Travel Bloggers About the Worst Experiences While Traveling

Endless happiness, rainbows and glitters, this is how traveling looks like. Well…

After seeing those always happy moments on Instagram, we start to believe in that. And don’t get me wrong, my ”follow your dreams” is still as strong as before, but is good to talk about the darker side of traveling as well.

Why? Because the worst scenario, can appear no matter how good you are prepared and organised. If you are a real traveler pushing your boundaries and stepping out of your comfort zone, without doubt, you will have a taste of it, sooner or later.

Anyway, some of the most awkward and unfavorable aspects of traveling become often the most interesting and hilarious ones!

,,Because the worst travel experiences make great stories”

After waking up with a cockroach on my face in Bocas del Toro, being attacked by hungry monkeys on Koh Chiang island in Thailand, almost died standing next to the collapsing building in Havana, Cuba and I got infected with dengue in Bali, I raised up, dusted myself off and became stronger and stronger. Isn’t all about it?

I asked few travel bloggers to share with us the worst travel experiences on the road!

James from Worldwide Shopping Guide

Travel doesn’t always go according to plan, especially Couchsurfing. One cold January, I arrived in New York to find that my host could no longer host me. Thankfully, though, he had found someone else who could. There was just one thing: the host was a nudist. Would I be okay with that?

Not wanting to seem prudish I immediately said yes. The guy was great, apparently, and a popular member of the local Couchsurfing community. He just didn’t like to wear clothes – despite the below freezing temperatures New York was currently experiencing.

Conversation was slightly awkward, at least on my part initially. I didn’t know where to look, and didn’t want to appear rude. Gradually, the awkwardness died down and talk went from polite pleasantries to friendlier chitchat.

Staying with my host for those few days, I learned that you have to be very determined if you want to be a nudist. Looking at his Couchsurfing profile later, I saw that plenty of other people who’d stayed with him had. A part of me definitely wished that I could be as easy-going as them.

Nate from Travel Lemming

As I was about to board my flight to the Bolivian desert town of Uyuni, I got a text from a friend who was already on the ground: “there is a protest going on in Uyuni and almost all of the roads are blocked”! He went on to say that the night before his driver, who was supposed to take him out to the famous nearby salt flats, had his the car confiscated by the protesters.

That was it. I didn’t hear form my friend again for days. Not knowing what the message meant, I boarded the plane anyway. I probably should have turned back.

Because when I hiked into the town from the airport, it turned out that protesters had encircled the small dusty desert town, setting up spikes to prevent vehicles from getting in and out, and were attacking any car who dared to pass!

These protests are apparently a fairly common occurrence in Bolivia, and when they happen they can just shut everything down completely. And sometimes they last for weeks. There is no way in or out of the town until the protesters get what they want (in this case, some money related to a land dispute with the government).

I spent the next few days desperately trying to organize my way out of the town and on to the Uyuni salt flats tour I had come to take. But most drivers wouldn’t dare run blockade, and most tour companies were shut down. Thankfully, I managed to find my way to a stunning hotel made out of salt, where I lucked out in that a nice couple put me in contact with a fly-by-night operator who was willing to brave the blockade. The driver had to outrun groups of protesters throwing rocks at the jeep, but he at least eventually managed to get out safely! And, oh yeah, the Bolivian salt flats were totally worth the trouble after all.

Stefan and Sebastien from Nomadic Boys

We cannot say we have a worst travel experience, because we always try to look on the bright side of moment on the road. For example, we started our big Asia trip on a budget and traveled on the Trans-Siberian railway in 3rd class, which is like sleeping in a large hostel dorm in a train. It wasn’t in anyway luxurious, and there were numerous arguments between us, largely caused by lack of sleep. But on the upside, it was one of the most memorable things we’ve ever done together, and we truly got to see a more local side of Russia.

Julia from The Freckled Tourist

Every night on the Thai island of Koh Tao, my friend and I attended beach parties to sit on bean bags and watch a local Thai man spin fire on long metal chains. Each night they would bring someone up from the audience and hand them the spinning fire chains. On my last night on the Island, I was chosen.

I was sitting in the audience, drinking my bucket of strawberry daquiri, when the fire spinner asked me to come up. I politely declined because I don’t do well in front of an audience, but unfortunately they insisted. So I bravely went up in front of the audience and when the man had his fire chains spinning at top speed, he handed them to me.

The next thing I knew, the fire chain had wrapped around my long hair! I immediately began screaming and could hear the audience yelling. Luckily the Thai man worked quickly and ripped the fire chain out of my hair. But the damage was done. My hair was burnt and tangled so badly that I knew it was going to require a massive haircut. Since it was my last night in Thailand, I had two choices. Cry and let my last night be ruined or continue partying with free drinks from the bar the rest of the night. I chose the latter and to deal with my hair in the morning.

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