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Really good or bad holiday stories?


Seayork2002

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For now my only one i can think of was stating in b&b run by an older couple and we only stayed one night but while we were there we could hear and see the silhouette of the bloke going to toilet from our room


Not sure where the woman went we never saw her


What are your holiday stories

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Flying in to Sydney as a young & very naive first time traveller. Friend and I had booked backpacker accom in Kings Cross, friend was arriving the night after me. I didn’t arrive at the backpackers till after 9pm on a Sat night and everything was locked up, reception unattended and nobody would let me in (fair enough). It was pitch black, pouring with rain and I had no idea what to do. I wandered around trying to figure out what to do, lugging a suitcase with me. Close to midnight and in a panic I decided I had to find a room - so I opted for the first one I could find on the main thoroughfare of Kings Cross. Was too anxious to click when the greasy looking bloke guarding the entrance repeatedly asked me if I planned on ‘sharing the room’ later as it would cost me more. The room was beyond foul, and the bed was disgusting but I was too scared to go and ask for my cash back - I slept on the chair wrapped in my jacket. The next morning I looked at the room in the daylight and realised exactly what sort of establishment I’d stayed in 😂

Turned out the backpackers we’re supposed to email me the door code but hadn’t - I was furious!

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In France, you usually pay for the toilets. I decided to go to the McDonald’s toilets. I can’t speak French, but I could read enough to know the sign said “ for McDonald’s customers only”. On the way out there’s a gate. I can’t open the gate. Eventually the whole restaurant is yelling at me “ gauche “. I knew it meant left. Turns out 1/2 way down the corridor is a button on the left you have to press to get out.


No way to slink out unnoticed now. I ended up buying some chips.

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I did the around-the-world backpacking thing pre-kids. Many stories are NSFW (and indeed, NSFEB!), but we did book last minute accommodation in Cancun for Spring Break. Imagine our surprise when we showed up and the room was little bigger than a 5m square jail cell ... there were 3 of us and 2 bunks. To be fair, we didn't spend a lot of time in that room (we weren't there to sleep!), and at least the air con worked, but we paid an absolute fortune for it and I was not impressed.

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Mine are all illness related - upset stomach in Paris and spending too long in those public toilets where the door automatically opens after a certain time, food poisoning in Antwerp and having to take the train home (we were living in Amsterdam), it didn’t have toilets.


And the our first family holiday with kids to Phillip Island where we were both really unwell and upon returning home found out we both had pneumonia (and thanks to covid we’ve never had another holiday).

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Our biggest holiday disaster was the time we TOOK gastro to Bali! My youngest got sick on the plane. We were away for 2 weeks and staying with other friends. There wasn't a day when one of the kids wasn't sick. The lowest point was probably when my daughter was too sick to walk so my husband gave her a shoulder ride... and she pooped all down his back!

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This might be a bit too heavy for this thread but this is the first thing that comes to mind unfortunately.


Egypt was on my to do bucket list so I coincided my trip with the Ramses Sun Festival. I joined a reputable tour group and traveled down to Abu Simbel. While waiting to be let in, one of the guards stopped me and groped my breast then let me through. I was early 20's and just in complete shock. I found the tour guide and told him what happened and he advised me that if I made a complaint or filed a report with the police then I would most likely end up in jail so best course of action was to forget about it. Apart from that, as a western woman you attract attention from the Egyptian males. There were a couple of other young females on our tour and we were constantly harassed. When we went to the markets we were yelled at by the shopkeepers "how many camels for you?" ie they wanted to buy us. I was told it is a rite of passage but frankly it's appalling and quite confronting.

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I was in Cairo eith my husband and they offered camels to my husband.

The slightly more creepy was when I caught some local guys taking my photo as I sat at a cafe. I assume I ended up on a white girls fantasy website.

But no, even having a husband who looked Egyptian ( a police officer actually asked the tour guide if my husband was) didn't put them off.

Oh and the bus trip to Abul Simbal, you travel in convoy with an armed guard on the bus. Our one got on, went to the back, plugged in his headphones and promptly went to sleep!

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The crazy stories are the best part of returning from travels!


A favourite of ours (cause it's so freaking stupid!) was in a small paris hotel- about 3 rooms per level and I'm not sure how many stories. Maybe 5? Anyway, we were having a lazy afternoon reading in our room before going out for dinner and suddenly the fire alarm went off and we were evacuated out. Went for a walk for a bit, came back and eventually the rooms were all cleared. No fire.

We were sitting in our room when they figured out that the alarm was set off in the room opposite us and it was clear that the couple had been smoking. They were heard arguing with the hoteliers in broken English, progressively saying the word 'steam' louder and louder. They then described the shower that they had together suggesting that the hotelier go and find a date. DH and I were in hysterics. They seriously thought steam caused the alarm. Not their smoke. And that we couldn't smell it (we could. It stank).

The mere word 'steam' in a thick eastern European accent cracks us up any time now.

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Oh! Another one was arriving in Xi'an on a night time flight and trying to find our hotel. I'd booked on an app and it was a cheap place (as we wouldn't be in the hotel for anything but sleep- we were only there to see the terracotta warriors and had a tight schedule) at $6/ night. The taxi from the airport did 150km/hr on the freeway and I have never been as terrified in a car in my life! It was rattling around the whole time...

Then we realise that we were doing laps. So annoyed. We had given the driver a copy of the hotel booking in Chinese and we kept the English one and he eventually called the hotel... or not hotel. It was student accommodation at a uni.

Well, eventually the taxi pulled over (on the 4th lap of the same few streets!) and 2 people came out, grabbed out suitcases and we chased after them. We followed them to a room with 4 bunks and we spoke via google translate (and they woke up another guest when that didn't work!). The room was safe and clean but finding was an adventure I won't soon forget!

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On a backpacking group trip in Ireland where we were all sharing the one bunk room. I was on a top bunk, woke up to one of the guys urinating on our bunk thinking it was the toilet. I don’t like being on the top bunk generally but was really grateful in that case. My backpack was nearby though.


Flight to London, the young women in front of me were enjoying the alcohol service. We landed in Hong Kong and one of them stood up in the aisle and promptly threw up on an older man diagonally across from them - so a complete stranger. The crew had to get his suitcase out from the hold and he changed during the stopover. His ‘dirty’ clothes must have been in the overhead locker as we flew the second leg because at one stage he got up to get something out of his bag but when he opened the locker a huge stench seeped out, he quickly shut it and sat down again.

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In Cuba my partner and I got dumped on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere because our driver and his uncle(who was just came along for the ride because we would be expected to pay for his lunch wherever we went) spotted an untended pig that they wanted to steal. So basically we were worth less than a pig.

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Gastro or food poinoning on the way back from London. DH's hit while landing in Singapore for a short stopover, and mine hit an hour or so later in the airport. We ended up having to see a doctor in the airport, changed our flights to the next day and stayed at a hotel in the city. The next day we had to go back to the doctor for clearance before we flew and even though I had stopped throwing up I was still so nauseous I dry retched while the poor doctor was examining me. He let us fly but I was so sick I had to have my seat reclined the entire way and the poor guy behind me was so angry he kept shoving the back of the seat which didnt help. And I couldn't even speak to explain.

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In Zambia we went on a walking safari and it was just DH and I. Our tour guide carried a gun and as we were near the last few white rhinos left, there were armed guards there for their protection, the guide then got heavy about tips after we had taken a photo with him as despite our tour already including tips, of course we tipped him when we were alone with an armed man, We then found an elephant tusk as they made a big deal about having to hand it in and do the right thing. I’m hindsight, wondering if it was a set up so we would offer to buy it.


Then on the day we were leaving, we ran out of cash in our wallets. The only ATM had two scary looking guys with guns guarding them, so we decided we just would rather not eat for the rest of the day than to use the ATM!


ETA, almost forgot the airport. We waited for the plane outside on the side of the tarmac whilst watching elephants walk near the runway.

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Going to India for a friends wedding (this was when I was much younger), travelling with my sister as we were going to backpack the world after. Flew to a few places first, flight was from Hong Kong to New Delhi, As luck would have it my friends dad was booked on the same flight, so we were to meet him there and he was helping us get to their home town.

Meet him at the airport, and he tells us we need to bring cash as they don't have ATMs in India (this was 20 years ago). Was a little flabbergasted as everywhere else has ATMs so we withdrew what we thought would be enough.

Once we arrived, his brother picked us all up and they took us to the dodgiest little hotel for a nap until it was time train to leave. (I'll just say here that my friends father and his whole family treated us like family, so nothing dodgy there or anything).

They took us through some dodgy areas to a train station and we caught the train to where we were going with them. When we got to their house where we were staying, we were told the tap water was fine to drink as they has a filter on it.

It was all quite an experience! After about week of drinking the tap water, we both got very ill, Only to be told later, the filter hadn't been working for a few days. They also took us on a trip to Agra, along narrow roads where there were often tipped over trucks. Anyway, we stayed there for a few weeks, then left to explore some more on our own. We eventually when back to New Delhi, only to find they hadn't taken us to that train station, they had left from the Old Delhi one and the new one was much more modern. We also did find ATMs! We met a friend of my sisters there and we took another trip to Agra - this time it was along quite nice highways.


Despite the bad gastro, I did love it there, I'd love to go back one day. But if we hadn't gone off on our own I would have got a totally different impression of the place.

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I booked an 18 to 35s camping tour of central Australia. When I got on the coach I realised there were only two young people and the rest were in their 70s and 80s. Apparently the tour company had combined the groups and forgotten to tell some of us. It was not the party bus I had imagined. I have vivid memories of spending several hours combing through red sand on the side of a dirt road because Betsy had thrown her glasses out of the window of a moving coach and was completely blind without them. Not the kind of blind you usually associate with those kinds of tours either.

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[mention]jojonbeanie[/mention] what a pain! Did it take ages to get off the bus too? We did a day trip to the Grand Canyon on a general tour bus. It was full of older people, which is fine. But every time we stopped, the oldies would always get up first and storm into the aisles. And then would take ages as they walked slowly and used their walking sticks and it took forever for them to walk down the stairs. I used to dread the stops as it was 10 minutes to get off!


Hope Betsy found her glasses :)


ETA then I had the opposite problem on a cruise. I had a Toddler in a pram. So on the little boat to get off the ship, I sat in the area for prams and wheelchairs. It was up the front and had great views. So a few entitled men decided to go into the area and take photos, stepping over the top of the pram to do so. . When it was time to disembark, I was closest to the exit. A pram is obviously slow, so I waited until everyone had cleared off before I exited. One of the men was huffy and tried to push through and then abused me for stopping him getting off and enjoying his holiday.

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I was in New York's La Guardia airport and we were catching an early morning flight to Washington DC. My then husband was one of those "I know where I'm going" types (but had no idea). He leads us to a gate and we show the lady our tickets. She said "this is the gate to Chicago. Your gate is on the other side of the airport" looked at her watch. "And your plane is leaving NOW. Come on, I'll take you". We had to run through the airport with this lovely lady while she's calling ahead to hold the plane. I half wished we'd gone to Chicago anyhow. DC sucked.


A few days later we went to Orlando. We landed late, on the tail end of a cyclone, so it was wet and humid. It was super late, so we picked up our hire car. Hotel was about 30 minutes from the airport. He starts driving, we're on the freeway and I said "you're going the wrong way." He replied "no I'm not. I know where I'm going." (He had never been there before). I said "oh really? Then why does that sign there say Cocoa Beach?" He replied "shit." And got off the freeway. After about 10 minutes I said "you're going the same way again". He said "I am not!" I replied "oh really? Then why does that fucking sign say Cocoa Beach AGAIN?" We got to our hotel almost 2 hours after we left the airport.


He drove me so crazy that when we flew into home, my mum and my nana had come to pick us up (we had loads of luggage). I said to him "you can go with Nan. I'm going with mum". I was going to kill him if I didn't get some time away from him.

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ImperatorFuriosa

Well, the latest story is I got a text from the reception at the caravan park we are at regarding theft around here and make sure you lock your door, car, don't leave stuff out etc. Arrive back the other day to find a teen trying to jimmy the front door open with a butter knife. I slapped him up the head hard, threw the knife in to the garden bed and hauled his dumb ass down to reception. Long story short his family have been turfed out and cops may or may not be involved.

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2 days before my contiki tour was meant to start I got a positive pregnancy test. The next day the doctor confirmed. Still went on the tour. Everyone else was sick from alcohol and I just had morning sickness.

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So many stories - usually around hotels. First one was from our family holiday to Europe way back in 1989 - I was 11. We arrive in London and get to our B&B The Suss House. It really was suss - the middle of Dec and the radiator doesn't work, there are no blankets on the bed - just sheets - we ask for more blankets and only get more sheets - they turned off the hot water in the shared showers at 4pm and all lights are turned off at the main overnight so good luck trying to find the toilet down the hall. We stay the night and get back the next day after our day of sightseeing and they have packed up all our suitcases and stacked them in the front hall. Some sort of mix up with our booking... thankfully there was another B&B just down the street - we went there instead and it was so much nicer!


Good story from the same trip - we found a B&B to stay in one night called the Fairlight Manor. Turned out to be a full on mansion, We got a full suite of rooms larger than our house at home for the cheapest price of the holiday.


travelling around Spain in 2006 - we asked our Hotelier in Seville for a non smoking room. He looked at us like we were crazy and said they're all non smoking rooms - just don't smoke in it......not quite the way it works!


We had a lot of fun in Spain just ordering random foods off of menus. Ended up with really weird stuff - baby octopu, pigs feet, At one restaurant out waiter realised we were up for trying unusual stuff so brought out a dish of his choosing - was the must succulent stew I have ever eaten. When we finished it we told us it was "The mouth of the Bull".


My favourite travel experience with my kids has been Iceland. Every town has it's own thermally heated pool, usually with slides and everything. So we easily fell into a pattern, spend the morning sightseeing the waterfalls, glaciers, black sand beaches, geysers etc , then the afternoon find the closest local pool - something for everyone.

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Well, the latest story is I got a text from the reception at the caravan park we are at regarding theft around here and make sure you lock your door, car, don't leave stuff out etc. Arrive back the other day to find a teen trying to jimmy the front door open with a butter knife. I slapped him up the head hard, threw the knife in to the garden bed and hauled his dumb ass down to reception. Long story short his family have been turfed out and cops may or may not be involved.

 

Was that all in the text? Sometimes the locals are rather interesting wildlife.


We went to the States to visit my husband's relatives - so staying in very suburban San Diego with elderly people. Every day I took my then 5 year old for a walk around the streets, to the shops, to the park - she needed her legs to move and I needed to get out of the house! (my husband and his step-father were both pretty limited in movement with various physical ailments and his mum couldn't say no to a paying customer - she was a hairdresser with a salon at home - and the 15 year old discovered The Man from U.N.C.L.E. series)


Apparently, NOBODOY walks in the suburbs in San Diego - we were even stalked by cop cars on a few occasions for such suspicious activity.

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Hawaii- we had been warned to stay out of the water on the beach. So my ex insisted he knew best and demanded we left the hotel pool and go to the beach.


Someone was looking with a metal detector near our bags with a camera the ex purchased me in it. So I watched whist in the water.


A under water wave came from the side and took out my knee sideways. I feel into the water to shoulder height with my knee cap off and the two leg bones out off place. Pain was excruciating. People ran to try and get me out of the water before I drowned. They called emergency services, the fire brigade came as well as ambulances.


I ended up in the American hospital system with no clothes but swimwear, no purse, no phone. No way to access my travel insurance.


They quickly put the knee cap back on. No scans or anything. Then sent me back to the hotel in a cab.


My ex was furious with me for interrupting his holiday and making him care for our small son when he could have been out drinking. I could not get pain killers as I didn’t have American Medicare. I had painkillers with me as a disc in my back was going due to carrying a small child around. My ex demanded those were for him and took them off me whilst trying to get the American ones on my script.


The hospital left broken bone in my knee that was cutting into everything every time I walked. I ended up in hospital 3 times. My leg turned black.


On the return home Jetstar got me a row to myself so that I could flyout. My ex claimed the row was for him and got mad at me for taking it.


We got home and within 24 hours I’d had emergency surgery in a private hospital and then had 6 months of rehabilitation.


The ex took the camera that I was trying to save that day.


The American hospital experience was over USD 10,000.


My ex still claims I ruined his holiday by being a selfish bitch,

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