From getting chased by wild animals to crying during in-flight movies, my weekly New Zealand Herald column Travel Bugs is about all the things that can go wrong on holiday.
There’s the time I came down with altitude sickness in the Guatemalan Highlands and sought refuge at a hotel overrun by squawking parrots and an indefatigable steel-drum house band. There’s the getting food poisoning off the pizza in Burma (don’t eat the pizza in Burma) and there are the annoying airline passengers who insist on unbuckling their seat belts before the plane has fully stopped. And all of it told from the point of view of someone who knows how lucky they are to travel the world.
Travel Bugs is described as “a weekly ode to the joys of moaning about your holiday” and is done in a way that acknowledges the fun in recounting those vacation tales where not everything went to plan. From sickness to scams to pesky hotel porters, Travel Bugs has been published every Tuesday since April this year in New Zealand’s most-read newspaper, the New Zealand Herald. I’m hoping one day there might be a book.
Click on the links below to read some of my favourite Travel Bugs to date and feel free to contact me with any travel bugs of your own! And as always, thanks for reading, it’s hugely appreciated.
Awkward Homestay Conversations – Travel Bugs July 19, 2017
Curious Tropical Holiday Massages – Travel Bugs July 6, 2017
The Laos-To-Bangkok Bus Scam – Travel Bugs June 28, 2017
Rude Russians In Bali – Travel Bugs June 7, 2017
Haggling For Things You Don’t Really Want – Travel Bugs May 24, 2017
Travelling in India on an agents fam. tour 45 years ago our party arrived at the Rambagh Palace Hotel in Jaipur ready to check-in.
Our arrival seemed to be providing the front desk staff with a sudden outbreak of consternation and at that point we were informed that we were not booked.As we were guests of the Government of India Tourist Office,a call was made to Delhi in order to sort the problem.
Their reply was that although they had known three months earlier that the hotel was full, “We couldn’t tell you as you would have been so disappointed”.
I think they may have been to the same school as your flight attendant offering the non-existent meal option.
It’s events like this though that makes travelling he joy that it is.