Do Trips with no problems happen?

Yikes, remind me not to be your travel buddy.

If something doesn't go wrong then you're not being adventurous enough, but I can't think of anything that would have ruined the trip such as my friend who was in Hawaii with her sister when the sister had a heart attack. 2 weeks ago on the way back from Herculaneum to Sorrento we got on the wrong train and had to back track. But to me that's just stuff you laugh about. Never been sick, injured, pickpocketed, lost luggage, bumped from a flight....I hope I'm not jinxing myself.

Yes, I have had a trip go off without a hitch (funnily enough, it was the trip where I got hitched). Travel is part of life, and life is inherently full of problems, big and small. Unless it's truly catastrophic - life changing, life altering illness or injury - what at the time seems like a trip ruining issue turns into a funny story to tell.

I think it all depends on how you look at things. When we took our first trip to Europe with our teens, I state up front: if we make it through the trip without losing anybody, it’s a great trip. It was a 3 week road trip without a single problem: no car problems, lodgings were great, nobody got lost or sick, nobody got pickpocketed.

Our next trip (2 weeks in Spain and France), the only hiccup was we had seats assigned on the train. We got settled and soon found out we were in the wrong car. We quickly grabbed our carryon bags, but had to leave our big suitcase on the luggage rack and change cars. But our big bag was still there when we arrived at our station. Again, lodgings we’re great, nobody got lost or sick. Another great trip.

Only once has anyone had luggage not arrive with a flight, and it showed up the next day and was delivered to our hotel. Once we were bumped from a flight returning from Paris to LAX. We were paid $800 in cash (almost covered the whole cost of our trip) and flew back in first class. What a shame, right :)?

I have to admit I am an obsessive planner. Not sure if that helps, but I always have a “plan b”. I don’t book flights with short connections. I don’t book less than 2 nights in one place. I make reservations at restaurants for groups (currently planning a trip for 6). We will splurge on a taxi when needed, etc. But as much as I plan, I have to force myself to get out of the mindset that I want things to be “perfect”. Instead I think of planning a great adventure, and maintain flexibility in rolling with whatever comes along.

We travelled to Slovenia for 4 nights specifically to see Lake Bled. The day we supposed to go, it was pouring rain. So I added another day to Ljubljana and cancelled a one night stay elsewhere. Next day was gorgeous, and it was totally worth it.

No and I would not count getting selected for extra screening at the airport (SSSS) as a problem since they didn't find anything. I have even booked trips through 3rd parties (e.g. Expedia) and have never had problems. I had a flight back from Paris that was cancelled once but the airline put us in a hotel for 2 days and we were happy to stay longer at their expense and we were compensated 1200 euros when we filed a EU261 claim

I have had my fair share if 'hitches' in travel, and my restart post pandemic isn't boring any better, but when I look back at a trip, I have to think hard about what the hitches were. What I remember in the end are the wonder moments. (But I will admit spending about half my 6 weeks in India sick or recovering does still overshadow that trip. But I had people to help and made a plan B and moved on).

We too have had hiccups, but nothing major enough to ruin our good traveling mood. Last June we missed our connecting Lufthansa flight coming from Zagreb, their fault. We stayed overnight and flew home on Singapore Air premium economy. We also received about $1600 in compensation (2 of us) about 2 months later. Cannot complain about that at all.
Hope your future trips are smooth sailing.

So I was wondering does anyone ever have a trip of more then a few
days that goes off without a hitch?

I've never had such a trip. Nor would I expect to. I've certainly not kept a running list of things that have gone wrong. Nothing in life is perfect. Aside from life altering events (which, knock on wood, we've so far avoided), a lot of these bumps in the road can seem minor or major. Much depends on your mindset. My MIL would moan and complain ad nauseum at the tiniest deviation from her day. We prefer to accept that hiccups happen sometimes, take them in stride, and move on. And sometimes we look back on those hiccups and have a good laugh. Most minor annoyances quickly fade from memory.

Some people can’t handle the slightest annoyances in everyday life, and when they travel everything gets multiplied a thousand times and they can exhibit useless coping mechanisms and become the worst annoyance of all. Do I sound like I’ve had some experience with this? As with life itself, attitude is everything.

I was talking to a friend the other day kind of on this subject and we agreed “We are having fun even when we’re not.” We have laughed our way through missed trains and much more. I am grateful I didn’t have to laugh through the almost trip when her Covid booster was off by a week and none of the four of them even got to go.

I think this would not hold true with significant health issues (above mentioned heart attack) but otherwise, I think much else is perspective.

Plenty of trips with no issues. If one crops up, we consider it part of the adventure. Fortunately we’ve never had any serious issue.

For years after 9/11, and I’m sure it was always a coincidence (not), I was the “random” person pulled aside for extra screening every time I flew overseas. Sometimes I got really lucky and had two or three extra screenings. I’m certain my last name had nothing to do with it. It got so bad, my wife would stay a few people away from me boarding the plane so she didn’t get pulled aside too.

Got into Howard AFB in Panama around midnight. Was told I was leaving for Colombia in a few hours and to not be in uniform for the flight. Realized I left the keys to my duffel bag on my dinning room table back in the states. Had to find a ride to the Fire Department on base, Thank You Security Forces, so that I could use their bolt cutters to access my bag. The alarm room is manned 24/7, so I knew I had a chance of success. I did.

I just returned from Japan in March. Everything worked--perfect scenery, unsurpassed customer service, reasonable expenses, and ZERO crime. I did not have to be panic-stricken like I was in Europe. I was alone and left my phone on the table at a cafe; I returned from the restroom five minutes later--it was still there.

In urban Europe, I couldn't really feel so relaxed. Even in supposedly safe Switzerland, I experienced my share of crime several times. I don't even want to start discussing Germany and Italy, where crime was rampant and the police wouldn't do anything to help foreign tourists.

NO. they don't. It's how you cope with the problems that matters. Anything, almost, can add to the adventure.

***I don't even want to start discussing Germany and Italy, where crime was rampant and the police wouldn't do anything to help foreign tourists.***

Barkinpark - I must ask, what was your experience to suggest such a dire state of affairs?

Seems like every trip has a hiccup. It’s part of the adventure (usually in hindsight) and good stories.

Last year was the dead lady on the Genoa train tracks. Caused a 4 hour delay. How rude, didn’t she know I had tickets for Milan Duomo in 3 hours!

Sister-in-law lost her passport in Venice. Fortunately the police found it and returned it to her at our hotel. Huggy me had to give the policeman a thank-you hug only to get my phone cord wrapped around his gun. Luckily his partner saw what happened, untangled us and had a good laugh.

On a road trip I went to urgent care in Coos Bay OR with diverticulitis. The PA, no DR there, didn’t know what it was so I ended up explaining diverticulitis to her and told her what to prescribe.

Last two road trips we had car or tire problems. On one we got a call from neighbors the first night out that a wind storm came through and blew off a portion of our roof.

Years ago when we lived in Vancouver WA we did a lot of house boating at Lake Shasta CA. First year my hubby jumped off a friend’s jet boat, caught his thumb in the rope cleat and made a late night run to Redding emergency to get it set and pinned. Spent the rest of the trip with his hand in a plastic bag floating with a beer or whiskey on an inner tube (no skiing).

I’ll be happy with no disasters and no rain during June’s trip. An adventure or two livens up the trip report.

Even in supposedly safe Switzerland, I experienced my share of crime
several times. I don't even want to start discussing Germany and
Italy, where crime was rampant and the police wouldn't do anything to
help foreign tourists.

Barkinpark, are you actually saying that these countries are dangerous to visit? That everyone is a target for crime and the police never provide needed assistance? I will respectfully disagree, having lived in one, and visited in the others many times. From some of your posts, you appear to be one of the most unfortunate tourists I've ever read about. Caution and prudence is always a good thing. Paranoia and pessimism are rarely ingredients that result in an enjoyable vacation.

@Steve and @CJean--I encountered quite a bit of crime in both Germany and Italy (Rome only).

In Germany, both my husband and myself were targeted as a group or individually, in Berlin (targeted 4 times), in Köln (almost daily), and in Dusseldorf (1 time). In Köln, I was physically attacked by two big guys. I reported this to the local police, but they just couldn't be bothered to create a record.

In Rome, we were followed on the notorious bus (forgot the bus number) to the Vatican all the way to the cathedral. Also, the receptionist at my small hotel told me that thieves attempted to steal her computer numerous times before. However, outside of Rome, we have not experienced crime.

Try a wife that went out a door (per the guard's instructions) to the restroom in DeGaulle Airport. 15 minutes after she returned, everyone in the terminal had to exit including 2 loaded airplanes and all their luggage. 3 hours later, we departed. And hundreds missed their connecting flights in the U.S.

Or the time she didn't like the taste of a hamburger in Paris--and realized it was a horseburger.

We like to call them adventures.

@brushtim - I was supposed to pick up a ship at Rodman Station and missed it by a day. Had to fly up to Palmerola air base in Honduras then chopper out to the ship off the coast. My only memory of Howard was seeing all the “wannabes” hanging out in front of the club.

Wannabe = somebody who “wants to be” married to an American to get a green card to live in the U.S.

Tons of problems, every trip.
In Sicily I had an Apperol Spritz and I don’t think it had enough ice.
Coming into Rome, my luggage went all around the carousel one whole time before I got it off.
In Spain it was so hot my ice cream melted and ran down from the cone onto my hand.
And then there was that time in Germany where my pretzel fell on the floor.
In Scotland the ground was so wet my socks got wet.
I remember being in Tallinn and they were repairing a cobblestone street and we had to go another way.
One time in Laos there was no toilet paper.
Another day in Morocco someone tried to sell me a leather belt and would only take cash.

Honestly, I don’t even know why I travel anymore.

Thank you treemoss2!

I’ve never endured ANYTHING like you have, knock on wood. The SSSS thing happens to me on occasion; it’s not a big deal to me anymore, knock on wood.

I love the lightheatedness of most of the comments in this post. You're right, it is part of the adventure. My wife was full of "what ifs" on our recent trip, constantly worried about missing a bus or a train. She wasn't buying my "it's all part of the adventure " comments. But what was the worst that was going to happen? We'd take a cab or hitchhike if we had to.

I'm hoping to finish writing my Trip Report this weekend, in hindsight, day 1 was an adventure even if it didn't feel like it at the time.

Yes and no.

I’ve had trips I think back on as perfect that upon closer inspection were riddled with problems.

Sh*t happens life is not neat and tidy. A suitcase breaks, someone gets hospital level sick, a hotel is over booked, you walk into hotel room and find blood, a tour is cancelled for once in a lifetime private Vatican visit… I could name hundreds if not thousands of occasions where something crappy happened. Those are all real past experiences of mine.

IMO the key is acceptance. It’s going to rain. Something will go sideways. Trips are real life and things happen.

Keeping perspective on the joy of travel, have insurance, and remain calm as you can. Those stories make for great chatter at gatherings and sometimes end up enriching the whole story of where you went and the adventures that you overcame.

Our frequency is one in five. So four of them go off great, with no issues. It might depend on what you think is an inconvenience, and what is a disaster. Lost luggage is an inconvenience. Losing all your possessions and ID, and credit cards is a disaster. We try to mitigate against this, by distributing things in many ways. We put on the money belts before getting on a plane. Its the last line of defense. The luggage can get lost, the flight can be canceled, the connection can be missed. But we still have our passports and access to banking accounts. That's all you really need. We also establish times and places we will be at, if we are ever separated.

We have also been pulled in to a TSA questioning room twice, which I found to be amusing. Its a beautiful thing knowing you have done nothing wrong. And even the TSA agents, had no idea why we were selected for an interview. But they had to do it anyway: Its their job.

We always have an alternative to do for a day. One time we wanted to take a train some place, in Italy, and somehow that train caught on fire, and the whole line was stopped. Okay..... we go on to option number two, on our itinerary list. No problem. And though we wasted two hours, it was still fun to talk to all the the other people.
We bought some snacks to share, as did they also, and these people were from all over the world that were also stuck and waiting to see what was going on. It was fun to meet so many people and share the snacks. The line was eventually cancelled for that day, but as said, we just did something else, after seeing the train was not going to work.

2.5 hour drive to Dulles and had a flat tire. Ended up drenched in sweat and a tweaked back but we made it to the airport in time. Not a good way to begin a trip.

As a coach and teacher I know attitude is important, but had we missed that flight I don't think having a good attitude about it would have helped, and I wouldn't have considered it an adventure.

We lived in Germany for 10 years and witnessed nor heard from our friends of any crime, but that was about 25 years ago. I had some colleagues visit recently and they mentioned some of the things described above. Bummer.

Prior to Covid, almost all of our trips went off without major problems. Whenever we fly from JFK, I get pulled for extra screening even though I have Global Traveler, but I consider this an annoyance, not a real problem. In Atlanta last year, TSA pulled out my carryon and opened it because of the large Rick Steves book in it!

Since Covid, I think trips without problems are unlikely. 2 couples we know recently went to Europe on separate trips, different airlines, and their flights home were cancelled. One of the men had his phone stolen on the Rome subway. On my only trip to Europe since Covid, I got Covid and had to stay in London an extra week because of the nonsensical requirement to have a negative Covid test to get on the plane. My husband, who had been in close contact with me 24-7, tested negative, never had any symptoms, and flew home as scheduled. And of course, if I don't use my airfare credits within 18 months, Delta will pocket my money.

I define problems differently than you-If I don't get sick or hurt, lose my passport, phone or credit cards, don't have a safe place to lay my head at night, or am unable to see the things I want to see(attractions closed or no tickets available) or train or subway strikes-then I didn't have any real problems.

EDITED: I had forgotten about the bad food poisoning I got in Venice that ruined our scenic train ride in the Alps and the food poisoning I got in Russia when I ate the most delicious tomatoes-you should never eat produce that you can't cook or peel when you're in a third world country, which Russia definitely was in 1990. For comparison, I've been to Guatemala 3 times without stomach issues.

@TexasTravelMom I love what you said!

“We are having fun even when we’re not.”

We have always looked back on the hiccups as part of the adventure. Luckily, nothing as dramatic as the OP! Just last week the 6-inch deep mud through cow pastures in the Cotswolds for a mile had me worn out. Certainly not the bucolic trek we had planned, but at least it wasn’t raining (at the moment)!

The only trips I’ve ever done without some element of stress or difficulty are the ‘fly and flop’ package holiday type trips. Jump on the plane, taxi to hotel. Don’t leave for a week. Done. As soon as you start trying to hire cars, get to multiple destinations, deal with various accommodation providers then something always goes wrong at some point.

Even a simple trip to a villa in Spain last summer involved quite a few stressful moments. Google maps not working because I’d had phone roaming cut off. (thanks Brexit). I went an hour on the wrong motorway as a result and had to stop in 3 different places before I found wifi to work out where the heck I was. Agent for the villa not turning up for 2 hours because they didn’t get the message about my arrival time. More than one stressful drive on very, very narrow roads panicking about scraping the car. Anyway, it’s worth it. We all survived.

I think I’ve had one brief period of panic every trip where I can’t find my wallet, passport or phone temporarily. That’s just the result of my brain being scrambled by being in a strange room in a different country and a different language (even in the U.K. and Ireland!) Of course, I’m also likely consuming more alcohol than usual and not sleeping as much.

But, that’s hardly a ruin of a trip.

Except for getting food poisoning in Florence on New Years Eve on one trip, having a hotel room directly above a disco on another and testing positive for Covid after my return home from London last year…..nada….

Never lost luggage as I always travel with carryon.

One dreadful flight delay from Denver back to LAX. From my window seat watched as snow accumulated on the wings of the aircraft. Wasn’t happy when we nearly aborted flight as we taxied down the runway. Haven’t visited Denver since.

Oh once at LAX after returning from a trip to Turkey, the TSA agent kept asking why I was bringing a Turkey home. Annoying and amusing at the same time. Honestly, I don’t think the guy knew Turkey was a country.

Not a bad ratio considering decades of travel.

@Laurel, thanks. :) We have plenty of “stories” but never anything we couldn’t laugh at or about. That time we missed our train and had to buy new tickets, she hadn’t told her cc company she was gone, and I somehow got to Italy without mine - still makes us laugh a lot. Or the time 3 of us got on the train in Paris and 2 didn’t…..And our favorite phrase from driving in Ireland “no ambulances involved”…. Travel with its hiccups, speed bumps, and roadblocks is still pretty great.

I think death or significant illness on a trip are exceptions; but otherwise, most things (I have great lost luggage stories) just turn into a “memory”. And “making memories” really can be fun.

Trip reports where things go awry are far more entertaining than the unicorns and rainbows reports.

Let's just say "Oaxaca" and "drank the water" and then say no more on that topic.

Somehow got Giardia, on my birthday, in Carson City, Nevada. The less said about that little infection, the better.

Accidentally left a glass jar of jam in my carry-on luggage at CDG, but just got tsk'd at and had it confiscated.

Didn't know I had to use the little yellow machine to validate my train ticket in Colmar. Got tsk'd at. Could have been worse. Could have been MUCH worse.

My wife got peanuts in her food (she's deathly allergic) during our Rick Steves Paris tour and ended up on the floor in the bathroom after stabbing herself with an epipen. She was freaking out that she'd have to be taken to the hospital. Same thing happened in Oaxaca.

I still love travel.

-- Mike Beebe

treemoss… Brilliant humor.

I'm so glad that nothing like any of the above has happened to us....

there was the time driving past Salerno on the way to Paestum that a truck dropped a very large block of wood on the highway right in front of us as the road winds around the mountain in a roadworks area. One blow out as I drove over it. Traffic and trucks all around and no pull over place. A road construction crew came over and closed the lane, changed the tyre and smiled and chatted the whole time. Sent me to a cousin in Salerno who had a tyre store. Chatted with him about Formula One and British Touring Car and World Rallye Championship the whole time while his employee fixed everything. His English not great. My Italian worse. Complete understanding though, and joint enthusiasm. Under 100€ for everything. We were later than we wanted into Paestum. Didn't care. Nobody hurt and repairable car, and a great experience.

Just realised I have had a boring life.

I have lived overseas for 9 years and traveled quite a lot as well, visiting 81 foreign countries.

I have had few issues that came up in these travels.

Back in 1983, I was working for the Army Corps of Engineers in Saudi Arabia and had a free trip back to the USA paid for (renewal travel after I renewed my contract for two more years).

I went to a travel agent to plan our trip, which would entail a three week trip in Europe, then three weeks in the USA.

The plan was to fly into Rome, do Italy, Bavaria, then end up in Paris and take a flight back to the USA.

Booked flights on Pan American. I assumed that Pan American flew into and out of CDG Airport in Paris, so when I mistakenly showed up for our flight home at CDG, I was informed that Pan Am few out of Orly Airport, south of Paris. I called Pan Am and they said that I would miss my flight, but they could put us on a charter to Boston. We took a bus over to Orly and the line to checkin was so long, but I had to get luggage up to the front where the agent would check me in. I had to hold each of our bags over my head through the crow of unhappy people to do that.

Yes, I went to the wrong airport. Never did that again, but this was before the internet.

In my opinion, it's those unplanned things or hiccups that make for great stories when you get back.

We had visited friends near San Jose, Rica Costa then picked up a car to drive to the west coast for a few days. We were on our way when somehow hubby realized he did not have his CC. His Spanish is pretty good but we drove back to our friends to have them make the call to check with the rental company - they did indeed have the card and said they would keep it until our return. Fine with us, we have another. We were thus on the road to the coast a bit later than expected. I was a nervous wreck - Costa Ricans are maniacs on the road, in my opinion. Then darkness set in and the skies opened up. We could barely see where we were going. Made it to our accommodations after crossing a narrow bridge with water from below almost to the road. And then our hotel said we had no reservation! I had made it directly online, described the pictures on the website, etc. They could give us a room for the night but that was it, and offered to help us find another location nearby for the rest of our planned days. They were concerned that there might be more "missing" reservations. We were concerned about who we might have given our CC # number to! I burst into tears at one point - very rare for me to do so. We were subsequently able to stay at the hotel next door and had a lovely few days. But I was of course worried about who got that reservation. Luckily, nothing unexpected ever appeared on the CC (we cancelled it immediately of course) and the hotel did not make us pay (again) for that first night.

On our return to take the car back to the rental location near the San Jose airport, we of course had to make our way back to the rental location to pick up the credit card. The portions of new interstate type of roads shown on the map did not exist (no GPS on us). We stopped maybe 4 times to ask for directions to the airport, none of which got us very far towards where we needed to be. Finally, in a line of traffic, I knew we were near but still unsure of the necessary turns, I got out of the passenger seat, knocked on the window of the car in front of us (craziest thing I've ever done!) and asked in as few words as possible since my Spanish is pitiful how to get to the airport. They said to follow them so we did, found the rental office (near but not right at the airport), got the credit card. As the gentleman was checking in the car, he asked if we'd had a flat tire. We said no and he explained that the spare in the trunk was flat! Thank goodness we had not needed it.
We've been to Costa Rica since then and used public transportation only, riding buses with 99% locals out into the countryside, even. A great way to travel!

Driving in Costa Rica is sketchy. I had two friends die in car crash there right after highschool. In CR people tend fo drive as if other people also aren't driving like they are. And pedestrians and bicycles are also for aome reason seemingly ignorant to how many people drive dangerously.

Very high driving death rate! It's one of the countries where if I rent a car I keep my head on a swivel, always go big enough to "win" most collisions.

Cross my fingers, most of my trips have gone off without a problem -- no lost luggage, no hotel booking issues, etc.

My biggest travel disaster was when I went to Egypt in March 2020, just before the big Covid shutdown. We were on a dahabiya/sailboat on the Nile about half way through our trip when we got word that Egypt was shutting down all air travel. We found a flight and got out of Egypt okay, but then the authorities took our passports while we were changing planes in Greece. They took the passports from all American passengers, and they were returned to us about 45 minutes later. We never figured out what the deal was, but it was unnerving. Then, we got to Istanbul, and they had shut down the border several hours earlier. Our flight back to the US wasn't for another week. Fortunately, we got a room airside at the Yotel, and Turkish was able to book us on a flight to New York the next day.

The speed at which everything shut down was truly astounding, but we made it home safely --- and we went back to Egypt to complete the trip in 2021.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Every trip --- Every. Single. Trip. -- I have ever made to Boston has been a total disaster -- chased by a lunatic for multiple blocks, hotel fire alarm forced an evacuation at 3 a.m. in the middle of a snowstorm, flights cancelled, food poisoning ....

Spent 90 days travelling last year - flew to Hawaii and SF - cruised to Barcelona - 6 weeks travelling independently in Europe - cruise back from Barcelona to Singapore.

Everything went fine. Like really, I'm trying to think of an issue that impacted us. All the museums in Zagreb are closed because of the 2020 earthquake but we knew that. Our flight out of Venice we delayed but not long enough to get compensation. The cruise line ran out of some of favourite drinks . The only truely annoying thing was that they cancelled the port in Sri Lanka.

Nothing went wrong in Europe- oh got a taxi to the wrong train station - but figured out how to get to the right line thanks Google maps . My partner was furious because I refused to be ripped off by the taxi touts for 25 euros (in a country that used florints). I was delighted that I figured out we could get the right train (we'd bought the ticket at the station) just at a different suburban station.

Now if you want something badly go wrong - my partner ended up near death in a Chinese hospital and we had to be evacuated home with oxygen. But that led to a diagnosis which meant he didn't have a stroke and did get a new heart valve and got his afib treated properly. So was it terrible? Also it happened in central China with awesome medical facilities. If it had happened on the remote China-Tajikistan border that we were heading for he would have died.

Oh and about 10 days prior to our 90 day trip - he low-speed crashed the car a few kms from home - he was alone and it was a microsleep. He did it outside a doctor's surgery - random stranger called me on his phone, police showed up and gave me a lift so I didnt have to walk the whole way. He complained of chest pain so he ended up admitted to hospital in the middle of a Covid surge. I couldn't' stay as there was no space in ED - so he went to sleep when the doctors were talking to him. Got him diagnosed and equiped with a CPAP inside 4 days. Within a few weeks (while were travelling ) - he had more energy than he'd had for years.

It was a little stressful at the time but it worked out to actually be fantastic timing.

My point is that life happens whether you are home or abroad

Twice my hubby's golf bag didn't get loaded onto the flight. Twice it was delivered to us-once at home, once at an apartment in Edinburgh. We figure it saved us taxi fare in Edinburgh and allowed us to ride the Airlink bus instead!

There seems to be problems on most trips and at home too. Threadwater’s daughter has the right philosophy-consider these happenings as “adventures”. Nice people help us and we pass along the same to others. Problems become positives when solved.

Note, i never said you cant cope with the issues, I was just asking how often trips go off without issues of some sort.

The RV/Trailer/5th Wheel was damaged to the tune of about $11,000 give ir take. at the time ut was about 3 years old. It dented the siding badly, shattered one roof vent. and brock the other, and we had yo replace the AC units cover and i am probably forgetting something. This is a 28’ long unit with a slide out. We were about 1500 miles from home, and had another two weeks to go,

And blow outs a bigger issue on a 5th wheel trailer then you may suspect, The one damaged the suspension and had to get that fixed.

Once again, my point was to see how often trips go off without complications. Mot to imply these are disasters or trip ending events. Even though i have had those as well. Nor is this an attempt to. seak pity nor yo one ip someone.

It was simply intend as an interesting yopic to talk about.

Deleted my post. Wasn't trying to be rude. To answer your direct question...

So I was wondering does anyone ever have a trip of more then a few days that goes off without a hitch?

Yes.

Most trips have minor issues. On our Italy trip last Sept, the platform for the train was changed without notification. I speak no Italian. The train personnel spoke no English. There were 4 Italian ladies going to the same place, and they spoke no English. But using sign language and the name of the destination, I was able to determine that Platform 1 was the correct place, and we got there just in time.

That's why traveling is fun. You need to think on your feet.

Only on a few trips where I had things go "amiss" or wrong, such as getting my cell phone stolen within a few days of arrival in 2012 , almost having my 35 mm ( in 1987 ) camera stolen, (got it back after I yelled "Halt" to the culprit), getting picked (the only time ever) losing a few bills in eastern Berlin in 1995, getting an insect bite reaction south of Berlin in the Spreewald in 1997 that required seeing a pharmacist, the nuisance of summer colds, not bringing enough prescription meds on the 2017 trip, was never a victim of violent crime in Europe.

In Germany, especially , I don't stay in the tourist areas, mostly I go to towns in western and eastern Germany and those areas . districts that aren't visited by international tourists. You cover a lot more of the country that way.

Nothing drastic has happened, eg, missed flights, canceled flights, losing the passport , getting really sick in Europe, never got the SSSS (don't ever expect that either, it won't happen), never was asked to step aside for further questioning by TSA or any other Security

in Europe. no lost luggage, never was stopped in public by the police or even the commie police in East Berlin in 1987 and 1989 or in Prague in 1973. never had anything go amiss with hotel reservations I made, either over the phone or on-line, never had disagreements concerning the hotel rooms. In Berlin the proprietor of the Pension goes out of her way to accommodate the guest, all the more so, if you're a regular as I am.

Bottom line.....mostly the trips went without a hitch or even an inconvenience , some were perfect.

The only major hitch took place in 2013 after only 10 days when I had to fly back immediately due to a family emergency, that trip was earmarked for 5 weeks. To change the flight date I was charged only $50 to return to SFO, non-stop.

I am probably about to jinx myself real bad, but I consider myself to be a very lucky traveller. My only real mishaps have been with trips that had to be called off entirely before they even started. This happened twice, once due to Eyjafjallajokull eruption back in 2010, and one due to a cancelled flight whose rescheduling ate too much time into a three-day weekend. Otherwise, my trains never feel that late (yet I travel about 25k miles per year on long distance trains), my flights tend to run OK, I've never had a traffic fine in 15 years of driving... Let's hope it stays that way!

Yes........

So I was wondering does anyone ever have a trip of more then a few days that goes off without a hitch?

Just back from 3 weeks in Paris, not a single hitch or problem. Hotel fire alarm did go off during the middle of the night once on this trip - false alarm - but I hardly think of that as a "problem" worth mentioning.

And that is typically how it goes for me on trips...no problems. I have never had a checked bag lost, and haven't even had one delayed in over 20 years, and that one was delivered to me within a day. I check bags every time I fly, too.

We were doing quite well until this year - rain, rain, rain in Italy in May, then once home , we both came down with COVID! It's still out there. For us, it's more than a slight cold, so I am very grateful we didn't get sick in Europe. Continuing in the recovery stages.....

There is difference between an adventure and a vacation. We look at travel as an adventure. A vacation should go off with no hick-ups: In an adventure; you are EXPECTING a few things to go wrong. It depends on what your personal level of risk is. A cruise ship, or a fully fleshed out, professional ground tour, should be a vacation. If you plan it all out on your own, or just wing it in an other country, in my opinion, is an adventure. :)

It’s a running joke that my husband gets sick on neatly every European trip. Sometimes it’s on arrival because of motion sickness. Sometimes it’s during. But he is pretty reliable in this regard. I can think of only one trip where he stayed healthy.

In 2020, we went to Paris not long before the pandemic. My mom had been very ill for months. For reasons too complicated to share, she refused to see her three adult children during this time, despite knowing she was terminal. My husband and I had a dilemma leading up to our trip, which was to celebrate our ten year anniversary. By this point, I hadn’t seen my mom for many months. And my father was struggling to explain her stance. So did we cancel or go?

We went. She died a week into the trip. I know this may be hard to explain, but we finished out the trip with my dad’s blessing.

My mom was a difficult mother. But she’s also the reason I love Paris and started traveling in the first place. The day after she died, we went to an exhibit at the Foundation Louis Vuitton that she would have loved (she was an artist who studied in France when I was young). I paid my respects in a way she would have appreciated. There was a woman in the crowd that reminded me of her and we kept trading comments in French about the exhibit.

A week later we flew home. And like clockwork, my husband got super sick to his stomach on the way to the airport and was out of commission the whole way home. Longest flight of both of our lives!