To want to have a holiday that isn't ruined by illness or emergencies?

[holidayfromhell]

I've just got back from a nightmare holiday, which unbelievably, is the second holiday in a few months that's been ruined by illness and medical emergencies.

On my honeymoon in Japan a few months ago, I broke my wrist so badly we had to cut our trip short by a week and fly home for surgery on it, meaning I went 6 days with a sling in terrible pain before it got fixed.

So was really looking forward to an October trip to Crete with my brother for a few days - we just got back. Unfortunately, I had a cold type thing that laid me a bit low for first few days, but was still making the best of it. Then on day 4, my brother developed a massively fast heartbeat and chest pain and was rushed to hospital 45 mins away in an ambulance - absolutely terrifying. He was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and spent the night on the cardiac ward, where they managed to cardiovert him with medicine and return his heart to normal rhythm. I had to go back to the hotel at night and negotiate the public bus which takes like an hour and was way on outskirts of town, then use it to go back next day. The Greek public hospital was pretty shabby and underfunded, but actually the care was pretty good and he saw a cardiologist within 20 mins of arriving. All free on GHIC thankfully, although we had insurance. He spent a sleepless night with two roommates that chain-smoked on the balcony til the early hours of the morning (on a heart ward 🤣).

They thankfully discharged him the next day, but he then had to avoid large meals and alcohol to avoid triggering another afib episode, and of course just wanted to get home, so it meant the holiday was kind of over at that point. We were able to make our original flight the day after. But it didn't end there!

I was feeling a bit off in our Gatwick airport hotel the next morning, but didn't think much of it. As soon as we boarded our 3 hour train home, I started vomiting and shitting my guts out with some awful norovirus type thing, so weak I felt like I was going to die. Running back and forth to train toilet and having to kneel in strangers piss so you can projectile vomit, fml. I want to burn the leggings I had on. My brother text me this morning that he also managed to come down with it overnight and was horribly ill as well. Really hoping my poor husband doesn't get it, have been reminding him to keep his distance and wash his hands loads. I'm feeling a little recovered today so it didn't last too long at least.

Honestly I'm just so glad my brother was ok, but what a fucking nightmare holiday, I swear, especially after the last one.

Anyone else got stories of when your holiday went tits up, to cheer me up a bit?

I’m the same. I’m cursed whenever I go away.

Spent half of a dream trip to New Zealand in bed with flu. Two years later got Covid and spent almost all of honeymoon in bed, not in the good way. Planned a make up trip and ended up hospitalised.

You have all my sympathies because it’s just so, so miserable. The wasted expense, the missing out on stuff, going back to work more tired than when you left.

Oh you poor thing @WingSluts those sound absolutely awful. I hope you've also managed to have a few successful trips.

You're right, I do feel totally aggrieved that this was supposed to be a relaxing holiday and instead was anything but! I've booked Turkey with my husband for next April and honesty wish I could cancel as I'm scared something bad will happen.

It is awful OP i really sympathise.

My holiday disasters have always been relatives ending up hospitalised/dead either shortly before or during the holiday.

My step dad had a heart attack days before me and DH went to India

His dad was hospitalised when we went to Turkey, which took the shine off things a bit

His mum died just before a holiday to Athens, fortunately (!) we could arrange the funeral to happen when we got back a week later

My mum died 2 weeks before we went to New York.

We laugh grimly about it.

@TiramisuThief Oh no :( well that's much worse than someone just ending up ill. May all relatives remain healthy for your future trips!

I did have a spell of bad luck with now-husband a while back, we got trapped in Storm Arwen when the weather warnings changed mid travel and ended up blocked from our accommodation by fallen trees, we spent the night in a stranger's home.

The trip before that, his mum decided to have the beloved family dog put down over our weekend away - it wasn't an immediate emergency where he was in terrible pain, and she could have let him say goodbye to the dog (I think she thought she couldn't bear to do it if she'd waited any longer, but still).

I have had plenty of trips that have gone well though, I should add 🤣🤣🤣.

We had a spate of 6 or 7 years where every holiday had a vehicle breakdown or medical emergency.

The worst was a whole family trip to Scotland where we were so late we missed accommodation and had to pay for 2 rooms in a hotel, ( DC fighting, DH sleeping in car with dog), then FIL ended up in hospital with an infection, I had to come home early with an ill child (expensively on a train), my SIL's family also had a car breakdown and expensive hotel stay/train fare on the way home. This is after PIL's had inadvertently arranged the holiday to clash with DH's 50th birthday so he had to celebrate that on a campsite 300 miles from me.

My PILs talked fondly of that lovely holiday for ages after, we just did not have the heart to tell them it haunts us.

We now expect the worst and it's a bonus if we survive a holiday intact.

@NotMeNoNo This is honestly so therapeutic to know I'm not the only one who can be cursed with travel. What a rubbish trip that sounds like!

So when you say it was 6 or 7 years, does that mean holidays since then have broadly gone ok?

I should also say that I broke my wrist hours after buying an amulet at a temple for 'good health'. I'm not particularly superstitious and it was just a bit of a laugh - it is still in my wallet, but maybe it's a talisman of bad luck? Bit scared to chuck it though, having watched too many horror films where trying to get rid of cursed object leads to worse consequences.

@holidayfromhell

We have managed two holidays in a row this year without someone dying, so maybe we've broken the streak!

I hope you've just got all your illnesses/ accidents out of the way now and future holidays will be much more restful

OP, you weren't in Chania, were you?

Yep! Every trip we go on is marred with some sort of illness, dramas with travel arrangements, to the point where I'm just expecting it now.

I’m also feeling the affects of a bad holiday. 12th October flew to Rhodes on a much needed holiday. Had one of my hellish headaches not a migraine think more of a cluster. Nothing was working so made the decision to take a migraine relief knowing as it was a migraine I would feel drugged up all day but at least pain free and hope it would kill off the headache. Tuesday, headache back but manageable. Felt I had wasted half the holiday.

Spent the next couple of days catching up with sightseeing .

Woke up Friday to shocking news from home. My mothers neighbour had messaged to tell me of a medical emergency. In short a varicose vein had burst and my DM had almost bled out. We were unable to get an earlier flight as we had been due to fly home on Saturday. My eldest DD stayed the night with her as by some miracle she had been discharged late Friday after having a bleed transfusion.

Been looking after my Mum since and returned home last night.

I now need a holiday to get over this week

@Chersfrozenface We were closer to Rethymno and Heraklion actually! I am now really well acquainted with the delights of the Rethymno General Hospital.

@cakewitch What I'm getting from many of these comments is that I should expect the worst from a holiday, and anything else is a bonus 😅

Aw @fortifiedwithtea bless you, that sounds awful. So glad your DM is ok and I hope she recovers well. You definitely deserve a stress-free relaxing holiday at some point to get over this one!

Went on holiday to Cornwall with friends. On the trip down we had a car crash- T boned by another car doing twice the speed limit. I had broken ribs and nerve damage to my arm. On the way home our friend was killed in another road crash. Never been back to Cornwall since.

Touch wood we have been OK since 2022. But I don't want to speak too soon! We have had several holidays which have theoretically gone OK but were exhausting due to constant vigilance to keep things on an even keel. This year was the first where DH and I just went away as a couple and managed to relax. I think the secret is to have more, low key holidays so you haven't wasted thousands and you can have another one soon.

@MoSalahsBeard God that's awful, I'm so sorry. Not surprised you never wanted to go back. I've never got round to going but hearing about the driving standards there doesn't make me want to visit Cornwall in a hurry!

At one point I wanted to include “distance to nearest hospital” as one of the criteria for judging between hotels.

However, we have no had a pretty decent spell - my last trip to a non British hospital was pre-COVID,

I’ve gone and jinxed it now right?

@Mumofteenandtween I can relate! Sometimes I feel like I am doing a tour of international medical care, I have found myself in hospital in quite a few countries.

A Chinese hospital was truly an experience while I was living there - bloody tissues left on the reception desk, filthy toilets with no soap, and this was a fairly expensive private hospital. The public ones are even worse.