I love to travel, I'm sure everyone does. I mean, what's there not to like? You get to experience a change in environment, which is sometimes the only thing that one needs. You get to see new sights and there are indeed such sights in the world that one must see before he dies. Wanderlust is something incredible that leads one to unknown places, where he finds creativity, inspiration, meaning, purpose, and sometimes enlightenment. Everyone should have a sense of wanderlust because without it, the human soul tends to gravitate towards the prospect of becoming shallow, a husk of it's previous self.
You get to make new friends and you get to explore not only the planet, but also yourself.
As much as I love to travel, sometimes I dread the very idea. As much as fun it is, it may get rough and boring pretty quickly if you find yourself in a tight spot. Here are the five woes and dangers of travelling.
Lost In Translation
Especially if you are visiting a country in which English isn't spoken natively. If you don't know the language at least on a basic level, you can end up in very awkward and weird situations. This was pretty bad before the digital era, because now you have a bunch of useful apps at your service like translators and whatnot. Even if they might not be accurate they can at least give you an idea of what the person speaking to you is talking about.
I imagine the conversations tourists had who didn't speak the native tongue would've been pretty awkward. And then again, each language has it's own expressions and idioms. Each one has different ways of describing things or indicating a want/need for something. Even with the help of translation apps, I believe that there may be many things that are lost in translation.
"My home, sweet home."
One's home holds a special significance for him. It could be run-down, torn apart and put back together a million times but it would still be "home". You know everything about your house, you know it like the back of your hand. You know where you keep the dishes, where you keep your shoes, where you keep your books. You remember to lock the window at night because if you don't, it will keep swinging noisily throughout the night. You know not to plug in that electric outlet because it fried the last thing you connected to it. You just know everything good and bad about your house.
Whereas, if you are travelling abroad and staying in a hotel room, you feel like an alien visiting a new planet. You know absolutely nothing about the room. It might have bugs and rats and what-have-you. So it's kinda weird and on some level, it even becomes a fearful experience.
Crime
This one is very obvious. Crime. To be honest, labeling any country to be a 100% crime-free is a lie. But it is true that in some countries, the crime-rate is higher than others. So it's best to research the place you're travelling to. Try to avoid countries with a high crime-rate and a sort of "hostility" towards foreigners. There are a million tourist horror-stories as it is, and they are pretty horrifying indeed.
You don't know anyone there
This is not the case if you're visiting a friend abroad, but if you're travelling alone into the unknown, it gets a bit scary. When nobody speaks your language and no one knows you, you feel helpless. It's good to be with someone you know, someone who knows your tongue, when you travel in a foreign country.
Getting lost
GPS is a wonderful thing. But your phone might not be charged and you may be left alone in the treacherous mazes of the foreign country you so keenly decided to visit. Getting lost, especially when you're a tourist, can be extremely dangerous. Tourists are relatively easy to prey on because they aren't that well-versed with what goes on in the country.
To be honest, a portion of the problems one might face when travelling abroad can be easily solved with a smartphone. But there's also that majority which cannot be solved. Everyone should travel and explore the world, however taking some precautions are very important. And if you get into a tight spot, those very precautions may get you out of there unharmed.