By The Virtual Tourist

Whether we've (regretfully) chosen them as our travel companions or just can't seem to stop running into them, annoying travelers can make hours feels like days and days feel like prison. Depending on the severity of the offender they can be just an annoyance or actually end up marring the trip, so with this in mind the members and editors of travel website VirtualTourist.com have compiled this list of the "Top 10 Most Annoying Kinds of Travelers."

ON THE PLANE:

1. The Perfume/Cologne addict

Few circumstances can make a flight seem longer than sitting next to someone who smells like the first floor of a department store. We don't know why someone would feel the need to spray themselves down in scent right before boarding a relatively small, enclosed space with re-circulated air, but there's at least one on every flight.

2. The Last Man Standing

This person boards the plane and rather than take a seat, stands in the aisle nonchalantly arranging every piece of travel gear they've brought with them. They dig for magazines, finish calls, retrieve things they've already stowed in the overhead compartment; in short, they do just about everything but let other boarding passengers pass.

3. The Walking Petri Dish

With as many maladies as this person has it's amazing they were allowed on the plane. The sneezing, coughing, and sniffling never stops ... until, of course, the plane lands.

4. The Passive Parent

Although it's children who fuss on planes, it's negligent parents who seem to draw the most ire from travelers. Most are willing to excuse an inadvertent kick from a restless kid, but have no patience for the adult who won't take action.

5. The Nervous Nellie

This person could make the pilot afraid to fly. Rocking, drinking, hyperventilating, and sometimes even crying, he or she white knuckles the whole trip. They hear sounds no one else hears, they keep asking the flight attendant how much time is left, and wig out at the slightest hint of turbulence.

6. The Hair Puller

This person sits behind you, gets up about every 10 minutes, and insists on using the back of your seat as support, grabbing a clump of your wayward hair with them every single time.

ON THE GROUND:

7. The Group That Won't Take a Group Photo

They can see the lines of people waiting to stand in front of the (INSERT MAJOR MONUMENT NAME HERE) but still, they insist on taking each other's pictures individually. Depending on the size of the group, this can take a shockingly long time.

8. The "Anglais or the Highway" Traveler

This is the person who refuses to accept there is any other language other than English spoken anywhere in the world. They lose patience with non-English-speaking clerks, neglect learning the most basic phrases in the local tongue, and won't go to any restaurant that won't provide a translated menu.

9. The Malcontent

Why does this person even bother to travel? A frighteningly heightened version of the English-obsessed traveler, this person is happy with absolutely nothing. They don't like the food, they don't like the local schedule, and they can't stop talking about how much better things are "at home" -- a place they would have been better off staying.

10. The Tour Talker

Your tour guide is a walking encyclopedia of the site you're seeing, but you'll never know that because the guy next to you won't stop talking. No amount of shushing, dirty looks, or even polite requests will stop him from yakking over the tour guide so take consolation in the fact that you can always buy the guidebook later.

 

© VirtualTourist.com, Distributed by Tribune Media Services Inc.

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