Anyone have any travel disaster stories? Mine goes like this. I had a major operation 2 years ago and for my first trip abroad post operation I chose to go to Paris. Sure I'd been there before but dam her, she kept calling me back! I had planned on going on the trip the beginning of November, BUT 2 weeks before going I seriously pulled my hamstring muscle so I had to postpone the trip a month. A month goes by and I feel FANTASTIC! I land in Paris and other than the weather which was cloudy with rain everyday things were going well. I was there for three days and I was so, so thankful to be there. All the setbacks that I have had these past few years were a thing of the past and I was looking forward to the remaining week in Paris. Boom! The next morning I woke up with my fingers feeling numb and severe pain in my shoulder. I tried to walk it off but the pain was too severe. I spent most of that day in the hotel. The next day I was supposed to go to the Loire, I got to the train station and the pain in my arm was unbearable. I sadly realized I could't go. I realized my trip was over and I needed to get home to see what was wrong. I booked an early flight home the next day. It turns out I have several damaged nerves and a broken disk and will need an operation. This came out of nowhere!!!! Hopefully I will be ok and I can visit her again. I was so heartbroken. BTW: Everyone in France was sweet, the most obnoxious person I met was in NY!!!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
Andrew, Sorry to hear that your much anticipated trip ended so suddenly. Hopefully you'll be able to get back to Paris soon! Unfortunately, I don't have a disaster story of that magnitude to share. Good luck with the surgery!
Posted by
Santa Rosa, CA, USA
1446 posts
I don't think ours is as bad as yours, but two years ago we were in France - we had been there about 8 days when my husband got ill. He was hospitalized there for 3.5 days and we had to cancel our remaining reservations, reschedule the Eurostar and just plain figure out how we were going to get home. He ended up having surgery a couple months after we got home. We would like to go back and finish out the trip one of these days. I agree with you, everyone in France were so extremely helpful - we would have never been able to make the changes we needed to without them.
Posted by
Napa, CA
3580 posts
I have fallen off curbs several times while in France. There was always someone there immediately to see if I was ok. Fortunately, I never had a serious injury. The first time I fell off a curb I had to lighten my pack in so I could get to the train. My knee was sore and swollen.
Posted by
Orlando, Florida
676 posts
Mine really wasn't that much of a disaster for the trip, as it happened on the last day. I went parasailing in Mexico, and was brought down in the water a little too quickly; evidently my boat was trying to avoid hitting another boat. My left ankle hurt a lot, but I could walk on it, but I needed a wheelchair on arrival back in Houston to get to the luggage area, but then I walked on it again. The next morning my leg was swollen up to the knee and hurt a lot more-turns out my ankle was broken! Luckily it was the last day, and since I was joining the Air Force, being in a cast kept me out of the marching everyone else sweated (and I mean sweated, it was September in Texas and still hot) through. And best of all, since I was tired a lot still, and was scared of the stairs in the main building we had classes in, I ended up losing about 8 pounds!
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10629 posts
I wish you a complete and speedy recovery which will allow you to have a wonderful trip back to France. The Loire is waiting for you.
Posted by
OP
Hoboken, NJ, USA
112 posts
Thanks everyone! I'm on disability now and working on the surgery. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh