You weren’t on a Diamond Princess cruise in January / February 2020, right?
Definitely not. Cruising is not my thing.
In fact, I was having a nice vacation in Jan 2020, but no mishaps.
Mexico, 1979. My mother adored travel but hadn’t had a chance to go much of anywhere for fun in ages, so I decided we should go Mazatlan on the train. Living in Arizona, we drove to Nogales, parking on the American side and walking to the train station across the border. We would arrive in the morning after an overnight in the sleeping car. But the train broke down during the night and we sat on the tracks for hours before it finally moved the next afternoon. As the train engine wasn’t running, there was no air-conditioning. and the train ran out of drinking water. Lukewarm coke was about it for drinks. My strict natural foods oriented mom bucked up and drank the coke.
We enjoyed our short stay however, eating fish soups at various restaurants, and shopping for this and that while walking the beach.
On the way home, again on the train, I bought some delicious shrimp tacos from a vendor prior to leaving the station. Flavor can be deceiving. Food poisoning ensued, all night long. By the time we reached my car the next day, I was both lighter and a little light in the head. Somehow my passport disappeared in the process (I shouldn’t have brought it as a drivers license was sufficient), necessitating an expedited passport and a driving trip to the LA passport office before a long planned trip to Asia.
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India, 1984.
My parents were living in India at the time and I flew into Leh, Ladakh to meet up with my dad.
(Ladakh is high in the mountains, borders Tibet and has a very “Tibetan” feel to it.)
On departure, we took a bus for the very long ride back towards Dalhousie, where my mother was staying. The mountain roads were narrow and winding.
Not far out of town, two trucks had been in a head-on crash, completely blocking the road.
There was nothing to do but wait for equipment to arrive to clear the accident. It took hours and we had to spend the night in the bus on the side of the road. The bus driver cheerfully pulled out a small coal stove at one point and made us all tea.
When we arrived at our destination, the city was under curfew. (I am guessing this must have been part of the unrest associated with attacks on the Golden Temple at the time.) We were unable to leave immediately and had to remain off the street. Fortunately the simple hotel where we had a reservation had held our room and provided meals.
We had the same bus driver on the next leg of the trip, which was a bit disconcerting as there was no way he had enough of a break between the work shifts to recover from being up all night on the road.
To put icing on the cake, a farmers protest blocked the road on the onward journey. Fortunately, this held us up only briefly
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When I was 8 I was traveling with my very inexperienced traveler grandfather from Wisconsin to Boston. The flight from Wisconsin to O’Hare was a series of small airports and hopping between the, but at our final one our plane had a flat tire. This made us miss our connection, and it was during a pilot’s strike.
We spent the day in O’Hare trying to get another flight. I remember our luggage was on a cart we pushed around all day (in the terminal! I don’t know how it was then put on the plane when we found a flight). This was in 1966, so of course everyone was using pay phones to try to book flights, contact businesses and family. The coin returns were full as people hung up and ran off if they heard a flight announcement. I gathers over $100 in nickels, dimes, and quarters that day and arrived in Boston many hours later exhausted but rich!
I’m sure my grandfather didn’t think it was as much of an adventure as I did.
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Grandpa was a lead civil engineer for a very large US paper-products company (towels, TP, etc…), and he helped to set up manufacturing plants around the world. As a result, my father grew up around the world. One of the 18-month stops was in Mexico.
Based on his experience there, when we did family trips to Tijuana and Cancun, we were never allowed to order drinks with ice in them. Once, when a drink did accidentally come with ice in it, my father exhorted me to, basically, slam it. It was a Coke, so slamming wasn’t easy, but I got it down. lol
It’s funny, because when we’ve visited Mexico, people insist the water at the resorts is safe, it’s just that tourists’ stomachs aren’t acclimated to the food or something. But Mexico is the ONLY place I’ve had digestive issues and I’ve been to Europe and Africa. So I don’t buy it.
In Lebanon, it was clear it WAS the water, so we didn’t even brush our teeth with tap water. We used bottled water for everything.
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In some countries (e.g. China), hotels commonly have electric water boilers in the rooms. The obvious implication is that the tap water is not safe to drink before boiling.
Of course, the other implication is that anything you wash with the tap water (e.g. your hands, dishes, eating utensils) is not as clean as you may want.
Since leaving the nest, I’ve been to Mex a few times (Cancun, Cozumel) and never had any GI issues. So – maybe I’ve been lucky. Maybe the water has improved since my dad lived there ('60s) and we were there as a family ('80s/'90s) when I was a minor.
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We are in Mexico right now. We just returned from a foodie walking tour, where we ate and drank from numerous vendors at the markets. Hopefully our guide steered us to safe places to eat. We always take Pepto Bismol 4 times daily when we travel, to prevent travelers diarrhea. The CDC says it reduces risk by more than 50 percent.
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When I was in college, I hitchhiked in quite a few places, generally with plenty of success, apart from when I tried it in northern Finland and discovered after 2 hours waiting in the rain that a thumbs up sign is apparently very rude in Finnish. I had wondered why all these people were waving at me as they drove on past.
And a mishap on a visit to a famous English country house: we’d been touring the gardens and it was getting late. So I suggested we hop over the wall and take a shortcut back to the car. Unfortunately we ended up in the game park and almost trod on a bunch of grouse. We wandered round until we got to the gate. But the only way out was through the garden of the gamekeeper’s cottage. We walked into their garden and found the entire family sitting in their dining room eating dinner and staring at us through the window. Needless to say, we didn’t stop to exchange pleasantries.
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We had our own bit of a mild vacation mishap last fall. I find it to be comical.
We had unused Disneyland tickets purchased just before the pandemic. 2-day 1-park-per-day tickets, purchased with the original intent to experience Star Wars-land for the first time. Took a few days off of work. We have dear friends who live about an hour’s drive away. Spent a couple of nights at their house and 1 night at a hotel right across the street from Disneyland.
DH’s aunt & uncle live about an hour and a half away from Disneyland as well. They were in the process of sorting through a mountain of stuff in their home they’d lived in for 30 years…were in the process of downsizing…and now had physical limitations which prevented them from being able to make a lot of headway on the pile.
So we spent 1 of our days helping them through a good chunk of that. We were their arms & legs while they sat and made decisions (i.e., keep, donate, or toss).
That evening, we were spending the night w/our friends & would be having dinner w/them. On drive from aunt & uncle’s house, DH asked where did we want to eat dinner. He’s a mega-fan of Tommy Burgers (an LA chain of burger joints, famous for the chili that they put on their burgers). Meh, no thanks. I don’t care for it that much, the kids don’t care for their food, and 1 of our friends has celiac disease so pretty much can’t eat anything there.
However, it wasn’t dinner time yet and there WAS a Tommy’s along the way, so I suggested to DH that we stop briefly at a Tommy’s for him to get his chili burger fix. DH said, “No, that’s fine.”
The next day, we got up early, went to Disneyland, parked in the Toy Story lot (this is important for later in our tale). We love Disneyland. This time it was…off. Lots of grumpy guests. Original plan was to eat lunch at Plaza Inn. We’re walking up to the Plaza Inn and DH suggests that we go to…wait for it…
Tommy Burger for lunch.
How long will it take to get there? Factor in the time to take the Disneyland bus to the Toy Story parking lot and then drive to a Tommy’s, probably 45 min to an hour. It would probably require driving all the way to Long Beach. For a burger. From a place that ONLY DH will eat the food at.
I said no. DH had a little hissy fit. He and I had a whisper-shouting argument with each other right there near the Plaza Inn restaurant.
I told him that if he wanted a mother trucking chili burger so bad, HE could drive 30-45 min for his blessed burger but the KIDS AND I are staying RIGHT HERE at Disneyland because that’s literally what we came ALL THIS WAY FOR…to experience Disneyland, not drive to Long Beach for a FLIPPING HAMBURGER!
And I told him that if he wanted that blessed burger so bad, we should have stopped at Tommy’s JUST THE DAY BEFORE LIKE I SUGGESTED!
He sulked and said, “No, it’s fine.” We had a miserable experience with each other at the Plaza Inn. Went on a couple of rides after that. Checked into hotel.
Fast forward to the next day…checked out of hotel, moved the car to the Toy Story lot again (because the hotel parking was only until 11 or 12). Our normal routine is to take a hotel break during a portion of the afternoon because DH gets mega Theme Park Fatigue. But since no hotel room to crash in, there’s no afternoon hotel break on this day.
cue the Jaws music.
A few hours later, and DH has a major flare up of TPF (Theme Park Fatigue), which has made him, literally, a total pill to be around.
We decide to take a mini break from each other for a couple of hours. The kids & I head to the Disneyland Hotel to have lunch at Tangaroa Terrace (food was great). DH wanted YDD to go w/him to an Italian eatery in Downtown Disney. YDD wisely said no because she knew that the odds would be higher that I’d buy her a souvenir if she stuck with me, plus she was fed up with DH, too.
Kids & I had a leisurely time at the Disneyland Hotel. Browsed through the gift shop afterwards, hung out in the cool Mad Tea Party tea cup chairs in the lobby. Got ice cream from Salt & Straw, shopped in the massive Disney store.
At this point, DH is calling & texting & whining that now he’s ready to be human again. So we all bury the hatchet and actively choose to have a good time regardless of what else happens. The rest of the day turned out pretty well overall.
We spend that night at our friends’ house. Pack up the car the next day for the sad drive back home.
We’re all packed up and in the car, ready to hit the freeway and drive home. But then DH says, “We’re going to make a quick detour.” Oh? To where?
You guessed it…to Tommy Burger.
Hey, DH, where is the nearest Tommy Burger?
About a 30 min drive in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION of where we need to be going.
I totally flipped out. Now it was MY turn for a hissy fit. I said heck to the no, we are NOT doing that. NOT when you’ve had 3 DAYS OF OPPORTUNITIES TO GET YOUR MOTHER TRUCKING CHILI BURGER FROM THE LOUSY FAST FOOD BURGER JOINT!
He, in turn, also had a hissy fit. Much grinding of teeth about how he “NEVER” gets to do what HE wants to do. Oh my Lord, give me strength, it’s a good thing I love this man but holy mother of God, in that moment, he was driving us all bananas.
He did not get his blessed chili burger.
It is because of situations like this that EVERY SINGLE VACATION I make every person in our travel group pick “THE #1 thing” that they want to do on the trip. Then we go into the trip with the attitude being “once you get to do your #1 thing, then everything else on the trip is icing on the cake.”
I did that very thing on this trip. DH never said anything beforehand about Tommy Burger. He also had multiple other opportunities on the trip to actually go to Tommy Burger, but he chose not to.
If I never have to go into a Tommy Burger ever again, I will be a happy camper. Now we can all laugh about that trip, but at the time…holy cow, we were all so irritated with each other!
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Oh my gosh, we may be married to the same man! I could easily see that scenario happening with us! You made me laugh.
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Ah, happy memories! Great burgers and fast service. Back in the day they didn’t even have fries, they just kept the grill full of burgers and even when the line was 15 deep you got a burger in your hand in what felt like seconds. And there was always a line at 1:30am in the morning (don’t ask). They also have these hot green chilis on the side that you need to get used to; great prank was to eat a few with a friend who hadn’t been there before and then casually offer them a few.
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I have lived in Southern California my whole life and I’m not a fan of Tommy’s.
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I must be married to your H’s twin. The man can throw the biggest pity party over the most absurd things and sound like he’s nine years old because he never gets to have any fun. I do not respond well to pouting and whining. Our kids learned that quickly enough, but H did not.
Decades ago, H was frustrated over finding someplace to eat with our very small kids. He pulled into the parking lot of someplace unsuitable and I said no way. He hit the gas thinking he was backing up, but instead jumped the curb ahead of us as I shouted, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” A tiny voice in the backseat asked me why I was yelling my prayers. 
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Got some bad stories, but my silly one, headed to visit my sister via Houghes AIR WEST, I boarded a small jet in the hot summer time. 81/5 months pregnant . Due to very high temps and altitudes, the FAA required weight to be reduced, so all luggage was removed. However, due to some loophole, if your luggage would fit under the seat in front of you, it was ok. Mine didn’t, so I grabbed my toiletries and said goodbye to my suitcase. We were assured that our baggage would follow later in the evening as temperatures fell.
I’m sure you can see where this is going. Luggage never showed up. Fortunately I’m at my sister’s house, not some business meeting, but she’s much smaller than me and never been pregnant . That one sundress got washed every night.
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Meanwhile, I get frustrated when my family won’t tell me what they want to do during vacations. I’ve spoiled them by making all the arrangements and plans for twenty years. But on a fairly recent trip, I threw a hissy fit because someone asked for the millionth time “So what are we doing today?” Arrrggghh. I yelled and told him that I had shared the schedule with them for months and then on a daily basis once we started the journey so why did I have to keep telling everyone what the plan was? Plus during any free time I hadn’t planned for, they were all paralyzed and wouldn’t decide what they wanted to do! That’s actually totally normal for all of our trips, but I was the one in a snit for some reason that day.
We’re planning a trip in late summer to Ireland and Scotland and I managed to arrange flights for our out of town daughter where we are arriving and departing from Dublin at nearly the same time. So all she had to plan for was her trip to and from her home airport (30 minutes from her apartment). I asked her if she was excited about the trip, and she said yes, but she was worried about the logistics of getting to and from the airport. Arrrggh. She has a live in boyfriend, plenty of friends, boyfriends parents love her, but she doesn’t know how she’s going to get to and from the airport!
I’ve directed all of them to the website that lists excursions that are available in and around Dublin and Edinburgh and told them to give me a list of five at each location that they’d like to do. I can guarantee that none of them have given it a glance. I threatened them that we’d be going on birdwatching tours everyday if I didn’t get any input, lol. I doubt that will spur them into action.
On the bright side, they have all complimented me on my planning abilities, but I just wish I didn’t have to make all the decisions!
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Your family sounds like mine. They have been kind of spoiled. They are usually happy to be “there,” wherever that is, and happy if I arrange fun things for us to do (that don’t generally involve getting up too early in the morning). They will answer if I give them options, but just to say “what do you want to do there?” won’t get me anything.
My son is responsible for planning his honeymoon, and he’s been struggling. I have “helped” with the big things - like where to stay (I finally just gave him 4 options and said “pick 1” on one island), but I’m not arranging their schedule.
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I’m definitely the planner too. When they were younger (middle school/high school) I was the mean mom who would make them research attractions and make them write me a few paragraph paper on it.
Now I try to just send them a list of places I’ve found and ask them to rank them for me. Or do research on their own!!! After nagging, I usually can get them to rank them. I do know the kinds of things they like to do at this point, so it’s not that difficult. I make sure that everyone has something to look forward to.
But now that we’ve started to add girlfriends to the mix, it’s changing again. I don’t know to do something they hate or are afraid of. Thus, more input is needed.
Edit: what are we doing today? Refer to the color coded iternary that I made up and texted/emailed all of you 
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