Less than two weeks until our Stateside vacation, and the detail-hoarding squirrel in my left hemisphere is thisclose to frantic. We Bassetts have a noble traveling tradition of insanity, and those mad dashes across foreign cities take a lot of preplanning. Schedules to be calculated. Maps to be downloaded. Accommodations to be arranged. Insurance to be finagled. Suitcases to be precision-packed (I let my Tetris champion husband take care of that one). And must not forget the passports, wedding gifts, swim diapers, teething medicine, SIM cards, kitchen sinks, and brain cell refills.
I also have a hairy editing project to finish, so date night this week consisted of Dan and I side-by-side on our computers, eyes glazing over, forgetting all about supper. Chick flick material, I know. Add an upcoming move and potty training (why, God, why?) to the mix, and you have the kind of busyness that thunks around in the pit of my stomach at 3 a.m. Priorities keep playing ring-around-the-rosie in that way they do when I’m no longer seeing straight.
So, in the interest of preserving senses of adventure everywhere, please share: What was the craziest travel experience that you (or someone you know) survived?
I am lucky in that I don’t have any crazy travel stories. I have wonderful ones – like traveling through Italy in a double decker bus – but I did have friends who went to South Africa (he was South African, she was not) and when they tried to leave to come back to the U.S., he was not allowed to leave. It was very traumatic, and of course they were in love so it was extra traumatic. All is well now, but I don’t remember how long it was before he was able to come back to the U.S.
I’m so excited you’re coming Stateside!
My most crazy thing that happened was on my honeymoon (of course). I lost the diamond to my engagement ring and I forgot my purse and realized it when the shuttle to the airport was about to leave. All is well that ends well, my husband found the diamond, and the shuttle bus waited while I went and got the key back to the condo, and got my purse, and returned the key. Yikes. We were in the Cayman Islands, so I needed my Driver’s license to get back in the country. After a wonderfully relaxing week, it almost put me over the edge!
Hope you have a great trip home to the US! Here in MN we have sunny skies and it is in the 70s. Beautiful springy summery weather. Can’t wait to hear about your trip.
I flew out from Chicago (years ago) to visit my girlfriend in Oregon. She lived in Eugene which is 2 hours south of Portland where I flew in…but she couldn’t be there to pick me up so she arranged for a friend to drop off her car in the parking garage at the airport so I could drive to her house. Only when I got there, it was a stickshift which I didn’t know how to drive. So I lurched around the roof of the parking garage figuring it out for 45 minutes and then when I got down the levels to come out I found out I didn’t have enough money to pay for the parking fee. Ended up begging the guy to take what I had and let me go and then I lurched out onto the highway, only to discover that the car was almost out of gas: AAAGH.
Finally found a gas station, got gassed up (LURCHING AND STALLING ALL THE WAY) and drove down to see her. Had a lovely visit, despite a little fender-bender (she was driving during that one), and then when my time was up, she drove me up in the afternoon to Portland, where we planned to find a hotel and stay the night before my flight which left early the next morning. We had her baby daughter with us in the car and when we got to Portland we discovered there was some GIGANTIC Shriner’s Convention and there were NO. HOTEL. ROOMS. to be found. Not one. ANYWHERE. So we ended up half-dozing (with the baby!) in the airport on very uncomfortable seats.
Memorable! 😀
one word: amtrak. I visited Kris down in tejas my frosh yr of college (i went to a different school my first yr). My trip down went down without a hitch, but coming back to Ohio, all hell broke loose. Some of the “highlights”: ovarian cysts burst, train derailment and having to take a very scary bus to get around the train, FBI getting on board to find an inmate escapy, and a 22 hr trip turning into over 70 hrs (missed a connecting train, etc.) yes, the best trip ever.
My first flight ever and there was a group of people partying in the back of the plane. Throughout the flight they were whooping and guffawing, drinking and getting louder and louder. I tuned them out in light of the fact we were on our way to Reno, after all.
Toward the destination the pilot did something to the engine (shifted down?) and it made a loud, continuous roaring noise. The party in the back went dead silent. As a matter of fact the entire plane went silent. Suddenly one of the partiers in back (I think she was the loudest one earlier) started yelling frantically, “Make him stop! Make him stop!” I turned to my sister and asked, “Is this normal?”
7 hours trapped on an airplane. Atlanta to Atlanta. Unusual January snow storm. 39th for deicing. Then the crew ran out of hours. Then there was no gate for us to return to. Watched 2 movies. No snacks. Got on the plane at 5:30 pm, off at 12:30 am. Tried to drive and car skidded across parking lot. Went back to stand in line until 6:00 am when they let everyone with a boarding pass from the day before rush security. Arrived at destination 23 hours late.
OOOH I love love love the new digs (sorry if I’m late to the party on that! Been writing up a storm.)
Wow, I can’t tell if your stories made me feel better or provided me with fresh terror for our upcoming trip!
Sam – You’ll have to share the Italy travel stories sometime; where all did you travel?
Liz – That sounds like one of my recurring teenage nightmares. Did you finally learn to drive stick?
Erica – I think you especially should win some kind of prize for enduring the trip from hell. Burst ovarian cysts!
Sherry – Sounds like you found a category more annoying than “crying baby” during a flight. Sheesh.
Cynthia – Honestly, I think the worst part of your story was the “no snacks” part. That’s just cruel and unusual punishment.
Christina – Thanks! And you don’t have to apologize for being busy writing, unless it’s for making the other writing fiends among us jealous. 🙂