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Most people embark on a holiday hoping to leave their stressful routines behind, explore somewhere new, and perhaps find a bit of peace. But no matter how carefully you plan your itinerary or prepare for the usual travel hiccups, one sudden stroke of bad luck is enough to completely derail a dream vacation.

You simply cannot plan around certain disasters, and the stories we’ve collected from different corners of Reddit prove exactly that.

Some people talked about terrifying medical emergencies like food poisoning, a broken hip, and even a heart attack. Others recalled the horror of facing scammers and thieves.

Scroll down for some truly terrifying experiences that might just make you rethink your summer travel plans.

Also, don’t miss Bored Panda’s interview with travel psychologist Javier Labourt to understand why these experiences happen, and how you can better handle them.

#1

Dad had a heart attack and ended up in the ICU of a rural African hospital for a week. Quadruple bypass surgery upon arriving back in the US.

The week in the hospital was a far better life shaping experience than the two weeks prior.

While standard daily stress is exhausting, a ruined vacation leaves a unique, heavy scar that a bad week at home simply cannot match. This psychological devastation stems from a painful combination of high expectations, high financial costs, and a sudden loss of control.

“Travel is different — it generates its own kind of stress simply because it’s an unfamiliar scenario, one without that same accumulated track record of ‘I’ve gotten through this before.’ On top of that, there’s a compressed sense of time with no chance for a redo,” says Labourt.

“A bad day at work can be fixed tomorrow. A bad day inside a seven-day trip is unrecoverable, because there is no ‘tomorrow’ within that same trip — and that shifts the whole experience from feeling like a setback into feeling like a total loss.”

#2

Grandfather passed away 2 days before I got home from a vacation following a 10 month stint abroad. Found out just before the final flight home, then got off the plane and had to rush to his memorial.

Basically went from crying on the plane to seeing his body in a casket within an hour, it felt like a terrible way to cap off vacation. And needed a few more days to process.

#3

I was on an international vacation with my husband when he was in an accident that [ended his life]. I had to make my way home and stumble through all the documentation in a country where I didn’t speak the language (and being we were in a small town, not many spoke English) and tell our kids that daddy wasn’t coming home.

For a lot of people, travel is no longer a luxury — it is a necessity. According to Investopedia’s American Dream Study, 75% of millennials view annual vacations as a core part of their American dream, outranking traditional milestones like buying a home.

In another survey, 79% said that travel expands their worldview, and seven in ten said they believe it increases their empathy towards others.

#4

Having a miscarriage on the first day of the trip.

#5

We went to Thailand and were picked up at the airport by a guy who we thought was from our hotel. In retrospect, it was unbelievably obvious and stupid but we weren’t experienced travelers then. Anyways we were standing together as a family waiting for our pick up; he was late; my parents were arguing; my husband was nervous; I was flipping through pages of my reservations looking for the hotel’s phone number. And someone must have said my name loudly and the guy must have overheard. He was dressed neatly – black polo, black pants like a valet, decent English, friendly.

He came over – “WeddingElly? Party of 4? Hotel pickup? Ahh yes yes yes – just confirm for me which hotel” and I showed him my reservation like a total [idiot] and he improvised from there. Between the language barrier and jetlag, I just wasn’t thinking straight. We got into the car (neat, newish, black sedan); he drove us for like 15 mins, before we ended up in some random alley; he started yelling us to get out, two more young guys were in the alley, opened the doors on both sides; forced us out. Honestly it all happened in moments, like one minute regular street, next minute we’re standing in alley, three Thai guys all shouting at us at once. Anyways, they didn’t even have guns; one guy had a knife. But it was still completely terrifying.

Originally they wanted us all to strip – not just the women, all of us (why I have no idea and don’t want to think about it) but my husband and my dad looked particularly [aggressive] at that and ready to fight it out, and they saw it and instead immediately shifted gears to taking our jewelry, wallets, passports, phones, drove off with our luggage still in the trunk. (In retrospect, I’ve always wondered if it’s a strategy – start with a scary and horrible demand and leave your victim almost grateful to be handing you their stuff when you “change your mind”?)

It all happened in like minutes. And there we were, literally penniless, phoneless and ID-less an hour after getting off the plane.

We ended up cutting short our trip (basically as soon as we got our temp. travel docs). That turned out to be a blessing because we left Christmas Eve of 2004. For us, it was like we flew home, slept a long night, woke up, turned on the news, and it all about the tsunami.

#6

We were on a family vacation to Hawaii. My aunt had been having some hip pain but didn’t think anything of it.

About halfway through our trip, as soon as we got to Maui, her hip gave out. And by gave out, I mean the hairline fracture in her hip basically shattered. She had to have a full on hip replacement in Maui. Then fly home, just after a hip replacement, from Maui.

This intense prioritization makes sense when you consider what travel actually does to the human brain. Studies show that stepping outside your daily routine provides a temporary mood boost and helps change your personality.

A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology tracked people who spent extended time abroad and found a measurable spike in their openness to experience.

New environments force the brain out of autopilot. This is neuroplasticity at work, the brain’s capacity to build new neural pathways in response to unfamiliar experiences.

Navigating unfamiliar streets, hearing different languages, and experiencing new cultures force your mind to think more flexibly. It also boosts your creative problem-solving skills.

#7

The week before my wedding my Mom confided in me that she was going to leave my Dad. My wedding day was the last day I’ve seen them in the same room together as she left him the day after I got married. My Dad flipped out and spent my whole honeymoon calling and leaving voicemails of him sobbing. Was one of the wooooorst weeks of my life.

#8

When I was working at resort we had a family come in from NYC that was placed in a handicapped room with a door lock that was pretty much at child-height.

Well the little boy for some reason put his finger in the flip lock as the mom was opening the door. It happened with such force that the tip of his finger came off. So all of a sudden half of the hotel’s leadership shows up, so does our resort EMS, county EMS, and a litany of other people. This happens during rush hour so by the time he gets to the local hospital it is too late to attach the tip of his finger.

I speak with the father later and this guy didn’t even want to come to FL to begin with….and this happens. So the little boy is now leaving the place ‘Where Dreams Come True’ without the tip of his finger and the resort was in an uproar making sure that for the remainder of their stay they had pretty much everything they asked for. So yeah, that was a ride of a night.

#9

My dog passed away 2 hours before I got home from a 1 month trip.

You don’t need to board a flight to get that life-changing perspective. In fact, international travel is still a massive privilege. Only about 48% to 53% of Americans hold a valid passport, and 80% of the global population has never even set foot on an airplane.

But travel isn’t defined by a stamp in a booklet or a business-class seat. It can happen anywhere. It is a walk between neighboring villages, a road trip to the next state, or any deliberate engagement with the world around you.

Whether you cross an ocean or just visit a new town, studies show that changing your environment changes you.

“If you travel in a way that gets you outside of your comfort zone, living experiences you’ve never lived, you’re in a fertile ground to plant the seed of personal change,” says Javier Labourt, a clinical psychotherapist from Buenos Aires.

#10

It was my honeymoon and we were camping in a secluded spot near Mammoth Caves. I cut my finger on a can of beans and when I went to get the first aid kit I passed out. When I passed out I landed on my face and slid about 8 feet on gravel down the mountain. This time when I came to my husband was trying to help me. He said I could use some stitches and I passed out again.

Worst part was we came home a few days early. The people house sitting were there just chilling. No problem. Then I found my toothbrush used in the shower.

#11

My husband got food poisoning on the second day of our trip to Japan. We spent the entirety of our trip inside our air BnB, then flew home. I felt for him, it was a very violent illness if you catch my drift. And Japan apartments are small as hell.

#12

Went on a trip to Africa when I was 8 with my family. We went fishing, a hippo sunk our boat and my dad drowned. The hotel we booked didn’t even give us a refund when we obviously left early.

Travel frequently throws you into the deep end of the unexpected — all it takes is a canceled flight in a foreign hub to leave you stranded, or a single bite of street food to trigger a brutal medical emergency.

A missed bus can teach you how to think on your feet. But boarding the wrong train in a country where you can’t read the signs and ending up thousands of miles away from where you were meant to be can quickly impact your mental health.

The psychological toll of these struggles skyrockets because you are operating completely outside your comfort zone.

#13

Food poisoning on day two of a seven day trip. I basically paid to suffer in a different country.

#14

Honeymoon 3 months after the wedding, my husband was (already!) having an affair I didn’t know about until 2 weeks after we returned home. Spent 5k to travel to a different continent where all he wanted to do was stay in bed on his phone. I had to force him to do activities with me. It all made sense once I found the messages.

Oh, and I got food poisoning on the flight home!

#15

Broke my leg day one. Years later, broke my ankle day one.

Research shows that dealing with a crisis abroad is significantly more stressful than handling the exact same emergency at home. When a medical emergency hits, you aren’t just dealing with physical pain — you are suddenly forced to navigate unfamiliar healthcare systems, language barriers, and emergency procedures.

Experts note that this lack of situational control triggers a major spike in anxiety.

“In a new environment your alert system just runs hotter, so you end up registering every little friction instead of filtering it out the way routine normally would. It’s not that more things are actually going wrong — it’s that you’re counting all of them. Your senses are simply more open, more switched on than they are at home, so more is coming in, and more of it registers as off,” Labourt explains.

He says that there’s also decision fatigue involved. “Traveling means facing hundreds of new micro-decisions — where to eat, how to pay, which way to walk — and once that mental resource runs low, even a small problem starts getting processed as a catastrophe.”

#16

Got a call less than 12 hours after arriving that my half sister [passed away]. Even worse, my dad was left out of the obituary and we weren’t allowed at her funeral. Her family didn’t even contact us to tell us she [passed away]. A family friend did.

I am still haunted by my dad’s screams that night, almost 6 years later.

#17

When I was 30 I was in Vietnam, with two of my guy friends. They went out drinking and I wanted an early night so got a mango shake and headed back to our room. About 45 minutes after I arrived, a concerned local came to my room to say that one of my guy friends got into a fight and needed help. He offered to take me so I hopped on the back of his bike.

Luckily we had explored that day so I knew when he went this one direction that there was only sand dunes that directions. I also knew there was a big long turn coming up. When he slowed down for the turn I jumped off and ran and hid in the jungle until the sun came up (6 hours or so). I then walked for who knows how long until I came to a local village. I sat beside an old lady at a market and her husband took me to the tourist police station.

#18

Saw my mom cheat on vacation.

While you simply cannot prepare for the absolute worst disasters, how you handle these situations when they strike makes all the difference.

The best way to protect your sanity is to accept that perfection is a myth, especially when traveling. If you expect delays, detours, and minor chaotic twists as part of the process, you can handle the bumps without losing your cool.

Packing a few familiar comforts, like a favorite hoodie or a specific pillowcase, can help you feel grounded. Experts also suggest keeping a couple of basic daily habits intact, such as eating and sleeping at familiar times.

Building a solid backup plan so a single canceled booking doesn’t completely sink your entire trip is equally important.

“It also helps to treat the unexpected as information rather than as a threat, asking yourself ‘what is this situation showing me?’ instead of ‘why is this happening to me?’ Asking for help early matters too — most travel crises get resolved through some kind of human interaction, a local, a hotel staff member, another traveler, rather than through trying to control everything alone,” says travel psychologist Labourt.

#19

Went on vacation to Mexico with my family. On the first day we were there I slipped while walking up a pair of stairs and fell right onto my teeth. From what I remember I knocked out a few and there was lots, and I mean LOTS, of blood. Had to go to the ER and could eat basically only yogurt and soup for the rest of our stay.

Labourt says that it helps to separate the logistical problem from the emotional processing while traveling. “Solve first, feel afterward, instead of letting the emotion take over before you’ve even addressed the practical side.”

He believes that the most important thing is how you choose to store the memory afterward. “An unexpected problem can become part of the story of the trip, rather than proof that the trip was ruined — but that’s a verdict that gets decided later, in hindsight, never in the middle of the crisis itself.”

#20

While on vacation in South Carolina (I think?) I got stung three times by jellyfish, twice on my right foot and once on my left thigh.

This was a week or two before a hurricane hit, so it makes sense for all those jellies to be so close to land.

#21

My wife and I got a call from a (now former, for other reasons) friend in the middle of the night that our dog (elderly double-dappled female dachshund) staying at their house got attacked by two “Chiweenies” (part Chihuahua part dachshund) he was pet-sitting. Drunk roommate of the friend carelessly let the two dogs loose into the bedroom where our dog was and attacked her, crushing a vertebrae in her lower back and paralyzing her back legs.

She was already suffering from Cushing’s syndrome but this trauma led to her passing a lot more quickly.

Travel struggles are worsened by jet lag, time zone changes, and poor sleep. These things can make even the most seasoned travelers vulnerable and lead to terrible decision-making.

At the same time, relying entirely on digital itineraries means that a low battery or a dropped Wi-Fi signal can leave you stranded and helpless.

Constantly checking your phone for updates, maps, and work emails also prevents the mental rest you actually traveled to find.

#22

My brother in law trashed our house while we watched with our security camera. We were helpless. He was told not to have a party. He had a party.

#23

Had a guy try to break into my truck, I caught him and held him at gunpoint till the cops arrived. The cops tried to say I was trying to rob him, and after watching the dash cam they didn’t know I had they finally let me go. I left and went to the store before I went back to the hotel, to have another guy try to rob me with a knife. The look on the cops face when he realized it was me again is something I’ll never forget. This was in Miami.

We look at travel and tourism through a heavily filtered lens, expecting postcard-perfect moments and Insta-worthy pictures.

Seeing how quickly a trip can unravel forces us to drop the toxic expectation of a perfect holiday and accept travel for what it truly is — an unpredictable gamble.

#24

I had a sudden onset of chronic fatigue while in the middle of our cottage Summer vacation

Instead of going swimming or doing anything, I was practically comatose for days on end. Worst part for me, I still have the fatigue to this very day :/.

#25

Food poisoning in the Caribbean. The hospital didnt even have water to give me. After 13 hours of dehydration, the best thing they offered me was a cold can of coke from the vending machine.

#26

I went to an area with a very different elevation level and got some intense elevation sickness. Turned out it was also Spring and the trees were giving off so much pollen and such that I started having some intense allergy side-effects. THEN, to top things off, I never had my wisdom teeth removed (still haven’t) and the teeth in the far back of my mouth started to break through the gums which is the worst in-mouth pain I’ve ever experienced. Nothing like a trio of pain to make it hard to enjoy a vacation.

#27

My family of four including my 2 very small children flew to my parents house to celebrate the Christmas holidays with them. Everyone was so excited, my husband was home for once (he had missed every Christmas because of deployments) and my mom, a meticulous homemaker, was furiously planning meals and activities for the whole family. About two days after we arrived, my daughter and husband began feeling ill. We thought it was good poisoning from the airport food. And as quickly as their symptoms developed, it spread like wildfire through the entire house. Norovirus. EVERYONE was double dragon-ing. My brother had come to visit, my best friend and her girlfriend, and my family, everyone caught it. Some horrible highlights from that visit:

1) my husband vomited all over one of the bathrooms, painting the walls. My parents had to repaint the bathroom when we left.

2) I slept in the bathtub full of water most nights(it’s literally a miracle I didn’t drown but it was the only place I found relief)

3) my mom saw my husband’s twig and berries when she walked into the bathroom to check on him

4) my daughter, finally feeling up to eating, scarffed down a slice of pizza. Then proceeded to vomit it all over my parents white carpet.

5) my dad was the only one who walked away unscathed

We didn’t eat any of the delicious food my mom had planned and we were too weak to do anything but try and disinfect everything while puking our brains out. It finally passed the day before we had to fly home. It was on record the most brutal Christmas to date but we credit it as one experience that brought us all closer together.

#28

I got a sunburn on top of a sunburn in Bermuda. Luckily the sunburn itch didn’t set in until the last day but there was a few hours there where if you handed me a loaded pistol I’d have done it.

#29

Got stung in the ocean by a Portuguese Man O’ War with its painfully venomous tentacles.

#30

Traveled 16 hours by plane to South Africa. Luggage never made it and got lost in transit. I had to wear a bathrobe for multiple days while traveling thru the Namibian desert. I probably looked like I was in a cult, lol.

#31

One time when i was 8 my family went camping, but we got rained out and had to pack up and go in the middle of the night. the not so great part was that my parents drove off without me….thankfully my sister noticed i was missing eventually lol.

#32

Staying at a campground that was absolutely infested with biting flies. It was ridiculous.

We couldn’t eat outside, there were flies all over the food. They would fly right into our faces. We thought we would be OK sleeping in the cabin. We made sure there were no flies in the cabin before we went to bed. Checked the windows for holes in the screens. We figured we’d spend the night and figure out what to do in the morning.

We woke up with bites all over our bodies. Head to toe. Bites everywhere. The morning of the 2nd day, we found a store to get medicine for the bites and then went back to the campground, packed our belongings and left.

It was the only time we ever left a vacation early.

#33

A fire broke out at a hotel. Luckily, we were only at the 2nd floor. After that experience, I always make it a point to book rooms only on lower floors.

#34

I had to deal with symptoms of cancer when I was 12 before the diagnosis. Couldn’t sleep at night because of the pain.

#35

Absent-mindedly went to stick the tip of a brand new swiss army knife into a log while fishing. Think hammer fist down into the log.

It closed around my hand. The lady at the pharmacy saw the wound and fainted.

ER lady took my details and sent me to the RSL club for lunch and a beer after slapping a big square bandaid on it.

Got admitted for stitches and copped a front row view of suppository insertion on an 84 year old lady that hadn’t [gone to the bathroom] in 9 days.

Got stitches and passed out watching.

#36

I got drunk with some locals in Maui on my very first day of a week long vacation. They asked if I wanted to go cliff jumping and I said yes. All I remember was jumping a fence, getting [undressed] and jumping off the cliff. I don’t recall anything until we got back to the hotel. I went to my room to sleep it off and when I woke up I was in agony. Long story short, I broke my tail bone and tore the skin.

#37

Rented a cottage at a private lake to swim all week. Torrential downpour 6 of the 7 days there. Played uno all evening instead of campfires.

#38

Backpacking Bali in the mid ‘90’s and got bit by something while on a hike in a monkey forest. Within 12 hours my leg was red, hot, and swollen and I was getting delirious. Hotel called a local doctor, who I paid $50 usd, and he gave me a shot and medications. I lost 2 days where I was in a haze but by the third day I felt much better. Doctor came back, for another $50 usd (which I’d learned was a huge amount for him and I gladly paid it) and gave me another shot and meds to get me through the rest of my trip and back home to Guam. When I returned I went to my doctor and showed her the pills I’d been taking. She, and the medical complex, could only identify 1 of them as a strong antibiotic. They thought the other 2 must’ve been some type of pain pills based on how I felt when I took them. Turns out I’d gotten a raging staph infection and am still susceptible to getting them all these years later. Never did figure out what bit me but they suspect it was a spider.

#39

Went to Fiji to see some family for 4 weeks, 2nd week in we go to a beach and while I was running around in the water I feel a sharp pain in my ankle. And then the pain hit me.
$3000 hospital bill and 5cm deep wound later turns out I’d been stung by a baby stingray; ended up on bed rest and pain meds for the rest of my trip. Had to go back to the Fijian doctors to get my wound repacked as it was deep and wouldn’t close.
15 year old me was not happy.

#40

Expierence was when I went to Gran Canaria and had panic attacks every single day and had to stay in the apartment for the entire holiday

Edit: I am autistic and have crippling anxiety and depression.

#41

I drove for hundreds and hundreds of miles through Spain in very hot weather with no air conditioning. It was left hand drive which I wasn’t used to. After driving for hundreds of miles we eventually got to our apartment. We had to go straight back out to find a supermarket to get food. The supermarket sold tea but it was weak.

Trying to get to sleep that night there was some event right outside with loud music and fireworks (that’s ok, it was a holiday resort) but I didn’t get any sleep. The next day I just wanted to sit on the balcony and read a book but my girlfriend insisted we drive out to ‘explore’ the locality. I said no and she freaked out, wouldn’t let it go. I said I’d been driving most of the holiday, can we just have one day where we relax. She was proud of the fact that she had never read a book in her life. True that. That was the start of the breaking up.

#42

I pulled over the curb and scraped the bumper on a rental car. I thought nothing of it at the time. When I pulled out, it ripped the entire front bumper off the car. I declined the damage waiver insurance.

#43

I got food poisoning on the last day, so my parents decided to end the vacation early and go home.

Or going to the beach and being forgetful about putting on sunblock. I came back home head to toe in a painful sunburn that made going to work the next day an agonizing experience.

#44

I was in Hong Kong just for a weekend and I was really excited about this trip because I have always wanted to see Hong Kong. Anyway, the weather was terrible, raining and pretty cold all the time, everything was expensive and people were rude… okay whatever…
But one day we were waiting to cross the road, it was raining heavily and all of a sudden there was an old lady running across the road and got hit by a car. I saw it, I heard it when the car hit her and I heard it when her body hit the ground. It was terrible, it was like the time stopped for a moment and then I heard her family screaming and crying, running to her along with random people trying to help. I burst into tears, shocked, panicking, my girlfriend grabbed my hand and walked me to metro. We felt really sad for the rest of the day. I tried to google this accident couple of days later to see how the lady was doing but never found anything about it…
I hope she made it…

#45

I bought a fake Rolex for 10 euros and went into the pool with it because it said “water resistant”. Who would have thought – that too was fake! Fooled by my own foolishness, it was NOT water resistant!

I also had diarrhea for 15 days in Vietnam. Didn’t feel bad, just had to empty out every morning. But dang, they make good food. Totally worth it.

#46

I ended up getting a nasty cold, bad sunburn and to top it off I accidently headbutted a boat while in Egypt 10 years ago.

#47

Got robbed at gunpoint once. That was not ideal.

#48

Was on the beach with my family, swimming in the ocean. Got dried off and we started walking. My brother went in to swim again, I dove in right after without thinking. I wear glasses and had put them back on.

The glasses were immediately swept off, never saw them again. Luckily at the time I did not have a ridiculous prescription, so we could get it replaced in a day or so. But still on a week long vacation not being able to see literally anything sucks.

#49

Got robbed of my suitcases and passport, with 3 days left of my trip.

#50

Went to Zanzibar.

– because you are white you pay a $40 dollar ‘insurance’. My wife who is a Tanzanian didn’t have to pay for this.

– immediately get shouted at and violently threatened. Punched a guy and the others backed off. It was over me trying to haggle down the taxi price that was 120x of what they charge in mainland Tanzanian.

– Airbnb turned out to be a scam bnb so we had to look for immediate very expensive accommodation.

– try to relax by going to a nice seafood restaurant.

– get infected with dysentery from this meal.

– go to toilet so many times

– get severe migraine due to dehydration.

– after 4 days of hell I finally get the right anti biotic.

– pain instantly clears.

– holiday over.

#51

Jellyfish sting. Had to be rushed to hospital as I showcased severe symptoms(difficulty breathing, nausea and muscle spasms. Spent the entire vacation on bed rest.

#52

Las Vegas. My mom bought my ex & I a trip to Vegas for our anniversary as they were going to be there at the same time. Nice, right?

She booked us at Bob Stupak’s Vegas World – a week before it was to be demolished.

She stayed at the brand new Mirage.

We left after 2 days.

#53

The hotel having a literal outdoors disco one floor below, in front of my window. Then an insect flies into my ear and starts trying to dig its way through. (You wouldn’t believe the pain level.) Then I get a flu. All within 2 weeks.

#54

Got the worst stomach flu of my life and spent days throwing up in the hotel.

#55

The day we arrived in Nairobi is the day the education minister was set alight in the street. We didn’t know ow this because we’d just arrived.

Next day we wandered out into the city streets. They were empty. Noone told us about the riot to come later that day. It was a very bad day.

#56

Food poisoning in rural Japan. Beautiful ryokan, perfect hot spring, incredible dinner. Then at 2am my body decided to reject everything I’d eaten in the past 48 hours. Spent the next 12 hours in the most beautiful bathroom I’ve ever been violently ill in. The toilet had a heated seat and like 15 buttons. At least I was comfortable between episodes. 3 stars.

#57

Broken down rented minibus leaving 15 of us including a toddler and 3 infants stranded at a motorway service station for 10 hours on a bank holiday weekend.

When the rescue people finally decided that it couldn’t be fixed they then decided that transport could only be provided back to the minibus hire place rather than homes and left us at about 3am outside a locked transport yard.

#58

Our luggage got stolen so we spend our vacation in the police station and waiting for our luggage to be retrieved. Luckily it was retrieved the day after it got stolen. So 2 days of our vacation got wasted.

#59

I got grounded (some stupid reason) on a family trip to Florida and had to stay at the campsite which I was locked out of the camper. *Early 80s*. My family was out sightseeing and having fun while I ended up in the hospital with sun poisoning. Then I was told I ‘ruined’ their vacation because of it.

#60

First night of honeymoon in Nassau we went for a moonlight walk in the water and I stepped on a sea urchin.

#61

Family trip to 6 flags. Drove 3 hours. 6 flags was closed. Drove back home.

#62

I went out to Vegas to meet up with a friend of mine. He was super enthusiastic about the idea. I got us a [fantastic] deal on a top of the line room, five stars. I flew, he lived much closer so he decided to rent a car. He arrives, checks his credit card balance and freaked out because his available credit was $500 less than he assumed it’d be. I told him that was the security hold they put on the card and he’d get it back when he returned the car, but a) he said he’d “never heard of that” and b) assumed he’d spent $229 a day on the car and not the $29 a day he thought he’d be paying.

This sent him into a wild depressive tailspin. I told him to just call the CC company and verify what the charge was for but he refused and decided to mope instead, blaming me for his sudden financial peril. On our second full day there he saw an ad for an $8.95 prime rib dinner and wanted to go. I told him it was most likely an early bird deal so we’d better get there early, but he dawdled and frittered around for no reason. Then we got to the place and the guy at the door said no, that’s the early bird and it’s $14.95 after 4pm. He flipped out and stormed away. We got back to the room at 8pm and he angrily went to bed. I said there was no way I was going to freaking bed at 8 o’clock and I was heading out to go have fun. I ended up winning $1200 on a slot machine.

The next morning it’s my birthday, the weather was immaculate and I had $1200 in my pocket. When I told him about my lucky streak he got all mad, then proceeded to pout, sulk, yawn and look at his watch every five minutes. After trying and failing to drag him around I said hey, you might as well GTHO, it’s 3pm and I’d like to salvage my last day here without you gunking it all up. He left and never even wished me a happy birthday.

The next day I was boarding my flight home and he calls me. He said hey, guess what, you were right, the car WAS only $29 a day…isn’t that funny? I said yeah, hilarious, thanks [jerk]. It ruined the friendship and I haven’t seen him since.

#63

First day in America 2013. Got on the wrong train, got kicked off of that train for having a NJ transit ticket on an Amtrak train and then when I eventually got to the area of NJ I wanted to go to, I asked someone for directions; he turned out to be a plain clothes cop. Numerous cops turned up and I had an awkward encounter with a bunch of racist cops before one gave me a ride to my hotel.

#64

Went all the way to Iceland to hike and roadtrip with some friends. One of them took his girlfriend and [she] just wanted to go shopping and clubbing every day. So we ended up staying in the city for most of it and wasted the whole trip.

#65

Went to Cambodia for my brother’s wedding with my whole family. The plane there was great but over the course of a week and a half every single one of us got horrific diarrhea, heat exhaustion, sun burns and a million bug bites. My brother and his best friend were chained to the restroom on the day of the ceremony and only came out to change outfits and take pictures. I was hit on the way home…whole plane ride with horrible diarrhea. It sucked. The wedding was beautiful though at least.

#66

Not me, but a guy I work with took his family to Disney World.

No planning, no research. One day at Disney. Mom, Dad, 2 kids under 8, and grandma.

Arrive at 10:00 am. Want to go on Pirates. Wait in line for 1 hour. Ride Pirates (10 minutes) Walk across park to ride Space Mountain. Wait in line an hour. Kids can’t ride. Grandma watches kids. Parents ride. 10 minutes. Want to ride Haunted Mansion. Walk across park, wait 1 hour, ride for 10 minutes. It is now nearly 2:30, they have walked 2 miles, stood in line for 3 hours and ridden 2 1/2 rides.

Dad wants to eat lunch in Epcot. They travel to Epcot. Walk around for an hour. Everyone is [hungry]. Dad finally decides to eat at the Norway pavilion. Authentic Norwegian smorgasbord buffet. $16 per person, no discount for kids. Dad understands this. The kids, facing pickled herring and ligonberries and lutvisk and god-knows-what are terrified and each take 1 dinner roll. Won’t eat any of this strange food. Dad complains to management. Management points out that they encourage people to look over the buffet before deciding. $16.00 a plate stands. Dad tries to punch manager. Family is evicted from park and invited not to come back.

#67

I was 8 years old and got myself SO EXCITED for Disney World when we flew out there I developed a serious case of hives and ruined the whole trip since I could barely enjoy myself. My aunt, who orchestrated the whoe thing, said she was never going back again. Sometimes I wonder if that was my fault. My immune system decided to flip out and make me sick. I almost threw up on the flight home.

Anxiety/Extreme emotions make me physically ill.

#68

Went to visit girlfriend in France for a semester abroad, and she was living with a family who skiied. There was a trip to the pre-Alps, and I was going to go skiing with them, even though I had never skiied or even skated that much. How hard could it be?

Predictably, once we got to the top of the mountain, I found I could not ski at all, and having my legs sliding around was completely too much for me, and kind of terrifying. Trapped on top of the mountain, with everyone else skiing happily, I suddenly felt a churning stomach emergency.

Unfortunately, the only bathroom on the top of the mountain was out of order, and I was in agony. In a panic, I wandered a little ways from the ski lodge, carrying my useless skiis and wearing skiiboots and dug a hole in the snow, lowered my pants, and sat down and groaned as my load sprayed into the snow. Just as I did, I looked up to see a gondola twenty feet above me on its way to the lodge, full of French skiers–all witnesses to my disgraceful activity on their mountain.

#69

I was in Washington D.C. in 1988 and my Dad turned left to enter a restaurant. Another car slammed into the side of us.

I was in the hospital a few hours, my brother stayed overnight. My Mom was OK initially, but she was most directly hit and actually developed a gigantic bruise on her leg that took a super long time to go away.

#70

We thought my sister [passed] when we went to Niagra Falls as children. I was 6, she was 4. Parents couldn’t find her and thought she fell over the rail. Dad was about to jump in when a bunch of Japanese tourists she had wandered off to follow brought her back to us.

#71

I was locked in a room and nearly kidnapped alone in Vietnam. Definitely the scariest thing that ever happened to me.

#72

A long time ago when I was in the military I went home to AZ for vacation. My girlfriend had cheated on me but swore it wouldn’t happen again. I joined her and her family at their vacation home (I flew out to Reno from AZ and I had a cast on from a skiing accident). She spent the entire weekend on the phone with the guy.

#73

Anyone else have a great immune system but always seem to get sick on vacation. Yeah that’s me.

#74

This isn’t as serious as other things on here, but it really bummed me out: Last day in Hawaii, and we were scheduled to swim with dolphins. The plan was to do that for a few hours, head back to the hotel, shower, check out, and get to the airport. Maybe get some lunch before. I woke up first because I was excited to do this, got ready, looked out the window: lo and behold, it’s raining with dark clouds. Like, super dark. In mother nature’s defense, it was 6:30 in the morning, but still, should’ve been lighter. We got a call saying due to bad weather, we could either reschedule or get a refund. We went for the refund since we weren’t staying another day. It was a sad few hours for me.

#75

I don’t know if this considered the “worst” but it felt like it was.

I was coming back from Cabo to LAX and were about to board the plane. A lady working the counter was collecting a certain slip that we had when we first entered into Mexico. She was very rude and told us that the slip we had was not the right one and after a minute tells us to move out of the way in a sarcastic tone.

We’re starting to panic, going through papers and our bags as people are going through and are making the walk to the airplane to then go up the stairs and after 5 minutes, we show the same slip again to state that it IS this slip. The woman said yeah that was the slip the entire time.

Relived, we make it to the plane and after sitting down for 2 minutes in the back, a flight attendant asks me to get off the plane and have my passport. I’m freaking out once again.

Turns out they lost my “slip” from earlier and needed my passport to confirm. After 2 minutes, I was back in my seat completely stressed but relived to be heading back to LA.

#76

Got really bad diarrhea 2 days into the Dominican Republic. Had to stay in the resort for 2 days to give it a chance to clear. Even after I had to go shuffling off to the toilet every couple of hours.

Great holiday, but was somewhat spoiled by that.

#77

It is happening in real time. I am staying at the Sheraton Times Square right now with my two kids 2 and 5. The TVs don’t work, the water is yellow and the elevators don’t. Freaking. Work.

#78

Throwing up all night in the DR after (guessing) I drank the water. Sounds real simple state side to avoid that issue with the ubiquity of bottled water there. But, after drinking vodka martinis all day, things can happen. Ye be warned 😉

Place was pretty awesome other than that. Not their fault. I drink water out of tap like a Labrador at home all the time.

#79

My highschool had this discount bus trip across europe. It started in Madrid, and we went all the way to Rome in about 7 days. Turns out we just went on a bus, spent about 7 hours on it every day, see a famous site for 40 minutes, then hop on the bus again. We saw a lot of stuff, but I really hate travel like that. I was also sick for about half the trip.

I’m so glad I’ve had many more opportunities to visit those countries on my own terms. Turns out I’m a hang out in the same place for multiple day kind of guy.

#80

Had really bad strep throat on the day we were coming back. Felt fine in the morning, felt off on the way, headache in line, nauseous at security, then full on fever while waiting for the plane. Happened all so quickly. Spent time on plane falling asleep then waking up to vomit. When we got there, I was so weak I had to be pulled out on a wheelchair. At least we got to skip the line because we were directed to the empty disability line.

#81

Took my teenage daughter on an archaeological dig organized by the National Forest Service. It took months to organize, apply for and be accepted. To be fair: It was way south of what we were used to. The archaeologist wasn’t even part of the dig (he was supposed to be).. he gave us over to some University instructor who was already saddled with a dozen+ students (so no time for us volunteers). Instructor told students (never ever acknowledged our presence) to walk & flag a large plowed field in 90 degree F in full sun with no water or shade for the whole day. Nope, ducked out of that nonsense and de-camped and drove 12+ hours straight back home to Michigan. Note: we had volunteered on several digs (in other States) over the years with wonderful experiences and safety considerations… but this was a nightmare in the making and dangerous too. Thanks for letting me vent.

#82

My wife and I are from the states and went on our honeymoon to Italy. Started in Lake Como which was beautiful but then drove south to Chianti area of Greve. 90% of the locals down there were so mean and incredibly rude to us that it was really baffling. We were not loud “typical Americans” and we were very mindful of their slow leisurely pace of life but no matter what they would not talk to us or say hello or anything. Our last night there we go back to a hotel in Milan so we are close to the airport and had our best night there. The bartender was so nice and warm and just super friendly. We mentioned that you are the only person who has been decent to us the whole 8 days and he says, well that’s because I’m from Portugal. He then goes on to explain that Italians seem to not even like each other and are kind of abrasive to everyone. It made us feel better but at the same time it ruined our honeymoon.

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