My Travel Woes (part 2)

My Travel Woes…
(Part 2 of 2 parts)


I had an asthma attack in USA

Back in 2003, everything was all set for our early morning drive to Niagara Falls, when I suffered from an unexpected bronchial asthma attack. Everybody advised me to just stay home, take a good rest and guard the house a la “Home Alone” kid. I firmly said “NO!”

Asthma is no joke, not to mention the chest and back pains that I had to endure. At Niagara, I felt my knees were shaking while queuing for our boat ride to flirt with the Maid of the Mist. But when we reached the foot of the falls, I had forgotten all about my asthma. I can’t describe that magical feeling being so close to the giant falls, hearing the laughter and jubilations of the passengers as the wind blew a bountiful amount of water all over, the joy in the faces of my parents, the magical sight of the rainbow on the background, all these lifted me up that no amount of asthma suffering could dampen my spirit.

The Niagara Falls experience was worth the risk I took in spite of my health concerns.


I was served an awful meal in Malaysia

I am adventurous when it comes to food. However, the taste of the packed meal served at the train on our night trip to Malaysia from Singapore made my stomach summersault. The slimy rice mixed with cracked corn and anchovies could pass for a hog meal. I chose to just sleep my hunger away.


The taxi driver in Hong Kong could not speak and understand English

On the last day of our shopping spree in Hong Kong, Leo, Lloyds and I made our last minute purchases at a night market called Stanley Market.

On board the taxi, I requested the driver, “Sir, can you take us to Stanley Market?” The driver replied yes. Later, I noticed that he was taking us to a different route, I asked, “Are you taking us to Stanley Market?” the driver said, “Yes.” Then, it came clear to me that the driver was taking us to the airport. It was late for me to realize that he could not speak nor understand English, but Chinese. Perhaps the only English word he could utter was "yes”.

Fumingly, I told him to stop the car and we got off. Luckily, the next cab driver could speak English. It was such a great relief.


It was a rainy day at the beach in Rio

It had been my dream for a long time to visit Rio de Janeiro and enjoy the sun and get a good burn while sipping caipirinha at the beach.

So, I decided to make it happen in September of 2006. However, it was such a great disappointment upon landing at Jigondas Airport when I discovered that the sun was nowhere to be found. It was raining. There were no beach goers at Ipanema or Leblon in their string bikinis.

I patiently waited for the sun to shine but I lost hope on the third day. I checked-out, went to the airport, and decided to get a ticket for Sao Paolo. As I was approaching Varig’s counter, the sun shone so bright, as if enticing me to just stay and enjoy Rio. So, I made a full turn, took the bus and returned to Ipanema.

What followed was a four-day holiday extravaganza at the beach.

My Travel Woes (part 1)

My Travel Woes…(Part 1 of two parts)


Travelling is not always that fun. Troubles may come unexpectedly. And when they do happen in one of your trips, my advice is, just maintain an open mind and consider them as part of the whole travel experience. Never let these travel woes ruin your holiday mood. Just enjoy the rest of the trip.

Hear me out and think how these hassles added thrill to my travels making them more exciting.


I lost my wallet containing banknotes, credit and ATM cards at Munich Airport

I felt my whole world collapsed when I found out that I lost my wallet with my cash, credit and ATM cards at Munich Airport. I was terrified at the thought of losing them halfway on my vacation. It’s no joke being left with almost nothing in a foreign land.

My suspect was the guy who bumped me at the airport. He distracted my attention and swiftly pick-pocketed me.

I was totally helpless. I never felt so poor my whole life. I wasted more than three hours at the Airport Police Station just to have my cards blocked, request for replacements and ask for a police report. Citibank would charge me an emergency replacement fee of USD350 per card or that would be USD700 for both Visa and MasterCard. I had to decline. It’s a highway robbery!

Instead, I asked my office to transfer money through a Western Union branch in Zurich because I would be going to Zurich in the next 5 days. I incurred USD350 conversion loss from PhP to USD to CHF because Western Union could only pay me CHF in Zurich. In Manila, Western Union wanted my office to remit in USD. My office had to buy USD using peso funds. The conversion process from PhP to USD and ultimately to CHF by Western Union was another robbery in a broad daylight. Everybody was in it for the money!


I travelled sin documentos in Argentina

This incident almost brought me to jail in Argentina. Please read my April post entitled “A Brave Yet Foolish Decision” in two parts.


I missed my Hong Kong flight

I missed my Hong Kong flight in 2004 with my business partners, Leo and Lloyds. We underestimated the highway traffic to the airport. We did not make it on time. We were rebooked on the first available flight the following day. My colleagues had to stay overnight in my flat because they don’t want that their families would know that they missed their flights. Never mind about the rebooking fee. We decided to just keep it among ourselves. Meanwhile, from the airport, an unexpected black-out in the whole Luzon occurred. When we reached my flat, the elevators were out of order. We had to use the stairs all the way from the ground floor up to my unit on the 22nd floor with our luggage. Too bad for Lloyds for using the stairways up to my unit in high-heeled shoes carrying an oversized bag.


I missed my train ride in Singapore

In 2000, Leo and I missed the night train from Singapore to Malaysia. Since the train had just left, the officer suggested that we take a taxi and catch the train at Johor Baru Station. It’s the station dividing Singapore and Malaysia. That taxi ride was equivalent to one half of our train fare to Malaysia.


My luggage was misrouted in Bologna

On my Holy Week vacation in Bologna last March 2008, I was terribly mad at the airport after I discovered that my luggage was missing. I only learned the following night that Austrian Air misrouted my luggage to Vienna.

I only had my Paul Smith messenger bag containing my travel documents, wallet and some personal stuff when I arrived in Bologna. I spent the rest of the night sleeping naked at my hotel room, anxious about the whereabouts of my personal belongings. The morning after, instead of taking a day tour, I spent half of the day shopping for clothes, underwear and toiletries.

My luggage was only delivered after 24 hours. Good enough I had a travel insurance. Philam reimbursed me PhP10,000 out of the Euro237 that I spent for clothes and toiletries. But still, the reimbursement was not enough to cover such unnecessary purchases.


My flight was delayed in Buenos Aires

A delayed flight could ruin your whole itinerary especially if you don’t have enough time for your connecting flights. Last year in Buenos Aires, my flight was delayed for three hours. As a consequence, I missed my connecting flight in Houston on my way to New York City. I got rebooked on the next available flight departing only after three hours. That was a six-hour delay combined.

My sister had to drive twice from Long Island to JFK Airport to pick me up. I didn’t get the chance of informing her about the delay because my mobile phone ran out of battery. Its charger was inside my checked-in luggage. The delays took one day of my holiday in New York.

Also, in 2004, I missed my connecting flight in Zurich with my colleague because of a two-hour delay of our plane’s take-off at London Heathrow Airport due to heavy runway traffic.

Upon our arrival at Zurich Airport, Swiss Air had to book us in one of its flights to Paris so we can catch a Cathay Pacific flight to Manila. The whole thing made it a 24-hour travel back home. It should only be 14 hours. That was ten-hour deprivation of the comfort of my home after more than a month of being away.

(With part 2)