No good travel story ever started with a salad.
From abandoned hotels to getting lost in Santorini, there’s nothing our travel-loving readers haven’t experienced!
If you’ve got a travel story worth sharing, email [email protected] for your chance to feature on So Where Next.
The hotel from hell
“I was taken to a ‘hotel’ on the beach in Honduras that turned out to be abandoned. It had a great view, but there were buckets everywhere catching the drips from the leaking ceiling. It was run by an American fugitive with no teeth and some street kids. We stayed there anyway! Our first night sitting on the balcony, we saw someone get shot while being pursued on a bicycle!”
Carla Grossetti
Travel writer
Instagram: @food.travel.stories
Bali Bonus
“I’m not a big Bali fan (I’d rather go to Margaret River), but when a friend who lives in Sydney asked me to join her on a quiet relaxing holiday in Bali instead of a 40th party, I couldn’t let her down. She’d booked a two-bed luxury villa with our own private pool, and that did sound lovely. She arrived a day ahead of me, but when I walked through the door, she looked less than impressed – our private pool was a narrow plunge pool that had no sunbathing area around it and no chance of ever getting any sun – it was in the shade all day. We were in Bali for pool lounging and tanning. I marched to reception and explained that the villa would not do, we wanted to lie in the sun. They moved us into a huge 4-bedroom villa with a full indoor/outdoor kitchen, two living areas, four bathrooms, a spa, and a massive pool with 4-post sunbed and several sun lounges – oh and a hammock. It was a million times better than the first villa they had us in. My friend didn’t dare to complain or ask for an alternative villa. I did, and it was a huge win!”
Dianne Bortoletto
Travel writer and PR consultant
Instagram: @travelletto
When missing a flight changed the course of life
“When visiting Australia for the first time in my life back in 2006, I missed my flight back – by one whole month. Apparently, I must have mixed up June and July.
I called the airline operator two days before my departure, and she simply couldn’t find my flight details. I remember I was in a phone booth in Broome at that time, and my mates outside said it was hilarious seeing my charades on the phone. I decided it was a stroke of fate, and stayed for another 5 months in Australia.
During these months, I met my new girlfriend, sailed the Whitsundays, worked on an orange plantation and in a butchery, and finally had the genius idea of visiting South East Asia on the way back to Germany. So I spent another 2 months travelling to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. It was the best move ever to miss that flight.”
Chris Kaiser
Founder & CEO, B’n’Tree
Instagram: @clickatree
Related reads: Missed Flights And Death Road: Your Best And Worst Travel Stories
Getting lost – and not in a good way!
“When I was in Santorini, my hotel was overbooked, so they put me in the middle of nowhere at a nice lady’s house. But there were no lights around, so while picturesque during the day, I got lost walking back in the dark! In the end, I had to call my cousin in Athens who figured out where I was using the internet (back in 2007) and called me a taxi! But on the bright side, I also found a magical outdoor cinema during one of the other evenings!”
Christina Koullas
Founder, CKPR
Instagram: christina_ckpr
An almost exploding carry-on
“As a regular traveller, I’ve become an expert in packing nothing but the bare minimum for a trip, allowing me to travel with carry-on only for several days, and thus saving myself the luggage fee on low-cost carriers. Of course, this still sometimes requires a bit of convincing to close the carry-on bag, maybe sitting on it or whatever. On one such occasion, I arrived at the security check with my over-crammed carry-on, gently undid the zip and in doing so repeated several times aloud “Please don’t explode, please don’t explode!” in front of a slightly concerned security officer. Needless to say, I was selected for the “random bomb screening” on my way out!”
Elodie Compos
Travel enthusiast
If you’ve got a travel story worth sharing, email [email protected] for your chance to feature on So Where Next.
Feature image: Capturing the human heart. on Unsplash
See more: So Hot Right Now
