Best and Worst Experiences in a Foreign Country

Best:

My brother and I hired this guy in Australia to take us into the rainforest. He was straight Croc Hunter. He had this old school land rover and we were busting out some serious 4-wheeling and it seemed like half the time we were hanging out of the car at a crazy 45 degree angle. But he showed us all kinds of amazing animals and we had an awesome time. And he cooked us the best tilapia for lunch that I’ve ever had in my life.

Worst:

My buddy Brian and I tool the last train back from Nice to Monte Carlo. By mistake, we got off at the train stop before Monte Carlo. As the train sped off, all the lights turned off in the station and we were surrounded by complete darkness. Over the next 2 hours, we hiked back to the city along a path that ran with the cliffs over the ocean (in almost complete pitch black). I was pretty sure we would never be heard from again.

Any cool stories?

I think my best and worst are the same. I went hiking in the foothills of Jungfrau (Switzerland) with 3 people I met at youth hostel. We were accompanied by 4 bottles of wine. We didn’t much care that we got lost and it took us half the night to find our way back!

Ryan, It sounds like a great time in Australia! I spent a month in New Zealand and a month in Australia, “backpacking.” In New Zealand (my favorite place on earth) I learned that one should not approach “sleeping” male sea lions during breeding season:o) In Australia I fell in love with the Red Center—miles and miles of silence…aaaahh. Keep Sydney, and give me the outback!

My Worst Experience: During my first few months in Germany, I went to a great festival and had a wonderful time. However, due to the crowds and street dance, the road on which I’d arrived was blocked-off. The police officer explained (in what was undoubtedly perfectly good German) how to get back to the main road. I understood almost no German, so I just drove around on back roads getting more and more lost until dark. I slept in my car in some farmer’s field. In the morning, I climbed a tree and saw far off in the distance, the water tower marking an Air Force base. I drove there and got directions (in English) back home.

My Best Experience: During a solo trip to New Zealand (south island), I was a bit lost (hmmm…seems to be a pattern) when I noticed a small sign for a hostel. It was early, but I decided to stop anyway. I followed more hand-made signs down an long, rutted dirt road and up to the top of a hill. There was a lovely Victorian-style house sitting all by itself. On the door was a note that said to go on in and call the owner from the phone inside. I did, and the woman on the other end of the line told me to just make myself at home and she’d be around to collect the money in the morning (I knew I liked her right then). I had the entire three-bedroom house with a lovely garden to myself. In the morning, the owner brought fresh eggs from her hens and homemade bread and orange marmalade for breakfast! I stayed for three magical days, I sat in the garden wrapped in a quilt, slurping hot tea, in the mornings; took long walks through the lush green fields to watch newborn lambs cavort during the afternoons; and relaxed on the terrace in the evenings, sipping wine and gazing at the sea in the distance.

Heidi,

That sounds like an amazing experience in New Zealand. I got to spend about 3 weeks there in November of 2001. It definitely appeals to the transcindental, Thoreau side of me. You can literally count sheep :)

Ryan,
Yes, New Zealand is great for quiet time spent in nature. I usually seek out such places for vacations. In the U.S., I like the desert southwest. Large cities are great for the cultural attractions, such as theaters and museums, but after a few days, I’m ready to get back to the wide open spaces. On my next trip down under, I hope to spend time in Tasmania.

One of the worst, but there are others: When I was in Russia they changed the rules that you have to have a card with your visa that they give to you when you enter the country and take it away when you leave. I didn’t know the details and I was leading a group of volunteer english teachers to Estonia and Latvia for vacation. The Russian guards took our cards when our train passed the Russian border. When we took our bus back over the border, we went through border control but none of us understood much of what was being said and the bus driver who was supposed to give us our cards, DID NOT! We were illegal in Russia for a while….not legally there and couldn’t legally leave. We had our visas but without the card it was a major problem. Two Russian friends of mine took me to the airport and we snuck back into the baggage claim area and bribed a customs officer to issue us the cards for everyone. Twas quite interesting but got the job done.

Best: There’s too many to mention. One of which was an awesome trip to the Black Sea (Sochi to be exact) and all in one day I was able to go to the snow, the beach, a botanical garden and a cave! WOWSER! I loved it!

Oh wow – now there’s a story for your grandkids!

Yeah a have a bunch. I just can’t really choose the best and in some cases the worst either =)

Worst:
Getting lost at night in the city of Bavaro, Dominican Republic trying to find our way back to our hotel in Punta Cana. A bus trip (for a more local experience) to Juiguay and a nice dinner left us with no cash for a taxi or MOPED ride back to our hotel! We treked about 5 miles back to the hotel and had to dodge a few crazy obstacles along the way…but once we finally reached our destination and relaxed a bit we knew it would be a good story later on down the road.

Best-
Hiking through beautiful tropical rainforests in Jamaica….awesome waterfalls and quite a work-out but the trail was unreal and the scenery was unmatched.

Wow awesome stories! I’m glad you survived to tell it =) I had some run ins with some sketchy people while traveling and being out late at night. Yikes.

I would love to visit a rainforst, it’s on my to do list!

Wow those were some great stories! For me, I don’t have any life threatening stories…just interesting for me. Hope they are interesting for you.

I would say my best travel story would be when I was in Valencia and it was about 1am and I was really hungry. It was Sunday night and all the restaurants and corner stores were closed…except for one. So I marched in and bought a can of Chef Bouardi Ravioli. I skipped off happily to the hostel…to find out that the kitchen was LOCKED DOWN for the night! Ahhh…only a can was keeping me away from tomato sauce goodness! So my travel buddy and I went to the bar that was affiliated with the hostel and I asked if they had a can opener.

The bartender looked at me…and took the can and put it on the bar. He then turned and pulled out a HUGE knife about 5 inches long! He punctured the top of the can with the point of the knife and then used it like a can opener…up and down around the top of the can to open it. It was amazing. I was in a club…music, lights and people…and my can of ravioli being opened by a Spanish bartender with a huge knife.

Once I had my opened can I realized I didn’t have a fork or a spoon…so what did I do? I used one of the straws provided on the counter. So I took my open can and straw and sat down on the curb outside the bar and proceeded to stab and suck the ravioli up with my straw. Sounds disgusting BUT it was the BEST ravioli I have ever had. Well…I think it was because I was really hungry at the time. :) Just a silly story for ya.

Worst: Not sure…maybe sleeping on the beach in Valencia with two other Canadian guys…the day before La Tomatina in Bunol (Tomato festival…crazy!) But I woke up in the middle of the night to one of them freaking out because their bag had been stolen. Their bag that had everything in it (Passports, money, cards, ipods you name it…it was in there). I only had 10 Euro on me cause I left the rest in the hostel lockers. We used it to get a taxi to the hostel (it was full if you were wondering why we hadn’t slept here), and we called up the embassy to start the process for passports etc. It was so sad. Thieves are good at what they do.

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Aw yes Diana, there have been so many “hungry” times on vacation. I don’t really have any life threatening stories either, but your hunger story reminds me of when I was 3 months pregnant in Argentina and we were looking for an art museum and I was sooooo hungry and grumpy that my husband was at risk of getting his head ripped off. So, I walked up to someone on the street and asked where I could get peanuts (quick protein). With a puzzled look the person directed me to a grocery store and I marched over there without saying a word to my husband and our friend. The other time that was miserable was my 15 hour train ride from Galicia to Barcelona and there was this rude Spanish lady in the car with me who told me that I couldn’t take my shoes off. Can you imagine 15 hours without taking your freaking shoes off? And it was freezing cold in the car. M-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e. If it had been now (a few more years on my belt) I would have told her to just deal.

Best: Ummmm, climbing the pyramids in Tikal, Guatemala; walking Cinque Terre, dressing up as Pippi and going to Sitges (Spain) on the train for Carnival…those are just a few.

When I turned 18 my friends took me to TJ because you can drink in the bars there at 18! I threw up all the way to the car, and what a hangover the next morning. Not one of my better days, lol. It was soooo long ago too.