#TravelMishaps
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But Keep Your Enemies Closer
I kneeled, shivering uncontrollably, next to the engine of my motorcycle hoping I wouldn’t freeze to death right there on the highway. The sleet was coming down furiously. Continuing on the bike was impossible.
I’ll rewind a bit…
Living in Jacksonville Florida for a short time in my twenties, I decided to take the hour-long ride down to St Augustine. I had never been and knew it’s historic significance as the oldest city in America – continuously occupied since 1565 when Spanish explorer Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed ashore at an inlet (later called Matanzas Inlet) on the eastern coast.
Not having checked the weather (as 20-year-olds are prone to do) I left my house in balmy 75 degree weather. After spending some time taking in the sights of the quaint town, I made my way to a seaside bar and grill. I met a gregarious group of tourists from Boston who invited me to join them. We spend the next several hours throwing back pints of Jamaican beer and swapping stories.
I walked out of the bar around midnight for the ride back home and the blast of arctic air hit me square in the face. I couldn’t believe it. The temperature had dropped at least 40 degrees. It was now in the 30s – and still dropping. I had a jacket strapped to my bike so my thought was that I’d simply go slow and make the trip. I’d be fine, no problem.
Some 10 miles into the ride, the sleet started. If you’ve never experienced sleet on a motorcycle, all I can tell you is the riding becomes wholly impossible and life threateningly dangerous. I sought cover underneath a highway overpass. I was freezing. I huddled as close to the cycle’s engine as I could – heat. I knew I was close to, if not already, hypothermic. I couldn’t stop shaking.
Your mind starts to do weird things when you’re that cold. Mine started to remember a story I’d read years earlier in a book called “Tales of Adam” by Daniel Quinn…
Hunter-gatherers in ancient times, a father and son were making their way to the winter hunting grounds. During their trek, snow began falling furiously as the temperature plummeted and night fell. The son said,
“Let’s turn back father or we’ll freeze to death out here.”
“We won’t freeze to death,” the father said, pressing onward. Some minutes later the man heard his son’s teeth chattering uncontrollably.
“Why are you making so much noise,” he asked. The son simply sat down in the snow shivering and said,
“Please father, please build a fire. I don’t want to die out here tonight.”
“Son, you must stop thinking of the cold as an enemy bent on your destruction,” the father said. He held up a rabbit they had killed for food and said, “See this rabbit? It isn’t his fur that kept him warm. He and the cold were simply one thing. The son continued shaking.
The father continued, “The cold isn’t your enemy. But it will crush you as if it were if you don’t make way.”
“I don’t know how.”
“You must relax your muscles. Stop struggling to keep the cold out. Let it flow through your body. Give it the space it will have in any case. Then you will see that it isn’t malevolent or hostile – or indeed anything that is thinking of you at all. The son did as his father instructed and to his surprise found that his sense of cold began to dissipate until he was no longer frightened or even uncomfortable.
“The cold, the heat, the elements, all of these things are the same as the things that life will throw your way. If you see them as your enemies you will, sooner or later, be defeated. However, if you don’t resist them, learn to move WITH them, you will never be crushed under their weight.” The two then carried on and reached the winter hut sometime in the night.
Just then a large motor coach pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway just ahead of me. It was towing a trailer with several motorcycles. A man exited and walked back to me and my bike and said,
“What the hell are you doing out here, son? OK, nevermind that. You go on inside the bus, my wife will get you warmed up. You’re blue for Christ sake.
“But my bike…”
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll get it loaded up onto the trailer and we’ll get you home.”
They drove me all the way to my front door in Jacksonville. I got better at checking the weather after that.
Check out the podcast episode…
Check out the Happiness 2.0 Podcast — https://podcast.edwardgdunn.com/
Happiness 2.0 Blog — https://edwardgdunn.com/blog
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When your friend says, 'I'm out' right before the adventure.
Browse Flights- www.travelunravel.com
#TravelUnravel #LastMinuteChanges #TravelTroubles #AdventureAwaits #FriendsOnTrips #UnexpectedTwist #TravelMishaps #ExplorationFails #EscapeReality #Wanderlust #EpicTravelPlans #Memes #Meme #TravelMemes
#book flights#book flight tickets#travel and tourism#traveltheworld#travelunravel#travelreels#travellingexperience#bookcheapflights#flight booking#travellife
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Our first travel nightmare video submission! I can’t stop watching😂 - “Can you see how prepared we were for the weather? This video was taken from the two chedis at the summit of Doi Inthanon. Doi Inthanon is the highest mountain in Thailand and typically has beautiful views! Unfortunately we didn't quite catch the view and could only see a few feet in front of us haha” - 📝Story/🎥: @madzoland - ❓Have you ever shown up totally unprepared for an activity while traveling? . . . . . . . . . . . . #travelnightmares #travelnightmare #travelproblems #travelissues #travelmishaps #travelfail #travelstories #travelstory #instatraveling #travelwoes #ilovetravel #writetotravel #instavacation #instapassport #postcardsfromtheworld #traveltheworld #igtravel #travelpics #travelphotography #mytravelgram #travels #travelgram #beautifuldestinations #thailand #travelvideo #doiinthanon
#travelmishaps#travelstories#beautifuldestinations#travelvideo#travelstory#travelgram#travelproblems#travelfail#travelissues#doiinthanon#travelnightmares#instavacation#thailand#igtravel#postcardsfromtheworld#writetotravel#mytravelgram#ilovetravel#instapassport#travelpics#travelnightmare#travelwoes#travels#instatraveling#travelphotography#traveltheworld
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Story behind meeting this wonderful soul in my past travels; 5 years ago when i was travelling in Europe, all my luggage got sent to another country and never seen again, thanks to virgin atlantic! Darcie let me borrow some of her clothes while we travelled around Europe together in our contiki tour. . . #internationalfriends #travel #mycanadianfriend #ottawa #ontariocanada #explorecanada #traveladventures #travelstories #travelmishaps #alwaysafriendlypersonoutthere #workingholiday #aussiebackpacker #machikingjacket (at Major's Hill Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Du6jSgJH8/?igshid=j60gox8jyhml
#internationalfriends#travel#mycanadianfriend#ottawa#ontariocanada#explorecanada#traveladventures#travelstories#travelmishaps#alwaysafriendlypersonoutthere#workingholiday#aussiebackpacker#machikingjacket
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10. Sponge
When I was about to travel with one of my closest friends - Mariana -, who have never traveled overseas before, I wrote her this message, but it can go for everyone, I guess...
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
One once said, “there are two kinds of travelers: those who travel to escape and those to pursuit”. Well, I think we don’t have to be just one of the two, but both.
Mariana, the following text does not accrue from any act or thought of condescension. I do not wish, by any means, to insinuate that by having traveled more than you I know more about the world, people and life. But, as a matter of fact, I did have traveled more than you. I can, at least, share what I have learned, as every trip I make my eyes seem to change (the way I look at things), my mouth changes (the way I speak), my brain changes (the way I think), my ears change (the way I listen to others) and, of course, my heart changes (the way I sense and feel whomever surrounds me).
I am assuming that my opinion has great value to you and, you know me, I’m most likely to be silent while spending time together, as I’m more of a listener than a talker. I reckon that most of the times I have more to learn than to teach. Therefore, acknowledge how important it is what I’m about to tell you.
Oh well, moving onward... read, reflect, then we talk.
Traveling, more than to physically change place, is to get out of our comfort zone, in many levels. From the moment we materialized to another country, which isn’t ours, comparisons are inevitable -and it can be positive, sure -, but it’s rather easy to fall into temptation of using many filters as well as personal luggage when we do so.
The more beliefs, creeds and ideals we have, still... we must acquiesce. In any other country, which isn’t ours, people living there do not have the same history and did not grow in the same context as we did. Hence, they don’t do the same stuff we do, don’t appreciate nor value the same things we do. They don’t act or behave the same. They eat differently, dance with other moves, greet with unlike gestures. Colors have other meanings, gazes other interpretations. They can laugh louder, use their hands to eat and be barefoot before entering their homes.
Forget all your conventions, dogmas, meanings, associations and every symbolism you’ve built and create so far. Get rid of your filters, your world and your judgment, without ever losing your essence.
If not to challenge ourselves, then traveling is pointless. Rather stay home, meet the same people, go to the same places, eat the same food and talk about trivialities.
I’m telling you this acknowledging the fact that myself can’t always rule in accordance. Acknowledging how hard it is to ‘unfilter’ my own thoughts and assessments. But I promise you, I try to bare this in mind as often as possible. And believe me, it makes all the difference.
I consider that the key-attitudes, while traveling, will be to adapt, to be receptive, to be open, to be willing to receive and absorb whatever comes. Think of a sponge, which soaks up smoke, water, ink, foam... without ever losing its original elements, adding but keeping. Then we must be a sponge!
At last, I want to tell you that, for me, traveling with someone represents equal if not higher challenge than to travel solo. But I have accepted it. We will now travel with each other. I do not hope, expect, plan nor long for anything. Whatever comes, comes. I’ll just be a sponge who will absorb Cuba and you - hoping vice versa.
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. Ants, You have crawled into my life more often this past week than anticipated. Unbeknownst to me, your red army ravaged my towel for an attack after a dip in the hot springs. Yet, you never stray too far from my sweet dreams.. you knew only to adventure forth the pillow I lay my head upon for a morning hug. Oh, you bring a new meaning to the fear of ants in my pants. Sincerely, My sore ass. #travelmishaps #Bali #ants #oasis #closeandpersonal
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So much for my window seat... 🙄😂 Also had a 40 minute delay and two changes on the 6 hour journey to Edinburgh. Anyone else experience similar things while traveling? Share your funny transport travel mishaps! #britishtrains #traintravelling #windowseatviews #shareyourstories #travelmishaps #trainwoes #longdaytoday #adventurehereicome #virgintrains (at Crewe)
#windowseatviews#britishtrains#trainwoes#traintravelling#travelmishaps#adventurehereicome#longdaytoday#virgintrains#shareyourstories
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It was an unusually arduous journey coming to Moalboal this time around. Whereas on my previous trips, it was just a ~3-hour bus ride away from Cebu, this time, I was coming from Bacolod, and I was bent on doing the trip by land and sea vs. flying into Cebu. • I intended to start my journey at 6:30am(-ish) to arrive in Moalboal by noon-ish or at least mid-afternoon. I wound up starting the day at 7:30am, which I would later regret because an anticipated 2-2.5 hour bus ride to San Carlos city was more like 3 hours, which made me just miss the 10:30am ferry to Cebu by 15-20 minutes. So I had to wait until 12:30pm for the next one. But I was cool, I was patient. That's life. • I was a bit worried going into the ferry ride, about how rocky the ride may be. It was mostly okay. Until perhaps the last long 15-20 minutes (felt more like 30) when we were approaching the dock at Toledo, and boat's rocking got rather wild, and we were told we could not dock immediately due to large waves. Then, the girl beside me started to puke. On the floor. There were a couple more people who puked after that. And I was patient, I endured. • Upon arrival in Toledo, locals told me I would have to take two buses (which is the info you would find online), except that a co-traveler at that time got my hopes up that there was a direct bus to Moalboal from Toledo (which is why I was convinced to take the ferry at San Carlos vs. further down South at Guihulngan). But I was patient. • Little did I know there wasn't a proper Naga terminal and that this bus was headed straight towards Cebu city. When I realized we had past Naga - and going up north, when I should have been traveling south, I decided to just get off the bus, cross the road and take another bus headed towards Moalboal. So I did. • I had been traveling 8-9 hours at that point already, and I just couldn't wait any more. After a long period of looking out, I finally got on a bus, no seat, but I was on my way. • And finally, I arrived at @halemanna. • Check out my Instagram stories in this piece of paradise. Will be posting more pics soon. 😍 . . . #travelmishaps #nomadmanager #bacolodtocebu #sancarlos #toledo #moalboal (at Moalboal, Cebu)
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Bing Fraser On 8 Years Of Travel Mishaps
Bing was on an 8 year and counting road trip that has included a lot of mishaps. Robberies, missing teeth, jail time, and even a brain injury. Now back home after being derailed by the pandemic, he discusses some of what's included in his travel memoir "Unprotected Treks" which is all about how not to travel. He is hoping to start back up as soon as possible. A must-listen for all travelers. #Travel #hownottotravel #travelmishaps
Check out this episode!
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It broke, today gonna see if I can get it fixed and back on my neck ^^ #broken #necklace #travelmishaps #oopsie #tooroughgoing (paikassa Athens, Greece) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqjtfZNhe95/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=184qskvwng6tj
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"Oh no, not the long-haul flight without headphones!
Head to www.travelunravel.com to #booktickets to your next destination and get up to 40% Off* on Selective #Flights!
#travelunravel #cheapflights #traveltips #nomadictravellers #nomads #travelfree #worldtrotter #flightdeals #cheaptravel #flight #LongHaulFlight #TravelEntertainment #InFlightEntertainment #TravelMishaps #TravelEssentials #FlightDistractions #FlyingHumor #TravelMemes #AirportProblems #ForgotMyHeadphones
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“SAY WHAT?”-🦒 - “Knowing I would be going to Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa on my trip, I had intentionally left a few passport pages blank. During a layover in Doha I was informed that I would actually be going to Kenya before Tanzania, which unexpectedly used up some of the free space in my passport. I climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and then upon arrival in Malawi I handed my passport to the immigration official, and waited for then to provide a visa to enter the country. After a few minutes they called me up and said, “Your passport is full and you need a new one.” My heart dropped as I was in the middle of Africa with a full passport. They confirmed that I could enter Malawi, but that I would likely need to rectify the situation before continuing onto South Africa, a country that requires 2 full pages to enter. I spent a few days in Malawi repairing wells and then ended up rerouting my flight straight back to the States and canceling the South Africa portion of my trip. That was an important lesson learned and my new passport now has the maximum, 52 pages. - 📝Story: @sweet_expeditions - ❓Running out of passport pages (once safely home) is #goals. Has this ever happened to you on the road? . . . . . . . . . . . #travelnightmares #travelnightmare #travelproblems #travelissues #travelmishaps #travelfail #travelstories #travelstory #instatraveling #travelwoes #ilovetravel #writetotravel #instavacation #instapassport #postcardsfromtheworld #traveltheworld #igtravel #travelpics #travelphotography #mytravelgram #travels #travelgram #beautifuldestinations #malawi #southafrica #girlslovetravel #passportfullofstamps
#malawi#goals#ilovetravel#travels#travelmishaps#travelnightmare#instapassport#traveltheworld#travelissues#travelphotography#southafrica#igtravel#postcardsfromtheworld#writetotravel#travelstory#instavacation#girlslovetravel#travelstories#beautifuldestinations#travelwoes#travelproblems#passportfullofstamps#mytravelgram#travelfail#instatraveling#travelgram#travelpics#travelnightmares
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Saddest pillow story we heard this week 😱. We expedited 🚚 the replacement enVy pillow to Nancy! Happy ending! 😴 . . #happyending #speedydelivery #sleepwiththebest #travelmishaps #ilovemypillow #bestpillowever #envypillow
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7. Queue to the queue for the queue
Every time I travel to a different country I like to do my homework few weeks prior to my arrival by gathering as much information as I can. This search includes visa policies, prices and other immigration formalities. After the fresh episode I had at Bali airport I double searched every detail, also knowing that Vietnamese boarders and officers could be quite "complicated" to deal with.
I can say that I was over prepared: I had an approval letter, 2 photo-pass sized pictures, the exact amount of dollars to buy my visa, the form already printed and filled up. Getting visa on the arrival should have been fast and easy. But it wasn’t!
Tan Son Nhat International Airport,
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, 02-02-2017
I just had landed at 6 a.m after spending the night at Bangkok’s airport floor, followed by a short but loud flight (full of hysterical Asian youngsters). On top of that I had been walking for hours the previous day. Thus, I was in zombie mode: sleepless, grumpy and tired as fuck.
The first sight I had after landing was these 10 queues to get to Passport control huts, each with 30 or 40 people. Great! This won’t take as long as I thought it would. Reached the stamping officer to find out that this queue was meant for visitors who already had visa. They sent me back to another queue on the other tip of the arrivals’ hall. I just had been standing half an hour with my 20kg backpack in the wrong queue. (Zombie mood grows bigger!)
After that here’s what happened, very shortly and summed up:
1st queue: 20 mins, Grab the form I already had;
2nd queue: 10 mins, Fill the form I also already had;
3th queue: 20 mins, to deliver the filled up form and hand over my passport;
4th queue: 30 mins, to pay the visa (25$);
5th queue: 30 mins, to receive the stamped passport;
6th queue: 50 mins, to go thru passport and visa control huts (the ones I went in the first place, but now full with people).
Total number of queues: 6
Total time spent on queues: 3 hours and 15 minutes
Total time I could have spare on queues: 1 hour
Important note: all this happened because none of the huts nor queues were properly identified. I wrongly stood in 3 queues, wasting my time and energy!
Overall it wasn’t that much of a misadventure, more like a bummer. I got the visa at the end and enjoyed Vietnam the shit out of me!
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For the full story behind this video: http://voyagevixens.com/2015/02/24/hitchhiking-in-the-cook-islands-its-safe-but-slow/
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Our first travel nightmare video! I can’t stop watching - “Can you see how prepared we were for the weather? This video was taken from the two chedis at the summit of Doi Inthanon. Doi Inthanon is the highest mountain in Thailand and typically has beautiful views! Unfortunately we didn't quite catch the view and could only see a few feet in front of us haha” - 📝Story/🎥: @madzoland - ❓Have you ever shown up totally unprepared for an activity while traveling? . . . . . . . . . . . . #travelnightmares #travelnightmare #travelproblems #travelissues #travelmishaps #travelfail #travelstories #travelstory #instatraveling #travelwoes #ilovetravel #writetotravel #instavacation #instapassport #postcardsfromtheworld #traveltheworld #igtravel #travelpics #travelphotography #mytravelgram #travels #travelgram #beautifuldestinations #thailand #travelvideo #doiinthanon
#ilovetravel#instapassport#writetotravel#traveltheworld#travelproblems#travelmishaps#mytravelgram#igtravel#travels#travelphotography#instavacation#doiinthanon#travelpics#travelnightmares#travelvideo#postcardsfromtheworld#travelstory#travelwoes#travelissues#travelfail#beautifuldestinations#thailand#travelstories#travelnightmare#travelgram#instatraveling
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