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Travellers Tell Us Their Best And Worst Travel Stories

There's a great travel story in all of us...

Travellers Tell Us Their Best And Worst Travel Stories

There's a great travel story in all of us...

From picking up a date on a plane to having a date with the bathroom, these travellers have seen and done it all.

If you’ve got a travel story worth sharing, email [email protected] for your chance to feature on So Where Next.

Loch ness travel story
Source: Ramon Vloon on Unsplash

A case of mistaken calculations…

“Long before the invention of the GPS, back when we used maps and calculated time and distances by hand, my family and I went to Scotland for a day trip (we were staying in France for a bit). My dad had carefully calculated our every movement: times to visit castles, how long we would be allowed for lunch and so on. We were on the first flight that morning, effortlessly got the car, and we were quite proud of our efficiency. It took a few hours for my dad to finally comment that ‘the kilometres are really long in this country…’. As it turns out, all the distances were given in miles of course, and he had calculated everything in kilometres! Let me tell you the rush to the Loch Ness and rush back to the airport, followed by the frantic run through departures will stay in my mind forever!”

Elodie Compos
Travel enthusiast

Related reads: Bomb Threats and Bali Upgrades: Travel Stories to Make You Cringe, Laugh, and Cry

D&V sick travel story
Source: Rex Pickar on Unsplash

Death by D&V

“The first time I’d heard the term D&V was when I worked on the Mv Adonia. Before then, I’d only been on one cruise ship vacay, and luckily there wasn’t an outbreak of the Norovirus.

But while I was trapped at sea for six months working as a photographer, there were plenty of D&V moments amongst the crew and passengers. Again, I was lucky and didn’t contract the D (diarrhea) or the V (vomiting).

It was when my family visited Canada in 2009 that it chased me down. One minute, we were driving around Lunenburg, Nova Scotia looking at the pretty painted buildings and seaside, the next, the toddler was vomiting all over the back seat of the rental car.

By the time we got to my BFF’s house, her toddler was a mess. I spent most of that night tending to him with a bucket beside the bed. When he finally slept, I retreated to the sofa for some shut-eye (the three of us were sharing a double bed – gah!).

When your time at home is limited, the itinerary has to go on. So, we travelled to Kentville to my sister’s place for a night. Lucky for me (not), the illness started with the D and the worst gas I’ve ever had (then, and since). I spent most of the time in the bathroom trying to cover up the rank smells exiting my ass.

By day two, the vomiting started. We were nearing our last days in Nova Scotia and had not spent much time with my father. I’d already cancelled a lunch date due to toddler being sick, but I couldn’t cancel anymore. After a two-hour drive (I have no idea how I survived that trip without shitting myself), we got to my dad’s place. I made a bee-line to the toilet for some hugging action.

I felt so bad for being sick when my father went to a lot of effort to make a meal of my favourite foods (including lobster) that I forced myself to eat. Of course, it ended up in the loo promptly after.

It doesn’t stop there. Although the D&V had stopped, the deadly gas continued all the way across Canada (for anyone on that WestJet flight – I AM SO SORRY) to Victoria where I contaminated another family member’s bathroom. SO disgusting.”

Jennifer Morton
Travel writer
Instagram: @jennifermortonwriter

Camels in Jordan Travel Story
Source: Callie Joseph on Unsplash

The offer of a lifetime

“Deep in Jordan with my daughter, I got the offer of a lifetime: 10 camels for marriage to my daughter. The bedouin liked me so much that he said I could be part of the new family, with my 10 new camels. He had a cave and a townhouse too. Sadly I wanted too many more camels. So, the deal didn’t happen…”

Susanne Gervay
Children’s & YA author
Instagram: @susanne_gervay

Related reads: Missed Flights And Death Road: Your Best And Worst Travel Stories

Travellers Tell Us Their Best And Worst Travel Stories
Source: Jared Rice on Unsplash

An interesting Indian experience

“I did an amazing detox experience in India that was way out of my comfort zone. I went to a breakfast where a lady was talking about a retreat she was running in the south of India – it sounded divine! The tropical retreat was overlooking the Arabian Sea where I would get the opportunity to heal and relax. I couldn’t join the lady on her trip, so I did my own research and set off to Shin Shiva in Kerala, India. Have to confess India was not somewhere I had ever wanted to go, but I love it – it is the chaos that works!

Anyway, my healing, relaxing trip was not exactly how I imagined it. Although I did relax in a hammock between palm trees overlooking the Arabian Sea, the detox/therapy was a tad confronting. There was a lot of nakedness and time spent on the loo sh……ting

For the first three days, I had to drink Ghee with herbs in – this was the detox process. It made me feel so sick that I didn’t miss eating. You also received two to three hours of specialised massage and treatments each day – it was lovely, but the therapists were carried out by your therapist of the same sex, totally naked! I remember on the second day the girls said to me “today we do foot massage” and I thought “great, my feet are sore”. But no, she meant she would be massaging me with her feet!

Day four was purge day, spent on the loo! I remember thinking “ok, now the worst is over”, only to be told of three days of enemas on day seven, eight, nine!”

Debbie Rivers
Dating/relationship coach
Instagram: @dare2date_debbie

Cockpit travel story
Source: Jon Flobrant on Unsplash

Dates on a plane

“I was invited to smoke a cigarette with the Captain in the cockpit on my flight from Madrid to Lima (Peru) by the steward Gonzalez, who invited himself to have a couple of stiff G&T’s with my friend and I mid-flight. Sadly I didn’t smoke, but almost wanted to pretend to just so I could say that I smoked a cigarette in the cockpit with the Captain on a flight! I did get an upgrade to an entire bottle of Chivas regal 18-year-old whisky, a business class toiletry bag, and a date out of it though!”

Joanna Walden
Author and holistic brand consultant
Instagram: @iamjoannawalden

If you’ve got a travel story worth sharing, email [email protected] for your chance to feature on So Where Next.

Feature image: Ian Dooley on Unsplash

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