The Crappy Side Of Travel
I am hot, miserable and constipated. I sleep poorly, most recently in a urban shelving unit with a glass brick view of the hall. I end up lost for minutes if not hours on end, going in circles and getting contradictory directions, missing sunsets and appointments. I book trains late and have to take the bus. I miss the bus.
None of this would feature in any travel diary, but they are a big part of travel. They say that the point is the journey, but they don’t mention that the journey is often delayed, uncomfortable, boring, or even disastrous. That the destination is often short and disappointing and that ones thoughts are often on your stomach or yourself.
I’ve seen couples strolling through beautiful palaces being completely oblivious, so caught up are they in a fight. Right now I’m in Sai Baba’s village, a man believed to be a living avatar of God, and I’m entirely preoccupied with my nails. They haven’t been cut in a while, and I have no means to do so.
Despite the beauty of some destinations, I spend a lot of time on roads or rails, caught up in smog and congestion. In this small temple town the people are dressed in white, silent and respectful, but the vehicles are always riding the horn. You leave the huge hall a bit blissed out on all the Krishna chanting and tables only to be redisoriented with the constant honks and toots.
Then, wherever you are, one ends up condensed into a room, a cheap room usually, which forms the main physical experience of the place you’re in. As in, sleeping, washing, going to the bathroom. And that experience is often bad.
This is much of the modern journey. Walking is one thing, but these modern conveniences are deeply unromantic and at best mundane. At worst they are profane, belching smog and noise, wet feet, bad smells, toxic food. Ah modernity. For a livable mean you’ve made the world so cruel.
Today on the 
Janith has updated 
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like 
Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from 
Reminds me of a trip to South American Continent. I was on a bus to a set destination in Peru. Suddenly the bus stopped and people started getting out. When I queried, the driver said this is as far as he is going. When I asked about my destination, he replied “It is only about 20KM, you can walk it”. Yes I did, on a muddy road in rain.
But then I met so many nice people on that 20KM stretch.
Eat some bananas, you can’t go wrong with them!
The voyage of discovery continues…I’m sure that you will find (in the end) that many of the hassles you experience are what make your travels memorable when you look back on them. Have a good one, man.
Cheers!
Have to agree with Java.
It is not the comfortable journeys you remember. Harder it is, sweeter it will be when you look back in a few years.
A vacation is like love – anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort, and remembered with nostalgia. ~Author Unknown