What is undoubtedly the worst part about travelling?

Here I am sat waiting for my flight at Belfast International Airport.

If you’re unfortunate enough to have been in any serious accidents or mishaps before –you know, such as being admitted to hospital or losing or having money and/or personal belongings stolen – then what I find to be the worst aspect of travel may seem trivial.

But if your adventures have been relatively scot-free, then I’m sure you won’t disagree too much with quite possibly the worst part about travelling…

Waiting around.

And no, I don’t mean ordering food and waiting for it to come in a restaurant; nor am I alluding to waiting in a queue for a busy tourist attraction. What, specifically, is the worst part about travel is waiting around at the airport.

Unlike other methods of public transportation (if you class flying as such), you can’t just turn up within a quarter of an hour of time of departure, get on the plane and get going. There’s, unfortunately, much more to it than that.

Waiting around at an airport is sometimes an arduous task.

Security, which can be a frustrating process if you’re only travelling with hand luggage and have to separate your bags from your electronics and liquids and disrobe to some extent, is one of the first points of call.

If you’re checking in luggage, however, then you have to go through the check-in desk, which can sometimes be a lengthy wait.

Then it’s on to the departure lounge which can be a little relaxing, but I could really do without.

And, the final part of any airport trip is the rush to the gate, after which you wait what can sometimes seem like an eternity whilst people file onto the plane, stow their luggage and take their seats.

Although there is no strict time for which people have to get to the airport, it is generally advised that passengers turn up two hours before a short-haul flight and three before a long-haul one

And though it may be a little less tedious on the way out there because there’s the palpable excitement of going away, it is still virtually frustrating all the same.

Perhaps, for me, it is because the prospect of flying is a little unnerving and so it’s something that I’d rather get out of the way as soon as possible.

I wish there was less time to ponder the implications of a flight, whilst glancing over at monitors every few minutes for flight information. The sooner we can get from A to B, the better.

But I guess that with air travel, waiting around is one of those unfortunate consequences and, for me, the worst part about travel.​