WORST TRAVEL STORIES

[Syrene-1]

I've been hesitant to post this topic, I like the upbeat tone of these boards, but sometimes it's fun to hear about the trips that haven't gone exactly as planned.

I think that most people that travel frequently have at least one "horror" story about a trip that were terribly awry. Of course at the time it's not so funny, but usually in retrospect it can make a great story.



So, what's your best worst travel story?

[kyshel]

My first trip out of US/Canada was in 1974 to Brasil. I made all the arrangements thru an agent, since I was only 19. I planned to start in NY to Rio, zip all around the country on multi-city pass and make my way thru Barbados to Miami and home in the midwest. All was fine until I reached Paramaribo, Suriname. The third-world airport was far from the city and it was getting late. I must have missed the detail that my next flight segment wasn't until 10 AM tomorrow NOT 10pm tonight (what did I know?)
I was stuck. The I found out that the airport would close (for lack of a better word--we're talking open door building with pull-down fencing to keep out the local dogs) in an hour.
Our plane was filled with volleyball players, who were in town for some major competition, so there were no hotel rooms even IF I could afford the $50 taxi to get into town.
I wasn't the only person stranded in a dark empty airport, no food--no water! A family of missionaries was with me. We made the best of the situation and took enough clothes out of our cases to TRY to sleep on slatted benches (the floor was not an alternative...) and somehow survived the night. It was a story to take home. Each time I told it, the benches got harder, the dark got darker and the dogs outside the gates got scarier and meaner (I know there's no such word as "barkier"). I haven't thought about that night for a long time--thanks for asking!

[claassenam]

What an adventure Kyshel! Sometimes the "worst" experiences are the ones you keep with you for a long time. It sounds like it was absolutely no fun at the time, but what a great story!

I tried posting a similar topic about a month ago - something like "worst hotel experiences". At the same time, I posted a thread: "best hotel experiences". That thread got a ton of hits and response, while nobody seemed to have a worst hotel experience. Maybe the overall experiences outweight the little nitpicky bad travel experiences so much that nothing really seems that bad in the end. That said, I have a bad travel experience story. The truth is, this was overall an excellent trip, just what happened during the trip was rather memorable:

We were in Costa Rica, a surf trip for four couples. We were doing this very low-key surfing style, staying at decent hotels with good people and food but certainly nothing that would qualify for an LL package! We were traveling between about five towns over two weeks and driving in two jeeps on those bumpy, bumpy unpaved roads. Well, one day before we had an 8 hour drive along those roads, the four surfer guys took a very early long drive and boat ride out to Witches' Rock, a prime surf spot along the Nicaragua border. They were to be gone for several hours, then to return back to the four of us wives/girlfriends and load up the jeeps to begin the long drive. As it turns out, they had an excellent time surfing and when they got back on the boat to return they had a packed lunch from the hotel waiting for them.

I'm not sure if it was the mayo in the sandwich or a stomach bug, but during the boatride back my husband started turning green and became extremely ill. He somehow made it back to the hotel with several breaks along the way but by the time they arrived back at the hotel he was barely functioning. Well. we were determined to get to the next hotel so we managed to pack him and all of our stuff into the jeep, he was sprawled out in the back with his head in my lap. He was groaning and miserable the entire 8 hours down the coast to the next spot. We stopped often for him to use the facilities. He was a trooper, though - those roads were horrible and it must have been some of the worst hours of his life!

Once we arrived, he was bedridden for a good two days. Finally, the day he emerged from this stupor it was Thanksgiving. We had a great meal with all of our friends at the hotel and everyone was happy again. That night, as I lay in bed I was suddenly struck with the same type of bug or food poisoning. It was horrible! I don't remember much of the next couple days except literally lying on the floor of the bathroom against the cool tile face-to-face with a huge, dead green grasshopper. (This was central america, and bugs - dead and alive - were to be found everywhere!) I was too sick to care about the grasshopper, however, and probably wished I could switch places with him at certain points!

I too of course managed to recover and join the living a couple days later. After not eating anything for at least 48 hours, I remember how amazing, cool and delicious that first glass of mango juice was! If you have to be struck with a horrible stomach bug, make sure you have access to fresh mango juice - it is the best! See, I couldn't probably have had that in America (at least not in November) so it really was a blessing in a way to be in that wonderful foreign country. No, none of our friends managed to get sick during that trip so we're still not sure what caused it....

[funtimes]

Our worst travel experience was weather related - Hurricane Hugo made our trip home miserable We were in St John - Us Virgin Islands and had heard that the weather stateside was bad . Hoping to stay a couple more days in paradise we called the airlines and were assured that the flight was going - Ferry to St Thomas - flight on time and then TERRIBLE SKIES VERY ROUGH Yikes at least we never needed the air sick bags but unfortunately many others did YUCK!!! We emergency landed in Bahamas - We were thinking YEAH let us out to enjoy some time in Nassau - but NO..... We stayed on the Taramack for Hours without a word from the crew and no water even - ran out of everything and HOTTER than Hell OUCH - a mutiny ensued several raced to the front of the plane demanding to be let off a customs agent boarded and explained that it was a customs problem - that is when we realized the Bahamian "customs" agent was dressed in red white and blue and definitely was working for the airline (guess which one?) he was simply impersonating a customs agent - Well all hell broke loose then - I'm suprised no one opened the emergency exit to deplane - The captain finally came out and told the passengers thatwe could not get offbecause the airline would be required to pay each passenger customs fee. This was an airbus - huge passenger plane. Well...obviously this was a financial decision by the airline We were NOT allowed to deplane even if we offered to pay our own customs fee - hotel etc. We were basically prisoners - Finnally leaving bad weather - rough skies turbulence - very scary all the way to Miami arriving after midnight and No hotel rooms Ouch - One excellent trip with a disappointing return trip. Always a memory travel is not always easy - but always an experience - usually Fun ..Funtimes

[CMDAVILACLI]

I have been extremely blessed with really good travel experiences, but about14 years ago I took my infant son and 7 year old daughter to stay in the realitively new Kei Lani hotel in Wailea after spending 1 week in an Ekahi Village condo with my parents.My best friend decided to join us for the second week to celebrate her birthday, so I was very excited about the whole trip. The first day we arrived in Maui, my daughter and I went down to the beach and swam. That night, she complained about aching and in my typical parenting style, I just wrote it down to jet lag... the nextmorning she broke out in small bumbs, and I thought it was a heat rash. No such luck... by later that night, her "bumps" were enormous... they were the largest, most hideous chicken pox ever seen! She was in such a state.I ended up taking her to a doctor who, too, was amazed at the size of the pox (I'm talking about 1/2" - 3/4" in diameter). He gave us a prescription and told us after4 days to "throw" her into the ocean to let the salt water help with the scabbing. By the end of the first week, shebegan scabbing up, but was no longer contageous, and neither she nor I had spent any time in the sun/on the beach since the first night. - one week wasted.



The three of us gathered up our stuff and headed out to check into the Kei Lani. When I arrived there, there was an urgent note to contact my girlfriend's husband. It turns out my girlfriend went sky diving for the first time and somehow goofed up the landing so that she crushed her leg (she ended up staying in the hospital for 2 weeks and had several surgeries over the next 2 years to repair the damage). So no girlfriend, and a daughter who looked like something out of a B-horror film. After spending all but the last three days in the hotel room (we finally were able to do some swimming), we headed back to the Maui airport. The airport clerk took one look at my daughter and told us we could not get on the plane! After explaining that she was not contageous they finally agreed and we boarded......



.....We arrived home the next morning and by that evening, my 9 month old son broke outwithchicken pox! The good news was that his were not so horrific and being a baby, he really wasn't bothered by it... the bad news is that once again, we exposed everyone on the airlines to the chicken pox. I called the airlines once again and to let them know about the chicken pox.



All in all, it was an awful "vacation"!



Cathy

[kyshel]

"Funtimes"--to use your moniker--That was NOT! Brutal comes to mind...
What a horror story!!
I'm glad to see this thread opened again. I'm sure there are some real doozies out there.

[Syrene-1]

Glad to see this board is finally catching on. Kyshel, I love your story - one of those experiences that as you are going through it, you're thinking "If I just make it through this night, it's going to make one hell of a story".



All of this reminds me of my favorite "bumper sticker" saying: "ATTITUDE: The difference between ordeal and adventure. "

I have had to remind myself of this many times throughout my travels like when I got a tick embedded in my stomach in the rainforest. My husband tried to pull it out and left half sticking out. I had to walk around with 1/2 a tick in my stomach until I got home and could get my Dr. to cut it out.

Or the time I was "mugged" by a wild band of orangutan in Borneo. They took and ate my camera, sunglasses and everything else I had with me.

Or when I became so deathly ill in Mexico I had to have intravenus medication and a private nurse few 3 days in my crazy expensive hotel room.



It's all just part of the adventure...

[funtimes]

Syrene - OUCH! IV's in Mexico well many an adventure has gone wrong but we are always better from the experience - often funny too. Closer to home we've had some amazing boating mishaps - Canoeing on a Wisconsin river controlled by Dams - we awakened to find our canoe GONE - even though we pulled it up many feet onto the sandbar - the dam (**bleep**) let out water in the night and away washed our canoe - stranded without supplies, lifejackets, shoes, very little water etc (all in the canoe) We were finally rescued by a fisherman who found our canoe and returned it to us - VERY LUCKY another WI river trip - this time by Pontoon Boat with friends - our friends did not have an anchor so,,,they pulled their boat way up on the sandbar - having heard of our earlier adventure and not wanting their new boat to wash away You may have guessed by now - the opposite happened We awoke the next morning to find their Pontoon Boat BEACHED - Fortunately we had one long handled shovel and an Army entrenching tool with us - It took 4 adults and two tenagers approx 7 hours to dig out their boat enough to float and be on our way - the dam (**bleep**) shut off water and try as we might water kept receeding - not very pleasant when hungover - one experience we will never forget or never cease laughing about! Happy travels and pleasant adventures ...Funtimes