Holiday Room 101
Top Five Pet Hates When Travelling By Margo
We all like to get together and share our positive tales of travelling to incredible destinations. However there are times, just a few mind, when you just have to enjoy a brief rant about the little annoyances that can niggle us on our travels.
Whether we like to admit it or not, everyone has pet travel peeves. Whether it’s simply having to pack your suitcase or the sound of a spoilt child in the duty free sweet section, there are little things we could all do without should the travel fairy choose to grant our wishes. Here are my top five travel gripes that would be sent straight to the famous Hotel room 101 if I had anything to do with it!
1. Cramped legs – there is nothing worse than sitting for hours on end with that tingling pain shooting through your joints not being able to stretch out because there’s not enough leg room (not a problem on Silver Service coaches I hasten to add); and then that delightful person in front of you decides it’s absolutely necessary to pull the reclining lever. And the fight for that extra legroom seat on planes by the emergency doors – how early do you have to get there to get those precious seats?
2. Waiting and waiting and waiting… – once you set off on your jollies, you really just want to get going don’t you? So, for me, one of the most annoying things about travelling has to be any unforeseen delays. Airports might be good fun for an hour, but four hours later you’ve done all the shops, spent a fortune on food and drink and you’re ready to get going.
3. Bad baggage Handling– you’ve lovingly packed your suitcase with all your favourite clothes and accessories and all those little bits and pieces you might need. But then, at an airport, you wave goodbye to it at check in and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has that sinking stomach feeling as you wonder if and when you’ll see it again. Apparently 3,000 pieces of luggage are lost in airports EVERY HOUR! Not only is there that worry it will turn up in Bermuda, when you’re in Berlin, but also you’ve no idea if it’s being looked after. At least on a coach I’ve never once had a damaged suitcase, as the baggage handlers are less anonymous – most of the time they’re also your drivers!
4. Poor customer service– The customer is always right. Ok, that’s not strictly true. But I do expect to receive the high levels of customer service that I would offer holidaymakers myself. When travelling I should be kept informed, treated with respect and have my every whim catered for…well maybe not that last one, but I expect a certain level of comfort and being looked after. But given some of my holiday experiences, I’m not sure all workers in the travel industry received that memo. Now peel me my grape!
5. The heat is on…or off – Travelling always poses a conundrum when it comes to what clothing to wear. It may be cold when you set off from home but maybe you’re heading somewhere boiling hot? Or even colder? What should you wear to ensure you’re comfortable at both ends of the journey? But then this is made even more difficult by those annoying uncontrollable heating systems on some modes of transport. It seems the only options are ‘Sahara Desert’ or ‘North Pole’, so before you’ve even arrived at your destination you’ve probably experienced extremes of temperature you never thought possible. I’ve become an expert on dressing in layers!
Have you got a pet travel hate for Room 101 – why not share them by writing a comment below?
just been to italy.dolomite tour,fantastic holiday,one thing was wrong which i,m in contact with micheal at ledger andhe is sorting it out very admirabley.hope he can resolve it ,coach and holiday was brilliant tho – bill
me and my husband travelled 3 years ago on the the d day landings in Normandy with paul and anthea and mike as our guide nothing was too much trouble everythink was efficient from start to finish look forward to doing our trip with leger on the 12 October 2013 to the colditz dambusters and the great escape