other plans for me.

When I got off the plane, those transferring had to sit in a room before being driven over to the other side of the airport for boarding. We sat here for almost an hour while I did everything in my power not to pee in my pants since I was told going to the restroom wasn’t an option. Finally, the four of us transferring got driven over. Once we arrived and I proceeded to check-in, I was told I needed to wait at the counter. No one could tell me why. Yes, they spoke English. Since I was always the outsider visiting a new country, I always tried to be patient and kind like a respectable guest should do. This tune changed when I watched my luggage being shredded apart in front of me and searched, then asked if I was on drugs. No, I’m just upset because I think I’ve peed in my pants a little since I’ve been holding it for over an hour and my 13-hour flight is in less than half an hour and we can all see that you aren’t and won’t find anything but yet you are all sitting here giggling amongst each other and throwing my belongings all over the floor.

When I was finally on my way, I raced to the restroom and grabbed a snack. At this point, I was so hangry that I didn’t even care if I missed my flight. When I made it to the gate, I went through my third security check. I got stopped again. I was taken behind a curtain and they searched my carry on. The girl told me I seemed upset and nervous. She spoke excellent English so I assured her that I was not nervous one bit, but that I just overheard them at security say my seat number, and that I was there so I knew they were communicating about me to someone not around via their walkie talkie devices and that seemed strange. I also explained to her the chaos that just occurred and I didn’t appreciate being treated the way that I was being treated when every person working for this airline could see that I wasn’t doing, nor had anything, wrong. When I explained this to her, she looked as if a light just went off. She apologized profusely for my experience and even asked me if I’d like her to go get me a snack or a drink.

I got on that plane, finally, and slept like a baby for the next twelve hours.

That’s Not All

Thirteen and a half months is a long time to be in a foreign place solo, leaving a lot of time for unfortunate events. Those few incidents weren’t the only bad times.

There was the time that I decided to be pescetarian because I ate a ball of meat that I couldn’t explain the taste and texture if you paid me while the 2 young boys who served me stared from a distance.

Then, there was the time that I heard a knock at my Airbnb door and when I went to open it a man was standing in arms reach from me taking a pee.

Both of those incidents happened in my first couple of days of my journey. I guess they were my welcome gifts.

Also, unglamorous was spending my first Christmas holiday ever away from my family waiting all day to hear from my boyfriend who was thousands and thousands of miles away. He was mad at me. Needless to say, breaking up with someone who you never knew you’d never see again is an interesting experience. And, doing so while in bed with nothing but a broken foot and your thoughts adds a little more spice.

It Was Almost Worth It

I’d be a liar by omission if I only shared the glamourous aspects of traveling. What is true, though, is that all the phenomenal experiences made most of the not-so-good ones worth it.

As cliche as it is, travel taught me so much and provided me with some of the best memories I’ve encountered thus far. Quitting the 9–5 grind so that I could travel has also changed the way I live life for the better.

For the good that traveling brought to my life, I am ever so grateful. Even though traveling can be a pain, life can also be a pain when you’re in the dead center of your comfort zone.