Tell me about your worst trip or a trip gone wrong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got lost on a 3 day hike with boyfriend (now DH) in remote part of South America. Unstable steep scrambling in gorge with glacial melt raging below. Thought we might die. I was exhausted and clinging to a rock so he went ahead for 5 mins to see if he could see a path out. Two hours later, it was almost dark and he had not returned. Thought he had fallen and was either dead or badly hurt. Backtracked to try and find a small clearing for my tent, thinking that in the morning I would have to attempt to find my own way out of the ravine and then find rescuers. In the darkness, he suddenly emerged from the opposite direction. He got lost. The fallen trees and scrub were so thick he couldn’t find me and the roar of the water below meant we could not hear each other when calling out. A couple of hairy moments the next day, but we eventually got out.

I cannot imagine why you thought this would be anything other than a disaster. Did you have a sat phone at least?

I don’t think carrying sat phones while hiking was a big thing in the late 1990s. Many lessons learned from this. According to our Lonely Planets guidebook, it was a marked trail. Big lesson was to buy the more detailed hiking guidebook with a proper map rather than rely on the terrible national parks map (we had stopped at the parks office beforehand and they said the trail was ‘easy’ to follow). Second, these disasters usually result from a sequence of bad decisions and the difficulty of killing forward momentum. I am much more careful in preparing and recognising when to stop fully and reassess. I think our decision to swim after our boat drifting away was a much worse decision as it is quite clear from the start that it could go badly. Lesson learned from that too about not reacting reflexively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First (and only!) cruise ever. We were on a small ship (about 150 passengers) sailing from Panama to Costa Rica over Christmas. First thing that went wrong is we had some rough weather, and I discovered I get horribly sea sick. Then the morning of the third day of our trip our boat hit a reef and started taking on water. It was very much like being on the Titanic; we felt the jolt, but the crew pretended nothing was wrong. They sent us on an excursion to an island that was a nature preserve, and when we returned from our hike the ship was obviously listing to one side. At that point they told us the ship was sinking and we couldn’t get back on. We were literally stranded on an uninhabited tropical island! The first rescue ship came that night, but it only had room for passengers in the most expensive staterooms. The next rescue ship came after midnight, which is the one we got on. We were lucky our family could all crowd into an empty cabin. (The crew had to stay overnight on the island.) Then they took us to Costa Rica and flew us home. We got home Christmas Eve to no tree and no presents, since the cruise was the present. But we got a full refund and now we have a good story!

Did you they let you back on to get all your luggage? Gilligan's island indeed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First (and only!) cruise ever. We were on a small ship (about 150 passengers) sailing from Panama to Costa Rica over Christmas. First thing that went wrong is we had some rough weather, and I discovered I get horribly sea sick. Then the morning of the third day of our trip our boat hit a reef and started taking on water. It was very much like being on the Titanic; we felt the jolt, but the crew pretended nothing was wrong. They sent us on an excursion to an island that was a nature preserve, and when we returned from our hike the ship was obviously listing to one side. At that point they told us the ship was sinking and we couldn’t get back on. We were literally stranded on an uninhabited tropical island! The first rescue ship came that night, but it only had room for passengers in the most expensive staterooms. The next rescue ship came after midnight, which is the one we got on. We were lucky our family could all crowd into an empty cabin. (The crew had to stay overnight on the island.) Then they took us to Costa Rica and flew us home. We got home Christmas Eve to no tree and no presents, since the cruise was the present. But we got a full refund and now we have a good story!

Did you they let you back on to get all your luggage? Gilligan's island indeed!

They sent some crew members back to gather our passports and what was in the rooms, but by that time it was dark and there was no more power on the ship, so they missed a lot of things. We also lost clothing that had been sent to the ship’s laundry. But it could be worse. Lots of people were concerned about money, jewelry, and medication left in their rooms. I heard a rumor that one guy was planning to propose to his girlfriend but left the ring in the safe in his room. Not sure whether he got it back!

[Anonymous]

DH and I both got food poisoning in Puerto Rico at the El Con hotel. It hit at 3am. No drugstores nearby; lobby accessible only via a funicular that didn't crank up until 9 a.m. Our then four-year-old was fine (had the chicken nuggets); we think shrimp did us in. We were vomiting and could barely get out of bed while our poor kid begged to go to the pool. We were miserable for three days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First (and only!) cruise ever. We were on a small ship (about 150 passengers) sailing from Panama to Costa Rica over Christmas. First thing that went wrong is we had some rough weather, and I discovered I get horribly sea sick. Then the morning of the third day of our trip our boat hit a reef and started taking on water. It was very much like being on the Titanic; we felt the jolt, but the crew pretended nothing was wrong. They sent us on an excursion to an island that was a nature preserve, and when we returned from our hike the ship was obviously listing to one side. At that point they told us the ship was sinking and we couldn’t get back on. We were literally stranded on an uninhabited tropical island! The first rescue ship came that night, but it only had room for passengers in the most expensive staterooms. The next rescue ship came after midnight, which is the one we got on. We were lucky our family could all crowd into an empty cabin. (The crew had to stay overnight on the island.) Then they took us to Costa Rica and flew us home. We got home Christmas Eve to no tree and no presents, since the cruise was the present. But we got a full refund and now we have a good story!

Did you they let you back on to get all your luggage? Gilligan's island indeed!

They sent some crew members back to gather our passports and what was in the rooms, but by that time it was dark and there was no more power on the ship, so they missed a lot of things. We also lost clothing that had been sent to the ship’s laundry. But it could be worse. Lots of people were concerned about money, jewelry, and medication left in their rooms. I heard a rumor that one guy was planning to propose to his girlfriend but left the ring in the safe in his room. Not sure whether he got it back!

Oh MY! That is uncoordinated and crazy! They should have had headlamps and let you get some stuff!

[Anonymous]

My bad trip was all because I didn’t ask questions or pay attention during the planning stage. I am normally the trip coordinator for my close friend group. I found out a girlfriend (not in this group, but some overlap) was putting together a trip to Italy and taking care of all the details. I gave my CC info and said let’s go!

Y'all, why were we on a BUS TRIP that cris-crossed the entire country? And it wasn’t even a private tour! We were clearly just on an Expedia organized tour. By Day 2 someone left. By Day 4 people had unfriended each other on social media.

The friend who organized the trip posted AMAZING photos that looked like she was on some sort of luxury sojourn. The rest of us have pics that look like we’re on a middle school band trip. I have not ridden a bus since then, not a metro bus, not a school bus to chaperone a field trip, not even the people mover at Dulles.

Terrible trip but great memories!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My bad trip was all because I didn’t ask questions or pay attention during the planning stage. I am normally the trip coordinator for my close friend group. I found out a girlfriend (not in this group, but some overlap) was putting together a trip to Italy and taking care of all the details. I gave my CC info and said let’s go!

Y'all, why were we on a BUS TRIP that cris-crossed the entire country? And it wasn’t even a private tour! We were clearly just on an Expedia organized tour. By Day 2 someone left. By Day 4 people had unfriended each other on social media.

The friend who organized the trip posted AMAZING photos that looked like she was on some sort of luxury sojourn. The rest of us have pics that look like we’re on a middle school band trip. I have not ridden a bus since then, not a metro bus, not a school bus to chaperone a field trip, not even the people mover at Dulles.

Terrible trip but great memories!

What's wrong with going by bus across Italy? Is it that bad?

We went by bus 4 times in Spain on our own (1 hour, 3 hours and 2 hours) and it was just fine and maybe just 15 min slower than the train.

[Anonymous]

We STAYED ON A BUS FOR 6 DAYS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We STAYED ON A BUS FOR 6 DAYS.

You slept on the bus too?

[Anonymous]

Road trip with my family, norovirus.

The worst part is when my sister started throwing up we had just left and I told them we could turn around and I'd take care of her (I was 16 at the time, sis was 10) but my aunt insisted she was just car sick.

[Anonymous]

My brother’s family went to an island for vacation and his 7yo son got his finger slammed in a door. A part of the finger was hanging on by a thread: ER, emergency surgery, etc. Meanwhile his wife was on a different planet, glued to her phone the whole trip. Turns out she was texting the guy she ended up leaving him for a few months later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My bad trip was all because I didn’t ask questions or pay attention during the planning stage. I am normally the trip coordinator for my close friend group. I found out a girlfriend (not in this group, but some overlap) was putting together a trip to Italy and taking care of all the details. I gave my CC info and said let’s go!

Y'all, why were we on a BUS TRIP that cris-crossed the entire country? And it wasn’t even a private tour! We were clearly just on an Expedia organized tour. By Day 2 someone left. By Day 4 people had unfriended each other on social media.

The friend who organized the trip posted AMAZING photos that looked like she was on some sort of luxury sojourn. The rest of us have pics that look like we’re on a middle school band trip. I have not ridden a bus since then, not a metro bus, not a school bus to chaperone a field trip, not even the people mover at Dulles.

Terrible trip but great memories!

I would watch this movie.

[Anonymous]

last year, spring break costa rica. At the last minute, spouse stayed back because his mom was in the hospital, Kids and I went. On day 2 of rafting I wrenched my knee (turned out I had torn a ligament), soldiered on with ice, ibuprofen and ace bandage to do a trip (5 hours in bumpy bus then boat ride) to tortuguero for trip to see wildlife. Woke at dawn to see wildlife, spent 4 hours in driving rain in the canoe and saw almost nothing, except my leg swellig up. Moved to last location and a/c/ broken in hotel and two of us got food poisoning (from our tortuguero meal I'm quite sure), so it was coming out both ends and we only had one bathroom and then DH called to say that his mom passed away and I had to tell the kids their grandma died.

I've been to CR before and loved it, this was just a snakebit trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My bad trip was all because I didn’t ask questions or pay attention during the planning stage. I am normally the trip coordinator for my close friend group. I found out a girlfriend (not in this group, but some overlap) was putting together a trip to Italy and taking care of all the details. I gave my CC info and said let’s go!

Y'all, why were we on a BUS TRIP that cris-crossed the entire country? And it wasn’t even a private tour! We were clearly just on an Expedia organized tour. By Day 2 someone left. By Day 4 people had unfriended each other on social media.

The friend who organized the trip posted AMAZING photos that looked like she was on some sort of luxury sojourn. The rest of us have pics that look like we’re on a middle school band trip. I have not ridden a bus since then, not a metro bus, not a school bus to chaperone a field trip, not even the people mover at Dulles.

Terrible trip but great memories!

I would watch this movie.

No kidding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:last year, spring break costa rica. At the last minute, spouse stayed back because his mom was in the hospital, Kids and I went. On day 2 of rafting I wrenched my knee (turned out I had torn a ligament), soldiered on with ice, ibuprofen and ace bandage to do a trip (5 hours in bumpy bus then boat ride) to tortuguero for trip to see wildlife. Woke at dawn to see wildlife, spent 4 hours in driving rain in the canoe and saw almost nothing, except my leg swellig up. Moved to last location and a/c/ broken in hotel and two of us got food poisoning (from our tortuguero meal I'm quite sure), so it was coming out both ends and we only had one bathroom and then DH called to say that his mom passed away and I had to tell the kids their grandma died.

I've been to CR before and loved it, this was just a snakebit trip.

And this is an Adam Sandler movie.