9 Travel Horrors I Lived Through & What I Learned

Summary

• Be prepared for the unexpected when traveling, like flight cancellations or weather delays, especially during typhoons.
• Utilize direct booking with airlines for complex trips to avoid issues with third-party providers and to ensure better customer service.
• The power of saying “no” when it comes to accommodation and compensation can make a huge difference in travel experiences.

It’s a joke among my friends and family that I have most unfortunate luck when it comes to travel. That’s fairly ironic, given my travel writing vocation, but as someone who averages almost 100 flights a year and visits upwards of half a dozen countries and dozens of states every year, a travel snafu is bound to happen…but perhaps not to the degree it’s happened to me!

I’ve visited some of the best countries in East Asia, stayed at the friendliest hotel in Memphis, and I even lived abroad in London (which I can tell you a lot about!), but I’ve come out of none of those experiences unscathed. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but I wouldn’t say no to better luck!

Of course, I’ve suffered your run-of-the-mill flight delay or cancelation and had the bad luck of sitting next to an impatient passenger or two. I’ve had my fair share of unpleasant flight crew or gate agents. Once, a flight crew even made me cry. But in all my travel experience, all the things I’m about to tell you top the list of absolute worst travel horrors—and they were mostly things outside my control. However, with every great hardship, comes great learning, and I learned some valuable lessons along the way.

9 My Travel Agent Booked Me Into A Scary Hotel When My Flight Was Canceled

I learned the power of “no” when negotiating compensation and accommodation

The trend of using travel agents is on the rise according to the American Society of Travel Advisors; thought to be a dying industry, it turns out younger travelers are utilizing this “hassle-free” method of booking trips to decrease stress and maximize enjoyment of the trip.

For a trip to the Caribbean, I booked through such a travel service, rather than try to figure it out myself. And as it turns out, yes, it was incredibly helpful, however, maybe not necessarily easier than if I had booked it all myself.

I had two layovers, one in Tampa and one in Fort Lauderdale before heading to the Caribbean; when my Tampa to Fort Lauderdale leg was canceled, I contacted my travel agent to work out a fix. About 12 hours at Tampa Airport later, I was rerouted through Miami with an overnight connection.

The agent booked me a hotel, and all seemed well. I didn’t have to talk to any airport staff or wait for an egregiously long phone call to get help. I didn’t have to hunt for a hotel. But at the end of the day, when I arrived at my Miami-area hotel, I was shocked at the hotel the agent had booked me into. It was run down, sparse, and without any sort of amenities (including vending machines or ice machines), and didn’t appear clean at all.

What I Learned

At the time, I had just been so grateful that I didn’t have to deal with much myself and instead could leave it to a professional. Now looking back, I realize that I had paid this agency to execute a service for me, and I had the power to push back a little and insist on nicer accommodation, or at least a livable one.

As a solo female traveler, safety is paramount when on a trip, and I didn’t feel safe at this hotel.

8 I Nearly Threw Up From Running To Make An International Connection

From a remote gate to running across the airport, this is what I realized about busy international airports.

After I spent a beautiful spring week in Tuscany, I was en route to Los Angeles from Florence, Italy. After an unexplained delay in Florence, my connection window in Frankfurt shrank from a comfortable two hours to just 20 minutes.

Even worse, my inbound flight to Frankfurt was at a remote gate—the ones where you have to hop on a bus to get to the terminal. Plus, about 75% of the passengers on my flight needed to run to try to make a connection—or had already missed one. The flight crew was unhelpful on board—”complain at the desk,” was their best advice.

I made a run for it since the next flight to Los Angeles from Frankfurt wasn’t until a full 24 hours later. I had never been in so much danger of missing a connection in my life, and I ran as hard as I could, panting through passport control until a sweet Frankfurt Airport employee took pity on me and drove me in a cart the rest of the way.

He was convinced I was going to miss my flight anyway, but by some miracle, I made it. And was completely ill from the experience.

What I Learned

Busy international airports are not the place to gamble on layovers. Even though an airline may sell you an itinerary that has short connection windows—if they sell it, it’s possible right?—it isn’t always in your best interest to just trust the airline.

Instead, play it safe, and make sure you allow more than two hours if you’re passing through an international connection.

If you’re arriving in the U.S. from an international flight on a connection, then you need to budget more time for customs than you might think. Due to
an ancient Customs and Border Patrol code
that dictates that any piece of baggage or shipment must be inspected as soon as it enters American borders, every passenger
must
pick up their checked bags at their first American airport, even if they’re continuing on to another American destination. Unlike other international destinations where your bag gets checked all the way through to your final destination, in the U.S. you need to claim your bag and recheck it, as well as go through a secondary security screening. Most airports allow you to do this all airside, but a handful make you exit the secure area and go through security landside, adding even more time needed for a layover.

7 Another Passenger Threw Up On Me During A Sold Out Flight

I was the victim of an unfortunate projectile vomit in flight

Here’s the thing about traveling to and from destinations that are popular with families—there will always be children on your flight. On a flight from Orlando, Florida, to a layover in Ohio, I was the neighbor of a poor child with motion sickness. I couldn’t fault the kid, but what I was surprised by were his parents who chose to sit separate from their kids despite the fact they had four seats altogether.

The parents could have gone one-on-one with each child but instead chose to sit together while their eight-year-old and six-year-old sat together with me in a row. After I found myself on the flight path of the eight-year-old’s sickness, the parents finally volunteered to switch seats with me to tend to their sick child who, get this, had been sick on the flight prior too. To top it all off, I had paid an additional fee to pick my seat too!

A
new Department of Transportation lawsuit
may make it illegal for airlines to charge families who need and want to sit together additional fees—aka “Junk Fees”. This potentially could curb unwanted seating issues in the future!

What I Learned

I learned many things from this interaction. First, I should have asked the parents if they wanted to switch seats with me. While I got the inkling that they didn’t really want to sit with their children, I could have made that effort.

Second, I should always have a change of clothes in my carry-on, just in case. Third, having a pack of tissues and a wet wipe on me goes a long way.

6 The Airline Lost My Baggage When I Moved To Asia For The Summer

My “Eat, Pray, Love” summer started without any of my possessions

During the summer of 2022, I had a moment of existential crisis and decided to “find myself” for a summer in Asia. My journey started with a few months of living in Seoul, South Korea, before heading to Thailand and Singapore then back to the U.S. In total, it was going to be close to a four-month journey, and I prepared for a long time away.

After passing passport control, getting tested for COVID-19, which was mandatory at the time, and figuring out how to rent a cell phone for my time in Asia, I faced an unexpected challenge: my baggage with four months of possessions had been lost by the airline.

With a tenuous-at-best timeline of when it would be sent to my apartment in Seoul, I had to purchase new clothing, undergarments, and toiletries…it really did feel like I was building life from the ground up again.

What I Learned

In my haste to adjust to life in Seoul, after I purchased all of my new things, I did not keep receipts nor did I make sure that I got a receipt after every purchase. I know that sounds silly, but I had convinced myself that a credit card statement of all my purchases would suffice in asking the airline to recoup my expenses. It was not.

While some airlines may work with you on this, it’s not a guarantee, so don’t make the mistake I made.

5 I Was On A Three-Leg Flight To South Korea, & My Second Leg Got Canceled

Moral of the story: Third-party providers may not be safest for long-haul, complex flights

My temporary move to South Korea was probably ill-fated from the start. To get there, I was on a marathon three-leg flight itinerary, going from Boston to Toronto. Then Toronto to Vancouver. Then Vancouver to Incheon.

I had found an excellent business class deal and thought a long overnight layover in Toronto would be worth it to have a lie-flat option on the Vancouver to Incheon leg. The caveat: I had to book through a third-party booking platform. Worth the risk, right?

Well, with my middle flight from Toronto to Vancouver unceremoniously canceled, I was left a bit in the lurch. The airline actually didn’t contact me to alert me my flight was canceled. I had just had a funny feeling something was going to go wrong, and I checked my email at 4:00 am in a panic to find a message from the third-party platform stating my flight was canceled.

At first, I was told that since I had booked through a third party, the platform itself had to rebook me. They did. From Toronto to Rome to Incheon. After a bit of pleading, the desk agent resignedly re-booked me on a more palatable itinerary.

What I Learned

While sometimes those third-party platform deals are too good to pass up, when it comes to such a big itinerary or such major travel, it’s best not to risk putting another cook in the kitchen.

Book directly with the airline for those large trips and take advantage of third-party platform deals when you’re traveling a little closer to home or in more familiar territory.

4 A Medical Emergency Nearly Stopped My Red Eye

Medical first responders are really the angels of flying

Red eyes aren’t the most pleasant of experiences, and though you can do everything in your power to make it comfortable, it can end up being a sleepless night. On such a flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, a medical emergency made sleep impossible. Fortunately, the passenger was fine and got medical attention, but it was quite scary.

Medical volunteers on board leaped into action to resuscitate the individual. Since we were close enough to our destination airport, the medical staff recommended landing as scheduled. Nearby passengers all switched seats so that the volunteers could sit with the sick passenger.

If, for some reason, your flight gets diverted because of an emergency or weather, the airline is liable for getting you to your original destination. Now that passenger rights have been expanded considerably following the
Department of Transportation’s new rulings
, airlines must refund passengers for such issues. Refunds should be provided promptly and without hassle.

What I Learned

First medical first responders who volunteer while they’re traveling to treat passengers are absolute angels. Second, we, as non-medical professionals, need to do our part to facilitate the necessary aid. Major kudos to those passengers who quickly knew to move out of the way!

Be sure to listen to the cabin crew for directions—and follow those directions respectfully—to ensure the health and safety of you and the folks around you.

3 Everyone Got Incredibly Sea Sick On A Cruise Through The Norwegian Fjords

A peculiarly strong storm at sea saw a last-minute itinerary change and many seeking medical care

Cruising through the Norwegian Fjords is an absolutely magical experience that should be on everyone’s bucket list. But on my adventure cruising from Amsterdam to Norway, our ship got caught in an unexpectedly strong storm off the coast of Germany. The crew was caught completely off-guard, and we actually had to skip the first port of call due to swells and winds.

Everyone got incredibly sick, including the veteran crew, many of whom said this was the worst weather condition they had ever traveled through in all their years of working in the cruise industry. Lucky us! Many of the passengers did not emerge from their cabins at all during the first two days of cruising, yours truly included.

What I Learned

Be prepared for the unexpected. Even if you’re not someone who gets seasick, it’s worth having some provisions with you, like sea bands and motion sickness medication, that will mitigate any sudden issues.

Also, I learned that booking travel health care, which sometimes is separate from travel insurance generally, may be worthwhile if you’re embarking on long journeys. Many of my fellow passengers sought medical care on and off the ship in the aftermath of the rocky storms, and travel health care plans helped them figure out costs and care plans.

2 I Wound Up Sharing A Taxi With Three Strangers During Historic Wind Storms In the U.K.

What do a young school teacher, businessman, grad student, and woman looking for love have in common?

I often find myself in the middle of unprecedented and historic weather patterns. Like the unexpected strong storm in the North Sea, during a trip to the UK, I found myself right in the middle of a historic windstorm that knocked over freight trucks and tore the roof off of the O2 Arena.

I was on a train from the UK’s second-largest city, Birmingham, to London, when it suddenly screeched to a halt and began reversing back into the previous station in the middle of the English countryside. A tree had toppled onto the wires and on the tracks, stopping all train operations in the country.

Fretting, myself and a few other passengers agreed to share a large taxi the rest of the way to London, an almost three-hour drive. One woman was headed to London on a blind date for a potential arranged marriage. Another woman was going on her first solo trip ever. Our male co-passenger needed to get to London to renew his visa. I was flying out the next day.

Over the next two hours, we learned so much about each other…but never shared any of our contact details.

What I Learned

You are bound to have interactions in life that really make you take a beat and reflect on the world around you. We’re all main characters in our own story but forget that we’re walking NPCs to so many people in this world. But if you take a second, you might be able to take away a lesson or two from those characters around you.

It was almost more magical that none of us stayed in touch. It was a moment of time that encouraged reflection for all of us.

1 A Typhoon Left Me Stranded In Taipei For Two Days

Mother Nature delayed our Bali vacation

And in another saga of flight cancelations, this one takes the number one spot as the most insane travel horror story I lived through.

Traveling from LAX to Bali via Taipei, my husband and I were taking our first big trip as a married couple. After a long, overnight journey, we noticed that the weather was quickly deteriorating when we landed in Taipei, and after watching a few aircraft take off into a wall of clouds and sheets of rain, we knew our flight to Bali was likely not going to happen.

We were caught in a massive typhoon and had to be evacuated from the Taipei Airport. Passengers from various flights were loaded onto several charter buses, and we slowly made our way in high winds and torrential downpours to a hotel about 20 minutes away.

Unfortunately, we did learn that the storm had casualties and heavy property damage. After that terrifying bus ride to our accommodation, we were grateful that everyone from the airport got to shelter safely. Sadly, we missed two full days in Bali and missed out on our five-star accommodation in Jimbaran Bay though.

What I Learned

This was the first trip that we purchased travel insurance. Since we were traveling further than we had ever traveled before, we thought it was worth the extra $50 at the time.

We couldn’t have been more grateful to our past selves; we were able to file a claim for those two missed days, getting refunded in full by the insurance company along with a small sum of money to compensate for our delay. That took the financial sting out of missing our first two days in Bali, and we safely arrived at our destination a couple of days later.