These days it feels like travelling is made to sound like a super glam and problem free experience. But I’ve travelled enough times to know this is far from the case. Something is bound to happen that you never planned or even prepared for. Being a travel blogger myself it’s easy to shine light on all the positive aspects of my travels. However I’m all for transparency and sharing the real tea behind the scenes tea. So I rounded up a few travel bloggers and asked them to share one embarrassing travel story. From what I’ve read when shit goes wrong on holiday it usually ends up being the highlight of a trip.

When I arrived in Barcelona (open in a new tab to read later) with Tiff last year neither one of us expected to be stranded at the airport. With no plan b in place we took the risk of hitching a ride in an illegal black taxi and got trailed by the police. I certainly couldn’t have predicted that one. Now this is one of many travel mishaps that I have stored in my archives. I’m pretty sure you have a few yourself and if you don’t just know there is possibility that you might do soon.

Real life accounts of when shit goes wrong

Gabby

Travel blogger Packslight.com

I was studying abroad in Dubai, UAE in 2017 when my friends and I decided to go to Thailand for Spring Break. We spent the week there and traveled through Bangkok, Phuket, and the islands. I was a more experienced traveler than them and I was firm that we only eat at respected restaurants and avoid street food so we wouldn’t get suck as I’d often heard people get in Thailand.

Well, the day before our flight home we all went out drinking and got hungry, and ate some street mangos and food without thinking. And yes, all 8 of us were violently ill all night. All morning and in the taxi on the way to the airport, in the airport, and on the flight. The flight crew was lucky enough to move some of our seats closer to the bathroom. Some of us had long term nausea and had to see the doctors once we were home!

Those Damn mangos!

Laugh with Gabby about those mangos over on Twitter @packslight 


Adebola

Travel & Lifestyle BloggerMybreakingviews

I recently took a day trip to Ireland, Dublin. Ryainair didn’t want me to be great and changed the flight time the night before. I set out early (around 5 am in the morning) according to the original flight time. I was leaving from Southend Airport and realised that my flight was leaving in 90 minutes and the train was going to take 65 minutes to get there. That was 20 mins before my flight! I was in shock! If you know me I am ALWAYS on time when it comes to flying, I hate seeing people run at the airport. I’m a known glidder (at the best of times).

I literally stood at Liverpool Street Station with my hands raised to my head – as if I was doing the migraine skank ! I was debating with the staff if I should still go to the airport. All kinds of thoughts were going through my head.

Would I miss my flight? Would it be a waste of time?

The staff member speaking to me was cracking me up! She was like you can catch the train if you want, but there’s no point.

I was about to go home and crawl into bed and cry. However, something was telling me to catch this train to Southend Airport. I did just that with a positive smile –  your girl prayed all the way to the airport! When I got there I thought I was going to have to sprint to my gate. But the airport literally had no more than 4 gates…whew!

I’m sure you can guess that I caught my flight and had a successful trip to Dublin. Content soon come via www.mybreakingviews.com

Padraig

Travel & Adventure bloggerWhichicao.com


I’d went to Santa Ponsa in Spain aged 18, and partook in an “all you can drink for €10 offer”, I ultimately got spiked and started hallucinating.I started envisioning the people on the strip as Interpol police coming to arrest me (for what, I don’t know). I ran to the beach thinking I could lose the ‘police’ – but still envisioned them chasing me. Thought to myself “how do they know where I am, I ran away from them“. And realised it was because they were tracing my phone. I threw my brand new Samsung S3 into the ocean because somebody spiked me abroad. I was devastated.

Wanda

Founder & host – Black Women Travel Podcast

I was petsitting three cheeky labradors in Medmenham, England once upon a time. They would just kind of get into everything not locked down, and when taking them for a walk in their neighborhood off lead, one had to be vigilant. One evening I got caught slippin. It was dark out and I count them, one, two, . . . . where’s Poppy????

I back track, like oh it’s only been a second. She’s been the most trustworthy when it came to walks so far, so she can’t be far. Ma’am, I went round that little neighborhood trying to sweetly say Poppy’s name so she didn’t know I was panicking. And nada. I get back to the crib like, ok now what?!?!?! Then the phone rings. “Hello?” The homeowner, “Hey Wanda is everything ok?” “Uh, I just took the pups out for their walk and Poppy slipped off.” “Ok, because our neighbors just posted in the neighborhood Facebook group and want to drop her off.” Whomp whomp. Cuz. Yikes!! But it was all good and the rest of the stay went well.

when shit goes wrong on holiday

Chi

Lifestyle blogger – Thoughts of Chi

My girls trip to Majorca in 2017 was a brilliant experience with some hilarious moments. In particular, when we went to Magaluf Waterpark, I made the bold decision to descend a waterslide so steep it was on the verge of defying physics along with my other friend. My chosen protective styling of the holiday were my wigs however I forgot to pack bobby pins with me. This meant that this particular ombre curly afro wig I was sporting wasn’t exactly secure (it was only safe by the elastic band attached to the closure).

Nonetheless, it was too late to do anything at this point so I proceeded to go down the slide; whilst my wig was bobbing and weaving to be set free. I reached the bottom of the slide with a huge splash but as I started swimming to exit the pool, my head felt very light. It was at this point the reality set in that not only was I wigless but also the fact that my wig was floating around where the slide meets the pool. As a result of this, I had to swim back to retrieve my wig. Upon exiting the pool,  I decided to simply continue with my time at the waterpark without my wig thus showcasing my dookie under the wig braids!

It’s better to be safe than sorry


The fact of the matter is this anything can happen on holiday. No matter how much pre-planning you do there is a chance that something might go left. The best thing you can do for yourself is ensure that you’ve got yourself covered. You can do this by taking out some good ole TRAVEL INSURANCE. Most people over look travel insurance as they feel as though it’s an unnecessary expense. But travel insurance is so cheap these days it makes no sense not to have it. Being insured covers you for things such as lost luggage, delayed flights, gadget loss/damage, activities and most importantly healthcare.

The type of travel insurance you take out depends on what type of trip you plan on having. Comparison websites like Compare the Market & Money Supermarket are two of the best places to find the right cover for your travels. Most UK banks provide travel insurance cover as add on benefits for selected accounts to. So you can always take it out with you bank if it makes you more comfortable. Be sure to shop around to find the best cover for you.

Anyway boo don’t forget to take out travel insurance for your next trip. Don’t be one of the unlucky ones. You can never predict what might happen when shit goes wrong on holiday. Remember by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Stay Blessed

Lots of Love

Jenna

xoxo

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