“I have the worst luck in the world.”
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Most of the time, what you see is not what you get. Social media does a great job of being an outlet that covers up all the ugly in your life. It’s a way for some people to validate that life is perfect. But we all know that’s not true.
I’m 100% guilty of using social media in this way, to prove (mainly to myself) that I got this whole life thing down. But really, I have no idea what I’m doing. I travel a lot (we all know that) and most of the time my travels don’t go according to plan. I love sharing my misadventures with you because you need to know that life on the road ain’t that glamorous.
Here are 7 experiences to bring things down to earth, so that you see that I’m really just doing this whole travel thing one misadventure at a time.
1. Losing my phone in Sweden
Ugh. This was my first solo trip and the first time I’ve ever lost my phone! And it happened the day I arrived! Go figure. I think it was a sign that the universe really wanted me to focus on being in the moment because this trip was during a time in my life when I was experiencing overwhelming anxiety. Yeah, it was a shit situation that my phone literally disappeared into thin air but it turned out to be an amazing, phone-less trip that left me feeling inspired and refreshed.
2. Traveling 15 hours with food poisoning
Or traveller’s diarrhea, whatever. This is a day (and a week) I will never forget. I was fresh out of the Full Moon Party in Thailand and I got sick. Like really sick. And on the most inconvenient day of travel, my body was trying to rid something terrible from of my body. I had to take six modes of transportation to get from Koh Phangon to Hanoi… and some of them didn’t have toilets. I made it to Vietnam, and continued to be sick the entire time I was there. So instead of exploring, I focused on getting better and splurged on a nice hotel and quarantined myself. Gotta do what ya gotta do.
3. Getting my phone stolen in Thailand
…while swimming with monks. Such an ideal day was completely ruined after my phone and the keys to my rental scooter were stolen right from under my nose. I set my stuff aside while I jumped in this waterfall with a few monks, and when I went to take a picture, my phone was gone! Again! That’s 5 iPhones in one year. The most alarming part was that the keys to the moped were also gone, meaning someone had a head start to steal it. Luckily, Jack raced up to the car park and the scooter was there. I don’t know what we would have done if the scooter went missing. All I know is that it would have been expensive…
4. And then someone really did steal my scooter
Traveling will either show you how good the world is, or how shit people are. Yup, my cute little red scooter that I bought to help me settle into North Queensland was stolen right under my nose. This just happened a few days ago, and I’m still really sad about it. I’m not sure what this particular situation is supposed to teach me, but right now I just miss Little Red. 🙁
5. Racing against the Citi Bike timer
Alright, if you’re going to NYC and decide to ride a Citi Bike, make sure to give yourself enough time to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. Because you pay $12.00 for a 24-hour day pass, but have to dock the bike every 30-minutes and there ain’t no docking station on the Brooklyn Bridge. So forget taking a leisurely afternoon ride and start peddling.
6. Sitting in the cabin of a boat for 3 hours during a heat wave in Bali
Alright, so I’m exaggerating the heat wave part, but it was fucking hot. While traveling from Gili T to Bali by boat, we had some rough waters and major issues with the engine. It caused a 45-minute ferry ride to turn into a 3-hour nightmare. The lady sitting next to me was really sea sick and thought she might die. And I’m pretty sure Taylor died and came back to life that day. Imagine sitting in a sauna for 3 hours while consistently rocking back and forth. Sounds fun, right?
7. Getting chased by locals in Africa
This is more Taylor’s misadventure than my own. During a really fun night out in Cape Town, we left one bar to go to another. A man followed us down the street and wouldn’t leave us alone. He said something to Taylor that caused him to run, like faster than a cheetah. And the man ran after him. We tried to get a police officer involved to sort out the situation because the local wouldn’t stop harassing us. The police officer didn’t help us, but rather the man who was scaring us. And we realized it’s a messed up system.
I know that all of these misadventures (and plenty more, believe me) happen for a reason. I just wanted to show you that travel isn’t always glamorous. Embrace the ugly, because you’ll learn from it.