With winter break coming up, many people will be traveling with their families. I, most likely, will be one of those people, as my family has a craze for visiting Florida almost every winter, for some reason that’s beyond me. It’s not that I hate Florida because of any specific reason, besides the fact that my family goes there all the time, but that’s not the point.
I have had my fair share of traveling, including at least 11 road trips to Florida and numerous other states, as well as several international trips. It’s safe to say there are a couple of things I absolutely despise when I travel – specifically when it comes to road trips.
Let’s start off with road-tripping. Firstly, regardless of where my destination may be, you will not catch me sitting in the back row(s) of the car I’m in. I have to be either driving or sitting as the wing. I’m that one person in the family who gets so carsick that they need that little doggie bag on hand, ready to go just in case. So, with that in mind, unless my family wants me to hurl all over the car, they know that I need to be somewhere in the front section of the vehicle.
The second thing that I dislike about road trips is the occasional bouts of boredom. Don’t get me wrong, my family is a hoot to be with and we always have a great time, but there are times when my grandparents want to take a nap and relax a little bit because, you know, it’s usually a long car ride. It’s during these periods of time when my uncle and I refrain from talking to each other or singing along to music because we understand that other individuals in the car with us are tired. However, that doesn’t mean I have to necessarily like it because I always have to stay awake, regardless of whether I’m driving (for obvious reasons, it’s better than not for me to be conscious) or if I’m the wing providing the driver with some company. It’s during these times that I get bored out of my mind. Besides talking in the car or listening to music, I can’t think of anything to do. If I’m driving, I can’t even read a book or watch something on my phone because I have to pay attention to the road. And when I’m not driving, I often find myself drifting off and sometimes even wondering the infamous but never-to-be-spoken phrase “Are we there yet?” even though we are most likely not there.
The third reason I dislike road trips is because there are so many annoying little things that no one thinks about. For example, the ones I take are always at least nine to ten hours long, which is a ridiculously long time to be holed up in an SUV. For these long hours, I refrain from using the bathroom, namely gas station bathrooms because they’re usually so nasty. Because I don’t get out of the car to use the bathroom or fill up gas, my body is in an enclosed space for a really, really long time and I usually cramp up because of it. Also, I’m an incredibly tiny person (I’m pushing 5’1 at most) and sometimes when I need to block the sun from nearly blinding me, I’m not tall enough for the visor to work effectively. My mom always says to just ‘wear my sunglasses then’ but I think she always forgets that my grandfather never remembers to bring his own sunglasses so I, like the amazing human being I am, lend him my sunglasses to borrow during our trip. This recurring series of events ultimately leaves me prey to the sun and its rays.
When it comes to traveling in an airplane, or what I like to call the normal people way, I have very minimal complaints besides the usual: airplanes aren’t comfortable and the food on international flights sucks. However, I would choose to take a flight rather than venture on another road trip because traveling in a plane is much less time-consuming than a road trip, and I have lots of fun pushing carry-on luggage around.
