Cowgirls have To-Do Lists
Why I hate to travel, all the time and every single time I do it. After nearly a year of not traveling, I had forgotten just how much I truly hate to travel. I spent more than twenty years as a road warrior, every week on the road, Sunday night out and usually, if I was fortunate Thursday night back home with Fridays spent catching up on expense reports, conference calls and all the rest of business activities necessary to keep my life in order. This was my life for over twenty years. I wanted out, I made a conscious decision to get out, that did not quite work. Now I am reminded why I wanted out.
All the reasons why I Hate Travel, in no particular order.
There is the schedule itself usually dictated by clients leaving you with approximately 16 waking hours unless previously scheduled on Friday to see; doctors, hair stylists, manicurists, dentists, friends and family. Of course, did I fail to mention during this short time home there are also things screaming for your attention such as house cleaning, laundry and shopping because frankly whether or not there is a spouse or family one still must have at least some food in the house and in my experience, no one but me is ever going to put it there.
Why do I Hate Travel? Because this is absolutely no way for a normal person to live, it is not romantic, it is not exciting and it surely does not make me at all happy.
Let’s talk about hotels, just for a brief moment. When you travel for business you are not staying in Five Star hotels, no most of the time you are staying in chains, sometimes they are fallen stars. If you are like me, you only have a few 
requirements some these days are harder to meet than others. I don’t want to leave my room in the middle of the night for a cigarette, don’t hate me I smoke and believe I should be able to do so in the privacy of the room I am paying for. But let’s talk about the rest, shall we? Starting with closets without enough hangers and those f’ng hangers that do not come off the rack, I am constantly fighting them. Then there are the mattresses, has anyone ever slept in a hotel and gotten a good night’s sleep, I toss and turn all night and wake every morning feeling like I have run an Iron Man. As a coffee drinker, I ask only one thing please, leave me more than one small packet of real coffee; I have learned to ask for more on check-in and every single night when I arrive back. Then there are the dangerous as all hell shower/baths, why in all that is holy don’t hotels simply install showers stalls rather than these tubs with showerheads? Narrow tubs, no traction and add to this flimsy curtains that stick to your skin actually climbing into your crevices when you are trying to bath, gad I hate bathing in hotels.
Finally, why do I Hate Travel so completely and entirely?
Airports and flights, it is getting worse and worse. No matter where I travel, I notice the ‘cost cutting’ measures first, the lack of human interaction when checking in. If you need assistance, you had better plan on a long wait. Then there is 
TSA and the security process, come on boys and girls, you have anywhere from 3-5 lines you could open up and you have a line of people waiting to get through security, tell me again why is only one of the lines open? By the way, please explain to me why I have to take my computers out, my shoes off, my coat off, my sweater off; damn do you want me naked? By the way when it comes to TSA, could we please have a line for seasoned travelers and another for those who are on vacation with families, I know very elitist of me but really the next time I am behind a family of four struggling with children, strollers and too much carry-on luggage I think I will scream, loudly.
Finally, we get to the airlines and the flights themselves. They are in another round of cost cutting and they are idiotic in their methodology. I can only talk about the one I fly the most often, bet you can guess given I live in the Dallas area. Now I have flown this airline for most of my career, I am a Million Miler on them, retain my Gold status for life even if I never fly again. In truth I have flown more than 1.5 million miles on this airline alone, this doesn’t count other airlines, all together between the four primary airlines I fly I have well over 2 million air miles, this means miles I have flown not all the additional miles I collect in other ways. The benefit of being an ‘Elite’ member of the club is upgrades when they are available, when they aren’t the flights are even more miserable. These days though even First Class flights are fairly low class, there is no service unless you ring your bell repeatedly and demand attention from the apathetic attendant’s, there is no meal service for any flight under 2.5 hours, even if that flight is during the dinner hour, if you are lucky they will throw you a bag of peanuts. Drinks are served in plastic cups, coffee in paper.
Don’t get me started on Coach where you are kicked in the back, stuffed together as if you are an anchovy and must keep your elbows so close to your ribs you can’t breathe for an entire flight. Service? Forget about it.
So far, no flight has left on time and thus no flight has landed on time!
Now I remember I hate travel; truly, I do. I want a real life. I want to be home after a day at work. I want to write and read, sleep in my own bed. I want the opportunity to have dinner with friends, family or someone I love. Hell, I want to enjoy travel because I am going someplace romantic to get away from it all.
Just a slice of life!
QBG_Tilted Tiara 
I would imagine Val if I were in your shoes, I would dislike travel if it was a constant in my life.. I used to dislike just travelling the busy 14 miles to a big city to work which ended up me taking a different route every day as the who city was having tram rails laid.. So I can completely understand how you must feel..
I only travel on planes when I am going abroad on holiday.. so that travel I look forward to enormously… xxx
I can understand looking forward to travel when it is holiday. I want to get back to that point, someday. I like driving, despite my whining about others on the road.
😉
Val, there was a time I loved to travel. I’d take vacations in other parts of the country or abroad, I’d go to annual meetings in D.C. and all sorts of conferences. But in recent times, with all the chaos in the world and the plane seating getting tighter, I hate it too. In fact I haven’t gone anywhere since last Thanksgiving. This is the longest period of time of staying put. My next planned trip is this coming Thanksgiving, which means I went a whole year without stepping on a plane. Yipee!
I despise travel, I have gotten to this point and now I am back to weekly travel it is truly painful.
I don’t know how I would feel if it were voluntary and the destination were of my chose, but business? Bleh.
I think you’ve summed up all the negative aspects of traveling quite succinctly! Especially the coffee. Why do they even bother with the single packet in your room when most places have better coffee downstairs with their “continental” breakfast (which is a joke unto itself, by the way).
I think I’ll just stay home for a good long while after reading this!
You have just made me realize I’m glad I haven’t travelled in some time 🙂
Glad I could help
This post struck a chord, Val. I hate traveling, too, even though I have not had to travel on business for years. The only thing I hate about living on the East Coast is that my entire family lives on the West Coast, and they seldom travel East. So, I fly there to visit a few times a year. I hate the hassle of airports with a passion. I so wish I could just email myself to my destination.
I wish we had high speed rail. That is what I wish
I LOVE to travel. I LOVE hotels. I LOVE mini bars. I LOVE crappy service. Why goddam it , why? I have spent most of my life travelling for work but then again I usually travel with someone I love it all, as long as I don’t have to talk to anyone I don’t know. I hate having conversations with people I will never see again and have their life story swirling around my head for eternity. I do hate flying though but because I fear crashing …or more exact…. the in between, knowing the plane is going down and there ain’t nothing I can do about it.
This Loon is why I love you, you are a contraian
Every time I fly I say, “never again.” I am so with you on the whole damn air travel experience. I don’t see an alternative unless you get 500 of your closest friends to go in together to purchase a private jet.
Yeah, that might work.
I’ve traveled enough professionally to have to have a new respect for the road warriors. Especially these days I can’t imagine anyone who enjoys it.
I use to enjoy it, a very long time ago. Now days though, I simply wish I could go home.
… hope Mt. Vernon is treating you well.
it is an interesting little town
Columbus isn’t far.
To far to drive for an evening, by the time I am done with work I am too tired to do anything but fall out
Understandable … but keep it in mind if you have some spare time.
Oh I can resonate with that one! 30 years working travel in everything from bullock carts to air planes. The latter certainly is better. But the same kind of stuff you identify. Very little sleep at nights with late meetings and early mornings to catch forward flights or meet appointments. Sometimes travel all night and start work somewhere else in the morning. I can recommend retirement!
Not ready for retirement, except from travel.
I imagine that would be enough to make you detest traveling. On a somewhat similar note, in most countries I’ve been, it was mostly for work and not leisure. I had to live there. There were benefits but the drawback was not being able to see family. Now, I just wanna go some place for a few days and come back home. I could use a vacation now. But the way my day has gone, I really wouldn’t mind packing up to work and live somewhere else. What a day.
I get the ‘just wanna go somewhere else’. I do. I have done both. Traveled for the week and the expat. I wouldn’t mind the expat right now.
I guess I haven’t done enough business traveling to hate it, but I understand why you’d come to feel that way. I certainly despise airports and dealing with checked luggage and cramped airline seats. BTW, have you considered taking a picture of yourself in that cute little red cowgirl outfit? 😉
Just no… 😉
I’ll take the trains or a bus.
I wish I could, personally I enjoy driving.
Oh, Val, I do not envy you for this plight. I haven’t been on a plane now in over two years, and the last flight was only a quickie puddle jumper from Santa Barbara to San Jose. Just that small little flight was troublesome for all of the regulations. I stopped traveling frequently before 9/11, and so I have not had to endure the hassles that have escalated because of security issues and economic cutbacks. I don’t think I will be much of a traveler even when I do have excess money in my pocket unless it involves a road trip in the car, in which I have some control over the enjoyment, the pace, and the places I stay. And, it will certainly only be a road trip heading north, as I also no longer have tolerance for the big city drivers and heavy traffic! I hope something changes for you so you do not have to do this anymore! Hugs and love! XOXO-Kasey
Kasey – I keep hoping for that perfect job, the one that will not only stimulate my brain but allow me the income needed. I keep looking. We will see.
Val
Taking a vacation flight now and again is so much different from your business flights. I don’t doubt you’ve grown to hate them. Everyone needs a l.i.f.e. Blood, sweat and tears aren’t enough anymore?
Hope you can get off the travel roller-coaster, Val. >3
Me too Tess, I thought I was done but I guess not quite yet.
I rarely travel any more — but it does seem like everybody is bending over backwards to make travel as unpleasant as possible. Lack of human touch, charging for everything, restrictions on everything else and those awful shower curtains. I think you nailed it, Val.
I could have gone further Elyse, truly I could have. But those were the highlights.
Low lights, I think!
I wish I could enjoy the journey…but I just want to GET THERE, especially if I’m flying.
Love you, Val. xxxxxx
Right now, I don’t even want to get there.
Love you right back
XXX
May this be the last of it. ❤
Agreed, one way or the other.
Reblogged this on MrMilitantNegro™.
Super post! Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Safe travels.
Thanks, sorry you have these memories. Don’t you think travel we should have better ways to do this?
I love to travel, but I don’t have to do it for a job like you did. If I did, I’m sure I’d grow to hate it too. I do hate flying, however. I prefer driving if it’s feasible. Cleveland used to be a hub for Delta so at least we could fly direct most everywhere. Not so anymore. Grrr. Not a fan of connecting flights.
Still doing it, this is week two of what could be three weeks or three months….no one will tell me.
I did not sign up for this. Grrrrr, is right.
Here’s hoping you don’t get seated next to a garlic-and-onion-sandwich-eating burper…