We all enjoy traveling, but for all the highs we have experienced there have probably been some terrible lows. Living in Venezuela, bad experiences regarding traveling are almost a requirement. We are already used to flight delays or cancellations, poor customer service and extreme heat in airports. But are all these terrible experiences really worth it? We collected several stories from students and teachers about their worst travel experiences, and picked the best, or worst, five to be shared.
Victim #1 is high school Social Studies teacher, Mr. Munroe, whose tragedy took place in Patagonia, Chile. As a naive college student, Mr. Munroe took a trip down to southern Argentina/Chile with only a small backpack and some light clothes. In his backpack, he had one long-sleeved shirt, one jacket, two pairs of ankle socks and one pair of jeans. After a long day hiking in Torres del Paine national park, Mr. Munroe decided to rent a bed in a community room especially for hikers. Being a newbie in the hiking business, he did not know that the beds didn't come with blankets or pillows, since that was the hikers’ responsibility. Another thing Mr. Munroe wasn’t expecting was temperature dropping to zero degrees. That night, all the other hikers around him were sleeping comfortable with many layers of clothes and blankets, while Mr. Munroe on the other hand had nothing. He spent the night “shivering like a little cub who just got lost from his mother”. What made it all worse was that he spent the entire night staring at the clock hoping for time to fly by, but it only seemed to slow down. “For about six hours this happened, and I don’t think I’ve ever been colder in my life”.
Our victim #2 is 6th grader Laura Franco, who believes she had her worst traveling experience in St. Augustine, Florida. It was July 4th, and her family was desperately searching for a hotel to stay in the busy and small city of St. Augustine. After searching for hours, her family decided to look at one more hotel, hoping there would be a vacancy. Laura and her mom stepped out of the car and walked towards the hotel’s lobby. After entering the hotel, “there were noisy parrots screaming in the lobby, which didn't give us the best first impression”. Nevertheless, Laura and her mom decided to give the hotel one more chance and asked the receptionist if they could check a room out before they paid for the night. “We went up the stairs expecting a comfy place but we were extremely wrong”. The room was destroyed; the rugs had spots, probably urine according to Laura, the paintings were tilted and some of them weren't even hung, and the curtains were ripped “like a crazy cat had been in there”. Additionally, the AC wasn't working and the beds weren't made. After deciding they would not stay there, Laura had to return the room key to the reception, since her mom didn't even dare to do it herself.
Fifth grader Elisa Anelli’s tragedy took place in Curacao, where she thought she would continue to her final destination, Aruba, with no problem. When Elisa and her family arrived to the airport, they were surprised by being told that their flight was delayed. The Anelli family waited and waited and waited until finally the airline paid a hotel for them to stay. “The hotel was AWFUL”. After spending a few hours at the hotel, Elisa and her family returned to the airport only to find out that their flight had been cancelled. “We had to spend the night at that awful hotel”. The next day, Elisa and her family returned to the airport and were relieved after finding out that their new flight was on time. “The rest of the vacation was relaxing, just what I need after that fiasco”.
Our librarian might have a calm job, but she sure has had some crazy adventures! Her worst travel experience was in Li Jiang, China, where she went to the Leaping Rock Canyon, where legend says two lovers jumped into the river because their parents wouldn't let them be together. After a 4 hour road trip, Ms. Martin and a group of friends stopped for lunch in a very nice restaurant with chairs that needed padding. After having lots of rice, gristly chicken, good vegetables and lots of tea, all of them needed to use the bathroom. Nevertheless, all bathrooms in China are squat toilets; some have a flush mechanism but most do not. The only bathroom available for Ms. Martin and her friends was in a rickety building built over a ravine. There was no paper or water, and if you looked down the hole, the first bit of land was 300 feet below. “Our eyes watered, our lungs refused to work”. Since no one was brave enough to go to the bathroom over the ravine, Ms. Martin and her friends decided they could wait until the next stop, “or the nearest forest with lots of privacy”. Two hours later, no one cared about the distraught lovers anymore, they just wanted a bathroom!
Mr. Spolar and Ms. Finnegan are exceptions! After traveling to almost every continent in the world, their worst travel experience was in Minnesota! They flew into Minnesota since they had to alter the flight path in order to go around a storm. They landed and waited for their flight to Wisconsin, only to find out that their flight was delayed. They waited for a couple of hours and finally boarded their flight. They waited some more, and rain started to fall on the plane. As the plane began to move, they were surprised to realize that their plane parked next to other several planes. Several planes took off and arrived, while they were still stuck at the parking sport. “The storm increased in intensity, and we were informed that we now had to go back to the gate to get more gas”. After having to leave the plane to wait for the storm to pass, they finally took off. “The turbulence from the storm as we approached the next airport bounced us around but we were able to land”. As they exited the airport to get their cars, they had to stand in the pouring rain to pay the parking fee, and were informed that the storm had knocked out the power to the airport, which meant their fee could not be paid. Finally, a man came with pen and soaked paper to get their credit card information, car by car. It was now past midnight, and they decided to stay in a hotel for the night instead of driving two hours back home. “A week later we received our bill for the parking even though we thought it would be impossible to read the rain-soaked notes that the airport employee had recorded”.
As you can see, you have got to go through some bad experiences in order to have a good time! Plus, these unpleasing experiences will once make great stories.
By: Carolina Franco
By: Carolina Franco