What have you learned from travelling?

[MadMAGA]

I've been very fortunate in visiting lots of different places for work, study and holidays. I was idly thinking about what I've learned from it, other than generally expanding horizons, and came up with:

• British fruit and puddings are really, really sweet compared to the equivalents in Asia.
• Scotland's got a point when they complain about their infrastructure compared to England. The motorways are like 1980s England.
• Luton Airport has the best cabin baggage and passenger screening security machines anywhere in the world.
• I'm incredibly fortunate to have been born in this country.

That German trains are not an efficient as people think they are!

That any EastJet flight after 6.30 pm has a high chance of being cancelled!

You can’t get a good cup of tea in Germany (I’m allergic to coffee, this is inportant!).

Canada is the perfect balance of British humility and US customer service, or at lease it was in 2004!!

Luxembourg is not as small as you expect and all the public transport is free, air conditioned and very nice.

That having enough £ to travel and the means to take time away from paid work and family is a privilege.

Car ferries are pretty reliable.

An inflatable pillow is worth buying. Also a Haman towel.

Learbing a few basic greetings in several languages can be really helpful.

Drink water on hot days!

I'd rather be at home

Not everywhere does things the same way as my parents told me to do it

That worrying or stressing about a delayed flight won't actually make it any less delayed.

That we might laugh at Health and Safety culture in the UK but having seen some really alarming electrical wiring arrangements abroad, the bureaucracy is there for a reason.

Having a sewerage system that can cope with paper being flushed down it is no small thing. There's nothing so counterintuitive as having to put soiled toilet paper into a bin next to the toilet!

That the majority of people all over the world really are mostly nice and want to help, including in the UK but NOT including the immigration staff at JFK airport, who will somehow manage to call you "ma'am" in a passive aggressive way. I only realised that when I was later transiting through Houston airport and people called me "ma'am" with the proper level of courtesy and respect!

None of the Nordics are. But they’re beautiful countries and great to stay in. If you’re white. God help you if you’re the wrong colour, or look funny. The police take no prisoners. But again, lovely hotels, beautiful nature and great affordable skiing.

Never rely on any form of german public transport.

Make sure your language skills enable you to identify disgusting fizzy water.

That British TV is the best in the world.
That I am incredibly lucky to have been born in a country which doesn't suffer immense natural disasters and is politically stable, where women have rights.
That you'll never really get to know a place unless you learn some of the language.
That 'travelling' is a long holiday, and anyone who can do it is incredibly privileged, and it shouldn't be viewed as some kind of essential or worthy educational experience.

I flew via Dublin in 2013. I was grilled about my trip and why I was flying via Dublin (erm it was £600 cheaper which paid for our theme park tickets). They were proper arsey. Maybe they received training from their colleagues in Houston.

That there’s no place like home. Much as I love to travel, I’m always pleased to come home.

To always pack ear plugs, preferably silicone ones.

The amber light means step on the gas.

(See also Chicago).

That this country is really dirty compared with places like Japan and South Korea. That our infrastructure is generally old, outdated and inefficient. That trains, buses and trams can and do run on time and that that's the norm in many other countries. That our media is generally really good and trustworthy and better than in many other countries. That the rights and freedoms we enjoy are not universal. That we are blessed to have a (generally) moderate climate and benign geology. That speaking English as our first (and in many cases only) language is a huge advantage. That the UK is expensive and that most places (though not all) are considerably cheaper and that in many other countries you can live really well with and on a lot less. That we are lucky to live somewhere where much of the wildlife isn't constantly trying to kill you. That we accept the shit state of a lot of things, when they could be so much better and that some other countries, even developing ones, sometimes have better schools and better healthcare than we do and they achieve them with a lot less money.

That the security and passport control queues at British airports are the best and being able to drink the tap water and flush toilet paper is fantastic.

That fruit and veg tastes better pretty much everywhere else. We have sacrificed taste for price.

That public transport can and should be affordable.

That, although I recognise my extreme good fortune and privilege in being able to travel fairly regularly (though economically), the incredible boredom of everyday life in comparison makes it very hard to be at home. And this country is way too cold (excepting this summer obviously!).

I agree with you. I've travelled a fair bit and seen some amazing places but my happy place is the British countryside.

Ditto our seasons, even miserable wet winters. I would hate to live somewhere without different seasons.

China wasn’t anything like the teacher at school taught
But 40 years later China has changed beyond all recognition of how I experienced the country

Thailand was full of friendly kind people, they weren’t stealing my back pack at the bus station but helping me to get on the right bus and carry my luggage

cubans drive carefully as it’s difficult to get spare parts if they crash

france like uk have optional zebra crossings

We are lucky when I comes to deadly animals.

I did indeed forget Indian sweets I really like jellabi as well!

I hate travelling through Calais. The huge fences topped with razor wire make me think too much about how lucky we are and how fragile our rights, freedoms and standard of living are too.

Having travelled extensively for the past decade I've come to really understand why everybody hates Britain. Every country I've been to has been significantly better than here, from the food to the people I have had such wonderful experiences. I am going to Ethiopia next Month and I cannot wait, I've heard such good things about the culture there. ❤

The number 23 is a crap bus service better with the 13

Some of the rudest, most aggressive people I have ever met work on security at Manchester airport.
The only reason to attempt to cross the road on a crossing in Italy is that you'd have a stronger case for claiming on your travel insurance when you get run over.
Ar least outside their own country Americans are rude to staff in restaurants and don;t know how to queue.

That very hot weather (34 degrees in Italy at the moment) is not compatible with city sight seeing. That what you order in restaurants overseas may be a surprise as it’s often lost in translation. That bin men in Europe tend to come about 5am ! That you can’t expect things to be as they are at home or it wouldn’t be an adventure. That locals like you to try their language however bad you are . That packing cubes are your friend 😀

Always check a bag in if you have to bring one bigger than the underseat version. You can sit at the gate until all the fretters, serial queuers, and stress heads get on before you. Last on? No problemo.

When travelling solo try to train yourself to only use the underseat bag. It can be done and makes getting on and off buses trains etc. so easy. I put a fold up bag in the underseat version, and check that in on the return. We all, well I do.... buy nice things when away but I do all my heavy purchases on the last day away, apart from fridge magnets and arty postcards, which can fit anywhere.

Use offline Google maps.

Take a pic of the hotel card, and one of your passport. Keep in phone.

If hassled as a solo woman in a cafe/bar/restaurant pretend you are deaf. I am actually deaf and use aids and whilst I can hear fine, if someone is annoying me I point to the hearing aids and they usually slink off for a better listener!

When you see how people in, particularly SE Asian countries, live on so very little but are so polite, willing to serve and help and have the best manners ever and they bring up delightful children who have no sense of entitlement whatsoever.
The ability to flush loo paper in any toilet in the UK wherever you go (I’m currently in Europe)and have been somewhere where loo paper has to be placed in a bin rather than down the loo.
I don’t have to wear a mossie repelling bracelet when I’m at home in the UK
Tipping: I’m by no means tight and will usually tip even when the country I’m in has a pretty much no tip policy but it’s great to go somewhere that has no expectation of a tip and when you do give a few quid, they are very grateful

That I’m very fortunate to be able to take the holidays that i do.
I’m grateful for drinkable tap water.
Grateful i can flush toilet paper down the toilet 😂
I am a holiday make who likes to go out and explore, I’m not a proper traveller, i like a nicer hotel with great pool.
There’s so many amazing beautiful places in the world that need protecting.