Scariest Travel Experiences So far....

Often when you hear of people going to exotic locations you hear of the great food they eat and interesting people they meet. You see the Instagram pictures that make You wanderlust or watch the videos of Youtuber's who make your mouth drop from the drone footage. But how many times do you hear the horror stories, or see the cringe worthy moments of danger and stress after that picture was snapped, and the mean bacterial infection you came back with. You don't really get that perspective or hear those stories. You see, travel is amazing and is one of the most rewarding experiences of self. To be able to fly 30,000 feet in the air and see a place you have never and maybe will never see Again but have seen over and over in pictures or movies and books makes you feel tiny and in a way out of your skin. It expands your horizons, your senses, everything you thought you knew is now different and new to explore, and you don't know. You are not invincible. Therefore, sometimes if you are not careful or not aware of your surrounding bad things can happen. Some are stressful and frustrating and others are scary like the ones in this blog. The next 5 stories are from my travels, I have a lot more but we can start here. Also, I want you to know every country comes with the bad and the good like every situation. In the end, we learn.

Getting Dengue Fever In El Salvador

I was 16 when I got Dengue fever. It was on a trip to El Salvador for a summer of Joyful days spent with my cousins in the town of Izalco, a coastal town know for its volcano and legends of witches (brujos y brujas) and shape shifters because of its rich indigenous culture and Spanish influence. I had spent many summers there, sometimes months at a time visiting my family. Every time My Parents decided we were taking a family vacation to El Salvador I would get so excited to go see all the green that resembled Jurassic Park (in my mind) and most of all be free to roam the cobblestone streets eating "topoios" (frozen deliciousness in a bag of different exotic fruits) with my cousins. It never bothered me when I came back home covered in mosquito bites. Out of anywhere in the world, mosquitos loved my blood in El Salvador but never the ones who carry the dengue virus. This particular summer we had a week left to enjoy our travels when I started feeling incredible fatigue and a fever. Soon it was debilitating and I was on the toilet for hours while my body projected everything I couldn't keep down from both ends! It was a scene out of the exorcist, I even looked green. By the time I was back from the hospital in El Salvador I was delusional and had to fly(surprised I was allowed or able to fly) on one of the worst flights of my life to date! I was in agonizing body and head pain. I felt like I was passing out and started bleeding out of my nose uncontrollably. I was finally home and spent the next 2 weeks in a state of coma on my bed, not being able to keep anything down or know if I would survive....not being dramatic...maybe a little, not really. After 2 weeks I had lost 15 lbs, the only good thing.

Losing My Passport in The Islands of Spain

This was one of the worst mistakes I have made in my years of traveling. It's the biggest mistake you can make on "Amazing Race"......lose your passport. You always think, it will never happen to me or I'm too responsible. This was on a Girls Trip where we had lounged on the golden sands of Ibiza, sitting on different colored bean bags under brightly colored lanterns and enjoying some of the best chill House Music. We were looking forward to relaxing in Mallorca and after 2 days of strolling the quiet streets and getting used to the "Spanish" way of life, we decided to go out to a town 20 minutes out where there was more nightlife. This might have been a mistake from the start but we did it anyways. I could say that I would regret it and could have avoided it but that night was also too memorable and fun to regret...that part which I will leave for another blog. Flash forward to 3:00 a.m. when we were catching a Taxi back to our hotel room and check out just so we could get another Taxi and get to the airport by 5:00 a.m.! Did I mention it was an International flight to Paris, France?! Stressed already? Yes! We get to the Mallorca airport and get there just in time to realize that I don't have my passport, my phone is dead, my friend had lost her phone, and we left our international converter.....yeah. My heart started pacing and I started freaking out! I finally found an angel who helped me contact my friend to find out I had left my passport on the taxi! Somehow she was able to get it from the Taxi driver who wanted to take her out, I was overjoyed...you would think. Our plane was boarding and I had to get on that flight. Somehow after many tears at the police station inside the airport I was able to get a paper and was able to fly to France.....I don't know how this happened but didn't question. When we got to Paris I had until the next day to figure out how to get my passport. My friend was arriving as we were leaving to L.A.X and I spoke to the airline which would not allow me to fly without a physical passport....expected. After a grueling and scary night ( another blog) we were due to leave that morning. I must have run back and forth and timed myself on a shuttle that would take me from my terminal to my friends Terminal when her flight came in. Yes the Charles de Gaulle is a big airport and it was a nightmare having to run back and forth and timing the minutes (14 to 17) on the shuttle. Point is I was able to get my passport, literally because my flight was delayed and everything aligned perfectly together!They would have closed the gates if not for my friend and her stalling them, having them call my phone while I was on the train (nightmare phone bill). I also didn't mention how the next flight out was about 2 k and would take 56 hours.....I'm glad the Heavens were on my side!

Getting Lost In Guatemala City for 5 hours

If there is something my parents showed me when I was young was a love of adventure and travel. I am so thankful that they did because it's the reason I am open-minded to new ideas and appreciate different cultures and people. Although it's an amazing feeling to explore new and sometimes underdeveloped places around the world, it can sometimes be dangerous if you are not aware of your surroundings in certain areas. I also want to say that every country has it's good and bad and areas that are more dangerous than others. Guatemala has to be in my top 3 favorite countries because of its indigenous culture, people, and landscapes. With thousands of different languages and dialects, Mayan pyramids, mystical jungles and rivers, the country is one of the most beautiful sights to see. Not to mention all the Spanish colonial influence in the architecture and streets. That being said, it also has one of the most notorious capitals in the world, known for crime. We were on the most incredible road trip of our lives. We were driving around in a van, jam-packed with 12 of our family members cross countries in central America. Going through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, costa rica....it was a road trip to remember. While passing through Guatemala, the driver started circling the city. Guatemala city is not that small and it is very busy with hustle and bustle! The first 2 hours we were not panicking but after 4 hours and driving in the dark after hearing the horror stories, we were panicking. My aunt suggested we get help which we finally did but without saying a couple of prayers. Like I said, the capital has a lot of charm but a reputation of kidnappings especially in the type of van we were driving cross-country. We were uneasy, especially going through back alleys surrounded by jungle and mountains in the midst of a big city. I did not feel like this in smaller towns, but something about this place made me uneasy.

Heat Stroke in the Dominican Republic

We were on our way to the airport after a week of enjoying ourselves in Punta Cana. The weather had been hot but it seemed like the temperature kept rising as it was summer in DR. As we were going to the airport I started feeling light-headed and extremely dehydrated, almost as if my body was trying to hold on to any hydration before drowning. I wasn't even able to check in without going to the bathroom to put water on my face and neck. After we check in, I start feeling worse. My balance was getting worse and I felt like I was going to faint. I went to the restroom; the next thing I know I am lying on the bathroom floor and a maintenance woman comes in to rub my head and help me. They call the airport emergency and pick me up. Our flight was leaving in 3 hours (good thing we were at the airport early) and I was taken to a hospital. Steven was in complete shock trying to console me while I was treated. I had suffered a heat stroke. Never had I suffered a heat stroke and nonetheless in a different country. It was extremely scary and for one second had a panic attack as if I was dying....not fun.

Almost dying on a speedboat in the Philippines

The Philippines is one of the most beautiful countries I have been to and have decided to go back to see more islands. With that being said, I might not take a speedboat between islands. I was traveling from the island of Palawan where I had spent glorious days and nights in the most beautiful seaside town of"El Nido". We were to leave the day before but the weather didn't allow the speedboat to make the 4 hour journey between choppy waters to get to the island of "coron". The speedboat company was professional and picked us up the next day. We left and were on the boat before we became stranded for an hour! After 2 hours of feeling like we were going to die and the boat would sink in the choppy waters, I looked at my daughter and thought "what have I gotten ourselves into?" And "I don't want to drown or be eaten by a shark...or trapped!" Steven was sick to his stomach and now we were stranded, the lights were going off, they told us to put our life jackets on and we were to wait for a rescue boat......then the boat started taking off again and we were off again!!! I guess it happens more often than not on fast boats...or so that's what backpackers said. We vowed never to take another fast boat....which we did months later in Indonesia.

I hope these stories don't scare you from your next adventure. I have traveled all my life and the best moments outweigh the frustrating and scary ones. The scary ones just make great stories and help others become aware of certain things they might not have been aware of. Please comment and send me your scary or stressful travel moments so I can post and share with other wanderlusters!!!! Thank you and remember, go wander!