The Unglamorous Side of Traveling

I am about to present you with something that I don't share with everyone. Everyone who knows us knows how much we love to travel. We take full advantage of those frequent flyer miles and we have been to some pretty amazing places. But, we don’t show you the “uninstagram” moments. You know what I am talking about…the 8 hour layover at 2 in the morning with a 6 month old. The time maggots invaded your food stash in your luggage, the every morning breakfast at McDonalds. Yeah, we don’t post those pictures. Because, lets be honest. Traveling is easy. Right?? Not exactly…So here it is…I present you the unglamorous side of traveling. Or what I like to call “The photographs we didn’t post”.

Exhibit A- Fiji

Let me tell you something…Fiji is further than you think. We were living in America at the time and on our honeymoon. Fiji is pretty hard to get to. It involves a 12-hour flight to Australia, and then a 5 hour flight to Fiji. And then, it involves taking a prop jet for one hour to our Fiji Island. What we didn’t show you is that we had to stand on a scale to make sure we weren’t too heavy and the door to the jet was secured with duct tape. I do not remember this one hour on the jet because I was too busy trying not to throw up and shutting my eyes to pretend not to see the duct tape.

But all in all, this was worth it. I mean, look at that place! Fiji- Mission Accomplished.

Exhibit B- India

Oh boy, what to say about India. First of all, the Taj Mahal was lovely and we got some great pictures to remember it by. 

However, we stayed in New Delhi and at 2am we got up and had to drive 3 ½ hours to the Taj to catch sunrise. That’s right, the Taj Mahal is in the middle of nowhere. We spent 4 hours taking some pictures and touring and then a 3 ½ hour car ride back. We also got to see all the stunning sights in India. This place is spectacular! I would also like to mention that India was the most culture shocked I have ever been. The poverty and cleanliness was hard to get used to. It made me very grateful for where we live.

Exhibit C- The Maldives

This destination is really remote, hard to get to and extremely expensive. We knew that it was on our bucket list so we decided to stay in the capital Island of Male (Pronounced Mahlay) and then day trip to the resort islands to save money. The Maldives can cost you $1,000 a night to stay at a resort. This is what we posted…

And this is where we stayed… 

By the way, that’s a dead cat on that roof. Even though we didn’t stay on an overwater bungalow it was so worth it. This place was impressive and one of our favorite destinations to date. We have learned that you need to skimp on some things in order to be able to travel.

One day there was a rainstorm and we decided to take a boat to a nearby resort island. As I was getting rain whiplash with my new friends, Peyton was sitting at the top of the boat having a dry chat with our captain. I was soaked when we docked. Peyton was not talked to for a few hours.

Exhibit D- Japan

There’s not much to say about Japan because this place was amazing, but there is a lack of taxis because they are very costly. We relied on the subway system to and from the airport. We also had to run because we were late. My Husband is a champ.

Exhibit E- Cambodia 

We actually have quite a few uninstagram snapshots from this destination but it was actually one of my most fond vacations. We started to travel with Samantha and that added a whole new adventure to our journey. We caught Angkor Wat temple at sunrise…see how beautiful it is?

See what we didn’t post?? Not many people have their bum exposed on the temple grounds so I am pretty sure we gave Samantha a souvenir she cherishes for a lifetime.

Tuk Tuks are the main source of transport, which is a feat with a newborn, but the Buhlers made it happen.

We went to a floating water town and had to use the bathroom. Peyton got a surprise when he went to clean his hands. No amount of soap can help this situation.

Did you know planes have baby food if you need it? Just ask the stewardess! And now we present to you the only food that Samantha has ever spit up in her lifetime. Salmon & Brown Rice hot pot. Poor girl. Can’t say that I blame her.

This is a typical night before bed during our travels. I take online classes which means I have to dedicate some travel time to my studies while relaxing on vacation. Samantha is always a great tutor.

Transportation is just such a fun experience. I can honestly say we have taken every bus, train, taxi, plane, tuk tuk, moped, and subway there is. It really adds to the voyage.

The pictures we posted from Huangshan Mountains in China were crystal clear skies and majestic mountains but we conveniently left out this little gem. This was the 3 ½ hour line to the cable car. What else isn’t pictured is that these people were pushing and smelly.

Planes are always a good adventure. One airline had us unloading in the midst of a vapor storm. We still aren’t sure what the purpose was, something about killing germs. But at the time we were pretty sure it was poisonous gas and we were unlucky. 

And then there is the time that we had a 5-hour layover after our 12 hour flight to New Zealand with our nine-month old. We spent a good portion of the layover in the family bathroom/children’s playroom timing each other on this puzzle. Memories to last a lifetime, I tell ya.

The one thing I love about traveling is being able to talk about these experiences for years to come. These pictures definitely add to the adventure and even though some of them were downright wild, I wouldn’t have taken them back for an easier itinerary.  Well…except that poop sink. I could have done without that.