While traveling is mainly seen as an enriching and eye-opening experience, it can go both ways. The journey of your dreams can either turn out to be the best time of your life or it can leave a traumatic scar you will never forget.

As much as I love traveling, I believe that at one point or another, you can be faced with your biggest fear. And though this post is not meant to discourage you from traveling, I am really curious to know the story that made you stop to think before taking your next trip.

Bored Panda reached out to Tom Grond, also known as Travel Tom Tom, who is an avid adventure traveler from The Netherlands. We wanted to ask a professional full-time traveler to share his both best and worst adventures with us, so feel free to read the full interview with him below.

More info: traveltomtom.net | Instagram | TikTok

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community I walked outside and realized I lived in Oklahoma. Went right back into the house. Terrifying.

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Though we agree that not everything goes according to plan, we would like to start this interview by delving into Tom's most memorable positive travel experiences. Here is what he wrote: “After uncountable trips around the world and more than 10 years of full-time continuously traveling the world, I can talk for hours about absolutely amazing travel adventures, from going completely off the grid on a small boat and a hammock deep into the jungle of Suriname to sailing the gorgeous islands in West Papua or from my overland trip from South to North Africa or climbing mountains in the Nepali Himalayas. It is very hard for me to choose the most memorable travel experience."

"When I keep it closer to date, I just finished an absolutely amazing trip to Algeria. Not many people had the chance to see the full potential of what Algeria has to offer since it is still a pretty closed country, and the visa process is not easy. Finally, I obtained a visa and spent 2 weeks traveling around the country.

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Visiting the national parks nearby Djanet in southeast Algeria on the border of Niger and Libya was the absolute highlight. A 2-hour domestic flight took me deep into the Sahara Desert where I went off the grid for almost a week. We got to see the most amazing landscapes, rock formations, valleys, gorges, and of course, sand dunes. But what made me fall in love the most was the simple life with the Tuareg people, the people from the Sahara Desert. Away from civilization and technology, we really bonded with them and learned about their way of life dealing with the extreme conditions of the desert. We braved sand storms and extreme heat during the day, but at night we watched them making tea and cook meals for us on a campfire and listened to their local music and their performances. A week out in the desert without any phone signal gets you thinking a lot about life. For me, beautiful moments to reflect on yourself, develop your personality and think about where I want to take my life with my constant travels around the world.”

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#2

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community So... there were scary road trips for sure (flash floods, forest fires, etc) but this... for me personally was the scariest. It was Christmas day, we were headed back to Canada. We were in Georgia and there was a problem with our hotel room. It hadn't been cleaned, there were chicken bones on a plate in the bed and pee on the bathroom floor... just gross. So they got us a room at a sister hotel about 2 hrs away. We went there and were completely exhausted, so after checking in, we went to get dinner.

By this point, it's like 10 pm, and the only place open was a Waffle House (kind of like depressing Denny's for those that don't know the brand). We went in and, to put it lightly, everyone inside seemed like someone should do a wellness check on them (e.g. two teens were clearly strung out, and there was a filthy screaming baby that looked like it hadn't been bathed in weeks yet the parents had new iPhones, a domestic violence situation was going on, etc.). Everyone stared at us as we sat down.

After about 10 minutes the police show up... in my head, it's because of the methheads screaming and throwing things or the woman actively scared of her skinhead bf. The officers said a quick hello to a methhead, asked them to say hello to their mom, and then came right over to us. They sat down at our booth blocking us from being able to get up. Now, my mum is black, my dad is white and I'm visibly mixed. Everyone in the diner is white including the cops. They wanted our names, our addresses, our car info, our IDs, our room info. Where we are staying, how long, and if we had firearms. They made it incredibly clear that we were not welcome in their town and that "people like [us]" should be cautious in this area. They suggested we be careful "flaunting [our] lifestyle." They asked for our food to come out to go and did not leave until we had left. When our food came they stood up and put their hands on their holsters and told us to have a good night while we grabbed our things and left.

As we went outside I could see a Confederate bumper stick and Trump/Pence bumper sticker on the police vehicle. We ended up begrudgingly staying over in town as it was too late to leave and the hotel owner was really sweet (originally from Macon). We had promised the officer we'd be gone by 8, we left at 7 am the next day and did not look back. I love Georgia but that experience was the last time I went into the mountains in rural Georgia. Like I literally didn't sleep that night. They were so... scary that I thought I was not going to survive the night. He made me feel like he was disgusted that I even existed and it was truly disturbing.

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#3

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community A long time ago, in 1982, I was flying to Thailand from the United States. We had a stop in Belgium and then at Dubai Airport. There was a lot of tension with Iran at the time so security at Dubai was very tight. We were going to be allowed to get off the plane but were warned not to take any photos. I stuck my small Instamatic camera in my inside jacket pocket, rather than leave it on the plane as it was being cleaned and serviced.
The plane stopped on the tarmac and a set of rolling steps was used for us to leave. Armed soldiers were on either side of the line of people going into the terminal and we were marched, at a very fast pace inside.
When we were allowed to get back onto the plane it had been moved to a typical gate we could enter from inside the building. Each person was patted down before being allowed on. As a soldier was patting me down his hand hit my camera. He began shouting at me in Arabic, I didn’t speak the language so, I did not understand what he was saying. He motioned to my pocket, indicating he wanted me to remove what was there. I slowly swung open my jacket as he pointed his weapon at my chest and took the safety off. I figured I was in trouble for having a camera, as we were warned to not take pictures. He continued to talk very fast as I very slowly reached into the inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out my camera. As soon as he saw it was a camera he made a spitting sound, turned away from me, and waved at me to get on the plane. No big deal, I guess, well other than having an agitated soldier point a weapon at my chest with the safety off.

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Getting out there and going to as many different places as Tom, you are bound to get into all sorts of craziness. Tom recollected one of the worst experiences while visiting the jungle of Guyana in South America. He shared: “I could talk about getting arrested in Gabon for my viral TikTok videos and interrogated for 2 consecutive days about why I was making videos everywhere. Or floating aimlessly on a river between Senegal and Mauritania because I got deported from Senegal and couldn't get back into Mauritania.

But the craziest travel memory is most probably that I had to jump out of a sinking boat with all my stuff just moments before the boat plunged down a 220m waterfall deep in the jungle of Guyana in South America.

We had to cross a river and were waiting for a little boat to make the crossing for about 2 hours. We chilled at the most amazing waterfall, completely unknown to any tourists, about 3 days walking from the last village on the Guyana/Venezuela border. After a long wait, some of our local guides found an old wooden boat in the jungle, and they came up with the idea to completely wrap it with tarps to make it float. They tested it, and an hour later, they first transported goods and other porters to the other side of the river. It worked.

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When we got in the boat, it suddenly and completely started pouring down rain, and within seconds a small water tornado showed up out of nothing. The calm river turned into a raging river, and this all happened in just a minute. With just a stick and being hit by the tornado, the boat became incontrollable and started making water. It was heading straight to the drop-off of the waterfall.

When the local guide started screaming: 'Be prepared to jump off,' I first was like... okay, let me grab my phone and take a video of this. So I did! I jumped off last moment, trying to film at the same time, and before I could even look back, the boat already plunged down the 220m high waterfall.

All 4 of us in the boat managed to keep our backpacks and swim to the side of the waterfall, and everyone was ok. Besides that, all our cameras and electronics were soaked.”
#4

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Years ago, my cousin received tickets to a Kiss concert for his birthday and took me along as we were only born 6 days apart and were best friends. I lived about 40 minutes from our hometown and the concert was another 2 hours and 15 minutes from my apartment so he was going to pick me up on the way and then spend the night at my place before going home. His engine blew on the way down to get me and my uncle had to come to bring him their ‘extra in case someone needs it beater car’. This put us 30 minutes behind schedule so we decided to take a shortcut to shave off some time and we ended up lost in the ghetto of a major city. I was wearing a red bandanna on my head and my cousin heavy metaled out driving a beat-up old person car and turns out we were in Crip territory and people were staring us down hard. We had to stop at a light and a man approached openly carrying a gun. He told us he was doing us a favor because he could tell we were just two lost white kids, and let us know what territory we were in and that I needed to lose the bandanna, etc. He then told us how to get out of the area and back to the highway. We were so scared for a few minutes and then it turned to being grateful that we were approached by a Crip with a conscious. And yes I left the bandanna off the rest of the night!

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#5

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Someone pointed a gun out the window of their car at my then-girlfriend (now wife) and me. They pulled the trigger but the gun wasn't loaded. They laughed and drove away.

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Some of the most common difficulties when traveling are communication or cultural barriers. Tom shared how he navigates through these sorts of situations. “Language barriers are constant issues when traveling. Luckily, we have a lot of technology nowadays to make us understand each other even if we don't speak the language. But in the days before mobile phones and the internet, that was a completely different story.

I remember the times that I traveled around with a book full of handy pictures. So whenever you needed something, you just pointed at the picture in the book, and it sounds so simple, but it worked perfectly.

The funny story is that there was one time in South Korea when I entered a restaurant, and the menu was written on the wall, but just in Korean language. There was no internet, no phones, and one else in the restaurant, so I couldn't point at a dish. I tried to order by pointing at the first line of signs from left to write. My intention was to order the first dish on the menu.

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There was a lot of confusion, and the people in the restaurant all looked at me so puzzled. No word of English was spoken, but we smiled. I sat down at my table, and to my surprise, I actually got some pretty nice food. However, later I learned that in the Korean language, they don't read from left to right, but from top to bottom. So basically, me pointing at the first line from left to right was meaning, I want all the dishes!

The most important thing is that you do everything with a smile, an open mind, and an approachable attitude. We all make mistakes, it is impossible to know all the habits and customs of every culture. Even as a professional and full-time traveler, I constantly make small mistakes, but be open to learning, be patient, and listen to the directions of local people helping you to get accustomed to different cultures. And another important thing: don't judge!
#6

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Went on a trip with my sister last year to see a show three states over. Middle of the night we stopped for gas at this kinda seedy looking gas station. I wanted to wait till the next one but my sister didn't think we'd make it much further.

So we try to pay with a card and of course, the machine doesn't work, meaning we're gonna have to go in to pay and there's no way either of us is going alone, so we walk inside together and ask the girl at the register to put 20 on pump 3. And while we're standing there these two guys off to the side make some comment about a two-for-one special. It takes me a moment to realize they're talking about me and my sister, and not a product, and the cashier responds before either of us can.
"Look I'm not dealing with you tonight. Why don't you go harass them at pump 3 and get the hell out of here?"

We're both extremely shocked. I mean, seriously? We're hardly the only people in here and you're just gonna throw us AND our car to these creeps because you're tired??
My sister looks these guys dead in the face and tells them if they come near her car, she'll hit them with it. They seemed to back off.
I stood with her while she filled the tank, we moved to hop in the car, and from behind us one of the guys got his phone out and shouts "MTY huh? Like Mitty or like Empty?" We ignored him.
It was only a few hours later, when we stopped next, that I realized what he'd been referring to.
MTY. It was the letters on the end of her license plate. Which I'm almost positive he'd taken a picture of.
She ended up changing her plate real soon after that trip.

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#7

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community At the start of July 2016, I had to go to Istanbul, Turkey to repatriate the body of my late brother-in-law who had passed from Dengue fever while on route to Denmark from Uganda. Landed in Atatürk airport at a terminal that had been bombed on the 28th of June taking away 45 (plus 3 perpetrators) lives and injuring 230. The cloth had been put up to cover the damaged building. So that gave some cause for concern...

Fast forward 5 days to the 15th of July. All matters regarding my late BIL taken care of, I headed back to the airport to return to Denmark.

There was a strange feel to the city that morning. And as I arrived at the airport I realized that a military coup was in full swing!! Everyone scrambled to the gates. And as we took off we saw tanks smashing the fences to the airport and very visible gunfights too. Crikey!!!!
But in the air, we went. And landed in Frankfurt a couple of hours later visibly relieved.

I was tired, it had been 5 challenging days. I just wanted to pass security and find my connecting flight to Denmark. And passing security is always a bit of a hassle due to the numerous implants in my body. I basically light up like a Christmas tree when going through various metal detectors and scanners.

But… Remember that bombing on the 28th of June?

Going through security, my carry-on tested positive for explosives!
12 seconds... That's exactly how long it takes for 2 stern-looking German Police Officers armed with machine guns to materialize and pin you to a wall.

I didn't catch my connecting flight until I was released sometime later, now practically glow-in-the-dark from all the x-rays and scans.

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We were also very curious to know if, throughout Tom’s travel experiences, he has ever faced any safety or security concerns. We wanted to know how Tom prioritizes his personal safety while still immersing himself in new and unfamiliar environments, and what precautions he takes to ensure a smooth and secure journey.

“Let me first add that I am a tall and fit European guy and that traveling for me is completely different compared to, for example, a vulnerable cute blond girl. Obviously, I also have to deal with a lot of safety issues, but there are way fewer risks involved for me when traveling the world than other, more vulnerable travelers.

Luckily, in more than 3,850 days of continuously traveling the world, I hardly ran into crazy situations where I felt that I was in danger. After all those years of traveling, it is a ton of experience that guides me through the weirdest situations. But that has obviously been different when I started traveling.

I must say I have never felt my life was at risk or I got into a life-threatening situation. Not even when I was on a little boat in Gambia crossing a 4-kilometer-wide river with 10x more people on the boat than actually possible.

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The main car-ferry boat broke down, and the only way to cross the river was by small little boats, but there were hundreds of people and only a couple boats. The boat guys saw their chance to make some quick money, so they stuffed the boat with way more people than actually possible. It was one big chaos, screaming and fighting for the maybe 20 life vests when there were about 100 people on the little boat. As soon as we left, suddenly everyone was dead silent, and they began to pray. At that time, I knew this could be a 'fun' trip.

When we were about halfway into the crossing, the engine stopped working and the boat began to make water. Big panic, people screaming and for about 20 minutes we floated around, towards the ocean. Waves got bigger as well as the panic and the chaos. Luckily, somehow they managed to get the engine going again, and we somehow made it to the other side of the river. I never feared for my life, but I did have my escape plan ready when the boat would sink. I already said goodbye to my backpack and my electronics, but luckily it never got that far.

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My most simple tips for other travelers, which seem to be very hard for some people, are to use common sense, don't be naive, and rely on your gut. If something doesn't feel right, then your own safety and security should always be a priority! Looking back at the boat crossing in Gambia, it was obviously a really stupid decision to take the risk and stay on the boat, when I had the chance to say no, this is too much, and leave the little boat,” shared Tom.
#8

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Malaria in Malawi 22 years ago. At the time Malawi was the 3rd poorest country in the world. Nicest people in the world though. They were still reusing needles in Africa at that time in some places. Spent 4 days in the hospital with a Quinine drip. Apparently, they thought I was going to pass away. I was out of it most of the time. I wasn't scared, but my husband still will not tell me about the sights he saw in the hospital. We were newlyweds and this man slept on the hard floor every night to make sure they used new needles. He also cleaned the hospital room and private bathroom with bleach before he would let me leave the bed, once I was able to. I am alive because I was a tourist and could afford to pay for the hospital and my husband made sure they used new needles. I owe him and those African doctors my life. I never really had thought about white privilege before but now I will never forget it. I still have survivor's guilt over it.

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Autumn Lilly
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm pretty sure if you were a Asian or Hispanic tourist with money and a sweet husband the results would of been the same..your white skin color didn't play a factor..wish ppl would stop that sort of thinking

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#9

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community I was in the Air Force from 84 to 90 then Reserves from 90 to 96. During my reserve time, we were traveling from Youngstown Ohio to RAF Upper Heyford in England. Flying in a C-130 we needed to stop over in Lajes Field in the Azores.
About an hour outside of Lajes, we hit some terrible weather. If you have never flown in a C-130, there are not really seats. All the gear is on pallets in the center line of the completely open fuselage and there are pull-down "seats" along both sides of the plane facing the middle.
The weather got so bad I was afraid the pallets would come loose and crush us. Now the C-130 is an AWESOME aircraft. Stable, can fly just about anywhere, it's even the largest plane to land on an aircraft carrier and is even equipped for snow ski landings. It's a beast.
We're on the final approach and bouncing up and down, side to side and I'm thinking "THIS IS IT! THIS IS HOW I GO!"
We hit the runway so hard and were tipping at about a 30-degree angle I thought we were going to flip. The pilots did a great job but we still went off the runway and had to do an emergency exit into the storm.
I was never so glad to put my feet on the ground.

The trouble was, we had to get back on the plane the next day to complete our journey. Now THAT was rough!

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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was a 130 crew chief from '94 to' 08. In tech school we heard about the Herk that had the #3 engine gear box seize in flight, resulting in #3 prop disengaging from the engine and taking out #4 prop and forcing it into the leading edge. Imagine my surprise when I got to my first duty station and it was one of our planes (73-1592)

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And lastly, we wanted to know if Tom has ever experienced travel fatigue or burnout, since traveling can be physically and emotionally demanding. He shared: “Like everything in life, travel inspiration comes with ups and downs as well. A great example is my article about What it is Really Like to Visit Every Country in the World. It describes perfectly my feelings about visiting every country in the world. On the one hand, it was a big inspiration to see new places and countries I had never been to. On the other hand, it started to feel like a race in which I completely lost my inspiration.

Sure thing, I still want to visit every country in the world, and it will keep me going for the next few years. Even though I have now visited almost 160 countries, I don't feel the pressure of visiting the last 35 countries somehow fast, just so I can say I visited every country in the world. I'm actually starting to feel the opposite and taking it even slower than before.

What is most important to me is that I keep enjoying traveling. There was a reason I escaped the corporate rat race and the pressure of society more than 10 years ago. The last thing I want is for traveling the world to start feeling the same!

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What keeps me going and inspires me a lot is actually the support and enthusiasm of my followers on my social media channels. My 800K TikTok @traveltomtom and my 430K Instagram @traveltomtom are amazing ways to get inspired. And one of the most amazing things about being a travel blogger is that it allows me to change perceptions. Showing that Pakistan is NOT the land of terrorism, but of incredible hospitality. That women in Saudi are NOT obligated to wear a hijab. That renting a car and driving around Iraq is an amazing travel adventure. That Syria is NOT all about war. That it is totally safe to visit Algeria.”

“For more information about my travel experiences from all over the world, how I became a travel blogger, my journey to visit every country in the world, and of course, almost 1,000 travel blogs with all my travel tips for planning your next adventure abroad, visit my blog: www.traveltomtom.net.”
#10

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community We were staying in a cabin in Shenandoah National Park and decided to drive the length of Skyline Drive. It’s a beautiful drive with incredible vistas into the valleys below. We got to the end and turned around to start making the drive back to our cabin about 50 miles away. Suddenly a very dense fog descended and night began to fall. I white-knuckled that long, scary drive going about 15-20 miles an hour barely able to see the tail lights of the car in front of me on some pretty steep curves. What was most terrifying was when the taillights would disappear and I would think they just drove off the edge. Then they would reappear again right in front of me. I could hardly see the sheer rock walls beside me. Imagine diving with your windshield painted. When we finally saw the entrance to our campground area I felt the most relief I’ve ever felt in my life. The drive back took almost two hours and I was vividly and painfully alert for every single second of it.

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#11

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Years ago (pre-COVID) I was visiting a friend in Niagara Falls NY and we took the walking bridge into Canada for a nice night out. (I was born in Canada but moved to the US as a child.) On the way back, a young customs agent asked me at the border back into the US “Where were you born?” I say “Canada.” He then asks “How long will you be visiting the US?” I reply “I live here.” I had recently gotten married so when he went to look me up on the computer, my name wasn’t found. And neither was my maiden name! He then asked me for my green card, to which I responded that I’m a US citizen who was naturalized, and he didn’t believe me! I told him I can prove it, my mother is American. Then he looked HER up, and couldn’t find her either! Mum has been married three times and after being detained for almost two hours we finally discovered that in the citizenship database, they have her listed not under her birth name, or her current married name, or even her first husband’s name, but under the last name of my father (husband 2). It might not seem very harrowing, but for two solid hours, I was terrified that they weren’t going to let me back in!

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Nimues Child
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This. This is why I miss the friendly Canada-USA border we had before 2002.

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#12

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community I accidentally walked off a cliff. I fell into the water, so I was fine, but I seriously wonder how braindead I was that I casually walked straight over a cliff! The other tourists were not impressed.

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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In my travels, I've seen two people walk off cliffs at night and die. I was not physically there at the time but I saw the bodies lying there the next morning. Once in Africa and once in India. I am so happy that your story ended up fine.

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#13

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community I went to Minsk in 2017. The trip itself was a fine, beautiful city and the people were lovely, even entertaining my sorry attempts to try to speak Russian.

The scary part happened the morning I left. I'm a type 1 diabetic and had a very low blood sugar episode in my sleep, woke up incredibly confused and had to drag myself to the shared kitchen of the guesthouse to try to find something with carbohydrates. (I'd bought snacks the night before but was too confused to find them when waking.)

The other guests, who spoke no English at all, heard me making noise trying to get food at 5 am and came to help me, getting me juice and bread. They then helped me get cleaned up a little and made sure I had my stuff together for the flight.

The taxi driver to the airport was nice, but only accepted cash, which I didn't have so it was a mad dash to the ATM at the airport and then to meet with disability services to get me to the plane. I was out of it the whole time, still coming back from waking up with my sugar so low, and it was just a terrifying experience.

I'm very lucky everyone was so kind to me. Managed to make the flight and got a free sandwich on the plane when I explained I'd been having blood sugar issues.

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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am so sorry that happened to you and so happy that there were people around to help you.

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#14

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Driving from Massachusetts up to Maine to visit family. The weather reports said there might be flurries along the way, but nothing to worry about. When we left our house, there was a light drizzle. Not far up the highway, it began to ice, then snow. Suddenly, there was a lot of snow and we watched cars and tractor-trailer trucks spin off the road on all sides. Since the weather forecast hadn't seen this storm coming, the roads were untreated. I just focused as hard as possible on staying in what I hoped was the center lane as the weather got worse. I didn't dare pull into the breakdown lane and stop for fear of being hit. The snow got heavier, turned to ice, and back to snow again. Based on where we were, we knew our only escape hope was to make it to Rt. 1 in Kittery, where we knew there'd be places to safely park + food, and motels. My wife kept giving directions from her phone that mapped with my memory and we just kept moving until we reached a parking lot in Kittery and were safe. Once stopped, we both broke into tears from the experience. When we looked at the weather map on our phones, an ice storm surrounded us and all we could do was wait until it ended. Finally, the warm front came north enough that we could head back home.

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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, it’s like that. Family up in the Boston area tell me there is an old saying… “If you don’t like the weather up here, just wait a minute.” I had a friend recount a time he strolled across town one afternoon and variously encountered rain, hail, snow, lightening and sunny skies all during one walk.

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#15

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community The only time I kind of panicked was when I was in the Caribbean and decided that I wanted to learn how to scuba. After taking the classes we go off into that beautiful clear blue water. Since this was for beginners we weren't going to go more than 40-50 ft under. There were about six of us newbies with the dive master. Prior to going under the dive master goes over all the safety issues again, including covering what kind of sea creatures we may encounter. It was fascinating to be able to look down above the water and not see a single fish but as soon as you are underwater there were just schools of different species, all colorful. As you can imagine, we were all excited once we were under. I was at the back of the pack following along with the others when the person in front of me accidentally kicked me in the face, knocking my mask off and my regulator out of my mouth. I manage to get the regulator fairly quickly back in and, thankfully, I had been able to catch my mask before it was out of reach. So, I take the time to get the mask back on, get the water out of it, adjust the fit, and get ready to go when I realize that I am all alone in this deep blue. I look around and see nothing but a few fish and the water is so clear you can see out quite a way. But, in my panicked mind, I thought, ....I am in someone else's home and there are things bigger than me out here. I finally, calm down and see some bubbles coming over an outcropping of rock and coral and flippered my happy butt over to the rest of the group. It may not seem like a scary moment to some but when you are not in your natural environment, you are warned that sharks are in the area (but normally don't bother you...yeah, right), you're a scuba virgin and you feel like you are lost it is not a moment of calm. But I still intend to go back and do it all over again.

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talliloo
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#16

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Many years ago I took a trip with my girlfriend to Paris. It was something we joked about on our first date and we made it happen 2 years later. We were both in our early 20s and it was the early '90s. We scrimped and saved for a year and we rented a couple of rooms in a very, very old apartment building to spend a month there.

On the day of the flight to Paris, we were both excited and scared at the same time. Neither of us had ever been on an adventure like this. The plane took off and we were on our way.

About an hour into the flight, the pilot came on and made an announcement in French. People on the plane started to look around nervously and I could tell whatever it was, it wasn't good.

I asked my GF what was said because she was fluent in French and I could barely ask where the restroom was. She told me that there was a small problem with the plane and that we were turning around to go back to San Francisco. I tried to remain calm, cool, and collected but on the inside, I was freaking out.

When we got back to SF and landed, ALL OF THE FIRETRUCKS AND AMBULANCES we're on the tarmac. We were able to land and everyone inside the plane started clapping and cheering because we were alive.

We had to wait on the plane for 4 hours while they fixed the issue.

After things were fixed, we took off and the rest of the flight was uneventful.

Turns out that there was some sort of issue with the landing gear/system. If they would have continued with the flight, we'd have, at least, made it to Paris before we crashed.

The rest of the trip went nothing like we had planned but that's a story for another time.

Lennart Wittstock Report

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Jaden Alexander
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Jaden Alexander (Submission author)
Jaden Alexander
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2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

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#17

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community We were going to my Grandparents' house and right in the country, the car stopped like, dead-bolted. I was terrified it was 8 pm and the starting signs of civilization were 70 miles away... Until the kind passerby or rather the Good Samaritan helped us get that car started again.
P.S. There was no cell service.

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Maddy Panda
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Hill Branda
Hill Branda
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So glad that there are still kind, generous people who help stranded motorists.

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#18

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Traveling from a remote Aboriginal community in outback Australia in a Cessna 206... the pilot was a little nervous ... calling up on the radio and slowing the engine.
We eventually arrived at our home airstrip. I asked the pilot if there was a problem ... he took me to the front of the plane and grabbed hold of one of the two propeller blades which just flopped around loose in its housing.
The only thing stopping the propeller from flying off was a retaining ring.
Pilot reckons it was touch and go there and we had only just made it back.
Almost had an underwear mishap right there and then.

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trevor
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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good pilots know that there’s always a possibility of a total loss of power—-like 99% of their training is “what if” scenarios of potential calamities, and only like 1% is of the perfect flight—-and that their plane, no matter what size it is, will have to become a glider, and ride the air currents down to land safely on the ground. Still a terrifying option that takes great skill, a cool head, and a steady hand, but it’s way better than nothing. I would rather the pilot at least try than not.

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#19

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Stopped at a diner in a very small town on my way to TN. Waited for the bathroom for 10 mins as the door was locked. Finally asked the waitress if maybe no one was in there and she explained that unfortunately, some truckers will fall asleep in there. "They've been on the road for hours, hun."

Long story short... the guy was deceased on the toilet. No one was shocked except me. It was as if it happened on a regular basis.

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Aubrey Mortensen
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#20

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community A high school teacher would take students abroad every summer. In Paris, the bus stopped for a souvenir run. We were told to be back in ten minutes. I was late, and the bus left without me. My teacher had four students, including me. The other group who shared our bus had 24 teens and three adults. The leader of the other group was the one who noticed I was missing, an hour and a half later. They went back to the shop, but Montezuma got me, and I'd gone to find a bathroom. Afterward, I had an ice cream, got on the subway, and rode to our station. I went to our hotel and filled out my travel diary. Why scary? I didn't speak a word of French. My teacher knew I'd be sensible, and kept calling our hotel room. The phone's ringer was broken. She heard the rings on her end, but the phone in the room didn't ring. Since I didn't answer, I obviously wasn't at the hotel, so I had to be lost in a huge city, in a foreign country, with no language. Those were the longest three hours of my teacher's life.

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Shyla Clay
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#21

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Many years ago. Driving in a Toronto neighborhood at like 5 pm or sth. The guy cuts me off, I utter something to myself, he sees me through his mirror, and gets out of his car with a machete in his hand. I drove off in like 1 second.

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#22

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community My grandfather passed away unexpectedly. He lived in Arkansas, we lived in California. We mounted a family convoy to head out there. My dad, cousin, niece and I rode with my sister and my uncles and aunts drove their vehicles. We had pulled over at a very nice rest stop in Texas. We spent a good 1/2hr, 40 mins there. My cousin had opted to stay in the van because she had undone her pants top button and had painted her nails (She's an adult) We all tell her she should try to get out and go to the bathroom cause it will be a long drive to the next stop. she declines.

We load up and head out. No sooner than we get past the point of no return on the on-ramp, she pipes up that she has to go!! She has IBS and was claiming an episode was a rumbling. I got on the walkie talkies we were using to advise that we'd have to take the next off ramp.

We did, and there was only a sketchy looking road side thrift store. We pulled up, she jumped and ran in. This was the type of the place that had a black velvet John Wayne painting, a bunch of ancient cowboy boots and a party/ disco light show projector in the window. After a while, the uncles got worried and went in to check on her. They came back out and said the place was a real flea trap, but that she should be ok. About that time she comes hauling a**e to the van, jumps in and starts screaming at my sister to ,"GO GO GO!!!" We peel out and get back on the freeway, my sis is checking side and rear view mirrors to see if we've been followed.

We are all freaking out asking her what the heck happened. She explained that the bathroom had a sign admonishing people to not throw anything, including toilet paper into the toilet. She figured she wasn't about to throw the paper she used to clean up after her explosive IBS ordeal into the trash and figured what harm could it really do? Wrong question. apparently her fecund deposit backed up the toilet and it was threatening to over flow. So, she did what any rationally terrified person might do, flushed it again. this time it did over flow. She reached down to put the lid down and I guess the toilet had held a tenuous grip on its wax ring that it now completely let go of so all of it it just went spilling across the floor headed for the door. She yelped and ran, closing the door behind her and raced the smell of her treachery out of there.

I have nothing but the deepest sympathy for the owners of that shop.

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Whitefox
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Jaqi Hegland
Jaqi Hegland
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If the place says don't flush TP, throw it in the trash and it's their problem.

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#23

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Getting heatstroke and passing out while on a stopover in St Louis. Being a pasty limey I had no idea what being in 30-degree heat was like back then, but of course, now it's the norm every summer even over here

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Peej Maybe
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Dynamic duck
Dynamic duck
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It took me a while to figure out that you mean 30 degrees Celsius not fairenhight I was thinking that's freezing. glad you're ok 🥶😂

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#24

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Not my story, but my brother's...

I have three younger siblings (one sister and two brothers). My whole family went on our annual trip to South Dakota. We decided to hike up Mt. Coolidge. The hike is about a mile and a half up a twisty gravel road, so sight is limited. Since we all walk at different speeds, we all got somewhat separated from each other. I was way ahead of everyone. At some point, my brother (F) looked back to see how far behind the other four people were. F only saw my dad and other brothers (D) walking together. F continued up the mountain. Eventually, I and my two brothers met at the top of the mountain. F asked D where our dad was. D had absolutely no idea what F was talking about. D said our dad was at least a 1/4 to a 1/2 a mile behind us the whole time. Our dad eventually made it up the hill and confirmed that he had never walked with D. To this day, F insists he saw a ghost walking beside D. Creeps me out because we were in the middle of the Black Hills in the middle of nowhere.

Dorothy Lin Report

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Rose Wood
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Alexandra Davis
Alexandra Davis
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

First rule of hiking- always stick together! What if they had had a fall or something?

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#25

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community When I heard children playing and laughing outside my hotel room. At 3 a.m. And it happens many times in different cities, different hotels. Since then I'm struggling to trust my own hearing, especially late at night.

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Miocha
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Monica Miklos
Monica Miklos
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a problem with ringing in my ears, have had it for years. When it first started, at night I kept asking my husband "do you hear someone talking?" and the answer was always "no". I talked with my neurologist about these voices I kept hearing at night, and he told me that a lot of people with tinnitus (ringing in the ears) experience that same weird occurrence. I've pretty much gotten used to it, but sometimes it seems so real that I get up and walk into the hallway - just to check.

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#26

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Once went to my friend's house (who lives in the middle of Yeehawville) but on the way there in one of the neighboring towns, we went down this one street in which people started to get closer to the car in which I realized they had knives and baseball bats and horrible things of that nature. So I then told my parents to go a decent chunk faster than they were to avoid being jumped or whatever they planned to do, we then passed them and one began waving their knife around like a trophy, we all are still ok today.

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hello there
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*Displayname*=idk
*Displayname*=idk
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have seen videos of people doing that. Even through the screen they are still scary. I can't imagine it happening in rl.

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#27

This is probably not as exciting as others, but my experiences with travelling have always been smooth sailing so this particular experience got me good.
L o n g story simplified, I found myself walking through a dense Russian forest with a bunch of local kids when I was around seven. My Russian was supbar at best (I grew up in Canada and only spoke Russian with my family) so I don't know why I was dragged into the expedition in the first place. I vividly remember my grandfather telling me it was the day before the longest day of the year, and since we left later in the afternoon I felt uneasy about how long we've been walking and how long it would take to get back. At one point a boy was ready to call quits, only to get laughed at by the others. He and I looked at eachother, having that mental agreement that we were on the same page, and turned around to head back together.
Turns out, not only was that part of the forest untouched by the locals but was actually prohibited to enter because of war stuff that happened in the area. A search party went out when the boy undoubtedly told his parents where the rest of the kids went, and when my grandfather asked me if I knew anything I played dumb and told him I hung out in the garden with my great-grandmother all day.
To my knowledge, all the kids were found and brought back *the next fricking morning*. Only God knows what went down throughout the night and I'm glad every day I decided to turn back when I did.

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Roni Kova
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April
April
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And here I am reading this, on the day before the longest day of the year.

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#28

Flight to China at 18 to stay with a host family. My first time ever travelling all by myself. I was supposed to call my host once I landed at Beijing International. So, I pop up at that (crazy huge) airport, whip out my cellphone (specifically got a phone card for China) and call the number my host family gave me - only to get a automatic message saying "Your phone call has been [unintelligible due to heavy accent]"
So I'm standing there at a huge-a*s airport in fricking China, speaking only like four words of Mandarin, and can't call my host. The solution was (luckily) unspectacular: After briefly panicking I turned to the airport personnel and they called the number for me. All turned out well in the end and was one of my most treasured experiences in life

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Markus Holstein
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#29

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Finding out the emergency door on the plane could have flown off in the air, I was seated in that seat.

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Helen Butler
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SparkleFarts
SparkleFarts
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Emergency exit doors on aircraft open IN so as long as the aircraft is pressurized the door is not going to just pop open Source: I'm an aircraft mechanic

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#30

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community (I am a US Navy Vet.)

At the onset of September 11, 2001.
Operation Enduring Freedom

Backstory:
I was deployed from my East Coast Command (Yes, I was stationed in DC when 9/11 happened) to my West Coast Command (a *Boat* SHIP/ Aircraft Carrier Nuclear Power). They (the Boat) had already set sail, for (the coast/off coast) Afghanistan. With our Battlegroup.


Made it to the West Coat:
I had to check in with the Base Admin office. Base Admin, sent a message to my Boat, letting them know I had checked in and my estimated travel time.
I was issued my travel vouchers, my airline tickets, travel money, and updated orders. Along with my travel briefing (Traveling While Active Military, during War Time.)

What Happened While Traveling:
1st/2nd Airport (US)
We (there were like 40 of us traveling together) made it to the US airport.
The Yeoman that made the travel arrangements did NOT pay attention while booking our flights. Said Yeoman, first of all, overbook the flight by over 100 people on the first flight (1st delay by 10 hours). We had to go back to Base and wait for our flight. No, we did not want to wait at the USO in the airport, due to other military personnel flying through and needing the space more than us.

3rd airport (Overseas).
Boarding the Plane.
This big commotion started. We were so confused, at the fuss going on. We have been traveling all day.

Mistakes were made. We were booked on a flight going to Afghanistan, instead of Bahrain. They got up from their seats and started running toward us, to fight. People were hurt. I was more unsettled/irked than scared. We had to have the people from the local US Air Force Base come get us and rebook our flights. They (USAF) had to call the nearest Naval Station to get this settled.

We were still HOURS away from getting to Bahrain, and our Boat.

Finally, made it to Bahrain.
So, we board our Helicopter, to take us to our Boat.

Helicopter decided it was NOT having it that day. We get over the water. We see our Boat, in the distance. The Pilot is like we have to turn around, NOW.

The helicopter starts shaking and we smell smoke. We SEE SMOKE. The Pilot tells us not to worry, he and his crew have it all under control. We LAND back on base safely. I sit on the ground, ( with several others) until one of the crew from the helicopter comes over and sits down with us. He starts talking with us.
I look at him and say: I am not moving from this spot until someone brings me a phone (cordless), so I can talk to my mother. I just saw all of my 28 years of life flash in front of me.

He cracks up laughing and says I will pay for your call and food if you just come with me. You all, are blocking the other Helicopters from landing. (did not realize we had sat down in the landing area for the helicopters)
I look up, and sure enough, there are like 3 of them, waiting to land. LMAO.

Note: I tried to keep out as much of my personal information as possible. If you are doubting my recalling of this. I am ok with all of that.

Josh Withers Report

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Danniee Gyrl
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Jaguarundi
Jaguarundi
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't doubt a word of it. Everything in the US was a mess for a solid 6 weeks, until mid-October at least. I'm glad you made it back safely, not everyone did.

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#31

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community Rural highway. Five years old. Have to pee. Mom pulls over. Find a bush. Before I finish, she drives off. I wait. And wait. Start thumbing it. 10 minutes later, catch a ride. It's Mom.

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Buck Up
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#32

Easy. Not sure if ‘travel’, but once I was on vacation with BFFs and they decided upon this huge water park with a near vertical water slide. Sounded pretty bad for me, who had fear of heights, the kind where you black out and stuff. Plus fear of deep water. The slide had both.
I literally was pushed down the slide by the CROWD because they were angry I was blocking up the line. I literally flew right out of the TRACK and nearly landed on a big doggo and its owner, and the dog jumped a meter.
It sounds funny now but definitely scary at the time. They were fine, but because the protective stuff had flown right out of my hands I had a few bruises and stuff.
The safety coach said I was too light.

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Down With Agent Hedgehog!
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Shyla Clay
Shyla Clay
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm afraid of heights, and I can't swim. You're NOT getting me on a water slide.

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#33

Traveling to the US for work two weeks after 9/11 … besides that I just became a father and developed fear for flying instantaneously. Took me 10 years to get rid of it

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Alberto
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#34

We were moving to Hawaii and there was a "shooter" (overheated computer) at the airport we were delayed for 487947287794871 hours (5 hrs, but the same thing!) and our friends had to do the same bit in a janitors closet.

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PandaMagicGrl (Submission author)
PandaMagicGrl
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2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why am I getting downvoted? can someone tell me?😭 Which jerk is doing this? This was a real thing that really happend! everyone was TERRIFIED TO DEATH!

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#35

I was flying back from Brazil and had fallen asleep. I awoke to an unknown male "caressing" me-when I started to push him off, he became very angry and held me down. Once the stewardesses became aware, they (with some male passengers) grabbed/subdued him and tied him to a seat. He began screaming that he loved me and was going to "blow up the plane". It was a nightmare...

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Shelly W
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happyplants28
happyplants28
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s terrifying!! I hope you’re okay and he learned his lesson

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#36

Sooo.. there's my story: me, in my early twenties, traveled from Europe to the US with my boss for a business trip. We missed the plane to Texas in NY airport, because my boss spent some time in a caffee, then toilet, then... whatever. He went to the airport service and then he came back to me and told me, there is no other plane today, so we have to stay over night. There is also only one hotel room left. Only one. Around NY airport. With king size bed. I apologized I rather stay at the hall over night. Long story short, he was shouting at me about an hour how unprofessional I am, how ungrateful, he would fire me and ruin my career etc. He called our company assistants to block my credit card and phone sim card. From that moment, I was alone in NY, without phone, money, just crying in front of my boss who insisted I have to spend the night in one hotel room with him. I cannot even express how lost, weak and helpless I felt.
Luckily, at the counter nearby there was a couple from our country and understood every word. Quietly they explained the situation to airline employee who called me for some reason he made up and took me behind counter. He wanted nothing, no payment or papers, just gave me paper for an airport hotel, which granted me a single room, called me a taxi and asked me to be there at the exact time in the morning. I calmed myself down and had some rest, then caught my flight to Texas (my boss on the same plane), where I rushed to meet my other colleagues and be safe.
I kept this story in me for years, not even thanked to the couple and airline employee who helped me for what I'm ashamed off. His name was Seraphim, probably not a common name. I will be grateful till the end of my life.

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Alena Tayova
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Na Schi
Na Schi
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sounds like the boss made them miss the connection flight on purpose 🤬 (Edit: spelling mistake)

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#37

In Mexico at a seaside resort, I almost drowned in the neighboring ocean with my brother and mom. There was a way to get to a shallow area more out into the sea with clear blue water, but the waves pushed me into a deep area with 2-4 foot waves that almost drowned my family and me. Thankfully, a kind samaritan saved my mom and brother while I HAD TO SWIM OVER.

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#38

In the Chech Republic we had a minor caraccident. Police came, luckily they spoke German (we are Dutch) and they wrote down our story. Then an ambulance came and they and the police stared to demand money. They wanted us to sign all kinds of papers but all of a sudden they do didnt speak German anymore. Things got a bit heated. They threatened to take our car and my husband. We paid a lot of money and months after it turned out they claimed we wrecked the other car for thousands of Euros.
Maybe not scary but I felt really helpless.

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Cecile Visscher
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#39

Was staying at a hotel in London. The guy at reception checking me in kept making notes on a notepad the whole time and asking what I was up to later. I kinda shrugged it off until later at 8pm when there was a knock at my room door saying it was hotel staff to fix a problem - it was the same guy who’d just got off shift and wanted ‘to just chill and watch TV with a beautiful woman’. He got pushy when I said no, eventually I got the door shut in his face and immediately rang hotel security. They assured me that they’d take action and apologised a lot.

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Helen Waight
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Na Schi
Na Schi
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Disgusting! Sorry you and so many other women have to experience such terrible shït.

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#40

when I was 8/9, I went to Japan with my family for summer vacation, and when we boarded, I asked if I can go to another seat close to a window, and my parents said yes. Turns out, a perv had a seat next to me, and for the whole trip, he kept creeping me out. When the flight was over and we were in Japan, even the hike up Mt. Fuji didn't cheer me up!

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samuel the (???)
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Kitty1019
Kitty1019
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Should have gone back to your original seat, or told your parents. What made you think he was a "perv"?

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#41

Just got my license and was going to visit our mother three hours from home. I was driving my brother’s old old junk car that he had got running again. He was a whiz at this but wasn’t old enough to drive it yet, so I was the driver. We had to go through the Pine Barrens which is basically a very long desolate stretch of highway. Right in the middle the headlights went out! Pitch black middle of nowhere! (No phones then and we hadn’t passed any houses or other places we could walk to for help.Lot of panic on the part of my sister and me! Not my brother. He got out and tinkered around for quite awhile and like magic we had lights again! (He grew up to be a great restorer of vintage cars.)

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Y D
Y D
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're fine. Worst that could've happened is you would've been either kidnapped by bikers delivering Oxy via the Hillbilly Heroin Expressway or killed by the Jersey Devil.

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#42

35 Scary Travel Experiences Which Made People Stop And Think Before Their Next Trip, As Shared By Our Community I went to Canada and the people were not nice. For example, I smiled at a cashier while buying a jacket and he made a rude comment about me. Nothing really mean, but... where have all the nice Canadians gone?

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Veronica Rabbit
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Jaguarundi
Jaguarundi
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We had gone to Toronto several times and were met with kindness every time. It was wonderful and fun! We don't talk about Montreal nor Quebec City much...

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Katie Lutesinger
Katie Lutesinger
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Conversely I was told Californians are a bunch of rude jerks (by other Americans) but when I went there everyone except this one guy was really nice. And I zinged that one rude guy but good, so it was worth it.

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Kelly Scott
Kelly Scott
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some of those leg braces had locks on the knees so people could stand. But when they went to sit down, they had to undo the locks so their legs would swing down instead of stick out straight. I imagine that's why braces get worn on the outside of pants.

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Hagen Radcliffe
Hagen Radcliffe
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Need more info- what was the rude comment ?

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Veronica Rabbit (Submission author)
Veronica Rabbit
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I smiled and said it was a little rainy outside. He said I was stupid for not wearing a jacket (even though that's what I was buying)! Admittedly, he was right, but still not the nicest thing to say. It was also my first interaction with anyone in Canada.

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Lesbitarian Lady
Lesbitarian Lady
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Premium 1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe they've gone to the same place the nice Americans have gone

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Al Padilla
Al Padilla
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Legend has it that once a year, every Canadian picks a goose, and in a simultaneous, national ceremony, all that Canadian's eveil nature is transferred to the goose. This explains the behavior of Canadian geese, obviously. I suppose that once in a while, a Canadian misses the ceremony, leading to the discroption of this poster.

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Kirk Littlefield
Kirk Littlefield
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love Canadians in Canada! I'll allude to that specific comment shortly. The only thing I ever saw as shocking in Canada was a full on brawl in a Walmart in Regina at Christmas season in 2001. I thought that was an American thing, fighting over Cjristmas toys. I'd never seen it here in the states before. Saw it in Saskatchewan. I work service industry. Canadians in the US are very similar to Americans everywhere else in the world. We can spot y'all from a mile away but we love you!

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#43

So my now husband and I were traveling to my dream destination - Moscow for NYE. It was a surprisingly warm week for their winter (around 0°C daytime) and the weather was to worsen the night we flew back. Our flight was in the wee hours so we Ubered to the airport and waited for our flight. While we waited, the temperature plummeted. It was around 3am when the blizzard came in. I cannot explain the cold to anyone who hasn't felt -30°C on their skin (yes, no matter how well dressed we were). When we finally boarded, the plane was put on standby to unfreeze 2 times before it was granted takeoff (they threw some pink foam all over the plane). Back home days later and I saw on the news (something about the Kremlin) an aerial of downtown Moscow, and even the Moscau river was frozen solid. Dodged an ice bullet there...

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#44

Once on my first trip to NYC with a very successful salon, the others decided they wanted designer knock off bags. I didn't want any part of that. But I was outnumbered. Followed a suspicious character who told us he can help and were let to what appeared to be an abandoned building and we're robbed at gun point. Everyone brought several hindered dollars each, except me. I had cards and my stuff wasn't stolen.

Best "I told ya so" walk I've ever had.

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#45

Flying with my kids (almost 3 and 18mos) to meet grandparents for first time (from Australia to Kansas City). It was December 19. On final approach/touchdown saw fire trucks, rescue, ambulances racing down runway next to us. We made it down OK, without ever knowing what was wrong. I never heard a planeful of people get so quiet. Not a creature was stirring...

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Robin DJW
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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did you have to go out the emergency exits and slide down the inflatable slides to the ground?

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#46

was not really traveling but i did travel a bit
1984, Honduras sitting on lowered tail ramp of a chinook helicopter with my m-60 machine gun at about 300 feet in the air when pilot decided to swiftly turn right i slid on my butt from the middle of the tailgate to the left side with my butt cheeks trying to clamp on to a rivet as i slid

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#47

When I was in 7th grade, I was in a plane to japan and already 2 hrs out over the ocean when the captain came on the PA and informed us that the plane was losing hydraulic fluid and that they had lost two engines.
They turned the plane around and flew 2 hrs back to San Francisco and the whole time no one knew if we'd be able to land/stop when we got there since the hydraulics were needed for effective landing and stopping.
We had to circle overhead while airport firefighters preemptively sprayed the runway with fire retardant foam. I guess there was a chance we would burst into flames on landing??
Luckily we landed, taxied, and deplaned safely but a little while after we got off apparently the landing gear gave way and the plane collapsed. Our flight made the news in San Francisco and in Japan.

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#48

Driving through the Daintree rainforest, northern Australia, in the dark. Fog so thick you couldn't see 5 metres in front of you, signs every 500 metres saying "watch for cassowaries", a windy road, no headlights to follow... so many insane moments where we were less than a foot away from the edge of this road. This lasted about 45 minutes.

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Bradley Curthoys
Bradley Curthoys
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a guy who has driven the Daintree is broad daylight...ALL MY NOPES.

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#49

At the end of our Mediterranean cruise in 2019, we spent a few days in Barcelona, Spain. We had heard a little about the Catalan independence leaders that were going to be sentenced around that time. We were out on a day trip with a tour company. When we were making our way back into Barcelona, we were stopped on the highway just outside the city. The highway was cut off by protesters with fires being lit all around us. We were surrounded by the protesters and were stuck on the highway for about 4 hours. When we finally were able to get back into the city, the bus could not go anywhere near our hotel. We had to be dropped off to make our way back to our hotel on foot. One of the tour guides took us part of the way until we could find out way back ourselves. Luckily we were able to fly out the next day. Never been more terrified in my life!

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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So they just left you in an unfamiliar city, surrounded by violent protestors, to just “find your own way” back to the dubious safety of your hotel? F*****g tour guides and tour company suck balls, and you should report them for not looking out for the safety of their clients. Cripes.

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#50

last year while camping I had a close encounter with a bear. it was like 4 feet away from me :>

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#51

I may be a bit late to the party but here goes...

I have two stories for you which, when combined, scared me from flying for a good few years. It's worth noting here that these were both work trips and so, unavoidable. I was 21.

The first one begins at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, March 1998. We boarded a British Airways 737 and a couple of things were evident immediately. Firstly, as we boarded, there were loads of old stickers plastered around the fuselage near the door. Weird. Secondly, my seat came away in my hand. Cabin crew found me a new seat. The seat came away again. And a third time. We were onboard the airborne equivalent of a 1978 Lada! The flight went without a hitch until we were on final approach into Manchester, UK. Suddenly, the plane lurched onto its side so we could see sky out of one window and tarmac out of the opposite window. It lurched again the other way and we saw grass and sky, a final lurch saw us viewing tarmac again and finally we landed. The pilot nonchalantly put it down to clear air turbulence. We all thought we were going to die.

July the same year into Bruges, Belgium. We enjoyed a quiet and peaceful flight with Sabena until it came to landing once again! We landed, taxied and parked and were told - not asked - to remain seated until further notice. It was all a bit strange until word filtered through from the back of the plane that we were followed down the runway by several fire tenders who were currently covering our naughty engine in some fire-retardant or other. Apparently, we had suffered an engine failure over the sea somewhere and they were there to ensure that our engine failure didn't turn into an engine fire.

I was terrified of flying for a number of years but am a happy little flier again now!

Looking back, the first one was truly scary but the chances of it happening are slim. The second one, well, if anything, that proves how safe flying is really. Lost an engine mid-flight, nobody noticed until we saw the red fire trucks. Someone told me that they can lose all power and still make a safe landing by gliding. Don't know if I fancy trying that theory out but do let me know if you give it a whirl. If I don't hear from you, I will assume that it didn't go so well.

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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The seats coming away on the BA flight would make me reconsider flying in that plane altogether. I would’ve deplaned and rebooked another flight, preferably on another carrier. Cripes.

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#52

While taking off from the airport with my two sons, 3 and 4, the plane sharply banks a u-turn and a stewardess runs to the back of the plane. My kids ask what’s happening, and I tell them they must have forgotten something at the airport. My youngest asked why people were crying. I told them they were probably leaving on a trip and were going to miss their family. Then, as the plane filled with smoke and the pilot was explaining that we needed to RUN off the plane when it landed, my kids asks why we needed to run. I told them the next plane needed the parking spot and we weren’t supposed to be there for long. The ENTIRE time, I was certain we were going to die and I had to fight the urge to just hug them and cry. We landed, ran and had to wait until the next day to fly out on another plane. Apparently, the kitchen in the back of the plane caught fire. They never once asked why the plane was filling with smoke. Kids are weird!

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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In this case, it’s a good thing they were blissfully unaware of the potential danger they were in. It spared them from some extremely traumatic panic.

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#53

2016 - Traveling to India from US for work. Was taking an Arab/Middle Eastern airline. Checking routes on one of the flight websites showed flying over Syria. But before that was checking one of the other airlines in my alliance and it showed flying over Ukraine (after MH17). Was like WTH? Found the right flight path on Arab/Middle Eastern airline and my fear subsided greatly. (And yes, Arab. The airline is based on the Arabian peninsula).

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#54

Late teens decided to go shopping in Buffalo for the weekend with my best friend.
On the bus, pulling into the station and suddenly the Police swarm the bus ushering a guy off in leg chains(?) in handcuffs?
Get to Buffalo and it’s completely deserted.
Wandering around not seeing anything open.
This guy sees us and starts chasing us, we stumble upon ‘Lafayette,’ hotel or something similar.
Tried to go out at night, whole city is deserted, end up in the only place we can find which is a Mac Donald’s, looks like everyone there is homeless.
Weekend is a bust, expensive, prices cost more than the same as clothes in Canada.
We decide to at least go to the Customs shop to buy stuff.
Start to walk across the bridge.
Someone tells us we have to go in a vehicle.
We try hitch hiking and a middle aged couple stops to pick us up.
They are playing Mork and Mindy dial tone music in their car.
Both chain smoke heavily and have heavy Russian accents.
They ask me if we know where the 401 is- a highway in Canada.
Trying to explain that it is a large highway
I start to ask them where they are going but the man is really weird, very paranoid.
‘Don’t ask us where we are going.’
My friend and I start whispering to each other in the back seat when he suddenly barks, ‘ no talking!’
We decide to bail at the first red light.
Have no idea where we are and call our boyfriends, miraculously came and got us.
Never, ever went back to Buffalo.
Pretty sure we dodged a bullet.

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#55

2010 Haiti, Port au Prince was locked down with the airport after the "election". Our small humanitarian group was scheduled to leave but had to stay an extra few days. It was decided to get transportation across the border to the Dominican Republic. Our group of about 10 got to the border, the Haitian side had U.N. soldiers and we were instructed to pay Haiti $1 US to leave each. We then made our way to the Dominican side. No U.N. soldiers but plain clothed heavily armed guys. They came on our bus 1 of them unarmed demanding $50US each. We weren't carrying much cash but we scraped up enough. We then moved to the gate to leave the port area. We were stopped again. Same guys. Demanding $100US each. We didn't have that kind of money. Guy was getting very agitated with his armed crew not looking happy either. 1 of our members was able to call where we were providing aid. Phone was passed to their man in charge. One way conversation, guy handed phone back, scared look on his face. They left the bus and opened the gate.

Then not far down the road there was a military check point. All heavily armed. Couple soldiers got on and demanded passports. Everyone I think was waiting to see how much we would get extorted again. After a few minutes they handed the passports back and got off the bus.

I think my heart stopped a few times that day.

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#56

Boyfriend (over 50) and I (almost 50) and I vacationed in Mexico several months after we met. We boarded the plane but we were not seated together.

I was in an aisle seat and a man and his two young sons were behind me. My seat was kicked a few times before we ever took off. I turned around to give the kid a look and a woman across the aisle and a few rows back piped up “you’ll live”. Hello mom 🙄

I sucked it up. The kicking continued, occasionally. Later in the flight I turned around and asked the man to please get the kid to stop, that I had back pain.

He got angry and leaned toward me, fussing with a German accent. I really wanted to get just as angry, but thought it best not to embarrass myself. I called the flight attendant. The kicking mostly stopped.

We arrived in Cancun and the wait to get to customs was at least an hour and a half. Really long.

On to the resort!! It was beautiful! Lovely!! Our room was on the second floor, overlooking the beautiful infinity pool!!….and had a stench in the air that smelled of sewage. They didn’t have any other rooms, it was the week before New Years.

We were enjoying ourselves. The nightlife, boyfriend loved to dance. Nice restaurants.

Boyfriend wants to swim with the dolphins.

We decided to rent a car. Rental agency is located in the lobby. Easy. Inspection of the car with the agent. Boyfriend points that the car has a spare on the wheel. Agent shows him, “See, the tire is here in the trunk. No problem.” So we take the car.

It is a long way, including many speed bumps, from the resort to the highway. Highway speed limit is about 55mph. Holding hands, nice!!

Coming in to the first town, cars stopped at the traffic light, boyfriend yells, OMG we don’t have brakes! Suddenly we were stopping. Tires squealing, black smoke and the smell of burned rubber. Passengers of the other cars looking at us like we’re crazy.

Boyfriend was scared sh*t less and only wanted to take the car back to the resort.

The agent listened to our story and told him that he just had to push the brake, and the car would stop.

I talked him into trying again later that afternoon with a different car. We were careful and had a lovely afternoon. He swam with the dolphins. Took a tour of some nice condos and had a late lunch at a really nice sister resort to ours.

We did have a wonderful trip.
And.
I started getting ill on the plane going back. Yep. Food poisoning/something made me really sick at both ends.


* Boyfriend had pumped the brakes to get us to stop
* A mechanic friend told us that the smaller spare tire affected the Anti-lock Brake System. The ABS wasn’t reading the braking signal.

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Verena
Verena
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Of course one needs to push the brake and not pump it. The pumping is done by the ABS, and only if necessary. Unless the boyfriends car is lacking brake fluid ....

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#57

I've already told my experience with riots in Palestine, so I'm going to go with my #2 travel story.

Driving all the way from Bari to Ancona on my own in January 2017. There was some massive snowstorm a few miles before Pescara - power shutdowns, highways closed, avalanches, the whole shebang. I was stuck on some by-road for hours, and it was pitch black out there.

When power returned they finally reopened the highway to Ancona. It hadn't been plowed or salted but who cares about safety as long as the tollgates are running?

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#58

So I was really young and my family was traveling. I had to go to the bathroom, I went with my mom and when I came out I saw a man that looked like my dad.I ran over to him and he was holding a bag I looked in the bag and said "what's in the bag dad". I looked up to see a strangers face. I was terrified I ran back to my mom and the man never said anything.

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#59

I went to Glasgow once. I remember it much as one recalls a dream… or a nightmare. I was on a budget flight to Norway, when a storm hit and forced us to ditch in Glasgow Prestwick. I was stranded, and it’s so hilly up there you can’t get any signal on your mobile phone. It looked bad…it looked like I was going to have to spend the night in Glasgow. The cabin crew suggested we all go out and club it. I had no option; it was that or one of there B&Bs. I figured it’d be safer on the streets.

For the first time ever I saw the Scotch in their natural habitat, and it weren’t pretty. I’d seen them huddling in stations before being loud, but… this time I was surrounded. Everywhere I went it felt like they were watching me; fish-white flesh puckered by the Highland breeze; tight eyes peering out for fresh meat; screechy, booze-soaked voices hollering out for a taxi to take ‘em halfway up the road to the next all-night watering hole. A shatter of glass; a round of applause; a sixteen-year-old mother of three vomiting in an open sewer, bairns looking on, chewing on potato cakes.

I ain’t never going back… not never.

Dirk Dagless, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.

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Jon Jobling
Jon Jobling
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good job they never heard you refer to them as “scotch”

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#60

When I was Young, my family couldn't find the car keys and i was around 5 at the time, so they looked around for 2 hours before they found it under the cap i was wearing.

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#61

going to my Nana's Christmas Day a 4be4 pulled outand we had to swerve into a bus stop

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#62

My family, along with that of a neighbour's had gone on a trip to Bhitarkanika National Park and Simlipal Tiger Reserve by road( as in we had to drive till the edge of Bhitarkanika, and all the way inside Simlipal)( For anyone unable to relate, we are all Indian Bengalis, and both of these protected areas are in the State of Odisha). Bhitarkanika is (prob.) privately managed, so great stay, facilities, service, etc. The real issue started with Simlipal. We left Bhitarkanika at 6 am, and were supposed to reach our resort in Jamuani by 2 pm max, according to a government official with whom dad was keeping in touch over phone. We did not have a full tank, but were told that the resort was only 2 km from the Pithabata gate, through which we were told to enter. Then the string of incidents started :
1) we missed the Pithabata gate by 5 km, and had to take a U-turn to get to it. Reached at 1:30 pm.
2) Were told that the gate would close at 2 pm, couldn't go inside without a guide, and that Jamuani isn't a mere 2 km from that gate, IT WAS A FRICKIN' 80 KM from that gate, over plateauland, nature trails, and Elephant-frequented roads. Realised that we didn't have enough food with us, asked the guards if we could just rush to the nearest town and stock-up, were told that we'd never get back before the gate closes. so we decided to go in with whatever food we did have.
3) A guide was appointed, said he'd just rush to his home for 5 mins to have lunch. Ok, we'll wait. 5 mins eventually turned to 30,but he didn't show up. It was almost 2pm, so we made a compromise with the guards, and entered.dad has grown up in Buxa tiger reserve with all sorts of wild animals, so were all chill.
4) after crossing the first hillock, we referenced the map we had with us( Picked up from the gate, and it was of Simlipal Tiger reserve). We were supposed to be in the plains, which we were, and we supposed to be on level ground till we reached Jamuani. Reached our first checkpost along the way, and in the course of small talk, came to know from the stationed forest rangers that we would have to cross a much larger hillock now. The turns on the hillocks were extremely steep and difficult to maneuver around, even for an experienced driver like dad. Also the fuel tank had already reached the halfway mark by now.
5) climbed up the hillock, were making our way through it, when we chanced upon a goverment office. Talked to some rangers about the fuel situation , and one of themsaid that there was a village about 3km off the route where fuel could be found. Great.Neighbour and This ranger hop onto the latter's bike, and we trail them to the village. the neighbour works in the Merchant Navy, so when he sees the container of the fuel, he feels suspicious. Smells it, confirms that its Petrol mixed with Kerosene.Killer combination for the car. So we lost another 3 km worth petrol .
6) We descend from this hillock to our 2nd checkpoint. Its already dark by now. Another ranger confirms that there is an even larger hillock up ahead, and Jamuani is on that hillock. We have to go just another 14 km, then we should see a banner pointing to Jamuani. yay! but "No matter what you do, do NOT hit an Elephant". Ok. dad puts the headlights on high beam, and tells our neighbour to just see if there is any Elephant up ahead, while his sore eyes focus on nothing but the road.
7) We start counting the number of kilometre stones(they were marked in km,not miles). 1,2,3,..13, 14, 15,16,17,18. dad stops the car on the side of the road. he's not taking 2 men, 2 women, and 2 kids into the middle of a desolate jungle. Plus we're almost out of fuel. We see a nearby Santhal( a native tribe) village, lit by solar-charged lamps, and a single Santhal man standing outside, having Rice beer. Dad and Uncle(What i call our neighbour) approach him and ask him the directions to jamuani. he can clearly not understand what we are saying, and responds with "Ek(1) km" pointing backwards.

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#63

(Continued from above ) Dad said in clear Bengali( The man was speaking Odia, and Odia and Bengali are very similar languages) that he's not going backinto the forest . Just then, the lights go out, and the man rushes back into the village. Dad and Uncle get into the car, and we all start praying for a way out. After a few tense minutes , the lights suddenly return, and we see a 2 men on a motorcycle approach the car and ask in clear English if we have any issues, as we shouldn't be stuck in the middle of nowhere at that hour( around 8 pm). dad explains to him all that has happened, fuel and everything, and the (driver?) of the motorcycle tells us to follow him around a bend up ahead, wherein he calls forth a Hindi-speaking friend of his from another village, explains the whole situation to him , and this new man agrees to lead us to jamuani, provided dad can drop him back at the Village, and dad agrees woithout a second thought.
8) the man leads us back along the way we came for 1 km, then tells us to turn right, wherein we finally see the banner pointing to Jamuani painted on a rusted rock on the ground. We travel through the forest and within 5 mins the Gates to jamuani appear. We are told that if we were just 5 mins late, a search and rescue team would be sent out to look for us.
9) dad will now have to refuel and drop the man at the Village. Fortunately the resort manager accompanies them through the Forest and out another gate, through which they go to a refuelling station.
Any way this was just the night of arrival.
next day, we ask for a guide for the Morning(pre-6 am )Safari, but again there are none. So we set out and visit some Sighting areas and all, and on the way back , Didi('Elder sister', Uncle's daughter who's a year older to me) and i are allowed to descend to the bank of a small stream flowing beneath a bridge to click pics. Then we return to jamuani, have Breakfast , and set out witha guide to visit the famous waterfalls. Now this guy is part of the Patrol team and had been out before us to look for poaching, unauthorised logging , and as we are passing that very bridge, he mentions that a Tigress had been spotted on that very bank at 5am, literally just 2 hours before we clicked pics over there.
s thats about it . Thanks for sticking through my poor English btw.

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Tushar Roy Mukherjee
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#64

Camping in Yellowstone in 1988 when it was on fire. They never shut the park down just shuffled us from on campsite to another. Why didn’t we leave? It was actually fascinating to watch the firefighting process. Helicopters dipping Bambi buckets into Lake Yellowstone, command centers, etc.

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Linda Bell
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#65

We were in Washington D.C when I was 14,(32 now) we were driving looking at sites but got super lost( a time before phone gps). We ended up in a really really dangerous part of town, like the part of the town with the highest murder rate, also at the time washington d.c. had the highest crime rate of any major city in the U.S. and we started running super low on gas. We pulled over to try to get our bearing something my big brother really didnt want to do. My brother and mother get in a huge fight and my brother takes off storming out of the car. My mom jumped out to try to get him back.
So there we are basically out of gas, two people have left the car, so it's just my aunt who has a knee injury and therefore limited mobility, my 8 year old balling brother, and lil 100 lbs stick figure me just sitting in the car scared crapless.
Luckily my mom was able to calm my brother down, they both returned to the car and we somehow barely made it to a gas station, like it ran out pulling in and we had to push it to the pump
It's a hilarious story now because we all have dark senses of humor, but I just remember sitting in the car trying to calm my little scared brother whilst myself was scared out of my mind thinking if someone tried anything to us, how was I going to do anything about it.

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Chris berkley
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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A situation where big brother’s lack of emotional control could’ve proved very dangerous. Mom should’ve done the driving.

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#66

Back in 1983 I was leaving Ireland flying out of Shannon Airport. I was met at the airport by a million layers of security, all types of confusion and police with automatic weapons and ready to fire. I was certain it was IRA related and pretty frightened but before entering the airport I learned that the Guinness family was shipping their art collection to the US for display at museums throughout the country! Whew!!!

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Kate
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#67

I used to work for an airline. As a perk we could fly standby, and if there weren't any seats available the pilot could offer us the jumpseat (a fold down seat in the cockpit). I was travelling for business one day and knew the crew, so I got the jumpseat (this was pre 9/11).

We were landing in Halifax in heavy fog and all of a sudden there's this shrieking noise and the copilot started yelling "Pull up! Pull up!" I figured he was messing with me.

After we landed the copilot bolted from the cockpit so I asked the pilot where he was going. He looked at me like I was crazy and told me "He went to throw up. We almost crashed."

No one believes me when I tell this story.

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Lyoness
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#68

When my brother and I were little, he ALWAYS got sick on trips; to the beach, mountains, grandparents, anywhere. So one time we took a train to Charlotte, North Carolina and my brother got sick. We didn't want to leave with him sick, especially on the train, so we stayed another day. Not bad, extra vacation riiight?? Well, the train the next day had issues, so instead of leaving at noon, we'd leave at 3pm. Okay. It would be a three hour train ride back, fine. Normal. We ate dinner at 6 usually, so eat later than ususal, we can eat snacks right?! Alas, the train was fixed other than one thing . . . the headlights. So as it got dark the train slowed down. Like, really slow. At midnight, we finally got off at the stop before ours and took an Uber the rest of the way.

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Doofenshmirtz (she/her)
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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to get carsick when I was little. I also had chronic earaches. The two were related. It was some kind of an inner ear issue that cleared itself up when I got older, so I guess a developmental thing.

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#69

Went to Knoxville Tennessee and saw a homeless man screaming and talking in tongues/j actually I did see a large homeless population and it’s sad, terrifyingly sad, but my friend saw a man in New York get shot in the leg from her window so…

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The Rock Obama
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Joshua David
Joshua David
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've saw the encampments there and they're out of control. Same in Savanah. Ugh.

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#70

Driving an expensive rental car by myself up the highest mountain on Maui. The road that winds up Mount Halelakea (sp?) was the steepest road I had ever drove on, and it was my first time driving on it. I decided to drive myself and save money by not going on a tour bus. I turned around halfway up the mountain because the road, though smooth, was frighteningly steep, and I did not want to my the rental car, or my first trip to Maui.

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Michael James Weaver
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#71

Got separated from my 8th grade class in times Square. Had a sensory overload and clawed up my arms pretty bad

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Hyde and Seek
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#72

On the road trip back home we stopped in a campsite in Montana. The campsite was nice and the people working there were great. (Warned us about bears and snakes in area). The scariest part was getting to the campsite.

The road was small and close to the side of a cliff. So driving to the site was scary as hell. The road was really squiggly. So I held onto my seat the entire way there.

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Margrete Sonnenberg
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#73

When visiting New York for the 2nd time years ago I was in an unfamiliar area so I asked directions to which sub I can grab for the north side to get to Astor Way. I was given the wrong directions and ended up at some giant layered bridge connector area. I didn't have enough funds on my card to get back. I had my money cards but the ticket thing wasn't operational. My phone was pretty dead too. Also it gotten really dark and late at around 8-9pm. I needed to get back to my hotel asap! I looked around and found a 7-11. I remember that some do sell tickets and I can get one. It was a ticket that wasn't too expensive and can get me to my hotel. It took like an hour to get back. This is the reason why I keep a power bank, use e-maps, and extra cash on me whenever I travel -- with the addition of some trust issues too. I have a deep fear of getting lost/abandoned that always brings me to instant tears.

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A Jones
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#74

landed pie airport in Florida thinking it was Orlando. it's partly an island. lol

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Leara Bridges Brown
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#75

Flying from Istanbul to New York 9 September 2011, midway through the flight US Airspace closed and the surreal announcement of the infamous events coming from the cockpit, still remember the shock in the pilot’s voice as we diverted to Frankfurt, Germany. Delta Flight 173.

When we were finally allowed back to the US, Delta Air acknowledged in a way what had happened by calling our flight back the same one that was interrupted.

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Misty
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Kathryn Baylis
Kathryn Baylis
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You mean the 9th of September 2001? Why would they close the airspace during your flight, two whole days before 9/11, when they didn’t know it was going to happen—-or shamefully didn’t pay attention to, or share, their intel about it—-until it did?

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#76

I walked into my garden and saw a red back spider. my mum disposed of it by dropping my little brother's diaper on it. I was scared of the garden for 2 weeks after that

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chicken
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