This post is going to be an unusual one. I usually want to talk about the many incredible experiences offered by traveling. However, on occasion, I feel I should share with you some of the challenges of traveling. I especially want to share some of the problems that no one usually thinks about, unless they experience it themselves. When I started traveling, this is one of those things I would never have predicted as being a problem.

I am a non-smoker, never have been, and never will be. I also cannot stand to be around smoke as I am super sensitive to it. I am sensitive enough to get a stuffy nose every time I am around it and in extreme cases a sore throat. Usually, this is a great thing; I mean it is so much healthier to avoid smoking at all costs. However, when you live the backpacking lifestyle, it is not such a good thing. You see many backpackers smoke; I am not sure why, but they do. Since so many of them are smoking, they tend to gather in the smoking areas for social gatherings. As someone who cannot stand being around smoke, this has become a problem for me.

You might be wondering what options this leaves me. Well, the three main possibilities are not great. The first option, I could “suck it up” and join people in the smoking area and risk feeling awful for hours or maybe even days. Another option, the lonely option, is to either wait alone for the smokers to smoke and come back and/or accept hanging out by myself most of the time. The last option, probably the best but most difficult, is to find others who do not smoke at all and make friends with them. As much as I prefer this last option, it is challenging, and I will explain why.

The nature of backpacking means that you are continually moving around and meeting new people. Even if you settle in one location for a time, usually other people will always be changing. For this reason, it is typically temporary when you do find a group of friends, non-smoking or not. Then when I do find some non-smokers to hang out with, they usually make friends with smokers and are okay being around the smoke when can then isolate me again. They will, of course, not always do this, but it has happened to me before.

Now the big thing to remember about this, especially for me, is that the smoking problem is usually only a problem for night time activities. Most day time activities are entirely outdoors, so it is much easier to hang out with smokers. I find when I am outside, I can usually position myself upwind in a group which makes me feel find around smoke. If I can’t smell it, then I generally have no problems.

What does this all mean in the end? It means I always have to think about how I will attend social gatherings. Day time events, I can usually do fine since I can position myself upwind, and if needed, ask the smokers to blow their smoke away from me. Night activities require me to think about where people want to go. If they are going to a place that is primary indoors with only a small smoking area, then I should be okay. The smokers can go for a quick smoke and then come back. Now if the location is an area with lots of smoking around, I may have to consider not going, accept being alone at times or find one of those other non-smokers to keep me company while the others smoke.

As you can see, there are always ways to combat the problems you face while traveling. Some of them are not the best solutions, but they are good enough to get you by. Then as long as the solution can get you by, you should be able to continue having some fantastic travel experiences!