Most Annoying Travel Habits

[delalluvia]

I voted other.

Smells are what bother me most on trips.

Yes, the muffuletta story sounded very enjoyable and delicious to me.  I wouldn't mind the smell of it when trapped on a transport like a plane.  However, it's likely not everyone enjoyed the odor.

The neighbors I used to have cooked a meal every Sunday that contained, I don't know what kind of hellish spice.  It was rank and stank like spiced sanitation worker summer armpit.  The stench would permeate through the other 3 apartments in our section and last about 2 days.  By the time it started to fade, another weekend would be here and the meal would be prepared again.

I can't imagine someone bringing whatever dish that was on board a plane and eating it, expecting others to put up with it.

My first flight to London, I was very grateful.  I managed to get to my seat just to find a man already sitting in it.  He looked Middle Eastern or Indian.  I politely advised him of this fact and he apologized and moved past me to get to his seat in the correct row - the one behind me.  As he moved past me, his scent hit me full force.  He hadn't bathed in days.  He smelled really bad and strongly.   As I made my way to my seat and the man moved to his seat, I caught a glimpse of the horrified expression of the woman who was now forced to sit next to him for the next 8 hours.

While in England, I took a crowded train to Brighton.  While traveling, I realized, that sitting next to the window, facing the back of the train was making me a little motion sick.  So long as I was able to breathe slowly and calmly, I was able to control my nausea.  Then a nice looking young man from some Slavic nation sat next to me.  He hadn't bathed in days either. 

Imagine already being nauseated by motion sickness and trying to stave off vomiting by breathing deeply of dirty armpit air.

I ended up sticking my nose in window vent, breathing very shallowly with my head turned away and my eyes closed.

It was a long trip to the coast. 

[ifyoucantfixit]

          I think I would have gone to the steward, and told them to make that person go and clean up, or at least asked to be changed to a
different seat.  One should never have to undergo that............uuuuuuuuuuuuuuk

[serious crayons]

I have always wondered if people traveling with children notice that people try to not sit close to them etc?

I always try to be descrete with my childrenphobia when traveling, but I somtimes wonder if they notice anyways

They may notice, but if so I bet they often understand. Many people with children don't like sitting close to other people's children. Heck, some people with children wish they didn't have to sit close to their OWN children!

Children can be obnoxious on a plane (or in a restaurant or movie theater) -- that's all there is to it. People who have kids and travel mostly realize this, but can't help it. If you can't fix it, you just gotta stand it.

[Ellemeno]

Children can be obnoxious on a plane (or in a restaurant or movie theater) -- that's all there is to it. People who have kids and travel mostly realize this, but can't help it. If you can't fix it, you just gotta stand it.

Before I had a child, I didn't understand why parents didn't control their kids better.  Now I know there is only so much control one can have in the moment short of removing the kid from the situation, especially if the kid is stressed out, like during travel. 

In a restaurant, I have always taken my child right out when she's acted up, and wouldn't stop within a few seconds.  But in an airplane, what can you do?  We're all stuck.  Luckily, she's reached the age of a little reason.  But dang those earliest years were a challenge.  Everybody hates being cooped up, but for a little kid, it can feel intolerable.  And unlike delalluvia, who showed great coping skills by turning to the window, breathing fresh air, with eyes closed, a little kid doesn't know how to endure stuff.  And if a baby is crying on a plane, it's probably because its tiny little eustachian tubes hurt unbearably, and doesn't have the capacity to understand that crying makes it all the worse.  That is one of the things I taught Mini-Meno as early as she could understand - crying on airplane makes your ears hurt worse.  She understood that by the time she was two and a half or so.

[serious crayons]

Before I had a child, I didn't understand why parents didn't control their kids better.  Now I know there is only so much control one can have in the moment short of removing the kid from the situation, especially if the kid is stressed out, like during travel. 

Exactly. I'd see kids misbehaving and assume they had terrible parents. I've sure got my comeuppance for that attitude.

Now I understand that the only thing parents do in those situations that is terrible is, sometimes, take the kids into a place they aren't old enough to be in -- a movie, a nice restaurant -- and then not remove the kids when it's clear they shouldn't be there. Otherwise, the children's childlike behavior is a developmental issue, not a disciplinary one.

And if a baby is crying on a plane, it's probably because its tiny little eustachian tubes hurt unbearably, and doesn't have the capacity to understand that crying makes it all the worse.  That is one of the things I taught Mini-Meno as early as she could understand - crying on airplane makes your ears hurt worse.  She understood that by the time she was two and a half or so.

As I recall, the biggest problem with my kids wasn't crying, it was that they couldn't stand to be confined to a seat for that long. Once they could walk, it was almost impossible for them to sit still for more than a few minutes. I'd bring toys, music, snacks, books ... every distraction I could think of, and then hope they'd fall asleep for a good part of the time. But at some point they'd just have to get up and take a stroll in the aisle.

[Front-Ranger]

While travelling with children can be stressful, I've found a few things that help, and I would also recommend travelling with your children as often as you can. It helps them be more self confident and better global citizens when they are older.

One tip is to fly first class. When my daughter was about 2, we obtained her first frequent flyer card, and the airline promoted us to first class as a thank you. As all the passengers filed onto the plane, she said, "I'm sitting here and you're not!" (which was cute but also a little mean; most people laughed or smiled). Flying first class is also great when you have a babe in arms, particularly since I've found the best way to quiet a crying baby is breast feeding it. The other first class passengers are not particularly happy with me being there with a child, but tough!!

Airlines vary in the way they accommodate children. The best experience I ever had was when I flew to Zurich when my daughter was about 10 months old on Swiss Air. For take off, there was a special seat belt that hooked onto my seat belt so I could hold her in my lap but still have her be safe. Then, while my husband and I enjoyed a four course dinner and a movie, my daughter was stowed in a swinging hammock above my head, complete with a down comforter. The hammock also held extra diapers, toys, and mementoes of the trip. Now that was heaven!!

[serious crayons]

One tip is to fly first class.

Ha. These days I can barely afford coach ...

But once we did fly first class, because we got to the airport late and those were the only seats left. (I've told this story before -- I hope not on this very thread [insert blushing smiley]!) Anyway, at one point my 2-year-old son threw up all over the floor. All I could think of were those poor first-class passengers who may have paid full price for their seats and still had to endure this.

[CellarDweller]

I'm sitting here crying with laughter!

the stories about the farts and such remind me of a conversation I had with a Brokie named gnash, who told me about a "red eye" flight he took.

Everyone was asleep (except for him) and people all around him were farting.  One of the flight attendents happened to pass by and see his expression, and they struck up a conversation on this subject.  The attendent said that it seems to happen every "red eye" flight, and sometimes it can get really bad.

he then thought that he should invent something that would be inserted up the butt, a tube shaped whistle.








not only would this change the sound of the fart to a pleasant tune, it would change the scent to something pleasant.  Together, we decided the name should be "anal aromas", and pictured a conversation like this:

Man 1:  "Excuse me, is that "Ode to Joy" coming out of your pants?"

Man 2:  "Yes, it's my 'Anal Aroma'."

Man 1:  "Oh, of course.  I see you have cinimon apple scented in today."

Man 2:  "Yes I do!"

Man 1:  "Ah, I'm wearing 'New Car Interior'."



 

[CellarDweller]

My own personal worst travel experience....


In June I went to Oxford, UK.  It was my first time overseas.  I picked a night flight, thinking I could catch a nap on the plane, and it would help with the jet lag.

I was very excited, and was reading a book when we took off.  When we were in the air, it was then that I realized I was surrounded by teenagers.

Turns out they were all in a program called "People to People".....and this was their first international flight.  They were ever so excited!

*puts hands to face and squeals in happiness*

I reminded myself that I was a teen once too, and didn't want to come off as the "grumpy old fart" so i sat in silence as they talked and laughed and squealed in excitement.....very loudly.

Night time came, and I was ready to try to drift off.  Well, that's when they all decided that it was time for flash photography.

 

Loud talking and posing and laughing ensued, and the flashing made it like trying to sleep in a disco.  After what seemed like forever, they settled down.

Just when I thought I could go to sleep, one of them raised the screeen and said....."Oh, the sun's comming up!  The sky's pink!"

More squeals of exctiment and flash pics ensued.

 

I landed, got my bags, went through customs, and crammed myself on an underground to Finsburry to meet the friends who were waiting on me.

Their first comment to me was that I looked worn out.

I recounted the above story to them, and ended it with this sentance:


"I now understand why some animals eat their young!"


 

[Penthesilea]

Oh my. I'm laughing at all the stories
Though I wouldn't want to live through most of them.

I think I don't have a single unpleasant travel story, but dozens of happy ones. Last year, on my flight home from the Brokeback BBQ in Estes Park, I was caught for a full extra day in Philadelphia. I had really bad Brokie withdrawl, I missed the Brokies so much. But at the end of the flight to Philadelphia, when it was clear that we wouldn't reach our connecting flights, the girl next to me and I got into talkin 'n all. Later a young man joined us and we three stayed together the next one and a half days. We chatted in the bar of our hotel till the wee hours of morning, then met again for breakfast the next day and just stuck together. Luckily, on our flight to Frankfurt, the seat next to him was empty so he and I spend nine more hours together (the girl flew to another destination).
You wouldn't believe how much fun one can have waiting for five hours in an airport terminal .