Mosquitoes really do love me…. they must be the most selfish creatures on earth. Not only do they insist on drinking my blood but they also leave a hypo-allergic reaction (i.e. swollen bumps and itchiness) and if that’s not enough there is a risk that they will pass the potentially fatal diseases such as malaria or dengue fever…. To all the mosquitoes in the world “I hate you”.
Mosquito on the The Lost City Trek, Colombia
As much as I love travel photography, the annoying existence of mosquitoes got me thinking about my travel annoyances so I listed them all down:
- Constantly unpacking and repacking your backpack almost on a daily basis.
- Occasionally feeling like a tramp because you have a sticky mixture of sweat, DEET and suntan lotion on your skin and not being able to shower for a couple of days!
- Realising you haven’t used your hand sanitiser until after the initial mouthful!
- Having to wear dirty tees or even worse underwear and then claiming that it got dirty on the trek you did in the morning!
- Choosing biscuits for the long journey ahead. (This requires carefully scrutinising the packaging, design, picture and the potential grains of the biscuit to judge and predict its consistency and texture as well as taste. Me and my mate Tim, who have acquired proficiency in this area, have spent an age examining in detail at roadside snack shops to street vendors). Trust me when your starving and you open a pack of biscuits half way into a 14 hour bus journey and they end up tasting of fish you will know why this is important!
- You can’t be too lavish and frivolous when it comes to buying souvenirs or you may have to carry extra plastic bags until you can find somewhere to post them (which is not that easy in the developing world.)
- Trying to combine late nights and early morning tours….harder as you get older!
- Not being able to pack shoes for those occasions you transit at a vibrant city with a strict dress code.
- Always having to skip some activities or attractions because of time or financial constraints - being a completist, this is a nightmare!
- Having to constantly make decisions and arrangements because no one is there to do it for you. Of course, this can be liberating but it’s still becomes a chore when you have to pick the 30th hotel which is within budget and not a shit hole whilst having to carry a 20kg backpack in the midday sun!
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this or continue the list in your comments!