Horrible Travel Experiences - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Horrible Travel Experiences

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
LFK
Jun 14, 2011 13:06:19 Doesn't have to be the worst ever, just a bad one.

I went on a coast-to-coast trip across Canada on the Greyhound with the last stop being Victoria, BC. I didn't have a place to stay out in Victoria since I was planning on just taking the evening bus back to Vancouver and then catching the 2am back to Calgary. Well, one "wacky" series of events involving a ride in the back of a jeep with some sketchy locals and waiting at a Wendy's for two hours for "this chick that's totally coming to pick us up" I miss the last ferry back to the mainland. So, I'm taking the bus back to Victoria proper from the terminal, thinking about how I've got no where to stay and am basically out of money and wondering if I can just get away with sleeping on the air vent behind the Hyatt; it's August, and wouldn't be the worst place I've slept (that would be Banff in February). I strike up a conversation with the guy across from me, a punk-rock looking chap, and he offers me his couch for the evening. I gratefully accept, but in the end the couch was... pretty crappy, not to mention I was so stressed over missing the bus that I didn't sleep much anyway.

Next morning, barely coherent, I stumble over to the Greyhound terminal thinking "hey, why not just take the bus straight from here instead of taking the shuttle to the ferry?" There they tell me that my trans-Canada pass doesn't cover the Van/Vic ferry, so I'd have to route through the Nanaimo ferry instead. "That's fine" I says to myself "just take a few hours longer."

It takes six instead of two.

Arrive in Vancouver to find out that the next bus to Calgary doesn't leave until the evening, another six hours wait. Being exhausted from two weeks of bus riding, at the point I really don't feel like wandering downtown Vancouver and just want to get home to sleep in a bed. I sit in the terminal and do nothing.

Eventually I get on the bus and try to nab the very back bench in the hopes that if there's not a lot of people on the bus I'll be able to lay out and get some decent sleep. The bus fills up and somehow I end up in the middle seat on the bench.

Then it gets worse.

There was something wrong with the AC in the bus. A lot of water was condensing off the unit and pooling in the rail runners of the overhead compartment. Then, when the bus would go up an incline, ice cold water would drip/pour out of the end of the rails onto my head. For those who don't know Vancouver and Calgary are separated by the Rocky Mountains. It's all inclines.

Fourteen hours later the bus clears up enough that I can move to another seat. Two hours later we're in Calgary.

If I hadn't been headed home I probably would have freaked out completely.
#2
jetshield
Jun 14, 2011 13:21:50 I drove through Cleveland once.
#3
boraxe
Jun 14, 2011 13:38:32 All of my bad travel experiences involve the TTC.
#4
homicidal_squirrel
Jun 14, 2011 13:57:27 When I was younger I had a friend invite me to visit her in Rochester. Since I was broke at the time, she paid for a grey hound bus trip for me. The way up was fine. There were barely any people on the bus. on the way dow... it was hell. I got stuck in a Baltimore bus station for 6 hours. When I finally got on the bus, I had to sit next to some fat woman. I had about 8 inches of space on my seat because she had overflowed to my side.

#5
boraxe
Jun 14, 2011 14:18:30 Actually come to think of it there was the flight back from Florida in 2006. Between the old folks in front of me who insisted on fully reclining their seats - despite the fact this placed them pretty much in my lap - and little seat-kicking Trevor sitting behind me, it's lucky there were not fatalities on that trip.
#6
Maxperson
Jun 14, 2011 15:37:18 I returning from a trip to Yellowstone and had just sat down on my seat when this horrible smell wafts my way. I turns out that some 500 pound woman had fallen over and crapped her pants about 4 or 5 rows behind me. It took them like 45 minutes to get enough people into the plane to get her standing up, cleaned up, and covered with something big enough to allow her some modesty as they took her off the plane. It took another 15 minutes to clean up the mess off the floor, and then the plane was delayed for another 45 minutes or so before it could take off. It takes a loooooooooong time for foul odors to be cleared out of the cabin. On top of it all, this stewardess was venting about it to us. At least she realized it was innapropriate and offered free drinks for the duration of the flight. Pity I don't drink alcohol.
#7
LFK
Jun 14, 2011 15:54:26
I turns out that some 500 pound woman had fallen over and crapped her pants about 4 or 5 rows behind me.

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#8
homicidal_squirrel
Jun 14, 2011 15:55:51
I returning from a trip to Yellowstone and had just sat down on my seat when this horrible smell wafts my way. I turns out that some 500 pound woman had fallen over and crapped her pants about 4 or 5 rows behind me. It took them like 45 minutes to get enough people into the plane to get her standing up, cleaned up, and covered with something big enough to allow her some modesty as they took her off the plane. It took another 15 minutes to clean up the mess off the floor, and then the plane was delayed for another 45 minutes or so before it could take off. It takes a loooooooooong time for foul odors to be cleared out of the cabin. On top of it all, this stewardess was venting about it to us. At least she realized it was innapropriate and offered free drinks for the duration of the flight. Pity I don't drink alcohol.

Your trip was a perfect reason to start drinking... heavily.
#9
Maxperson
Jun 14, 2011 16:04:27
I returning from a trip to Yellowstone and had just sat down on my seat when this horrible smell wafts my way. I turns out that some 500 pound woman had fallen over and crapped her pants about 4 or 5 rows behind me. It took them like 45 minutes to get enough people into the plane to get her standing up, cleaned up, and covered with something big enough to allow her some modesty as they took her off the plane. It took another 15 minutes to clean up the mess off the floor, and then the plane was delayed for another 45 minutes or so before it could take off. It takes a loooooooooong time for foul odors to be cleared out of the cabin. On top of it all, this stewardess was venting about it to us. At least she realized it was innapropriate and offered free drinks for the duration of the flight. Pity I don't drink alcohol.

Your trip was a perfect reason to start drinking... heavily.

I was tempted, but with male alchoholics abounding on both sides of the family, I've decided to never tempt fate.
#10
LFK
Jun 14, 2011 17:08:52 Good call. Alcohol is overrated anyway.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 LFK Jun 14, 2011 13:06:19	Doesn't have to be the worst ever, just a bad one. I went on a coast-to-coast trip across Canada on the Greyhound with the last stop being Victoria, BC. I didn't have a place to stay out in Victoria since I was planning on just taking the evening bus back to Vancouver and then catching the 2am back to Calgary. Well, one "wacky" series of events involving a ride in the back of a jeep with some sketchy locals and waiting at a Wendy's for two hours for "this chick that's totally coming to pick us up" I miss the last ferry back to the mainland. So, I'm taking the bus back to Victoria proper from the terminal, thinking about how I've got no where to stay and am basically out of money and wondering if I can just get away with sleeping on the air vent behind the Hyatt; it's August, and wouldn't be the worst place I've slept (that would be Banff in February). I strike up a conversation with the guy across from me, a punk-rock looking chap, and he offers me his couch for the evening. I gratefully accept, but in the end the couch was... pretty crappy, not to mention I was so stressed over missing the bus that I didn't sleep much anyway. Next morning, barely coherent, I stumble over to the Greyhound terminal thinking "hey, why not just take the bus straight from here instead of taking the shuttle to the ferry?" There they tell me that my trans-Canada pass doesn't cover the Van/Vic ferry, so I'd have to route through the Nanaimo ferry instead. "That's fine" I says to myself "just take a few hours longer." It takes six instead of two. Arrive in Vancouver to find out that the next bus to Calgary doesn't leave until the evening, another six hours wait. Being exhausted from two weeks of bus riding, at the point I really don't feel like wandering downtown Vancouver and just want to get home to sleep in a bed. I sit in the terminal and do nothing. Eventually I get on the bus and try to nab the very back bench in the hopes that if there's not a lot of people on the bus I'll be able to lay out and get some decent sleep. The bus fills up and somehow I end up in the middle seat on the bench. Then it gets worse. There was something wrong with the AC in the bus. A lot of water was condensing off the unit and pooling in the rail runners of the overhead compartment. Then, when the bus would go up an incline, ice cold water would drip/pour out of the end of the rails onto my head. For those who don't know Vancouver and Calgary are separated by the Rocky Mountains. It's all inclines. Fourteen hours later the bus clears up enough that I can move to another seat. Two hours later we're in Calgary. If I hadn't been headed home I probably would have freaked out completely.
#2 jetshield Jun 14, 2011 13:21:50	I drove through Cleveland once.
#3 boraxe Jun 14, 2011 13:38:32	All of my bad travel experiences involve the TTC.
#4 homicidal_squirrel Jun 14, 2011 13:57:27	When I was younger I had a friend invite me to visit her in Rochester. Since I was broke at the time, she paid for a grey hound bus trip for me. The way up was fine. There were barely any people on the bus. on the way dow... it was hell. I got stuck in a Baltimore bus station for 6 hours. When I finally got on the bus, I had to sit next to some fat woman. I had about 8 inches of space on my seat because she had overflowed to my side.
#5 boraxe Jun 14, 2011 14:18:30	Actually come to think of it there was the flight back from Florida in 2006. Between the old folks in front of me who insisted on fully reclining their seats - despite the fact this placed them pretty much in my lap - and little seat-kicking Trevor sitting behind me, it's lucky there were not fatalities on that trip.
#6 Maxperson Jun 14, 2011 15:37:18	I returning from a trip to Yellowstone and had just sat down on my seat when this horrible smell wafts my way. I turns out that some 500 pound woman had fallen over and crapped her pants about 4 or 5 rows behind me. It took them like 45 minutes to get enough people into the plane to get her standing up, cleaned up, and covered with something big enough to allow her some modesty as they took her off the plane. It took another 15 minutes to clean up the mess off the floor, and then the plane was delayed for another 45 minutes or so before it could take off. It takes a loooooooooong time for foul odors to be cleared out of the cabin. On top of it all, this stewardess was venting about it to us. At least she realized it was innapropriate and offered free drinks for the duration of the flight. Pity I don't drink alcohol.
#7 LFK Jun 14, 2011 15:54:26	I turns out that some 500 pound woman had fallen over and crapped her pants about 4 or 5 rows behind me. html_removed
#8 homicidal_squirrel Jun 14, 2011 15:55:51	I returning from a trip to Yellowstone and had just sat down on my seat when this horrible smell wafts my way. I turns out that some 500 pound woman had fallen over and crapped her pants about 4 or 5 rows behind me. It took them like 45 minutes to get enough people into the plane to get her standing up, cleaned up, and covered with something big enough to allow her some modesty as they took her off the plane. It took another 15 minutes to clean up the mess off the floor, and then the plane was delayed for another 45 minutes or so before it could take off. It takes a loooooooooong time for foul odors to be cleared out of the cabin. On top of it all, this stewardess was venting about it to us. At least she realized it was innapropriate and offered free drinks for the duration of the flight. Pity I don't drink alcohol. Your trip was a perfect reason to start drinking... heavily.
#9 Maxperson Jun 14, 2011 16:04:27	I returning from a trip to Yellowstone and had just sat down on my seat when this horrible smell wafts my way. I turns out that some 500 pound woman had fallen over and crapped her pants about 4 or 5 rows behind me. It took them like 45 minutes to get enough people into the plane to get her standing up, cleaned up, and covered with something big enough to allow her some modesty as they took her off the plane. It took another 15 minutes to clean up the mess off the floor, and then the plane was delayed for another 45 minutes or so before it could take off. It takes a loooooooooong time for foul odors to be cleared out of the cabin. On top of it all, this stewardess was venting about it to us. At least she realized it was innapropriate and offered free drinks for the duration of the flight. Pity I don't drink alcohol. Your trip was a perfect reason to start drinking... heavily. I was tempted, but with male alchoholics abounding on both sides of the family, I've decided to never tempt fate.
#10 LFK Jun 14, 2011 17:08:52	Good call. Alcohol is overrated anyway.