Have we just been unlucky? Would you try again?

[unluckyonholiday]

We’re currently on our first family holiday abroad (me, dp and our 2 year old)- 11 nights/10 days. We go home on Friday morning.

Night 1 and day 1 and night 2 went as expected - swimming, going to the entertainment, a good time ect.

Day 3 - dp was sick in the morning and then 2 year old got really tired and slept for ages from about 4pm

Day 4 - We ended up having to go to hospital as 2 year olds temperature wouldn’t go down and they were concerned he may have a fit if it couldn’t be controlled

Day 5-8 - 2 year old unhappy, tired, hot on antibiotics and paracetamol and ibuprofen and not wanting to eat or drink much and sleeping loads and dp feeling sick/dizzy/exhausted every day

Night 8 - 2 year old feeling much better but dp still feels awful so we stayed in after food and had an early night

Day 9 (now) 2 year old is completely fine (although scared of the pool and won’t go near it - he loves going swimming at home so I think he might be scared it’s what made him sick which it might have been) and dp is feeling a bit better but still not the best

It’s our last day tomorrow.

Would you try again next year?
Have we just been really unlucky or are holidays just not for us?

We went at this time of year as we don’t enjoy hot weather. It is how I expected it to be so I think we picked the best weather one 🤷‍♀️

It wasn’t cheap to go on holiday and I really don’t know what is best in the future 😫

What made you ask that? (genuinely interested)

Because it has such a bad rep for illness and hygeine, so I thought it was likely. People only go there because its hot and cheap 🤷‍♀️ but I'd rather pay a bit more and go somewhere with a better track record and better hygeine.

I imagine they asked because it's a popular destination but known for dodgy hygiene and stories of upset stomachs. Along with Egypt and Tunisia

I‘ve just been looking at hotels in Turkey for July 🙈 which one are you at?

I've travelled tonnes and tonnes including backpacking Asia and the only place I've ever had food poisoning is a 5 star in Egypt!
Interesting to hear that Egypt and Turkey have a bad rep for this

Spain In the 1960’s according to family members was where everyone got a sickness bug-
Bad water and poor hygiene- but now SPain is really mainstream.

My brother visits Turkey a lot but has a Turkish GF so not staying in resorts.

So far he hasn’t had a bug there.- Fingers crossed)

If I were you I'd try and get some form of refund from the resort, if it was their food, hygeine, pool etc that made them ill?
Just don't go to that resort again. People get sick on holiday a lot, but if the hotel is breaching hygiene then they need to be investigated. Maybe their laws on such things are a bit lax.
There's plenty of other lovely places you can visit.

Unfortunately getting this kind of bug does happen, and can be more frequent when staying in hotels, especially if there are buffets etc. - only needs to be a few people using a buffet when they’ve got D&V and it can spread quickly. Plus there can be lots of touch points of lifts / bars and if people are using the pool whilst infectious, again it can spread quickly.

Have you travelled with a package operator? If you’ve got a rep in resort, they might be able to help.

I'd try again next year, maybe try the Canaries. Sorry it's been tough OP and i hope everyone is 100% very soon. Try and enjoy the last day, maybe stick to bland stuff like chips though!

Goodness we are paying 9k for a week in Turkey !! I really hope that we don’t all get sick .
I didn’t realise it had a reputation for poor food hygiene 🙈!

I too don’t see the connection with going on holiday and a toddler being sick!
People get sick . People go on holiday. Not necessarily connected.
Also the Turkey thing, I know many people who have been there, including myself, no one has ever been sick . Well, one man got sunstroke but that was because he went out on the water for ages with no hat or sunscreen, and not much hair either !Go on holiday , it’s fun !

My sister as woken this morning with the same thing bug /flu what ever it is.
Dizzy sick hot /cold hot again blocked nose and just wants to sleep no energy etc.
Shes not in turkey shes in essex.
I dont know what she has caught.

I love Turkey, but it's so hit and miss with some of the resorts/hotels when it comes to things like water quality and food hygiene. Some are immaculate... Others, less so.

For next time (because this is a one off), I'd recommend Spain as it's pretty affordable, absolutely lovely, and also a shorter flight. The Canaries also provide winter sun. If you've got a bit more to spend then Croatia is phenomenal. And Greece has loads to offer too - for all budgets. That's just the short-haul destinations where you're less likely to get some of the issues you've had in Turkey and where it's very easy for families to holiday. Clearly there's a world of possibilities out there so don't let one bad holiday put you off.

I’d avoid Turkey or Egypt. But don’t let it put you off holidays! I’ve got a lot of friends who travel long haul with their kids (can be cheaper than Europe and we work in travel) and it’s just unlucky if people get sick. Frustrating because you spend money on holidays and really look forward to them.

Hope everyone’s better soon!

Would never take young children to Turkey or Egypt, the amount of horror stories I’ve heard - from people I know not just stories through friends of friends. Also a mum influencer I follow, daughter ended up with kidney failure from ecoli and needed dialysis. Obviously, some people are fine, but I wouldn’t take the risk.

This made me laugh out loud!! Thank you so much!

I work for travel insurance & would not be keen on travelling with children to Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia etc. The chances of you ending up in hospital on a drip are much higher than Spain, Portugal, Greece etc.

I think you've been unlucky to have lost this much of your holiday due to sickness ☹️ that's a shame.

Although, we went to Menorca with our 2yo. It was in May and was only around 19-20c.. ds was ill on the very last day so this wasn't bad at all and it was a short lived sickness/tummy bug.
Then 5 months later in the October when ds was 2.5yo we went to Mallorca. Was much hotter here. All was going well till the final 2 days when ds came down ill and we had to get the emergency doctor out in the early hours, turns out he'd got a throat infection (probably pool water), DH was also ill on this holiday but only for the 1 day - sickness and diorreah.
Hasn't stopped us booking again though, we're going back to Mallorca next month and have booked for October again.

We chose Spain as it's closer to home, shorter flight for ds. Probably wouldn't try turkey til he's older, we've been turkey plenty times before we had him and we love it there but we always ended up with slightly dicky tummies tbf. Just no where near as bad as when we've been to Egypt! 🤮

I completely understand the mentality of not wanting to go on holiday again because of the disaster. I often get sick on holiday and it feels like a waste to pay lots of money and not be able to enjoy it. And I’d rather be sick with my own bathroom/bucket/cleaning products/food.

When you are in the thick of it, you feel differently to how you will feel when everyone is well. You will go on holiday again and enjoy it, I promise! (Just maybe somewhere with better hygiene?)

They're all rife with poor hygiene and just general illness. Don't do it.

Why is 2 a bad age to go on hoilday?

Worst holiday of my life in Turkey. Put me off the place for life. Constant stomach upsets. Thought I'd try local restaurants after ending up totally put off by the all inclusive at the hotel and was just as sick 🤢 And I've normally got a very strong stomach. As others have said, holidays with toddlers are hard bloody work but don't let this put you off. Definitely pick a country with a better rep for hygiene for next year to put your mind at ease.

My whole family got sick in Turkey. I’d never ever go again. Been all over the world and that’s the only place we’ve been ill.

Really surprised that Turkey is being mentioned alongside Egypt for illness...I had no idea it was considered as bad. We very very nearly booked Turkey this year - in the end we went for Greece instead (for no particular reason) - but reading this I'm very glad!

I would never take younger dc to Egypt. Dh and I went once 19 years ago and I've never been so violently ill in my life, nor dh. 5* resort too. Luckily fairly short lived and we were fine after 48 hours but I'll never forget the stomach pain or the vomiting every 30 minutes for a full day and night. How neither of us needed treatment for dehydration is beyond me.

For me toddler age is the time when I'd be least bothered about holidays because that's peak attention-requiring age, combined with least understanding/benefit to them of being away from home. A baby is slightly more portable and adaptable, can be pushed about and nap in a buggy/pram, so long as there's milk they'll get some nutrition, an older child (say 6+) can be excited for the pool, the beach etc, can amuse themselves at least briefly without needing a parent right beside them all the time. And there's a chance they'll remember at least some of it. Whereas with a 2yo they don't really understand where they are, they're off their normal sleeping/eating routine so grumpy and hangry, you have to hover over them all the time because the pool/hotel/villa is never properly toddler proof, there's other screaming toddlers everywhere (or alternatively you're getting dirty looks because the only screaming toddler around is yours) - for me its peak 'same old shit as at home but less convenient' because you don't have all their stuff and a fully kitted out house. And that's without anyone getting ill, and toddlers are even more prone to that than others because you can't stop them sticking their fingers into everything. And of course they won't remember a thing about the holiday afterwards. When mine were that little we did just accept holidays were going to be pretty crap for us so we spent as little as possible and stuck to easy, predictable trips where we could reliably source tinned spaghetti, cbeebies and a soft play or whatever else contains a toddler for a few blessed minutes while you have a sit down. We saved beach type holidays for when they were a big bigger and could actually appreciate it, personal choice though. Obviously if sunshine makes running around after tiny dictators more bearable for you then go for it!