Holiday from hell?

California. Landed at LA and hired a car, which hubby left at hotel while we went to Disney. 'Trust me' he says, and we got so lost hiking up people's back yards and over freeways. He drove on Highway 1 up coast from LA to San Francisco. Fog the whole way - no amount of 'Vista Points' would let us see the coast. Stopped in a motel, ate bananas and put skins in waste bin beside bed. Heard scuttling in the dark, swiched lights on to see walls and ceiling black with cockroaches. Drove to Carmel and had a dip in sea, nearly died as tumbling over in rip-tide - a crowd of onlookers pointing to large signposts warning no bathing. Drove to San Fran - husband foot fractured like a jigsaw as he fell down a drain. Stopped by Highway Patrol for speeding, cop saw hubby's 'Gucci-boot' plaster-cast and told him he shouldn't be driving and let the lady drive - me. (He had guns - so he didn't argue.) I drove to Grand Canyon, where hubby decided to chase a skunk - seriously! The car stank for a week!

Holidays to remember for sure! Most of you sound so resourceful in emergencies.

We have had many adventures over the years, cars breaking down, camping in diabolical weather, washing in the sea, vowing never to go away with certain people again, and usually so happy to get home.

My most disappointing "holiday" was when my DM offered to take me to Aldeburgh for a cultural weekend. away from my little family - for a rest.
I jumped at the opportunity to stay in a hotel - we never did that as a young family.

DH and DB would look after the boys.

Well we rolled up to find only DM was actually booked in, the hotel was fully booked and no I couldn't sleep on her floor nor share her single bed.
The snooty management found me a place in the basement, where their au-pair had once slept (poor girl) it was a camp bed behind a screen among the washing machine, laundry, clutter etc without a bathroom.
I barely slept and more indignities followed in the morning as there wasn't even a place at table for me!
The rest of the weekend was spent missing my children and wondering why I had agreed to go.

When I later heard what a wonderful time the boys had had in a borrowed campervan I am still jealous!

Holiday booked in Paris with four friends; arrived to find that due to error made by travel agent, we were not booked in to the lovely hotel we had chosen so carefully - foyer full of flowers, swimming pool, terrace with shady umbrellas- and had to find an alternative. Only available hotel - we had come to see an exhibition at the Musee D'Orsay so everywhere fully booked - was a filty hovel in the dirtiest arrondissement in Paris. Carpets were crunchy underfoot, bathrooom slimy everywhere, we ventured out and were treated to another exhibition - the largest amount and variety of dogs mess that I have ever seen. We went home - at once. The agent refunded our money in full, including the taxi fares.

Camping on the Isle of Wight.
Directed where to pitch instead of choosing our own plot. The daughters were 6 months, 2 1/2 and 4 1/2
I went outside to hammer in a peg in the rain and wind.
Next thing I knew there was no tent ! Just the hammer and peg!
Tiny daughter ended upside down in her car seat, open to the elements but unhurt.
Middle daughter, still on my husband's lap but both upside down on his deckchair staring up at the sky.
Eldest daughter ( 4 ) half way down the field, wrapped up in our tent !
Lovely people in a caravan took our girls in and fed them smarties!
We packed up what we still had.
Luckily we had friends on I.O.W. so went to them and they dried us out.
Luckily still, we actually managed to get ( unbooked) seats and car space on a ferry back to the mainland on the same day, to drive home !

Car broke down on the way to a well known holiday camp in Minehead. The AA towed us in and as we approached reception I saw mattresses left outside chalets to dry. The AA man saw the look on my face and said I didn't think you would like it here!! Fortunately we were housed in brand new accommodation with unused bedding.
We went to Malta with a teenage daughter and her boyfriend, she promptly finished their relationship on the first day, it was a difficult week to say the least. God save us from teenage hormones.

We have had a number of terrible holidays, including a wet and stormy week in Borth, a holiday flat in Llandudno where 2 legs of our bed broke off and couldn’t contact anybody to change it. Not long ago me and OH went to Thailand, 3 days in OH caught a bug he keep saying he would be fine after a couple of days in bed but then he became delirious, holiday rep useless just gave me a number to ring. Receptionists at hotel unhelpful until I started to get really upset and they called me a taxi to take him to hospital. They were brilliant after 24 hours on drip and given loads of drugs they sent him back to hotel. Fortunately aswell we had met a couple when we arrived and the chap was a paramedic, he was lovely and came to see him everyday. I ate room service and sat in a dark room for a lot of the time until he recovered, except one day I sat by the pool for a couple of hours and a snake fell from a tree onto my lap. Then another day I went to beach and moved my sunbed onto an ants nest. Finally I decided to treat myself to a massage and she dislocated my shoulder, I was in agony but didnt find out it was dislocated until I got home. Husband recovered 2 days before we went home.

Being trapped in a tin box (narrowboat) for a week with 2 hormonal teenage sons, who hated each other at that time and him indoors leaving all the lock operations to us. Plus my insides decided to fire off frequently throughout the day. It rained most of the time. We were tackled by the powers that be as the hire company hadn’t paid the tax - very embarrassing.

Got back to find the car windscreen had been vandalised.

A good time had by all. Never again.

Not a holiday as such, but a long weekend. Went sailing with Dad on Hayling Island and we stayed in a tent on a campsite. It was Dad's old army tent, khaki, full of holes and reeked of oil. On the last morning I have an abiding memory of sitting eating condensed milk out of the tin while rain dripped through the holes in the roof. This was after a car had run into ours and dented it but ours being a Standard Vanguard (built like a tank) was hardly marked!

Set off from Brum for Bournemouth 1pm in DH pride and joy Hillman Minx. 2pm half way up notoriously steep Cotswold Hill passing car shouted You're boiling !! Radiator overheating so stopped and ate packed lunch. By 8pm and eight overheats later limped onto garage forecourt still miles away from Bournemouth. Waited until tow truck arrived 10pm to take is to recommended hotel in Amesbury having advised Bournemouth we would be delayed !! Car taken to Salisbury for repair of radiator. Pump not available until next day and very expensive. Skint but mobile two days late arrive at secluded Bournemouth hotel, actually off the main town centre. Garage had advised not to use car to save it for return journey. By then I had a dreadful cold and we had to visit in-laws who were holidaying in posh hotel other side of town, to borrow money. DH and DIL played snooker all afternoon. To save money decided to spend time on beach - armed with box of tissues we arrived to discover a plague of black flies had descended that week. Decided to go home. New build not quite ready so stayed at my parent's house while they were away and the final icing on the cake DH started a two week night shift. Oh and I discovered I had lost a much cherished bracelet which must have fallen out of suitcase at garage when getting a cardigan

That was our Honeymoon and here we are 59 years later.

I've had a few difficult holidays but the worst was the year we went as a family of four to Portugal and returned as a family of three and an ex husband. He behaved abominably for the entire time. Picked fights with me and his 13 year old son. Made his 9 year old daughter cry. Abandoned us in a village with no money and stalked off, leaving us to make our way back to the apartment. Of course, cherchez la femme. The affair came out the following March, the day after his daughter's tenth birthday. A prince of a man. The children and I have never returned to Portugal since. Too many horrible memories.

My daughter was hyperactive from a young age, and hated her younger brother with a passion. Life was stressful. The local WI had a caravan in the Forest of Dean, which we from Gloucester then could use for a weeks holiday. It was October, cold and wet.

It turned out the caravan was a 2 birth, with added children's bunks. Neither child old enough, or safe enough for them, and the fire was ankle height. Within seconds of arriving, while we were bringing in vans etc, daughter starts taking the fire apart. ?

We just looked at each other, loaded kids back in the car and went home - at least it was safe. Took the keys back aweek later and said we'd had a lovely time, as they were such lovely people. We did suggest a fireguard, but apparently they couldn't get one small enough

When I was about 9 my dad said one of his workmates had a caravan in the Lake District that we could use for the weekend.

We had never been in a caravan before so it was all quite exciting. There was just me, my mum and dad.

When we got there, the caravan was tiny - like the one on Father Ted - and on a really bleak looking site. It poured down all weekend. The caravan had a really funny smell and was freezing cold.

My mum threated my father with death if every mentioned caravanning again. We always stayed in hotels after that

I once went camping with my DH. I had never been camping before. We borrowed a tent off DH's BIL. It was an old army tent and thick canvas. We went to the very north of Scotland.

We pitched the tent with great difficulty as it was so heavy. That night it poured with rain and I said, 'it looks foggy in this tent'. Turned out the tent hadn't been sealed for donkey's years and it was the rain coming in like a fine mist. Everything was wet through. The blow up mattress also had a hole in it so it was completely flat when we woke up the next morning.

Suffice to say, we packed up the next day and booked into a Hotel. The hotel was in the middle of nowhere and our room was at the end of a very long corridor past lots of other rooms. We didn't see anyone in the hotel apart from us and a couple of locals at the bar. I felt like I was in The Shining (the film)

I funny though, as these are the holidays that we always remember

A holiday in Watchet, Somerset. We had a Jeep Cherokee Chief, so not a “normal “car. Something went in the hose department and the only place that could help was in Taunton. We spent more time hanging around a garage in Taunton than doing anything holidayish. Then driving back to the caravan a car ran into the back of us! Also we didn’t take much cash with us and that’s when we found out that there were no cash machines in Watchet or Minehead at the time. Luckily I had my child benefit book in my handbag and could draw it at the post office in Minehead.

(Very nice resort)

Went to Paris with 3 others many years ago, long before credit cards when all money was carried as cash or travel cheques. Only one woman was my friend. Two others were "friends of friend". None of them spoke French, whinged constantly about things like unfamiliar food, high prices, walking on cobbled streets, and so on. I found myself acting as unpaid tour guide for the whole group. I had to do all the translating and arranging. After two days I was sick of them.

On the third day I left them sitting in a pavement cafe, still complaining, while I went off to visit the fleamarket. I was sick of their whining and badly needed some me time. Also they only wanted to visit places like the tower and Notre Dame where I had been on previous visits. Of course there was more whingeing because I had "abandoned" them and they didnt speak French.

I returned to the hotel late at night having spent a pleasant day in the fleamarket, in bookshops, and had a meal in a pavement restaurant where I had only myself to worry about. It was to find that when they left the restaurant and got halfway across Paris on the metro one "friend of a friend" realised she had left her bag with passport, money and travel cheques on the floor under the table. When they returned it was gone!

Needing a police report to obtain an emegency passport they were directed to the local police station by the travel agent and spent most of the day in there waiting for someone to arrive and translate.

"We could have done with your help Biglouis because we dont speak French ..."

I was made to feel that it was all somehow my fault for the entire episode.

Next morning they were due to go to the British Embassy to get a replacement passport. I advised them to get a taxi directly there and to be prepared for a lot of queuing, form filling, waiting around and bureaucracy.

"But surely your not going to abandon us again. We dont speak French."

"Well I have some great news for you. They speak English at the British Embassy so you dont need me."

I spend a second day at the fleamarket and left them to their adventures. The journey home was a very cool one and we all sat in separate seats on the train.

Decided to buy a cheap holiday in the Caribbean, just one week, we arrived on schedule, it was actually a very resort.
The first day the food wasnt great, we had to pick and choose, the second night was a BBQ which consisted of a whole cows leg roasting over an open fire. They were carving it kebab style, much of it was half cooked at best, looking at the rest it was equally bad. So we chose what looked safe, bread, pastries and bananas, washed down with Rum and Coke.
We were OK but dozens were ill, especially those that didnt drink alcohol, non alcoholic cocktails were lethal, that was the one holiday we actually lost weight.

Round Australia camping coach trip in the 1970s. The 2 male drivers couldn't manage the budget. The final week we had leftover curry for breakfast one morning. Also, in those days, no toilets on the coach so it stopped for us to go behind bushes. In some parts of the Outback the bushes were barely a foot high. However being young we didn't care.

Very interesting events. Meryl it is very hard with these mean so and sos, especially if they are not even really your friends. You have to laugh, looking back, how anyone could live like that. Miserable, probably don’t have any friends !

First holiday with the baby we didn't have much money. Rented a cottage and when we arrived it was a damp concrete box with no heating and rather dirty. The weather was awful but luckily we ran into friends who had a villa nearby. They fed us and provided warm clothes for the baby so we spent as little time as we could in the cottage.

My holiday from hell went on for 2 weeks but I will give one example of this woman’s meanest for you to get the picture

We were going on holiday with friends. At the last moment she asked if her sister and family could come ( camping in Brittany)

We live in Southend and the sister lives on the south coast so we all journeyed to her house the night before ready for the Portsmouth ferry.

When we were all settled she asked us ( 4 adults) if we’d like a drink. We all wanted a gin and tonic.
She actually got a key out, opened a drinks cabinet, poured the drinks, put the bottles back and locked the cabinet ?

The meanness was so bad that at the end of the holiday ? I told her she could teach Jesus a thing or two as he’d only fed 5,000 on 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

And they brought home the bottle of Dubonnet the bought on the ferry going out. Who drinks Dubonnet ?

We booked an apartment in Liguria which turned out to be the owner’s basement. It opened up onto the dusty garden where the owner’s three giant Russian sheepdogs roamed, slobbering over us if we lay on the sun loungers. The bed was a bed settee with an extra mattress on top. The place was stuffed with the owner’s extra furniture, all the cupboards were full of their stuff, every surface covered in nick-nacks and masses of wine storage (we should have sampled it). It was dirty and we kept seeing mice running around but the the final straw was finding mice droppings in the bed. We left after 4 days and drove up to Orange, where we stayed two nights in an Ibis - it felt like paradise. We then found a gite for the rest of the holiday.

Emigrating to Australia, we decided to go to Oz via Los Angeles, mainly due to the fact that we could also take in the final of the Speedway World Championships while we were there (and it was somewhere that I had always wanted to visit!)
Started well, we were on a Fly-Drive holiday, so had pre-booked a car rental to be picked up after we got off our flight in LA, as well as a hotel room for our first night.
All of the car rental places are outside the airport, but at least there are shuttle buses to take you there.
We had booked the cheapest option of car (as long as it went, weren't bothered ) the clerk took one look at our 30 inch suitcases and said that he didn't have the car we had reserved, but recommended a slightly larger car that we could have for only a few dollars more, but he did insist on us paying extra for the "no collision waiver"on the insurance that meant that we might well have booked a bigger car in the first place
We had a great time, visiting Knotts Berry Farm, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Santa Monica beach, staying in budget hotels each night.
All fine until the night of the final we realised we were fast running out of money, but ex hubby said that was fine, he could put things on his credit card that he had been assured by his bank was possible. We amazingly found a branch of his bank only to be told that the information he had been given in the UK was false and it wasn't possible! We should have been issued with an international card, not one for UK and Europe!
We had two nights in between us leaving LA our final night was prebooked again.
We ended up in a strange motel under a flyover where let's just say that it wasn't somewhere people would take their wife for the night! There were cars coming and going until about 4am, holes in the bathroom wall through to the room next door and when we lay down on the bed, there was a huge mirror fixed to the ceiling!
Survived that, took the car back to the rental place the next day - only to be told that the collision waiver we had spent extra on and were assured at the time would be refunded when the car was returned, was not refundable after all!
We landed in Melbourne actually penniless - our last couple of dollars had been spent on a gift for SiL after I realised I couldn't give away the Tigger toy I had bought for her!
Visit LA again ? No thanks unless it's all expenses!!!

This was a lovely holiday-until. 2weeks in small villa in Ibiza in 1986.
2days before going home whilst standing waiting for bus into San Antonio ex chirps up " I think we should talk about divorce when we get home" wtf?!?!?! I said " forget it , it's not happening" not when our 2DS who celebrated their 3&5birthdays 3days previously were so small and me with no job etc. Only years after while looking through old photos for sons to have did I realise ex had been taking his own personal memory box of photos of us!!! Some unusual pix I'd not realised were such until years later, sneaky ones of me sunbathing or standing in Ibiza old town looking gorgeous! And I'm fuming to say some very tastefully done ( he was a camera nut but quite good) of me starkers he'd persuaded me to do in and laying on the side of the villa pool! Very unusual I thought at the time but hey! Maybe he's still fancies me? In my nightmares! So my memory of a lovely time with what I thought was my perfect little family was in fact a nightmare from hell.

I can think of only two. Many years ago we shared a caravan in Mablethorpe with some friends. It wasn't heated, and the weather was freezing cold, so we didn't get much sleep. On the last day, I lost a filling from my tooth. It was too late to find a dentist open. I was 6 months pregnant, so couldn't stuff myself with painkillers. I had to suffer until we got back home, and was almost suicidal by then.
The second was about 7 years ago. A neighbour broke her arm, and couldn't go on her planned caravan holiday of a week in South Wales. They weren't very well-off, and it was too late for them to cancel, so we bought the holiday from them. DH had had Chrone's Disease for many years, so often had problems. We arrived at the caravan, and shortly after he started off with a tummy bug. He spent half the night in the loo, (unfortunately making a horrible mess in there) Next morning I cleaned the place up, visited the pharmacy for emergency supplies, and set off back home. It was a nightmare journey! Instead of the neighbour losing her holiday, we lost it.
I don't think I want to go near a caravan again!

Not a holiday but a nightmare journey home.

We had a lovely week in Portugal in the very nice house belonging to the wealthy brother of a friend. 'We' were MrM and me, DD, DGS, who was about 2 at the time, and DD's friend. We flew from Leeds/Bradford airport and had to take two cars because there was so much luggage.

When we returned to Bradford DD discovered that she had left her car keys in the safe in the Portugal house. First of all we thought of contacting her DH and asking him to bring us her spare car key, but he was out for most of the evening and in any case she couldn't remember where it was. The AA said they couldn't break into her car and, anyway, if they had, she had no ignition key...

So Mr M and DD's friend went off to buy a necessary child car seat while DD, DGS and I had something to eat in the airport. When Mr M came back with the car seat we crammed everything into our car, DD & friend had to sit on bags with the pushchair under their feet. I volunteered to drive. I think that DGS and I were the only comfortable passengers on that journey.

We thought we were doing well until we were held up in a traffic jam on the A1 for an hour. Mr M and DD's friend were very hungry, having only had a sandwich on the plane at lunch time, and all we had in the car to eat was a packet of polos! We eventually got home about 3 hours later than expected. Cramped and hungry. DGS had slept comfortably in his seat for the whole journey...

I have say that the airport was brilliant and didn't charge DD any extra for overstaying in the long stay carpark. She found her spare key and was able to retrieve her car the next day.