It's spring break -- you finally get to travel across the country as far south as your budget allows and lay in the sun with your best friends. This is arguably the best week of the year.
There's only one catch -- you probably have to take public transportation to get there. Whether you're traveling on a bus, a plane or a train, public transportation is undeniably one of the most frustrating obstacles to overcome.
Not only do you share a very confined space with a large number of strangers, but the transportation schedule is also out of your control. Your plane could be delayed six hours, or it could be right on time. Who knows?
1. Some airport bars don't open before noon.
Even if you're ready to start off spring break by cracking open a beer in the airport, if you're on a flight earlier than noon, you'll have to wait until you land depending on which airport you're at.
2. The public bus stops everywhere.
If you take a bus somewhere, whether it's home or to a warmer destination, you'll most likely stop at every big-name town along the way. The stops add an extra two to three hours to the trip, and it allows for even more people to pile onto the already crammed space.
3. The food cart is expensive.
If you're going on spring break, chances are you're on a budget. That means if you're taking an airplane or a train, there's no way you're paying $8 for that beer you wanted.
4. The bathrooms are god-awful.
No matter what form of transportation, tiny, public bathrooms are just as unsanitary as they sound. Plus, they usually don't have soap -- bring hand sanitizer.
5. Nothing is ever on time, so you waste money buying a lot of food to entertain yourself.
Planes, trains and buses may give you an estimated arrival time, but you can be sure you won't be there until at least an hour after the projected time.
6. Bus/Train/Plane sickness.
Whether you or someone sitting next to you gets motion sickness, it's never a pretty scene. No one wants to be the person throwing up in the aisle or into a plastic bag, and no one wants to sit next to them either.
7. You're pretty much stuck.
Forget something in your bag that you stowed away above your seat? Forget about it, because chances are you won't be able to get to it.
8. Choosing between the aisle seat or the window seat
If you sit in the aisle seat, you may have more leg room but you have to get up and move every time the person next to you needs to use the restroom.
If you sit in the window seat, then you're that annoying person climbing over the man in the aisle seat. It's a catch 22 situation.
9. There is no comfortable way to sleep.
If you're able to fall asleep, most likely you'll wake up with throbbing neck pain from your head leaning against your shoulder.
10. Children cry.
No need for elaboration.
11. Personal space does not exist.
No matter where you sit, chances are your leg will be resting against a stranger's.
12. Germs.
For some reason, people seem to love to avoid covering their mouth when they cough or sneeze on public transportation. Buses, trains and planes are just breeding grounds for germs, and no one wants to be sick on spring break.
13. False expectations of sitting next to your future husband/wife.
The chances that you'll have a movie-esque romance by meeting your future husband or wife on an airplane is pretty unlikely. Instead you're stuck next to an older woman that wants to tell you her whole life story or a man that's terrified of flying.
An obnoxious amount of hours later, you make it to your destination. You're laying on the beach, drink in hand, trying to forget that you have to do it all over again in five days.
