I'm having the holiday from hell...

[Appalonia]

I'm on a 2 week holiday in America. A male friend booked himself this holiday by himself and then said, if I could just pay my airfare, he'd love it if I came with him just aa friends, as it would be more fun. I thought about it and since I thought we got on pretty well, I'd go for it. However it's turning into an absolute nightmare!

One example he hired a Mustang car for a road trip and then had a meltdown that my big suitcase wouldn't fit in the boot
Without checking if it did, he then threatened to leave me on my own whilst he went on this road trip. , I was so upset I left the hotel room and desperately looked fir a room for myself, but it would have been over £1k. He also keeps throwing it back on my face how much he's paid for his accommodation, even tho, it would have cost the same if I wasn't there.

I feel very vulnerable and annoyed at myself for going on this holiday. He's acting like he's on the holiday by himself, with no consideration for me, like not caring if I need to eat or anything I would like to do. We're in Vegas and all he wants to do is gamble. There's so much more going on, he's like a child constantly having tantrums raising his voice at me telling me I'm ridiculous if I sit down because my back hurts or that I don't feel safe in the car as he's such a nervous driver etc. I'm spending all my time placating him and I'm so upset and fed up.

I don't really know what I want from this post and I feel like it's my own fault for putting myself in such a vulnerable situation but I feel really alone and I can't say anything to him as I know he'll just kick off again...

And who goes to Vegas these days?

We've been going for last 20yrs, but everyone knows its a dump now, a tourist black hole.

And @CheeseWisely the distance from Las Vegas to the California border is only about 30 miles. She said it was ‘a little town in California’ so they probably didn’t go far over the border.

And who goes to Vegas these days?
We've been going for last 20yrs, but everyone knows its a dump now, a tourist black hole.

I mean, I know people come here to get all the shite out of their system, but these two comments by you are really rude and add nothing.

I hope you arent still planning on going to yosemite with this person. Its a very long drive to be stuck with someone you dont get along with. What small town in California are you in? Hopefully not Primm, which is just over the border from Nevada and is pretty grim, or even worse, Barstow. If so just head back to Vegas and find your own place to stay, or go home.

Looking on Expedia, even if you can't change your current flight, there's a flight via JetBlue tomorrow, from Vegas to Gatwick with a stopover in Boston for just over £300 (likely + luggage admittedly).

To be honest, I'd just give it up as a bad job and either try and do your own thing or cut your losses and fly home.

OOh now reassured that Vegas is safe and has lots of cheap accommodation, I might be tempted to take off for a solo holiday there myself, especially as tourism into USA is declining due to DT shenanigans. But is it really safe now?

This kinda reminds me of a time I agreed to go and visit a male friend who I’d known for years and spend the day together and stay over. It ended up being awful. I felt vulnerable and unsafe due to his behaviour and I ended up leaving in the middle
of the night and haven’t seen him again. I’d personally either make the holiday a solo trip or spend the money to travel home. It’s honestly not worth staying in that horrible situation. I’d rather be broke for a couple of months if I were you from
the extra costs.

Getting off the topic slightly, but do you know either of these towns? Can you tell me anything about them? This is exactly the kind of random knowledge I love! Any information, or weird memory is welcome!

I think the OP mentioned visiting Bishop?

How much longer do you have left op?

Is there really nowhere cheap you could stay until your flight?!

Why do you feel stuck OP? You have a credit card? Just book a flight out of there. If you want to stay in the US for a holiday you can go it alone (not ideally in Las Vegas) but masses of other great places to see. You could go anywhere in California for example, or what about New England on the eastern side? Its famous for its autumn (Fall) colours, and there will be loads of organised trips to see it all. Fly home from New York or New Jersey. Try and change your return flight ticket. The same airline may help you do a different itinery. Enjoy!

Don’t go home! It will be a pain changing flights and you are there now. Get your credit card out and do your own thing. The time will fly by.

A grand on a room really? If you wanted to leave the accommodation you would find a suitable alternative.

I also went on holiday to the US with a male 'friend'. I thought we were clear on relationship status but apparently not. After I turned him down he became so obnoxious I ended up hiring a car and heading off on a road trip on my own. I had a fabulous time, could choose where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, everyone was so lovely. Turned from the worst holiday in my life to one of the best! Break away and enjoy your freedom!

Do your own thing as much as possible.

If room atmosphere becomes intolerable find somewhere else - even a hostel/motel.

Rebook you flights home earlier if necessary.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES GO TO DEATH VALLEY WITH THIS MAN AS HE PLANNED pretrip.

Are you keeping in touch with friends and family at home? Just in case ya know this was his master plan to annoy you to death all along.

Stay safe OP

Telling the OP to smoke dope and be polite and nice??

Seriously?

Shit advice

Are u ok @Appalonia?

I live in vegas so I only know about these towns from driving through them to get to nicer parts of California. We always stop at Barstow station for a toilet break and it gives me the creeps. Its also a greyhound bus station and full of sketchy meth head type people and always reminds me of that film with Jeff bridges where a woman gets kidnapped from a truck stop/gas station on a road trip? I could definitely see that happening at Barstow station lol.

Primm is just depressing. It's a dying town/modern day ghost town with 2 massive casinos, one of which has now closed down and a practically derelict outlet mall. I think there's one store still open in there. The other casino has this big Rollercoaster going through it but it hasn't been operational in years. I think that might also be closing down.

And yes, vegas is defintely safe for a solo female traveller once you dont go into sketchy areas and stay somewhere decent and central on the strip. Do NOT stay in a hostel as mentioned earlier in the thread, even a cheap actual motel is definitely asking for trouble. Even the famously cheap and shabby circus circus would be a better option.

No one would bat an eye at a woman dining/going out alone etc. Somewhere off strip and more of a locals casino type place is also very safe and would be cheaper. For example, red rock casino is in an affluent area with tons of shops and restaurants and a short drive to red rock canyon, as you can probably guess by the name. A major downside is a lack of public transport so you would defintely need your own car if you wanted to venture off the strip.

Aw I saw your post on one of the FB pages. Really hope you get something sorted.

i absolutely love vegas!!

OP you can leave if you want to, you sound very fatalistic and that you have to grin and bear it. You don't, just book a flight or see if you can change your flight, leaving is going to be cheaper than staying there.

Or if you can afford it, just go and stay somewhere else.

But why complain about how awful he is and then say you're stuck - you're not, you can leave.

Quick update: I had a massive meltdown in the middle of the night and told him exactly what I thought of his behaviour! This morning he's been nice as pie, saying he's thought about what I said, admitted he'd been a bit ' grumpy ', and actually asked ne what I wanted to do today. He'd planned on doing a 6 hour drive and I said I wasn't going to do it and he accepted it. He's got me coffee unasked for and promised that we would get on from now.. We shall see...

I've booked myself a massage for later which should help my stress levels!

Thanks for all the replies, especially those who shared their own experiences of going away with friends. And yes, in hindsight this trip was a risk, but I'm single and most pp I know aren't free to go away as they go away with their families. In fact this year I went to Thailand for 6 weeks on my own which was fine, but I just thought it would be nice to go away with someone else for a change.

Get yourself a car, go to Lone Pine, Yosemite, Monterey, then fuck out our via LA.

Please don't go on the Death Valley hike with him! That would be utter madness