Not all trips are as fun, meaningful, or relaxing as we might like them to be, but an unlucky few end up with experiences so bad that they qualify as downright nightmare material. 

One netizen decided to engage in some schadenfreude and asked others to share their absolutely worst travel experiences. So prepare to be happy you stayed home as you scroll through, upvote your favorite tales, and be sure to comment your own experiences below. We also got in touch with Bejal Gosai from Be-lavie.com to learn how to not have a travel nightmare like the people in this post.

More info: Be-lavie.com | Instagram

#1

This is an easy one. Friday June 18th, 2004, the day before our 5th wedding anniversary. We were in Disney World with my in-laws for the week. This was our last full day there. Wife was about 6-7 weeks pregnant. It was going to be our first. Early in the morning she started spotting. Later on it got heavier and early afternoon contractions started. She miscarried in a hotel room in Pop Century resort. We cried and comforted each other. Then we got cleaned up and went to dinner and Magic Kingdom with her parents trying to salvage what was left of the night.

The silver lining is that we waited almost a year to try again and had no issues. He's now 17 years old and just started his senior year in high school.

Image credits: stantheman1976

#2

I found out my brother died 2 minutes after getting through customs in Cabo for a bachelor party I was the best man for and planned. Had to find a flight back to Chicago immediately.

Chicago was having a terrible snowstorm and we circled midway airport for an hour waiting for a clear window to land. I then had to explain to the American customs why I had stopped in Mexico for under an hour and came back. I then had to wait another 90 minutes to try to get a cab (none were available readily due to the snowstorm). In total I spent about 18 hours traveling that day.

The worst part was all the reservations I had booked for the group (a total of 12 guys) were under my name with my credit card down. So I was trying to coordinate both a funeral and make sure my friends who were still in Mexico made it to their reservations so i wouldn’t get charged no show fees.

Image credits: Recent-Sentence2900

#3

I got the flu as a single traveler on a work trip.

New job, didn’t know anyone in the city.
Cried on the call to the front desk because I was so sick I couldn’t check out.
Faith in humanity restored when I woke up after my breakdown and a kind soul had left soda crackers and seven-up outside my door.

Image credits: FeistyMuttMom

Bored Panda got in touch with travel writer and blogger Bejal Gosai from Be-lavie.com and she was kind enough to answer some of our questions and give some suggestions on how to actually have a good trip. But on the topic of regret, we wanted to hear what she would suggest to a younger self if she could send a message back in time. 

“Most definitely partake in as much adventure-led activity as possible. Doing activities and experiences that take you out of your comfort zone places you in situations that you are not used to help prepare you for later life. For example, traveling and staying with a local family, volunteering with local social responsibility projects, and physical team building activities like canyoning, and white water rafting aid to push you out of your normal routine, helping you gain some great life skills like problem-solving, applying what you’ve learned as well as helping with recruitment processes.”

#4

A scorpion stung me while I was in Mexico when I was 9. We were in a remote area with no hospital nearby. I almost died.

I didn’t even know what stung me at first, just reached my hand into a couch cushion and felt a sharp pain. A few minutes later I was having trouble breathing. Someone from the resort drove us to the nearest town about 30 mins away. The clinic was closed, so they knocked on doors until they found out where the doctor lived and woke him up. He opened the clinic and hooked me up to an IV. I was unconscious by then.

That was the first night of the vacation. I recovered, but it definitely put a damper on the rest of the trip.

Image credits: TheDarkGoblin39

#5

My little brother almost got kidnapped on vacation to Gatlinburg, TN in 2010. I was around age 13, making my brother 10 at the time. We were on vacation with our grandparents and were walking about 5 feet behind them on the street. A man came up to my brother and put his hands on his shoulders and started to pull him away before I grabbed my brother’s hand and pulled him in my direction and called for our Grandad. The man didn’t let up until my Grandad heard me call for him and started coming our way. He had ahold of my brother’s shoulders so hard that he left bruises and I’m sure that if I wasn’t paying attention, he would’ve picked my brother up and ran with him. SOOO scary.

#6

Got into an argument with a family member and they cancelled my flight back home (we had the same confirmation code). Didn’t find out til I got to the gate and my ticket wouldn’t scan anymore. I didn’t even know you could cancel a ticket after checking in

Image credits: Inevitable_Ring_9450

Often enough, it seems like a lot of difficulties and potential pain can be avoided by paying a premium, but we wanted to hear a seasoned traveler’s take. “Many people don’t have the luxury of time to travel as much as they want to so tend to spend more money on having a tighter itinerary built for them when traveling so they don’t have to partake in a lot of the research. Others may feel like they require the pamper factor after working hard and earning money to be able to have the opportunity to get away,” she shared with Bored Panda. 

#7

Stayed in a bedbug infested hotel room. Apparently I am REALLY reactive to bites and I had hundreds of painful sores. Nobody else in my family ever showed a mark but I ended up looking like I had smallpox and people at the sights on our trip really gave me a wide berth.

Image credits: mumblemurmurblahblah

#8

Skiing in the French Alps about 10 years ago. Day one: brother broke his arm. Day 2: sister broke her coccyx. Day three: mum did her back in. Day 4: dad did his knee in. Day 5: sisters boyfriend broke his thumb and wrist. Day 6: brothers girlfriend wrecked her leg.

We went home the next day.

Side note: all the above people have been skiing most of their lives. Just one of those trips.

Me: drank too much night one, rested and recovered from trip the next day and skied the rest of the time fine. I was having a great time

Image credits: readysteadytech

#9

I've had dysentery in Egypt, a missed connection in Kenya that could have meant a month but fortunately only 4 days, and spent 26 hours on the floor of a regional airport in China where there was not enough space to sit cross legged.

But the worst was this June. I had tickets to see a concert I've wanted to see for 30 years. Flight was supposed to land 12 hours before showtime.. I sat and watched two flights scheduled after mine leave while we were delayed every hour, for 14 hours. I cried. A lot. I'm a 46 year old man.

Robert Smith if you're reading this I'll find a way to get to Lima if there's a ticket for me.

Image credits: Psynautical

“My personal views on this are that individuals should prioritize whatever it is that enables them to travel and explore the world in whichever style of travel suits them. If that means staying in luxury, so be it. It is however critical to balance this with local experiences and add to the local economy while supporting local tourism at a destination. Try and stay in locally owned boutique hotels, use local tour companies, and dine in local eateries for example.”

#10

I got detained at a border crossing and then quarantined in an Ebola hospital in Tanzania on suspicion of having Ebola. Spoiler alert: I didn’t

Image credits: SPACEC0YOTE

#11

2022: Got horrific food poisoning in Oaxaca. Flew to Mexico City the next day for my birthday. Neither my husband nor I could eat or keep anything down.

In the middle of the night, I wake up to glass shattering. I reach for my husband and he’s not there. He was in the bathroom and fainted! Through! The! Glass! Door!

Blood everywhere, throw up everywhere, it’s 3am. More fainting follows.

The young man working the reception that night at the hotel saved our lives and got a doctor there within 10 minutes.

This is why I’m forever and ever loyal to hotels, the feeling of having someone there at all times is priceless. I have no idea what we would’ve done in an Airbnb solo.

Second place is also a root canal! In Turkey and they did an awful job so I had to get it done in Bulgaria ?

Image credits: Dizzy_Impression4702

#12

My grandpa died when I was in Vietnam. I found out when I was staying in a hostel with a bunch of random people and was just sobbing with a curtain shut to my bed. 0/10.

Image credits: bewitchedenvironment

Now, some of the issues listed in this article came down to just bad luck, but many were also avoidable in hindsight. Naturally, as with so many things in life, doing one’s due diligence ahead of time is almost never a bad idea, so we asked Bejal what she would suggest focusing on when gearing up for a trip. “Being fully researched and aware of their destination of choice. For example, local customs, what to wear, and respect for the local culture.”

#13

Husband (now ex) and I were slipped roofies in our drinks at a beach bar in St Martin. My ex wandered off back to the hotel we were staying in and left me with a male stranger who I’m certain was the one who drugged me. I am out of my mind and this guy and I start making out! Cut to : a couple from Minnesota who had been watching the whole scenario unfold came to my rescue and was like let’s get you back to your hotel. I was able to tell them where I was staying and they got me safely returned. When I came to the next morning, belongings were missing from my bag but at least I was alive. I think about that a lot and wonder how I would have ended up if those Minnesotans hadn’t intervened. Shout out to them.

Image credits: yelloweyedsurprise

#14

I woke up with mildly crusty eyes, a telltale sign of pink eye. I thought to myself, “I only have a couple days left in Spain, I can probably wait it out until I’m stateside.” Boy was that stupid. Over the next couple days and the flight back, it got sooo much worse. Both eyes were puffy, red, and crusty. The infection had spread into my upper cheek, so they were starting to puff up too. At its worst I could barely open my eyes because it looked like I had been attacked by a swarm of bees. I looked absolutely horrible and felt just as bad.

Once I got back home I went straight to an emergency clinic at 1am to get some meds to start treating it. It’s kinda remarkable how quickly I started to feel better. This all being said, still had an awesome trip, but I do not recommend a transatlantic flight with severe pink eye.

Image credits: Koeppe_

#15

I was in Mumbai during a terrorist attack. It was on the train line I was supposed to take back home, which I luckily was late for, so I had to hop in a cab but was stuck in it trying to reach my friends for 4 hours. All the phone lines jammed. Everyone thought I was dead. It was pretty scary and chaotic.

In Mongolia we camped next to a lake and in the wee hours of the dawn a pair of very drunk Mongolian guys attacked my friends’ tent and beat them up (they were also Mongolian). Also on that trip a yak broke our van.

Image credits: Ouroborus13

“Having a rough itinerary and plan of action is always a great idea but not over planning and leaving a few days to partake in spontaneous local activities. After all, it is vacation time and it's good to be fresh and alert rather than completely worn out with too many things to do,” she suggested. You can find more helpful information on the Be-lavie website here and on their Instagram here. 

#16

I was backpacking in New Zealand with a friend right after college. We were staying in a little beach town, Kaikoura, which ended up being the epicenter of a 7.8 earthquake at 12am one night. It shook for what felt like 2 min straight. We had to haul a*s to the top of a hill due to a tsunami warning. We were frantic and didn’t grab warm enough clothes, we sat up there freezing for almost 12 hours. The roads had all cracked and we ended up stranded there for 3 days.

There was no service, electricity, or running water. Our hostel owner happened to know someone with a spring, so we got fresh water. He also let us stay the three days for free, super nice dude. We ate food from Red Cross stands and called our families with wifi at the hospital. People were getting choppered out by priority (elderly, kids, health issues.) On the third day, our tour bus company coordinated a chopper out for us to a nearby town and then bussed to Christchurch. We immediately called the airlines and changed our tickets to go the hell home the next day lol

Image credits: Quaking_InMyBoots

#17

I broke my nose and got a concussion while zip-lining in Costa Rica.

I sprained both ankles on day 1 of a 14 day hiking trip to Guatemala.

I got swimmers ear, pink eye, and the flu all at the same time in Panama. My eyes swelled shut. I thought I'd need to be medevaced back, but my tour guide took me to a pharmacy every day to get meds. Was feeling fine a week later...when the tour ended.

On my most recent trip (November) I broke every bone in my wrist on day 2 of my Jordan trip, and had to fly home early to get emergency surgery and spend months in rehab/PT.

(I use to have a travel blog of all the ways I've f****d up and injured myself while traveling.)

Image credits: jadeoracle

#18

My mom died half way thru my last vacation.

Image credits: trader_dennis

#19

On my way home from Italy one time, I missed a connecting flight and wound up on a later one. Got on and the middle seat was empty, thank goodness. Right before the cabin door closed, a guy came running in, and sat in the middle seat.

He promptly began sneezing, coughing, and he had a very runny nose. It was disgusting. He should have been wearing a mask. Even though he said it was allergies, I had some suspicion.

About one week after I got home, I came down with covid. This was back when you had to test negative to come back to the states, from abroad. I was certain I got covid from the sick guy.

By the time I got well from covid, I came down with a blood clot, from my groin, to my ankle. Diagnosed as covid induced, I am still on blood thinners from it, to this day.

#20

I was on day one of a 10 day Hawaiian vacation when an old root canal went back. Spent the whole vacation smacked out of my mind on painkillers. I lost entire days.

But the winner is Greece. Coming back from Greece, I started getting sick on the plane, and barely made it off at my layover in Germany before I started throwing up. Somewhere in the airport, I also noticed my makeup bag was gone out of my carryon. It had my luggage key in it. I struggled to the hotel, where I experienced a violent, 12 hour stomach flu. I still couldnt get into my luggage, but I did not honestly care because I wanted to die. The next day, I headed back to the airport in my only clean clothes, (which were my pjs), makeup free, looking exactly like I had been throwing my guts up. Then security picked my luggage to search, which I still could not open, so I had to check it for a ridiculous additional price. I made it home in my pajamas, looking like hell, to find that my luggage did NOT arrive with me, and my car wouldn't start. Zero stars. Would not recommend.

Greece was amazing though.

Image credits: nikils

#21

I went on a 4-day cruise to celebrate my mom’s birthday. Got excellent rates out of Galveston - it was cheaper than a B&B in Fredericksburg! The trip was great until we awoke on the last day at sea to weird announcements over the intercom system.

Turns out, there was a fire in the engine room, which ended up disabling our ship, leaving only emergency power. So we’re on a floating barge in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. It took the cruise line so long to figure out what to do that we ended up drifting so far east that their plans had to change.

They sent two tugboats from Mexico and started… pushing? our cruise liner to the US. Other cruise ships would stop and give us supplies and we could get wifi signals from them to contact everyone back home. But it was too dangerous to get us off the ship in the middle of the Gulf, so we just waited to get back to shore.

Meanwhile, passengers were going NUTS. The first day or so, food was meager, so people started hoarding, which meant even LESS for everyone else. There was luckily enough power to run the kitchens (and the dishwashers!) so the food situation improved, but we had some weird sandwiches in the meantime.

We had a balcony room, so even without power, we were pretty comfortable. We’d prop open the balcony door and our room door, and the breeze kept us cool. But there were tons of people camping outside on lounge chairs because they couldn’t stay in their rooms.

The worst part for me was the bathroom situation. The toilets would work for a while, but they would back up quickly. They ended up telling us to go #2 in hazmat bags and… leave it outside our cabin door. I made it three days before I finally had to give in and use a bag. My friends and my mom cheered when I came out of the bathroom, and I proclaimed that I would never be going camping lol

Everyone had been making fun of me for how much reading material I’d brought, but they were thanking me for having such a variety by the time we were done!

When we returned to port (in Mississippi, in a shut-down cruise facility), I got my 15 minutes of fame for the one tweet/Facebook post I managed to get out, that I had used to tell everyone in my life that we were marooned. I was on CNN a couple times, the Today Show and several podcasts.

The total time at sea was 5 or 6 days? And upon returning home, I immediately got vertigo, from being slightly tilted for the past week (the boat couldn’t right itself properly). And our shuttle bus to NOLA broke down in the middle of the night and they needed to send another to pick us up. ?‍♀️

Image credits: square_donut14

#22

ended up temporarily paralyzed in Santiago, Chile. Had to fly home and learn to walk again.

Image credits: valeyard89

#23

Seems like every time I go on a long vacation something tragic happens back home. The worst was when I was on an extensive road trip in the Rockies and got a call from my sister that our Mom was put in Hospice. I immediately left my wife on her own with the rental car (which I was loath to do) and flew home. Fortunately I made it just in time to thank her and tell her how much I loved her and appreciated how important she was in my life. She smiled, closed her eyes, and never opened them again. I think she was waiting to say goodbye. Fortunately my wife was fine and enjoyed what was the last two days of our vacation.

#24

not me, but a guy I bought a car from (Frank) - him, girlfriend and a 2nd couple were driving from the airport to their hotel in the hills in Barbados, I believe.

Brakes failed, car careened down the hill. the other 3 were fine but Frank was pretty severely injured, ended up being air lifted to Miami.

During full body scans (MRI? CAT scan? i dunno) they discovered he had Kidney Cancer - Stage 1.

At the time (early 2000s) there was no early detection test (I don't think there is, still, but i'm not an MD), so the car accident ended up saving his life!

Image credits: stacey1771

#25

Me and five friends were on a package holiday to Greece. Three girls, three guys. One of these guys (let’s call him Fred) had a crush on one of the girls, and one of the days there he admitted his feelings for her, she didn’t feel the same way. Okay, so suppose that should be it, buck up and enjoy your vacation.

One night we were all at the bar of the resort, drinks were flowing. And Fred decides to head to the room us guys we’re sharing, okay no worries man. About an hour had past and I suppose he’s having an early night, our other guy friend (Dean) decided to head to the room briefly to check up on him.

A few minutes later Dean comes rushing back, traumatised. What the hell’s happened?! He goes on to explain that there’s glass smashed everywhere in the room from an empty liquor bottle left in there, and Fred had smashed the bottle, proceeded to cut his own face open to give himself a joker smile!

Dean said to us that when he saw what had happened to Fred, he went to leave the room and call for help. In which Fred tries stopping him, with the broken bottle still in hand. Not knowing what Fred would do to him, especially in his state. Luckily through he was able to get out the room after a little rustle, Dean was able to get back to us. But now Fred has locked himself in the En-suite.

We call our Rep, the ambulance, and police. And we attempt to try and reason with him, to let us in and help him. We didn’t want him to hurt himself any more than he has, or others. All of us are drunk, in an emotional mess as to what was happening. Eventually the police turn up, we could see their batons and guns holstered. We really didn’t want this to turn nasty, finally he opens up the door and comes out peacefully after an hour of talking.

This was getting late, like 1am. It’s mostly a family resort too. So of course many people started to see what was going on with multiple sirens flashing outside. We’re all still pretty drunk, crying, confused.

The ambulance takes him to the hospital, our rep helped us out so much throughout this ordeal. Explaining he would be released the following day, and costs being covered by our travel insurance.
We still had two full days of our holiday, and were the most awkward days I’ve ever felt. Hard to ignore the ridiculous scars now left on his face, luckily it wasn’t as deep as we thought. The blood made it look way worse than it was, we eventually all fly home and I never speak to Fred again. All because of what? A mentally unhinged man who couldn’t take rejection?

Image credits: giggitygooguy

#26

My mans had a stroke and he did not exhibit the symptoms we are all trained to know. I attributed his off behavior due to physical exertion, unusual amount of booze on our trip and 18 hours of hell in an airport so we didn’t get him to a hospital until almost a full day after we got home. For those lucky enough not to know there is a “golden hour” from onset of stroke to in which if you get medical treatment your odds of recovery increase dramatically. We missed it. Talk about feeling like a friggan idiot. If you ever suspect a loved one is off please drop everything and go to the ER.

Image credits: StrawberryKiller

#27

I was vacationing in Egypt when the Arab spring broke out. Was staying in a hotel at Tahrir square. Got stuck there for a while and the things I saw. I have had a lot of therapy after and still have ptsd I’m actually amazed I’m writing this comment as it’s something I never ever talk about.

#28

A stupid accident on the M-4 to LHR made me miss my flight, my boss threatened to fire me if I didn't make it to work at 8 a.m. on Monday.

I had to get very creative with the routing, bought a new ticket with a connection in EWR to LAX, then the flight came in late, making me miss my connection. Flying out the next day was absolutely out of the question.

Managed to find a late flight to Vegas that left at 9 p.m. and arrived in Vegas around midnight. The only car they had was an overpriced and tiny Geo Metro convertible. $129 a day. A compact would have been $25 a day, luxury for maybe $60, but Geo Metro? C'mon.

Left Vegas at around 2 in the morning, made it to work at 8:00 a.m. wearing the same clothes from London.

Didn't get fired.

Image credits: DoneTravelling

#29

I went on a year long program to Israel in my 20s. My 1st night there, my backpack was stolen. It had my passport, paper return plane ticket (it was 1999), all contact info of people I knew in the country (also pre cell phone for me), $800 in cash, and a bunch of other sentimental c**p I’d brought.

I reported it, knowing that I was probably f****d because the Jerusalem police aren’t going to do anything about an American’s stolen backpack. But I got damn lucky. They found my backpack dumped on the steps of the chief rabbinate (official religious building). Normally in Israel, if there’s a bag left like that, they bring in the bomb squad and blow it up. But for some reason that didn’t happen, and since I’d filed the report, they returned it to me. Everything was in it except for the cash. Including my Sony Walkman with the favorite mix tapes I had made.

#30

Two summers ago I went on a week long trip to Hawaii with my sister. On the last day we went on an 8 hour photography tour around the island. About 4 hours in, my sister slipped on some rocks and broke her foot in five places. We got her back to the van and found some ice and she refused to let the group cut the tour short, so it took another 4 hours to get her to the hospital. It was right at the end of COVID so they wouldn't let me go in with her so I spent the evening sitting in the parking lot. Our flights were changed up last minute so we had three layovers and almost 24 hours to get home with her drugged up and on crutches and me lugging all of our bags.

Last summer that same sister and I took my kids to the beach and on the last night my oldest daughter and I were swarmed by fire ants in the outdoor shower at our rental and bitten several dozen times each before we could get clear. The blisters lasted for weeks.

This year I took my mother on a cruise for her birthday. She got a sunburn day one, caught a stomach bug on day 2 that lasted through day 3. Day 4 she slipped on the ladder in the pool and hurt her foot but it was still so sunburned that she didn't realize it was injured until it started turning purple and green on day 5. Day 6 we went through a storm and she ended up seasick. Day 7 we flew home. She swears it was an amazing vacation and she wants to go again next year.

I have decided that it is probably not in the best interest of anyone's health to travel with me.

Image credits: Skeeter724

#31

On vacation in Hawaii in January 2018 when we were awoken by our phones blasting a warning that there was an incoming missile and it was not a drill. Spent a few hours trying to figure out if it was true but there was little to no information that was credible on twitter and other sites. The hotel had an intercom system where they were giving us instructions to stay inside the bathroom while we were frantically making phone calls to loved ones.

Was very real and very scary for what felt like forever. After it was confirmed that it was all a mistake, I crashed super hard and took the deepest nap on the beach from all the adrenaline wearing off.

Image credits: kellyfunk

#32

Hmm I’m notorious for hurting myself on vacay:
- allergic reactions
- jelly fish stings
- infection from a new tattoo
- broken tooth
- abscess from recently pulled wisdom tooth
- lost my wallet day one with $500 usd in it.
- narcd during my first deep dive
….?

Luckily this past trip I just ate s**t because I slipped on slippery tile after it poured. Some bruises and a little blood. Least painful one yet.

Always buy travel insurance.

#33

I was attacked by a madman on a bus outside of Athens. Fortunately, he then removed his clothes and ran off into traffic. Also fortunately, he was not hurt and neither was I.

#34

Not my story, but the worst of anyone I know.

A former teacher I knew was in Thailand in 2004 during the tsunami. They were out at sea when it hit, scuba diving or site-seeing or the like. They noticed a bit of a bump while on the ship, and that was it. But when they got back to shore, it was complete devastation.

#35

Breaks went out on my motorbike whilst driving through the mountains on an island off the coast of Vietnam. Went off road, down a mountainside and hit a tree. We were staying in a jungle lodge. After getting back and cutting my pants off it was clear I needed medical attention.

There was a war-era hospital in town but no one spoke English. We had to bring the host of our hotel to translate and hire a driver a night in a rural town. The hospital had no crutches, no wheelchair ramps. They did an X-ray in a storage room and luckily no bones were broken but the pain was insane and my leg was so swollen it doubled in size.

They offered me 2 paracetamol which obviously was not enough. My boyfriend went into town and negotiate 4 codeine tabs with the street pharmacist that I needed to ration. Luckily there were 3 Americans at our lodge who had a weed vape which helped.

We hired private transport back to the mainland, but still couldn’t find crutches. We were luckily able to find 3 more codiene tabs that lasted me until my flight the next day.

I will say a wheel chair escort is the fastest way to get through customs at LAX.

5 years later, my thigh is slightly disfigured, with patches of dead nerves, but otherwise fully functional.

#36

Two years ago in Hawaii, I did not properly hydrate when hiking up Diamond Head. On the way down I tripped and fell down in the worst pain of my life. I had a muscle spasm/cramp? on the back of my leg. I could not get up nor could I walk. I was very lucky a nurse was walking down the same time as me and help me stretch and get to a bench to get rehydrated. Spent the rest of the trip basically limping when I was not in the water. I used to not really believe that the pain was that bed when football players, for example, would fall to the turf and grab the back of their leg. It’s un godly. Lesson learned on hydration.

#37

Lame vacation but alright none the less

Driving a 4 wheeler all messed up had to go off road. Bump knocked my gf off then the 4 wheeler flipped on top of me and pinned me under in a
foot of water.

would of drowned if it wan't for my gf.
i stayed very calm and waited after a min i heard her screaming trying to flip the machine off me. She couldn't budge it.

Finally i heard her count to three and i was able use one leg to help.

Saved my crazy life.

I could barely walk on that leg for the next couple days due to what i assumed was a last ditch effort of strength

#38

My mom had a vertigo episode on day 1 of our big trip. It was just the two of us and I was the one in charge of planning/navigating. She literally collapsed in my arms on the street and I had to pull her onto a chair. I just kept tipping an uber driver while running into different doctor's offices. I didn't speak enough of the language to really communicate. Eventually the front desk at our hotel helped us get her to the right kind of doctor. Shout out to the EU healthcare system.

#39

I was about 13-14 at Disney world with my family, followed by a Disney cruise. A couple days in, I started getting a side ache. My parents assumed it was just from the rides, but it kept getting worse so we went to urgent care. Ended up getting an appendectomy. Oh, and our cruise wasn’t about to happen anyway, people were evacuating for hurricane Frances. We were able to get a flight out with medical priority, so I was on a 5 hour flight the next morning after surgery. Last part is, I had gotten up to pee early that morning and fainted. Broke my tailbone as well. We ended up with a big screen tv with the cruise refund. Got on the news too.

#40

London. 1999. I started having UTI symptoms, as always happens when I travel, and I took Azo (the little red pills for urinary pain relief). I threw up about 30 minutes later and it stained my teeth orange. Bright Orange. Oh the humanity.

#41

I got robbed on the first day of my last solo trip in Portugal. I was sitting at the restaurant with my bag (wallet, credit card, ipad, passport, freshly withdrawn stack of cash, airpods, etc) by my feet and someone just grabbed it without me noticing. I found the bag down the street half an hour later and thankfully they had left my passport in. They took every other valuable thing. And even had time to use my credit card. Let’s just say that was a rough start!

#42

My boyfriend and I went to Cabo for our 1 year anniversary. Despite trying to be very carful, we both got terrible dysentery. We couldn’t hold anything in from either end. We were taking turns vomiting and s******g in the toilet. I started having blood in my s**t so we went to the hospital. As they were wheeling me back, my bf felt so ill that he decided he needed to check in too.

For some god forsaken reason, they put us in what I like to call “the honeymoon suite” - a larger room with two hospital beds next to each other, not even separated by a curtain. I had no control of my bowels and had to constantly call the nurse to help after s******g myself. They hooked us up to IVs and couldn’t tell us in English what was in the IV. We had to stay the night and missed our flight home. We had to pay for a new flight and they almost wouldn’t let me on because I looked so beat. Thankfully the drugs worked and I didn’t have much incident on the flight.

After we got home, we realized they put the IVs in horribly. My bf’s vein in his hand was totally killed. They hit a nerve on me and my arm couldn’t straighten out for a month. I walked around with my arm bent at a 135 degree angle like a Barbie for a whole month. I know Mexico can be great, but I’m not sure I can ever go back.

#43

I used to travel to Asia a lot for work and was geeking out on flying in all the major heavy aircraft body types. I found a flight from Taipei to San Fran on a 747 and, as it was for work, could book business class. So imagine my excitement when I got a seat on the upper deck. I was so excited.

Only problem was I ate a s**t ton of seafood the night before and the cholera kicked in about the same time we took off. I spent literally 90% of the flight in the bathroom dying. Literally the only thing keeping me together was the flight attendant funneling me Gatorade and the sympathetic look of the passengers when I sadly traipsed back to my seat.

#44

I'm lucky, off the top of my head it would be: -In Normandy for the 75th Anniversary of D-Day celebrations. I thought I could drive stick, by the time I made it to Ste-Marie du Mont from Caen I'd burned out the clutch. Lost a day in Normandy so I could get to Rennes the next day to pick up an automatic (and damn lucky to get it, god bless the French train network). -Jet lagged and mildly sick after arriving in London, fell asleep during a performance of Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch. -Let myself get scammed out of 50 euros in Paris while on my first ever trip to Europe. -Spending a couple days in Northern England, meant to back up my laptop before I left and I plain forgot. It's a Macbook Pro, never had an issue with any of the ones that I've owned. Shortly after getting to Durham via London it sh*ts the bed, badly. Lose some time going to Newcastle to the Apple Store there, and all they can do is wipe it and reinstall the OS. I lost years worth of stuff.

#45

Migraine at Disney. Hot, humid, thunderstorm and then add screaming kids, people everywhere, it was hell. This was before I had meds, and Tylenol didn’t do much.

#46

my dad suffered a heart attack and died while were in europe on holidays. it was the worst experience of my life. dare i say traumatic.

#47

Horrible stomach flu in Paris. Took me out for days. Had to book a new flight and hotel room because I was too sick to fly home. Sprained ankle in Aspen. Bitten by a parrot in Colombia. Those are the ones that come to mind haha

Image credits: nippyhedren

#48

Left my wallet overnight at a museum while on a solo camping trip 20 miles away from the park. I was getting ready to risk driving through Texas without a license

Image credits: austinweirdodude

#49

Went on holiday to Turkey for 14 days. In the morning before the flight I fell and cracked my ribs. Sucked it up and went on my flight anyway. Pain got worse and worse, one thing led to another and I ended up getting pneumonia. This was left untreated because the day we landed I got robbed and stabbed for my manbag, wife had her purse taken. Spent 10 days in hospital overall and ended up staying longer than expected as I was feared to fly home.

Only thing I really learnt was ‘never google medical issues’.

#50

Covid took away 12 days of our 14 day trip to Hawaii....spent a week in a tiny Airbnb with my husband, quarantined and both super sick. It was fun.

#51

I went to Italy when I was 14 with my mom and caught a bug in Assisi. It just got worse and worse, and 4 days later I had to fly home (SF via DC). One of the worst flights of my life. Once I got home I was so sick I couldn’t stand up for over a week. I went to the doctor and they prescribed Vicodin, that’s how bad it was. But first I had to take anti nausea medicine up my butt because I couldn’t stop throwing up. All in all, I was incredibly sick for 2 weeks. Italy was great though.

#52

Left me iPhone in the cab that took us from Rome to the airport. It was 4am

Thankfully, after 45 minutes of calling, the driver picked up. I can now say I’ve paid €50 for a cab ride for my cell phone

#53

We’ve had a couple bad ones but worst by far was when we decided to take 5 kids, including a 9 month old, on a camping trip down south. The kids were already bummed about the idea of camping. I used to go camping with my family when I was a kid and I was sure we’d have a great time. Firstly, the AC in the van we borrowed was broken so it started out pretty miserable. Then we got stuck trying to get to a camping site at a halfway spot in Tennessee, once we got in we had to pitch a tent in the dark and the camping spot was full of rocks. It was so hot the baby cried the entire night.

Once we got to the coast, our next camping spot was in a literal swamp and we discovered the wonders of German cockroaches. They fly. There were *swarms* everywhere, on everything. We tried to walk on the beach at night and while my husband was yelling at me about the dangers of walking in shin-deep water with our girls, he got attacked by a swarm of yellow flies. Apparently they pick a person and swarm them. And they bite. Then I was stung by a sea nettle in the shin-deep water. It hurt, a lot.

Last but not least, almost all of us dozed off as my husband was driving us back home. He suddenly started screaming for me to get our youngest son and I wake up, turn around, and see that he has not only had a full-blow out s**t in his seat, but he’d also somehow managed to get two handfuls out of his diaper, completely cover himself in it, and was actively putting it in his mouth. We pulled over and had go use every baby wipe and bottle of water we had to try to get it off his face, from between his fingers and under his fingernails, out of his neck rolls, and off his carseat.

Pretty sure the kids will never try camping again ever.

#54

I caught Dengue fever & was hospitalized for 4 days with fever hitting 103.9° F.

Had to delay my return by 2 weeks b/c I was simply too weak to sit through the long flights back.

#55

I got the chicken pox from my cousin on week 1 of a 3 week European vacation when I was 10. By week 2 we were visiting more relatives in another country when I came down with chickenpox. I was stuck in an apartment watching Hungarian sub-titled English horror movies (this was in the mid-80s and the only English movies they had & I really hated horror movies but was so bored) on VHS tapes with my non English speaking teenaged cousin while the rest of the family toured around. Fun times.

#56

So this actually happened earlier this month. My gf and I took the 12-hour drive to visit my Dad. The first day went fine, he was working so we just explored town until we could hang out over dinner. The next morning I woke up to a call from my Step-mom. My Dad had a heart attack overnight and we slept through it!

Thankfully it was as minimal as it could have possibly been and he was released after only two days. But it really screwed up the whole vacation for sure. I'm just grateful he's doing okay now but it was terrifying.

#57

I was in upstate NY and one of my friends had family relatives in Amsterdam, NY. They were in a senior home but the house was vacant and his mom would go once a month to upkeep the place. A few of us were up there after doing a field shoot. 4 people total.

I went into that house through the front while the folks were in the backyard looking at the home. I saw 2 little girls (4-5ish) in the 2nd floor. They played peekaboo popping head out of corner and popping back in and out and wore pajamas. I smiled and thought nothing of it, thinking they were his cousins.

Here is where it gets spooky: Everyone comes in.

One of my friends who was outside says, so who are the 2 cute girls upstairs I saw through the window? I said, Yeah I was playing peakaboo with them by the stairwell.

My friend Brian whose family house it was said, wtf are you guys talking about. No one is here?!? We go upstairs and it’s empty and untouched. Closets closed empty, Beds are made. No one has been up there at all let alone little kids. My friend and I are freaked out, I know what I saw, she knows what she saw. I was in the living room by the steps whole time. I would’ve see or heard them cause the house was rickety.

His mom comes an hour later and we tell her what we saw. She tells us that her mother had 2 sisters who died as children. They heard noises from time to time but nothing of it.

Till this day I know what I saw. I was sober the whole time as I did the driving.

That night my friend refused to sleep alone, I wasn’t going upstairs and we slept on couches. My other buddy gets the room and my friend whose house it is gets the master bedroom.

One of them comes downstairs freaking out. The stuffed doll had a bell sound and we all heard it, he said it was ringing on its own.

By 6am we were all wide awake.

So yeah that’s my ghost story.

Image credits: Straight-Bug-6051

#58

There was a kid that got sick (stomach virus) on my flight from LAX to SYD. He was on the other side of the plane and a few seats back. One day later, I’m suffering the worst stomach virus of my life in my hotel room in Sydney. Almost non-stop for 10 hours. I was getting delirious and concerned about dehydration so I called an ambulance. They came up to my hotel room and gave me a bag of IV fluids and stayed with me until the bag was gone. Luckily, the fluids worked wonders and I was feeling relatively normal the next day. I still blame that kid to this day lol

#59

Respiratory infection on a multi-week business trip that ended in Las Vegas. Started getting sick the first week. Made it through and collapsed the day before I was headed home. 3 days in bed in the hotel.

Food poisoning hit me on a train from Brugges to Bolougne. Spent most of the journey in the restroom on the train.

Crashed a motorbike on Koh Samui and really should have been killed. Instead, some stitches, massive bruises everywhere and oozing sores on my knees for weeks. (Dumbest thing I’ve ever done).

Terrible sunburn in Mexico, ruined my last night.

Here’s a goody, my 18 month old baby threw up all over herself and me on a flight from Taipei to Brisbane. We were in Business class and people were not happy with me.

I know there are more…

#60

Slipped in the shower in NYC. Broke a bunch of ribs, got a pneumothorax, and three nights in the hospital. Then, I wasn’t allowed to fly for six months, so we had to rent a car to drive home. I wasn’t the driver, thank goodness. They sent me on my way with a hefty supply of strong pain meds

#61

I broke my tailbone in some rapids the day before a three day hike through some Colorado mountains. The walking wasn’t nearly that bad, but the 70lb bag was a little bit too heavy. I was a little naive.

#62

Walked into the wrong part of São Paulo earlier today and got followed and surrounded by 7 tough dudes for 1km. Ran into a store to call an Uber whilst the dudes waited for me to come out of the store. Got back safely, but will never wander around areas I’m not familiar with in São Paulo again.

#63

My sister arrived in Medan yesterday and has already lost her passport

#64

Came home early from a trip out west b/c of same reason-ended up with a root canal on back molar. Worst pain ever. It didn't flare up until we hit 5000' altitude, at sea level I thought I had a sinus infection. Agreed 1/10 do NOT recommend.

Edit: OR it could have been the time I ate a bad shrimp salad from a very fancy restaurant in Atlanta. Spent a whole day on the floor of the bathroom. That wasn't much fun either.

#65

Went to a bank machine to get money. Machine started to make noise and sort of died. It told my home bank it took out the money but it didn’t actually give me any money. Was SOL and the bank machine’s call center was useless.

#66

Dream trip to Kauai around 2006. 18” of rain in 24 hours - roads washed out, flooding, mud everywhere. Waterfalls were pretty awesome, though

#67

I broke my ankle in Jamaica. We were there celebrating my 50th birthday. The day before it I rolled my right ankle walking down the stairs, breaking it while spraining my other one. My birthday was spent in a Jamaican clinic getting X-rays.

#68

Currently right now, I’m in St. Thomas great vacation, but coming back is is hell (United fault) they kept pushing the flight back, when I was on the phone I asked if the airport had a curfew they said no I show up at 7:30, they say customs closed at 7 so I can’t check in. I was able to change my flight to 5 pm tomorrow and United already told me it’s delayed till 9pm so I honestly have no idea when I’ll be back home.

#69

Cousin threatened to hurt me when I was traveling with them. Didn't know they had anger issues before that incident. They calmed down fortunately, but I don't put up with abuse. Cut contact with them after.

#70

I collapsed from an unknown food allergy in a restaurant. The second time it happened, I realised what was going on.