Challenges of short girls on the road

Coming from a Filipino descent, I am underprivileged in terms of height. Though it doesn’t stop me from traveling, it somehow affects me in certain situations.

Here are some of the situations I normally encounter whenever I travel:

1. Lodging my carry-on luggage in the overhead compartment.

It is always a challenge to put my carry-on luggage in the overhead bin and it happens every time. It’s like I’m carrying the whole world and all of its problems while trying to push it up lol. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t travel with the whole closet with me but sometimes, even if the bag is light, just reaching for the overhead bin is already a challenge. Another option is to put it under the seat in front of you, which sometimes doesn’t work because you want to use the footrest. That brings us to the next one.

2. The use of footrest.

Sometimes, I feel discriminated. Why it seems the other passengers can rest their feet well? Whenever my feet try to reach it, I end up being half seated and when I sit up straight or even slouch a little bit, I won’t be able to reach the footrest. It’s like a see-saw hahahaha. Ok, let’s set aside the footrest, just the usual proper sitting with your feet on the floor. For short girls, it’s one way or the other.

3. Looking at the mirror in hostels or toilets and you can only see your forehead.

This one happens a lot of times. Some public toilets, especially at the airport and hotels, have a huge mirror. But in hostels and other toilets, you’d wish you have a stool to step onto so you can see your pretty face without a need to tiptoe or end up not looking at the mirror, at all hahah. To make things worst, even the lavatory is high, like chest level, and washing your face seems a physical exercise, lol, like the shared bathroom in my hostel in Venice. I only wanted to wash my face and since it’s too high, I just took a shower instead hahaha.

4. Using public toilets.

Relevant to no. 3, this situation happens in some toilets where the hook to hang your bag is too high and you’d end up peeing with your bag on or the toilet seat is too high, you have to tiptoe while peeing hahaha. Does it really have to be challenging?

5. Standing in a bus or metro.

Handrail, why are you so high? I don’t want to play monkey bars inside the metro haha.

I love traveling like a local and using the public transportation is my thing and that includes, squeezing myself in during peak/rush hours. It’s fine if that happens because you’re like sardines inside a can and there’s no need to hold on to something. But if there’s a space and you need to hold onto the bar, most often than not, I stay near it because obviously, I can’t reach the horizontal holding bars above the seats. The only drawback of standing close to the vertical holding bar and being short is that there will be arms around you, and if you’re lucky enough, you’d end up next to someone else’s underarm hahaha. You’d wish the break will not be that hard lol.

6. Quit or be creative while on the higher ground.

How many times you have tried using a telescope while you’re on the rooftop or observation deck to see the view below but you end up just seeing the clouds? Or you wanted to look at a beautiful scenery but you just stepped back because you can’t see a thing? It’s kinda frustrating and funny at the same time.

While I was in Gori Fortress in Georgia (I mean the country), I was so excited to use the telescope and see the town below. At first, I thought my eyes were just adjusting because it was all white. Then I realized I have to adjust it in a decline position so I can see the view and that means the eyepiece must be raised higher. Given that my height is limited, seeing the very nice town below will remain a dream hahaha.

While my friend, Carlo, and I were on our way to Sistine Chapel, we had to pass a narrow path walk overlooking the grounds of Cortile del Belvedere.

Carlo: Ruthay, check this out! The Vatican has their own fire trucks and ambulance.

Me: Can you just take a picture? Coz I can’t see anything hahaha. (The concrete balcony was my eye-level high.)

Sometimes, experiencing these can add up to the fun memories I have while traveling. So I don’t feel bad being short. Embracing what you have and don’t have will make life easier and happier.

Have you experienced these? Any other situations you’ve faced that you want to add? I’d love to hear from you.