Tell a story about a time you got lost

[caramel]

I had just moved to a new place that was several hours' drive from my old place. I decided to take a new route to my new place from my old place. This was back before GPS was a thing. I had some printed instructions from the internet and a map. I also had a cell phone to a friend if it got bad. It started out OK. It was still daylight when I started.

As I drove on, the sun fell and the night crept in. There were only trees on the side of the road. No buildings as markers. Then it started to rain.

I called the friend who laughed when I told him that I was getting scared of the blackness and the nothingness.

Eventually I drove enough to see buildings and lights and made it back.

There was also that time when we drove into a marijuana farm, but that's a tale for another time.

What's something that happened when you got lost on your journey?

 

[papa tiger]

I got nothing!

 

[caramel]

I got nothing!

Thanks for trying.

Do you never get lost, have a good internal compass or just like the adventure of getting lost? Or maybe don't remember such things?

 

[Naturally]

Was in a city I wasn't familiar with and got on the wrong bus. Something didn't seem right as the scenery changed to a suburb environment that late night. I was trying to get back to my ship as we were there on a port visit.

On the bus was a group of five or six young ladies who'd been out on the town that evening. We rode to the end of the bus line in that direction and the driver ordered everyone off. I tried to explain my predicament but the driver wasn't having it. "Off the bus. This is the end of the line and my last route of the night ... OFF ... "

I figured I was likely a good 10-15 miles from the harbor and had no idea where I was ... and it was very late and very dark.

Well, the group of young ladies intervened on my behalf with the driver. They gave him "heck" about how I was a stranger visiting the city, in the military and he should be more helpful. Indeed he should give me a ride back to my ship !!!

Those girls were not going to take no for an answer. And the bus driver reluctantly agreed to get me back "close" to the harbor. He was expected and had to be back to the city bus barn by a certain time as there were other city employees done for the night and just wanted to go home too. They were waiting for him.

Seemed we rode a good long ways. Much further than I thought we had to go. My estimate of 10-15 miles off course may have been an underestimate after all.

I tried conversation with the bus driver but that wasn't happening. Nope. Either I zip it or he was going to pull over and put me off the bus right there. So in silence, only the driver, myself and a huge honking bus sped through the night ... on and on ... and on.

Finally the driver stated that this is as close to the harbor he can get me. All I need to do was follow the road for about three miles and I'd be back at my ship. I tipped the driver two or three twenties, thanked him and off I walked. I began to realize that his three mile estimate may have been off a bit. In fact I began to wonder if I was even on a road that would lead back to the ship.

Finally after walking "forever" and working up a drenching sweat, I reached the ship. I got about two hours sleep before reveille and time to muster ... that two hours may have been an overestimate. Alcohol may or may not have been involved.

 

[caramel]

Alcohol may or may not have been involved.

Great story! Lucky for those nice women. The quoted line should have been in the opening statement but made me laugh when I finally got to it.

 

[Wes]

As I practiced my profession I was well thought of and proud of the effort I made to do it correctly and ethically. My employer one day told me how to handle a situation. It was all wrong, I said. Then I was told to do it their way with the result they wanted or they'd fire me. I resigned instead. And, left the profession knowing that one day I would be again confronted with the same. Does this make me a 'hero'? Sticking to me guns. Doing the right thing? Only in the movies. I would never find anything that made me so proud and happy as I was when practicing my chosen profession, the rest of my life. I remained 'lost' for the rest of my life.

I could 'afford' my choice because I was unmarried, without children, no financial obligations, and no need to maintain a social standing. But, if I weren't would I have chosen as I had I have often wondered. This I know. I am no better than those who stayed and did as I wouldn't because they had obligations. I am just different. And, the world keeps turning. The sun comes up and then sets. And, one day I will be gone. No one will remember that I was here. I can only hope that this is God's plan, and He and I are reading from the same book.

As the years have passed I found myself becoming a cynic, and disappointedly faithless. But, there have been moments when I realized I still had faith. Not the faith of vengeance nor getting even. But, just faith that it all is as it is supposed to be. Acceptance is faith. And, by that maybe I am not and never was actually lost.
By this writing I now realize that forgiveness given when not even asked for is redemption for those who forgive.

 

[caramel]

Reminds me of the show Royal Pains. Did he find himself? I don't know. But he was forced to switch course.

I hope you find something that brings you the sense of satisfaction that you had. But maybe everyone is a little "lost" in finding our true desires.

 

[old medic]

WELL...... We were thought to be lost.......
My Brother and I decided to go explore up on the mountain behind the house. Wasn't nothing we haven't done before. Now keep in mind this almost 50,000 acres of wilderness, We were 11 and 12 at the time. We get up on the top of the mountain and playing around on the state trail that runs along the ridge..... When these 3 guys come walking up, and start talking to us, and asking about who we were with, and wanted us to go with them... We take off and run into the woods..... Scared us...
We had headed back towards home, still playing around .... And we hear the Fire Siren start blowing.... And we bee-line it for home. Now as we come out of the woods, we can see a bunch of people at the fire house.. Including our Step-Father who is the Assistant Chief. Figure it must be bad if he left work.... As we get closer, we see he is talking to the 3 guys from up on the trail.... Seems they hiked out and call us in as lost kids.....
I figured we would get a whooping over it but didn't.

 

[Paladin1950]

When I lived in New York City, I could travel around in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, & the Bronx, and never get lost. One day I decided to go to New York City's fifth borough, Staten Island. I caught the ferry in Brooklyn, and headed to Staten Island. I thought that I'd walk around the streets and visit some of the shops. When the ferry landed at Staten Island, I got off the boat and started walking around. All I saw was houses. No shops. I had no map. Didn't know in what direction to walk to see if there was a section that had stores. I gave up and thought, "To hell with that idea!" I got back on the ferry, and went back to Brooklyn.

 

[Rae]

I was visiting my grandparents in Oregon when I was about 10 and they took me to a mountain area with a lake. I decided to go exploring on my own and ended up lost in the forest. I was scared and didn't know how to get back to the campgrounds. I saw a small stream and decided to follow it to the upper end. I finally saw the campgrounds and lake. My grandparents were worried and were going to go search for me. They were happy to see me but I did get a strong lecture about not going off wandering alone.

 

[Mr. Ed]

I got lost inside of my head…does that count?

It was an Orange Sunshiny Day, when Fritz and I decided to take the trip express to Six Flags Georgia opening day. My best bug, literally, invited my young blood and stranger to me the two-headed chicken came along for the ride.
The ride consisted of a lot of smoke from A to B. My best bug friend found the perfect parking spot after circling the parking multiple times, strange as it may be we had yet to ingest Mr. Blotter aka Fritz the Cat.
Fritz was not an ordinary cat, Joseph was not the son with a technicolored boodwai for colorful statements. Fritz was a natural communicator, spinning the ordinary into vast spectacles of color and thoughtless reason.

I even braved looking at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, sure I looked like the beast but I knew it was only state of being and the horns would soon go away.

I wonder how many times I followed the trails of my hands as move them about before my eyes? It was a good day for sight seeing and life was not the same.

 

[hollydolly]

Never got lost, I was born with a Sat Nav for a brain...

 

[squatting dog]

Decided to go to a race up in Newport Vt. So, we Flat towed my old race car behind our 57 chevy convertible up through the back roads of NH (Newport track was near the NH line) and headed out on what was roughly 100 mile journey.
We didn't travel on the interstate as we weren't quite legal pulling the car this way. (no tow lights)
Had a great night of racing and left Newport around 10pm.

We had decided to leave the race car at a friend place in Bradford VT as we had a race there the following week.
Headed south into the night toward Bradford on those poorly lit and not much signage back country roads. Somewhere in the NH
darkness, at a T intersection, I saw a sign that showed Bradford to the left.

Now, remember, it was dark... real dark... few houses, no yard lights, fog coming off all those lakes that I didn't know were in NH,plus I didn't know there was a Bradford NH. Now, it was getting late and there wasn't a whole lot of towns on these roads. I was getting low on gas and knew then, I was lost. Since there was no gas stations open this late, I used the spare gas we had for the race car.

Suddenly, I came upon the town of Wentworth NH. and got a sick feeling in my stomach. We raced in the town here at a small track in Rumney NH which was only 9 miles from Wentworth. Worse than that, I now knew that I had over shot Bradford VT and got to drive all through the NH country side. It was daylight when I pulled into the friends place to unload the race car. What a night.

I swore from that day on, I would have a legal way to haul cars so I could use the interstate system... and I did. (never flat towed again)

 

[Paladin1950]

Never got lost, I was born with a Sat Nav for a brain...

I had to Google that one.

 

[iksentrik]

I have three stories about getting lost, but I'll just share the most recent one. I'm still a bit shaken up, which is why I'm sharing this.

Last Saturday, my friend was at the university for an event and asked me to bring her car and join her. I've been to the university many times, but I don't usually drive there. It's a confusing place, and I've been struggling with disorientation quite a bit lately.

I drove around for some time, completely lost and having no idea where I was. I became so frustrated. At one point, while trying to turn around, a man knocked on my window and asked if I realized I was driving on the sidewalk. I nearly broke down and told him I had no idea where I was. He asked me where I was going, but my mind went blank. I finally remembered, "engineering building." He was kind enough to direct me to a parking lot I could see.

I called my friend, and she came to get me.

 

[jujube]

We were in Park City, Utah, and decided to take a chairlift up the mountain roundtrip, not getting off at the top.

The Spousal Equivalent had developed a sudden fear of heights that summer and was very uneasy on the trip up. We got to the top and he wanted to get off and hike down. The operator at the top assured us that it was an easy 40-minute hike down and that we "couldn't get lost", just follow the trail. So, we set off. Unfortunately, we didn't have any water with us and there was none at the top, but the weather was very pleasant and hey, it's only a 40-minute hike and downhill at that. Yeah.

The first problem was when we had to cross a snow field, with "rotten" snow. Twice, I broke through to the top of my legs and as I was wearing shorts, I got scratched up pretty bad by the ice. On the other side of the snowfield, there was no sight of the trail. Well, not problem, we'll just keep going downhill and we'll have to hit bottom somewhere, won't we?

Yeah, nice thought. Three hours later, we stagger out of the woods into the edge of town, thirsty and hungry and mad as hell (me) and chagrined as hell (him). I look like rabid wolverines have been clawing at my legs. Did I say I was mad? I was mad. Really mad.

I learned never to try something like that again. We couldn't walk over bridges, either. He could drive over a bridge but he couldn't walk over a bridge, even a small one.

 

[caramel]

Seems they hiked out and call us in as lost kids.....

Sounds like they were the ones who were lost, not realizing who they were talking to.

I got back on the ferry, and went back to Brooklyn.

It's good that you knew enough to get back on the Ferry and not get actually lost in a big city.

I saw a small stream and decided to follow it to the upper end.

Smart! Survival skills at an early age.

I got lost inside of my head…does that count?

It must. You got me lost too.

Never got lost, I was born with a Sat Nav for a brain...

Lucky!

I swore from that day on, I would have a legal way to haul cars so I could use the interstate system... and I did. (never flat towed again)

Lesson learned. Good thing you had the gas from the racing car. Better still, you had the presence of mind to use it.

a man knocked on my window and asked if I realized I was driving on the sidewalk.

Wow, that must have been scary. Glad you're OK. I can see why you're shaken up by this.

Three hours later, we stagger out of the woods into the edge of town, thirsty and hungry and mad as hell (me) and chagrined as hell (him). I look like rabid wolverines have been clawing at my legs. Did I say I was mad? I was mad. Really mad.

Yow! That sounds horrible. Glad you made it back. Harrowing tale.

 

[dilettante]

I remember a time when I wasn't lost, but got into a situation with similar heightened feelings of desperation.

My 3 boys were young and I had taken them by myself about 250 miles to a sand dune park, leaving Mom to go do something with her mother and sister in yet a another town.

We arrived and everything was fine. Climbed up the dunes through the wooded border near the parking area, then up and over to slog across the "desert" above. We descended one side that extended into smaller lake. The boys had fun and I kept a close eye because the dune descended down into the deep lake. Even I could wade out 6 feet from "shore" and the water would reach my neck. There were also places where you could feel cold water rushing out from the dune into the warmer lake,

Then we went back up, and the dunes were more hilly. The boys had fun climbing a dune and trying to run back down without sliding and falling in the loose sands. We headed in another direction much further and through a brushy strip of valley and back over another rise to the Lake Michigan beach.

On the way back I realized I didn't have my keys. In a panic, we searched and retraced steps and combed through some sand but couldn't find the keys.

Not knowing what else to do we traced our steps all the way back until we reached the parking area and the truck. Finally, looking in the driver's door window I saw the keys on the seat. I hadn't locked the doors, unusual in itself but oh so lucky.

In relief, though we'd eaten lunch out on the dunes where we found a bit of shade in that valley stretch, by now a few hours earlier... it was time for lemonade and ice cream and anything cool and quenching and rewarding.

Even though it was a very hot day I don't think I have ever sweated as much. This was way before cell phones.

 

[caramel]

Finally, looking in the driver's door window I saw the keys on the seat. I hadn't locked the doors, unusual in itself but oh so lucky.

Whew! The feeling of relief is palpable. Nice ending to the story.

 

[Jules]

We were flying home from Brisbane. Our hotel was a short walk from the bus terminal where we could catch a free bus to the airport. It was only a few km away. There were lots of buses and we got on one, set our suitcases down and took a seat. The scenery seemed repetitive from the day before and I went and asked the bus driver how far to the airport. Obvious where the story is going and we weren’t.

I asked why he hadn’t asked us to pay; it was a city route with a fee. No good answer. He dropped us off so we could wait for another ride or get a taxi. About half an hour later he picked us up and returned us to the terminal where we got on the correct bus.

 

[Furryanimal]

Was walking back from Lords to Paddington station.
Something I had done many times before and since.
But for some reason I inexplicably turned left where I should have gone straight on!
Thinking after a little while where I was looked a little unfamiliar.
Eventually saw a sign directing me towards the station and entered Paddington through an entrance I had never seen before…or since for that matter.
..

 

[Gary O']

What's something that happened when you got lost on your journey?

I've been lost most my life

Recently......I was found

 

[caramel]

About half an hour later he picked us up and returned us to the terminal where we got on the correct bus.

Good that you had enough time to take the circuitous route.

Eventually saw a sign directing me towards the station and entered Paddington through an entrance I had never seen before…or since for that matter.

Maybe it was like that magic entrance to the train station in Harry Potter. Only happens when you have the magic.

Recently......I was found

Lucky you! Where did they find you?

 

[Gary O']

Where did they find you?

You know the song

 

[LoveTulips]

A girlfriend and I were cross country skiing in Banff, Alberta many, many years ago, no cell phones obviously....got lost, and it was getting close to evening and it was snowing. Wow, when we found the trail back to the village, were we relieved!