Setting off on holiday-please tell me your journey disasters!

[EllebellyBeeblebrox]

The plan was to leave early (for us, which means about 8). After multiple disasters this morning including an escaped guinea pig, an unexpectedly knocked out tooth pissing blood everywhere and having to turn back ten minutes up the road because we'd forgotten Henry (small smelly blue elephant belonging to dd) we are finally on the road. I hardly dare tell dh that at 34weeks pregnant I'm likely to need a wee in about 5 minutes (that is if ds doesn't need one first). Aargh!!!

Oh QOD! Have you had any enjoyable holidays?

2 weeks ago were all set to take the ferry to Guernsey. Got everything pscked, self catering holiday so loads of food, disposable barbeque, tea towels, etc. Then also camping chairs, Sunderland and rugs for the beach. All ready to get an early night before a 3 hour drive to the harbour early the next morning. When text arrived from the ferry company saying that the ferry was cancelled and did we want a refund.
Frantically on the internet managed to book flights, then had to 're pack everything abandoning the chairs, food etc.
I presume those who were planning a camping holiday would have lost their holiday. The ferries didn't start running again for 4 days.
So thankful I had my phone with me then. I might not have seen the message until the next morning when we were ready to leave. I wonder if there were any passengers who hadn't seen the message in time.

Yeah! But the disasters make better stories ...
Of course I was abroad when the Ash cloud closed the skies ...

DS swallowed a 10p coin 2 days before we were due to leave. We were advised by A&E that he should be OK to travel, I was a bit anxious though! Luckily the 10p has now made its way through

Car breaking down on way to airport was a stressful one. Luckily just down the street from our house...in rural Cyprus where taxis aren't exactly plentiful. After 30mins managed to get hold of a friend who had no kids and was at home. But her husband had the bigger car. So she drove to his work, swapped the cars, came to pick me up, drove me the 45 mins to the airport, dropped the car seats back with my husband and would only accept a bottle of wine (refused the petrol money... We had had to fill up on the way which is complicated on rural Cyprus at night).
We made the flight luckily!

Other mishaps have included losing the car keys on holiday.

@DownUdderer - we had to split up because one of us needed to wait for the car to be recovered, and the other needed to set off to get to the car hire place in time. We decided it was better for me to go and pick up the car, and I had to take ds3 and half the luggage because dh would not have been able to manage all three boys, two adult sized bikes and the luggage, so we split it all up.

Oh my god the logistics of that make my brain hurt. Bet you had a large beverage when you arrived.

No me, but best friend.

Had to cancel holiday, when she found out she was having twins and wouldn’t be able to fly by the time holiday came round.

Had to cancel holiday when one of said twins got chicken pox the day before ( her DH, DS1 and other twin went)

Last Saturday had to cancel this years holiday when her DH broke his leg.

And she is such a darling and really deserves a holiday !

I certainly did, @EllebellyBeeblebrox!

Ski trip with school. Coach set off in South Yorkshire, drove to Dover (everybody already sick of being on the bus) ferry to Calais then 8hts in to the drive to Italy the coach driver put the wrong fuel in the coach in the middle of nowhere. No one came to rescue us for over 24hrs! 24hrs of sitting on a coach, sitting on the side of the road, peeing in bushes sitting on the coach again. We were beyond bored and the teachers who had run out of fags very early on looked ready to kill us all.

We had a 4hr journey back from great yarmouth to west yorks today. Took us 7hrs! 3yo ds was actually really well behaved but by the time we got home we realsied hed tipped an entire fruit shoot into his car seat and had been sat with a wet purple bum for at least 2hrs of the journey. The car stinks like synthetic blackcurrants.

Potentially in one now!
We're in Lynton. Don't know if anyone has been watching weather forecasts for Devon but there's lots of weather warnings out and we're camping heh heh heh!
Hopefully we'll be fine. On top of a hill so no flooding risk, just the wind.

We did have a holiday where the tent leaked and all my clothes got wet. I'd been putting a brave face in all week as we'd had high winds, hail, horrendous PMT, a badly behaved toddler and my dad getting us very very lost in the rain at one point. Ds then got the shits in a play area and we'd left the nappy bag in the car, a walk and a water powered rail trip away. I had to snuggle my stinky son under my dad's fleece whilst DH went back for the nappy bag and my dad looked for a supermarket or pharmacy that might have something useful.
The clothes were the last straw.

DH bloody told me to cheer up! He'd been mooching around with a face like a slapped arse all week and all his clothes were dry. I was the closest I'd ever been to thumping him.
Come to think of it, that was the same campsite were on now!

Hope you had a dry night cigars. Have certainly had some camping disasters over the years, particularly memorable was when ds was two and the morning we were due to go jumped off the sofa and hurt his ankle. Wouldn't weight bear so took him to AandE, stable fracture and had to wear a boot. Keeping it on a fidgety toddler was nearly impossible anyway, he still hopped around the campsite and beach okay but the filthy state of his boot when we went back to fracture clinic was embarrassing oh and the fucking rain, abandoned one camping trip early cos of the incessant south coast rain, and 5am wake ups with little DD.

6am flight to Portugal (so up since 2am), boarded the plane all fine still sitting there after half an hour, ask the air stewardess what the delay is she said there was a french air strike. Sat on the plane for a further 2.5 hours to then receive a text from airline to say the flight was cancelled! All unloaded off the plane told to collect our luggage and head back to the check in desk to rebook on another flight, head to the desk to find everyone else been told the same thing and about 4000 people waiting to rebook, phoned my mum who managed to book us on another flight at 10pm that night. Because you can only check in 2 hours before your flight we had to sit on the floor of the airport for the next 10 hours airline refused to give us any food or water. Gets to 8pm finally allowed through to departures to find out the flight is delayed by an hour. Boarded at 11pm arrived in Portugal about 3am. That was fun🙄

We’re supposed to be driving to Cornwall today with our caravan. Given the rubbish weather the first day of our holiday is....a quiet one at home!

We are going on holiday today, first time in our new mini and I seriously don't know if everything will fit in. The teenage dses are going abroad with my parents and we are going up north so separate bags for us and the boys and we drop them at my mums on the way. It's 2 hours to my mums so I can't drop them off first.

This time last year I had a Ford Galaxy so we took everything including the kitchen sink. Now I've put one bag in and I'm wondering where everything else is going😳

So I'm sitting here drinking coffee, ignoring the problem....

Happy holidays😎😎

We woke up early to drive to Gatwick for our Christmas holiday to see news reports of the Gatwick drones. They still advised us to travel. We spent the day at the airport (luckily we’d checked in and got through security so no bags) with reports that it would only be another hour. Now another two hours. They stopped making announcements and we had to go and queue for an hour to see someone who gave us £10 food vouchers and had no information. At 6pm we were told to go to a gate so we thought we were finally boarding - but it was actually just to use the stairs to go and pick our luggage up ☹️

Found somewhere to stay (that wasn’t easy) had to get the car back from the long stay parking. Came back the next day, checked in etc but all the records were wrong as it was a rearranged flight - couldn’t use the automatic ticket barriers etc. Board showed we were leaving at midday, then they put a call out saying 9.30am so we ran and just made it. 12 people had checked in that morning but didn’t make the earlier flight time so had their bags offloaded. After all that!

After a wonderful Xmas holiday we left the resort at 11am, got to the return airport at 12pm for a 2pm flight to be told there was a 2 hour delay. Ok, not really an issue. Boarded and were told there was going to be another hour. Slightly miffed. 5 HOURS LATER we got back off the plane and sat in departures for another hour before being told that our pilots were now out of hours, so we were being moved to a hotel. Got to the hotel at midnight and were told that we'd be collected at 6am - much fuss was made by the reps saying "it's ok, it's ALL INCLUSIVE" on the coach - except AI finished at midnight and breakfast didn't start until 6:30am. Plus our room had 2 single beds and there was 3 of us!

Back to airport the next day expecting a 10am flight. Finally took off at 2pm and we were back in the UK for 8pm.

Absolute bloody shambles and to add insult to injury we couldn't even claim because the delay was an 'Act oh God' (fog at Gatwick).

All packed up suitcases in the hall. DH swearing blind that the car company that was supposed to deliver our ew car two weeks previously knows we are going on holiday and will deliver it by 9am. They don;t. I go down to the dealership with very young DC in double buggy and let them squawk very loudly putting off all customers until they promise to lend us a car. It's too small to get our stuff in. Back to dealership. They lend us a test drive model of the car we ordered. It breaks down on the motorway, losing all control so we skid across three lanes. DH has to walk three miles to break down phone (no mobile phones) Police stop and tell me to get out of the car. I try to toddler tame two DC on the hard shoulder with lorries thundering by. Eventually rescued by a 20 stone bloke with shaven head and head to toe tattoos who was gentle as a lamb with DC and let them ride up front in his rescue truck so they had the time of their lives.

Oh I forgot. DS2 also puked royally all over the borrowed car.

Going camping for the weekend. Halfway down the road and DD (age 10) announces she didn’t have any shoes on!!

Clutch went on car 1000km from ferry. Had to drive through night on hardly any sleep to get ferry which only goes once a week. And we had a tyre explode to add to the drama. Still gives me nightmares!

QOD ingot our of Gatwick on last flight in 2010. Thought we were going back in - until we were diverted to Glasgow!

Just 2 weeks ago.
Prided myself on having got lunchtime flights from Gatwick instead of the usual 3am wake-up. Left with loads of time to spare so we could eat at the airport before boarding. On the slip road from M25 to M23 traffic stops. After 10 minutes I spot smoke - just ahead a coach has dumped diesel all over the road and caught fire. We watch as 2 fire engines, traffic cops, recovery vehicles, road sweepers, and a new coach all squeeze down the middle of the slip road, as our time ticks away, and DH gradually loses his marbles. I spend the time trying (and failing) to call the airline and insurance etc.
We finally get to Gatwick just as the plane takes off. We're redirected to the helpdesk. Agent looks at our options and says the next available flight is 10am the next day - from chuffing Stansted!! and it will cost £1200 for the 4 of us!! Giving in to defeat we agree, she takes our details and credit card and then "sorry but the price has just increased by £75 .... each". DH is almost in tears by this point, but we are over a barrel and agree, desperately hoping insurance will cover it.
Our car was with a Meet & Greet company who we phone to have it returned. Just after we pick it up I realise they in fact we still fly back to Gatwick on our original flight and will need the car there. Especially as we are due to land at 1am and a taxi home would be punitive. We drive back and forth around 2 roundabouts while we debate options (No where to park). Phone the Meet & Greet and beg them to reinstate our booking, they agree but want £25 to collect the car again - fair enough.
We end up on the Gatwick Express train home where MIL kindly collects us from the station and drives us home. Info the meantime I'm phoning taxis to get us to Stansted in the morning for 8am. It costs us £140 and we are picked up by a driver as his last job after a night shift - it was genuinely one of the most terrifying journeys of my life, driver has no lane etiquette at all, and seems sleepy - I make inane chat loudly most of the way to keep him awake. Thankfully roads are quite quiet. We make it safely though and I suggest he gets a strong coffee before driving home!
Rest of holiday goods to plan and we have a nice relaxing break fortunately. DH takes the whole week to recover.

Now I'm in the middle of the interminable insurance application, but it should cover the majority of it. Thank God I took out the premium cover.

It wasn't the first time we've had the motorway closed on us in that exact same spot. We made it the previous time, by the skin of our teeth. Seriously considering never flying again though!

My first ever flight I was 16 and travelling solo to Australia, so quite a big first trip.

There were 2 stops scheduled, Bahrain and Singapore where I was to change planes. There was a sand storm so planes could not land at Bahrain, we were diverted to an 'airport' that basically had a control tower and a runway.

As there were no facilities at the 'airport' they kept us on the plane, they ran out of drinks, it's not much fun sitting in a desert in a metal tube with nothing to drink.

We were delayed for about 4-5 hours before getting to Bahrain. We got to Singapore but of course the connecting plane had gone so QANTAS diverted a plane due to fly direct to Melbourne to Perth.

The passengers heading for Melbourne were not happy because it added hours to the journey and the law then (may still be the same) said you have to go through immigration at the first point of entry, so everyone had to get off, go through immigration and the the Melbourne passengers had to get back on the plane.

I have a cousin who as a child was always ill on holiday. His parents, him and his sister went to visit friends in France, cousin's appendix burst and was removed thanks to the French health service. As it was only a quick trip to friends the parents hadn't bothered with what was then an E11.

The hospital were very good and said when you get home get one and send it to us sothe finalbill was only about £30.

Another friend was doing a working holiday in Australia. The day he arrived he couldn't get his money out of the bank because it was Sunday, the hostel wanted upfront payment for the fullstay, he had enough on him for a coupleof days but not the full stay.

Eventually he got booked into a hotel using my credit card. The following day he went for a look around Sydney and sort out the bank account (understandably when you open the account abroad you have to go into a branch when you arrive) and bought a chocolate bar, bit into it and broke the veneer off his tooth, got back to the hotel, they put him in a taxi to a dentist.

But of course he didn't have any money yet,the dentist was going to keep his passport until he realised my friend couldn't access his money without it.

My grandmother was sailing to Australia (No idea why these mostly involve Oz) in the 1960s, it was a 6 week trip.

The boat developed a fault between Southampton and an Italian port, it took 2 weeks to mend the fault, passengers were offered a choice of 2 weeks in a hotel or a med cruise, gran took the cruise.