If you spend any time reading all these fancy travel blogs you’d be forgiven for thinking that travelling is one big holiday. Seeing new places, meeting new people, sampling the food and drink of the world and watching the most glorious sunsets day after day on a string of exotic beaches: surely it can’t get any better than life on the road?
This is of course a huge myth, peddled endlessly by those whose business it is to make money from selling the travel dream. Travel writers, travel bloggers, whatever they call themselves, all stand to lose their raison d’être if the truth ever comes out: most people who are travelling are just counting the days till the day of their return flight and their escape from travel hell.
Here are the most common reasons that people long for the comforts of their homes while stuck on a sand-infested beach in some faraway tropical island:
1. Luggage. It’s no accident that we have wardrobes and drawers at home and we don’t store all our clothes in a backpack or a suitcase. And who in their right mind enjoys carrying their bags from place to place? It is a sweet moment when the bags are fully unpacked and the backpack is finally stored away in the closet.
2. Beds. We wouldn’t buy a bed for our own home that has had thousands of previous occupants yet we have to tolerate it on our travels. However posh the hotel the thought of the diversity of organic materials embedded in a mattress is enough to keep you awake at night with worry.
3. Showers. I’ve written about this in a recent post; why do we subject ourselves to Shower Roulette every time we need a wash. Will there be hot water? Will there be water? Will it run out just at the point you’re covered in soap? It’s nobody’s idea of fun, I can tell you.
4. Language. Oh to be home where everyone speaks the same language (unless you live in Belgium or Switzerland I suppose). All these foreign people speaking quickly at you expecting you to understand them. And yes, they probably are making fun of you.
5. Time zones. Whoever invented time zones should be named and shamed. To spend three days just getting your body clock in order after a trans-Atlantic flight is painful, while the confusion of crossing the Date Line is truly impossible to deal with. I’ve done it once and gained a day. I’d hate to have gone the other way and lost a whole day of my life. Imagine if that day was your birthday?
6. Familiarity. At home I know where everything is: the bank, the supermarket, the cafes; in a strange town you will inevitably waste so much time just trying to look for these basic amenities. It’s hardly the glamorous lifestyle you’re led to expect is it?
7. Get ill or get fat: it’s your choice. You won’t live a healthy lifestyle and you’re bound to put on weight. See those thin people who return from their travels having put on no pounds? Ask them where they got sick; a bout of food poisoning is the only way to avoid weight gain on the road.
8. Paying for everything. You pay for laundry, you pay for internet; you pay for every cup of tea or coffee you’ll drink and even drinking water costs money in most places. Back home you’ll learn to appreciate the fact that you’re not constantly dipping into your pocket.
9. Chocolate. This might seem a trivial issue, but try spending several weeks without decent chocolate or your favourite snacks. Finding a passable local alternative is like finding Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. You’ll soon be craving the sweet taste of home.
10. Clothes. Maybe not top of my list as I can almost fit my wardrobe into my backpack but for those who have a more diverse clothing collection surely the restriction of only wearing what you can carry is a painful one to bear?
Great post! I completely don’t even think about these things anymore, I guess it’s kind of become a given now to expect a cold shower/a lumpy bed and as for living out of a suitcase: second nature
Still, I’m not reading to go home just yet!
In your case, chocolate. In my case? IT WAS BACON! Real good, real greasy, ol’ school PORK BACON! lol =P lived in the Middle East so man going without real bacon for a year was rough. I remember eating bacon cheeseburgers for like a week upon my return to America hahaha
“Whoever invented time zones should be named and shamed.” W0rd.
Agree… There’s nothing like home sweet home.
I wholeheartedly agree with the “get ill or get fat.” Even for someone who exercises regularly at home and prides themselves on eating healthy, it is SO hard to do on the road, or even when living in a different country for a period of time.
I would also have to add 11. Anonymity. After spending an extended amount of time in a culture or location where you stick out like a sore thumb, it’s nice to go back home and blend in. You get an appreciation for what celebrities must feel … not even being able to stop in at the grocery store for a snack without attracting unwanted attention!
yeah, good points.
But we are all coping with all the difficulties and differences because we just love to move around so much. Put 20kg backpack on my back is way better life than sitting in a airconditioned office.
I had no idea you changed your blog design. It’s so neat. I like it!
No.2 is something it try not to think about so THANK YOU Andy for giving me the heebee jeebies!!
hahaha
Well if they didn’t change the time zones, we would still wake up in the dark.. then what? – midnight skinny dipping? LOL
Great post.. made me squeam and giggle:P
I appreciate all of these & definitely can’t wait to have a bit of normality in my life again.
But, I have to disagree with #7… I have lost about 15 pounds & maintained it throughout the trip & haven’t really had an serious bouts of food poisoning. I think it is because I am more active on the road & not sitting in an office all day. If I didn’t sample so much beer on the road, I think I would have lost even more.
We just committed to spending three months in Berlin – the longest we’ll be in one place in the last four and a half years of travel. Trust me, it’s *really* nice to sleep in a good bed with soft sheets and have a strong, hot shower every AM. I still get a kick out of making my own coffee each morning as well
I couldn’t agree more with many of these list items, especially “get ill or get fat.” You’re not kidding. It’s so hard to stay in shape while traveling!
After travelling with kids for a couple of months its true – carrying around cloths for 3 kids, pulling them out each day….takes its tole. But once home you want to go again and the kids are often more engaged on the road than at home.
Thank you to all for the great comments. Kari i agree fully with your suggestion of #11 – sticking out from the crowd (esp. in countries where that equates to be a walking dollar machine) can get very tiring. Anonymity does feel good after a while.
Don’t forget about the pillows on that bed. I long to sleep with 4 giant down-filled pillows like I used to have on my giant king-size bed at home.
And free refills on soda and coffee!
Totally agree about the luggage one! Packing and unpacking every week or every few days gets really tedious after about a few months! Good post.
Hey, I lose weight travelling! Carrying around a backpack and walking TONS – it’s a super workout for me.
You are right Andy, it’s always good to come home after traveling! But regarding point no. 9. … for me it’s always the other way around
: First thing I do upon arrival on my destination is to try the local chocolate sweets and usually (at least when traveling through France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and UK), they are so good that I start missing them as soon as I’m home! hahahahaha. And that’s a stupid thing about coming home after traveling: To start missing the things you preferred in other countries 
I have to agree with Maria. Working in Islamic countries means that i often think of a beer or a bacon sandwich but what i really miss is cooking. Sure it is great to eat out all the time and i sure don’t miss washing up but being away from home means that i can’t get the pots, pans, herbs and spices out and rustle up something that bubbles away on the stove or sits in the oven for a few hours maing the flat smell delicious and then takes a week to eat as leftovers.
That is what i miss when i travel and i love when i get back. Cooking.
For me the most important reason for why it is always good to come back home is – Family. Unless you take the whole family with you when you travel, and of course many travellers do, travelling solo like I do, or with another companion can be great, but there’s nothing like returning to the family fold at the end of a long trip.
I’ve met some wonderful people on my journey’s, and stayed in some amazing places (as well as some terrible ones), but there is nothing like the comfort of returning home again.
The weight gain is one that I hate, and a reason why I could never do long term travel. I need to have good food and a gym close by, things I can’t guarantee on the road. And the time I stayed in a hostel with bedbugs definitely made me want to be home real bad that night.
Great post! I could not agree more with numbers 6 and 8. After the initial thrill of everything being new and exciting, it can be a real pain moving from city to city and not having any idea where an ATM or even a decent grocery store is. Sometimes I just want things to go smoothly and not have to run around so much for the simple stuff.
I just rediscovered your blog and am bookmarking it! I’m enjoying your writing.
Haha, so much excellent suggestions – another list is surely due soon
So many struggling with weight gain – surprised at that one. And James, good call about cooking – I have the same thought when I’m coming towards the end of a trip. I never find anyone who makes pasta quite like I do (not saying it’s the best but it’s just right for me) and I do look forward to cooking my own dinner – at least for the first few days of being home..
Andy
From your list it’s definitely my bed that I miss most. Whether I’m in a hotel on holiday or in a beach shack travelling..I do miss the comfort of my own bed.
I definitely don’t get fat as I’m much more active when I’m travelling. My last trip was to India. I’m very lucky as I have an iron stomach. All that trekking, vegtable food and general well-being ensured I came back slimmer than I have been since I was in my teens!
I definitely go local style and don’t hanker for anything back home. I do, however, miss a good cup of tea. That said this was not the case in India.
Agreed on several points but how do you gain weight when traveling!? Most people lose weight walking everywhere while carrying everything you own. Maybe that’s just the back packers…
Ha! Maybe I just eat too much – I carry my backpack everywhere I go and walk more than most (10+ miles in an average day). Or maybe I’m just at an age where my metabolism is a lot slower than it once was