Traveling. The very center of my soul. The thing I crave and enjoy most in the world. Venturing out into the unknown, this is and always will be my favorite activity. But traveling isn’t always easy and not always fun. The photos you see on Instagram or Facebook are just glamorous shots that show the view at the end of the struggle. I’m here to share the real side of traveling, where 60 percent of time, you are either on a ridiculously long bus ride, walking through dirt or in an awkward taxi situation.

Sometimes you will go days without showering or changing clothes. Your hair will be tangled and covered in dust or sand. Your feet are not tan, but instead stained by the mud you’ve been trudging through. You’d have only slept a few hours the night before waking up at the crack of dawn to catch yet another long bus ride (after a lovely hike).

All the bus rides are not going to have televisions or air conditioning. Sometimes you’ll have to sit on the floor or stand for hours because there wasn’t enough room. Sometimes though, if there are enough people standing, you can get a quit nap in by balancing on others! You might even share a bus with animals, alive or dead. It can really vary.

Sometimes, you’ll get caught in the rain and be without an umbrella or jacket. At times, you’ll have to walk in a storm, which could probably pass for a hurricane, instead of finding a ride back to your hostel. Or maybe you did remember all the important things, but they instantly break because of how cheaply made they are. Also, storm selfies are never "good selfies."

Other times, you may end up sleeping in a bed that is more closely related to a rock. Or somehow find a hostel that has bed bugs. You’ll have to spend hours boiling your clothes to remove those little guys! And then, while your clothes are drying in the hot sun, a random storm can come along and ruin it all.

There will be times where you spent hours planning what to pack and for what kind of weather will be at your destination. What you forget to prepare for, though, can and probably will happen at one time or another. Weather is so unpredictable; it’s almost never easy to escape. Especially an intense snowstorm.

Then due to these weather conditions, there may be times when it makes more sense to stay in an airport overnight then try to find a hostel to sleep in. You'll make a bed out of seat or your towels thrown about the floor. You may not sleep the best, but it's all about the journey, am I right?

Not to mention all the interesting mishaps along the way. For example, getting lost in the country side, becoming so sick to the point where you truly want to die, getting spit on by camels, crashing motos on tiny islands, and having the time of your life.

Even despite all of this, wandering around new cities and countries will leave you speechless. It is always, always an amazing experience: full of laughs, adventures, hilarious stories and new memories. Never let the bad things ruin your time. They’ll only last for a short time, but the stories and explorations will last a lifetime.