What has been the best and worst Vacations you've had

hollydolly

hollydolly

SF VIP
Location
London England
...or holidays as we call them here in the UK......


..and why ?








One of the worst I had was in Cyprus ... We'd gone with a couple of friends who were the landlords of a local pub



We'd been to Cyprus before but not this particular area so we didn't know it.., and the friends booked the hotel for us all..

When we got there it was like a building site... a horrible place.. and the whole are was over run with feral cats.

I don't like cats.. and my daughter and husband were both highly allergic... .. and the cats would all sit or lie in front of the entrance doors to the hotel it was impossible to get in and out without walking through them.

The cats would jump up on the restaurant tables while everyone was eating.. it was awful....

1-BEST-TITLE-IMAGE-CATS-AT-TALA-crop.jpg


https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/o...ons-cyprus-is-swamped-with-strays-2021-06-24/
What's your worst or best vacation..:D
 
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The worst was in Drenthe, a Dutch province. A bicycle holiday with my friend. Bike 50 km every day and then put your tent up in a camping. Next day another camping. It rained the whole week and my foot was swollen, because of some infection and we had this super tiny 2 person tent, which we had to set up in the pooring rain.

The best one Greece I think. Always loved the stray cats.
 
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My worst vacation memories were with my mother and stepfather traveling by car with a Skamper pop up camper in the late 60s and early 70s.

I spent most of my time in the backseat of the car gazing out the window while they bickered about various things.

The camping weekends were all about how many miles we could cover and how little it would cost to ‘enjoy’ ourselves.

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My most memorable vacations have always been a three day weekend in a big city like Boston or a quiet week in a musty old cabin on a remote lake.

Since I stopped working in 2005, I haven’t really felt the urge/need for a vacation.
 
Worst vacation was a beach vacation with the inlaws. We had rented a beautiful beach front condo but the trip was ruined because of fighting, my MIL, SIL,BIL and wife were in a huge battle, while my FIL hid his head in the sand. I'm talking screaming and cursing for six days straight, everday I got up, made breakfast for all the kids and took them out of that condo for as long as possible.

I've had a lot of good vacations but one that really sticks out was two weeks on the California coast when I was twenty. No agenda, no responsibilites, just me and a car cruising highway 1.
 
Best vacations in the magic memory of my childhood were going to see my grandma in Holland Michigan. She had a cabin on the shore of lake Michigan. Exploring the beaches, bonfires, sand dunes, and woods were a wonderful time. With all the activity we were always hungry, so of course my grandma's cooking was the best. As I grew older I had my first crushes on girls in the area.

Worst vacation was in Clearwater Florida, we booked the trip using a travel agent and said we wanted to stay on the beach. It ended up being a flea bitten place over shadowed by a tall bridge. We were on the water but it was a backwater from the ocean, not very deep, warm, and smelly.
 
Worst vacation ever was a camping trip to Country Stampede where all these country artists perform and thousands are camped out for an entire weekend. It was over 100 degrees out and we were in a camper with no a/c. The security people kept telling me that my lawn chair was over some imaginary line and I got so furious I said the hell with it and sat outside the arena to listen to the music.

I am not an outdoors, no a/c kinda girl so I was not a happy camper and pretty much made hubs life a living hell til we got home. I never went camping again.
 
In keeping with my saying, "I never met a Pie I didn't Like" (some are just better than others), I've never really had a bad vacation.
I have been warned I wouldn't like certain places, but the ones on that list turned out ok.

Sure, there are things that didn't go right, but we just considered them minor and moved on to enjoy ourselves.

One of the best, was a trip to Boulder, Colorado when our oldest son was still with us. Miss him every day.
 
Another we had was also in Greece..in Corfu.... I think I've written about it here before.. but in the days before online booking and we booked wiith Travel agents or through Teletext...we booked a holiday to Corfu Greece...

Well cutting as short as I can.. we arrived at the airport and had to wait for the transfer coach which was just held together with string.. It was pitch black early hours of the morning as we drove for what semmed forever over mountains. whch we couldn't see.

The driver dropped us off in pitch darkness at 4am.. and a small group of us stood in the dark, till eventually someone came along and showed us to a ramshackle block of apartment.

When they opened our apartment door the water came rushing out it was completely flooded.. so they had to find us another apartment.. but none of these apartments were inside a building all the doors were outside..like a cheap motel..

We were exhausted after the long travel.. and just took the room they gave us which when we woke in the morning what we saw was seriously lacking... and there was one 2 ring stove.. with one tiny aluminium pot. that was all the utensils there was

I'll save you an even longer story, but everyone was disatisfied we were told to meet the Holiday reps at the only cafe , and when we got there it was so dirty we couldn't see out of the windows or have any clear space on a table for the millions of flies..

I could go and on... but it was truly the holiday from hell.. and you may think this might have been 50 years ago.. it wasn't....... it was 1999.....
 
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All vacations have their moments of hell and their moments of glory. You'd just better hope the glory outweighs the hell.

I remember a two-week camping trip with my parents when I was about 12. We were supposed to go to a few different state parks, and we did....but it rained, and rained, and rained, and rained.

Then there were the two days and two nights at Charles de Gaulle Airport that left me with a great animosity toward Charles de Gaulle Airport, Air France and the French in general.

Among the best was a fantastic trip to Hawaii where I actually got to get near enough to flowing lava to feel the heat. I also loved my trip to India except for not getting my luggage for eight days (refer back to my animosity toward Air France).
 
jujube said:
All vacations have their moments of hell and their moments of glory. You'd just better hope the glory outweighs the hell.

I remember a two-week camping trip with my parents when I was about 12. We were supposed to go to a few different state parks, and we did....but it rained, and rained, and rained, and rained.

Then there were the two days and two nights at Charles de Gaulle Airport that left me with a great animosity toward Charles de Gaulle Airport, Air France and the French in general.

Among the best was a fantastic trip to Hawaii where I actually got to get near enough to flowing lava to feel the heat. I also loved my trip to India except for not getting my luggage for eight days (refer back to my animosity toward Air France).
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Funny you should mention Charles de Gaulle Airport.... I stayed at the CDG airprt hotel after we'd taken a coach trip as a workforce..all girls to Paris... way back in 1980
It was a package laid on by our company...

it was only for a weekend...and we didn't realise that weren't going any further than the airport hotel for accomodation which is where we checked in at mid-day. We took off in the coach at 4pm into Paris city centre , but most of us were too tired to do anything much, and we ended up all just going to a pub....

When we got back to the airport hotel.. Concorde was parked literally outside of my window of the room I was sharing with 2 other women from work... .. .. incredibly we woke up at 8am, and Concorde was gone.. we never heard a single thing!

Don't get me started on the cattle market the CDG airport hotel laughingly named Breakfast !:ROFLMAO:
 
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hollydolly said:
Another we had was also in Greece..in Corfu.... I think I've written about it here before.. but in the days before online booking and we booked wiith Travel agents or through Teletext...we booked a holiday to Corfu Greece...

Well cutting as short as I can.. we arrived at the airport and had to wait for the transfer coach which was just held together with string.. It was pitch black early hours of the morning as we drove for what semmed forever over mountains. whch we couldn't see.

The driver dropped us off in pitch darkness at 4am.. and a small group of us stood in the dark, till eventually someone came along and showed us to a ramshackle block of apartment.

When they opened our apartment door the water came rushing out it was completely flooded.. so they had to find us another apartment.. but none of these apartments were inside a building all the doors were outside..like a cheap motel..

We were exhausted after the long travel.. and just took the room they gave us which when we woke in the morning what we saw was seriously lacking... and there was one 2 ring stove.. with one tiny aluminium pot. that was all the utensils there was

I'll save you an even longer story, but everyone was disatisfied we were told to meet the Holiday reps at the only cafe , and when we got there it was so dirty we couldn't see out of the windows or have any clear space on a table for the millions of flies..

I could go and on... but it was truly the holiday from hell.. and you may think this might have been 50 years ago.. it wasn't....... it was 1999.....
Click to expand...
Sounds about as dreadful as camping.
 
hollydolly said:
Another we had was also in Greece..in Corfu.... I think I've written about it here before.. but in the days before online booking and we booked wiith Travel agents or through Teletext...we booked a holiday to Corfu Greece...

Well cutting as short as I can.. we arrived at the airport and had to wait for the transfer coach which was just held together with string.. It was pitch black early hours of the morning as we drove for what semmed forever over mountains. whch we couldn't see.

The driver dropped us off in pitch darkness at 4am.. and a small group of us stood in the dark, till eventually someone came along and showed us to a ramshackle block of apartment.

When they opened our apartment door the water came rushing out it was completely flooded.. so they had to find us another apartment.. but none of these apartments were inside a building all the doors were outside..like a cheap motel..

We were exhausted after the long travel.. and just took the room they gave us which when we woke in the morning what we saw was seriously lacking... and there was one 2 ring stove.. with one tiny aluminium pot. that was all the utensils there was

I'll save you an even longer story, but everyone was disatisfied we were told to meet the Holiday reps at the only cafe , and when we got there it was so dirty we couldn't see out of the windows or have any clear space on a table for the millions of flies..

I could go and on... but it was truly the holiday from hell.. and you may think this might have been 50 years ago.. it wasn't....... it was 1999.....
Click to expand...
Sounds like hell to me, all that dirtyness makes me want to go take a shower!
 
Many vacations have been the worst or best at once.
We took grandkids to ocean for first time. I had all these beach ideas and plans then... Spouse happened.
He had to take over and ruin things as always. Beach had a place to drive on as he was tired... or his knees hurt etc etc.
Instead of the fun of walking up and down the dunes which i did alone a couple times kids tried with me but faster to ride with grandpa .
I loved seeing kids see the ocean but his interference ruins everything.

One year he insisted we go camping after telling him Many times I had no interest he packed us all up to go ... we went as he "knows best" and throws a fit if we do not cave It was my B-day so I just laid in tent while he yelled at me about not enjoying camping........... I told him had zero interest spending my b-day with hot dogs and waiting to see his worthless butt bake a cake on his campfire.

He said it never occurred to him why I did NOT want to go. He was confused by my saying no multiple times for weeks. never occurred to him to look at a calendar. decades later kids will text him asking if we are going camping cause moms bday is coming up....

He grabbed kids and all stuff literally threw it in back of truck to drive home over an hour away and then tried to get dinner reservations. too little too late that was decades ago, and he still gets ideas in his head and forget anything I said or want.
WE went on cruise I enjoyed the trip and boat, but he literally wanted to just nap. SMH

Best vacations have been WITHOUT spouse
 
My worst vaca was the trip to Gettysbrg with my parents and 3 brothers at the time. My father was the only one who liked it and us kids had no clue.

The best was when I got out on my own, did as I felt I needed...lots of education and adventure and then more school finally leading me to where I wanted to be.
 
My friends son was a wilderness guide. His first group was a lovely family M,D sis and brother under 12. Well it rained like a SOB and he was stuck in camp with them This went on for 5 nights - parents in the tents kids looking for anything to do ________(the hero) came up with games and when the young lady would point out a shed, a creek or an unusual bird Our Hero was ready with a fabricated explanation or story. Every afternoon the tour company would move them to next site and fix them dinner. And sure enough the rain began again

At the end of the trip, the parents admitted it was the best, and most expensive babysitting

What makes this story great is the letter Our Hero received several years later containing the daughters senior composition about Our Hero and how he knew about EVERYYHING and she was going to "be just like him" when she grew up.
 
I can't complain about any of them, they were all beautiful, interesting, and fun, but I'll say Okinawa was best for the scuba diving and the ladies, and ferrying from Victoria Island to British Columbia, Canada, was the worst because this French-speaking Canadian guy who apparently hated Americans decided to start some chit with me.

It was a short ride on a big, roomy ferry, and that jerk did not own that chunk of ocean!
Can't say I walked away without a scratch, but it's safe to say ^that's^ a fact he likely remembered for quite some time. In at least 2 languages.

I'm sure I didn't change his mind about Americans, but I doubt it was changeable anyway.
 
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