Travel Pet Peeves and How to Avoid Them

I sat down and I suddenly thought what bothers me most when traveling. Then I thought it was kinda interesting to write something about it and how to avoid it or at least get over it. Here's my top travel pet peeves, what's yours?

1. Touts trying to rip me off

Wherever I go whether local or international travel, I always end up being approached by touts trying to rip me off. The worst experience I had was in Poipet (Thailand-Cambodia border) where I was approached by a person and I was being told that the free bus is no longer operational and that he can offer me a shared taxi going to the terminal. I was quite certain that it wasn't true and sure enough after just about 5 minutes the bus arrived.

How to avoid getting ripped off? Always do your research before you go to a certain place. Make sure you have a rough idea how far your next destination or approximation of the transportation cost. If I did not do my research before going to Siem Reap overland from Bangkok, i would have been ripped off.

2. Delayed flights

This is always annoying and most of the time it happens almost every flight I have.

How to avoid this? There is no way you can avoid this but you can get rid of the boredom by bringing a book, netbook, laptop or tablet to kill the time. If you are not keen in bringing gadgets when flying to your next destination, a simple pen and paper will do and start writing. You an also start talking to a stranger, I'm pretty sure you will learn some new things from him/her

3. Long queue at the check in counter

We do not know for sure how many people are booked on a certain flight so sometimes we end up queuing for a really long line upon check in. This is quite annoying especially when there are no available comfortable seats in the pre-departure area.

How to avoid this? Check in online when it's possible or come in a little late. Airline reps will prioritize you when you're flight is about to close the check in counter. Just make sure you do not miss it, otherwise it'll be a pain in the ass!

4. Arriving at the terminal and realized that the bus/train just left

This is really annoying especially when you arrive in the morning and just minutes away and the next trip is either in the afternoon or worse the next day.

How to avoid this? Make sure you come in early and do extensive research a day before your trip. Make sure the reference that you are looking/reading is updated otherwise you might just arrive at a wrong time or worse a wrong place (location of the terminal is transferred). Also make sure you ask around, there maybe alternative routes to reach your destination. If no alternative routes and the next trip is more than 3 hours away, you may want to explore the place or just sit back and relax.

I'm pretty sure you have your own list, feel free to write it the comments section and let us know how you get rid of it.

Have a safe trip to your next destination!