Things you wish people explained to you before you went to (insert vacation destination)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Monkeys are never, ever cute, from Gibraltar to India to China to South Africa.

Monkeys are your enemy. Proceed accordingly.

So true! Gibraltar monkeys were so bold! Ain’t nothing cute about having one land in your head! All I could think of was a diseased little nail scratching my skin.

Aghhhhh! A dozen rock ape babies jumped on me at the same time. Literally thought i was going to die

Why did they do that. Were you poking at them? Trying to feed them bread? Smelling like money shine and they thought you were mommy?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I wish someone said the Grand Canyon is not kid friendly and pretty dangerous and it’s not that impressive in my opinion. I loved the arches at Utah but something about our Grabd Canyon trip was a bust.

Dangerous, how so? Thanks!

NP- A misstep on a trail and you are dead. You sit on a ledge and lose balance? You could be dead. It is a very dangerous place for small kids, you could not let a 2yo out of your sight for 2 seconds without them being at risk near the rim. I have vertigo so stayed on the paved biked trail and went viewpoint to viewpoint that way. I disagree about it not being impressive though, it is breathtaking, but the hiking is inherently dangerous.

This. A dear friend fell to her death in GC.

Sorry that happened.

We just got from GC with 5 yo twins and had a great time. It felt very safe. We hiked down the south rim. It felt like a calm, nature‐based Disney

Not at all Disney! How can you compare a natural wonder to fantasy island?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t realize how many of the bathrooms in London would not have a mirror, paper towels or a trash can. That took some getting used to.

There could be far worse. Did someone really need to warn you of this? Protecting you from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I learned after my cruise a couple years ago, that you can still get hit with the motion sickness a few days after your cruise, even if it didn’t bother you during the cruise.

I had the worst vertigo after I got back. It started about 3 days afterwards and lasted a week or so, it was awful, but the cruise itself was great.

I can’t cruise any longer. Bad experience on very small vessel. Got mal disbarkment syndrome. Felt I was moving for a month and then vertigo attacks became common place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I wish someone said the Grand Canyon is not kid friendly and pretty dangerous and it’s not that impressive in my opinion. I loved the arches at Utah but something about our Grabd Canyon trip was a bust.

Dangerous, how so? Thanks!

NP- A misstep on a trail and you are dead. You sit on a ledge and lose balance? You could be dead. It is a very dangerous place for small kids, you could not let a 2yo out of your sight for 2 seconds without them being at risk near the rim. I have vertigo so stayed on the paved biked trail and went viewpoint to viewpoint that way. I disagree about it not being impressive though, it is breathtaking, but the hiking is inherently dangerous.

This. A dear friend fell to her death in GC.

Sorry that happened.

We just got from GC with 5 yo twins and had a great time. It felt very safe. We hiked down the south rim. It felt like a calm, nature‐based Disney

Wow what an insensitive and borderline psycho reply.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:That monkeys at Siam Reap are not cute and need to be avoided.

That the heat and humidity in Vietnam is so much worse than DC. Wear lightweight clothes.

That umbrellas don't work in Scotland. Bring a hooded rain jacket.

If you are traveling in a country where you can't drink the water, keep your mouth closed in the shower too.

+1 to the umbrellas in Scotland!

First time I experienced sideways rain was in the UK. Umbrella was useless.

New Orleans can have sideways rain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pigeon Forge is like going to Myrtle Beach/Deliverance in the middle of the TN mountains.

Yikes and not someplace I’d be trying to go to. Went to Myrtle Beach once. That was once too often.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER EAT REEF FISH IN THE CARIBBEAN.

This could save you many, maaaaany years of pain and suffering.

What is reef fish? Where is it sold? Never heard of it and I’ve been to the islands. And what kind of all cap letters years of suffering would be saved? Please explain?

Did you have years of reef fish poisoning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER EAT REEF FISH IN THE CARIBBEAN.

This could save you many, maaaaany years of pain and suffering.

What is a reef fish?

Fish like sea bass, some types of eels, grouper, barracuda, etc..

Burundi? I love Burundi fish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER EAT REEF FISH IN THE CARIBBEAN.

This could save you many, maaaaany years of pain and suffering.

What is a reef fish?

Fish like sea bass, some types of eels, grouper, barracuda, etc..

I’ve eaten sea bass and grouper more times than I can count, including IN the Caribbean, and it’s on every seafood menu in America. I don’t personally know anyone that’s gotten sick from it.

Why are you saying it’s dangerous? That doesn’t sound correct.

It is correct.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciguatera_fish_poisoning

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-HEP-NFS-SSA-2022.1

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/ciguatera-poisoning


Symptoms can last for weeks up to 20 years. Unlucky people describe numbness, tingling, and lack of being able to feel hot and cold. Uncontrollable itchiness at times and even pain. It could basically be a lifetime of misery if you are unlucky just once and eat the wrong fish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Monkeys are never, ever cute, from Gibraltar to India to China to South Africa.

Monkeys are your enemy. Proceed accordingly.

So true! Gibraltar monkeys were so bold! Ain’t nothing cute about having one land in your head! All I could think of was a diseased little nail scratching my skin.

This is so true. And so sad. I used to visit family in India as a kid in the 80s and the monkeys were cute, and fascinating. They would come to the window and would take food out of your hand. It was so entertaining to watch them live amongst their troupe on the terraces of buildings. No more. Their habitat is gone and they look scary too because they have no access to their natural foods so they eat leftover processed human junk food. It’s done to them what it’s done to us!

Great thread, btw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Skiing out west is much much tougher than skiing in the east. Until a few years ago, I’d only skied in New England and New York. I’m an intermediate skier. All I ever heard was, oh you would love skiing out west, the powder is fantastic and so much easier and more fun to ski than the ice in the east, etc etc. So I planned a trip to Utah.

Turns out, the trails are so much harder out there, much steeper and bumpier, not nearly as much grooming - a blue out there is definitely equivalent to a black on the east coast, and frankly, probably harder than a lot of black trails in the east. The resorts are huge and the trails go on forever (a good thing, yes!) but you have to pay close attention to trail signs (trails wind here there and everywhere, cross cross with other trails, it can get very confusing) because you can easily end up at the top of a trail that’s above your ability level with no alternative way down (and you know why I know that). Also it’s hard to ski powder if you don’t have experience! Several years into ski trips out west and I’m now much more comfortable out there but it was not at all the slam dunk at the beginning I’d been led to believe it would be.

This is great advice. I’ve heard all the same about skiing out West and have been wanting to go for all those same reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU EVER EAT REEF FISH IN THE CARIBBEAN.

This could save you many, maaaaany years of pain and suffering.

What is reef fish? Where is it sold? Never heard of it and I’ve been to the islands. And what kind of all cap letters years of suffering would be saved? Please explain?

Did you have years of reef fish poisoning?

NP, but I googled after reading this thread and it's a legitimate problem that I've never heard of. It's like food poisoning, but with the added benefit of long term neurological and joint problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish I had insider tips on how to have fun in Madrid. I have been a lot of places, including multiple trips to many European capitals. Madrid was one of our biggest duds in a lifetime of travel.

I also would have chosen off-resort restaurants in Bali more carefully. I got "Bali Belly" which is probably the same thing as "Montezuma's Revenge".

Agree about Madrid. I bet it is a fun place to live but it was harder to enjoy a few days of sightseeing. On a recent trip to Spain we only spent a day there to recover from jet lag and then went to other areas for the rest of the trip.

[Anonymous]

It’s a little awkward but I spend a lot of time briefing visitors on toilets/ toilet holes and toilet paper protocols when they come see me in Asia.

There is a lot of variation possible.