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What was your worst vacation ever? Someplace you would never go back to? Back when I was a pre-teen my parents took the family to Disney World in August. My brother and I refer to that trip as the "Epcot Death March" to this day. We were there for three days and each day the temperature was in the upper 90's with extremely high humidity. My father refused to by speed passes so we had to wait in line for EVERYTHING. On day three, my mother absolutely refused to leave the hotel room and an argument pursued between her and my father- they didn't speak to each other for two days. To this day, if I bring up that trip in front of my parents my mother still gets mad. "The Happiest Place on Earth" it was not...
A close second was a few years later when my father had the brilliant idea that a two week trip to South Dakota would be fun. He rented a pop-up trailer, hooked it up to the car and off we went. My brother was 13, I was 14 and my sister 16- all three of us stuck in the back seat and my brother and I did nothing but fight with our sister the entire time. Total, utter boredom- three teens crammed into a car and a small camper and it rained almost the entire trip.
I don't let little things spoil a vacation. I quite honestly have never had one that I later wished I had done something else.
I choose my travel companions carefully, and the same methods of conflict resolution work as well on vacation as they do at home.
However, most places are places I'd "never go back to", as long as there are new places to explore. It would be unusual for me to go to a place, and then have a burning desire to go back there again. In my experience, if you do go back to a place you loved, you discover that it really wasn't all that great, it is no longer the right time to be there. Especially if you take somebody along after raving about how great it was.
What was your worst vacation ever? Someplace you would never go back to? Back when I was a pre-teen my parents took the family to Disney World in August. My brother and I refer to that trip as the "Epcot Death March" to this day. We were there for three days and each day the temperature was in the upper 90's with extremely high humidity. My father refused to by speed passes so we had to wait in line for EVERYTHING.
Orlando in August is miserable, as you discovered.
The WDW Fast Pass service is provided at no additional charge, and it always has been since the day it was introduced. Disney doesn't have a paid priority pass like some other parks do.
I've never done a really bad vacation, but when the girls (wife and daughter) insisted one year that they wanted guaranteed sunshine, we spent two weeks in the south of Spain.
Let's just say that hanging around a pool with many others soaking up the sun is not my idea of a vacation.
The saving grace was escaping to the mountains, and a trip to the lovely old city of Ronda.
Nowadays my wife disappears with some girlfriends to a private villa to soak up the rays and maybe within a couple of years we will be living somewhere that actually gets a summer.
A cruise on Royal Caribbean. The food was bad, the service was non-existent, the Captain was rude to us over a mistake the concierge made--in writing, the concierge was clueless, the cabin had multiple issues which affected our trip. They did agree and offered us quite a deal to cruise with them again but after we read the fine print it was going to cost us thousands and we tossed it in the bin where it belonged.
I've never been so happy to return home from a vacation.
My wife and I have had some absolutely outrageous things happen to us when traveling. They provide us with out fondest memories, and we roar with laughter when we reminisce about how bad they were. Travel would be no fun without them.
My wife and I have had some absolutely outrageous things happen to us when traveling. They provide us with out fondest memories, and we roar with laughter when we reminisce about how bad they were. Travel would be no fun without them.
This x1000.
The worst experiences make the best stories. Wasn't fun at the time, but ultimately having things go wrong is just part of life.
I'd have to say my trip to the New England states when I was about 9. It started out OK, as we went through Upstate New York, and I went to Whiteface Mountain. However; as the trip went on it got colder and wetter. We went on this trip in late July, and left 85-90 degree weather in Ohio, and after going in previous years to Florida and then South Carolina and being by a beach, and then going somewhere in the summer and it's cold, well.... it kind of sucked. During the 3 days or so that we spent in Vermont and New Hampshire is where we ran into the cold and rain, and on top of it we didn't pack warmer clothing. We wanted to go up on Mt. Washington, but couldn't because there were 100 mile winds at the time. It didn't finally warm up again and feel like summer until we got to Maine, and then on to Massachusetts. I remember us going through Boston in rush hour traffic and it was yikes! My mom was miserable the whole trip, and I remember it was around her 30th birthday, and for some reason it was like the world was ending for her. We did hit the beach by Cape Cod, but the ocean water was 54 degrees, a far cry from what you'd dive into in say.... Myrtle Beach. We ended up cutting the trip short and heading home. Never been back up there as an adult, and it really isn't on the top of my list to go back. That's not to say that I wouldn't as I would love to travel exclusively, and see all 50 states, but I want to go to places in the country I haven't been yet, and places in the south that I have.
Oh HELL.... right now I'd be happy just going back to my friend's property in New York state in the middle of nowhere!
My worst vacation was when I visited Istanbul. But this had more to do with the company I kept than the actual city, which was/is beautiful with SO MUCH to do. In terms of cities/locations I do not plan on returning to: Beijing probably is high on my list. While my time there was fine, it was just that. For me, Beijing is one of those cities where if you've seen it once, you don't need to see it again. I'd understand if people feel differently about it, though.
Bad vacation issues have been more about my company than the places I visited. Most of the time I travel solo now.
1. Don't travel with people that constantly need a companion.
2. Only travel with women if you are intimately involved with them...and then start on small trips, so no one gets strangled in the shower.
3. Have a basic understanding of fellow travelers travel experience, and try to be at similar levels.
4. Travel with people who can deal with problems without blowing up. Issues come up...no need for a meltdown.
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