We had a wonderful holiday month, starting with seven of us at our small place for Thanksgiving. Then a few other times when people came over, then seven again here for Christmas Day. Then we had eight people on Friday when Tricia’s sister and family visited for the weekend from Seattle. In between our hosting we went to a birthday party, other peoples homes, and our five-day trip the Puget Sound area for our anniversary. It has been a busy month and we enjoyed it all. As is normal for us we will do nothing special for New Year’s Eve.

So now our mind turns to planning and anticipating the travel we will do in the coming year, both near and far. It is my hope that you have some grand adventures in your future, even a day trip to the beach counts. It is one of our priorities to be respectful travelers, so when I ran across an article in Reader’s Digest about things that annoyed travelers I wanted to pass it on.

Saily, the eSIM company, did a survey of 7,000 adult travelers. The participants were from seven countries: USA, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, and Japan. Their ages were between 18 and 74. The survey was done in November of 2025, so it is recent. Here are the global results, with a few of my comments.

1. Leaving trash on the beach – 54%
2. Arguing loudly – 47%
3. Having phone of video calls on speakerphone – 46%
4. Coughing or sneezing without covering your mouth – 46% (for US participants this was tied for first with trash on the beach.)
5. Talking at full volume – 45%
6. Playing music or videos without headphones – 45%
7. Reclining your seat too far – 45%
8. Talking loudly in quiet places – 43%
9. Taking up extra seats with bags or belongings 40%
10. Bringing and eating smelly food – 40%

They also included in the survey a list of annoying things that travelers actually admitted to doing themselves. I won’t admit to which of these I have done. Some don’t seem annoying to me so I may have to ponder my actions??? These numbers are how many admit to doing them, not how many find them annoying, but the fact they were on the list means that they annoy some people.

1. Talking to strangers while traveling, like on a plane – 46% (I am not sure about this, we do talk to a lot of people and have made friends as a result, but we are sensitive to when conversation is not wanted.)
2. Taking off shoes in a plane of other transport – 29% (This one is often debated for sure, like what if you have sandals on?)
3. Only speaking one’s own language – 28% (We both think learning a bit of the language where you travel is so important.)
4. Browsing a phone instead of enjoying the view – 27%
5. Overeating in and all-you-can-eat buffet – 26%
6. Urinating in the sea, lake, or ocean – 22%
7. Standing up immediately after landing and preparing to move – 20%
8. Clapping when the plane lands – 18%
9. Using both armrests when taking an aisle or window seat – 18% (The person in the middle seat gets two, it is some little consolation.)
10. Reclining one’s seat a little too far on a plane – 17% (I hardly ever recline my seat so as to not bother the person behind me, unless it is an overnight where people are sleeping.)

So as we get ready to depart next Tuesday to San Jose del Cabo for Tricia’s birthday, I am reminding myself of my manners. Hope you enjoyed this.

2026, what will you hold for us? Thanks for being part of the ride.