How to Handle Travel Annoyance

This picture was taken in Times Square, you’d think we’d be thrilled…

After a major case of writers block this past week, I decided on a post that revolves around the annoyance of traveling. Because nothing ever goes as planned and a bad mood can ruin an entire trip, I’m looking at helping travelers get past that bump before it leads to a psychotic mental breakdown at the end of the day.

You see, Murphy’s Law exists, which unluckily for us means that we are constantly getting screw over. Joy.

Whether it’s a delayed flight, wrong hotel reservation, lack of sleep or all of these combined sometimes it is important to stop and realize that there are small and easy ways to turn a day from hell back into a day of excitement. So with all my wisdom (or lack of) with being completely pissed at the world because travel sometimes sucks, let’s go over some of the ways I’ve dealt with being grumpy away from home.

• Take a nap. Even though we should act like adults, sometimes stressful travel can bring out the demon child hiding in all of us. Trust me, I first found out I had a deep psychotic border-line possessed man voice after multiple sleepless nights in New York City. I think my friends have been slightly terrified of me ever since. But a quick 15 minute nap can help turn you from the devil to Mary Poppins.

• Eat cake (or other sugary goodness) If you don’t like sweets I am slightly judging you and go ahead down to the next paragraph. Treat yourself at a local bakery and stuff your face until you are in a full-blown food coma. Sugar is like a giant attitude band-aid.

• Ask for assistance. Don’t feel bad being the one to ask the flight attendant to tell the people a couple aisles away they are being louder than they probably think. Chances are they are just wasted off airplane alcohol and will pass out as soon as they quite down. You’re not being rude, in fact, people around you will probably thank you because they were too scared to ask. Airplanes suck for being annoyed with other travelers, but know there is a difference between screaming out “PIPE DOWN YA HOOLIGAN!” and politely asking a worker to take care of the problem.

• Lay in the grass. Enjoy the view of the mountains or a city skyline. Maybe bring that piece of cake with you.

• Meet some new people. Getting to know someone can take your mind away from whatever you just went through. Share a good laugh and maybe sing your favorite song together at the top of your lungs, because why the hell not? Being weird is an awesome attitude changer!

• If it’s a person…sucker-punch them and run. (just kidding)

• Do something crazy. Go jump in the water with all of your clothes on (maybe a bad idea if your luggage was lost) or sign up for a spontaneous rock-climbing adventure. Doing something…wait, ANYTHING, that will make you step outside your comfort zone and put a smile on your face.

• DEEP BREATH.

• Cry. Sometimes all you need is a solid cry-session to get all of that pissy attitude out of your system. I’ve cried multiple times because I’ve been stranded, missed a bus or lost something important. And when I’m done with my 5-minute episode, I always think more clearly and feel more calm. Yes, even men should cry (seriously stop pretending to be so tough).

Lastly,

• Look around and realize your problem probably isn’t that big in the grand scheme of things. I thought I was having a bad night after being caught in a snowstorm on a bus, until I realized the woman in front of me was in risk of missing her sisters funeral if she didn’t make her next connection. Well that got me feeling like a shitty person real fast. You’re lucky enough to be traveling, some people have never been within 100 miles of their home.

Every traveler has been in a situation that completely sucks. If you want to travel but constantly look at everything that goes wrong instead of going right, than maybe you should try looking at the world in a different light. It’s fair to say that on the road nothing ever goes as planned. You’re there for experiences, good laughs and to make memories. Move on, there is nothing you can do about sunk costs.