Tell me about your worst trip or a trip gone wrong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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!

NP. You mean trust the crew who ran the boat aground with their judgment that it was okay to be onboard a sinking ship inside staterooms looking for stuff in the dark? No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got stranded in Central African Republic.

Being stranded at some location anywhere is a nightmare of mine and absolutely a driving reason we buy trip insurance for any international destination. And please let me continue to fantasize that if I’m stuck in an African jungle or atop Machu Picchu amid political unrest or a Volcano that’s getting too steamy, that I’ll be able to pull out my phone, call my trip insurance 800 #, and I’ll soon be hearing the helicopter coming for my evacuation.

I’m the CAR poster. I typed the whole story out and then lost it just as I was going to post it. I can assure you no one was going to rescue us, which is why I’m so thankful we survived. There was absolutely no way to contact the outside world. But we were in one of the most remote places in the world. If you go on safari in Kenya you’re gonna be just fine!

Long story short: an overland trip from Cameroon through CAR, inexperienced and dishonest guide, vehicle trouble, lots of sketchy checkpoints where our passports were confiscated by drunk soldiers, and a pit of mud the size of a football field we had to cross (where the stranding happened). It was a very scary situation. We did see the gorillas and forest elephants at Dzanga Sangha National park, for which, almost 15 years later, was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

I’m sure the park was incredible, but CAR is not on my “to visit” list, and there are lots of places in Africa that are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got stranded in Central African Republic.

Being stranded at some location anywhere is a nightmare of mine and absolutely a driving reason we buy trip insurance for any international destination. And please let me continue to fantasize that if I’m stuck in an African jungle or atop Machu Picchu amid political unrest or a Volcano that’s getting too steamy, that I’ll be able to pull out my phone, call my trip insurance 800 #, and I’ll soon be hearing the helicopter coming for my evacuation.

I’m the CAR poster. I typed the whole story out and then lost it just as I was going to post it. I can assure you no one was going to rescue us, which is why I’m so thankful we survived. There was absolutely no way to contact the outside world. But we were in one of the most remote places in the world. If you go on safari in Kenya you’re gonna be just fine!

Long story short: an overland trip from Cameroon through CAR, inexperienced and dishonest guide, vehicle trouble, lots of sketchy checkpoints where our passports were confiscated by drunk soldiers, and a pit of mud the size of a football field we had to cross (where the stranding happened). It was a very scary situation. We did see the gorillas and forest elephants at Dzanga Sangha National park, for which, almost 15 years later, was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

I’m sure the park was incredible, but CAR is not on my “to visit” list, and there are lots of places in Africa that are.

I’m the CAR poster. I’ve been to more than 20 African countries and this trip was by far the toughest. I’m still conflicted all these years later whether it was worth it to see the gorillas.

[Anonymous]

Every work trip I take to SE Asia is worse than the last. The whole region is a living hell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every work trip I take to SE Asia is worse than the last. The whole region is a living hell.

Really? I have a bunch of friends who have travelled for fun to Vietnam and have loved it. Maybe work travel is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got stranded in Central African Republic.

Being stranded at some location anywhere is a nightmare of mine and absolutely a driving reason we buy trip insurance for any international destination. And please let me continue to fantasize that if I’m stuck in an African jungle or atop Machu Picchu amid political unrest or a Volcano that’s getting too steamy, that I’ll be able to pull out my phone, call my trip insurance 800 #, and I’ll soon be hearing the helicopter coming for my evacuation.

I’m the CAR poster. I typed the whole story out and then lost it just as I was going to post it. I can assure you no one was going to rescue us, which is why I’m so thankful we survived. There was absolutely no way to contact the outside world. But we were in one of the most remote places in the world. If you go on safari in Kenya you’re gonna be just fine!

Long story short: an overland trip from Cameroon through CAR, inexperienced and dishonest guide, vehicle trouble, lots of sketchy checkpoints where our passports were confiscated by drunk soldiers, and a pit of mud the size of a football field we had to cross (where the stranding happened). It was a very scary situation. We did see the gorillas and forest elephants at Dzanga Sangha National park, for which, almost 15 years later, was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

I’m sure the park was incredible, but CAR is not on my “to visit” list, and there are lots of places in Africa that are.

I’m the CAR poster. I’ve been to more than 20 African countries and this trip was by far the toughest. I’m still conflicted all these years later whether it was worth it to see the gorillas.

There's some at the zoo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was at a trip when I went to Peru solo in 2016. I had spent 1 week in Cusco and then went to see Lima for a few days. Lima is great if you want to eat food which I love, but its people..are not so friendly on the other hand.

This was in Surquillo (close to where the Kennedy Park), and this was around 7-9 P.M., while I was walking to a motel I rented for my last few days. There were two guys that were looking at me while I was passing a through market and when they saw me passing through they gave me a side eye and the best I could recall was the first person saying “oye, mira a ese negrito” since I have a slightly dark tan. The second guy was staring closely at me and I had genuinely never felt this uncomfortable of people looking at me so weird and creepy. IIRC, one of them also had a knife or what looked like a dagger in their pocket. They did not threaten or even said anything regarding assault but it scared me. Genuinely will never think about this.

Lima is only really good for its cuisine, everything else kinda sucks there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every work trip I take to SE Asia is worse than the last. The whole region is a living hell.

Really? I have a bunch of friends who have travelled for fun to Vietnam and have loved it. Maybe work travel is different.

I guess anywhere new can be fun, no matter how awful it is to actually spend extended time there. It's neat to see the largest garbage dump in the world until you recognize it's just a giant pile of garbage, and the ground water underneath is contaminated for the next three millennia.

I'm tired of the traffic, garbage, epic pollution, annoying smells, miserable weather, general inconvenience, I could go on. I just hate the whole region.