What to carry and what to leave? My travel experience.

One of my passions is traveling, and so far, I have traveled to 16 different states within my country and am currently craving the day I will cross the border. It's usually refreshing to be in another environment and scenery. Even though I usually have motion sickness, whether I am traveling by air or by road, I still find traveling interesting and manage the situation as much as I can until I get to my destination for an amazing adventure.

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Traveling offers us the opportunity to visit new places, meet new people, and have a variety of experiences.

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One of my traveling habits, which I think is weird, is trying to initiate a conversation with someone I find interesting on the same trip or try joining an ongoing discussion or heated argument on the bus. The part of discussion is common in our Nigerian public transport, and somehow, I find it interesting to join discussions. Some people like staying calm and minding their business, but I am not just that type. I think my extroverted nature will always reveal itself wherever I go. But then, I have had a very nice connection through traveling and via discussion during the trip; however, it's just my lifestyle, which is obviously very different from many others, but I try to study the people in the trip and the kind of conversation before jumping in, and that is if the motion sickness isn't much on me at the moment.

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Having traveled both far and near within my country, I have had different kinds of experience traveling, but I love it more when I am covering short distances by road. It feels good to peep through the window, explore different places, and consume information along the way. Long-distance travel can be so exhausting and stressful for me. I dread thinking of covering a long distance by Naija Road, but it's fun if it's a short distance; let's say 4 hours max. At the beginning of the journey, I may love the experience, but after 5 hours, it becomes tiring to sit in one place. The last time I traveled with my kids, we spent 16 hours on the road. It was one of the most terrible experiences I have had so far with long-distance travel.

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Imagine traveling that far without an air-conditioned vehicle. It was an unpleasant experience. I booked the car online and never knew that the AC. was bad. It's the kind of AC that can't withstand slight heat, so around 3 hours into the journey, it didn't seem like the car had AC at all. Coupled with severe bad roads and traffic in between. I demanded a refund from the driver, but it didn't happen. I paid for comfort by going for a private car for me and my family, but I was denied it. If money is no object, a long-distance journey is better done by flight. We ended up arriving at our destination the next day. I can't forget that experience in a hurry, especially how my kids felt stressed out on the journey.

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When it comes to packing, I am so terrible at it. What to carry and what to leave is always a hassle because it always feels like I need everything. Funny enough, I may end up using just 50% of whatever I packed. I think I just enjoy the idea of dragging so much luggages with me when traveling 🧳. I am not good at packing more basics and necessities, which should be the case.

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I have been struggling with packing while traveling, even when I was single, and this habit of mine is eve worse now that I have children. Those of you who knows how to pack just what you will need, how do you do it please? Even for a short stay, I will ensure to pack all kinds clothes, not considering the weather. Items like toiletries, shoes👠, Pam wrapper , and some irrelevant things aren't left out . The most useless thing that I have taken with me on a journey is an empty-25 liter of gallon. I planned on using it to get palm oil from my hometown, something that I can just buy over there instead of adding to my stress. The keg would fall down from the bus at each opening by the driver. Imagine securing traveling bag and putting an eye on a keg? Haha, well, before I get to my hometown, the key got broken and sincerely, I am becoming more organised when it comes to packing nowadays. It's still a work in progress anyways. The plan is to stick with traveling light without so much irrelevant luggage.

This post is in response to the Hive Naija Weekly Prompts, Edition 35. Check it out here.

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