Destination Disaster! When Trips Turn To Tear-Jerking Nightmares

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Is it just me or do all horrible travel stories happen at airports? A few years back on a spur the moment trip to India, I spent most of my time trying to reunite with my luggage, which had been held back in New Delhi due to a misunderstanding about a power bank. Despite endless phone calls and emails, I never got it back until the day I was due to fly out. After much standing around on the airline staff’s part and a lot of yelling and lobbing threats on my part, I finally got my precious suitcase, then had to streak through the airport to catch my 3am flight. I learned a valuable lesson. When doing a multi-city trip, never travel with check-in luggage.

A Midnight Dream…

From an almost missed flight to a lost day, Anna Pellegrin Hartley, our deputy manager recounts when she made a very expensive miscalculation. “In 2013 I was flying back to Paris after a holiday in Australia. I extended my stopover so I could spend a week exploring Bangkok and Thailand, and caught up with some old friends who were passing through at the same time,” explains Hartley. After a day of exploring the city, she returned to her hostel where the hostel reception inquired whether she wished to purchase an extra night’s stay. Hartley continues, “I was confused as I thought I’d already booked through till the next day, as I was flying out the following evening at midnight. As they were checking I suddenly had a terrible thought, and looked up my emails to check my ticket. My flight wasn’t leaving the next midnight, but this one, in just over two hours.” In a panic, Hartley considered her options. Would she make a mad dash for the airport which was over an hour away via a cab, or would she just bite the bullet and change her ticket for the next day?  “I would have to collect and re-check in a big suitcase I’d left in storage, not to mention do check-in and pass security so I was sure I wouldn’t make it in time. I was so embarrassed that I’d screwed up that I didn’t even think to call the airline and assess my options,” Hartley further explains. Ultimately, she bought a ticket from a different airline for the next day, a costly decision that put her – at the time a skint ESL teacher who was just scraping by – into debt for over a year.

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All’s Well That Ends Well

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic was gathering momentum in China, Lisa Albrecht and her family planned to return to Beijing from Manila, where they had been vacationing via Hong Kong. But with only days to go, flight after flight was canceled, leaving the family stranded and with diminishing options for getting back to Beijing. Luckily they managed to snag tickets from Manila to Hong Kong with a massive 20-hour long layover. While under normal circumstances nobody relishes such a long layover, in this instance they realized how lucky they were to be able to get home and made the most of it. “With the 20-hour transit, we decided to go to the city and explore it. It was the best decision ever! We booked a very beautiful hotel near Victoria Harbor, we explored the area, and observed the city from the highest skyscraper Sky100.” A sweet note to end their harrowing struggle to fly back to China.

Word To The Wise

Looking back at his travel history, Beijing dad and owner of Pebbles Courtyard Ray Yue Heng has a few tips for the novice traveler within China.  “In China, I would say the only essential thing you need is to make sure you download all the necessary apps on your smartphone because, in this digital, China is almost entirely cashless.” muses Heng. These Apps include Ctrip or Qunar to manage your flight, train, hotel, and car rental bookings and confirmations,  Dianping to find the best restaurants, movie theaters and general travel destinations with the best reviews and the best deals,  and finally Gaode (高德地图) or Baidu maps (百度地图).

Whether it’s losing your luggage, missing a flight, or just trying to figure out Apps in languages we don’t understand, even the worst travel experiences can be chalked up as part of the adventure of travel. And when it goes from the ridiculous to the insane, breathe in and repeat to yourself, “This too shall pass!”

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Photos: Unsplash 

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