Have you had any negative International Travel Experiences?

[Bretrick]

In 1980, as an 18 year old from a small country town in Tasmania I went on a cruise with some friends to Fiji, Noumea, etc.

On the Ship it was okay but the moment we landed at Suva I was accosted by all and sundry pressuring me to buy their wares. One local persuaded me to accompany him to a jewellery shop and I had this high pressure sales person on my back the whole time.
I continued to say I did not want a watch so the sales person tried a different tack.
"You want Girl? I have girl for you out back, you come with me out back we get you girl."

I ran out of the shop and ran back to the ship. It was a frightening experience for a naive 18 year old.

In 1990 I went to Malaysia with a friend for a 2 week self drive holiday.
Landing at Singapore, proceeding to the train station, having to use an open squat toilet visible to other men, getting off the train at Johor Bahru, we went at Hari Raya/Ramadan, the amount of people there was overwhelming.
I could not have done it on my own. My friend was a seasoned traveller, the culture shock was almost debilitating for me.

In attempting to locate the hire car office we went into the Hilton Hotel.
Whilst my friend was making enquiries, I was viewing the scene outside the Hotel. Here I was inside this palatial building, outside there seemed like millions of people living in poverty. I was appalled at the spectacle.

When I arrived back home I vowed never to leave Australia again.
Why leave Australia? 10 lifetimes would not be enough to experience all there is here

 

[timoc]

There used to be an airline called 'Cheapo, Cheapo Tours', I only used them once, the planes were darned uncomfortable and disembarking in the parachute was no fun either.

 

[RFW]

You really picked the wrong era to travel around Asia. Those places wouldn't be rapidly developing for another decade.
I had the same experience driving through Cambodia in 2017. It's like I was back in Vietnam again some 40 years ago. Won't do it again. Although it wasn't so bad in big cities.

 

[Gaer]

I was in Puerto Rico on my way to the airport to catch my flight.
The taxi driver stopped in the road, JUST STOPPED and went no further,
I waited and then asked, "What are you doing?"
He said, "Siesta." and pointed to his watch! he was sleeping in the middle of the road!
Comical when i think back about it!

 

[RFW]

@Bretrick I forgot to say that you shouldn't let it discourage you from traveling abroad again. I could say the same for US and Canada. There are so many places to discover and things to do but each country is also unique in its own way, with things and people not found or replicated anywhere else. Even tourist places in first world countries have hecklers and scammers all over the places. Just avoid and ignore them.

 

[jujube]

My sister and I were teenagers, bumming our way around Europe for 3 months and decided on a whim to scoot over to Berlin.

Unfortunately, I only got a one-way transit visa to take the train from West Germany. So, to move on after our visit, we had to go over to East Berlin to get another transit visa.

We were given a ticket with a number on it and motioned to sit in a big hall to wait. Periodically, someone would shout out a number but who knew what 268 sounded like in German.

Luckily, an older gentleman who spoke some English took pity on us and took us under his wing. Because my sister was only 14, they put her on my visa as "and child" (we looked about the same age).

Coming back to West Berlin through Check Point Charlie, we were seriously harassed by the East Berlin guards. They took our passports, locked us in a room and repeatedly tried to get us to sign forms. After a couple of hours, the let us pass through. We were in hysterics, needless to say.

The American soldiers at Check Point Charlie said we were just unlucky enough to be chosen to be the ones who got harassed that afternoon. They said it happened at least once a day.

Of course, riding the train through East Germany was interesting, as the train guards were quite amused about the "and child" visa for two girls who looked about 16.

That's the only time I felt unsafe all summer.

 

[senior chef]

In all of the traveling I have done, only once did I have a problem. I was, at the time, in Central Mexico and I needed a ticket to Manila, The Philippines. The ticket agent told me that the only available ticket was a very round about way to get there. 1st stop was Houston. On to L.A. then on to Hawaii. From Hawaii to Guam and then waaay out of the way to Tokyo and from Tokyo to Manilla. That would be like going from Houston via L.A. just to get to NYC.
Once I reached Houston, I was able to talk with an airline agent and he got it all straightened out. From Guam, direct to Manila. Thus I saved 12 hours of flying time.

 

[Chet]

In the Air Force you could travel anywhere an Air Force plane was going as a space available passenger. What really ticked me off was that dependents had priority so we enlisted slime got bumped.

 

[helenbacque]

On foot in Paris with a friend. She caught a very young girl trying to take her wallet from her handbag.

 

[Capt Lightning]

No really negative ones, but a couple of amusing incidents. Some years ago when my children were teenagers we took a road trip across the Northern USA states in a hired Cadillac. After having dinner in a restaurant we were returning to the car when my daughters attracted the attention of two men. As they reached the car, one commented that "Hey, their dad's got a Cadillac". At this one daughter turned to her sister and said quite loudly, "Which one do you fancy, the fat one or the one with the moustache?" They both blushed and slunk away.

In more recent years, my elder daughter was invited to speak at a conference in Seoul. She asked at the hotel where she was staying for recommendations for restaurants that would be OK for a woman on her own. Having chosen a restaurant and managed to order a meal, she was disappointed to find it was served with chopsticks, which she can't manage. The waiters spoke no English, but she managed to sketch a fork on her napkin and the waiter headed off. A few minutes later, the waiter, chef and manager appeared with a set of cutlery tied with a ribbon and resting on a small cushion. They bowed and thanked her for choosing their restaurant.

 

[Lawrence]

My worst ever international travel experience was when Uncle Sam sent me to Vietnam to fly my helicopter in the Vietnam War. The food was bad, it rained lots. it stinked bad, and almost all those little people were downright unsocialable at times.

 

[RFW]

My worst ever international travel experience was when Uncle Sam sent me to Vietnam to fly my helicopter in the Vietnam War. The food was bad, it rained lots. it stinked bad, and almost all those little people were downright unsocialable at times.

Helicopter rides were fun though, not gonna lie. Got to let my legs hang and feel the breeze.

 

[Shero]

My husband and I have travelled extensively...we are globe trotters!
I would not describe any of the experiences we have had as "negative" because that is what travel is all about.
You enjoy, learn and develop from travel experiences, otherwise, may I respectfully suggest, stay home

PS: Bretrick, do not give up travelling. My next trip all paid for by my magazine is a tour of Western Australia.

It seems, although Macron is not too fond of the Aussie PM, the French are very interested in Australia and want to know more!
.

 

[Pepper]

@jujube
Your East Berlin experience happened to me too!!!!!!!!!! I was with my Scottish BF and he wasn't detained but I was! It was scary, but I was too dumb to be terrified.

 

[Capt Lightning]

Years ago I worked alongside a colleague who had been a member of a successful pop band in the UK. I'm not sure what country this occurred in, but during one European tour he said that they had to cross borders in their bus. They passed through one border, across no man's land, but were denied entry at the next border post because their documentation wasn't correct. They turned round only to be denied entry at the border they had just exited.
The bus plus band were stuck for hours between the two border crossings while their manager was allowed to sort out the documents.

When I lived in Germany, the plant manager told of having to cross E.Germany by car to get to Berlin. He said that the Autobahns were in a terrible state. The inner lane was full of potholes, but the outer lane was OK, so he drove on it. It wasn't long before the police stopped him and asked why he was driving in the 'wrong' lane. He said it was because of the potholes, to which the police said, "We don't have potholes in E Germany" and fined him on the spot. He only had W.German money, but the police were happy to accept it, adding that of course there would be a conversion charge!

 

[squatting dog]

My worst ever international travel experience was when Uncle Sam sent me to Vietnam to fly my helicopter in the Vietnam War. The food was bad, it rained lots. it stinked bad, and almost all those little people were downright unsocialable at times.

Got to agree with you. And the food. I actually opened a can of the sliced ham and it was green.
The old boy in the pic that looked a lot like Toad from American Graffiti took a lot of flak from us for not pointing his rifle muzzle down. (big no, no when flying).

 

[Packerjohn]

1. I got mugged in Peru and had my passport stolen.
2. Nearly drown trying to swim to an island in Indonesia which turned out to be further than I figured.
3. Crashed my motorcycle in Northern Italy.
4. Thieves broke into our car in Guatemala City and stole everything.
5. Missed my flight in Athens, had to wait a week. Then missed my flight in Casablanca, Morroco and had to wait another week. Arrived home weeks late for my job.
6 Really got sick drinking straight vodka followed by pickle chasers on the Trans-Siberian.
7. Got called into the police station in Poland for a little "chat." The chat was about why I was at the USSR border taking photos!

 

[RFW]

1. I got mugged in Peru and had my passport stolen.
2. Nearly drown trying to swim to an island in Indonesia which turned out to be further than I figured.
3. Crashed my motorcycle in Northern Italy.
4. Thieves broke into our car in Guatemala City and stole everything.
5. Missed my flight in Athens, had to wait a week. Then missed my flight in Casablanca, Morroco and had to wait another week. Arrived home weeks late for my job.
6 Really got sick drinking straight vodka followed by pickle chasers on the Trans-Siberian.
7. Got called into the police station in Poland for a little "chat." The chat was about why I was at the USSR border taking photos!

That's a lot of misadventures!

 

[Packerjohn]

That's a lot of misadventures!

Yap! Sometimes I wonder how I got to be 75 years old and still around. Many are those that never traveled anywhere and died in their 50s. Guess, I'm "hard to kill" or maybe just lucky!