Traveling is not always as picturesque as instagram would have you believe. Often it is filled with hiccups, mishaps and downright disasters, which can be quite testing. My trip to Vietnam has been just that. Each time I have moved past my frustrations, it seems something else has gone wrong and I can feel my patience waning.

I was so ready for a vacation and after spending the first few days on a Thai island I departed for my much anticipated two and a half week journey through Vietnam. I spent the first two days wandering the city, getting my bearings, and feeling out the bustling metropolis of Saigon(Ho Chi Minh City). I was constantly on guard, keeping my possessions close, having heard about the sticky fingers of some of the Vietnamese. Then after getting used to the city and feeling comfortable, I let my guard down…. I was walking on a quiet street with nobody near me aside from a quiet couple sitting on their motorbike on the sidewalk. About 15 feet after I passed them I paused to take a photo and before I knew it, that couple had driven past me on the sidewalk, the girl grabbing my phone right out of my hands! In an instant, I had a whole new set of travel worries and challenges ahead of me.

I did my best to be positive and move on from the crisis of my stolen phone. That was a tall order considering how much I use and rely on all the functions of my phone, especially while traveling. Luckily, I was traveling with a friend for the next week so we shared photography responsibilities on his phone and my kindle kept me connected to the world as best it could. I then suffered a couple other losses; my retainer was thrown out after breakfast at a hostel by accident, and my pen(that was a gift and was said to last 7 years) fell out of my bag on a bus. These mishaps are trivial, but when added together, I was starting to feel as if my trip was cursed!

The weather certainly did not help my feeling of doom. As soon as we left the city and headed to the beach the rain began. If it wasn’t raining then it was certainly cloudy and windy, nowhere near ideal beach weather. Once again I maintained an optimistic outlook, focusing on the few sunny moments we did have and not letting the weather keep us from doing activities. Then the typhoon came. Typhoon Damrey was the strongest storm to hit Vietnam since 2001 and it came just as I left the mountains and headed to the coast. I had planned to do a camping motorbike trip, which was now impossible, so I booked my bus ticket to head north the next day. However, it continued raining and by the next day when it was time to go I had to leave my hostel and walk through two feet of flood water!

Throughout all of this there were the usual late buses, small uncomfortable seats, motorbikes and taxis charging too much, that come along with traveling in South East Asia. It’s easy to laugh about those moments when all the rest have been joyful, but when you’ve had complication after complication it’s easy to fall into a spiral of negativity, where every little wrench in the plan is infuriating and cause for complaint.

I have been constantly working on my mental state so that the few misfortunes that have befallen me don’t make me sour towards the adventures that are still to come. Likewise, I remind myself that I have already had some incredible experiences and joyful days amidst the mishaps. This trip also showcases that travel can be really stressful and draining; physically, mentally, emotionally. There are two sides to every story and people almost always tell the travel stories that are exciting and effortless, however, there were undoubtedly some difficult days as well. Such is life, sometimes we need the unfortunate experiences to appreciate the exceptional ones.