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Life in General

Travel Outtakes – What Travelling REALLY Looks Like

Travel Outtakes – What Travelling REALLY Looks Like
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travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

Before anyone goes off on me for “complaining” about travel, I’m not. I am simply saying that travel is, for the most part, not glamorous. It is busy and loud and exhausting, but we love it anyway. What I want to do with this post is, first and foremost, make you laugh at my ridiculousness.

Secondly I want to show you that all those picture-perfect Instagram accounts are made up of moments just like the following pictures that I’m going to show you. My Instagram looks pretty idyllic, but in reality I spend the majority of my time sitting in my pyjamas, hair bunched on top of my head, bra-less and staring at my laptop for hours on end. This eventually results in some sort of migraine. Again, I’m not complaining, I love what I do. But it most certainly is NOT always glamorous. Here’s the evidence.

Travel Outtakestravel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

1) The constant search for wifi can land you in some strange places. For example, when I was in Waikiki (Hawaii) the hotel had said that it had free wifi. What they failed to mention was that it was only available in the hallway beside the lobby. So, of course, I sat in the hallway, in my pyjamas, trying to upload a Youtube video. GLAMOUR! I’m sure you can relate.

travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

2) When you’re trying to save money while travelling so you buy a $5 pizza and eat it in bed…… off your own stomach….. and your boyfriend thinks it’s fun to take a picture. He is 100% rebelling against the “Instagram Husband”, trend. This was in Florida after a big day of Disneyland!

travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger3) Similar to number 2 but with popcorn and from my crotch instead of my stomach this time. Of course, I’m multi-tasking and doing a bit of social media at the same time. I’m pretty sure this was Hawaii again.

travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

4) Camping in Death Valley National Park. I got so cold at night that I ended up wearing my pjs, 2 jumpers, my coat, 3 pairs of socks and a scarf. I was still shivering in my sleep. Somehow my boyfriend slept soundly in pj bottoms only! Getting up in the middle of the night and making the pitch black run to the toilet hut to pee is not glamorous. Camping is fun and you get the best views, but yep, no glamour.

travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

5) Maybe I should get a new boyfriend? 😛 (I don’t mean it darling). Another unflattering snap of me Snapchatting (add me @ whereistara) from my room in Queenstown, New Zealand because I had to keep my story up to date! Strangely this one did not make it to my Instagram.

travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

6) Taking pictures of EVERYTHING in Death Valley. I sometimes have to tell myself to put the phone down and just take things in with my actual eyes. But then I remember that I need good photos for my Instagram. The struggle is real.

travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

7) That jetlag feeling you get after 8 flight in 9 days. I’m pretty sure I didn’t even know where I was, let alone what day it was. This usually happens to me once every month or two, to varying degrees. Again, my boyfriend was so kind as to take this photo for me. He particularly delights in whatsapping pics like this to me later and watching the outrage and surprise on my face #bfoftheyear .

travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

8) When you’ve been flying so much that you get a tonne of spots and you try to hide them in photos. Damn that dry air on planes. Again, you don’t see this on my social media channels. BUT it is just a reality of travel. This was taken yesterday in Edmonton (Canada). Luckily the spots are clearing up a bit, but it’s still not sexy. So obviously I opted for a low cut top to compensate for it. haha.

travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

9) This is literally my every day life. This is what I look like right now. Sure, tomorrow I’m heading off to the beautiful mountains and lakes of Banff and Jasper (Canada), but right now I’m chillin’ in pjs, on my laptop, being a general babe.Beauty/fashion/haircare brands, I am available for brand ambassadorship, first come first serve, I can’t fit you all in I’m afraid…. #glamour

travel fails where is tara povey irish travel blogger

10) When you’re in this beautiful tropical place (The Maldives) taking pictures of palm trees, making your friends jealous and looking like some sort of tropical beach babe on Instagram. Oh wait, what’s actually happening is you think you might die from heat exhaustion and you are convinced you have insects on you, but it’s just hundreds of beads of sweat dripping down your legs, arms, ass, neck and everywhere else.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Maldives, but it wasn’t always a walk in the park. Especially when a couple of hours after I took this photo I was walking through the airport (dripping sweat) and my trousers ripped right up the ass. Luckily I had a pair of shorts to change into in the bathrooms. Granted I had to walk to the bathroom with my ass hanging out. Unfortunately for me they had just hosed down the bathroom so everything was dripping wet. Of course, in order to take my trousers off and put on the shorts I had to take my shoes off and stand bare foot in this wet/sticky public toilet. So as I squelched around changing into my shorts, I did definitely question my decision to travel full time.

That’s it

If you’re planning on travelling long-term, get ready for the crazy, tiring, wonderfully chaotic madness that is travel. Things go wrong, you get tired and you’ll feel like going home. BUT it is always, without fail, worth it in the end. What you get out of travel is 100 times more than what it takes out of you. Something that “ruins” your trip one day, will make a great story for the rest of your life. If you want to read another story about the less glamorous side of travelling then make sure you check out this travel disaster story about giant blisters and sleeping rough in Prague. The things we do for adventure, eh?!

Have you got a “glamorous” travel moment?? Tell me about it in the comments!

Want to read more about my travel fails? Check these out;
– Attacked by bugs in the Amazon
– That time I thought I might die on a flight to Canada


where is tara tara povey travel blog


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About Tara

About Tara

I'm all about HONESTY, LUXURY & INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES. I'm a pharmacist / writer/ photographer/ adventurer. Born in NZ and raised in Ireland - I'm a hobbit raised by leprechauns. Come in and let me guide you around the world. It's a pretty colourful place.

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24 comments

  1. LisaLDN says:
    June 22, 2016 at 5:08 am

    Hahaha, I love this! And it’s all so true – travel isn’t all glamour and cocktails! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Melissa says:
    June 22, 2016 at 6:00 am

    Hahaha! Your boyfriend ia hilarious! So are you!!!
    Loved this!

    Reply
  3. Melissa says:
    June 22, 2016 at 6:02 am

    Hahaha! Your boyfriend is hilarious! So are you!!!
    Loved this!

    Reply
  4. Veera Bianca says:
    June 22, 2016 at 7:30 am

    AAHAHAH this was like my favourite blog post ever, super 😀

    Reply
    1. Tara says:
      June 22, 2016 at 1:55 pm

      Thanks Veera!! Happy to give you a laugh!

      Reply
  5. Michael Huxley says:
    June 22, 2016 at 10:09 am

    Jesus Tara that sweaty photo needs a warning! Scared the hell out of me when I scrolled down! Hahaha!! I totally get where you are coming from though, travel is beautiful, awesome and amazing, but there are down sides too, like spending two days transiting through airports without sleep, showers or basic hygiene! (And we’ve all dealt with the flooded bathrooms, especially in the middle east! Luckily for everyone involved I’ve never had my arse hanging out though!) A lot of travel blogs only ever concentrate on the good and glamorous side of things which paints a bit of a false picture, and I think it’s important to show both sides of the coin.

    Reply
  6. Ferna says:
    June 22, 2016 at 10:49 am

    i so agree.. hahahaha.. There was a time when i travel that i got the worst smell in my life i guess, i didn’t even care to take a shower because i need to indulge myself with my laptop due to my need to be on time for some crazy deadline, it was gross! hahahaha..

    Reply
    1. Tara says:
      June 22, 2016 at 1:55 pm

      Hahaha I feel ya Ferna! I’m the exact same!! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Swati says:
    June 22, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    Haha loved reading this. I like taking such pictures of my boyfriend and I whatsapp him later as well. Lol
    Thanks for writing this hilarious (and honest) post.

    Reply
  8. Arianwen says:
    June 22, 2016 at 5:21 pm

    This is such a great post! Good on you for sharing. It’s so true that there’s a different life behind all the idyllic shots. I love that your boyfriend is doing such a great job of capturing it all!

    Reply
  9. Aleah | SolitaryWanderer says:
    June 22, 2016 at 5:28 pm

    Wow, the photo for #10 is scary! haha But I can relate. I’m not as into Instagram as you are, but I have A LOT of outtakes as well. 😛

    Reply
  10. Sarah says:
    June 22, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    Ha I’ve basically done all of these things! Whilst doing my best to find the perfect Instagram husband. I have some terrible ‘trying to sleep on a plane’ photos taken by an ex-boyfriend.

    Reply
  11. jess @ ordinarygirlextraordinarydreamer.com says:
    June 22, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    OMG you have no idea how much this has just made my day!!! I love it!! My husband also finds the horrifically unflattering photos the funniest – I think I might jump on your bandwagon and share the reality of travel when I take my next trip hehe
    The first one with the wifi is still making me laugh… we’ve all been there!!

    Reply
  12. Renate says:
    June 23, 2016 at 10:27 am

    Haha, LOVE IT! This made be laugh so much

    Reply
  13. Alice Teacake says:
    June 23, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    Nailed it. I look as rough as a badger’s ass most of the time…and with snapchat going throughout the day, I can’t really hide that fact anymore haha.

    Reply
  14. vira says:
    June 24, 2016 at 9:19 am

    Yep, people would comment about how lucky I am to be traveling all the time. And many would ask how much do I get from travel blogging. People are obsessed with that kind of thing and totally missing the point..

    Reply
  15. Alexandra says:
    June 30, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    There are so many moments while traveling I’m really glad others don’t see. We all market it well via Instagram, while the reality is often sweat-soaked, bug-bite covered and utterly exhausting. Thanks for a very real reminder of just how un-glamorous the behind-the-scenes is. PS: You still manage to make it all look great! Even with pizza on your tummy – my preferred table top.

    Reply
  16. Lindsay says:
    July 5, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    hahah hilarious post! I love that you mentioned the photo-taking struggle. I’ll be checking something out and then think “shit what if I don’t photograph it! it’s like it didn’t happen!” SO over dramatic.

    Love your blog btw!

    Reply
  17. yasmin says:
    November 30, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    Lmao, amazing post! I went to Ghana, and all my pictures are like me volunteering with shades on grinning and everyone was like, Wow, looks amazing, you look amazing! And I’m like no, you didn’t see me when I was sweating in 40 degree heat, or covered in mosquito bites, or throwing up from Malaria. Travel is fun but it IS hard! Loved the pics!

    Y x | The Sweet Seven Five

    Reply
    1. Tara says:
      December 3, 2016 at 12:54 pm

      Hahahah. Glad you can relate! It’s not a glamorous life. haha.

      Reply
  18. Jessie Voigts says:
    April 19, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    So true – travel is wonderful AND can be full of learning moments!

    Reply
  19. jess says:
    August 15, 2017 at 5:41 am

    ohhh this is all sooo true! We are travelling the world with our kids and blogging about it… the search for wifi is something… in Bolivia it is just horrible!!! http://www.kaliam-voyages.com

    Reply
  20. Guy Toponto says:
    April 13, 2018 at 12:41 pm

    This is traveling. Really refreshing to see you show the other side of travel, not just the cocktails and beautiful views.

    I think it is so important that people are exposed to the less glamorous side of travel so that they don’t develop unrealistic expectations. Such expectations will only result in disappointment.

    Reply
  21. Jo says:
    April 13, 2018 at 11:18 pm

    Its not all cocktails and pool views. Thank for showing the other side of travel! 🙂

    Reply

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About Me

About Me

Tara Povey, Owner

Hi, I'm Tara! I SELL DRUGS (legally); I am a pharmacist. Somewhere along the line I realised the 9-5 life wasn't for me and took a sabbatical to travel the world and try new things. During the pandemic I re-joined the workforce and have now mastered the balance of travelling the world doing things that terrify me and working part time. Want to know more? Come take an adventure with me!

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