Travel mistakes and mishaps
By Cassandra C. Poculan
Profile photos: Contributed
IT HAPPENS even to the most experienced travelers. Overbooked flights, weather delays, lost luggage, falling prey to travel scams — these are just a few of the many possible travel woes that could rain on your parade. You may even have tales of your own — when a dream trip turned into a nightmare, because of poor planning or sheer bad luck. These readers sound off on their worst travel nightmares.
Danika Cinco, 22
PR Consultant, Qube Gallery
Co-Founder, Braveheart Advertising
“I remember one time we decided to go off-grid from Palawan’s usual tourist attractions and explore one of Port Barton’s many waterfalls with a friend. Our “tour guide” had mentioned that we were to just walk straight and we would reach the waterfalls in around 10 minutes. We did as instructed but the supposedly “10 minutes” felt like an hour and with no falls in sight, we decided to give up and go back to our tour guide. Upon going back, our tour guide was outraged why it took us two hours in there since we promised we wouldn’t take long. Scared of the fact that two hours had already passed, we told him we never got to the falls and accused him of scamming us. To prove his point, he went back with us to guide us to the falls. We took the same route and in less than 10 minutes, indeed, we reached the foot of the falls. Walking on rocks in slippers was a dread (note: for two hours apparently). Realizing that we could’ve been stuck in an alternate universe where we never got back home was a nightmare.”
Athena Tan, 27
Finance Officer
Gama Foods Corp.
“When we travel to a foreign country, every single day is a risk. To name a few, I fear of not being able to attend to urgent business duties, losing my checked-in luggage from the flight, and getting lost from mountain trekking with no cellular signal. But the worst is dealing with sudden death of a family member or friend in the middle of the trip. With grief, it could be emotionally and mentally draining in dealing with doctors who may not speak English, and the cost of hospitalization and paperwork associated with repatriation could make this terrible event even worse.”
Kristine Villacastin, 27
Post Graduate Intern
Cebu Velez General Hospital
“My worst travel nightmare is losing my passport. I consider myself to be a vigilant traveler, organized and secure, always keeping a watchful eye on my belongings when overseas. Despite this, I managed to misplace my passport an hour before departure during my recent trip to the US. Waves of panic washed over me as I searched my handbag over and over. I reached into the pocket of my coat and luckily, it was just there.”
Ebenezer Manzano, 27
Registered Medical Technologist
and Juris Doctor
“Imagine having long haul connecting flights with crying babies then one connecting flight gets ridiculously delayed and upon reaching the destination, all your luggage gets misplaced — that’s my worst travel nightmare! All the excitement and energy for your dream vacation gone because of a series of unfortunate events. I pray this would never happen to me or my loved ones because it’s one of those scenarios you wish would only happen to your worst enemies.”
