What Vacation Experience?

[SC Minnie]

1) Having my clothes scattered all over I-77 in Charleston WV. We were going to Marblehead OH for a week with his family. DH 2 of the suitcases on the top of the SUV to give us more room for the drive to Cleveland to meet up with everyone else. Well, DH didn't strap the suitcases down secure enough so the one with ALL my clothes flew off the car about 11pm in Charleston WV. Thankfully it didn't hit a car but an 18 wheeler did run over it. There was much traffic so we were picking up ALL my clothes all over the interstate. I was sooo pissed and DH knew he screwed up. I was able to get most of my things and wash them at his sister's in Cleveland and buy whatever else I needed. A bad start to a bad vacation.

2) DH's grown niece picked out a house to rent in Puerta Vallarta for week at Christmas. They invited us, her mother (DH's sister), and their youngest brother. The house was nice but it was in the middle of the hood. We had to walk 5 blocks to get to the beach everyday. Christmas eve the people in the neighborhood set up huge speakers at the corner (our house was 1 house away from the corner) and played music ALL NIGHT LONG. It was so loud everything in the house was vibrating and we couldn't even hear each other talk. They finally turned the music off at 7am. We left for a pre planned day long trip to an island at 8am. Needless to say the owner of the house gave us a refund for that night.

 

[AndreaDM]

Any trip involving my in-laws Did it twice and won't try it again!

Other than that, we had our camera stolen at Epcot back in 2007. Have NO pictures from that trip at all.

 

[KimR]

Camping - that's all we ever did when I was a kid. Never again!

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I was on vacation in Wildwood, New Jersey with my sister and her family, and we experienced the worst lightning storm in the history of Earth (I'm exaggerating, but that's what it felt like). We were all asleep in the motel when the storm hit. Lightning was flashing all around the place, the wind was howling (the next day they had to fish all of the deck chairs out of the pool), and thunder was crashing loud enough to shake the entire building. We wound up on the floor huddled together, praying for our safety.

I've never experienced anything like that since. I was never particularly afraid of lightning storms, but now they make me cower.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Every morning of my Spring break in New Orleans!

 

[NHdisneylover]

First time I flew internationally with both kids and no other help. The kids had just turned 2 and 4 and we were flying to Puerto Vallarta from Detroit (to visit my parents.

The flight took off on time. Our ears were killing us and there was a lot of wind noise.

We flew nearly ten minutes then the plane turned around and it was announced that we would have to go back and land because the front door had not sealed properly.

Door still would not shut properly and we sat there an hour while they worked on it.

Finally we were told that it was almost fixed but a toxic sealant had to be used and we must get off the plane. We were told we were NOT ALLOWED to take nay bags with us and would be returning to the plane in under 10 minutes.

An hour later they finally said the door could not be fixed and that we could go on and get our carry ons.

Another hour later, they gave us meal vouchers and told us to only it in the restaurant by the gate so we would hear an announcement when a new plane and new crew arrived.

2 hours later, we took off in a new plane with a new crew.

I got nervous when we started descending after only about 2 hours. We were dang close to touch down before they announce that everyone needed to buckle up, THIS plane was landing at DFW because an engine had gone out

The crew dropped a bunch of blankets and pillows on the ground and told us to stay in the gate and yet another plane and crew would come at some point and then the LEFT. We were in an otherwise closed down part of the airport and it was close to 1:00 a.m. at that point. I am forever grateful to the fast moving teens who grabbed blankets and pillows right away and brought them to my kids (there were not nearly enough to go around) and the nice lady who shared her Nutter Butters with them when the snacks I had packed ran out.

At about 5:00 a.m. we finally boarded the third and final plane, which got us to PV with no further issues.

 

[luvsJack]

First time I flew internationally with both kids and no other help. The kids had just turned 2 and 4 and we were flying to Puerto Vallarta from Detroit (to visit my parents.

The flight took off on time. Our ears were killing us and there was a lot of wind noise.

We flew nearly ten minutes then the plane turned around and it was announced that we would have to go back and land because the front door had not sealed properly.

Door still would not shut properly and we sat there an hour while they worked on it.

Finally we were told that it was almost fixed but a toxic sealant had to be used and we must get off the plane. We were told we were NOT ALLOWED to take nay bags with us and would be returning to the plane in under 10 minutes.

An hour later they finally said the door could not be fixed and that we could go on and get our carry ons.

Another hour later, they gave us meal vouchers and told us to only it in the restaurant by the gate so we would hear an announcement when a new plane and new crew arrived.

2 hours later, we took off in a new plane with a new crew.

I got nervous when we started descending after only about 2 hours. We were dang close to touch down before they announce that everyone needed to buckle up, THIS plane was landing at DFW because an engine had gone out

The crew dropped a bunch of blankets and pillows on the ground and told us to stay in the gate and yet another plane and crew would come at some point and then the LEFT. We were in an otherwise closed down part of the airport and it was close to 1:00 a.m. at that point. I am forever grateful to the fast moving teens who grabbed blankets and pillows right away and brought them to my kids (there were not nearly enough to go around) and the nice lady who shared her Nutter Butters with them when the snacks I had packed ran out.

At about 5:00 a.m. we finally boarded the third and final plane, which got us to PV with no further issues.

Oh MY!!! Bless your heart! That would have been the end of flying for me! Thank goodness for good hearted people.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Oh MY!!! Bless your heart! That would have been the end of flying for me! Thank goodness for good hearted people.

yes, the whole group of passengers was really nice and had a good attitude considering

I do have to say, I really debate if I should take my children on a THIRD plane operated by these people--but then what else was I supposed to do stuck in Dallas?

On the very bright side, I wrote a letter after the fact and they gave me a voucher equal to what I had paid--DH and I got a Vegas get away while the kids stayed with grandma for 3 nights out of that

 

[njmom47]

The ride home from Myrtle Beach.

 

[kellyg403]

The weekend my family went to visit my inlaws (at the time). The first night, one dd was messing around at the dinner table and managed to somehow stab herself in the chin with her fork. In the middle of the night ds started to have an asthma attack. The next morning I am putting him in the car to take him to the ER for some steroids and I stepped on the curb wrong and twisted my ankle. Finally on the day we were leaving mil had made reservations for a brunch before we left. Other dd (3) did something that shifted the weight on her chair and it fell backwards and she stabbed herself in the chin with HER fork. I couldn't wait to get on the road to get home. I got a speeding ticket on the way home. Stopped for some food and went in to use my debit card and it was declined. Only to call the bank and find out no money. I go to the car and get the deposit slip and the teller had put the money in the wrong account and I didn't even notice. The last two numbers were transposed.

I was never so glad to be home. Did I mention that I was driving the car with one sprained ankle and a clutch.

Worst vacation ever...or worse case of Murphy's Law. Not sure. But we were quite the bunch getting out of the car, two dd's with butterfly stitches, ds wheezing and me limping.

Kelly

 

[Dancind]

The weekend my family went to visit my inlaws (at the time). The first night, one dd was messing around at the dinner table and managed to somehow stab herself in the chin with her fork. In the middle of the night ds started to have an asthma attack. The next morning I am putting him in the car to take him to the ER for some steroids and I stepped on the curb wrong and twisted my ankle. Finally on the day we were leaving mil had made reservations for a brunch before we left. Other dd (3) did something that shifted the weight on her chair and it fell backwards and she stabbed herself in the chin with HER fork. I couldn't wait to get on the road to get home. I got a speeding ticket on the way home. Stopped for some food and went in to use my debit card and it was declined. Only to call the bank and find out no money. I go to the car and get the deposit slip and the teller had put the money in the wrong account and I didn't even notice. The last two numbers were transposed.

I was never so glad to be home. Did I mention that I was driving the car with one sprained ankle and a clutch.

Worst vacation ever...or worse case of Murphy's Law. Not sure. But we were quite the bunch getting out of the car, two dd's with butterfly stitches, ds wheezing and me limping.

Kelly

I'm sorry, it does sound really bad. But I did start laughing at the second fork stabbing. Does that make me a bad person?

Our worst was about 25 years ago when we were dating. We had a night in San Francisco on the way north and I booked a hotel through the Entertainment Card. Remember that, the half price deals? Anyway, it turned out to be inside Chinatown (said near in the book), and a rent by the hour place. It was truly awful. The window wouldn't lock, the door barely locked and I didn't sleep at all. Thank goodness for the internet, and Tripadvisor etc etc.

 

[kellyg403]

I'm sorry, it does sound really bad. But I did start laughing at the second fork stabbing. Does that make me a bad person?

Our worst was about 25 years ago when we were dating. We had a night in San Francisco on the way north and I booked a hotel through the Entertainment Card. Remember that, the half price deals? Anyway, it turned out to be inside Chinatown (said near in the book), and a rent by the hour place. It was truly awful. The window wouldn't lock, the door barely locked and I didn't sleep at all. Thank goodness for the internet, and Tripadvisor etc etc.

Laughing is ok. I can laugh too now. Back then all I wanted to do was get home! Thank God I had the foresight to bring some cash too!

Yeah..who would have guessed that two kids in the same week would stick themselves in the chin with a fork. I know the people at the clinic were probably thinking what the hey is going on with these people.

Kelly

 

[DawnM]

Africa is awesome if you travel to countries that don't have too much political upheaval. But I grew up in Kenya, so it isn't so scary to me. I had been on a trip to Singapore and wanted to spend the rest of my summer in Kenya with my folks. I just didn't get there as quickly as I had hoped.

Dawn

That's an interesting story. One reason I am too chicken to travel to Africa. My cousin lives there and says its great, but I feel like if I went I would get attacked by rebels or hyenas or something. I think I'll have to get all of my Africa fixes from Disney's Animal Kingdom.

 

[Lorelei Lee]

Nothing too terrible.

Visiting my in laws in1991, they lived in Ft. Myers. Weather was great for the first two days. Day 3 we went to Sanibel. The restaurant MIL raved about was closed. Skies opened up, and it rained for days. Didn't stop raining until the day we had to go home.

Folowing year, we went to Sanibel and dh had a fender bender in the parking lot of the information center.

Haven't been back since.


Then there was WDW in 1999. Younger dd got sick the day we arrived -- strep throat. Antibiotics and motrin rescued that vacation.

 

[Anri]

When I was in college I went backpacking through China and Tibet for about two months. I was on merit scholar so I got to go for basically free. For some reason we decided it would be an awesome idea to take the train from Chengdu, China into Lhasa, Tibet. Biggest mistake of my life.

First of all, we had to take blood thinners for the altitude which ended up making me sick for the first day. Then when you get to the train station they take everything from you that might explode: dry shampoo, shaving cream, hairspray, etc. It wasn't a problem for me but was a little disappointed that they took my dry shampoo.

Ok so, the train ride is 48 hours long...yes, that's right FORTY-EIGHT HOURS. We were in a sleeper car which was designed for four people. Two sets of bunk beds and a small side table. The aisles were not really wide enough so you had to kind of sidle through the door and climb on to one of the beds. Now I am 5ft tall and it was tiny for ME. The beds didn't have mattress pads, they were just wood boards with a pillow. Really all this was fairly tolerable except for the fact that:

1. We couldn't take showers, at all (see my disappointment at being sans dry shampoo);
2. The toilets were just holes in the floor and well...people don't really aim too well when they're in a moving vehicle;
3. The doors didn't lock and random people kept opening our door;
4. If you wanted to get a completely new lease on life, all you had to do was go two carts down to the commuter part of the train where people were apparently walking around naked, smoking, spitting, and peeing...I did not experience this first hand but one of my cart-mates had gone in search of some food and came back rather shaken and scarred for life;
5. All of the packaged food we had brought with us exploded...everywhere. Sad panda.

We did finally find food. A very nice British man showed us how to score some rice and explained that it was the only way to survive the trip. He was right. SO thank you to that very nice man...you saved the day, and probably our lives.

 

[Darcy03231]

Being in a campground when there was lots of rain/microbursts in a short period of time with the river rising on one side and the dam up higher on the mountain letting go. The bridge washed out and we were evacuated by boat.

 

[tigercat]

Worst one I have been on was when my kids were 9 months, 3 and 4 yrs old. My dh rented (yes we paid for this) a cabin from his Uncle who said it was the perfect cabin to rent and we would be able to use his boat as well. We had to use the boat as it was the only way to the cabin that was right on the water. The cabin was very small and stank. The bedrooms had a couple of bunk beds in each and nothing else. Small living area that included the tiny kitchen. Outhouse at the back. Really small dock out front with a rock beach. Not little rocks but really big one's so that you couldn't use that beach. There was no lawn anywhere except the small path to the outhouse as there was a hill in the back of it. The porch leading to the outside had pieces missing so the kids had to stay inside at all times. Mouse droppings all around the place. My dh took the boat out every morning and came home in time for dinner. He didn't understand why I was so mad and wanted to go home (we lived about 10 hrs. away and didn't have the money to stay at a hotel in town) after the first day. We ended up staying for almost the week but did leave early. I told him the kids and I were leaving and we would stay at a homeless shelter if we had to but I was NOT staying. We never went back.
The 9 month old is now 33 and my dh is away camping right now by himself. For me...I have a cruise planned (with him) in Sept.
tigercat

 

[MrsDuck]

Our cruise ship sinking in Greece in 2007. Yeah, no thanks.

 

[NFLDERS]

Thanks, the response has been great, as have the Stories!

 

[minkydog]

Spring Break, 2010-- coming home from a weeklong campout, SUV & trailer got out of control and flipped 3times. Thankfully nobody was killed but we all ended up in the ER until the wee hours getting xrays, CT scans & stitches for various ones. And then when we did go to our hotel, Christian had two seizures. Then we ran out of his Depends. We were in a little pokey town in south GA where they roll up the sidewalks on Saturday night, so he just had to be wet until morning. I fashioned him a sorta diaper out of hotel bath towels until DH could get into Walgreen and buy some Depends.

Yeah, not an experience I want to repeat.