In November I was set to go to Turkey with three friends from home. Last minute I decided to make a detour to the World Travel Market in London. Which meant that I had to change my flights and not go with all of them. One of the other girls I was going with had to change her flight too. We would be coming in about an hour or so after the others.Never would I be so thankful for the change of planes and the money I spent.
I arrived in Istanbul late afternoon around 530pm. Picked up my luggage and headed out to meet the other two at the Cafe Nero in the airport. They were not there nor was the guy who was supposed to be holding up a sign and picking us up. I walked back and forth several times before I saw my friend arriving. We both had no idea what was going on.
Looking at the flight arrival and departure board I could see that the flight from the US was delayed for four hours .No one had heard from them and they looked as if they were circling over the Atlantic. As far as we could see they had been delayed in the air not on the runway. Our transport was set to leave and spoke no English.
We were waiting at the hotel when we finally heard they would be landing soon. It was about six hours after they were supposed to land and nearly 10pm. Turns out that someone on the plane had had a heart attack, they had to emergency land in Nova Scotia. Where they had to wait in the plane for nearly two hours while they tried to stabilize the man. It was a bit frightening. I never worry when I fly but with all the stuff that has been going on with planes it did make us speculate.
When they finally arrived it was nearly 10pm. Six hours after they were due in. The worst part? They had lost one of there luggages. For nearly three days she wore the same thing. The night before we were set to leave her suitcase showed up.
This experience got me thinking about what are the biggest travel nightmares?
Obviously bad things happen on the road sometimes. Not every trip is going to go off with out a hitch. I was a bystander in the unfortunate things happening in this trip but they were all on the top of my list for nightmares.
Here are a few more.
1) MISSING A FLIGHT
I don’t know about you but to me this is awful. I have missed connecting flights and it has ruined things. Years ago in Austria I missed a connecting flight and then because I couldn’t understand that our gate got changed missed another one. I showed up hours late, missed my pick up and the people I was meeting.
2) GETTING SICK
The likely hood of getting sick on the road is always there. Especially if you are traveling for awhile. It can cause you to miss things you planned or just make you miserable. Trying to get the right medicine at a pharmacy or even finding a pharmacy can be difficult. If you are staying in a hostel you have to be miserable and sick in front of a room full of people. Right now I am writing this in my hotel room in Mexico while my friend tries to sleep off a nasty sinus infection. Heat + sinuses = gross.
3) LOST LUGGAGE
I know I mentioned this before but not having my luggage would be terrible. I have started packing a second set of clothes in my carry on and putting my tooth brush and sundry items in there as well. At least I know I am good for another day with this.
What are some of your travel nightmares? Has anything really bad happened to you while you were traveling?