Most Annoying Travel Habits

[Penthesilea]

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'."



 

OMG, just the thought of it....
 

[Penthesilea]

Oh, I do remember an unpleasant travel story.
We were on an eight hour long car drive to Austria with our kids (only two kids at that time).

Anyway, during one of our breaks we went into a rest stop to have something to eat. Hey great, how children-friendly they were, they had a specific area for kids and their parents, with a small play-corner, small tables and seats and so on.
It didn't take long and my girls got up from the table and into the play corner. They didn't misbehave, they didn't scream or run around, they just played.
Two elderly women sitting directly in the children's area took offense on that and we had a pretty heated run-in.
The whole place was almost empty, they could have sat anywhere, but no, they choose to take a table in the playing corner - and then complain in a really rude manner about playing kids.

[serious crayons]

Here was my Worst Vacation Ever. Not particularly gross, although there was some vomit involved.

My husband and I went to Charleston, S.C. First he got sick with stomach flu for a couple of days. When he recovered, I got sick with the same flu.

Meanwhile, it snowed in Charleston for the first time in 10 years, and since we were visiting there from Duluth, this turn of weather was not welcome.

After a couple of days, I recovered from the flu, and we ventured out to dinner. That night, I was sick again -- either a relapse or food poisoning.

Finally, on our last night in Charleston, we still weren't feeling great, so we decided to just settle into our cozy motel room for a quiet night of watching cable TV, which was a treat because we didn't have it ourselves at the time. About 10:30 p.m., we started to hear some noise. I looked out of the door and saw a lot of young people standing around outside drinking (it was one of those places where the rooms open onto the parking lot).

Turns out the whole rest of the motel had been rented out to a fraternity for a giant party. It was like one of those scenes in a movie, when the stars gradually realize that all the other people in the mall are actually aliens.

We checked out of the motel and into a much nicer one -- at midnight. So we stayed up late and had a couple of hours to enjoy our room before leaving the next day.

[delalluvia]

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.

I don't have a problem with infants or toddlers on a plane.  They can't help things.  I do have a problem with children old enough to be in school who can't behave with decorum.  Sure, get antsy, take a walk, stare at me over the seat - knock yourself out, kid.  But whining, screaming and tantrums at that age? 

As for teenagers, sure, enjoy your first flight, but c'mon kids, seeing as it's a red-eye, Cellar the flight attendant should've come to ask them to be quiet in consideration of their fellow passengers.  I was asked to turn off my reading light once.  Me, sleep on a plane?!?! 

[CellarDweller]

As for teenagers, sure, enjoy your first flight, but c'mon kids, seeing as it's a red-eye, Cellar the flight attendant should've come to ask them to be quiet in consideration of their fellow passengers.  I was asked to turn off my reading light once.  Me, sleep on a plane?!?! 

well, I guess they gave tooo much leeway since they were on their first flight.   

[delalluvia]

well, I guess they gave tooo much leeway since they were on their first flight.   

I definitely agree.  Normally they give you a tour of the cockpit on your first flight if it's special, not let you rock the plane the entire way there. 

[Kelda]

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 .

After our Brussels Brokie meet I had the same thing Chrissi - I spent a fairly fun 8-12 hrs with this guy who had been waiting in the queue behind me on the Sunday night and then I met again on the Monday morning. We ended up on the same flights home so it was quite fun, we pooled out food tockens together and bught the most enourmous amount of shit in the cafe. And then we tried to sneak into the business lounge wth no luck! 

[Kelda]

So my nomination for most annoying airline habit is the same as before the baggage restrictions: folks who make everyone behind them wait while they try and jam their "carry-on" the size of a rhiniceros into the overhead bin,
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[HerrKaiser]

with over 10 million miles of flying, the seat back kicking is the worst...and it's definitely not just kids. Adults are more often the culprits. A woman behind me, once, was almost at war with the back of my seat. When I turned and asked her politely to kindly refrain from too much pushing and knocking my seat, she sneared "It goes with the territory".

A huge annoyance that was not on the list are the girls with long hair or ponytails who are sitting in front of you and continuously flip their hair over the back of their seat into your face. The action is repeated nearly every 3-4 minutes like a nervous habit. If scissors were only allowed on board! 

[Front-Ranger]

...girls with long hair or ponytails who are sitting in front of you and continuously flip their hair over the back of their seat into your face. The action is repeated nearly every 3-4 minutes like a nervous habit. If scissors were only allowed on board! 

Somehow, this seemed more gross than even the farting, throw-up and excrement posts to me, and when I read your post, I suddenly started sneezing!!