Travel is one of the biggest passions of most millennials out there! Going away with your friends or family, or even traveling solo can be super fun, fulfilling and relaxing. But if you’re a latino traveler, you will find that your experience comes around with a little more spice and chaos than the usual. Not a dull moment, verdad?
Here, we show you some of the most memorable and hilarious aspects of travel that latino millennials know too well! Whether you are headed to NOLA, Miami or Las Vegas, the odds are you will feel identified with some of these!
1. Saying goodbye to la abuela
Let’s be honest, whether you are going away for school, visiting family in another city for the verano or going on a roadtrip with friends, saying farewell to your abuealita is heartbreaking, both for you and for her. Your abuela has always been a crucial part of your life, even if she doesn’t approve of all of your novios… And now who is going tell you to have more tacos and enchiladas because you’re too skinny? No one, because you are abandoning your abuela, leaving her all alone in this cruel world forever and ever until the end of time (or at least that’s what she said!). Expect hugs and lágrimas when you say farewell.
2. Booking tickets para toda la familia
You know how a lot of people enjoy solo travel or roadtrips with one or two friends? Well, with latinos that’s not always the case. It’s almost impossible to go on an adventure without most of your familia tagging along. Not just mamá y papá – there’s usually your brother, sister, third cousin (and his wife), the next-door neighbor (dude, we are not even related), your mother’s aunt’s nephew, and that family friend who spends more time with your family than their own. Well yeah, it happens. So, should we just get a charter bus already?! But remember – familia that travels together STAYS together.
3. Enjoying the snack mom packed you for the road
If you have ever traveled by bus from one city to another, you know that the driver stops once or twice along the way for everyone to recharge and get some grub. Burger King is most definitely a roadtrip food, and we love it, but I guess latino moms don’t care! As you make your way to the bus station, mamá won’t let you leave without a little something for your almuerzo. This will most likely include rice, beans and plátanos in an improvised plastic container because “Burger no es comida mijo”. Hey man, we’ll take plátanos any day, in any container they may come in, but the hard part will be not losing mami’s tupper during the journey.
4. Texting Mom
Yes, pretty much every millennial out there can feel identified when we bring up an overly-worried mother. But don’t be fooled, latina moms are different. Even while their children (ahem, grown-ups) are traveling, mamás find a way to stay close and keep in control. It’s not just a good night text – it’s a meticulously developed strategy to get in your mind. Before, it was phone calls; now, we have moved on to texting. Whatever the mean of communication, mom will always figure out a way to keep us in line! Pero es que madre hay una sola!
5. Coming back home and trying to fit los encargos
Remember that time when you were able to pack lightly on your way home from a trip and not have to drag an oversized bag up and down the bus station? Nope, that never happened. For latinos, it’s pretty much impossible to keep the suitcases slim because every time you travel your family and friends have a little “encargo” they ask you to bring back for them. Maybe it’s a face cream, maybe it’s dulce de leche or the ají de cactus, maybe it’s all of the above… We love you guys, but we just can’t bring you everything on your super long Christmas list! Plus, it’s August, por Dios!
6. Arriving at the station and seeing your primas...
Seeing familiar faces excited to greet you is one of the greatest pleasures of coming back home after a trip. However, latino travelers are probably used to seeing TOO many familiar faces awaiting their arrival with rather interesting displays of affection. At the station, you will encounter a sea of relatives, primas included, and there will be balloons, posters, maybe even food. And you weren’t even gone for that long…
7. Getting home just wanting to chill and sleep, but...
If you thought the family gathering to welcome you back from your trip ended at the bus station, you have clearly not hung out with a latino family enough. When you finally managed to make your way home and all you can think of is crashing for the night (and maybe the rest of the week), expect to see more relatives and friends ready to get the rumba started. There will certainly be food and dancing, led by your tíos and primas. In fact, depending on how long were you gone for, there could even be mariachis and maybe piñatas. We might be tired as can be, but hey, would a true latino turn down a fiesta? Of course not!
8. And finally being reunited with the one you love...
One of the best things about traveling is that it helps you clear your mind and forget past arguments. And when you travel and come back home, there is often that special someone you can’t wait to make up with. Yes, he might be a pendejo sometimes, but he is your pendejo and you couldn’t be happier to see anybody else upon your return.
We might not appreciate it at first, but all these little shenanigans make travel a little crazier and little more fun! So keep traveling and make sure you use Wanderu to score the cheapest bus and train tickets to explore hundreds of destinations in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
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