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TRAVEL INSURANCE HORROR STORIES - WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER TRAVEL WITHOUT IT

  • Thread starter MULTIZ321
  • Start date Dec 26, 2020
  • Dec 26, 2020

broganabroad.com

Considering Travelling Without Insurance? Read These Travel Horror Stories First - Brogan Abroad

broganabroad.com

TUG Review Crew: Veteran

I don't know why anybody, regardless of their age, would go anywhere without travel insurance. I worked with a guy who used to routinely travel to Buffalo and Niagara Falls NY (2 hrs from his home) for a weekend of shopping. On one trip he got T-boned at an intersection by a drunk driver who ran a red light in the middle of the day. My friend wasn't too badly hurt due to getting hit on the passenger side, and having a fairly new car with lots of airbags, but he should have taken the paramedics advice and gone to the hospital to be checked. Since he didn't have any type of travel insurance he figured he wait until he got back into Canada to avoid the high cost of US medical attention or treatment. He ended up spending many hours of dealing with his car insurance company and trying arrange for a 1 way rental car that would allow him to drive it across the border. He was in a lot of pain by the time he got to the Niagara Falls Ontario hospital and was found to have a partially dislocated shoulder as well as a concussion and whiplash. He never even went across the border for lunch after that without taking out extra insurance. My mom and dad used to always get a good travel insurance policy for their winters south in their motorhome. As they aged, and were diagnosed with more health problems, naturally the cost of the coverage increased, but dad knew it was worth it. On what ended up being their last trip, my mom, who was not taking her medications properly or at all, due to her dementia, ended up in a Florida emergency department with congestive heart failure. The insurance company decided it would be cheaper to fly mom home for treatment once she was stabilized, than to keep her in the FL hospital. Mom was flown home in a Lear jet with a nurse and doctor and arrived at the hospital near home within a few hours of the insurance company making that decision. The insurance company asked dad if there was anybody who could fly down to accompany him on the drive home in the motorhome or should they arrange to have it shipped and fly him home. Since they had a dog, dad told them my DH would come down to help with the drive home. At 81 years of age we didn't want dad driving all that way alone. Dad was told to keep all the receipts for gas and campgrounds for the drive home and submit them along with the cost of DH's plane ticket for re-imbursement. We saw a copy of the bill for mom's 3 day hospital stay and it was over $100K, so that and the cost of getting them all home, was well worth the nearly $2,000. premium for the travel insurance. ~Diane  

Passepartout

Passepartout

Faithful readers will remember this thread of my being removed from a river cruise in Germany and hospitalized with heart failure and getting a pacemaker and evacuation to home. Warning, it's a long thread. https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/insurance-for-foreign-travel.276994/ Jim  

easyrider

TUG Review Crew: Elite

LannyPC said: I remember a couple of years ago a story about one woman who went traveling to Thailand and felt paying for insurance was an unnecessary expense. Lo and behold, she was hospitalized and had bill of about $60,000 (or so, IIRC). So guess what? She and her family started a Go Fund Me page to help pay for her medical bills. Click to expand...

TUG Review Crew

I will admit that when I was younger I did go on trips without buying extra insurance. I would likely have been OK since I was covered by work. Then around 20 years ago my brother took a dirt biking trip to the Nevado desert and on the first day went over his handelbars and broke his pelvis. Had to be air evacuted out of the desert and spent several days in US hospitals. Insurance covered it all so now I spend the few $ to know I'm covered. Joan  

TUG Review Crew: Expert

I purchased the Global Travel insurance through Interval. Good for one year for emergency evacuations. Has anyone had any experience with that? I have an Alaska cruise scheduled for late August for which I think I should purchase specific trip cancellation insurance along with medical, and I got a quote from Visitors Coverage and from Allianz. I'd not heard of Visitor's Coverage but it showed up on the site that was listed as having a good timeshare purchase summary and mentioned tug: elliott.com I've now read some bad reviews so I'll cross it off my list unless I hear something good about it. It is rarely clear whether bad reviews are just due to inflated expectations or really bad experiences with a thoroughly bad company. The good reviews I read, however, seem to be more about how easy it is to purchase it on the website.  

x3 skier

Due to my health insurance covering just about everything no matter where I am plus Credit Card Coverage, I seldom buy supplemental insurance. The only time I had reason to draw on the coverage was on a trip to Germany when my wife caught pneumonia. She spent four days in the ICU of a German Hospital in Bonn since that was the place that had the most English speaking staff. Cost me $500 “ransom” to get her discharged which was reimbursed by the health insurance company. All other charges were paid directly to the hospital. No clue how much that was but I doubt it was trivial. If I were to travel to a less developed area or country, I would purchase insurance including evacuation but other than that, I am quite happy with what coverage I have already. Cheers  

x3 skier said: Due to my health insurance covering just about everything no matter where I am plus Credit Card Coverage, I seldom buy supplemental insurance....I am quite happy with what coverage I have already. Click to expand...

VacationForever

VacationForever

Try GeoBlue Trekker Choice. We bought GeoBlue Trekker Choice multi-trip annual plan for medical and evacuation for several years. We stopped this year because we had no plans to travel overseas. GeoBlue only covers non-US destination.  

  • Dec 27, 2020

Not a fan of the gofundme solution either. But it seems to be the go to.  

I should mention that we had 3 trips planned for 2020 that we had to cancel due to Covid. We had bought travel insurance on each of them, and since we didn't take the trips, the insurance will carry over for future trips. We could have been refunded, but chose to take future credit. We are confident that WE WILL TRAVEL AGAIN! Jim  

Passepartout said: We are confident that WE WILL TRAVEL AGAIN! Click to expand...
moonstone said: Yes, and hopefully sooner rather than later! I will be on the RCI website booking something as soon as we've had our 2nd vaccination. Click to expand...
  • Dec 28, 2020
am1 said: Not a fan of the gofundme solution either. But it seems to be the go to. Click to expand...

letsgobobby

  • Dec 31, 2020

Have traveled all over the world for thirty years, never bought insurance. Don't need it. Will eat the costs as they occur, have saved enough over hundreds of trips to pay for many unexpected outcomes. Our health insurance is good globally. I did once buy medijet evac insurance for a cruise involving eight caribbean countries. But that was an unusual situation.  

letsgobobby said: Have traveled all over the world for thirty years, never bought insurance. Don't need it. Will eat the costs as they occu r... Click to expand...

jehb2

  • Jan 2, 2021

When I was young and before the internet it just never occurred to me to get travel insurance. It wasn’t until we took our first big family trip to Europe that I started purchasing it.  

dioxide45

First time we traveled out of the country with three young children we bought the $15 rider for travel insurance. Sadly, my mother passed away unexpectedly and it covered all our flight changes, including returning home after the funeral. Now that we're older, we have annual coverage including a large amount for repatriation.  

  • Jan 3, 2021
dioxide45 said: As awful as it sounds, one's lack of planning shouldn't be my problem. Click to expand...

Jan M.

I hope some of you can help me out. We've never purchased travel insurance but are now wanting to do so. Not for just a one time trip but an annual policy. We don't have any plans do international traveling at this time but would go back to St. Thomas and Hawaii. 1. I thought I read other people saying that travel insurance carriers aren't covering anything that can in any way be COVID related. Is this true for your travel insurance company? 2. Are there different types of policies, levels of coverage, and what would you suggest? 3. Who is your travel insurance carrier, have you ever had a claim with them and would you be 100% comfortable in recommending them? Thanks in advance for any help.  

Jan M. said: I hope some of you can help me out. We've never purchased travel insurance but are now wanting to do so. Not a one time trip but an annual policy. 1. I thought I read other people saying that travel insurance carriers aren't covering anything that can in any way be COVID related. Is this true for your travel insurance company? 2. Are there different types of policies, levels of coverage, and what would you suggest? 3. Who is your travel insurance carrier, have you ever had a claim with them and would you be 100% comfortable in recommending them? Thanks in advance for any help. Click to expand...

CalGalTraveler

www.doctorofcredit.com

Reviewing Our Options For Health Insurance While Traveling Abroad - Doctor Of Credit

+1 for Squaremouth. Richard  

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Travel Horror Stories and How Travel Protection Could Help

no travel insurance horror stories

If you’re a traveler, you likely have travel horror stories. They’re like merit badges; you can collect one for everything from First Aid to Cooking . You may think your travel horror stories are unique, but the ugly truth is that there are few things that a travel insurance claims person hasn’t heard at least once in their tenure.

Some stories are truly horrific like an avalanche of misfortune that gathers momentum as it races down the mountain towards your rental car, but the fact is that the horror is most often in the combination of mishaps, not the uniqueness of the mishaps themselves.

In fact, travel horror stories are almost always some combination of the same set of elements:

Transportation

Non-human life forms, weather and natural disasters, lost and stolen items.

Travel insurance can really help you with these situations. It’s not going to chase the spiders away , but it can help you find medical attention if you’re bitten by one during your trip and cover the costs. Similarly, no one is going to pop out of the jungle and hand you a new passport , but having a travel protection plan can make it easier for you to get a replacement and could even cover certain costs if your travel is delayed for a covered reason.

Let’s look at these horror-causers one by one and talk about how travel insurance can help.

"It all began with “a strike that ended up lasting 7 days, impacting over half a million passengers and canceling over a million airline tickets. During this strike, any Lufthansa flight connecting through Germany (which is basically all of them) was canceled. I kept getting re-booked only to be re-canceled…"  read more

no travel insurance horror stories

There’s no better trip-wrecker than your flight, cruise, train or whatever vehicle is transporting you to your destination just not doing its job when you need it to.

If there’s a common carrier delay or cancellation (such as an airline or cruise) that causes you to cancel , interrupt or delay your trip, Generali plans include coverages that may help when there’s a covered reason such as weather or mechanical failure.

In this case, the person was overseas already when her return flight was canceled and she couldn’t book a new return flight home because of an unexpected airline strike. Travel Delay coverage may have helped in this situation by reimbursing the traveler for reasonable meals, telephone calls, additional parking charges, pet kennel fees, local transportation and even lodging during the travel delay.*

If a covered reason forces you to cancel, interrupt or heavily modify your trip , Generali travel insurance can help by reimbursing you for prepaid travel expenses that were lost, and by helping you catch up to your trip.

Halloween Travel Ideas: Spooky Vacation Spots Around the World

“While on my 20-month career break, I passed through Mendoza, Argentina. During my week there, I did what everyone recommends you do: rented a bike to travel between vineyards. It was a really fun experience — until I hit a gravel patch and took a tumble…”  read more

no travel insurance horror stories

A torn meniscus is no fun, but it can be managed and lived through. A torn meniscus on a five-day walking tour of Argentina’s vineyards? That’s a no-go.

If you’re injured in an accident while traveling, or if an accident forces you to significantly alter your trip, Generali travel insurance may help with that.

Okay, but what does that mean exactly?

It means that if you get injured during your trip and need to seek medical treatment, Generali plans can reimburse your medical bills up to the policy limit, and help you make alternative arrangements if the accident forces you to interrupt your trip. Our travel medical professionals will work to get you the medical transportation you need -- especially useful if that vineyard is nowhere near a hospital.

Also see:  Why You Might Need to Buy Medical Coverage Before You Travel

“The nausea started a few minutes after summiting the tallest mountain in Sierra Leone. Then the fever kicked in. As I slipped and slid down the steep path behind the local guide, all I could think about was reaching the village where my luggage – and an emergency malaria test kit and treatment – would be waiting…” read more

man in hospital with doctor and nurse

When traveling to new places we can be especially vulnerable to illnesses, especially those our bodies have never encountered before. In this example, the traveler was likely thinking he might need travel insurance in case he takes a wrong step hiking through the Sierra Leone mountains, but a tiny bug was the culprit in this horror story.

If they had Generali travel insurance, they could have called Generali’s 24/7 Travel Assistance team where medical experts would guide them to take the right steps to get testing and treatment. Since he was “at least a day away from medical care,” Generali could arrange and pay for medical evacuation to the nearest hospital and continue to monitor the situation until he recovered.

Trip Interruption coverage could also reimburse trip costs for the unused portion of the trip and help the traveler get back home if he couldn’t continue the trip.

If you’re traveling somewhere far from home, especially a day away from medical care, like in this example, a solid travel protection plan can be a light in the darkness.

Also read:  Need to Go to the Hospital on a Trip Abroad? Here's What to Do

“While traveling this year in Asia, my husband Chris got bit by a grouchy old dog while we were visiting a Buddhist Temple. We were in Phuket, Thailand and the threat of rabies is very real over there. Fearing the worst, we knew our day had just changed a lot…” read more

no travel insurance horror stories

These kinds of travel horror stories involve a close encounter of the animal kind. From jellyfish to rattlesnakes, to mosquitoes, or simply the every-day dog, each environment you can travel to has some sort of potentially dangerous animal lurking around, and likely more than one – especially Australia .

The example case is a time when the medical benefits of a travel protection plan can really help save the day. If they had a Generali travel protection plan, a call to 24/7 Travel Assistance would help ensure the traveler is getting the care they need in a foreign medical system they aren’t familiar with.

It turns out they needed a series of rabies shots over the course of a month, so Generali’s medical experts could help coordinate care between the hospital in Thailand and his medical provider at home. The plan covers necessary medical procedures during their trip and once the traveler has returned home up to a year.

Sometimes a run in with a non-human lifeform can result in a sickness or injury which in return could require the need for medical care and may even cause a trip to be interrupted or delayed . Travel insurance can help with that.

Also read:  The Top Travel Emergencies and How To Deal With Them

“We were an hour from our hotel when a blizzard popped up. I drove through a vortex of snow, barely able to see the road. We couldn’t continue to the hotel we’d booked and were forced to stop for the night. Luckily, we got the last room at a hotel…”  read more

no travel insurance horror stories

Speaking of snow, the increasing unpredictability of the world’s weather means that we could have just about any sort of weather anywhere at any time. We see hurricanes hitting more often with more ferocity, wildfires scorching national parks, and floods sweeping away entire towns.

You can expect the number of weather-related travel horror stories to increase , and with them, the importance of weather-related travel insurance coverages.

Travel insurance can cover you in case you have to cancel or interrupt your trip because your destination or your home have become uninhabitable due to unexpected adverse weather or natural disaster.

Travel insurance can also reimburse you for weather-related travel delays , and the travel assistance that comes with Generali travel insurance plans can help you make alternate travel arrangements to help you keep traveling.

See:  How Likely is it that a Hurricane Will Hit the U.S.?

“I was on my way back into town around 5:00 am, walking along an empty street, a group of young people came up to me out nowhere. I immediately had a bad feeling. They quickly surrounded me; one of them pulled a knife out and demanded that I give them my money…”  read more

no travel insurance horror stories

Thieves and scams are everywhere you travel, and you are human, which means you’re sometimes a little careless and forgetful. That’s not a great combination, unfortunately.

If your valuables are lost or stolen when you travel, travel insurance can help. It can’t help restore the cash you’ve lost, but it can help you arrange for replacing tickets and travel documents, and pay for the fees associated with replacing them.

In the case of the robbery at knifepoint, the traveler ended up having his camera and a train ticket stolen. If he had a travel insurance plan, he could have been reimbursed for the camera and fees for replacing the ticket.

If your luggage is lost, stolen or damaged , travel insurance can help you repair or replace the luggage and many of the items inside.*

Also, if sensitive documents or credit cards are stolen, Generali’s plans include Identity Theft Resolution Services that can help, even if you don’t realize you’ve been scammed until you get home. This service is available for 180 days, beginning on your departure date.

Horror stories are a part of travel, and there’s not much you can do about that. Fortunately, travel insurance from Generali can make the horror stories less horrible.

Get a quote today.

Travel Resources

How to Get More Value from Travel Protection

* See plan documents for full coverage details.

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no travel insurance horror stories

  • September 1, 2019
  • Budget Travel Tips

These 18 travel insurance stories from travelers around the globe prove how important great coverage is. From scuba diving to airports, road trips to carving sides of mountains – there are endless ways for costly mishaps, or worse, life-threatening injuries to catch you off guard. That’s why it’s so important to have to right coverage.

If you’re unlucky enough to have an accident on the road, the last thing you want to be worried about is the thought of a bank-breaking bill when you’re finally released from the hospital. In the end, you may never need travel insurance , but when something happens, you’ll be so glad you had it. Getting the right travel insurance is always my number one on my list of travel tips !

But don’t take my word for it, here are 18 travel insurance stories from real travelers around the world that had their trip salvaged from a great safety net.

Campbell and Alya – Stingy Nomads

no travel insurance horror stories

I was very happy that I had travel insurance on a dive trip to Indonesia . I am an experienced diver with hundreds of dives under my belt, always use a computer and stay within my no-decompression limits.

I got a scare while doing repetitive dives for a couple of weeks on multiple islands in Indonesia. After a long day of diving on Komodo Island, I was running around more than I should have and I was tired and felt some mild discomfort in my ankle.

More than 48 hours after my last dive I had a short flight to Kuala Lumpur since I was completely off-gassed after my last dive and I was not having any effects I boarded my flight.

During the flight my scalp started tingling like crazy, I got very noticeable paresthesia in my scalp and forehead. I was quite worried and contacted my insurance company when I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, they were great and organized that I go and see a diving doctor that referred me to a decompression clinic.

It was not normal decompression sickness, but my problems were diving related and I had a session in a decompression chamber. It was a huge relief that my insurance company covered all expenses and I could continue my travels.

Alex Waltner – Swedish Nomad

no travel insurance horror stories

When traveling around Iceland with a campervan it was unfortunately hit by a truck. We were driving in the middle of the night and didn’t know that Icelandic truck drivers are driving like crazy during the night (and daytime) because there is normally not so much traffic out there.

We were chasing northern lights and was just about to arrive at our stop for the night when we saw a truck driving past us in full-speed of at least 120 km/h and knocking the side-mirror of the campervan. Luckily nobody was harmed, but the truck driver didn’t stop and just kept going and due to darkness and snow we weren’t able to catch his plate number.

This meant that we became responsible for the damage that we didn’t cause. Luckily we had travel insurance which helped us cover half the amount which it had otherwise cost us, and we were able to get a new side-mirror delivered to our location the next day.

In case something had happened to us in the campervan when the truck hit us, our travel insurance would’ve also covered hospital bills if necessary, so even though we had to pay an excess fee, we saved more than 800 Euros.

Holly Connors – Four Around The World

no travel insurance horror stories

Traveling with kids tends to make you a little more scatter-brained than usual. This was definitely the case on our way home from Punta Cana  in the Dominican Republic a couple of years ago.

We were waiting for our flight back to Los Angeles, checking our phones while the kids had snacks. Somehow I managed to drop my phone and not realize, as we got up to board. It was not until we landed for a brief stopover in Panama that I realized.

We attempted to recover the phone, however, we knew it was pretty much a lost cause. So we canceled the service and locked the phone with my provider. Thankfully my photos from our trip were all backed up on iCloud. The worst part was my phone was still under contract, with several months remaining.

Once home, I lodged a claim with our travel insurance company. Thankfully the claim amount covered 90% of the remaining balance on my phone contract, leaving me with minimal out of pocket costs once we were back home in Australia.

While I had no plans for a new phone so soon, it was a relief not to be paying off a lost phone at the same time as a new contract. While we always get travel insurance, it was one of those times it definitely reinforced why it is worth it!

Caitlin Boylan –  The Country Jumper

no travel insurance horror stories

One of the things to do in The Bahamas is swim with pigs. So I did that. I did not, though, make the trip to Exuma to paddle around with porkers. Instead, I stayed right at the hostel I was at in Nassau and dipped into the ocean with home-raised pigs.

So, to get a pig to swim one must feed them, pigs don’t just go paddling around in the sea unprompted. To feed the pigs one must use their hands. While feeding said pig with said hand a pig might bite your hand. Not on purpose, perhaps, but it can happen. And it happened to me.

It was nothing major. But it was an animal in a foreign country. So, I chatted with a training doctor who was staying in my dorm room and she strongly suggested I make a hospital visit, just in case.

So she and I, and one other kind guest with a car made the trip to the emergency room in Nassau where a doctor checked my finger, gave me a tetanus jab and charged me over $500 for the privilege. The Bahamas is no joke expensive. That was November 11 th . I reported the claim to World Nomads on November 22 nd , my preferred insurer for some time now,   and by December 21 st  had the payment, in full, paid back to me.

My finger is fine.

Stuart Fahy – Stuart Fahy

no travel insurance horror stories

Last month I suffered a bicycle accident whilst away in Valencia and broke my nose and left hand. To make matters worse I was due to start work in Iceland the week after, but due to the cast I now had on my arm I had to cancel the trip. I was going to be working on the hiking trails so the work was manual and I would have been too restricted with my hand in plaster.

Fortunately, I had already purchased travel insurance with Insure and Go, so began the process of making my claim.

Despite buying insurance for all of my long-term trips I’d been lucky enough not to have had to make a claim before, so had no real experience of what was required.

This turned out to be much more straight forward than I thought it would be. The insurance company emailed me the forms I needed to complete in order to make my claim.

There were just four pages and two of those required very little information, whilst another was a medical certificate to be completed by my doctor. Apparently the cast on my arm wasn’t enough evidence that I had actually broken my hand.

I sent all of the completed forms along with copies of my flight, accommodation and travel invoices. The whole process took a little over a month (despite being told it could take longer due to the summer holidays) and I was reimbursed for everything less my excess.

Rick – The Road Is Life

no travel insurance horror stories

After years of traveling without incident I had become pretty blasé about the need for travel insurance. When I planned to spend a snowboarding season in Whistler, Canada. However, I thought, ok this is probably a good time to invest in some cover because I know there’s a good chance I’m going to do something crazy.

I managed to make it through about three-quarters of the season with minor bumps and bruises and then out of nowhere, on a run that I had ridden many times before, I crashed.

I can’t even remember the details as it happened so fast, I popped a 180 off a small ledge and then I was on the ground after hearing a snapping sound from my shoulder.

I was in a lot of pain but I was worried about the huge costs of being taken off the mountain so I decided I’d ride down carefully, with my arm stuffed in my jacket as a makeshift sling and gritting my teeth through the bumps.

I managed to get to my car and proceeded to drive 45 minutes to the nearest hospital. This wasn’t a cup of tea as the car was a manual and it happened to be my right arm that was incapacitated.

Gear changes involved holding the steering wheel with my knee and reaching over to change with my left hand and all this through snowy conditions! I made it into the hospital where I was told I had dislocated my AC joint and partially torn the tendon. Being an Australian, I paid upfront the large overseas patient medical fees and drove home.

I was so nervous about my first claim ever but it turned out to be so straightforward and I had the money refunded within a week; a great relief as I was imminently moving to the UK and needed every cent I could get! Since then I always fork out a little extra to get quality insurance.

Sinead Camplin – Map Made Memories

no travel insurance horror stories

We spent hours researching a travel insurance policy to ‘best fit’ our family of five on our year-long, around the world trip. But our detailed research paid off!

Unfortunately, we had to make several claims and also utilized the insurance helpline whilst traveling. I was diagnosed with typhoid in New Zealand  (caught elsewhere) and had to stay in the hospital for one week. Whilst the hospital stay and treatment was covered under a reciprocal agreement with the U.K, other expensive aspects were not.

Our insurance paid for pre (and post) diagnosis doctor visits, blood and stool tests. The insurance also gave us money towards steep city center accommodation costs for my family to enable them to stay near me whilst I was in the hospital.

Being so ill so far from home was horrible but the speed and ease with which the insurance company helped us was reassuring so money was one less thing to worry about at a stressful time. And having my family able to visit me each day was an invaluable form of medicine!

Karllie – Yolo Solo Travel

no travel insurance horror stories

I am a New Zealander that was traveling with a friend from Venice, Italy to Nice, France and we had to stop in Genoa to change buses.  While waiting for the next bus, my friend and I walked to the nearest cafe for a coffee.  We had all our luggage with us and piled it between the wall and our table.  We never considered it wasn’t safe there with us.

However, without either of us noticing someone walked out of the cafe, right beside us, and picked up my day pack.

It contained my laptop and passport, along with several other items.  Long story short, I got through the border check with just a police report and a photocopy of my passport.

Once in Nice, I was able to contact the New Zealand Embassy in London to organize a new passport.

Thankfully, I had taken out long term travel insurance with 1Cover Travel for a travel period of close to eight months.

The cost of this insurance was over $800NZD but my insurance claim was well over $2000NZD which I was reimbursed 100%. 1Cover Travel made the whole claim process really easy.

This meant the only real inconvenience of the whole experience was the disruption to my travel plans as I couldn’t leave Nice until my new passport had arrived.  And there was a bonus, I got a brand new 10-year passport!  I wouldn’t travel anywhere (except Australia) without travel insurance.

In my view, it would be completely crazy to do so, especially when it comes to your health and safety.  Always have travel insurance!  I love to explore Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond and inspire others with my adventures.

Danni – Live In 10 Countries

no travel insurance horror stories

I’m going to put my hands up and say that for some time I thought travel insurance wasn’t worth it. I assumed that everyday situations wouldn’t be covered, only wildly unlikely scenarios like tsunamis, which aren’t too common in Europe.

That all changed when insurance absolutely saved my bacon on a recent trip. I’d had a lovely  day trip in Hastings  (England) and boarded a coach to London.

From St Pancras, I was due to board the Eurostar for a trip to Belgium. The train was about £250 and the coach maybe £30.

On the journey along the motorway, I slept because it was a 5 am start. Only when we approached central London did I realize it was 1.5 hours later than it should have been. The bus driver confirmed journey time had more than doubled because of a huge traffic jam and he just let everyone sleep through it.

Of course, I raced through London but there was no way to make the Eurostar. I had to buy a new on-the-spot ticket – and it was not cheap. I figured there’d be no help because it was just a common experience, missing a connection due to traffic. But when I called up I was told that it was covered!

I had to send in my tickets and a letter from the coach company explaining why they were delayed. But it was actually very pain-free and easy. I’d definitely buy again.

Ayngelina Brogan – Bacon Is Magic

no travel insurance horror stories

I was so excited to travel to Vietnam after spending time in Thailand and Cambodia. I was most excited to eat all the  food for Tet , we had come overland from Cambodia and it was a long day of travel. I had to take out my passport so many times that I had just thrown my money belt in my purse along with my expensive DSLR camera.

When we finally passed through all immigration we needed to go to a bank to get money. I still had everything in my purse but it was across my body and so I felt it was secure.

I was wrong.  

We didn’t even make it to the bank. I was walking hand in hand with my boyfriend on the sidewalk when I scooter with two people came on the sidewalk and was approaching us. We had only been in Saigon a few hours but we had seen just how crazy scooter drivers were.  

My boyfriend let go of my hand and stepped away from me to make space on the sidewalk. In a blink, the passenger on the scooter cut my bag off my body with a knife.  

I was stunned. My passport and my camera were gone before our Vietnamese adventures even started. It absolutely could have ruined the trip but I knew my insurance would cover it and we were in a country that had amazing camera stores.  

After I went to the Canadian consulate to apply for a new passport I stopped in a camera shop and bought a new DSLR. Everything was covered and now when I look back at those photos the robbery seems like a very minor point in the trip.

Annie Robinson – Off Goes Annie

no travel insurance horror stories

I can honestly say I don’t know what we would have done without insurance whilst we were traveling around New Zealand. We hired a campervan in winter to explore the beautiful North and South Islands but were struck by some bad luck. One evening when the weather was particularly bad, my partner was reversing our van into space at a campsite for the night when we heard glass shattering.

I quickly whipped around and could see a branch coming right into our van as it had smashed through the rear window – turns out there was a big tree in our blindspot. I rushed straight outside to assess the damage, where I found the rear door was badly dented and the back window totally smashed through.

The heavy rain quickly turned to snow overnight, and we were positive that our New Zealand adventure was over. We endured a freezing cold night, exposed to the elements in the back of the van. However, thanks to our insurance we were able to take it to a garage the following morning, who repaired it within an hour.

The insurance company spoke directly with the garage, so we didn’t have to pay a cent of the otherwise $1000+ bill.

Dominika By ś – Sunday In Wonderland

no travel insurance horror stories

There are different types of travel insurances which you can choose from. One of the most popular is car rental insurance, which I think is also one of the most used all around the world.

Myself, I’m a believer that car rental insurance is a must-have if you don’t want to worry about any scratch on your rented vehicle. The full insurance saved me once in a very embarrassing situation.

I was traveling with my family in Spain. We rented a big van from a local company. We were lucky enough that they had run out of standard models, so they proposed us the luxury version at the same price.

That was the modern car where everything was automated, even the doors. You know, comfortable seats, spacious interior and a nice smell of luxury travel.

Our vacation was awesome! Sunsets on the beach, sangria in local bars, and delicious seafood directly from the morning market. And this was where we benefited our car insurance.

My mom was doing groceries and she bought fresh shrimps. She put them into a car’s trunk. Unfortunately, some shrimp juices leaked out of the bag and sank into the upholstery. Can you imagine this awful smell the next day when we opened a car standing in full sun?

No method worked in this case. We tried air fresheners, washing with detergents, natural methods, and even went to a professional carwash. Nothing helped. The interior still smelled like something died there.

The last day we had a morning flight back home. Embarrassed by this situation we went to car rental agency to drop off our smelly wheels. A blessing in disguise, the key battery discharged when we came there! Since it was a fully automated car, it didn’t have a standard door lock but only remote opening.

So the company’s employee was not able to open it anymore! The spare keys were in the office which was still closed because of the early hour. And here is where the full insurance saved us! The employee said that because we purchased it, he didn’t need to check the car condition, as any reasonable damage would be covered. You can read more about this story on my blog.

So luckily for us, they discovered the smelly problem when we were carefreely watching the sky from the plane. I hope they manage to fix our fail.

Mitchell Glass – Project Untethered

no travel insurance horror stories

Travel insurance has saved my unlucky butt on multiple occasions—the most recent being on a trip through Chile.

After spending nine days hiking Torres del Paine, drinking fresh water straight from the river, I assumed that the water in surrounding towns must be clean as well.

I assumed wrong.

A half a glass of water was all it took to ruin the next month of my life.

Within an hour of drinking the cursed water, I had a high fever and was making bathroom runs every 20 minutes. This lasted for an entire night, and the next morning I was severely dehydrated (did I mention we’d just gotten back from nine days of malnourishment in the mountains?).

There were no taxis on the road, so I had to walk my diarrhea-ravaged body to the nearest hospital (luckily it was a small town).

Thankfully, my travel insurance covered my visit. No paperwork, no charges, nothing.

Two weeks later, I still hadn’t improved. I was now on Easter Island—sleeping in a tent literally in the middle of nowhere—and my body had turned into a skeleton. Back to the rustic island hospital. Once again, my insurance covered me for the visit (and some serious antibiotics).

In the end, it took a month before I was able to eat again without feeling funky. 

This experience was a great reminder of how important travel insurance is. It was also a good reminder that travel isn’t always daisies and lollipops. Some trips are good. Some are bad. And there’s always risk involved. 

That said, I’ll take the bad trip over no trip any day. Because, as one of my favorite adventure quotes goes, “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; It’s lethal.”

Chris – More Life In Your Days

no travel insurance horror stories

Having travel insurance came into its own when I was involved in a snowboarding accident on the piste. After a few minutes of trying to compose myself, it seemed that I needed a bit of help. So we called to be rescued by the ski patrol who wrapped me up in blankets and took me down to the village on a sled.

From here there was a very short journey in an ambulance before they reset my wrist in a cast (super painful!). As it was a private hospital, everything needed to be paid for and it was not cheap, even the 100-meter ambulance journey was a couple of hundred Euros.

Luckily, we had travel insurance that covered us for winter sports cover. We contacted the insurers and they were able to sort everything out very easily. They called through to the medical center and confirmed that they would cover the costs upfront (they had taken a cheap rental snowboard as collateral).  We didn’t need to pay and the reclaim which made everything much simpler.

To be honest I lost half a snowboard holiday and had a cast on for months so it was a rubbish thing to happen. But, at least I got the treatment that was necessary and I didn’t need to worry about the cost of it, and only paid the small policy excess not the full bill of over 600 Euros.

Corritta Lewis – Itz A Family Thing

no travel insurance horror stories

We were on our way home from a fun relaxing family vacation in Los Cabos Mexico. We arrived at the airport early, because when you travel with a baby you need more time for everything. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 2:50 so we arrived by 11:30 after returning the rental car. After waiting for over 3 hours (and eating a very expensive $15 subway sandwich), we head to our gate to board the flight.

As we are waiting, a random airport worker asked if we were heading to the Sun Country flight to San Diego? We answered yes and he informed us that the flight is canceled and go to the gate for more instructions.

We make our way around the airport downstairs because we had a stroller and there are no elevators to find a large group of confused passengers. We were all told that the flight was canceled, and we had to retrieve our bags and board a bus to a hotel.

I was not concerned, because I purchased travel insurance just in case something like this happened. I read the reviews for the airline before booking the flight and figured it would be $15 well spent, and it was. We were stuck in Mexico for another day with our 7-month-old son, very few diapers, no wipes, and a serious need for feminine hygiene products.

Everything ended up working out in the end, thanks to our travel insurance. We stayed in a 5-star all-inclusive resort (free drinks) and purchased very overpriced diapers and wipes for our son, which was reimbursed by our credit card. We even were able to talk our way into getting upgraded to premium seats the next day when our flight was delayed again.

Mario Migliore – Rest And Recuperation

no travel insurance horror stories

I always wanted to travel to South East Asia and when I was offered a position in development in  Phnom Penh , it took me a few moments to understand what was going on before I accepted it. The possibility to finally move in this part of the world and to travel in Cambodia and the neighboring countries just added up to interesting job offer.

I accepted the position and took a very comfortable flight with Singapore Airlines to Phnom Penh. The first impact with Cambodia was a humid heatwave that hit my face as soon as I stepped out of the plane. I was expecting it, but never thought it could be as strong!

After clearing all the visa procedures, I traveled on a tuk-tuk to the hostel I had booked for the first few nights. When I arrived and entered the dorm, I realized that my suitcase was broken. My travel companion for the last ten years, one of the first super-light bags, had a big crack on one corner.

I immediately called Singapore Airlines, hoping for some good news despite having already left the airport. I have to admit that it was not easy.

I had to go several times to their office in Phnom Penh, discuss the situation multiple times, and find out many times that they had not done what they promised. But in the end the good news: I received full reimbursement of my suitcase, thanks to the receipt that I kept in my house in Italy.

With that money, I managed to buy a backpack that allowed me more flexibility to travel around Southeast Asia in the next months.

Luke Storey –  The Coastal Campaign

no travel insurance horror stories

Before traveling to Mexico City I had heard stories about how high the crime rates were and how careful you needed to be while travelling there. Unfortunately, I didn’t pay close enough attention to any of these warnings and had my phone and wallet stolen from me as I was boarding a train in the Zocalo metro. I was surrounded by a group of 5 or 6 men who jostled me on the platform and grabbed the valuables from my pockets before I even knew what was happening.

Having been backpacking for several years when this happened, I felt foolish for making it so easy for the robbers, but it was definitely a lesson learned. One thing I was delighted about was finally getting to use my travel insurance. The thousands of dollars spent over the years finally paid off.

I sent World Nomads my police report and some other documents and it took less than three weeks for them to approve my claim and transfer the money into my account. It was fantastic to have such a speedy and easy resolution to my claim. While I would rather never need my travel insurance again, it is great to travel with the knowledge that should anything bad happen, I will be well covered.

18 travel insurance stories from travelers around the world

Well, there you have it, 18 travel insurance stories from travelers just like you who dodged an expensive and frustrating bullet by covering themselves while traveling this beautiful world.

Don’t be one of those horror stories of expensive medical bills or repair fees that a simple travel insurance policy can solve.

It’s simple and easy to get a quote for travel insurance through World Nomads – always my preferred travel insurance provider. Just enter your details below and see how easy and stress-free travel insurance can be!

Please note: The box below is an affiliate link, you can read about Horizon Unknown’s affiliate policy here .

Thanks for reading!

Happy and safe travels,

Ben – Horizon Unknown

18 stories from travelers just like you on why you need to buy travel insurance

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clock This article was published more than  2 years ago

A guide to travel insurance in 2022

You should consider travel insurance for every trip, but not every trip needs to be insured.

no travel insurance horror stories

Do you have the right travel insurance for 2022? Like many travelers, David Simkin hopes he does. But he’s not sure.

Simkin is planning a cruise from San Diego to Vancouver, B.C., this summer and an 11-day tour of eastern Canada’s historic cities, including Montreal and Toronto, in the fall. He also has a trip to Asheville, N.C.; Gatlinburg, Tenn.; and Savannah, Ga., on his schedule.

Simkin, a retired postal worker who lives in Casselberry, Fla., bought coverage for the cruise and tour, but not for the road trip. Although he thinks he might not need to insure the domestic vacation, he has heard about annual policies that could insure all of his planned trips for about $500 a year, less than it would cost to insure all three separately.

“That seems too good to be true,” he says.

Yep, travel insurance is as confusing as ever. You’ve probably heard more than a few horror stories about travelers getting stuck with useless insurance policies. Nearly two years into the pandemic — with more uncertainty ahead — it’s more important than ever to understand your travel insurance needs. Things can change at a moment’s notice, and it’s important to make sure you’re fully insured before you leave.

“The pandemic has increased interest in safety and security,” says Lisa Cheng, communications manager for World Nomads , a travel insurance and safety company. “More people are choosing to travel with protection in the event of catching covid-19 or getting unexpectedly quarantined.”

It’s a worldwide phenomenon. PK Rao, chief executive of INF Plans , which provides insurance for visitors to North America, says he’s bracing for a deluge in insurance sales for visitors to the United States. “With the travel bans being lifted here in the U.S. and abroad, we expect a surge in demand for travel, as well as for travel insurance products.”

First, let’s answer the big question: Yes, you probably need travel insurance. Some trips aren’t as risky as others, that’s true. For example, suppose you’re taking a road trip like Simkin and you stay with friends instead of at a hotel. In that case, there are fewer prepaid, nonrefundable expenses a travel insurance policy would cover. But you should still consider it, says Stan Sandberg, co-founder of TravelInsurance.com , a site that allows you to compare and buy travel insurance plans.

“Travel insurance is designed to protect travel when there are real costs at stake — either the investment in a trip or the unexpected medical expenses incurred on a trip,” he says.

As you look at your 2022 trips, consider these questions: Do you need an individual policy or annual travel insurance? What changes in travel insurance do you need to know about? And how do you decide which policy is right for you?

Simkin’s wariness about annual policies is understandable. And he’s right: They seem almost too good to be true.

Questions about annual policies surged during the pandemic, according to Sherry Sutton, a spokeswoman at Travel Insured International . “Travelers are interested in protecting multiple trips throughout the year as they make up for lost time,” she told me.

But there’s a reason that annual policies are cheap. Virtually all annual travel insurance plans come with a trip length limit (usually three months). Also, annual policies are typically light on cancellation coverage.

Annual policies can make a lot of sense if, for example, you’re planning multiple shorter trips in 2022. Allianz Travel Insurance , which regularly surveys its customers on travel trends, predicts that 2021′s trend toward “ micro-cations ” — shorter domestic trips — will continue in 2022. For micro-cationers, an annual policy is “more convenient,” according to Allianz spokesman Daniel Durazo.

Not surprisingly, some insurance companies have tightened their policy language to include or exclude pandemics, specifically the coronavirus . But the changes have been slow because of how travel insurance is regulated in the United States: Every state sets its own rules. “That slows down the process of rolling out new plans,” says Dan Skilken, president of TripInsurance.com , a travel insurance comparison site.

So what are the policy limitations? Travel insurance plans typically limit coverage to 10 days after your originally scheduled return date, Skilken says. If you test positive and are quarantined abroad for longer than that, you may find that a plan’s coverage will terminate before you can come home.

Similarly, travelers should make sure their coverage starts before their trip does. “With covid and other illnesses, it will be important in 2022 to purchase insurance that covers you for the entirety of your trip,” warns Narendra Khatri, principal at Insubuy , a travel insurance company. “If you get sick or have a mishap during a trip halfway around the world on Wednesday, but your coverage doesn’t begin until you land on Thursday, you could be stuck with a large medical bill, since it would have occurred before the policy effective date.”

Also check travel insurance requirements at your destination, because some countries require it. For example, Oman requires medical insurance for one month of covid-19 treatment, and Chile mandates $30,000 worth of medical coverage that includes covid-19. “Bring your policy document and underline the coverage amount when you enter the country,” says Phyllis Stoller, president of the Women’s Travel Group , a tour operator.

And always, always read the fine print. One of the worst mistakes you can make is assuming anything. “An example is assuming that the policy wording has the same definitions from policy to policy for all companies,” says Steve Dasseos, chief executive of TripInsuranceStore.com , a travel insurance comparison website. Dasseos says it’s important to read the definitions, because one insurance company’s terms will not have the same meaning as another’s. You could end up with a denied claim if you’re not careful.

Bottom line: You probably need travel insurance if you’re going somewhere in 2022. If you’re taking lots of shorter trips, you may benefit from an annual policy. Or you can insure each trip individually, which would cost more but would also offer more extensive coverage.

Before you buy, read the fine print in the policy. Yes, it’s boring — but you need to know what’s covered and what isn’t.

“Insurance language can be confusing, and Internet blogs are often misleading,” warns Rajeev Shrivastava, chief executive of VisitorsCoverage , a global travel insurance marketplace. If you don’t understand the policy — don’t worry, that’s pretty common — he recommends working with a qualified and licensed travel insurance consultant. And if an expert can’t figure it out, maybe you’re looking at the wrong policy.

Simkin, the retired postal worker from Florida, ended up with separate insurance policies for his cruise and tour, but he decided that he didn’t need to buy an annual policy.

“​​All of our hotels say they take covid seriously and clean all guest areas,” he says.

He figures he’ll let it ride on the road trip, as far as travel insurance goes. And that’s a perfectly valid decision. You should consider travel insurance for every trip, but not every trip needs to be insured.

Read more from Travel

no travel insurance horror stories

American woman attacked on holiday warns others to take out full travel insurance

Jordan Katherine endured every traveller's worst nightmare while on holiday earlier this year

Jordan Katherine endured every traveller's worst nightmare. Now, she wants you to check your insurance.

A young woman who was attacked by a stranger on holiday has urged fellow travellers to check their insurance, after foreign medical bills left her thousands out of pocket.

Until earlier this year, 27-year-old Jordan Katherine was a confident globetrotter , eager to explore the world and meet new people.

But while travelling in Sri Lanka in March, the Texas native says she suffered a brutal attack at the hands of a total stranger.

Hours of surgery and months of rehabilitation later, she’s finally on the road to recovery.

But she has an urgent warning for fellow travellers - check your insurance, or risk massive medical bills.

“I decided to share my story to bring light to the mistakes that I made regarding medical needs abroad and to hopefully save someone from what I went through,” she says.

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Here’s why you need travel insurance while abroad - and how to make sure you get the right cover.

No travel insurance can lead to a huge financial toll

Katherine was attacked in a bar in Midigama, a Sri Lankan coastal village. After she “politely declined” a large group’s request that she give up her seat, she claims that one of the men then threw a glass “as hard as he could” at her - “almost like a baseball.”

The glass shattered in Katherine’s face, splintering into her eyes and mouth and cutting her lip wide open. Katherine had to undergo three hours of surgery, receiving stitches in four different areas of her face.

But apart from the mental and physical scarring, she has also faced a huge financial toll.

Unbeknownst to her, her travel insurance expired shortly before the attack.

“It has been an expensive journey,” she says.

The most important things to check on your travel insurance

Sadly, Katherine’s insurance nightmare isn’t uncommon. In 2019, a UK teenager was saddled with €140,000 medical bills after a freak scooter accident left her in American intensive care.

But though horror stories are common , a 2019 UK survey indicated that 38 per cent of people consider travelling without insurance.

This is a very bad idea, says Chris Rolland, CEO of AllClear Travel Insurance.

“With COVID still out there, fires breaking out across Europe and more people with medical conditions heading abroad this summer, it is absolutely vital that everyone going on holiday puts safety first,” he says.

To avoid a holiday nightmare, make sure you double check your entitlements before you go.

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Different policies offer different levels of cover, but common inclusions include trip cancellations, medical emergencies, stolen items, personal injury, and accidents.

In case like Katherine’s, medical bills for an assault would usually be covered, as they are ‘unforeseen circumstances’ that derail a holiday.

Certain destinations may also need different levels of cover. For example, travellers to the United States will need additional medical coverage because the country has no public healthcare system. A two-day stay in an ICU might set you back a mammoth $30,000.

Remember that emergency healthcare is free in some countries

In some countries, emergency healthcare is free - but this doesn’t mean you don’t have to take out insurance.

If EU citizens fall ill whilst abroad in another EU country, they are entitled to any medical treatment that can’t wait until they get home.

British travellers with EHICs are also guaranteed the same privileges. Once they expire, they must be replaced with “Global Health Insurance Cards” (GHICs), the UK’s post-Brexit alternative. This card also allows Brits to access ‘medically necessary’ state-provided healthcare when visiting one of the 27 EU countries or Switzerland. That means treatment that can’t wait - whether it’s unexpected trips to A&E, or routine medical care for pre-existing conditions.

In some countries - including many in South America and Europe - emergency healthcare is free for locals and tourists alike.

Some countries have other reciprocal healthcare agreements that entitle their citizens to free healthcare in that destination before they go. For example, Brits and many Europeans can get heavily subsidised emergency medical care in Australia.

However, you should still get travel insurance - the cards don’t cover situations like mountain rescue, as well as other general blows to your holiday.

Aside from these basics, here are five tips to make sure you don’t get left out of pocket abroad.

1. When you buy your travel insurance is crucial

Travel insurance should never be an afterthought - this can get you in trouble.

Canva / Mohamad Faizal Bin Ramli

For travel insurance to be valid for any flight changes you want to make or cancellations or delays from the airline, you have to buy it at the same time as you book your flights.

Even if you don’t want to cover yourself for flight changes, most companies don’t allow you to buy a new policy on the day of or the day before you travel. Buy travel insurance as far ahead as you book your travel.

2. Declare all pre-existing medical conditions

Make sure your insurer is aware of pre-existing health conditions, Mr Rolland says.

“A claim may be challenged if there are found to be any anomalies in what was/wasn’t declared,” he explained.

“Common conditions that travellers omit to declare include: asthma, high cholesterol and high or low blood pressure.

“The mantra should be: declare everything and if you’re unsure always speak to your Travel Insurance provider.”

3. Tell your insurer where you’re going - even if it’s just for a day

Different countries have different risk profiles for insurance purposes, so countries may be rated as higher risk even if they are right next door to each other.

“Portugal, for example, is classified a lower risk than Spain and so a day trip to Spain while being insured for a Portuguese holiday would not be covered,” Rolland explained.

Check if your insurance covers every country you plan to visit. If you have stopovers, check that they’re included, too.

4. Understand what cancellation cover you’re entitled to

Travel insurance usually includes some form of cancellation cover - but it’s important to double check your entitlements

Common inclusions are ‘unforseen’ circumstances like natural disasters, injury or illness (these may vary), or a travel destination becoming unsafe.

Common exclusions are undeclared medical conditions, a known illness of a close relative (in which case bereavement wouldn’t be included), injury and illness related to alcohol or drugs, and organised strike action.

5. If you extend your trip, extend your travel insurance too

If you extend your holiday, don’t forget to extend your policy. But be careful - you usually must do so before your policy expires. If you forget, you may have to buy a new one. Other companies limit possible extensions according to the traveller’s age and the length of the trip - so make sure you read the fine print.

Travel insurance should be accounted for in your travel budget

It isn’t easy for Katherine to think about the ordeal that turned her life upside down.

But she’s determined to speak out, to stop anyone else from enduring the same nightmare.

In addition to checking the details of your insurance, she urges would-be travellers to check the location of their nearest emergency hospital.

“While I was aware of the nearest hospital, it wasn’t a facility that could handle my injuries and I would advise anyone travelling to research the nearest well-equipped emergency hospital,” she says.

“I never imagined anything of this nature happening to me and I wish I would have been able to find a hospital to help me right away.”

Thanks to the support of family and friends, Katherine is looking to the future. But she urges travellers - particularly women - to be careful whilst adventuring.

“The brutal attack could have happened anywhere and had nothing to do with the country it happened in,” she said.

“The locals and friends I made (in Sri Lanka ) could not have been more supportive following the attack.”

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Jessie on a Journey | Solo Female Travel Blog

Should I Get Trip Insurance? These 10 Stories Prove The Answer Is YES!

Should I get travel insurance?

It’s a question many travelers ask.

Look, we all hope our trips go as planned; but the truth is that in life, things happen.

And that doesn’t change when we travel.

In fact, it’s especially true when we’re exploring out of our element.

Want proof?

The following 10 crazy short stories will make the answer to the question “Should I get travel insurance?” very clear.

Note: This post contains affiliate links to trusted partners I think you’ll love!

Psst! Don’t forget to pin this post for later!

10 Wild Trip Stories That Prove Travel Insurance Is Essential

Table of Contents

The Best Travel Insurance Option

Not sure which insurance company to use?

My favorite travel medical insurance for digital nomads is  SafetyWing , a product made by digital nomads for digital nomads. 

SafetyWing has a large network and offers both short-term and long-term coverage — including coverage if you’re traveling for months as well as limited coverage in your home country.

Additionally, SafetyWing is budget-friendly and offers $250,000 worth of coverage with just one low overall deductible of $250.

Another great option for travel insurance is World Nomads , the travel insurance of choice for many frequent travelers.

Specifically, I love their Positive Footprints Network program , which allows you to give back to the communities you visit through micro-donations.

Pretty sweet!

On that note, let’s dive into the travel horror stories that will make you vow to always get trip insurance. 

Iceland in winter

1 ) Winter Weather In Iceland

“I bought travel insurance for my trip to Iceland last year as a just-in-case guard against winter weather. We took an overnight flight to Iceland and started driving south toward Vatnajökull National Park, where we were scheduled for an ice caving trip.

We were an hour from our hotel when a blizzard popped up. I drove through a vortex of snow, barely able to see the road. We couldn’t continue to the hotel we’d booked and were forced to stop for the night. Luckily, we got the last room at a hotel. Our travel insurance paid for the new hotel, our dinner and phone calls.

The Extreme Iceland tour bus wasn’t so lucky and had to sleep at the gas station. My wife and I joked we were more extreme than Extreme Iceland. I’ve been sold on travel insurance ever since!”

– Lindsey Danis , writer and traveler

2 ) Stolen Passports In Porto

“I was having an incredible time exploring the Portuguese city of Porto, and was returning to my 3-star hotel to change and get ready for one final night out on the town. To my shock, my room had been ‘relieved’ of many items while I was sightseeing, including a hidden pouch with passports needed to board tomorrow’s return flight.

Luckily, my travel insurance included coverage for emergency document replacement which is extremely expensive otherwise. My girlfriend and I were able to get emergency replacement passports and board our flight back home while saving over $400.”

-Avichai, X Days In Y 

old school bus in Africa

3.) Mini-bus In Mozambique

“A few years back, my sister’s arm was clipped by a mini bus while the driver was trying to avoid potholes in Mozambique. She had an x-ray at the local hospital, but because the gear was so outdated, it didn’t pick up a fracture. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later that it was picked up on the way home in Hong Kong. Luckily, her travel insurance came through and paid for all the medical costs — and a business class seat home.”

– Anthony, The Travel Tart

4) Honeymoon Blues

“On our honeymoon in Greece last September, my husband and I got very sick. We weren’t able to leave our hotel room, and missed our private car and tour of Santorini sites. Our hotel, Kapari Natural Resort, called a doctor for us and he made an in-room visit. It turns out we got sick from the feta cheese left out in the sun on our catamaran tour. He administered a shot to my husband and wrote us both prescriptions. The hotel was amazing and went out to get our prescriptions; however, this was not how we planned to spend our honeymoon.

From bed that day, I started the travel insurance claim process. When I returned to the states, I submitted our doctor’s bill, pharmacy bill and excursions. About a month later, we received almost $1,000 USD from the travel insurance company. It was well worth having travel insurance and I’d definitely recommend it, especially for an international trip.”

-Sarah, DC Travel Girl 

airplane preparing for takeoff

5) Family Emergency

“Earlier this year my 93-year-old grandfather fell ill. My husband and I thought it was the end. We were traveling in Europe at the time as part of our year-long honeymoon, and cancelled everything we could and flew home immediately to be with him in the hospital.

Well, thankfully he is still with us — and possibly immortal?! — but we were out a ton of money from our cancellations! Travel insurance to the rescue! We sent in all of our paperwork promptly and received back almost everything we requested. Our policy nearly paid for itself!”

– Lia, Practical Wanderlust

6) Vineyard Bruises

“While on my 20-month career break, I passed through Mendoza , Argentina . During my week there, I did what everyone recommends you do: rented a bike to travel between vineyards. It was a really fun experience — until I hit a gravel patch and took a tumble.

Although not obvious at first, I really did a number to my knee. Luckily, I had travel insurance and was able to visit a doctor in Paris who helped a tiny bit. Later an I also visited an orthopedic surgeon in Atlanta, Georgia who was able to do more for me and my injured knee. All of the expenses I incurred were covered by my insurance.

While there is definitely effort required to submit all of the forms correctly, I was pleasantly surprised by the smooth process. Several months later, my knee was healed and I was as good as new.”

– Katrina McGhee, life coach

buddha statues

7) The Grouchy Dog At The Buddhist Temple

“While traveling this year in Asia , my husband Chris got bit by a grouchy old dog while we were visiting a Buddist Temple. We were in Phuket, Thailand and the threat of rabies is very real over there. Fearing the worst, we knew our day had just changed a lot.

Luckily, we have been using long term global medical insurance for all our big trips. We went to the hospital and learned Chris would need to get the series of rabies shots. Luckily, now the treatment is to give five shots in the arm and they are administered over the course of a month. During our first visit, Chris was actually being treated along with two other people who were getting the rabies shots, too. In the end, everything turned out fine.

What at first seemed like a travelers worst nightmare became another traveler’s tale: The Day My Husband Got Bit By A Grouchy Old Dog at a Buddist Temple.”

– Tiffany, Vagabond Way

8) Eye Infection In Central America

“When I planned my move to the UK from New Zealand I added a tour through Central America and South America en-route. The trip was on a tight budget as I didn’t have a job waiting for me at the end. With all the outdoor activities in Central America I wore my contact lenses most days.

After one particularly long day my right eye felt really irritated. When pharmacy eyedrops didn’t help, I visited a doctor and to my shock was diagnosed with a severe fungal infection. I was told it would require close monitoring and I would be sensible to fly home if it didn’t improve quickly.

I rang my travel insurance and they reassured me that all appointments, medication and travel costs would be covered. It was a stressful situation, but at least that meant I could make the best decisions for my health rather than be limited by what options I could afford. Fortunately I didn’t have to cut my trip short as my condition improved, but I still required expensive specialist care once I arrived in the UK. I’m so thankful I took out insurance because if they hadn’t covered my medical expenses I could not have gone through with the move!”

– Esther, Rabbit Hole Travels

hospital room

9) Family Emergency In Central America

“I was two months into my 12-month trip backpacking Central America when I received the news that my grandfather had not one, but two heart attacks and was in intensive care at the local hospital. By the time my family told me, we more or less knew that even if I managed to get a flight out of Nicaragua the next day that I would still not make it home before he passed.

I wanted to be with my grandma during the difficult time so I did get a flight the following day. My grandfather passed while I was on my last flight from Florida home to Pennsylvania. My travel insurance reimbursed the cost of my flight to get home without any trouble — all they required was a death certificate — and I was able to use that to buy my flight back to Central America a few months later. ‘

If I hadn’t been reimbursed for the flight, I’m not sure when or if I would have been able to continue my travels. Now I know the answer to “should I get travel insurance?” is always yes!”

– Sky, Sky vs World 

And an issue everyone should be aware of…

10) Infection In Ireland

“I thought I had my travel insurance all sorted before I went on a four-month adventure. The first 30 days were covered by my credit card and I bought insurance from the same company for the rest of the trip; however, having the two separate plans, even with the same company, backfired.

I got sick in Bosnia; coughing, wheezing, and short of breath. A week later in Ireland I realized I needed to go to a doctor. Turned out I had a lung infection and would need x-rays. I called my insurance ahead of time to sort out what to do. After all, x-rays aren’t cheap. But, when I explained that I had gotten sick in the first 30 days of my credit card coverage and needed x-rays under the new coverage, they told me no.

It didn’t matter that I had insurance with the same company. I had two different plans and I was sick and diagnosed before the second one took into effect. Therefore, rendering it ineffective.

Stupid? I think so, but from now on I always buy insurance for the entire length if it’s over the 30 days. I learned the hard way it’s not worth the risk.”

– Hannah, Eat Sleep Breathe Travel

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Important to note it doesn’t cover everything, though. We bought insurance last year before going to Turkey then couldn’t get our money back after we canceled all 32(!) legs of our flights immediately following the airport bombing and failed military coup. Apparently, many types of travel insurance don’t cover “acts of declared or undeclared war” so we were out nearly $10K =(

Yikes!! 10k?! I wonder if there are special plans that might cover that? I’m so sorry that happened!

I have a chronic illness so for the big trips we took this past year, we definitely got travel insurance. One note is if you have a pre-existing condition, many plans don’t cover them, and the ones that do require you purchase the insurance within a certain amount of time after you booked the trip (e.g., 14 or 21 days). Luckily I didn’t have to use the travel insurance for that, but we did use it for some other minor medical and dental ailments! It’s such a nice comfort to have. Oh and yeah – most plans don’t cover acts of war/terrorism.

@Sarah: Good to know! Are there plans one can purchase that *do* cover pre-existing conditions? Or can you use your own health insurance overseas?

Hallelujah somebody said it! As a travel agent, I sometimes have to ‘put the hard sell’ on people to get travel insurance unfortunately – I don’t do it to make the sale, I do it because I genuinely care about them and have seen the benefits of it! I might have to use this post as a go-to for those silly people who need to be convinced. Great read, and ‘The grouchy dog at the buddhist temple’ oh my goodness :

@Kristin: Yea, I think like most things it’s hard to “see the big picture” and realize that big travel mishaps can happen to everyone. I’m lucky enough to not have had anything big happen to me on the road (yet), though my travel insurance has paid for itself the few times my luggage was lost for multiple days and I was reimbursed for the things I needed to buy in the meantime!

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Travel Insurance Horror Stories: What you need to know about annual travel insurance.

Anne 10/12/2015 Travel Tips 15 Comments 227 Views

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Bummer! It’s that time of year when my annual travel insurance needs renewing, and given I’m about to head off to India, I can put it off no longer.

I’ve suffered a few travel insurance horror stories in my time from being told that I should carry my dive regulators as hand luggage (uh clearly they have no idea how heavy or big they are!) to being told that I should have known when my mum was going to die!!

In short, I have had several incidences of travel insurance horror with declined insurance claims. It’s frustrating, annoying, upsetting and stressful. In the hope of helping you avoid a similar fate, here are a few things to consider.

Annual Travel Insurance Policies are Much Better Value

Avoid travel insurance horror

An annual travel policy, for you and all the family, can often cost only slightly more than one single trip travel insurance policy. In fact, a quick quote for a couple seeking a worldwide policy reveals that for just £4.23 extra they can upgrade their single trip policy to annual cover of unlimited trips.

If you are likely to travel more than once a year, an annual policy is absolutely the right way to go, as not only will you save money, but you will also save time. Policies will usually auto-renew so you will never be without cover.

How Dare My Mum/Nan/Other Die?

If a close family member is ill, or elderly, check the small print for the policy on bereavement. Pre-existing conditions are usually excluded, however you may be able to add these for an additional premium.

I was unable to claim on my policy for travel to Honduras shortly after my mum died. Although she had cancer at the time of booking, there was no indication she would not be with us at the time of our departure 10 months later.

Some policies do not cover bereavement of a family member at all, as my teenage step-daughter recently found to her cost, having just booked a trip which she had saved months to pay for, only for her boyfriend’s granddad to pass away just days before they were due to leave. No cover, no refund and no holiday! You can imagine the stress in our household!

Travel Insurance Horror in the event of a bereavement

Oops My Luggage Hasn’t Arrived

I’ve had this happen 4 or 5 times which isn’t a problem if you are on the homeward bound journey. The airline will simply deliver your bags the next day when they track them down (for gods sake don’t throw away the luggage tags they give you when you check in!).

However if you are arriving in Russia on NY Eve, with just several hours until midnight, or in Egypt to board a liveaboard, then no bags becomes more of a problem.

On the latter, my husband’s dive equipment failed to arrive resulting in additional costs to hire equipment. The travel insurance company failed to pay because they said we should have carried valuables in our hand luggage.

Anyone who dives will know that the suggestion to carry regulators and a buoyancy Control Device (BCD) as hand luggage is beyond ridiculous!! A BCD is a similar size to a life jacket, and with more airlines scrutinising the size and weight of your hand luggage, it is impossible to take both items on-board as hand luggage.

Travel Insurance horror in the event of no luggage

Oh No, I’ve Missed My Flight

Clearly this is an avoidable issue, so my advice would be to always leave plenty of time to get the airport. Of course, life is unpredictable. You may run out of petrol on the way to the airport, be caught up in traffic on the motorway (or worse an accident), or find that the airport has closed without prior warning resulting in our missed connection back to the UK (yes that really happened to us in Bali!).

Missed departure is usually quite strict on the claims criteria so do check the small print. Our insurer refused to pay costs incurred as a result of the airport closure, even though our missed departure was due to circumstances outside our control.

AMEX to the rescue – even though we were not covered on their policy either, they offered us a nominal payment to compensate. Wow! That British Airways Premium card really has its uses!

Travel Insurance Horror in the event of missed departure

Civil Unrest, Natural Disaster and Terrorism

Fortunately I have managed to avoid being caught up in a riot to date (although we did narrowly avoid one in Tunisia earlier this year) but I have been in India when civil unrest has occurred.

Thanks to a volcanic eruption in Iceland, we were also stranded in Brazil (there are definitely worse places to be stranded) back in 2010. These claims are not usually covered on a standard policy, but you can add them for an extra cost.

When I first started travelling, I would have thought this cover an unnecessary expense, but the world is more volatile these days. Terrorist attacks, civil unrest and natural disaster have become regular occurrences in recent times. Whether it is an earthquake in Nepal, flooding in Bangladesh, terrorist attacks in Tunisia, or riots in India, unless you pay for this cover, you will not be protected.

Travel insurance horror in the event of civil unrest

For this reason, I would advise you to think carefully about the countries you plan to visit, and the likelihood of anything happening before deciding whether you need this option.

Of course, the better option would be to avoid areas where these things are likely to happen, but is this even possible?

So what is the best advice I can give you to ensure you are avoid your own travel insurance horror?

My Top Three Tips

Do your research.

Establish what cover you absolutely want to be covered for, and what you think the potential risks are for the places you are planning to visit. Then ensure you seek out a policy which will offer cover for those risks.

Which  offers a handy comparison showing which companies offer cover for specific types of claims.

Travel Insurance horror if you dond do your research

Beware The Cheapest

Beware the cheapest policy will rarely be the best if you want comprehensive cover.

Read the small print

I cannot stress this enough. Having decided what things you must be covered for, make sure the policy definitely meets your needs.

Failure to read this could be the difference between an accepted and declined claim (I know from painful, and costly experience!!)

Why Bother with Travel Insurance?

After reading this, you may be forgiven for thinking that there is no point taking out travel insurance, but rest assured this is not the case.

For every declined case I have had, I have had a successful claim. I’ve been unfortunate enough to break my collar-bone  and snap my media and cruciate ligaments overseas (separate trips I hasten to add). On both occasions the insurers were brilliant, offering prompt assistance, additional seats on the plane, and repatriation options.

I’ve also lost items, and had items stolen overseas, and these have also been successfully claimed on my insurance.

Travel Insurance horror is avoided with planning

Probably the best advice of all that I can give you, is clearly not to travel with me!

If you liked this post, then sign up for more useful tips like these by clicking here . I promise not to send you more than two emails a month! After all, no one likes to be stalked!!

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15 comments.

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I agree that you should definitely have travel insurance. you never know when something unfortunate will happen. Luckily we get ours through our credit card provider so I’ve not had to shell out much for it.

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I’m sorry to hear that about your mother. I always thought that was the one thing that was covered with insurance. This is a great informative post to make better decisions about travel insurance. Thank you.

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Thanks Sarah. It has been a while but I was pretty gutted that they quoted pre-existing conditions as the reason jot to pay out even though my mother was in remission when I booked the flights.

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Thank you for bringing this up! I am definitely for responsible traveling. Whenever I travel solo, I always buy an insurance

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These are great tips! People so rarely think about travel insurance, especially slightly unusual circumstances. If you travel enough, things are going to go wrong eventually.

One tip I’d add is to check with your employer benefits and credit card benefits to see what travel insurance you already have. My credit card covers a lot of things as long as I book my trips on the card. My work health insurance covers me for the first two weeks that I’m abroad.

Good point. I’ve recently switched companies and my new company provides annual travel insurance which is a nice perk. I also once claimed through my AMEX insurance and although I wasn’t insured for the issue in question, they did make me a payment as a gesture of good faith. Just another reason to use AMEX other than their ability to give me lots of travel rewards

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Very useful information. I briefly looked into travel insurance before going on a 3-month Europe trip but I found everything really confusing :s

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This is a very useful piece for me as I am in the process of deciding which travel insurance to opt for. As per my own research too, I def second that using an annual travel insurance is much better if I am constantly on the road, not to mention, cheaper too. Now, i need to go find a global or Indian co for the same.

Good luck ????

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Preaching to the converted (and I mean that in a nice way). I always have travel insurance. As you said though, sometimes with the best of intentions, stuff still happens that tests even the best of us, and ultimately they are there to make money too. But, I would still never leave home without it. I will check these guys out as I was interested to read about the marginal difference between single and annual premiums. I know the company I use has a significant difference.

For me it is huge. I can pay £30 for a week if I book for a single trip and only around £40 more for an annual policy for myself and family including skiing. The key is definitely to chec the small print though as policies vary dramatically. I could buy one much cheaper but it would not cover the US, skiing or scuba diving potentially.

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Oh man! Sounds like you’ve had some serious unexpected incidents while on the road. I do agree with you about reading the small print – it is CRUCIAL with every kind of insurance! That’s really sad that they weren’t understanding about bereavement though 🙁

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These are really great tips. I’m about to purchase travel insurance for my 6-month-minimum trip my husband and I are embarking on this fall, and I definitely need to read more into this. When I was in SE Asia in 2015, my great-grandmother passed away and we didn’t have the money for me to get home for the funeral and it was so heartbreaking. I’ll definitely have to look further into this. Cheers!

Oh Paige I am so sorry to hear that. How terrible! So sorry for your loss.

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You know you’re well traveled when… literally everything that can go wrong with travel insurance does. I am so sorry to hear about the losses in your family and it’s unfortunate they were not more sympathetic. I do not have travel insurance yet. My German health care has covered me for the things I need, but this made me think about other scenarios other than getting hurt. I will look into it and use your advise as a guide.

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10 travel horror stories to inform your next trip.

Laura Gesualdi-Gilmore

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Mishaps happen anytime and anywhere, but there tends to be an added vulnerability if a problem happens while on vacation. Anyone who travels regularly likely has their own travel horror story, particularly if they've been voyaging long distances and spending time in unfamiliar places. A travel mishap can ruin your trip and be very costly .

Of course, experiencing new adventures is one of the most exciting things about traveling, and these tales aren’t to scare you, but to alert you. We combed through travel blogs and message boards to find 10 wild travel mishaps — from disappearing hostels to an accidental trip with school children — to inform your next trip.

Travel Secrets Revealed: 7 nearly secret things to do if you fly Southwest

The dislodged hostel houseboat

Houseboat on water in Peru

Reddit users didn’t disappoint when sharing their nightmare travel tales , including this harrowing experience about a stay in a floating hostel near Iquitos, Peru. The user detailed how their hostel houseboat was docked and anchored in the river. While they were out for dinner one night, it began to pour.

The storm was fierce, so the guests waited out the rain for a couple of hours at a bar to keep dry. When they returned to their hostel for the night, the houseboat was gone. It had accidentally dislodged from the anchor that held it in place and floated down the river in the rough waters from the storm. The hostel owner had thought they were still in the floating houseboat and had called the police who were frantically searching the river for them. Luckily, everyone was okay.

Turkish bathroom mishap

Male / Female restroom signs

Using a public bathroom can be a horrifying experience on its own, but this Reddit user shared a funny but frightening tale of her father’s experience before he even entered the loo on a thread about travel horror stories . While visiting a high tourist area in Turkey, this woman’s dad needed to use the bathroom. The public toilets have attendants outside of them and users pay a fee to use the facility.

The father attempted to pay a woman who was sitting near the entrance, only she was not a bathroom attendant and was not happy to be mistaken for one. She began screaming, “You think I am a toilet attendant?!” at the man and eventually chased him down the road.

Vanishing travel companion — and money

Happy couple eating dinner at restaurant

While visiting Argentina alone, one traveler — whose story was shared on Tourradar — was delighted when a fellow tourist came up to them in Buenos Aires and asked if they wanted to explore the city together.

The man suggested that they go for some food and wine. Later that day, they decided to stop for more drinks at a spot with an outdoor bar. After a few liters of beer, the user said they woke up about eight hours later missing their debit card, iPod, cellphone, and travel guide.

Pro tip: Travelers often have to worry about tourist scams, so be alert and heed caution when meeting strangers.

An accidental school trip

Buses on road

Taking and finding the right public transportation to get to where you need to go can be tricky when you don’t speak the language of the country you’re visiting. Another Reddit commenter used her friend’s visit to Poland to inform the public about the perils of travel . The friend planned to take a bus from the airport to Krakow. She went to the area where she was told buses would be waiting, and hopped on board.

She noticed some people giving her strange looks, but figured she was sticking out as a tourist. It also appeared that everyone else seemed to know each other. Shortly after the bus departed from the airport, she realized she had gotten on a bus full of Dutch students who were on a school trip visiting Krakow. The embarrassing mishap did score her a free bus trip, though.

Drunk hostel guest

Hostel room

Travel blogger Inessa of Through a Travel Lens shared a story with Ladies What Travel about a creepy night spent at a mixed dorm hostel in Triglav National Park in Slovenia.

In the middle of the night, she woke up and noticed a figure in the room, silently standing right beside her bed. At one point, the person even began touching her blanket. The blogger said she was completely paralyzed with fear, but later found out the mysterious figure was an extremely drunk woman who ended up wandering into the wrong room.

A banking mishap in Thailand

Stressed woman at ATM

Making sure you have access to your money is a big deal when abroad. Blogger Grasya explained her cautionary tale with Ze Wandering Frogs about a time her bank abruptly changed their rules for accessing money while she was in Thailand.

This blogger had no issues on previous trips to nearby countries, and said she was given no warning about the changes. This is a situation where it pays to have a backup plan, like one of the  best travel credit cards . She was thankfully prepared for any issues like this and had a second debit card from a different bank just in case.

A honeymoon hurricane

A view across a bay in St Lucia as a storm approaches

Amanda from the blog Toddling Traveler had her pre-baby horror story shared with Ze Wandering Frogs . She had quite the unforeseen end to her honeymoon in St. Lucia in 2010. Hurricane Tomas was headed toward them, and was downgraded to a tropical cyclone by the time it hit the island. There was still a huge amount of damage and not the most pleasant thing to experience when celebrating your marriage.

Among the damaged buildings was the island’s main airport. Luckily, the couple was able to leave St. Lucia from a small island hopper airport. But to get home to Pittsburgh, they needed to stop overnight in Antigua, then fly to Puerto Rico, Atlanta, and finally, home.

Stranded in Romania with five kids

Mother and son at airport

When you think about Romania, you may think of Dracula or haunted mansions, and this story is just as scary. Blogger LeAnna of The Economical Excursionists told her story of going to Romania with a group of friends — and their five children under age five. The flights were cheap and they thought it would be the experience of a lifetime.

As they were getting ready to fly home, they found out that the airline (that had offered the cheap flights) was on strike, leaving them stranded. After a few unsuccessful attempts to book hotel rooms and rebook flights, the whole gang ended up on a long and complicated train trip back to Germany.

Pro tip: It may be shocking to learn about a canceled flight, especially when you are trying to get home. But even more shocking are the bad behaviors on airplanes that have been reported. Try to steer clear of mile-high drama and learn as many flying tips as you can to best prepare.

A Swiss cash dilemma

Upset woman looking in empty purse on street

We’ve all been forgetful here and there, but blogger Alexx of Finding Alexx shared how terrifying forgetfulness can be when traveling. During a solo excursion to Switzerland, Alexx took a bus to Interlaken to walk around a bit before going out for a fancy dinner. When she tried to pay for her meal, she couldn’t locate her wallet.

Luckily, she had her phone and was able to use Apple Pay, but the heart dropping knowledge that your wallet is missing wouldn’t be wished on anyone. She had to cancel all of her cards to protect herself, leaving her feeling quite vulnerable in a pricey vacation spot. By some miracle, the bus driver who had taken Alexx to Interlaken showed up at her hostel the next day with her wallet, which she had left on the bus.

Bed bugs biting

Inspector looking at bed bugs on mattress

Travel blogger Carrie Ann shared on her Should Be Cruising blog that the first leg of her journey was a week-long expedition cruise in Glacier Bay, Alaska. That was followed by spending a few days taking in the sites of Juneau.

She found a quirky and cozy-looking hotel to stay at and after checking in, decided to take a quick nap for a refresh. After an hour, she woke up covered in bed bug bites with the critters visibly crawling around the bed. This is exactly the opposite of relaxing. Luckily, she was able to debug and find a different place to stay nearby that didn’t have any uninvited guests.

Bottom line

Stressed man looking through luggage

When it comes to travel, you can try to plan as much as possible, follow and bring a back-up of your necessities, but sometimes, the unexpected will happen. It’s especially awful when the unexpected is horrifying.

Although travel issues are often impossible to predict, there are different types of travel insurance — from medical coverage (for those unforeseen vacation injuries) to coverage for baggage and personal effects. If anything, insurance may be able to provide some peace of mind for a long-awaited trip.

Plus, learning the mishaps and unfortunate situations others have experienced might help you avoid them and avoid wasting your hard-earned money trying to get out of them.

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10 Scary Travel Horror Stories And How To Avoid Them!

10 Scary Horror Travel Stories

10 SCARY TRAVEL HORROR STORIES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM!

PODCAST: Listen on my podcast!

On The Backpacking Housewife website I want to share with you my scary horror travel stories as well as all my amazing experiences while travelling .

Because I wouldn’t be being entirely honest with you if I ignored the fact that sometimes, although thankfully rarely, accidents and the unexpected can happen, and things do occasionally go wrong while travelling.

Sometimes things can get a little bit scary when you suddenly find yourself outside your comfort zone.

I’ve been asked if anything dangerous or scary had ever happened to me while travelling.

My answer is yes. I have scary travel horror stories and I have on occasion felt worried and unsafe or scared while travelling.

In recent media interviews, I’ve not only been asked about the wonderful and amazing experiences I’ve had while travelling, I’ve also been asked about travel safety and if I’ve ever personally felt unsafe while abroad.

But it’s important to keep this all in perspective because I’m also aware that travel fear is something that keeps many people from reaching out and achieving their own dreams of living a life of travel and adventure.

SCARY HORROR TRAVEL STORIES

So, in telling you about the scary travel horror stories that have happened to me, it’s certainly not my intention to put you off travel – the opposite in fact – I want to encourage you to recognise and to accept your fears, knowing that they are completely natural and normal and there is a lot you can actively do to keep yourself safe while travelling.

I’m living proof! I have travelled around the whole world twice – exploring over 60 countries – over 10 nomadic years!

Because, in reality, travelling anywhere in the world shouldn’t be any more dangerous than travelling in your own country.

We all know that life itself is inherently dangerous.

And being afraid of travel is just the same as being afraid of the unknown.

Yet, the unknown is simply something – good or bad – that we haven’t experienced yet.

In the same way that a stranger could be a great friend whom we just haven’t met yet.

To stay safe we must keep our wits about us and learn to trust our own inbuilt intuition.

We should be sensible. Be aware. Be prepared. Be cautious.

And, importantly, we must learn to always trust our gut feelings.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

While travelling, I personally like to take onboard astronaut and commander Chris Hadfield’s advice in his wonderful book ‘ An Astronauts Guide To Life On Earth ’ (aff link to Amazon). In his book, Commander Hadfield shares all the life skills he learned as an astronaut training to travel further away from home than most of us are ever likely to travel in our own lifetimes.

Commander Hadfield says, that first imagining and then anticipating all the scary horror travel stories and things that might possibly go wrong while travelling, and then planning in advance exactly what you might do to tackle the imagined and anticipated situation will allow you to release the fears and concerns you have about keeping safe.

So, in the spirit of anticipation and in being fully prepared for scary travel horror stories in the same way I have also shared a post about Mishaps and Misadventures While Travelling , I’m now going to share with you ten of my own real-life scary situations and how I dealt with them and ultimately – and very importantly – what I learned about staying safe.

And, as a result, if you ever find yourself in the same scary situations, you might feel more prepared and less afraid to travel!

10 Scary Travel Horror Stories

1: a notoriously dangerous part of town during a blackout in nassau, bahamas..

A dark and dangerous place at night

We’d been in the Bahamas for a few weeks, renting an Airbnb at Cable Beach, just outside Nassau. One evening, my husband and I had travelled into town on a Jitney Bus to meet with a couple of new tourist friends we’d met earlier that day.

We’d arranged to meet for dinner and drinks at the famous Arawak Fish Fry area – a strip of beachside seafood restaurants and street food stalls offering local foods that are a famous tourist attraction.

We ended up staying out much longer than we’d intended. We were having fun and had found a bar with a nice vibe. When the bar closed, just around midnight, we were the last to leave.

We decided that we’d all share a taxi back up the road so we went out into the street to look for a taxi but found the street empty and quiet.

We’d all had quite a few drinks, but I suddenly felt quite sober on realising we might have put ourselves in a precarious situation. We’d been warned that this part of Nassau was a potentially dangerous place for tourists late at night.

And then, suddenly and unexpectedly, we were plunged into complete darkness.

There were no lights on anywhere and we soon realised this was a power cut situation. We just stood there in the dark not knowing what to do. There were no taxis on the street. There was nowhere open. The bar we’d been in was locked up.

We used our phones as torches but realised that we didn’t have any taxi numbers.

Then suddenly a big truck appeared out of the darkness and stopped right beside us. I was scared. The four of us were caught in its headlights and must have looked like frightened rabbits in a spotlight.

Luckily for us, the driver wasn’t about to rob us or kidnap or murder us. He simply wanted to offer his assistance. He saw we were tourists and he knew we shouldn’t have been there. He told us so – saying this wasn’t a good place for us to be so late at night – and he offered us a ride back to the area where we were staying.

Seeing he had lots of pots and pans and cooking paraphernalia in the back of his truck, and that he was obviously a street food vendor at the fish fry, we gratefully accepted.

As he dropped us off on the road where we were staying, his passing comment and instruction as we thanked him profusely for his kindness (and offered him some cash for his fuel and inconvenience that he refused to accept) was to suggest to us that if we ever saw him lost and in the wrong place in our country, that we would also stop to help him out.

Lesson learned: Take responsibility for your own safety but also know that not everyone is out to get you. There are good people everywhere in the world, and in my experience, the kindness of strangers is more widespread than you might expect.

2. Thinking we might be kidnapped in Central America.

Kidnapping scare

We’d arrived in Central America late at night on a planned layover flight into a city with a notorious reputation for being potentially dangerous especially at night. I’d prearranged by email for our hotel to send out a car for us.

Top Travel Tip : if you are unfamiliar with the place you are arriving – particularly at night – and you’re not sure of the route to your hotel then do prearrange with your hotel to send out a car or taxi to meet you. Ask for the driver to hold up a card with your name on it to avoid you having to get into an unknown car at airport arrivals.

After arriving at our hotel and after checking in, we walked a short distance to a nearby fast-food restaurant for something to eat. It had been a long flight and we were hungry. Perhaps because it was quite late in the evening, the restaurant was empty. We paid for and ordered our food and sat in a booth with our drinks.

It was then that I happen to notice an old car pull into the car park and park directly in front of the window. The driver of the car looked right at me and for some strange reason I still can’t fully explain, I felt spooked.

The man came inside the restaurant. He glanced the menu and then deliberately looked our way once more. Once again, I happened to catch eye contact with him.

This time, I knew something was wrong. I had goosebumps. My heart was racing.

When the man went back to his car and I saw him still glancing our way and talking on his mobile phone, I took my hungry husband’s hand and I insisted that we were leaving immediately. We hurried back to our hotel and locked ourselves in our room. It’s not completely unheard of for tourists to get kidnapped and held for ransom in some parts of Central America.

We’ll never know if the danger that I instinctively felt was real or imagined.

I’m glad we never had to find out.

Lesson learned: Trust your gut. If a situation feels wrong act immediately to protect yourself and feel safe.

3. Dealing with a drunk taxi driver in Asia.

drunk taxi driver scary travel

We’d just flown into a big city in South East Asia that we’d visited many times before and so we felt confident about taking a registered airport taxi to our hotel. Only, after climbing into the back seat of the taxi, my husband and I both sniffed the air at the same time and looked at each other.

We could both smell alcohol. It seemed to be coming strongly from the driver.

This time it was my backpacking husband who acted instinctively.

He said “no, stop” to the driver and turning to me he said “okay, we are getting out.”

Lesson learned: Don’t feel embarrassed about asserting yourself and putting your safety first in a compromising situation. Trust yourself. If something doesn’t feel right… it probably isn’t.

4. Bus going off with our backpacks in Mexico.

In Mexico a bus drove off with our backpacks. The Backpacking Housewife

This is a story that we laugh about now but when it happened it was quite stressful. We were backpacking in Mexico.  Having flown into Cancun and travelled by public bus along the coast, spending some time in Playa del Carmen, heading over to the island of Cozumel on a ferry for a few days, then heading back to the mainland and continuing by bus onto Tulum set on seeing the famous Mayan ruins there.

When we identified our stop just outside Tulum – and our hotel just across the street – we alerted the bus driver to stop the bus and let us off.

The problem was that as soon as we had stepped down off the bus, he continued on, without allowing us to collect our backpacks from the luggage compartment under the bus.

We watched him drive away in stunned silence for a moment then we saw another bus coming along the road. We ended up chasing the bus with our backpacks on it all across town on the second bus until we were able to retrieve our stuff!

Lesson learned: if the unexpected happens – don’t panic – look for a solution!

5. Tarantula in the bed in the Caribbean.

a tarantula spider on the bed

We’d been on a small island in the Caribbean for a week and rented a small house in a tropical garden. There were beautiful flowers and plants everywhere and trees laden with banana and cashews and coconuts – but unknown to us – this is a perfect habitat for the tarantula spider.

So, of course, not long after staying in the house we came home to find an enormous and hairy tarantula spider crawling on our bed. I will admit to you that my heart was pounding because back then I didn’t know if these types of spiders are poisonous or not. In fact, I’ve since learned they are not poisonous, but they are known to ‘fire their hairs’ at you as a defence mechanism, when they are afraid.

Feeling very afraid myself, I dashed next door to alert our landlady, who send her rather amused husband to extract the spider on our behalf while telling us that he ‘used to keep a tarantula spider as a pet when he was a child’.

In our bedroom, he approached the huge hairy beast with a broom onto which it dutifully crawled, before he put it back out into the garden.

Lesson learned: If you are faced with local wildlife try and find a local person willing to come and help you deal with it!

6. Scorpion Sting in Honduras.

A scorpion in the shower

While in Honduras, Central America, I was horrified to be told by a friend I’d met there how she had recently been hanging her washing outside when she’d been stung on the hand by a small black scorpion.

She described the pain as horrific and ‘like being struck by a hammer’. Her hand was horribly swollen and she said she was still in a great deal of pain.

She also told me that luckily a local scorpion’s sting wasn’t fatal. Good to know.

But that still didn’t stop me from feeling absolutely terrified when, just a few days later, while in bare feet, I happened to stand on a scorpion that was in my kitchen. Firstly, I thought I’d stood on a small crab, as I felt it’s shell under my foot.

But a second later, I felt the pain. I’d been stung between my toes as its tail had lashed out at me for standing on it!

I’m afraid I screamed so loud that my husband was shocked and my neighbours all came running.

I expect they might have already guessed what had happened and immediately sprung into action on my behalf, applying ice and offering pain medication.

The medication helped over the next few hours and I slept for a while. In the morning, I saw I had a big yellow poison-filled blister between my toes. It was tender and took a while to go down and to heal.

Only the week before, I’d had a near miss with a scorpion, when I looked down to see one crawling across my foot while I was in the shower. On that occasion, I didn’t scream. I froze. I stood completely motionless waiting for the hammer of pain to hit me or the scorpion to climb off my foot.

Luckily, it moved away and disappeared into a small crevice in the corner of the shower base. I reckon it was the same one that crawled out and got me the following week.

After I was stung – I saw the scorpion escape from under my foot – he was successful in stopping me from crushing him.

But we lived in that house for several months afterwards not really knowing where that scorpion actually went or if it would ever come back.

Lesson learned: I knew I wasn’t in danger of death from a scorpion sting but I was in danger of experiencing extreme pain. I feel it’s perhaps a good idea to acquire some knowledge of any dangerous local wildlife while travelling to tropical places so that you can assess the level of danger you might be facing.

7. A venomous snake in the house!

snake in the house by the backpacking housewife

Before the backpacking husband and I left Scotland, having sold everything we owned in order to travel the world , we had a checklist of preparations to travel.

One of the things on that list was to get a full dental check-up in order to pre-empt any future problems with our teeth while travelling.

So, I was both surprised and frustrated to find, just a few months into our travel itinerary and while on a small island in the Caribbean with no dentist, that I had developed a toothache.

The tooth ached mercilessly for weeks and all I could do was swill it with rum and take a paracetamol. Then, the pain seemed to settle down for a while, but started up again when we set off on our travels again.

We took a long flight to South Korea to visit our son and I think perhaps the plane’s cabin pressure started my toothache off again. Thankfully, in South Korea, my son was able to arrange for me to see a dentist.

The dentist’s name when translated to English was ‘The Happy Dentist’ but I wasn’t happy after my consultation to be told that I’d need root canal treatment.

However, this did solve the problem of my excruciatingly painful toothache.

Lesson learned: Sometimes even when you try to pre-empt a situation you can’t avoid every possible scenario. What you can do is have a backup plan and that should certainly include having a travel insurance policy to cover any medical and dental emergencies while in another country. You might like to read a full post/article I’ve written about Travel Insurance options.

9. Getting a badly infected foot in Thailand.

After cutting my foot badly in Thailand I eventually had a tattoo over the scar

Hurting my foot in Thailand was actually an awful and extremely painful experience. My husband and I were walking down a steep pathway (ridiculously steep for a path, actually, but that’s Thailand for you!) and the path had dried in the sun after a heavy rainfall leaving a fine sand screed that I slipped on in my flip flops.

I went down so quickly that I believe if I hadn’t had my arm linked through my husband’s I would have probably broken a leg or something. Anyway, the damage seemed to be superficial at first, and just a sore scrape to the top of my foot.

Three days later however and the foot was obviously horribly infected.

I actually spared you the photos of this as the photo above was taken a few moments after I fell and before my foot got horribly infected.

I cleaned and dressed the wound as best I could but with the heat and humidity in Thailand, it is common for even a small abrasion to get infected.

I went to see a pharmacist and spent a small fortune on antiseptic cream and dressings but the foot soon got worse. It looked horrible. It was so painfully infected that I couldn’t even put it down on the ground never mind walk on it.

But I went back to the pharmacist, who seemed both surprised and concerned at seeing my foot in such a mess, and so cleaned it for me and prescribed a very strong course of antibiotics.

I can only describe the pain of having my infected foot cleaned as it being hit hard by hammers and slashed with glass both at the same time. It was excruciating.

The antibiotics started to work after a few days and the foot (eventually) healed. But I was left with a nasty reminder of what had happened to me with a scar on the top of my foot. A year later, I had the scar covered with a tattoo of a sea turtle in a coral garden, which I like much better.

Lesson learned: sometimes accidents happen no matter how careful you are. I was simply walking down a steep street after it had rained. I wasn’t drunk and I wasn’t being silly but I slipped and fell and hurt myself. It could have been worse. Again, it’s important that you have travel insurance to cover any medical costs while abroad.

If you are in your 50’s or 60’s or older it can be more expensive and difficult to get the right travel insurance for your needs so you might like to read a post I’ve written especially for you: Travel Planning – Travel Insurance For Over 50s.

10. Suffering Sandfly Bites Everywhere.

sandflies biting flies on the beach

Many people prepare for their holidays in warm or tropical places by including an insect repellent in their packing essentials to deter mosquitoes from biting them.

But there is also another variety of biting and blood-sucking fly that can cause terrible skin welts and skin swellings that many people like to call ‘no see um’s’.

These are tiny sandflies that are so small that you cannot actually see them – only the damage they do to you – and unlike mosquitoes (who mostly prefer to attack at dusk) sandflies are fully active at all hours of the morning, noon, and night!

I was blissfully unaware of the existence of sandflies when I took myself down to the beach to lay on my towel and sunbathe one afternoon while on a beautiful island in the Caribbean.

The sun was shining. Palm trees swayed. The sea was blue and crystal clear as waves lapped the shoreline of the pristine white sand beach as I lay there feeling strange tingles all over my skin.

I applied my sunscreen thinking I was getting ‘prickly heat’ and carried on trying to enjoy my afternoon. Eventually, unbearably uncomfortable with my skin feeling itchy, I went for a swim and then feeling restored I went back to the beach, picked up my towel, and headed for home.

Home was the beautiful Caribbean style beach hut we’d just rented for our stay and where my husband was when he saw me and suddenly cursed out loud like a pirate.

I was unknowingly at that moment absolutely covered in tiny red sandfly bites.

There was hardly a space between any of them but the ones on my back were worse from where I’d been lying on my towel on the sand. My husband took a photo of my back so he could show me what it looked like and I was horrified.

A few hours later and the tiny red welts grew bigger and were so itchy and looked so awful that I was driven quite mad. My only relief at that time was an antihistamine ointment that we’d sensibly brought with us to the island in our emergency travel kit.

Lesson learned: Sandflies are common all over the Caribbean and in many tropical places. I learned how to best deal with sandfly bites from talking to local people who helpfully told me what I could to use to treat the bites and to help prevent the sandflies attacking and biting me.

I was also told that after spending about three months on the island, a person’s natural immunity would usually kick in, meaning that the skin would not then react as badly to the sand fly bites.

I assume that’s why the local people around me didn’t appear to be suffering from sandfly bites or to be covered in the distinctive red welts.

I have written a post on all the tips I learned about dealing with sandflies and treating sandfly bites especially for you: Suffering SandFlies – the dreaded no see um’s. It’s one of the most visited articles on this website!

I do hope this post on scary travel horror stories has entertained and informed you and not put you off travelling.

If I’m not put off by all of this then neither should you be because:

There is so much in this wonderful world to see and experience.

There are far more good people in the world than bad people.

The kindness of strangers is more widespread than might think.

So… don’t be put off by what may or might not ever happen.

scary travel horror stories on the backpacking housewife dotcom

Instead, prepare yourself for anything by taking a leaf out of Commander Hadfield’s wonderful book ‘ An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth ’ and equip yourself with the knowledge and tools to overcome any fears you may have troubling you or any reticence you might have in the back of your mind about travelling near or far.

If you are over 50 years old you might like to read my post: 10 Reasons To Travel In Your 50’s and 60’s

And bravely go after your dreams of travel and adventure !

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Janice Horton is The Backpacking Housewife and the person behind the travel and adventure website www.thebackpackinghousewife.com

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Days to Come

Travelling Without a Passport

no travel insurance horror stories

10 Reddit Travel Horror Stories That’ll Keep You Up At Night

Many would like you to believe that the scariest stories are full of vengeful spirits, but anyone with a passport can tell you what really makes a person tremble with fear…

no travel insurance horror stories

Who doesn’t love a scary story? You know the kind; ones that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, your heart rate quicken and your palms sweaty. While some people would like you to believe that the scariest stories are full of demons, demigods, and vengeful spirits, we know better than that.

Anyone with a passport can tell you real scary stories.

A few of the classics include Tale of the Lost Luggage, The Thing On My Bed: an Airbnb Rental From Hell, Rosemary’s Passport…Has Been Stolen , and my personal favourite, The Silence of the Disgruntled TSA Agent.

So in celebration of all things scary, we’ve hand selected  the best travel horror stories from the Reddit community that will have you sleeping with one eye open!

Scared woman trying to sleep

1. When Bad Directions Attack!

So my sense of direction is pretty horrific and there was a time I was in a very remote part of Austria (Grünau) and wanted to go meet up with some friends at a lake. I grabbed a bike, and set off, map in hand. All was going well until I realized I was in a really, really remote part of the town, and pretty soon realized I was also on an incline. My poor sense of direction and my infantile relationship with maps inadvertently led me up a mountain.

I was 2.5 hours into my voyage, there was no sign of any life around me, the noises got stranger, and there was definitely no lake in sight. I looked at my map wondering how it could deceive me and where our relationship took a wrong turn (pun intended). Then, I turn around and BOOM, I get a flat tire. It was getting darker, I was shitting bricks by the second, and any moment now, something was going to jump out and eat me alive, because of logic.

I eventually stop caring that my bike will collapse on me and start riding it down a very rocky trail at a pretty fast pace just hoping to get out of there as fast as possible. Safety hazard, absolutely, but again, logic.

Several minutes later, I finally see a highway, so I get back on a known trail and just a few kilometres up, I see the sign where I missed my turn for the lake. After my 2 hour detour, I had no desire to be near anything wet as I was already soaked from exhaustion, so tried to get reception to call and see if anyone could pick me up. Eventually, I was able to track down some elderly Austrian men who could see my dilemma and gave me their phone, and a large pint of Austrian beer to save the day.

Story by Gloria Atanmo, The Blog Abroad , originally appeared in HuffPost

2. Nightmare at Check-In

I was traveling to Spain with my ex-boyfriend, and we were connecting in some small Spanish airport to get to the even smaller city we were going to for a comics convention (we were guests). I ALWAYS just use my iPhone for boarding passes, but after running full throttle through this tiny Spanish airport to get to the gate for our tiny plane, they wouldn’t let me through because it wasn’t a “real” boarding pass.

So we stood there and quite literally watched our plane fly away as the gate person just stared at us. Then, we got fucked around with for about three hours trying to figure out when the next flight was. I swear they were doing it on purpose – we had to walk back and forth from kiosk to kiosk multiple times. At this point, I hadn’t slept in about 20 hours and I was trying so hard not to go all bitchy American.

Finally, we managed to get new boarding passes, but our flight wasn’t for six hours. So we met an old English gentleman and got wasted at 11 am.

Story by Reddit User walnutwhale  

3. The  Friendly Stranger

I was 18, and it was my first time travelling alone. I went to Argentina for 3 months. My first week in, and I’m wandering around Buenos Aires. At the time I knew enough Spanish to get by, and a man approaches me and asks for directions in Spanish. I tell him that I’m not from here. He then asks me if I am a tourist. I say yes, and he seems delighted, quickly telling me that he is too. He offers up the idea to explore the city together. I, alone in the big city, agree.

We start walking together, and he seems like a really nice guy. After about an hour, he says ‘tengo hambre’, I’m hungry. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and it’s about 1, so we go to a nice restaurant. He tells me I have to try the steaks and red wine. I’m not much of a wine fan, but he convinces me. We are there about an hour, and the bill comes. It’s 140 pesos. He pulls out 100 pesos. I try to pay for my half, but he only lets me pay 40 pesos. He tells me I can get the beers later. We continue on our little adventure and eventually come to a bar with outdoor seating. The waitress brings out a litre of beer, and we relax. Soon enough, another litre comes out. We finish the second litre and leave this bar. Then I wake up 8 hours later, missing my debit card, iPod, cellphone, and travel guide.

Story by Reddit User Peter176

4. An American Tourist in Paris (and only Paris)

Photo by Juanedc.com

So last summer I went on a petite Eurotrip of Western Europe with two friends of mine. Our first destination was Paris. On our last night there, we spend the night drinking at the Garden of Tuileries with our Irish hostel mates. We end up getting pretty blasted, and my friend becomes unattached from his bag for about two minutes. After these two minutes, he realizes he put his bag down and rushes back to where we were to go grab it, only to realize that it’s gone. Completely gone.

Along with the 250 Euro he just extracted from an ATM, his debit card, his passport, his Eurail pass, and pretty much everything else important in his life at that time. Again, this was the night before we had to hop on a train to Amsterdam. We end up having to stay a couple of extra days to help try to recover the damage, etc. Of course, this turns out to be July 4th weekend as well, meaning the U.S. embassy wouldn’t open until the following Tuesday (I believe it was a Friday night the event occurred). In the end, it was cheaper for him to stay in Paris and have us complete the Eurotrip than for him to come along with us. Plus it would take him another two weeks to get another passport reissued.

Story by Reddit User Fuhiapplesyum  

5. Flight of the Living Dead

On Lufthansa flying to Germany, I was relaxing listening to my music and suddenly a woman stands up a few rows ahead and starts screaming and pointing. I sort of flinched and took my headphones off trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Then a couple of other people stand up and move away from the middle row of seats were I eventually figured out that a man was unconscious and his wife right next to him was completely frozen. Then the flight attendant comes and completely overreacts, slapping him and yelling scaring the cabin. A couple more flight attendants arrive and carry the (still) unconscious man to the food prep area and call for a doctor over the plane intercom.

Thankfully there was a doctor on board and he assessed the situation. An hour later the man walked out of the food prep area and sat back down in his seat. He was checked on periodically by the doctor. After we landed I saw the man that was unconscious and I asked him how he was doing. He replied “everything is ok” and walked away just fine. Amazing.

Story by Reddit User Lilodude

See Also: The 10 Most Haunted Places on Earth

6. Let the Right One…Take You to the Border

I landed in Kenya the day a coup started. Ended up stuck in the hotel for 3 days. We kept waiting for things to calm down enough to get out of town, but it never did. Eventually, the concierge let us know that the guy who did the hotel’s laundry had a brother who was running a minivan to the border at 4 am.

So we put our complete faith in this person we had never met. He was incredibly nice and got us to the border without incident. It was a bit of a hassle trying to re-plan the trip on the fly in Tanzania, rather than do all the things we planned in Kenya. But it was still fun.

Story by Reddit User Hemlockecho  

7. Orange Juice: Portrait of a Ruined Flight

I spilled a litre of orange juice on myself about 3 minutes into a ten hour flight from Tokyo to Vancouver. I sat in a puddle of sticky orange juice for the entire time. Then after a really rough landing (I get bad motion sickness), I puked on myself in the aisle waiting to de-plane. In hindsight, this was probably worse for (1) whoever sat beside me and (2) literally everyone trying to get off the plane.

Story by Reddit User Banterbandit

Travel to: Vancouver from Toronto

8. Dawn of the Very Drunk

Photo by Mario Antonio Pena Zapateria

I left Oktoberfest at 11 pm with my friends and took the subway towards our campsite. I got off the train to go get something. I got off the wrong stop at 1 am, lost my phone, didn’t know where I was, didn’t speak German, and didn’t know the address of the place I was going. I was drunk btw, but I managed to find a hotel concierge who was kind enough to find the address of the place I was staying and I taxied it back. Returned at 4 am.

Story by Reddit User Kanji_sasahara

9. Tale of the Disappearing Hostel

Recently a friend and I stayed in the Amazon jungle near Iquitos (Peru) on a camping trip. After five days out in the wild, I was ready for a nice warm shower and a good nights sleep in a decent bed. The hostel was a set of floating buildings right on the river. We decided to go for dinner out in the city. It started to rain incredibly hard. I have never seen rain come down harder than this. We waited it out for a couple hours and enjoyed a few beers. Once it stopped we went back to find out that our hostel had dislodged from its anchor and floated out and pretty far down the river. The only remaining building was the reception office. I guess the hostel owner didn’t see us leave for dinner.

They thought that we were in our rooms and called the police to go pick us up. When they didn’t find us in our room they started to search the river with spotlights and every boat they could spare. Needless to say, the police and hostel owner were relieved to see us walk up completely dry and alive.

Story by Reddit User   Safetybreak

See Also: The 11 Most Haunted Places in America

10. The Turkish Bathroom Project

In Turkey, a lot of the public toilets have attendants outside that you have to pay some small amount of money to in order to use them. We were out one day and my dad wanted to use the toilet, so my dad handed the money to the woman outside, and went to go in.

Except, this woman wasn’t a toilet attendant. As the realization of what my dad thought she was spread over her face, she started screaming “You think I am a toilet attendant? YOU THINK I AM A TOILET ATTENDANT??? RAAARRGHH!!!” in broken half German half English and started chasing him down the road waving her handbag at him.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are just about dying from laughter and a very confused German man comes out of the toilets wondering where his wife has gone to.

Story by Reddit User  TheAngryGoat  

Terrifying stuff right? If you’ve been left shaking with fear like me, then let’s do the online equivalent of leaving the lights on and look at some tours that won’t leave you stranded without your wallet in the City of Love or chasing after a stray hostel in Peru.

Do you have a killer travel horror story you want to share? Let us know in the comments!

no travel insurance horror stories

Jackie is a travel-addicted Canadian who currently resides in Vienna, Austria. When she’s not writing travel guides or reading her new favourite book, she’s planning her next weekend getaway somewhere in Europe.

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no travel insurance horror stories

“Insurance Nightmares & How to Avoid Them”: Real-life stories and lessons.

Navigating the complex world of insurance can be overwhelming, and if not done right, you could find yourself in a sticky situation. From denied health claims to unpaid property damages, the nightmares are all too real for many. In this blog, we’ll share some real-life insurance horror stories and provide valuable insights on how to avoid them.

1. Sarah’s Pre-existing Condition Woes

The Story: Sarah, a healthy 35-year-old, decided to switch her health insurance provider for a more affordable plan. Several months later, she was diagnosed with a medical condition. To her horror, her new insurance denied her coverage, citing it as a “pre-existing condition,” even though she had been unaware of it.

The Lesson: Always scrutinize the terms of your policy, especially when changing providers. Ensure there are no clauses that can come back to bite you later. If you have any doubts, consult an insurance agent or a lawyer to understand the fine print.

no travel insurance horror stories

2. Mike’s House Fire Fiasco

The Story: Mike’s house suffered damage from a small fire. He was relieved, thinking his homeowner’s insurance would cover the repairs. But, he had missed making his latest premium payment by a couple of days, and the insurance company used that as a reason to deny his claim.

The Lesson: Stay on top of your premium payments. Setting up automated payments or reminders can ensure you never miss a deadline. Some insurance companies offer grace periods, but always confirm and don’t rely on it.

3. Carla’s Stolen Car Calamity

The Story: Carla’s car was stolen from her office’s parking lot. She filed a claim with her auto insurance provider. She was devastated when they only offered to pay a fraction of her car’s market value.

The Lesson: When purchasing auto insurance, understand the difference between “actual cash value” and “replacement cost.” To get the full replacement value, you might need to opt for a policy that covers the replacement cost, which might have a higher premium but can save you significant money if something goes wrong.

4. Raj’s Travel Trouble

The Story: Raj was on a dream vacation in Europe when he fell ill and needed hospitalization. He assumed his travel insurance would cover the medical bills. Unfortunately, his policy had a clause excluding specific illnesses, and his was one of them.

The Lesson: Before jetting off, always read your travel insurance policy carefully. Make sure you are covered for a broad range of illnesses or accidents. Opt for comprehensive coverage that includes medical evacuation, especially if traveling to remote or underdeveloped areas.

5. Emma’s Flooded Basement Blues

The Story: After a heavy rainstorm, Emma’s basement flooded. She was stunned to learn that her homeowner’s insurance did not cover flood damage.

The Lesson: Home insurance policies often do not cover natural calamities like floods or earthquakes. If you live in a flood-prone or earthquake-prone area, consider purchasing additional coverage specifically for those events.

no travel insurance horror stories

Conclusion: Insurance is meant to protect us during unforeseen events. The key is to be proactive and informed. By understanding your policy inside out and being aware of common pitfalls, you can avoid many insurance nightmares. Always remember: It’s better to be safe now than sorry later!

Unraveling Medicare: How to Maximize Your Benefits Without Breaking the Bank?

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21 Scary Travel Stories (You Don’t Want To Read)

We’ve had great luck in our last 4 years of travel. Scrap that. In my last 17 years of travel. Nothing too big, nothing too scary… At least not as scary as my other travelling friends. 

But before we do get to those scary travel stories, I have a few close calls to share. 

The Lost Child

This is the most terrifying thing that can happen to any parent. And even more frustrating is when you’re in an unfamiliar place and your child is under 5!

My daughter was a pretty easy child, while my son didn’t understand the concept of “slowing down”. We lost him twice in Israel – once at the beach in Tel Aviv and then again in a shopping mall.

Then there was the time he went missing for 15 minutes at Santa Park in Finland . Terrifying!

Thankfully the older they get the less likely they are to wander off and we haven’t had any similar incidences since 2014. 

Tip: Pick up a business card at your holiday accommodation and slip it into your kid’s pocket when heading out in case they get lost.

Broken Bones

Next to losing your child the most terrifying thing that can happen during travels is someone gets really hurt.

And of course you can guess this also happened to my wild three-year-old son the day before we were about to explore Petra, one of the world’s most amazing wonders. He fell off a bunk bed and fractured his wrist in Israel . No one spoke any English at the hospital emergency room, and as a three-year-old he did not understand why he couldn’t remove his cast.

no travel insurance horror stories

Tip: Thank God for travel insurance! An incident like this can really set you back in a foreign country. We always travel with comprehensive travel insurance . Remember, some travel credit cards come with travel insurance, so check your credit card to see if you have any coverage.

Prepare To Be Afraid

As a family we haven’t come across too many scary situations. We tend to travel to more family friendly destinations and we are rarely walking down dark alleys at night. But some of these travel bloggers have not been so lucky.

So flick on the lights and grip firmly onto an arm of a loved one while you read some of the scariest travel stories you’ve ever heard…

A Broken Back In The Amazon

Dave & Deb –  ThePlanetD

The scariest travel experience we've ever had was deep in the heart of the Amazon when my husband Dave slipped on a set of steel stairs and broke his back. After a 10-hour ordeal to get him out of the Amazon by skiff boat, floatplane, moto taxi and finally a make shift ambulance, we made it to a small hospital in the town of Iquitos.

There was no way in or out of this town expect by boat or plane. Dave spent 8 days in the hospital undergoing CT scans, MRIs where they found that he fractured two vertebrates. The worst part was waiting for an air ambulance home. The hospital in Iquitos couldn’t do anything for Dave expect try to control his pain. So he spent the week on high doses of narcotic painkillers.

Finally after several days of phone calls, gathering up paperwork and organizing insurance, we secured an air ambulance back to Canada where Dave spent another nine days in hospital and another four months of recovery and physiotherapy. It was an ordeal, but also an eye opener and reminder that life can change in an instant. Be grateful for everything that you have.

no travel insurance horror stories

Robbed At Gun Point

Stacie –  Divine Lifestyle

The scariest moment of my life was being robbed by two guys with two guns each. I questioned everything about my life during those 30 minutes lying face down in the dirt in Nassau, Bahamas.

I got back to the cruise ship after 8 hours but I was alone because this was a press trip. I just wanted to be with my family. I wanted to see my kids and husband. 

I was emptying my purse (my passport, money and camera were all taken) and out fell this photo charm of my three children that I had lost the year before. It was stuck in the lining. It was so calming that I finally cried happy tears.

Bloody & Alone In The Jungle

Will - The Broke Backpacker  

When I was nineteen, I hit the road in search of adventure and found myself hiking through the Costa Rican jungle on a twenty-one-day trek; the plan was to start at the Pacific Ocean and end at the Atlantic Ocean. Three days in and I awoke in the night to find that something had found its way past my mosquito net and punctured my leg full of holes. Being nineteen and indestructible, I chose to ignore it - the bites were shallow and didn’t even really hurt. Twenty-four hours later and I was stumbling hopelessly through the jungle, rain lashing through the trees, hallucinations rushing at me from all sides. My leg was angry and red, swollen beyond recognition and it hurt to put pressure on it. I crawled up an endless muddy slope, half a foot of water soaking my clothes and pack as the path turned to a river. My map was sodden and useless but somehow I made it to a Ranger Station where I stumbled through the front door like some kind of jungle demon and instantly passed out.

I awoke to find myself being evacuated to a hospital where I was informed that my leg would be amputated. Fear writhed through me at the thought of losing my leg and losing my chance to join the Royal Marines.

Two weeks passed in a hazy blur until finally I graduated from my bed, into a wheelchair and back to England. I spent a year recovering from my physical injuries, had a good old-fashioned mental break down upon learning that the marines were no longer an option and booked a one-way flight to India where I began my wandering hobo travels.

I have never been as scared as I was within that jungle, or that hospital and yet this turned out to be one of the most important moments in my life; it changed my direction, put me on an ultimately more rewarding path and forced me to reevaluate who I was and just what the heck I wanted to do. Sometimes, the greatest challenges offer the greatest opportunities.

At Knife Point On A Beach

Rachael - Nothing If Not Intentional

My husband, my parents, our girls (ages 1 and 3), and I were on the beach in Puerto Rico a few years ago when a man came out of the shadows and held a knife to my mom's neck. I grabbed the girls and tried to run but the attacker's partner pulled me back. Eventually I got away (not before peeing my pants) and ran for help. My mom fought her attacker (and bit him hard enough to draw blood) while the accomplice robbed the men. Eventually, my mom sank to the ground (she was starting to pass out due to lack of oxygen--the man had her in a choke hold), and the man ran away.

When Snakes Cross Your Path

Victoria - GlobeTotting

One of the scariest moments we’ve had as a family was when we were exploring a network of caves in Panama with friends and got separated from some of the children in our group by an extremely venomous snake. Two children had walked ahead and stepped directly over an ‘equis’. Also known as the Fer-de-lance, a bite from this snake is usually fatal. As the snake occupied a narrow spot in the gorge there wasn’t enough room to by-pass it safely. Our guide hurled a handful of rocks at it and luckily for everyone, was an excellent marksman! The memory of that moment however, and what could have been, still sends chills down my spine.

no travel insurance horror stories

When Snakes Bite

Paul – Global Help Swap

Most travellers to Thailand injure themselves on motorbikes. You know how it is, you rent a bike on some gorgeous island, have a few too many Chang's and next thing you know you are skidding on your ass. 

I, on the other hand, ended up in hospital because of a snake bite. Now, I would love to tell you that I was trekking in some remote corner of the country with some ancient hill tribe when it happened but alas, what really happened is a bit more mundane. 

I was slowly walking along at our resort when I felt a sharp pain. My foot instinctively lifted up, hurling my flip-flop in the air narrowly missing a girl who was sunbathing nearby. I looked down to see a huge brown snake slither by and blood on my toe. I quickly went to reception to describe what had happened. The lady nonchalantly said I would be okay and left it at that. 

Karen, my partner, was not having any of that and insisted that they call an ambulance. As I waited for my very first ambulance ride, I noticed I was sweating a lot and that my heart was beating fast. Was this the venom kicking in or just my paranoia? 

Eventually, the ambulance came and took us to the hospital. The driving on the way felt way more dangerous than any snake. Thankfully, all turned out okay (otherwise I would have been writing this from beyond the grave!) and I was given a generous dose of drugs. 

Now the drugs were truly scary. Possible side-effects: hallucinations, paranoia, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, and sweating. Needless to say, I chucked them in the bin. Give me venom any day.

Burning Man Wounds

Vicki -  The Vicki Winters Show

Riding around on my gas-powered skateboard at Burning Man, I felt radically cool as pretty much everyone was smiling and waving at me. While hamming it up, somehow, I fell to the ground. Still holding onto the remote control, I was then dragged along the playa for 10 feet. 

My shins and ribs took the hardest blows. I was so scared that I was really injured, but I was able to dust myself off (literally), skate off with just a bruised rib, shin bleeding and a big tear in my favorite Burning Man costume. 3 weeks later, the ribs still hurt but hopefully they’ll heal soon.

no travel insurance horror stories

Camels & Scorpions Make For A Fun Day Out

Bret & Mary - Green Global Travel  

We should've known our day hiking through Jordan's Dana Biosphere Reserve was going to be difficult when our experienced guide slipped and fell on his butt within 5 minutes of setting off down the rock-strewn path through the desert. The brain-frazzling 105°F temperature didn't help matters either. Nor did the fact that our guide was stung by a Deathstalker (the most venomous Scorpion species in the world!) during our stop for afternoon tea, more than 7km from the nearest sign of civilization. Fortunately, he survived, thanks to the fact that Bedouin moms put the ashes of the deadly scorpions in their kids' milk to build up their tolerance to the toxins.

But the capper of the day was being chased by a random camel in the middle of the desert near the end of the 14-km hike, running as fast as I could while my boots literally fell apart from wear and tear. I don't think I've ever slept harder than I did that night on the roof of our hotel, looking up at the desert sky. 

no travel insurance horror stories

Robbed On A Bus In The Amazon

Danie – Like Riding A Bicycle

On my very first backpacking trip, I took a bus through the Amazon in Peru. In the middle of the night the bus was stopped; I woke up to see a man with a big black gun pointed at us all, yelling in Spanish. The men were marched off the bus, as the women awaited what would happen next. It was the only moment in my life where I actually thought to myself, “I might be about to die.” After robbing us all blind, and fortunately harming no one, the total of six men with masks and guns left the bus, leaving us to carry on into the dark Amazonian night. 

Robbed By Children

Natasha – A Global Stroll

On our honeymoon in Athens, Greece, my husband and I were eating when gypsy children started yelling and waving papers in our face. As this was our first trip abroad, we failed to notice that this was one of the oldest distraction techniques in the book. After a few moments, they quickly left and we were dumbfounded at what just happened. We then quickly realized my husband’s cell phone was missing, and we were just robbed. Thankfully nothing else got taken and no one was hurt! 

When Buffalo Attack

Lauren - Justin Plus Lauren

One day while volunteering in Kenya at a wildlife conservancy, we worked to clear the path to one of the hides (building to observe wildlife). Suddenly, one of our guides started screaming at the top of his lungs. I didn't know why, but I knew that I should run. I sprinted back to our vehicle. As I opened the back door, I looked up to see an angry buffalo stampeding towards us. The buffalo rammed the vehicle several times as I watched from inside. Eventually, she wandered back into the bush. If we didn't react as quickly as we did, any one of us could have been killed. The guide who came face to face with the buffalo jumped into a giant cactus to escape it.

no travel insurance horror stories

Sliding Into An Abyss

Patricia - Our Whole Village

My scariest travel moment took place in Bariloche, Argentina when I was just 8.

It was our family's first trip abroad and my first time seeing snow. My brothers and I were so excited we ditched the adults as soon as we got to the top of the mountain. We wanted to explore.

We saw this shed at the edge of the mountain and decided to walk down to check it out. I slipped and started sliding towards the abyss. Luckily, there was a rock and I was able to hold on to it. We were all screaming. Next thing I remember; I see grampons. A man had come to rescue me. He brought me to safety and lectured us in Spanish.

It took twenty years for my brothers and I to share that story with my parents...

Beaten For Money

Stefania - Every Steph

I had a scary experience in Mui Ne, Vietnam, while out at night with a friend. We friended two locals who later insisted in giving us a free ride to a club. Later that night, we found these guys outside demanding money. We argued and left, but they started chasing us. My friend and I parted ways: I ran to the beach (dumb move!) and hid behind a cabin. When I got out I found my friend who had been beaten by the men. Some locals told us those guys were the local mafia and we were lucky nothing very serious happened!

Falling Down Waterfalls

Jason – An Epic Education

Have I told you about the time I nearly killed my son on a waterfall? The boy and I were scaling the slick rocks of Malaysia’s Seven Wells Waterfall looking for a viewpoint. Bad idea — I know that now. He slipped, skidding to a stop on a dry patch of stone. I was not so lucky. I slid past him, went airborne and fell hard on my tailbone. Had the boy not moved in time, I would have taken him with me… and landed on him. The hospital said we were lucky. We certainly were. Few people learn humility so effectively.

no travel insurance horror stories

When Dogs Bite

Emily - See Her Travel

Four days after arriving in Jamaica I was staying at a colleague’s house. Early in the morning, I went outside to find my colleague. The two dogs of the property came around the house and set upon me barking and snapping, jumping at me and biting at my feet.  After backing up and falling into some bushes, I was on the ground flailing and screaming, trying to fend off the dogs as they clamped down on my ankles and my arms. One was getting seriously close to my face and neck. A flash went through my mind that this may be when I die, or at minimum get seriously maimed. I escaped when the dog’s owner heard my screams, though my wounds did take a couple of weeks to heal.

Smashed On The Rocks Of Hawaii

Shara - SKJ Travel

The second time I almost died I was vacationing in Maui, Hawaii, standing on a finger of razor-sharp lava rock jutting into a heaving ocean. After a huge wave came up over my head, smashed me flat and pushed me across the rock like a train, I spent hours in the hospital emergency room having lava rock scrubbed out of my body with wire brushes. But it wasn't bad luck; I had very good luck: I later learned that in the previous 5 years, 5 people had fully died in that exact same place, in the exact same situation. 

no travel insurance horror stories

Passenger Of A High Speed Car Chase

Cacinda – Points and Travel

Picture this: 4 am, pitch black outside, and cab ride to the Barcelona airport from Palamos (due to a rookie travel move). I needed time to make my early morning flight. The guy shows up, I get in his cab... a minute later, another guy shows up. The two of them get into a verbal argument in Spanish, which leads to the cars swerving, screams, and us speeding off with the guy chasing us for about a mile. Driver looks back at me after it is all over and says: "You know nothing." Longest hour and a half trip to the airport I ever had!

Chased In Belgium

Natasha – The World Pursuit

I lost track of time on my solo trip in Brussels. I had been exploring the city while enjoying the delicious Belgian brews all day when I realized I had no idea how to get back to my Couchsurfing host's home. I thought I could retrace my steps by memory even though it had been at least a half hour walk.

About 20 minutes into my walk back I realized I was definitely in the wrong part of Brussels. Every man was staring at me, cat calling, and giving me the up down. It was well into the night time when a group of three not-so-nice-looking men started to approach me. I made a run for it into the parking lot where a woman stopped her car, asked me what in the world I was doing there and told me to jump in immediately. She informed me I should have never been where I was and drove me where I needed to go. I'll never know what could have happened, but I am very thankful she was there.

Kidnapping At A Theme Park

Sally – our3kidsvtheworld

When the kids were a little younger we visited Hong Kong and went to Ocean Park. Keira who was 7 at the time was walking along a stone wall garden bed. Her and I were walking behind my husband and the other 2 kids and a man ran up beside her and picked her up. I thought he was an employee and wasn’t happy about her walking on the wall. I was about to apologise when he turned around and ran away with her. I nearly died, I screamed to my husband who didn’t hear me so all that was left to do was to chase him alone. I followed him back about 80m, the longest 80m of my life and he stopped at a tour group, they then passed her between themselves taking photos. It was the scariest moment of my life. Once I realised what they were doing, I was so relieved I couldn’t get mad but my husband sure made up for it! (see photo, Keira is wearing the Minnie hat)

no travel insurance horror stories

When Your Cruise Threatens To Leave Without You

Victoria – Follow Me Away

During our cruise to the Bahamas, we partnered with a Dive Shop. Things were already slow to get started, so we arrived back at their dock after the last shuttle took guests to the cruise port. The manager told us not to worry and that her friend Cliff would take us to our ship. We hopped in the vehicle and not more than 5 minutes later he asked how we were paying.

We were in shock since nothing about payment was discussed and everyone at the shop kept calling this a shuttle. We asked him the fare and he said it was $70 because he had to wait 30 minutes (not our fault!) We told him we only had $40 between us and he grew more irritated.

We called the dive shop manager back and she told us to tell him she would take care of it. We thought everything was solved so we told him the manager would take care of it and it turns out he was recently fired from there so he was even more upset and he didn't trust them!

He was purposely driving way under the speed limit and our departure time was quickly approaching. A car flashes its lights and our taxi driver stops IN THE MIDDLE OF OF THE ROAD during rush hour, exchanges a few words, hands over a tiny package, and successfully completes a drug deal (it wasn't pot either!)

He mutters that that's what they do in the Bahamas and then continues to curse and be upset about the fact that he isn't getting paid and that isn't how he operates his business. He drove as slow as possible and we were now within 10 minutes of the ship closing its doors. He finally (takes forever) to park and we give him a $20 and hop out as fast as we can and run back to the ship with less than 5 minutes to spare!

no travel insurance horror stories

Dislocated Shoulder At The Airport

Jurga – Full Suitcase

Our South African adventure almost got extended as our 2-year-old dislocated his shoulder at the airport, just minutes before boarding. Paramedics were called and our suitcases were unloaded from the aircraft. It was 10PM, the kids were exhausted and we were getting anxious over having to look for a hospital in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar city in Africa with three toddlers, luggage and no car or accommodation! 

Our boy has had a dislocated shoulder before and we knew that it was easy to ‘fix’, but paramedics wouldn’t do it. Luckily we had some painkillers, he soon felt better and at the very last minute we were allowed to board. Next morning, we went to the hospital and it turned out that the shoulder had relocated by itself.

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Reader Comments...

So many scary things!!!! I think the important takeaway is that these kinds of things happen, but we can't let them scare us off of travel, adventure or living life to the fullest! And I might have gotten some dog bites, but I still pet stray puppies on the street!

Some of those stories were SO scary! Although these things do happen, they're all part of the adventure!

Love reading this scary stories. thanks for sharing!!

Hmm, I was gripped but simultaneously wishing I hadn't started this article. I'm off to Venice tomorrow - I shall be conscientiously looking for kidnappers, scorpions and water buffaloes. Cheers.

the stories are very sad, feel afraid to read through to the end. But however we can take a lesson from them.

Hello, your post is awesome, interesting as well as creative. I really like your post and it is very useful for me. I never read this much helpful and understandable post. Thanks for sharing and keep it up.

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Scary Insurance Horror Stories to Tell in the Dark

Christine Lacagnina

Christine Lacagnina has written thousands of insurance-based articles for TrustedChoice.com by authoring consumable, understandable content.

paul martin

Paul Martin is the Director of Education and Development for Myron Steves, one of the largest, most respected insurance wholesalers in the southern U.S.

Insurance horror stories

It doesn’t have to be Halloween to hear horror stories, or at least not in the insurance world. If you’re lacking the proper coverage when disaster strikes, the situation can quickly and easily turn into a much bigger nightmare. That’s why it’s so important to be prepared for the worst, even when things seem eerily peaceful. Fortunately, an independent insurance agent can help you find the exact coverage you need to help you rest easy.

Sadly, these folks didn’t have a happy ending to their stories. Check out a few recaps of some insurance horror stories that turned dramatically worse without adequate coverage, and how having the right insurance could have easily helped save the day for all of them.

A Truly Horrific Crash

When Joe first signed up for car insurance , he wasn’t anticipating that he’d ever have to actually use it one day. To avoid the legal penalties, he purchased just the bare minimum amount of coverage required in his state. With protection from a liability standpoint, he figured he was ready to hit the road and never look back. As long as Joe kept paying his monthly premiums on time, it never occurred to him that anything could go wrong.

It never occurred to him until one day when Joe had to go pick up groceries during a heavy rainstorm. As thunder cracked and lightning flashed overhead, he greatly misjudged the amount of time it would take to bring his car to a stop on the wet pavement, and wound up slamming into the back of a brand new BMW that was waiting for the light to turn.

The woman in the BMW got severe whiplash, and the trunk and rear bumper of her brand new luxury car were completely crushed. Joe’s ten-year-old Honda Accord was totaled, and even though his airbag deployed, he still suffered a broken collarbone and a broken wrist from his hand slamming against the dash.

To make matters worse, since Joe was automatically at fault for the rear-end collision, his measly minimum auto insurance didn’t fully cover the incident. He ended up having to pay a large chunk of the expenses out of his own pocket, further adding insult to the injuries. If only Joe had been more prepared…

How Better Car Insurance Could Have Helped

Though all car accidents are tragic to some extent, the one Joe was involved in didn’t have to turn into the absolute nightmare it did. If he’d been covered to a fuller extent, his bank account wouldn’t have had to take a massive hit. For starters, with collision coverage , Joe would’ve been covered for the damage to his own vehicle. Collision coverage protects drivers from the following:

  • Collisions with other vehicles
  • Collisions with objects like trees, signposts, fences, and buildings
  • Single-car accidents like skidding and running off the road

Without collision coverage, Joe was stuck paying out of pocket for the replacement of his own vehicle. If he’d worked with his independent insurance agent to purchase adequate collision coverage ahead of time, he could’ve saved himself a lot of money, and a throbbing headache.

Also, if Joe would have increased the limits under the bodily injury liability section of his policy, the injuries to the woman in the BMW would have been fully covered. Bodily injury liability coverage reimburses for expenses arising from injuries you cause to a third party while operating your vehicle. Since injuries are often expensive, it’s critical to have adequate coverage. Coverage includes medical payments, ambulances, and more.

A Terrifying Workplace Incident

Once upon a time there was a small retail business that didn’t bother to purchase workers’ compensation insurance . Despite coverage being mandatory in most states, the owner of the business was infamous for performing sketchy operations all around. So when it came to protecting his team, he figured the safety video shown when they were first hired was good enough.

But one day that theory was put to the test. As workers were busy gathering customer orders in the warehouse at the back of the store, the forklift suddenly malfunctioned when it was extended to its fullest height. The two workers operating the forklift fell several feet down to the concrete floor, crushing the two other employees who’d been trying to help them from below.

All the workers had to be rushed to the hospital and treated for serious injuries including broken bones, deep cuts, and a couple of concussions. That’s when the business’s owner ended up with a real nightmare on his hands. Without workers’ comp coverage, not only did the hospital bills have to come directly out of his own pocket, but the families of the injured employees also sued. He finally learned his lesson, though it was already much too late.

How Workers’ Compensation Could Have Helped

If the retail store’s owner would have purchased workers’ comp like he should have before ever hiring employees, he could’ve saved himself a great deal of trouble. Workers’ comp is designed to protect employees from illness, injury, or death while performing job-related activities, but it also protects business owners from a legal standpoint if an incident happens.

Workers’ compensation covers the following:

  • Medical care: Workers’ comp reimburses employers for medical care of their employees, including doctors’ office and hospital visits, rehabilitation treatment, medications, diagnosis fees, long-term treatments, and more.
  • Employee wages: Workers’ comp provides reimbursement of hourly or salary wages that an employee loses while out of work due to workplace injury, illness, or disability.
  • Legal protection: If an injured or deceased employee’s family sues the business, workers’ comp offers protection by covering attorney and court fees, as well as settlements the business may be ordered to pay.
  • Benefits: In the event of a disability or death of an employee, workers’ comp may pay out a lump sum benefit. If the employee was killed, the benefit would be paid to their dependents.
  • Funeral costs: If an employee dies on the job, workers’ comp may provide reimbursement for final arrangements and ceremonies.

Additionally, workers’ comp protects employees against injury, etc. due to other covered disasters, such as workplace violence, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters. Without this coverage, business owners have to pay for not only medical expenses for their employees, but also lawsuits in the event they get sued.

The Great Neighborhood Fire

no travel insurance horror stories

Susie didn’t think she’d ever need homeowners insurance for anything catastrophic. That’s why she only purchased the bare minimum coverage limits in every category when she first moved into her brand new home. Things were fine for the most part until the day she decided to host a backyard bonfire with some of her closest friends…

When a stray spark ignited a pile of dead leaves she’d raked earlier that day, the fun gathering quickly turned tragic. Due to the dry conditions of the season, the fire grew and spread rapidly, reaching her neighbors on either side of her house. All three homeowners’ yards were badly burned, and each house suffered quite a bit of property damage as well.

To make matters even worse, since she lacked adequate coverage, Susie had to pay for a temporary residence out of her own pocket while her home was being repaired. Worse yet, she had to pay for her neighbors’ hotel stays too. Clearly, Susie had to learn the hard way about the importance of having adequate homeowners insurance from the start.

How Better Homeowners Insurance Could Have Helped

If Susie had increased her homeowners coverage limits enough to actually assist her in times of tragedy, she could have saved herself and her neighbors a lot of grief. With enough coverage, homeowners insurance can protect against property damage, legal expenses, and more.

The main coverages provided by homeowners insurance include:

  • Structural damage: This covers the “dwelling,” or structure of the home. Damage to/destruction of the dwelling is covered against listed perils, including fire.
  • Personal property damage: This covers personal belongings like furniture, collectibles, clothing, and more from incidents like fires. Property stored off-premises is often covered too, though with a much lower limit.
  • Additional living expenses: This covers extra costs if your home gets badly damaged or destroyed and forces you to live elsewhere temporarily. Reimbursement for things like hotel rooms, eating out, extra gas mileage, and more is covered.
  • Liability: This covers legal expenses like attorney/court fees if you’re sued for bodily injury or property damage to a third party. Settlements you’re ordered to pay if you lose the case are also covered.

Appropriate homeowners insurance would have covered Susie from the property damage to her home her neighbors’ homes, and also protected her from a legal standpoint if they decided to sue her. Further, her homeowners insurance would have reimbursed her for the costs of a temporary residence while awaiting repairs on her own home. 

Impoverished Life After Death

Daniel was only 43 years old and seemed remarkably healthy, so he didn’t think having life insurance was important for at least another decade, or even two. His salary covered not only his family’s normal living expenses, but also afforded them several luxuries. Daniel’s family lived quite comfortably in their lavish home and looked forward to putting all of their children through college in the future.

That is, until Daniel tragically passed away from a sudden heart attack with no diagnosable cause. His widow, a stay-at-home mom, was now left with three young children to care and provide for on just the wages from her part-time online side business. She also had to take over the particularly hefty mortgage on their estate all by herself.

Sadly, Daniel’s widow just wasn’t able to support her family to live the way they did before his passing. She and the kids had to move into an apartment in a sketchy neighborhood in order to afford the bills. The mother also had no idea how she would be able to pay for each kid’s college tuition without help from her deceased husband. With Daniel out of the picture, his widow was left to suffer not only his loss, but the aftermath of him not having been prepared.

How Life Insurance Could Have Helped

If Daniel had been set up with the right life insurance before his tragic and untimely death, he could have left his family in good hands, at least financially. There are many reasons that considering life insurance, even from a young age, is so important, including the following:

  • To pay off outstanding debts: Many people purchase life insurance to pay off remaining debts, such as mortgage loans, after they pass away. This benefit allows the deceased’s family to be freed from covering huge outstanding balances.
  • To secure a spouse’s financial future: A death benefit payout made to a spouse can provide financial security for their future, including allowing them to take many years off from working in certain cases. This type of benefit comes in handy especially if the remaining spouse would be left alone to take over parenting young children.
  • To pay for children’s education: Life insurance death benefits are often allocated into a savings account intended to pay for a child’s college or graduate school education. However, death benefits can also be used to help a grown child who has already completed school pay off any remaining student loan balances.
  • To help a family maintain a standard of living: When a working parent dies, it can create a huge difference in the amount of money brought into the family. Life insurance death benefits can make up for this gap and allow the family to maintain the same standard of living as before the policyholder passed away.

With payouts from life insurance, Daniel’s family could have kept their home and typical style of living. Their children’s futures also could have been secured, and the mother might have even been able to stop working for a while in order to comfort them in their father’s absence.

Here’s How an Independent Insurance Agent Can Help Prevent Horror Stories

When it comes to helping you prepare for unforeseen tragedies such as car accidents, house fires, workplace incidents, premature deaths, and more, no one’s better equipped for the job than an independent insurance agent. They’ll get you set up with the proper coverage from the start, and also be there for any future catastrophes. Checking with your independent insurance agent about your protection periodically can turn potential horror stories into lullabies.

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30 Travel Horror Stories You Have to Read to Believe!

Table of Contents

We’ve allma had some truly awful travel horror stories. They’re the ones that you break out at parties to shock and awe those around you. Some might even be so scary you keep them to yourself.

Well, I don’t believe in hiding the not-so-pretty side of travel.

So I asked some of my travel blogging friends to share their travel horror stories with us!

You’ll read about a near-miss with a bear, contracting a mystery disease in Peru, accommodations that don’t exist, and more.

One thing is true for all of these stories: you’ll be glad they didn’t happen to you!

I’ve had my fair share of travel fails and scary travel stories over the years. But some of these are so out of this world that it’s hard to imagine how they kept travelling.

Thankfully these stories have uplifting endings and tips to help you avoid experiencing these vacation horror stories for yourself.

👉 Find out how much it costs to protect your trip today with Safety Wing travel insurance.

Travel horror story from Casablanca

1. A Travel Horror Story in Morocco

I’ve had many scary travel experiences and travel horror stories throughout my years as a solo traveller.

There was the time I dove into a freezing ocean to swim with wild dolphins, only to come face to face with a dangerous fur seal.

Or the time I spent $400 on taxis in Dunedin due to an invisible bus.

This travel horror story occured when I was spending a month in Morocco during my gap year in Europe .

I’d just enjoyed a few weeks in Marrakech , baking with local women , exploring the city, and experiencing a traditional Moroccan Hammam . But it was time to head off to my next destination: Turkey .

To get to Turkey, I had to go to the Casablanca airport.

Now, I was originally supposed to fly out a week later. I had planned to head to Chefchaouen to visit the Instagram-famous Blue City. But my mom got nervous after experiencing the woes of being a female in Marrakech .

… and I found out it’s especially dangerous to climb the Atlas Mountains in winter, so it wasn’t entirely her fault.

I ended up with three spare days in Casablanca.

They were the longest days of my life.

The city feels post-apocalyptic. Buildings are half built, with crumbling concrete clinging to steel frames. There are streets barren of people and covered in a thick sheen of dust. Even the people look haggard as you pass them on your way to the few attractions in the city.

I was staying in a Best Western by the train station for ease of access to the airport (and because it was all I could get with my credit card points at the time).

There’s a rule in Morocco that everyone tells you: don’t eat uncooked food.

It’s because they wash the produce in tap water, which is known for being very bad for you.

After one extremely trying day, I went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. My tajine came with an unexpected side salad.

Beaten down from the day, fed up with my anxiety, and generally starving, I took a bite without thinking.

I swallowed and realized my mistake.

But it couldn’t be that bad, right? I mean, Best Western is an American chain. Surely their employees use American standards for their food.

Within 24 hours, I had the worst case of rocket butt and explosive vomit I’ve ever experienced thanks to what I’d later learn was a parasite from unclean tap water.

And of course that was the day I needed to fly to Turkey.

It was genuinely the second worst flight of my life (after the time I flew with an ear infection).

I puked in the check-in line up after running through my plastic bag supply. There was nowhere to buy a ginger ale or water before boarding the flight at the airport. The poor stewardess couldn’t understand why I wanted puke bags before we’d even taken off. The man next to me was visibly cringing as far away from me as possible.

But it doesn’t end there!

Once I arrived in Turkey, I thought the nightmare would be over.

Until I realized I was a day early for my Visa.

To enter Turkey, you need a visitor’s Visa that you can buy online for $75. I had done this months earlier when I’d initially planned to arrive in Turkey. I’d even booked it a week early just in case!

It hadn’t even occurred to me to check the Visa when I’d rescheduled my trip. I was certain I’d be fine!

Unfortunately, they won’t let you into the country, even if you’re green at the gills and are clearly about to pass out in front of them.

…come to think of it, that may have been why they didn’t want to let me in the country.

Thankfully, they have kiosks at the airport to buy a new visa. They weren’t working, so I had to wait two hours for someone to fix one before I could swipe my credit card, get a new visa, and crawl into a cab to get to the hotel I wouldn’t leave for three days except to go to the hospital.

Moral of the travel horror story : check your Visas and don’t eat salad in Morocco.

2. The Ultimate Lost Luggage Horror Story

By Kerry Hanson from VeggTravel

Has your luggage ever been lost on holiday? Mine has, several times.

However, the worst time (and the one that still makes me mad!) was at the start of a 6-month solo adventure around south east Asia. I’d just travelled with Singapore Airlines from Sri Lanka to Singapore for the second stop of my trip. Little did I know that my backpack, which contained EVERYTHING I had, hadn’t been put on my flight.

Frantically searching for help, the best the staff could offer me was to go to my hotel and they would contact me when they traced it.

However, as I was backpacking, I didn’t have any accommodation booked.

I just had my trusty Lonely Planet guide and was going to wing it when I arrived.

No accommodation meant nowhere to send the bag, and this was before the days of easy access to  travel resources online .

So, I had to wait. A long time. 5 hours to be exact!

Enough time to lose my mind. When I finally got the call, I was so elated that it had arrived that I signed the papers without really reading them or checking the bag. It was on a trolly, and it looked fine…

BIG mistake.

When I went to put it on my back, the straps were in tatters and I had no hope of carrying 22kg of belongings for another day, let alone 6 more months. Naturally I complained, but I had unknowingly waived my rights by blindly signing for it. In tears and with no other options, I found a shop in the airport that sold a sewing kit and super glue and ‘fixed’ it. I could just about put it over my back, but it had no support, and it was crippling.

I chose to lumber this around for 2 months before I finally invested in a new backpack – which cost 3x my daily budget. The moral of this travel horror story is not to sign something without reading it, check to make sure everything is as it should be and bite the bullet and buy a replacement, even if it does affect your budget .

3. The Airbnb Scam

by Katherine of Tara Lets Anywhere

For my first solo international trip, I booked tickets to Maldives. I was very excited and anxious at the same time. I decided that instead of the backpacker’s favorite Maafushi Island, I’d stay on Gulhi Island. It’s smaller, less crowded, and according to reviews it had a nice beach .

I booked my room there via Airbnb. I chatted with the host about the details and even reserved a boat tour with other guests in advance.

When I arrived in the island, the hotel was closed down.

A local approached me and said it had been closed for 2-3 months already and I was not the first guest to find out this way.

I didn’t know what to do.

I could rent a private boat to take me to Maafushi Island, since public transfers were limited. I could stay in Gulhi and find another hotel. Either way would set me back a few hundred dollars and I was already in a tight budget.

The local guy helped me and we approached every hotel and resort in the island. Everywhere was fully booked, except for the last one.

The owner at Silver Shade Guesthouse listened to my story and he was very kind. He invited me to dinner with his staff later that night. Unfortunately, the story does not end here since I had stomach ache from the unfamiliar food the day after.

I skipped going on the boat tour, but my new host took me snorkeling on the best spots in the island and even showed me the breeding area for baby sharks. He was especially careful to check on me since at that time I didn’t know how to swim properly.

I couldn’t emphasize how kind and generous the Maldivians are. Even though the Airbnb scam was traumatizing in itself, the kindness and hospitality of the locals I’d witness during my trip was enough for me to want to visit there again.

Airbnb eventually gave me a refund, but for some reason they did not remove the listing of the hotel that scammed me.

All in all, it was a story worth telling especially as a precaution, but now I can laugh about it.

Moral of the vacation horror story : Accommodations aren’t always reliable.

Ilona in Peru before her scary vacation story began

4. Peru Pains

by Ilona of Top Travel Sights

The first time I travelled to Peru, I got horrible stomach pains.

It started when we were on our way to Lake Titicaca, and at first, I thought it was just a regular stomach bug. I took some of the medication I had  packed for my trip to Peru , but it didn’t seem to help.

By the time I arrived at my hotel in Puno, though, the cramps had gotten so severe that I could not think about anything else but the pain. I tried to stand up to find a doctor, but I could not even walk anymore.

Fortunately, I was travelling with a friend who hurried to the reception to call an ambulance.

She was told that only doctors are allowed to call for ambulances and that we need to go and see a doctor first. The receptionist never managed to call an ambulance, but at least she called for a doctor who came to the hotel.

By that time, I was lying on my bed with my knees pulled up to my chest, unable to move at all. I had never been in as much pain. On top of that, the doctor only spoke Spanish, and we could barely communicate with him.

After a while, the doctor opened his bag and emptied a handful of vials on the bed. He started looking at them in the dim light of the night lamp, holding them at only a few centimetres from his eyes. None seemed to be what he was looking for – or he couldn’t read the labels well enough to decide which ones they were.

My friend ended up reading the labels for him until they found the right one. He injected a drug, and not even a minute later, a wave of nausea washed over me. I barely managed to pull the bin close before throwing up.

Whatever it was that he had given me, though, it seemed to help. After another injection, this time against nausea, the pain eased a little. The doctor wrote me one prescription for pills to take for a few days, plus another one for a few bottles of Gatorade for rehydration.

It took around two days for me to recover, but fortunately, I was fine afterwards.

Moral of the story : Don’t ignore pains. Call a doctor when you need one.

Mark in hospital with his vacation horror story

5. Sick in Cambodia

By Bec and Mark Wyld from Wyld Family Travel

There’s nothing worse than being woken by a noisy husband at 1.30 am…or so you think. Finding Mark laying on the shower floor, water spraying everywhere in our hotel room using the shampoo bottle as a pillow instantly made me worry.

So, of course, I yelled at him ‘What are you doing?’ He had been feeling unwell since leaving Siem Reap and as we had had some cocktails when we were there he thought maybe he had had some dodgy alcohol. He was guzzling water because it made him feel better but this time it was not working and it was bad. I managed to get him off the floor, dried and dressed as I tried to work out what the heck to do. I went down to the desk and asked how I could get him to a hospital. They told me they would get me a tuk-tuk and to bring him down. I hurried back to the room and told him a tuk-tuk was on its way to get him. Being 2.00 am by this stage, in Battambang Cambodia, and in enormous pain, he was not keen on going to the hospital by himself. But what was I meant to do with our kids? I woke our 13-year-old daughter up (luckily we  travel with teenagers ) and told her what was going on, gathered out insurance documents, passports, gave her the unusual instructions about safety and then took Mark downstairs. My heart was racing as Mark wandered in severe pain.

Our tuk-tuk was there waiting and the desk clerk was giving the driver instructions. We jumped in and off we went, Mark, writhing in pain at every bump. The first hospital (the local hospital) we went to was dark and no one seemed to be there so our driver motioned us to get back in, looking panicked and worried. We headed for the next hospital, the international one but once we arrived we were turned away with the driver looking more worried every second. The security guard at the gate said that the hospital was only open from 9-5. By this stage Mark was in so much pain he was really struggling and it was getting scary. The driver pulled up at the first hospital again yelling, I think for help.

People jumped up off camp stretchers everywhere and escorted us into the hospital. They took us to a little room and started treating Mark. Things did get better for a little while and he was admitted to a room where he was given pain relief.

Unfortunately, it became clear that it wasn’t working and something wasn’t quite right. We found out he was being treated for food poisoning and we were pretty sure it wasn’t that. I started contacting a friend who was a nurse, a friend who was a GP and our insurance company who were all over it immediately. A nurse told me by the sounds of it Mark had kidney stones and we needed to get to Phnom Pehn immediately as at this stage we had not been seen anyone in 5 hours.  But I had to get back to our kids to check on them. The hospital was so close I could actually see our floor from the room they put Mark in and I spent the rest of the night as Mark ended up falling asleep staring at the hotel. I walked back and took them for breakfast and to see that their Dad was ok. I then took them back to the hotel where the lady who owns the hotel was worried about us. I left them there again and went back to get Mark who I found wandering down to the front desk. He felt better and still had not seen anyone so he wanted to leave.

We collected his things, told the insurance agency whose agent was frantically looking for us in the hospital but was told there were no foreigners there (we still don’t know what happened there) and took him back to the hotel to rest as he was feeling much better. The next morning we were driven in a private vehicle to Phnom Pehn and as we sat down for dinner, Mark grimaced in pain and we called the tuk-tuk for it all to start again!

Moral of this scary travel story: It can be challenging to figure out international hospitals.

Cyprus waterfront view - the ocean that caused Cristina's horror story.

6. The Seasick Birthday

by Cristina of My Little World of Travelling

My partner and I were enjoying a  late summer holiday in Paphos , Cyprus. It was my partner’s birthday and we wanted to do something a bit different, so we decided to book a last-minute boat trip.  We were up nice and early, by the front of the hotel, ready to be picked up for our day trip. After waiting for more than half an hour we were told that there had been a mistake and we had been given the wrong time! But we were in luck. The hotel arranged a local guide to take us to the spot the boat was due to stop next. The guide was very friendly and apologised for what happened. We arrived at our destination and were taken down to the beach where we could see the boat and everyone in the sea enjoying themselves.  A speedboat then appeared out of nowhere and started heading towards us. This was our ride! We climbed aboard and sat on the front as the speedboat headed towards the boat, weaving around everyone in the sea.

As they looked at us and must have thought “who do these two think they are?!”. We felt like we were in a James Bond movie! We had lots of fun on the cruise – music, plenty of delicious traditional Cypriot and Turkish food, drinks and sun. The sea views were incredible – we could see the stunning coastline with popular beaches like Coral Bay, out of nowhere rock formations and luxury houses on cliffs.  One of the best parts of our boat trip was when we made a stop to jump into the sea. I couldn’t resist jumping into the crystal clear water. The water was cold, but I didn’t care much because the feeling of swimming in the middle of nowhere and being able to see fish swim around us was just amazing. So after hours of enjoyment and relaxation, on our way back I started feeling a bit unwell. I had to run downstairs and skip a full queue to go to the restroom.

I was seasick!

I went upstairs, I had a look at my partner and he didn’t look great either. He told me he was sick too. It was a very romantic ending to his birthday!

Moral of the story: Pack sea sickness tablets. …and maybe don’t go boating for a birthday?

7. Pickpocketed in Lima

by Vicki of Vicki Viaja

One of our most adventurous travel stories happened when we were traveling in Peru’s capital Lima. On the way to the district  Miraflores in Lima, we took the metro bus, which is considered the fastest means of transportation in the city. When we got on, we were suddenly pushed hard, although just a few people got on with us. A few seconds later, my husband Eduardo noticed that his cell phone had disappeared from his pocket. Since we usually speak to each other in English, we must have seemed like easy victims to the pickpocket.

What the pickpocket didn’t count on, however, is that we speak fluent Spanish (my husband is a native Spaniard). Without thinking, my husband made himself heard loudly that someone around us must have just taken his phone. Immediately, we got lots of attention. A man next to us pointed out that a middle-aged woman behind him had just made a cell phone disappear into her bag. Of course, that could have been a trick to distract from himself… When asked about this, the lady naturally got angry and left the bus at the next stop. In just a few seconds, we had to decide and jumped out of the bus at the last moment so as not to lose the lady. After heated discussions with her, we kept following her over several stops. The funny thing was that there were always bystanders who told us that the lady was behaving strangely and that we should continue to follow her. When she got back on a bus, I saw the imprint of a cell phone in her pocket for a moment. So we continued to follow the lady.

At the next bus stop, a security guard noticed us and decided to call the police to search the lady. Suddenly, the lady leaned over to us and offered to give us back our cell phone if we didn’t report her. As the police turned the corner, she took my husband’s cell phone out of her underwear (yes, that’s where she had hidden it) and handed it to him.

Dumbfounded, he took it.

Since we already had our phone back when the police arrived, we couldn’t press charges because we had no evidence. But at least we had our phone back.

Moral of the travel horror story : Wear pickpocket-proof clothing ( like this !).

Amsterdam's Red Light District at night

8. Locked Out in Amsterdam

By Sydney of A World in Reach

A few years ago, I spent my spring break exploring Amsterdam with some friends. We spent a week checking things off our Amsterdam bucket list and enjoying a break from school.

The night before we were leaving to head back to the US, we spent the evening hanging out in our Airbnb, enjoying a weed brownie while packing our stuff. When the munchies inevitably kicked in, we decided to order pizza.

When the pizza arrived, my boyfriend and I decided to go get it from downstairs while our other friend stayed in the Airbnb. As we left, we heard my friend exit the apartment to come down with us. No big deal, right?

When my friend left the Airbnb, the door closed behind him. And locked.

Guess where the key was? Inside the Airbnb.

We were stuck in the hallway of our apartment building in the middle of winter with no way to get in. To make matters worse, the three of us were wearing pajamas with no coats, and I was the only one wearing shoes (if you can count slippers as shoes!).

I had a SIM in my phone that allowed me to make local calls, but of course my phone was almost dead. We tried frantically to get ahold of our host so we could pick up a spare key.

Thankfully after about 45 minutes of calling (and lots of tears), we finally reached our host and he said we could pick up the spare key from his home located right in the middle of Amsterdam’s Red Light District.

With no other options, we called an Uber to take us to the district. The driver got us as close as he could to the apartment (most of the street was closed for cars). Since I was the only one wearing shoes, I made the trek through the Red Light District to find the host’s apartment and get the key.

It was a bit hard to find in the dark, and running through the Red Light District in my pajamas was a little embarrassing, but we eventually made it back with the key and were able to get back inside.

Although we weren’t in any true danger, this remains as one of my stressful travel experiences to date. Plus, I learned a lesson from this vacation horror story : never leave your accommodation (even for a second) without a key in your hand!

9. 1970’s Travel Horror Story

by Anne of Packing Light Travel

Imagine an era when passengers boarded planes without passing through security screening. That was my experience when  travelling in the 1970s , but that changed with a flight from Istanbul to Tel Aviv in 1974.

Naively, I had expected to simply walk on the plane much like boarding a bus, similar to what my friend had experienced on his flight to London a few hours earlier.

The first indication that my experience would be different was when an EL AL sign was hung in the baggage check-in area, and a section was roped off for examination of passports and inspection of luggage.

Passport control came first. Each page of my passport was closely examined, with the visas for Iran, Iraq, and Jordan attracting the most attention. These prompted several questions and the involvement of a second officer before a third person was called over to take my passport away for further scrutiny.

Next came screening of luggage. In 1974, this meant physical inspection of each item in my bag and use of a handheld metal detector. While this was underway, the officer returned with my passport and puzzling questions about my visit to Czechoslovakia.

Prior to boarding, men and women were separated for frisking by officers of the same gender as the passengers. It felt thorough, but then, I’d never been frisked before. My camera was removed from my jacket, and I was asked to expose one photograph. This was a costly inconvenience as film and processing were expensive back then and taking photographs required measured constraint.

About 15 metres from the gate, the EL AL plane sat on the tarmac, surrounded by armed officers toting automatic weapons.

A bus pulled up as close as it could get to the gate and passengers boarded in single file. An armed officer guarded the bus and I observed two others on rooftops.

After circling the plane, the bus stopped at the bottom of the steps, and we were quickly herded on to the plane. I imagined one or two undercover commandoes were on board to deal with any threat that could potentially jeopardize our safe arrival in Israel.

Upon reflection, the strict security measures shouldn’t have been surprising. The 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Middle East hadn’t yet concluded, and Israel’s vulnerability to terrorist attacks abroad had been tragically demonstrated by the hijacking of an EL AL plane in Rome and the slaying of eleven Israeli athletes and officials at the Munich Olympics.

Nevertheless, it was such a new experience that a description warranted several pages in my travel journal.    

Confronting a spider on a scary vacation story

10. Confronting Australian Spiders

By Victoria of Guide Your Travel

While being on a work and travel visa in Australia, I decided to buy a campervan to save money on accommodation costs which can quickly add up.

The first week I just followed the road without a plan where to go next.

My only concern during that time was, where to sleep at night. I also kept an eye out on different Facebook groups where job vacancies were posted regularly. Since my savings started to become smaller each day, I have decided to take the next opportunity to make some cash .

I ended up as a waitress in an oceanfront bar and restaurant in a small town called Agnes Water.

The first week I camped in front of the restaurant, which my boss allowed me to do. After my shift ended one night at around 10 pm, my colleague and I decided to have a beer at the beach, just 50 meters away from where I parked. When we said goodnight I headed to my van where I had opened the windows before, so that fresh air came in.

When I tried to turn on the lights in the front, I noticed two shining eyes that stared at me.

I turned on the flashlight on my phone and jumped out of the car in a single leap after seeing what was sitting in front of me.

A giant spider was sitting right above my steering wheel.

I immediately called my colleague to ask for his help, but after I described the spider to him, he just laughed and said it’s probably a huntsman spider.

I, still in shock, standing barefoot in front of my van, having no idea what a huntsman is, was told I could just crush it. However, crushing the spider, as big as the palm of my hand, was out of the question, so I was on my own.

I took out my selfie stick and tried to scare away my uninvited guest with it. After a few attempts, I fortunately succeeded. At almost midnight, the spider decided to climb out of the window and then disappear into the nearby bushes.

Since I had no other option but to sleep in the van, I decided to turn the whole car inside out to see if there were any more spiders. After an unsuccessful search, I probably still had the worst night of my life.

Moral of this scary travel story : Close your van windows or risk a night faced with a giant spider.

Flooded New Zealand house in Wanaka

11. A very wet New Zealand

by Holly from Globeblogging

Twelve years after road tripping the North Island of New Zealand , I went back to do the same on the South Island in December 2019.

Public Service Announcement: don’t visit  New Zealand in December . 

While it is apparently common that NZ is pretty wet in December, 2019 was something else and the island had copped huge amounts of rain. 

By the time I hit Queenstown I had already had my seal swim and glowworm caving trip cancelled due to the weather, and I had been lucky to still take a wet drive on the one road to Milford Sound. All the shops along the Queenstown lakefront were sandbagged, ready for Lake Wakatipu to imminently burst its banks. 

My next planned stop was the Franz Josef Glacier, to which there is one road from Queenstown. It had been taken out by a landslide.

For three days I watched anxiously for updates but finally had to make the call and start cancelling everything for the next leg of my trip and working out a new route back to Christchurch to get my flight home. 

I ended up visiting Wanaka next, which was so badly flooded the lakeside tourist centre was out in the lake, the famous Wanaka tree was half submerged and despite walking around the lake I couldn’t even get close to it!

This was the same time as the volcano was erupting on the North Island, and concerned colleagues and friends were messaging me to check that I wasn’t on that island, knowing full well that climbing a volcano was something I absolutely would do. 

When I returned my car in Christchurch the rental company told me that people had been trapped in Franz Josef for days without power, and were abandoning their rental cars to hire helicopters out.

So while I am still disappointed to have missed it, it was a blessing in disguise I never made it up there!

12. Lost in the Mountains

I loved all my hikes in the Caribbean and never regretted a hike until I got lost on a trail.

When I moved to  Colombia there were many things to do . I hiked to the Santa Isabel Glacier which is a snow-capped volcano. The hike was the most extreme I have faced due to the 4,965 metres elevation which had me gasping for air.

Also, it was raining and about 1 degree Celsius which added yet another obstacle.

I was determined to get to the glacier, but I could not keep up. The guide told me that he had to go ahead with the rest of the team so just keep going, but at 12pm, start going down.

And that was the last I saw someone.

Eventually the glacier came into view, so I paused to take pictures. Then it was 12pm so as I was told, I turned back to start walking down as he said.

After about 15 minutes, I started to get concerned that I was still not seeing anyone, and I was not sure that I was even on the right track. I thought I saw footprints, so I continued to follow them. However, fog quickly blew across and I could no longer see around.

I was afraid to continue in case I had gone off track, if I hadn’t already strayed.

I began calling out for help, but no one responded. I began to panic, what would happen if everyone had already gone? Was I lost?

I sat on a rock and started to cry.

I thought about what food I had and how I would ration it. I thought about what wildlife was out there, pumas being the scariest one mentioned.

I immediately stopped myself and again started screaming at the top of my lungs but still, no response.

It was half an hour later and I still had not moved due to the fog then finally, someone shouted back “hello.”

I could not have been any more relieved! I started to cry again, but this time happy tears that I had been found…by the guide who had left me! Even though his descent was too quick for me, I definitely was not risking losing him again and just followed. Finally, we had made it back to the cars that took us back to our hotels.

My grand advice, which seems obvious in hindsight, is to never lose sight of your guide!

13. Sometimes, Stay ON The Beaten Path

by Shireen from The Happy Days Travels

We’d arrived in Penang in the North of Malaysia to spend a few days eating delicious street food, experiencing the blurring of Malay, Chinese and Indian cultures and going on day trips around the Island.

One of the most popular day trips is  visiting Penang Hill  which is a group of 10 peaks with various things to do including several hiking routes. We opted for the main trail which is a 5km circular loop around Penang Hill. 

The walk was so peaceful with things to see along the way like flora, fauna and wildlife even though there were other tourists and cars passing by. We reached the cafe just off the trail and headed back onto the loop when after about half an hour we realised that it was spookily silent with no tourists, cars or wildlife passing us any more. We tried to check for maps when we realised none of our phones had any signal.

And this was the first time my stomach jumped to my heart.

We made the mutual agreement to walk back by ourselves instead of heading further off the beaten path (that we unintentionally found ourselves on) when we saw one person on a motorbike. We flagged him down for directions. Before asking he said to us ‘you cannot be here, this is a military base’ and we all looked at each other in a telling way.

On our way back toward the cafe, we found a pink sign amongst leaves of a military person holding a gun to a trespasser! Obviously this was a true horror travel story moment with the realisation of what could have happened because we were on the wrong path.

My flight mode kicked on and I walked as fast as I could. Continuing the walk, we also noticed many signs saying ‘dilarang masuk’ which, after a later Google translation, meant ‘no entry.’ 

When we finally made it back to the cafe, we hitched a ride back and I‘ve never been so thankful to make it out of that situation.

Sometimes you should just stay on the beaten path.

Glacier National Park before the bear sighting that caused Rebecca's travel horror story

14. An Unexpected Bear Encounter

by Rebecca of Whatever Packs Your Bags

You know when someone is talking to you, and you can’t quite make out what they are saying? How about when 30 people are yelling at you and you still can’t quite make it out… and then you do, and the word “BEAR” has never held so much meaning in your whole life.

I should back up though, first things first location, location, location:  Glacier National Park . The views are awe-inspiring, seriously breathtaking.

You cannot take a bad picture here, unless your finger is covering the camera, which only happened a couple times.

Everywhere you look are the most beautiful landscapes, mountains, waterfalls, and lakes you have literally ever seen in your entire life. It feels untouched, even though you are in a national park with hundreds, maybe thousands of other people.

You get caught up in the raw beauty of it all.

The Park Ranger told us Many Glacier was the place to go hiking. Seeing a glacier, since we were visiting Glacier National Park, feels like the thing to do, right?

The Ranger reminded us that you will need the bear spray — don’t forget the bear spray!

We got to the trailhead, for the hike up to Grinnell Glacier, and what luck there was a place to park. We were warned parking can be hard to come by, so we were super excited. We filled our water packs, took a potty break, and headed up the trail.

Then we figured out why there is parking, because in 2.6 miles the trail is closed for bear activity. Super sucks, but we are already out there, so we decided it was best to make the most of it. Maybe the bear will move on, and the trail will open back up?

We made it to where the trail was closed, disappointed and trekked down the mountain side, crossed a cute little 1-person bridge, walked about 10 yards, and took a break by Swiftcurrent Lake.

The boat was taking people across the lake, so we sat down and put our hot and sweaty feet in the glacier fed water.

Everything is going just fine: the water is freezing, the snacks are yummy, the people are yelling… THE PEOPLE ARE YELLING… “BEAR”… AT US!!!!

Adrenaline is pumping, you know how you wonder what kind of person you are in a crisis, well we were about to find out…

(Also, side note to future helpful people, if you see a bear going toward a group of people, just yelling BEAR doesn’t help) 

Not knowing which direction, the bear was coming from, and having the yelling people not specify their left or your left?!!! Not great.

I screamed at the top of my lungs “STOP” with the hand signals to match, then pointed “this way” or “that way”. Luckily, that got their attention, and the answer was this way, now we knew the direction the bear was coming from.

We then had to make a split-second decision. Luckily the blood was pumping because I wouldn’t have chosen to wade through a glacier fed lake 5 minutes before.

We waded across, pushing, pulling, and a little carrying involved to make it to where the lake and a significant portion of reeds are between where we were and where the bear was now. 

I will mention that in all this time we never actually saw the bear, which is a little safer and just a little disappointing.

In the meantime, there was a little crying, a little grateful to be alive, and a little regret for the shoes we left behind and the feet that are now more than a little worse for wear. 

The Park Ranger comes sideling up the path, cool as a cucumber and asks if we saw a bear.

We told him there was a bear, and we left our shoes.

He says, “No worries. I’ll go check it out and your shoes will likely be saved.”

Two of our group head back (with the Ranger of course) and get the shoes. They also meet up with a guy who videoed the encounter.

Fun fact the bear wasn’t coming for us. He was using the path and bridge (that was only 10 yards away from where we were moments before). He scratched his butt on the bridge and moved on.

Apparently, bears don’t wanna walk through the cold glacier water, or prickly reeds either. 

We made it back to the trailhead in the fastest 2 miles ever.

Te bear activity sign is revised to 2.1 miles ahead.

Now we know to always trust bear warnings.

15. The Bite is Worse than the Bark

by Rosanna of Rosanna Etc

In summer 2005, just before my 21st birthday, I finished my university degree and booked a celebratory holiday to the Greek island of Crete with my then boyfriend.

We landed at around 6pm and got to our hotel in Gouves really quickly, so decided to go for an evening walk to get a drink.

All of the bars and restaurants ran along a road next to the beach, so we decided to walk along the sand rather than the pavement.

That’s when I saw a dog playing in the water about 50 feet away from us.

I remember remarking on the dog to my boyfriend, as I love animals, but the dog sadly did not feel the same way.

It attacked and ran towards us snarling and barking. As it got closer I panicked and ran away back to the road. I had to climb up a small wall and scraped my shins all up the concrete, and that’s the last thing I remember.

I was then hit by a man riding a moped travelling at speed down the road. I do not remember anything from this point until a couple of days later.

I was knocked unconscious briefly, and then was in a semiconscious state whilst an ambulance was called and I was taken to the private hospital nearby, where all tourists go if they are injured.

I was given a CAT scan and it showed I had swelling on my brain and head injuries. I needed to see a neurologist, but theirs was on vacation so I was then taken to the state hospital instead.

I had more X-Rays that showed my left arm was badly broken and my right ankle bone was chipped. My arm needed surgery and was put in a cast up to my armpit as you can’t go under general anaesthetic whilst your brain is swollen, and I therefore had to stay in this hospital for monitoring purposes.

I have false memories of this whole period, which is something that happens to people who get amnesia. Their brain pieces together ‘memories’ made from stories people have told them about what happened, but they aren’t real.

My real memories start again two days later in a strange hospital ward full of Greek people where the only English the nurses spoke was the word “pain?” and if I said “yes” then they would give me drugs.

Eventually after 2 weeks I was able to leave, and my travel insurance company arranged flights home and assistance at the airports.

I went straight from London Heathrow airport to the hospital, and had surgery on my arm the following day where they had to screw metal plates onto my bones to hold them back together. I still have the metal plates in my arm, plus some pretty hefty surgical scars.

My arm and hand were completely frozen and stiff from being in a cast for so long, and I had to have intense physio to be able to move it again.

I couldn’t cut up my own food, or wash my own hair for weeks and also suffered from PTSD. I had flashbacks of the dog attacking me that triggered panic attacks.

The whole experience really set me back and for a long time it felt as though it really defined me, seeing as it had occurred at a point where I had been about to embark on the next chapter of my life as an adult and suddenly I was stuck, waiting to heal.

Thankfully, after time and therapy I was able to move on from this bump in the road (please excuse the pun) and now I barely think of it, except to win conversations about “what’s the worse thing that can happen to you on holiday”. 

Moral of the story : not all street dogs are friendly.

16. Getting Mugged at Knifepoint

by Julia from The Cure for Curiosity

We’ve all heard those travel horror stories about how “unsafe” some cities are. Rio de Janeiro,

Brazil is definitely one of those cities.

Surrounded by favelas and infamous for its high crime, beach goers are told to beware of mass lootings and robberies, and taxis run red traffic lights at night as a safety measure.

Unfortunately, no amount of warning or safety precautions could have kept me from falling victim to the crimes of Rio.  

One evening around dusk as I was walking down the main road of Ipanema, one of the wealthier and safer areas of Rio, with a friend, there was plenty of life buzzing around us. Then, as we continued our leisurely stroll down the populated road, you could feel the atmosphere change as a group of young men came racing down the sidewalk single file.

This separated me from my friend who ended up positioned behind me, and the last youth stopped in front of me, shoved a knife in my throat, and started yelling at me in Portuguese. 

Now, my Portuguese is non-existent, but I do understand knives, so I stayed still as his friend grabbed my cross-body purse and ripped the leather straight down the side and off my body.

Happy with their accomplishment, the guy with the knife took off running and his friend with my purse went to follow.

As it turns out, Brazilians must not play much American football, because the guy with my purse had it held in his hands rather than protected against his body, so I reached out, grabbed it straight from his hands, and took off sprinting down the road.  

Feet pounding on the pavement and heart pounding in my chest, I ran past crowds of people yelling after these same young men who had hit multiple victims on the same road.

Fortunately, I was training for a 70.3 mile Ironman and knew my running was decent, but it didn’t keep me from worrying about getting stabbed and bleeding to death on the roads of beautiful Ipanema.

Once I could tell no one was following me, I ducked into a store and waited for my friend to catch up before calmly crossing the road and continuing on our way to our hostel .

I was lucky in that I was able to steal back my purse and nothing was truly lost besides my sense of safety and the physical purse, but not everyone is so lucky. Follow all safety precautions you can and know what to do in case of an emergency, like what to do if your purse is stolen abroad . 

La Rambla before the terrorist attack

17. Terrorist Attack in Barcelona

by Emma of The Checklist Chick

My craziest travel horror story took place on my first solo trip in 2017 to Barcelona . What started out as a day of exploring the sights, turned into the sinister scene of a terrorist attack.

I was staying in a hotel along La Rambla, the 1.2km pedestrian street in central Barcelona, where one afternoon soon a terror group would drive a van down the street mowing people down, killing 13 and injuring at least 130 others.  

Earlier that morning I started my day wandering around La Rambla before deciding to book an afternoon sightseeing tour to see La Sagrada Familia and Parc Güell, which I secured the last spot on.

Had I not gone on that tour, I probably would’ve been there when it happened.  

On the way to the last stop, our tour was cut short. We were told we could no longer continue the tour due to an incident and we were to disembark, and not go back to La Rambla.

This made me very nervous, as I was alone, lost in a foreign country, not being able to speak the local language and was told I couldn’t go back to my hotel.

Thankfully, a lovely family on my tour let me accompany them until we could get back to our hotels.  

We spent the afternoon trying to find a café or restaurant still open. We wandered with food and waited at the police barricades until we could get back.

We finally found a Chinese restaurant open with food and Wi-Fi, where we heard the news and that some of the attackers were still at large.

After trying to contact home, unsuccessfully (it was the middle of the night in Australia), we walked around to the other end of La Rambla to see if we could reach the safety of our hotels from there.

After hours of waiting, the police started escorting people back to the hotels deemed safe. I was escorted back around 10pm, when by then, the embassy and my family were trying to contact me.

I mostly stayed in my hotel for the last two days of my trip, aside from getting food and water and paying my respects at some of the many memorials that popped up along the street.

I flew home safely with a crazy story to tell my friends and family.

After this trip, I am much more careful when travelling, and actively share travel safety tips with fellow solo travellers.

18. The Strike that Cancelled Millions

By Gabby of the Office Escape Artist

I got laid off in 2015 and decided to use this new free time (which I fondly called “Funemployment”) to backpack through Europe.  My last destination was  Budapest, Hungary , where I was going to spend a few days before flying back to the United States. I was on a nighttime river cruise when I overheard some Americans talking about the “really bad Lufthansa strike.”  Since my flight was going to be in a few days, I didn’t think it was going to impact me. 

Surely a strike wouldn’t last days, right? Unfortunately, I was wrong.  That conversation happened on the first day of the strike, a strike that ended up lasting 7 days, impacting over half a million passengers and canceling over a million airline tickets. During this strike, any Lufthansa flight connecting through Germany (which is basically all of them) was canceled. 

I kept getting re-booked only to be re-canceled. 

Thankfully my hostel was super accommodating and let me continue to extend my time there on very short notice – but that was just one more thing to stress about. When I finally had enough, I tried to log into United – who I had low-level status with – to try and negotiate a return trip.  I was using the hostel computer, which meant it had a Hungarian keyboard. 

Did you know that keyboards were different for each country?

I had no idea. Trying to just log in was a struggle. 

After getting the Premier Help Desk, I tearfully told the agent that I was a solo female traveler and just needed to get home.  She ended up rebooking me to go from Hungary to Brussels to Chicago to Denver. … Unfortunately, my layover in Chicago was only 40 minutes, so I missed that connection. But after 28 hours of travel time and a 4-day delay due to the strike, I finally made it home!

Moral of this scary vacation story: Don’t underestimate strikes!

Vacation horror story of handling a giant airport line

19. The Booking Nightmare

by The Fearless Foreigner

My year teaching and living in Russia was full of memorable moments. One of the most memorable actually took place when I was trying to get back to Russia from NYC during holiday break. 

I was making the most of my last day in the Big Apple and wasn’t too concerned about the forecasted snowstorm. I headed to the airport as usual, taking public transportation.

The subway line had a detour and wasn’t running on its regular route. As a result I had to exit on a fairly deserted and snowy Brooklyn street hoping that a taxi would drive by.

I didn’t have a US phone plan and had no way of calling a taxi.

Just as I was going to give up, a taxi arrived and the driver seemed very surprised that my flight wasn’t canceled. I assured him it wasn’t. 

We arrived at the airport late, but I was happily surprised to see no lines for security. I waited in the check in line for quite awhile before I realized we were waiting for hotel vouchers and not boarding passes.

Of course they ran out of vouchers and claimed every hotel in NYC was full. Unlikely story, but this was the real start of problems with Aeroflot Airlines.

As wifi wasn’t picking up in the airport for some reason and I had no cell data I was in quite a pickle. I hemmed and hawed about sleeping at the airport . I tried to buy a sim card from a vending machine. Luckily I knew the city well and eventually asked a taxi driver to drive me to one of the nearby airport hotels. 

Upon arrival the hotel was booked, but they were kind enough to let me use their wifi to book another hotel.

The real problem came with getting a taxi, everyone that the hotel called wouldn’t come. Each one I would reserve on Lyft would cancel after 10 minutes. By the time a taxi finally agreed to pick me up it was almost 2am. 

Once at the hotel, my booked room wasn’t available anymore. Remember that card I used to try to buy a sim card? It was flagged as fraud and because I used it to book my hotel room they had canceled my booking.

It took an hour, but they finally got me a room. 

As Aeroflot wouldn’t reschedule bookings online I had to be up bright and early the next morning to return to the airport. For the next two days I was in lines to reschedule my flight. It was the most disorganized mess you could ever imagine.

It was more than 3 days later when I arrived in Russia.

Moral of the story : Check if your flight is cancelled before you go to the airport.

Istanbul's Blue Mosque

20. The Horrible Hotel Cancellation

By Jess of Tourist to Travellers

Every year my husband and I look forward to spending some time away in a foreign land, exploring a different culture, basking in the history of the place, trying new cuisines , and meeting new people along the road.

One thing we have learned from our travels thus far is that no amount of planning can prepare you for what’s in store when you step out.

Back in 2016 when we planned our very first big budget trip to Turkey , we were all gung-ho and super excited. We were in for surprises from the very first day we landed in Istanbul.

Somewhere in the middle of the trip when we were in a beautiful place called Kas, a night before we were to arrive in  Oludeniz, Fethiye  we received a call that shocked us. The hotel manager of the hotel in Oludeniz called to inform us that our reservation was cancelled as the hotel management had changed and the new management plans to shut the hotel temporarily. 

Having paid for the stay beforehand we were scared whether we would receive any refund. Where would we stay?

This incident alone would not have scared us but having my wallet stolen on the very first day in Istanbul followed by this made me burst into tears.

The manager informed us that he would meet us at the bus stop the next day in Fethiye. Luckily for us he was true to his word. He not only came to pick us up in his own car but he also put us up in a 5 star hotel right on the Oludeniz beach at no extra charge to us.

We were so happy that something that upset me a lot the night before turned into a boon the next day thanks to the kindness of a stranger.

Moral of the story : Sometimes you need to cry out the frustration to find a solution.

An empty train station from Ellie's travel horror story

21. The Train to Nowhere

By Ellie of Soul Travel India

Towards the end of my 6 week solo travels around Rajasthan – the largest state in India – I was leaving Jaisalmer in the far north west.

Famous for its camel desert safaris and crumbling sandcastle-style fort, I’d been disappointed by Jaisalmer, which had turned out to be full of the more than usual number of hard-core tourist touts and fervent would be local  Romeos  who would not take no for an answer.

My initial plan to stay for a week got cut to a couple of days, and I happily booked my train out to leave and head back to Delhi.  Trains in India  take hours, and often depart and arrive in the middle of the night. So the usual advice of travelling during daylight hours for solo female travellers sounded good in theory, but was impossible to follow in practice.

Arriving at Jaisalmer station at 11pm for my midnight train, my rickshaw driver asked to see my ticket and what train I was getting. I ignored his request, but told him my train, before he proceeded to tell me how bad that train was and that it was very unreliable.

I rolled my eyes and strolled off – suspecting yet another “come and book another train from my friend’s travel agency” story. I happily sat down on the station platform, surrounded by other travellers.  30 minutes passed when an announcement came on. “we are sorry to announce that train to Delhi is delayed by 11 hours.”

Bugger. That was my train.

11 hours late?! That meant it would be due to roll in the following morning at 11am, and I had a whole night ahead of me.

I counted my options. I couldn’t go outside and get a rickshaw by myself back into town, as it was pitch black and completely unsafe to do so alone at that time of night. I browsed hotels on my Booking app, frantically looking for ones that looked good and trying to call them to make a booking and get a pickup. No-one was answering.  As the clock ticked closer to midnight, I eventually went into the station to ask about “retiring rooms” (basic hotel style rooms which are rented out at stations in India). They were all full.

At the ticket office, when I asked about other friends, the clerk shouted “general” to me for another train to Delhi. At the time I had no idea what General class was, but I didn’t want to find out.

Eventually, seeking help from the station master, I was told to stay inside the station, where there were people sleeping on the floor and around, and that I’d be fine.  I wasn’t so sure. In one corner, a group of drunk soldiers returning home sporadically burst into song and started punching each other. In another corner a large family lay out their sleeping bags on the floor.

I got as close to the women as I could.  It’s fair to say I didn’t sleep a wink. As soon as the morning light came, I booked myself into the nicest hotel I could find to sleep for a few hours, and try again on another train.  My train never did show up at all. I left Jaisalmer the following day via another route, and met the most amazing group of travel companions that I am still in touch with today. 

Moral of the story : Double check the type of transportation you book.

Car being towed on a road trip vacation horror story

22. Road Trip from Hell

by Alanna from Periodic Adventures

My boyfriend and I have been together for 10 years, but during our first year together, we took our first vacation…which did not go as planned.

Since we’re both from  Los Angeles , we took a road trip through California and planned to hit Yosemite National Park and Lassen National Park. It was a 5 day trip in August to see the highlights then return home.

We took my trusty steed – my 2000 Toyota Camry – and started off without a hitch. We spent a day in Yosemite where we saw redwoods and the epic Tunnel View with Bridalveil Falls, El Capitan, and Half Dome in the distance.

Next, to explore Lassen National Park, we decided to set up base in Corning, California , a very small town that’s typically just for passersby.

At the time, there was a forest fire within Lassen National Park, but prior to our trip, you could still go to some parts so we carried on. However, when we drove to the park from Corning, we were passed by waves of firetrucks.

It felt like a bad omen.

Soon, my  oh so  trusty steed started smoking, perhaps in solidarity with Lassen National Park.

Luckily, there was a mechanic nearby.

He said it was likely the transmission but if we just refilled the transmission fluid frequently, we’d be okay.

We turned back to Corning to be safe, filling up with transmission fluid twice along the way. As we took the highway exit for Corning, my car died.

We had to have it towed to a local mechanic in Corning, who said the transmission was shot.

So here we were in the middle of summer, stranded 7.5 hours from home.

In the end, we spent 4 days in Corning, walking to the bowling alley and swimming at the hotel waiting for rescue. My mom drove up to take us back home and after my car got fixed, it was shipped back to us at home.

What an adventure!

Moral of the story : Get a second opinion on your car’s engine issues.

23. A Series of Unfortunate Events

by Tiffany of Pennies, Places, and Paws

I love traveling in the spring because it is not as hot (we do a lot of camping and hiking), it’s more budget-friendly, and there tend to be fewer people.

Unfortunately, spring also brings rain and occasionally floods. 

Last spring, I had planned a trip traveling all around Kentucky and had pre-booked all of our cave tours and campsites. My husband and I were super excited about our 7-day adventure.

Of course, it ended up raining every day of our trip.

By the 4 th  day, we began hearing about floods throughout the state. Multiple attractions including some cave tours were being shut down in the area due to flooding. 

Our cave tour for the next day was scheduled at Lost River Cave right when they opened. We drove the 2 hours just to arrive as they called my cell phone to tell me all tours were going to be canceled that day.

We were a little bummed out but I was prepared with several backup plans to our itinerary.

We also learned that one of our campsites for later in the week was also going to be closed and our reservations were canceled. We quickly reviewed our other options and booked a different campsite for that night.

Battling some minor frustrations over the inconveniences of the morning, we decided to replace our canceled cave tour with the Stateline Whiskey Tour which had 2 of the 3 stops en route to our campsite for that evening.

We were going to save the third and final distillery stop for a future vacation because it was just across the border in Tennessee . 

When we arrived at the 2nd distillery, we discovered that we had gotten a flat tire. This distillery was in Amish country and the closest tire place was at least 30 min away. 

We were able to put our spare tire on just in time for the distillery tour and tasting to begin. After the tour, we called several places in order to find a shop that had the right size tire in store. (Most stores were telling us that it would take at least a day to get the correct size tire in.)

We found a Discount Tire 40 minutes away in Tennessee that had one in stock. 

As luck would have it, this was near the 3 rd  and last distillery of the Stateline Whiskey Tour. We were able to get a new tire and finish the whiskey tour which made having to change our plans yet again at least mostly worth it.

When going on a road trip I highly recommend going over this  Road Trip Car Checklist . Because we were properly prepared, we were able to quickly make the needed adjustments to our itinerary and not be forced to wait for someone to help us with our flat tire.

Peta and Jona getting tested on their cruise

24. Cruising During Covid-19

Recommended by Peta and Jonas of Exit45 Travels

What was it like  cruising during coronavirus ? We have been asked this question by many people so here is our experience:

We boarded Costa Victoria late in February 2020 in Mumbai, India for a month long repositioning cruise ending in Venice. A couple of weeks prior to flying out to Mumbai, we heard concerning reports of Covid cases confirmed in Italy and other parts of Europe. 

We contacted our travel agent and Costa on several occasions to ask for an update on whether our cruise would be going ahead as scheduled and what safety precautions would be taken at embarkation. All news was positive and we were confident the cruise would not sail if there were concerns over safety.

Upon boarding Costa Victoria on Day 1, we were really looking forward to our month-long cruise including 3 full days in the Maldives, Petra in Jordan, and Dubrovnik and Split in Croatia.

Ship life on the day and evening of embarkation was cheerful and festive. 

Unfortunately, it was on Day 2 that we heard our first lot of bad news and alarm bells started ringing.

The Maldives Authorities had contacted Costa and said they would not allow the ship to port if there were any Italians on board, as Italy was now quickly becoming Covid-19 hotspot No.1.

All Italian passengers were forced to disembark.

Of course, we felt for all the Italian passengers, but at the same time those of us still on board were thankful to Costa for making such a tough decision so the rest of the passengers could enjoy The Maldives.  

This feeling was short lived as we received a notification on Day 3 that The Maldives had refused the ship entry. From this day on, each evening we would arrive back to our room with letters from Costa advising ports were being cancelled, and alternative ports taking their place.

The cruise itinerary was not at all the cruise we had booked, but we made the best of it and still enjoyed the ports we did get to see. 

Our last day on land was Day 13 in Salalah, Oman and this was also when all on-board entertainment ceased. We were not allowed into any ports from this time forward and spent many days floating at sea while arrangements were made for our disembarkation.

On Day 24, the order came from the Captain that we were in lockdown in our cabins and were under no circumstances allowed to leave our rooms. We remained locked in our cabins for a further 7 days until finally disembarking in Rome and then being escorted by armed guards to the airport. 

The experience was very memorable, but not one we would like to repeat any time in the near future.

Moral of the story : Pandemics are no joke.

25. The Language Confusion

by MacKenzie of Rainbow Travel Life

I was coming down off a glorious  trip to Barcelona  and Madrid, cruising down the streets of El Centro, Madrid with my rolling Ikea luggage (yes, I looked as ridiculous as I sound).

I was on my way to the next glamorous destination – Lisbon – and my hostel was less than five minutes from the metro. From there, it would be an easy hour train ride to the airport.

Except it wasn’t.

I arrived at the station and immediately beelined for the train Google Maps told me to take. Except when I got to the platform, it was closed. T

here was a sign with directions on how to take a different train/route.

Unfortunately, my Spanish was basic, and I couldn’t understand where I was supposed to go. I spent ten minutes trying to reroute, scouring the internet – anything I could think of. Google was now saying I’d miss my flight.

It wasn’t updating the closed train, but it could tell me I wouldn’t make my flight? Thanks a lot, Google.

At this point, I had to forcibly breathe and remind myself panicking in a foreign country , alone, with a dying phone and a plane to catch, would get me nowhere. Once I calmed down, I turned and – “AHA!” – a help desk! With no one in it… I wandered to another help desk. Also empty.

I walked back and forth between the two desks, but no one ever came.

At this point, I was desperate. I needed to get to the airport. I don’t know what possessed me, but I went up to the next person who read the sign – and they could read it!

They were also going to the airport, and suddenly we were off! But I watched the clock tick down and I just knew – I wouldn’t be making my flight.  I walked away from the check in desk in a daze. I found myself bawling in the bathroom, utterly ashamed. Dozens of thoughts swirled in my head, and I did the only thing I could think of – called my mom. 

It was 3am in the US, but her phone was on for me – just in case. She answered in a panic, and my crying didn’t help.

Aftering calming me down, my wonderful parents bought me a new ticket to Lisbon. And after a few minutes, I was off to the check in desk, not quite recovered but moving forward anyway.

There are so many mistakes and ways many of these things could have been prevented – travel insurance is a big one, but so is relying less on technology, being more open to asking questions, and recognizing that mistakes will happen no matter how well seasoned you are. No one is exempt from screw ups, mistakes, or hiccups in life.

26. Learning to Plan Contingencies

by Martha of May Cause Wanderlust

My vacation story is like one of those horror movies when you know what’s going to happen; you can see the bad stuff coming, but can’t stop it from happening!

I had been meticulously planning a trip to a dream destination (to Peru, where I was going to  hike the Inca Trail ). But what I didn’t plan well was the flights.

I was flying from London to Lima via Amsterdam with a connection time of only 55 minutes.  It crossed my mind that this might not be enough time.

But I told myself the airline wouldn’t sell a flight with a high chance of missing the connection. Right?

When take-off from London was delayed, the sense of dread set in. 

Other passengers spoke to flight staff, who made calls to find out their connecting gate numbers, so they could head straight there when we landed.

Great, I thought: that will help me too!

But I couldn’t get the attendants’ attention to ask if they could do the same for me.

When I eventually did, they said it was too late, they could no longer make any calls.  Argh!

We landed 30 minutes late, so I got off the plane as quickly as I could, rushing past other passengers. I found out where my gate was and I realised it was the other side of the airport.

So I’m running through Schiphol, which happens to be the 3 rd  busiest airport in Europe – and huge!  I have to pause to use my asthma inhaler, but I keep running!

Finally, I get to the gate with 5 minutes to spare, so I think I’ve made it!  BUT the gate staff tell me that they can’t let me onboard.  I can see the plane, but I’m too late to board it. 

I had one of those The Graduate moments, hands on the glass, screaming ‘noooo!’.

I realised that instead of spending the first 24 hours of my dream trip in Lima, I’d be spending it at an airport hotel (some soulless place off the motorway; not even in Amsterdam!). And not only that, but I would be without my belongings, because it was too complicated to retrieve my bag from the system.  

So the lesson is, allow more time for connecting flights than you think you need – and always pack some essentials and a change of clothes in your carry-on, just in case! 

Honeymoon shot after their travel horror story was resolved in Jamaica

27. Why You Need the right proof of vaccination

By Adam McConnaughhay of CartagenaExplorer.com

My wife and I had planned our honeymoon in Jamaica, a place we had both never been and wanted to see.  

We knew one of the requirements to enter Jamaica and board the flight from Colombia was having proof of having the Yellow Fever vaccine, which we both had.

Or so we thought.  

Turns out my wife’s vaccine record was only acceptable for domestic use, not international travel.  The airline would not let us board our flight from  Cartagena  to Montego Bay.  Our flight happened to be very early in the morning as well.

Our only option was to wait several hours and go to the health office after they opened to have her vaccine documentation transcribed from the little white piece of paper to the little yellow WHO book that was required.  

Fortunately, we were able to get a flight to Kingston later in the day and still reach our destination in Port Antonio, although we did have to pay quite a hefty difference in cost.

We ended up still having a terrific time in Jamaica, but definitely learned the lesson to make sure you always have your travel documents, whatever they may be in order.  

Not to mention, be sure to keep those little yellow vaccine booklets safely guarded!

28. Getting Dengue Fever in Indonesia

by Sanne of Spend Life Traveling

I finally made it to Bali.

The island had been on my bucket list for a while so I was excited to get there and explore as much as I could.

Ubud was our last stop, where we stayed in a cute but very basic hotel. No air conditioning, simple rooms, an open-air lounge / breakfast area, and a lot of mosquitoes.

I love trying local street food, which we did wherever we could find it, and we walked a lot, in the heat. So when I started feeling a bit sick I wasn’t surprised.

Probably a minor heat stroke or maybe a mild case of food poisoning.

My time in Ubud was unfortunately up, my friend flew home and I flew to Bandung, the capital of West Java.

I remember feeling exhausted. But hey, it was hot in Bali, and traveling can wear you out.

In Bandung I was meeting my family, who flew to Indonesia to attend my uncle’s wedding. And, since my family isn’t into roughing it when traveling, I met them in a comfortable 4-star hotel.

And that is when I collapsed. I literally, and I’m in my 30s so this is a little embarrassing, fell into my mother’s arms. I just felt so tired!

So, in the comfortable air conditioned hotel room I fell asleep, looking forward to feeling like myself again the next morning.

But that didn’t happen. The next morning I couldn’t get out of bed. Walking felt like someone was sticking needles into my feet.

The hotel staff was incredible and got a doctor to come to my room, to run some tests. 

Dengue fever was the diagnosis.

Well ok. I’ve lived in the Caribbean and know quite a few stories of people who had dengue fever. A few days in bed, feeling extremely tired and unable to do anything.

I can deal with that, especially in a comfortable hotel, surrounded by family!

Well, no. Apparently there is a type of dengue fever called dengue hemorrhagic fever, which is a lot more serious and potentially lethal.

And unfortunately that’s what I had.

Although I didn’t know that yet. I insisted on just staying in bed, because I was convinced I’d feel better soon.

The next day I definitely didn’t feel better and the hotel staff, thankfully, convinced me to take another blood test. The results weren’t good and I was taken to the hospital.

I remember getting out of bed, determined to walk out of the hotel myself. But I literally couldn’t walk. It hurt too much. So, I was put into a wheelchair and taken to the hospital.

I spent 5 days in the hospital initially getting worse, with the doctor’s faces looking more and more serious.

But then all of a sudden things got better. The blood tests I had to do twice a day finally showed improvement and I started to feel a little stronger again.

My Visa was about to expire and I had no idea if a hospital stay was a valid reason to overstay a Visa. So, with some convincing I got my doctor to discharge me and I flew home the next day. 

But it took several months before I felt completely back to normal! 

And yes, I now know that dengue fever really isn’t something to take lightly.

If you go to Bali or anywhere else where there is dengue fever, be careful, use plenty of mosquito repellant and cover up when you can!

Two cars driving down dirt roads on a scary vacation story to get to a hospital

29. Malaria on Mount Bintumani

By Alissa of Exploringwild.com 

The nausea started a few minutes after summiting the tallest mountain in  Sierra Leone . Then the fever kicked in.

As I slipped and slid down the steep path behind the local guide, all I could think about was reaching the village where my luggage – and an emergency malaria test kit and treatment – would be waiting.

In the village I pitched my little tent and collapsed inside, zipping the door closed against the ring of staring children. I squeezed a few drops of bright red blood from my pricked finger onto the test strip and waited.

A solid pink line gradually appeared and confirmed I had malaria, the West African variety, known to kill within 24 hours.

I was at least a day away from medical care. I popped the first of the three treatment pills I’d been carrying since Uganda and passed out in a feverish haze.

The next morning, a lovely group of American NGO workers offered me a seat in their Land Cruiser on the way back to civilization. I gladly accepted, avoiding a long and bumpy ride on the back of a motorbike.

The journey still took all day and included a flat tire, but at least there was air conditioning and good company.

Back in Makeni they took me into their house and invited me to stay until I felt better. After months of traveling solo amidst the unfamiliar cultures of Africa, the social and cultural connection was medicine for my soul as well as my health. The malaria treatment worked, and in three days I was ready to continue my journey toward Liberia. 

Though I had felt awful, my new friends agreed my malaria case was relatively mild.

This is probably because I was already taking prophylactics (which are not 100% effective) and started treatment right away.

Test kits and treatment are available at any local pharmacy in sub-Saharan Africa, and I’m so glad I thought to buy them before traveling to a remote area.

For the millions who die from malaria each year, the story doesn’t end nearly so well. As a traveler it can be uncomfortable to have privileges and access that local people don’t. I was fortunate to recover fully, make new friends in the process, and gain new awareness of a preventable disease that affects so many people around the world.

Team of people helping Lara off the blob

30. When Water Sports Go Wrong

by Lara of The Best Travel Gifts

It was a beautiful sunny morning. I had just finished my free (and delicious) breakfast at the hostel at San Pedro La Laguna (Guatemala), and I was loving my solo trip through Central America.

Not quite the beginning of a typical horror story right? (Unless you’ve already checked the photo then you might have an idea of where this story is going).

On this beautiful morning, me and two guys decided we were going to jump on the Blob that was on the lake in front of the hostel.  It’s this thing where one person jumps on one end of the Blob and then launches the other person into the water.

Except, they never had a chance to jump.

Because as soon as I landed I noticed something was wrong with my back.

Luckily, I could still feel and move my toes, which I took as a sign that I wasn’t paralyzed yet. But I was still laying on a big air bag, on a lake, and with something not feeling alright with my back.

Miraculously, a group of men was able to get me on this wooden shelf and on the shore safely. I say miraculously because they were in boats, canoes, and on this air thingy that moved around. If I had fallen in the water or if I had accidentally made a wrong move…

Well, I don’t even want to think of what might have happened.

I was taken to a hospital about two and a half hours away, through mountains and hairpin turns.

After an MRI scan, they told me I had a compression fracture in my T12 vertebra and that I needed surgery, immediately.

Long story short, I had the surgery there. They placed some rods and screws to stabilize the fracture.

And again, luckily, everything went well.

Obviously, I was still in a lot of pain. I had also lost a lot of blood and needed a blood transfusion after the surgery. But the surgery had been successful.

I consider myself blessed for the people who were around me that day and for the fact that at the time of writing this (about two and a half years after my jump), I am actually training to run a marathon!

Moral of the story : Avoid blobs. Or at least find out if there’s proper jumping procedure.

Tripping Up Podcast

Want more travel horror stories?

Check out my podcast: Tripping Up!

Tripping Up is a comedy travel podcast that celebrates the times when travel goes off the rails.

I’ve chatted with travel writers, podcasters, and bloggers about their vacation horror stories. Together, we’ve laughed our way through hippo attacks, losing contacts in the middle of a mountain climb, getting caught at Everest during an earthquake, and much more!

Join me on Tripping Up, where you’ll also find out what weird souvenirs people have collected in their travels.

Find Tripping Up wherever fine podcasts are given away for free!

Travel Insurance

No one wants things to go wrong on their trip, but sometimes accidents happen – as you can tell from these scary vacation stories.

When things don’t go to plan, have Safety Wing on your side. You don’t need the added stress of dealing with medical bills, lost luggage, or delayed flights when things are going awry. You need a travel insurance provider you can trust to get you through the stress and be accessible 24/7.

Whether you need short-term, long-term or budget-friendly coverage, Safety Wing has your back.

I’ve always been able to rely on them when I’m sick abroad, have had flight cancellations, or had something lost/stolen (these things do happen!). I even used them to help me out when I have my travel horror story experience of getting a parasite in Morocco.

Find out how much it costs to protect your trip today with Safety Wing travel insurance.

Wrap Up of Travel Horror Stories

Whew! I’m glad not all of those scary travel stories came from me.

Sometimes travel really can go horribly wrong. But that’s not a reason to stop travelling.

For every travel horror story and lost piece of luggage, there are 10 amazing stories of seeing wild penguins , skydiving , or visiting a miraculous place.

I sort of love the messy moments of travel. Those are the times that help test your resilience and prove that you’re stronger than you think you are.

Plus, they make amazing cocktail party anecdotes!

Do you have a travel horror story? Share it with me in the comments!

Related Posts:

  • How to Find a Doctor While Travelling
  • The Time I Spent $400 on Taxis in Dunedin
  • 10 Mistakes First-Time Solo Travelers Make
  • Benefits of Travelling Alone: 20 Pros and Cons of Solo Travel

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Nina Clapperton is the founder of Nina Out and About. She has lived in 18 countries in the past 10 years, explored more than 30 countries, and has done most of it solo. A Canadian native, she also shares her favourite things to do in the True North. She helps over 100,000 people per month plan their expat adventures and Canadian trips.

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How to avoid health insurance horrors on vacation

This article was published more than 8 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

no travel insurance horror stories

Make sure any activities you plan to do on vacation, from zip-lining to scuba diving, are covered under your policy. Gemunu Amarasinghe/The Associated Press

The Question

My husband and I do a lot of travelling. We know we need private health insurance to cover medical emergencies when we're outside of our home province. But I've heard horror stories about people who bought insurance and then had trouble collecting on a claim. How do we make sure we are properly covered?

It's a good idea to think about what type of health insurance you need well in advance of a trip.

"Don't buy at the last minute. You need time to consider your options. Making a mistake can be devastating financially," says Susan Eng, executive vice-president of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP).

It's certainly true that you can invalidate your insurance policy by incorrectly answering a question or leaving out an important detail on the application form.

Will McAleer, vice-president of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada, says the vast majority – 95 per cent – of people who make claims are able to successfully collect on their insurance. But you don't want to be among the 5 per cent who run into problems.

There are many different insurance plans. To know which policy is right for you, it's important to consider two things – your current state of health and what you plan to do on your vacation.

Your Health

If you have a "pre-existing" medical condition – such as high blood pressure or chronic lung disease – then that needs to be declared up front. Many insurance companies will provide coverage in such cases – but the medical condition usually needs to be stable for a certain length of time. That can mean no recent changes in the medications used to treat the condition. The stable period can vary from a few months to a year, depending upon the policy, McAleer says.

If the condition changes between the time that you buy the policy and leave on vacation, then you must notify the insurance provider, even if it's a change for the better.

Furthermore, you can't delay diagnostic tests or fail to collect test results as a way of feigning ignorance of your medical condition. If a doctor has ordered tests for you, then this can affect your eligibility for insurance whether the tests have been done or not.

McAleer advises people to consult with their doctors if they have any doubts or uncertainties about their health. "Once you have that information from your physician, then you can have an informed discussion with the professional who is setting up your travel insurance."

Vacation Plans

If you are planning on doing specific activities during your vacation – such as scuba diving or ziplining – make sure they are covered under your policy.

"A lot of Canadians go away on vacation and do things that they might not normally do at home," McAleer says. Some policies may exclude certain activities like bungee jumping or parasailing. But, he warns, you need to be careful about the wording of the policy. "At what point does walking up the side of a volcano turn into mountain climbing, which may be an excluded activity?"

Most Canadians know they need private health insurance when they are visiting a foreign country. However, fewer people realize they may also require it when travelling in another part of Canada.

Various inter-provincial agreements make sure that your basic medical bills are covered if you need to be seen by a doctor or visit a hospital emergency department in another province. But any extras – such as an air ambulance flight back home – are not necessarily picked up by your home province. Those bills can be quite substantial.

McAleer says it's critically important to know what's in your policy. "Ask questions of the person selling you the insurance," he suggests. If you're not satisfied with the answers, then contact the insurance company directly. "All insurance companies and providers will have a toll-free number to call," he explains. "Ask the company the same questions – and be an informed consumer."

You can now buy health insurance from a wide range of sources including brokers, travel agencies, directly from the insurance firms and even online. By shopping around you might be able to find polices at cut-rate prices. But both McAleer and Eng say don't pick a policy based solely on its price.

"If you can afford the vacation, then you can also afford the extra cost of an insurance policy that will properly protect you against unforeseen medical emergencies," Eng says.

Paul Taylor is a patient navigation adviser at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre . He is a former health editor of The Globe and Mail. You can find him on Twitter @epaultaylor and online at Sunnybrook's Your Health Matters .

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Affordable Travel Insurance Tips

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Best Cheap Travel Insurance of April 2024

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate insurance products to write unbiased product reviews.

In an ever-evolving world, emergency medical and evacuation travel insurance coverage is essential, especially if you're traveling internationally. However, sports equipment coverage, pet protection, and cancel for any reason coverage are among the increasingly popular coverage options that are changing the way we travel.

Best Cheap Travel Insurance

  • HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance : Best overall
  • GoReady travel insurance : Best for trip cancellation 
  • Nationwide Travel Insurance : Best value
  • Trawick International Travel Insurance : Most popular

Compare the Top Cheap Travel Insurance Plans

HTH Worldwide HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance

  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Three plans to choose from
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Reasonable premiums
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. CFAR coverage available with some plans
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. High medical emergency and evacuation coverage
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Special coverages for pets, sports equipment, etc not available
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Limited reviews with complaints about claims not being paid
  • Trip cancellation of up to $5,000 with the Economy plan and up to $50,000 with the Preferred plan
  • Cancel for any reason insurance and missed connection insurance available with the Preferred plan
  • Baggage delay insurance starting after 24 or 12 hours depending on the plan

GoReady GoReady travel insurance

  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Offers a CFAR upgrade add-on on certain plans
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Comprehensive insurance plans include generous coverage for baggage loss, plus protection from hurricane and other intense weather-related issues
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Competitive pricing
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Online complaints about claims not being paid and non-responsiveness
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Not all more expensive plans include CFAR coverage
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Dropping rating with AM Best
  • Annual and multi-trip plans available
  • All plans include pandemic coverage for COVID-19
  • Coverage for weather-related delays, cancellations and other incidents

Nationwide Nationwide Travel Insurance

  • Trip cancellation coverage of up to 100% of trip costs (for cruises) or up to $30,000 (for single-trip plans)
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Three cruise-specific plans to choose from
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Annual travel insurance plans available
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Strong trip cancellation coverage
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Cancel for any reason coverage available
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. CFAR insurance not available with every single plan
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Medical coverage is lower than what some competitors offer

Nationwide Travel Insurance offers many of the standard benefits you might see with a travel insurance policy. This can include things like trip cancellation coverage, so you can recover pre-paid costs or trip interruption in the event your vacation is interrupted by an unexpected event. There's also baggage delay coverage and medical coverage.

  • Cancel for any reason coverage available

Trawick Trawick International Travel Insurance

Trip cancellation coverage for up to 100% of the trip cost and trip interruption coverage for up to 150% of the trip cost

  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Useful for adventurous travelers headed to higher-risk destinations
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Affordable plans with varying levels of coverage
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. 10-day free look option
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Generous baggage loss replacement policy
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Trip delay coverage kicks in after just six hours
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Some policies allow a CFAR add-on
  • Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Up to $1 million medical evacuation coverage limit
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Baggage and trip delay coverages don’t kick in until after the 12-hour mark
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. International student policies available for temporary stints abroad
  • con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Complaints about claims not being paid or involving an intermediary to resolve claims

Trawick International travel insurance offers plans customized to diverse travelers' needs. We look at coverage options, claims processing, pricing, and other important factors for savvy travelers.

  • Travel medical insurance
  • Trip protection and cancellation
  • International student insurance
  • Visitor medical insurance (for traveling to the US)

Affordable Travel Insurance Reviews

So you're planning a big family vacation—if you're lucky, the trip of a lifetime. Travel costs can skyrocket quickly, leaving you feeling a bit overwhelmed. At this point, travel insurance starts to look like a potentially unnecessary cost, but is it really?

The best travel insurance plans can go a long way toward defraying unexpected costs that may arise if you're asking the right questions starting with: What does travel insurance cover ?

Best Affordable Travel Insurance Overall: HTH Worldwide TripProtector Economy Travel Insurance

The HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance Economy plan offers the most comprehensive coverage across major categories of all the providers in this guide.

You'll have some peace of mind with up to $75,000 of financial protection for eligible medical emergencies, and up to $500,000 per person for medical evacuation costs. For more everyday expenses, you can also relax with baggage loss and delay, trip interruption, cancellation and delay coverage that will help you recoup many, if not all, of your costs.

However, this plan falls short on missed connection benefits and accidental death coverage, both of which are not available under most circumstances (missed connection coverage only applies to cruises, and will only cover up to $500 per person after a three-hour delay).

Read our HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance review here.

Best Affordable Travel Insurance for Trip Cancellation: GoReady Trip Cancellation Plan Travel Insurance

The GoReady travel insurance Trip Cancellation Plan is exactly that: a cost-effective plan that offers protection in the event that your trip is canceled for a covered reason. The plan we priced out for our hypothetical trip cost just 1.16% of our total travel expenses — a very small amount of money to pay for the guarantee of our money back in the right circumstances.

The benefit is that this plan can supplement other coverage you already have, or give you a little bit of protection for a trip where you might not otherwise have opted for insurance altogether. On the downside, you won't get any protection for medical emergencies, trip interruption or delays or lost bags from this plan.

Read our GoReady Travel Insurance review here.

Best Value Cheap Travel Insurance: Nationwide Essential Travel Insurance

Nationwide Travel Insurance  is a well-rounded alternative to HTH Worldwide Trip Protector Economy. This plan offers solid protection for both travel-related snafus as well as situations that might call for emergency medical and evacuation, making it a good choice for trips where you have cause to worry about potential interruptions or delays. However, it does not offer protection for missed connections or accidental death.

Read our Nationwide Travel Insurance review here

Most Popular Cheap Travel Insurance: Trawick Safe Travels Explorer Travel Insurance

The Trawick International Travel Insurance Safe Travels Explorer plan has been purchased by more than 36,000 travelers since 2020, and it has great reviews to boot. And no wonder: Trawick offers generous trip delay coverage of up to $2,000 per person, although hopefully you won't need to reach that reimbursement amount because the daily limit is $150.

You'll also be able to rely on a $200 reimbursement per person for lost baggage - one of the higher amounts amongst these affordable plans, although this amount pales in comparison to the baggage loss coverage offered through the best travel credit cards .

Read our Trawick Travel Insurance review here.

Types of Cheap Travel Insurance

Comprehensive coverage.

This type of insurance offers extensive protection, covering everything from medical issues to trip cancellations. While it's more expensive up front, it can save you a lot in the long run.

Medical-Only Coverage

As the name suggests, this policy focuses solely on medical emergencies, making it a cost-effective option for travelers who are primarily concerned about health-related expenses.

Evacuation and Repatriation

In extreme cases where you need to be evacuated due to a medical emergency or a natural disaster, this coverage ensures that you can return home safely without incurring huge costs.

Benefits of Opting for Cheap Travel Insurance

Cost savings.

Cheap travel insurance can significantly reduce your travel expenses, ensuring that you're not overpaying for coverage you might not need.

Adequate Coverage for Less

Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's lacking. Many affordable policies offer substantial coverage, giving you peace of mind without breaking the bank.

How to Pick The Best Cheap Travel Insurance Plan for You

No single travel insurance plan will meet the needs of every single traveler. By nature, we are diverse and evolving meaning travel insurance should be equally so. Travel insurance for a week-long trip to a big city shouldn't be the same as the coverage for a backpacking expedition in the mountains. A splurge to purchase comprehensive insurance coverage may also be worth it for international ventures or other large expenditures.

In most cases, the cost difference between a basic and comprehensive travel insurance plan isn't as significant as you might think. Regardless, it's generally a good idea to choose a trusted travel insurance provider known for exceptional customer service and coverage. (For this roundup, we looked at traveler reviews shared through the travel agency SquareMouth .)

  • Assessing Your Travel Needs: Consider the nature of your trip, the destination, and your own personal needs when choosing a policy. This ensures that you're not over-insured or underinsured.
  • Comparing Different Policies: Don't settle for the first policy you find. Compare different options, looking at their coverage and prices, to find the best fit for your budget and needs.
  • Reading the Fine Print: Always read the terms and conditions carefully to understand what's covered, what's not, and the process for making a claim.

If you just want trip cancellation protection, go with the GoReady Trip Cancellation Plan. For more robust coverage that won't break the bank, consider HTH Worldwide's TripProtector Economy, Trawick's Safe Travels Explorer, or Nationwide's Essentials plan.

Yes, many affordable policies offer comprehensive coverage suitable for international travel. It's crucial to compare policies and understand your needs.

Travelers insurance is relatively cheap because it only covers you for a set period of time, and depending on your plan, the level of coverage you get may not be particularly high. However, even with high coverage limits and extras like cancel for any reason coverage , travel insurance is relatively affordable. 

The average cost of travel insurance is 4%-8% of your trip's cost. This usually translates into a premium between $89 to $399.

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Chose the Best Cheap Travel Insurance

To determine the best insurance plan for travelers on a budget, we evaluated dozens of products using a hypothetical trip to Australia for a single traveler, age 26, with a total cost of $2,500 for flight, hotel and other incidentals. We then compiled the plans that covered the essentials at the lowest costs.

Of note: All of these plans include COVID-related medical coverage and 24-hour assistance, and pay at least 100% of your trip cost for eligible trip cancellations. None include rental car coverage.

The seven winning plans cost between $29 to $74 — significantly below the typical cost of comprehensive travel insurance, which can range between 4%-8% of total travel expenses, according to the US Travel Insurance Association. But these affordable plans also come with comparably low ceilings for various aspects of coverage such as emergency medical, trip cancellation, or delay — and do not include rental car or "cancel for any reason" (CFAR) protection. So if you think you might need these benefits, it may well be worth upgrading to a comprehensive travel insurance plan for a few more dollars, just for the peace of mind.

Convenience and Flexibility

Each of the plans in this list include 24-hour assistance worldwide from reputable insurance providers. And despite being on the lower end of insurance plans, each of these options includes refunds for up to 100% of your total trip cost for eligible reasons. Each of these plans also includes medical coverage for COVID-related issues that may arise during your travels, which may come in handy as the pandemic continues to evolve worldwide.

Sufficient Coverage in Essential Categories

The cheapest travel insurance plan will rarely cover every scenario that could go awry on your trip. However, each of these plans can at least help you get your money back in the event that your travel is canceled for an eligible reason, and most of them include financial protection if you incur emergency medical bills while traveling. We also factor in what travelers are most concerned about now. 

You can read more about how Business Insider rates insurance here.

no travel insurance horror stories

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards .

Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.

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IMAGES

  1. Considering Travelling Without Insurance? Read These Travel Horror

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  2. Three insurance horror stories that will leave you scrambling to check

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  3. Travel Horror Stories (and how to avoid them yourself)

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  4. Check Out These Business Travel Horror Stories!

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  5. Why You Should NEVER Travel Alone: 5 True Horror Stories

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  6. 5 Tips for Safe International Travel (and the Horror Stories to

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VIDEO

  1. TIME TRAVEL AT SOFTWARE HORROR STORIES

  2. Horror House 🏠 || Akshay Nagwadiya || #shorts #akshaynagwadiya #ghost #horror stories ror

  3. Travel and Health Insurance

  4. Почему я больше не езжу на автобусе. Страшные истории на ночь. Страшилки на ночь

  5. Marina DeL'orville 3.19

  6. Travelers of Lonely Roads, Workers of Creepy and Late-Night Jobs Shared their Scariest Stories

COMMENTS

  1. Considering Travelling Without Insurance? Read These Travel Horror

    Needless to say, hospitalization and treatment in the US is incredibly expensive. Combing expenses and medical bills, the total was well over $12,000. Travel insurance covered everything, with a policy cost of just $74, saved more than $11,900 in medical expenses. Photo Credit: Auston from 2BT Travel.

  2. Travel Insurance Horror Stories

    I hope some of you can help me out. We've never purchased travel insurance but are now wanting to do so. Not a one time trip but an annual policy. 1. I thought I read other people saying that travel insurance carriers aren't covering anything that can in any way be COVID related. Is this true for your travel insurance company? 2.

  3. The Importance of Travel Insurance: Protecting Yourself and Your

    One of the most important reasons to have travel insurance is to protect yourself in case of medical emergencies. Without travel insurance, you may be responsible for paying for medical expenses out of pocket. This can be especially costly if you require emergency medical treatment or hospitalization. One example of this is the story of a 27 ...

  4. Do I need travel insurance? True stories by travelers

    Georgia. Wednesday 1st of April 2020. All good stories about the need for travel insurance. To the person who had to get rabies shots in Thailand, I used to live in the USA and had to get these shots as a result of an encounter with a bat. The total cost for these was in excess of $15,000 USD (about 10 years ago).

  5. Travel Horror Stories and How Travel Protection Could Help

    In fact, travel horror stories are almost always some combination of the same set of elements: Travel insurance can really help you with these situations. It's not going to chase the spiders away, but it can help you find medical attention if you're bitten by one during your trip and cover the costs. Similarly, no one is going to pop out of ...

  6. 21 Travel Horror Stories You'll Be Glad You're Not Telling

    1. A Travel Horror Story Turned Beautiful On Italy's Amalfi Coast. When I think about horror travel stories, there are a few that come to mind — because let's be real, travel isn't always the pretty picture that Instagram paints it out to be. The anecdote I'll be sharing today in the video above is one of my more dangerous travel ...

  7. No Travel Insurance Horror Stories: The Risks and Consequences of

    Without travel insurance, John was devastated to learn that he would not be reimbursed for his non-refundable flight tickets, accommodation bookings, and tour reservations. The financial blow was significant, leaving him unable to reschedule the trip or recoup any of the lost expenses.

  8. 18 Travel Insurance Stories From Travelers

    These 18 travel insurance stories from travelers around the globe prove how important great coverage is. From scuba diving to airports, road trips to carving sides of mountains - there are endless ways for costly mishaps, or worse, life-threatening injuries to catch you off guard. That's why it's so important to have to right coverage.

  9. A guide to travel insurance in 2022

    Advertisement. Bottom line: You probably need travel insurance if you're going somewhere in 2022. If you're taking lots of shorter trips, you may benefit from an annual policy. Or you can ...

  10. American woman attacked on holiday warns others to take out full travel

    But though horror stories are common , a 2019 UK survey indicated that 38 per cent of people consider travelling without insurance. This is a very bad idea, says Chris Rolland, CEO of AllClear ...

  11. Should I Get Travel Insurance? 10 Stories That Prove You Should!

    1 ) Winter Weather In Iceland. "I bought travel insurance for my trip to Iceland last year as a just-in-case guard against winter weather. We took an overnight flight to Iceland and started driving south toward Vatnajökull National Park, where we were scheduled for an ice caving trip.

  12. Travel Insurance Horror and How to Avoid It!

    An annual travel policy, for you and all the family, can often cost only slightly more than one single trip travel insurance policy. In fact, a quick quote for a couple seeking a worldwide policy reveals that for just £4.23 extra they can upgrade their single trip policy to annual cover of unlimited trips. If you are likely to travel more than ...

  13. 10 Travel Horror Stories to Inform Your Next Trip

    3. Vanishing travel companion — and money. While visiting Argentina alone, one traveler — whose story was shared on Tourradar — was delighted when a fellow tourist came up to them in Buenos Aires and asked if they wanted to explore the city together. The man suggested that they go for some food and wine.

  14. 10 Scary Travel Horror Stories And How To Avoid Them!

    Again, it's important that you have travel insurance to cover any medical costs while abroad. If you are in your 50's or 60's or older it can be more expensive and difficult to get the right travel insurance for your needs so you might like to read a post I've written especially for you: Travel Planning - Travel Insurance For Over 50s ...

  15. 10 Reddit Travel Horror Stories That'll Keep You Up At Night

    3. The Friendly Stranger. I was 18, and it was my first time travelling alone. I went to Argentina for 3 months. My first week in, and I'm wandering around Buenos Aires. At the time I knew enough Spanish to get by, and a man approaches me and asks for directions in Spanish. I tell him that I'm not from here.

  16. "Insurance Nightmares & How to Avoid Them": Real-life stories and

    Discover real-life insurance horror stories and learn essential lessons to protect yourself from common pitfalls. Be proactive, informed, and avoid insurance nightmares. ... Before jetting off, always read your travel insurance policy carefully. Make sure you are covered for a broad range of illnesses or accidents. Opt for comprehensive ...

  17. 21 Scary Travel Stories (You Don't Want To Read)

    Dave spent 8 days in the hospital undergoing CT scans, MRIs where they found that he fractured two vertebrates. The worst part was waiting for an air ambulance home. The hospital in Iquitos couldn't do anything for Dave expect try to control his pain. So he spent the week on high doses of narcotic painkillers.

  18. Travel Chaos: the 20 Worst Horror Stories From a Summer of Disruption

    Insider rounded up some of the worst horror stories from travelers hit by the summer's flight chaos. 1. Qantas booked a 13-month-old baby on a separate flight than her parents from Europe to ...

  19. Scary Insurance Horror Stories: Halloween Special

    Here's How an Independent Insurance Agent Can Help Prevent Horror Stories. When it comes to helping you prepare for unforeseen tragedies such as car accidents, house fires, workplace incidents, premature deaths, and more, no one's better equipped for the job than an independent insurance agent.

  20. 30 Travel Horror Stories You Have to Read to Believe!

    The moral of this travel horror story is not to sign something without reading it, check to make sure everything is as it should be and bite the bullet and buy a replacement, even if it does affect your budget. 👉 Find out how much it costs to protect your trip today with Safety Wing travel insurance. 3. The Airbnb Scam.

  21. How to avoid health insurance horrors on vacation

    Will McAleer, vice-president of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada, says the vast majority - 95 per cent - of people who make claims are able to successfully collect on their ...

  22. The life insurance horror stories that opened my eyes

    Before I became a financial adviser, I thought having life insurance through my employer was enough coverage. But once I heard from families who were left with nothing when a loved one who was ...

  23. Cheap Travel Insurance: Protecting Your Journey on a Budget

    Best Cheap Travel Insurance. HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance: Best overall. GoReady travel insurance: Best for trip cancellation. Nationwide Travel Insurance: Best value. Trawick International ...

  24. Travel Scams: 8 Real Travellers Share Their Horror Stories

    Travel Scams: 8 Real Travellers Share Their Horror Stories. Learn from these encounters. Before travelling to a new destination, make it a point to do some background research on the common travel scams found there. After all, it's better to be safe than sorry. However, no matter how prepared you are, you might not recognise that a travel ...