Travellers’ complaints :)

OK. This could sound smug or weird to those who are working hard, but yes, the long term travellers also have things to whinge about. I’ve decided to start collecting those travellers’ complaints and compile them into this article. It’s not going to be about things like insects or food, those could be annoying on normal holidays as well. The longer-term travellers have different problems 😀

9. Living off your bag

Everything you need to pull out of the backpack and after a while, it does get a little annoying, to be honest. It’s either that you are super-organised about how you store your stuff or you have to pull half of your things out before you get to the pair of socks you were looking for. Furthermore, the stuff you have to wear is limited, not to mention the fact that you have to keep washing it…

8. Toilet paper disposal

It’s not just the occasional squat toilet almost everyone experienced on holidays. In SA and some places in Asia, you have to litter the toilet paper in the bin, rather than in the toilet, which doesn’t make them the cleanest toilets in the world. And you most likely get diarrhoea at some point and that’s when you feel it properly. It’s not something you’ll grow to like and sometimes you rebel a bit by throwing the paper in the toilet, which makes you a proper believer because you never know what will happen after you push that flash button…

7. Comfort

People also miss their beds – their own comfy beds. There’s nothing better than getting a bed that’s hard, too soft, wobbly or even too short for you to stretch.

6. Music density

It’s mostly shit and it’s worse if you get 10 sound systems blasting different songs at you from within 20 metres distance as that is not a rare thing in some tourist destinations in Latin America. To be honest, music is mostly shit everywhere, unless you live in Berlin, London in the 90s and before, or in other places I don’t know about yet, but usually, in the tourist spots, the places play the shittiest genres possible to attract the crowds. I never knew if this “safe audience” kinda approach really reflects what people want to hear. It’s just that the producers are scared to be adventurous because of the commercial pressure.*

5. Prices

Budgeting is always a bit of a problem unless you were born blessed to be spared of the money problems. On a short trip, one goes for comfort mostly as it’s your time to enjoy and you don’t give a shit as much. Long term traveller is however usually more cautious about items he or she won’t really need as much because it adds up to a lot over an extended period of time. Here‘s a rather philosophical text about budget travel, in case you were interested. If you’re however interested in numbers, here‘s a country-by-country budget that covers all basic expenses, such as accommodation, transport, meals as well as some tourist attractions.

4. Overcrowding

It’s the ultimate trouble with any tourist destination. More about the beaten path is either in this general piece or in this article about Machu Picchu.

3. Travel burnout

This one is kind of funny and I have suffered from it a bit myself. But how can one get burn out about a holiday with an indefinite date of termination? I honestly don’t know. I’ve never travelled for such a long time. It was always just to re-charge (or even completely change) the batteries for me in order to get back to the real-life, in which I generally need some sort of mission on the top of just work, rainy winter Monday mornings, paying rent, bills and all that.

Now when I’ve been on the road for so long, I’m not getting that “I’m ready to go back to real life” thing because I just don’t have to do so, yet. It’s funny. It gets you thinking a bit. Is this real or is this just fantasy? Some things are just more real than others, aren’t they Dave? 

In other words, it’s this: once you experience the best off kinda beauty like for example Iguazú Falls, then 99% of waterfalls become just waterfalls unless a working year passed. It’s like how food smells to you when you’re hungry vs not hungry. And it feels rather arrogant, horrible and stupid, the very stupid kind of stupid.

2. ATM charges

A classic. One of the most common issues from the list of travellers’ complaints. ATM charges are just a horrible thing. It’s a well deserved huge whinge here. It’s because of the banking institutions we all love so much. It’s because they are making the world a better place as they are transparent and donate money to good causes as well as because they cause financial stability and because they never ask for help when they screw up.

Those ATM charges vary but they could go up to €11,60 for a withdrawal of an equivalent of €100. Imagine how much does it add up to over the period of 6 months or more. More details about the ATM charges in Latin America is here, including numbers within a country-by-country list.

1. Scam

Well, scam is probably the most common whinge next to the bank charges. People can get very inventive when it comes to how to get their money. While some scam is dull, some even dangerous, sometimes it can get rather inventive and clever so I began collecting the best tricks, which you can find here, in case you were interested.

As I’ve mentioned above – if you have anything to add, please comment below and I’ll add it to the list of travellers’ complaints 🙂

Here’s few practical tips about travelling in Latin America

• Budget: in case you were interested, here‘s an article listing the country-by-country basic expenses for a traveller in Latin America
• Safety: Few safety tips on how to secure your valuables, what to watch out for and more can be found here
• Transport: Information, safety and some other practical advice regarding public transport in Latin America can be found here
• ATM withdrawal charges: Some practical info, including the list of free-of-charge ATMs in Latin America, can be found here
• Border fees: To find out how much you will have to pay to enter or exit certain countries in Latin America, please click here
• Pre-trip preparations: Few things you can do ahead of time before you’ll become frantically busy prior to your departure are listed here
• Packing list: What to take with you for an extended trip as well as some security tips could be found here
• Cheap Flights: few tips on how to score a cheap/er flight, get a better seat on a plane, where to get a nap at a particular airport and so on

Latin American locations covered on Quaint Planet

Santiago de Chile ► Valparaíso ► Santiago de Chile ►Punta Arenas – Ushuaia – Punta Arenas ► Puerto Natales – Torres del Paine – Puerto Natales ► El Calafate (Perito Moreno Glacier, Arg) ► El Chaltén (Los Glaciares National Park) ► Chile Chico (Ch) – Puerto Rio Tranquillo (Marble Caves) ► Coyhaique – Puyuhuapi – (Carretera Austral) ► Puerto Chacabuco – Quellón/Castro ► Puerto Varas – San Carlos de Bariloche (Arg) ► Buenos Aires ► Colonia (Ur) ► Montevideo ► Punta del Diablo – Cabo Polonio ► Montevideo ► Salto ► Concordia (Arg) ► Puerto Iguazú (Iguazú Falls) ► Salta ► San Salvador de Jujuy ► Tilcara ► San Pedro de Atacama (Ch) ► Uyuni Salt Flats Tour (Bol) ► Uyuni ► Sucre – La Paz (Death Road Tour) ► Copacabana (Lake Titicaca) – Isla del Sol – Copacabana ► Cusco (Per) ► Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu) ► Cusco ► Lima ► Máncora – Montañita (Ecu) ► Puerto López ► Quito ► Ipiales (Col) – Pasto ► Tatacoa Desert ► Bogotá ► Medellín ► Villa de Lleyva ► Santa Marta – Cartagena – Rincón del Mar Necoclí ► Capurganá ► Puerto Obaldía (Pan) ► Panama City ► Las Lajas ► Cerro Punta ► David ► Bocas del Torro ► San José (Costa Rica) ► San Juan del Sur (Nic) – Ometepe ► Granada ► Managua – El Rama – Bluefields – Corn Islans ► Léon ► El Tunco (El Salvador) ► La Antigua Guatemala – Lake Atitlán ► Lanquín (Semuc Champey) – Flores (Tikal) ► Belize City ► Bacalar – Tulum – Playa del Carmen – Mérida – Valladolid – Cancún ✈️ .