My worst vacation was our first trip overseas with the kids to see DH’s home country in Western Europe in 2022. About a week before before we left DH and DS7 tested positive for COVID. Since we were about to go on our trip we all masked up around the house and tried to be as safe as possible. We got there and stayed in an Airbnb near MIL’s house. The first few days went fine, DH no longer tested positive for COVID and that weekend we went to Paris for a side trip.

While in Paris we were called by the police. Our Airbnb had flooded while we were gone and the attached neighbors called emergency services. Most of our things were there such as the kids favorite stuffies and DH’s work laptop since we were just going away for a quick weekend. We tried to contact the Airbnb owner but they did not respond immediately. Eventually we got a hold of them and they made it sound minor and that we could possibly still stay there. When we came back the Airbnb was padlocked. We could not get our things out. The kids were crying because they could see their stuffies lying on the ground inside and we couldn’t go in. Again it took a while to get a hold of the Airbnb owner but eventually they came. The house no longer had electricity or water so Airbnb immediately cancelled the rest of our stay. Around midnight we got our things and called around to find somewhere else to stay. We could only find a hotel with two non connected rooms with two twin beds each so we split up with the kids.

The next day my throat was sore and I tested positive for Covid. DS9 immediately after as well. We masked up and tried to stay outside when visiting MIL.

On the way home there was an issue with staffing at the airport and we waited in line for almost 4 hours between checking in and security and missed our flight home by 10 minutes. We could not get another flight until the next day. Many others missed their flight as well so the airport hotel was fully booked. We had to wait in security for more than an hour to leave the airport to stay in a hotel overnight. The next day we checked into the airport at the maximum amount of time before your flight you were allowed to enter (4 hours), waited again for hours but finally made the flight.

Since then we’ve been traumatized and have only done road trips together. MIL passed away but DH visited her several times by himself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got food poisoning so bad in Taiwan that I didn’t know how I was going to get on the plane home. Thank goodness it eased right before I left for the airport.

My hotel was bombed in Mumbai.

We went to one of the most “biologically intense” places on earth and saw a squirrel. Food was good though.

As someone else who also spent an entire vacation feeling like the stomach virus was never going to stop , I totally understand why the hotel being bombed in Mumbai was only the second thing that came to mind for you

LOL and agree. I ended up in the middle of a narco turfwar gunfight where 30ish people were killed and I had to hide out on the ground in a filthy alley for hours but that also doesn't top the list compared to the stomach issue nightmares.

Extended family trip to Tortola , villa rental was stupid expensive , within about 4 hours of getting to the villa we all started vomiting one by one, every 6-8 hours a new person would start, lasted all week. Miraculously no one sick on the flight there or the flight home. But we never went to the beach.

This isn’t a worst trip scenario but a stupid thing I did that could have resulted in my death scenario.

I got caught in a riptide off the beach in Rio. I was pulled out to sea and was repeatedly dragged down and popped back up by the waves. My body scraped the ocean floor- obviously not super deep at that point. I thought I was dead. I remember thinking, well, this is it I guess.

I was too tired to physically panic and somehow I was ragdolled closer to shore. At some point I started swimming again. People ran into the surf to help drag me on the beach. It was a bit embarrassing. I have no idea how my bikini stayed on.

Was on a pretty remote island in the equatorial Pacific. Only way on or off is by boat. No electricity. No running water. No internet.

No nothing.

A week becomes pretty long.

But the weather changed. Very stormy. For days. But I didn't have a lot of experience with the ocean and said let's do it. Let's get out of here and go home.

Well, that was a a mistake.

40 foot seas are terrifying. Do not mess with the ocean. The captain thought he could do it and we did. But goodness, the most edge of death experience I've ever had.

Do not mess around with the ocean

Was studying abroad in Australia , went on a spring break trip to the Great Barrier Reef area with 4-5 other friends from my group. One of the boys had his initial schizophrenic break while on the trip. Full on break- walking around with white sunblock smeared on himself, wearing winter gloves, refusing his suitcase and carrying his clothes around in plastic bags, yelling at everyone, he got himself kicked out of our Hostel and spent the night who knows where, was refusing to get on the plane back to Sydney, checked his shoes as a checked bag item- like, by themselves- as we tried to shove him on the plane with us. Got back to Sydney and deposited him with the program director who thankfully was able to contact his parents and get him back to the US with a parent I believe. I think about him a lot and hope he is doing ok. But yeah not a very fun trip. Oh and this was the same week the nightclub in Bali got bombed and apparently someone in our group had told the program we were going to Bali for spring break so at least one of our families (mine) spent about a day thinking I’d probably been bombed in Bali since I didn’t have a cellphone back then to call them.

This is so specific that if anyone else from that program is on here, they’re gonna know it haha

Anonymous wrote:I got food poisoning so bad in Taiwan that I didn’t know how I was going to get on the plane home. Thank goodness it eased right before I left for the airport.

My hotel was bombed in Mumbai.

We went to one of the most “biologically intense” places on earth and saw a squirrel. Food was good though.

As someone else who also spent an entire vacation feeling like the stomach virus was never going to stop , I totally understand why the hotel being bombed in Mumbai was only the second thing that came to mind for you

Anonymous wrote:My died and left me a little money and she wanted me to do something fun with it because I was always so responsible so I took three weeks off work and traveled to places to sprinkle her ashes.

Last stop was Amsterdam and before getting on the train to Brussels I have breakfast and a vienna coffee. Well I felt a little off when I got to my hotel so stayed in ordered room service (a ramen because I thought the broth might settle my stomach) and the next day I woke up with my period (it was not due or expected) and with food poisoning.

I was in that hotel room sick and destroying everything for two days straight. The hotel staff was nice and got me meds and checked on me and even reached out to a doc who basically said you just gotta wait it out it, drink water to stay hydrated.

I never got to see Amsterdam. The day I got better was the day my flight left and they put me in the biggest fanciest plushest car you had ever seen and took me away from their hotel LOL. I left all the currency I had on me in the room for maid service.

My MOM died.

My died and left me a little money and she wanted me to do something fun with it because I was always so responsible so I took three weeks off work and traveled to places to sprinkle her ashes.

Last stop was Amsterdam and before getting on the train to Brussels I have breakfast and a vienna coffee. Well I felt a little off when I got to my hotel so stayed in ordered room service (a ramen because I thought the broth might settle my stomach) and the next day I woke up with my period (it was not due or expected) and with food poisoning.

I was in that hotel room sick and destroying everything for two days straight. The hotel staff was nice and got me meds and checked on me and even reached out to a doc who basically said you just gotta wait it out it, drink water to stay hydrated.

I never got to see Amsterdam. The day I got better was the day my flight left and they put me in the biggest fanciest plushest car you had ever seen and took me away from their hotel LOL. I left all the currency I had on me in the room for maid service.

I am a lifelong camper and my husband is not. We acquired a camper from my aunt and were embarking on our first trip. My husband was very apprehensive about this and was only doing it because I insisted.
Well, we ended up in a torrential downpour including marble-sized hail and thunder all night. Both kids were completely terrified. The next morning the baby somehow rolled out of the camper into a puddle of mud. If it hadn’t rained so hard he could have been seriously injured.
We camp all the time now (8 years later) and have never had bad weather again.

Not the WORST trip but....Friend A and I were planning a trip to visit Friend B who was an expat with their family in a far away country for my birthday. As soon as I had locked in on my somewhat expensive plane ticket, Friend A springs on me that their spouse is coming too (I am divorced). We had a two day layover in a city before getting to our mutual friend and I am now a third wheel and it was awkward. It was v v irritating and it also made me not like the spouse (I hadn't spent that much time with them before and they said some disparaging things about marriage that rubbed me wrong since they were married to my friend!) and I was glad to get to our final destination. Friend B's spouse hadn't even taken time off work because this trip was initially planned as just the three of us meeting and hanging out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Misery loves company, right? Just got home from a trip to a bucket list destination for me (Japan). Traveled with someone we've never traveled with before (my sister's new husband), and the whining and complaining and pouting from him nearly ruined this trip for me.

ugh.

What were his whines and complaints? I only ask because my mom *thinks* this is a bucket list trip, and I fear I would be in your shoes if I actually do it with her!!!

OP here. His complaints were about all the walking. He's a bit overweight, not in shape and was told about all the walking (20,000 steps a day) but i don't think it registered. He brought the wrong shoes - he wore brand new sketchers (because some youtuber said they were the best shoes for Japan) and he wore cowboy boots (wtf) because he thought it would be cool to show the Japanese locals that he was from Texas . He got blisters day 1 of the trip and was whining and complaining. By day 2, he wanted to hire a private driver to shuttle us around Japan and we said no - but he could do it for the two of them if he wanted to. Every train station we went in was met with whining because OMG stairs! He's in his early 50s and was acting like a child.

He was asked multiple times for his input on the itinerary but didn't say one word about what he wanted to do. He did watch youtube videos and tik toks about traveling Japan so he was aware of the walking involved and what this entailed.

And he wanted to wander off to play Pokemon Go to hit up 'poke stops' and 'fight' other players in gyms, so he was complaining that we didn't care about this game or chasing down pokemons. Told him multiple times that he could go off and do his own thing but absolutely refused. Also told him that he could rest and didn't have to do everything we did but again, refused. He insisted on coming with my sister and I when we wanted to go shopping - something he was not interested in, but he refused and insisted on coming with. He didn't even go into the stores with us; he just stood outside the entrance and waited - so weird. But complained that he was tired of standing, that his feet hurt, blah blah blah, but wouldn't take any suggestions.

never traveling with him again!!

IDK what age your mom is but I wouldn't bring a senior to Japan. It's just too hard.

I would also be irritated, but Skechers were probably not to blame -- those are my 20K steps a day shoes! Probably the only shoes that I can reliably wear for that kind of walking without getting blisters or arch pain. I call them my Disney shoes because I bought them once on a whim when we stopped at a Costco on the way to Disneyworld. Out of the box, I walked 10 miles in them with no problem. They are not winning any fashion contests but those shoes walk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a child, my parents took us on a trip to Colombia, South America where my American grandfather was living with his second wife. At some point after dinner there was a big family dispute when my mom found out her dad had been shacking up with the girlfriend (now wife) while her parents were married. I cowered in the corner as voices were raised. Eventually, everyone went to bed very, very late so that we missed our outbound plane the next morning. That plane took off and crashed into mountains. Everyone at home who had our itinerary thought we had died. It was quite a trip.

Now that is quite the story! Was it this flight?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avianca_Flight_410

That is an insane story. I think I'd feel like God had chosen me for something special to have everyone oversleep like that.

Family vacation to Puerto Rico, me, my husband, and two kids ages 14 and 16. First we had to delay our flight going there because a huge storm here in DC knocked over our neighbors tree into our fence/yard, and we had to deal with insurance. Two days into the trip, husband and I get caught in a riptide at our hotel beach. We survived but honestly, it cast a pall on the whole trip for me. Next day we leave early to go to the rainforest to hike, and discover a nail in our rental car and a flat tire. Spent the whole morning at Pepboys getting it fixed. When we got to the rainforest we spent about 10 minutes walking before the torrential rains started and we had to turn back because of mudslides (we make our ticket for first thing the morning knowing that the afternoon downpours are common).

No food poisoning, but I did have some stomach issues from something I ate at the Luquillo kiosks. On our last night we had reservations at La Estacion, which I was soooo looking forward to, and felt relieved that my stomach was settled by then. But half the (already small) menu was sold out, including all the things we were planning to order. Underlying all of this, the trip was a few months after my father died, and I thought it would be a nice peaceful way for me to get my head back together after months of caring for him, but no.

Oh! Almost forgot! Our hotel room at the resort we stayed most of the trip at, something happened to the AC's condenser, so our room turned into this weird chilly terrarium, with the beds, floor, and all of our clothes becoming wet and cold and gross. The hotel moved us to a new room and gave us free laundry service but... yeah, not fun. I know loads of people who love Puerto Rico and I'd been wanting to go for decades, but that trip was so bad, I have no desire to ever go back even though I'm sure it was just bunch of bad coincidences.

Another airplane sickness situation here:

My 12-year old son started throwing up about 15 minutes into a 13 hour flight to Tokyo. He threw up constantly for the remainder of the flight. DH was sitting with him, helping him, while I tried to stand up and block the aisle so no one else would see, get up for more air sickness bags and paper towels, etc.

Then, about 8 hours into the flight, DH started throwing up. They were both SO sick but somehow made it there. We barely made it through immigration and had to be beg to be taken into a special line b/c the regular line was at least an hour wait.

They were sick and basically just slept for 2 more days. It was a rough start to our trip.