Mumsnet users share their best and worst travel stories with Arla BIG Milk

[JustineBMumsnet]

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Whether you’re going on a day out or on holiday, the journeys to your destination and back can make or break the entire trip. They help to determine if you have memories of a BIG adventure or a disappointing day. Arla would like to hear about your best and worst travel stories.

Here’s what Arla Big Milk has to say: “We know how important it is to get your little explorers out in the world around them, so we’ve partnered with Magic Light to bring you yearlong BIG Adventures. We’re also running an on pack monthly prize draw, available across UK grocery retailers, to give you the chance to win an amazing trip to Chessington World of Adventures Resort. Helping to fuel these BIG Adventures, Arla Big Milk is simply fresh whole milk that’s enriched with essential nutrients. So, if you want to join in on the adventure, come visit our site to explore activities for your Easter holidays.”

Do you have any travel stories that were memorable for all the wrong reasons? Perhaps you’ve experienced the misfortune of a child vomiting all over the back seats of the car or all over you following too many sweets? Perhaps you checked into your hotel and found that you’d got the date wrong? Have you had to fill time after your flight was delayed playing a dreaded game of eye-spy for hours on end?

Or, maybe you’ve been lucky in your travels and you managed to sleep throughout an entire journey, arriving bright eyed and bushy tailed at your destination? Perhaps you remember a journey where your children gave up bickering and actually liked each other for once? Perhaps you’ve been unexpectedly upgraded to first class or premium service and lapped up the free luxury?

Share either your best or your worst travel story on the thread below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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We got an upgrade travelling to Canada, dh was so happy that he didn't notice the guy on his side who was so drunk that they cut him off- he kicked up a massive fuss and dh just about caught on that there was a problem, when they came round to apologise. His happy, oblivious face was priceless!

I have a huge fear of flying (especially the take off!) so spoke to my doctor before setting off for a holiday and he prescribed me strong tablets which would send me to sleep as soon as I got on the plane.
I took the tablets once on the plane and they worked very quickly and I fell asleep.
When I woke I looked out of the window hoping we were almost there and we were still on the ground...the flight had been delayed!

We were so worried about taking our small children on a long car journey in order to get to Centre Parcs. However, we invited a 'car fort' by packing the kids duvets and pillows into the back seats so they snuggled down and (miraculously) fell asleep all cosy and warm. The dreamiest car journey ever!

Our first foreign holiday with our DD when she was just under 2 years old. We were going to Fuerteventura and were prepared for the 4 hour flight, but not the 3 hour wait before boarding the plane and then the 3 hour wait sat on the tarmac waiting to take off! All due to a fire at Air Traffic Control meaning planes couldn't leave the UK. At least to keep the passengers happy the pilots let us visit the cockpit.

Travel sickness..there's always at least one incident of this in our family..mainly our daughter. When we went to France last year.. our daughter was travel sick constantly on the journey ( both ways!) And by day 3 of a 7 week break, my son got the pox!! Quarantined..nightmare !

Any journey that involves traffic jams is bad for us, my son is autistic with sensory processing disorder and he can't handle traffic jams and the thought of being late he will go into a full meltdown, screaming,kicking the car, trying to smash windows, hurting himself so potentially any journey can be the worst.

Worst travel experience for us was a trip to see grandma in Cornwall in what must have been the hottest day of the year. We got stuck in traffic so decided to use the satnav and go on the smaller roads, what should have been a three and a half hour trip took us all day. Safe to say there was a lot of squabbling from the kids and the adults!

Our worst was a flight coming home from abroad when trying to land the wind was too strong and couldn't land on the first attempt to which a little lad piped up 'Are we going to die!' so when on the second attempt it landed it was a huge relief.
The best was the summer after when we stayed in Scotland and went on a little camping tour around the Highlands which the kids absolutely loved.

My DD1 was about 1 yr old, we decided to take her on a plane on a late flight and she just kept crying. I walked her around in a baby carrier which helped a bit, but the air hostess told me to sit down for take off where she cried a lot! It was hell and people gave me daggers.

Being given fresh aloe vera plant for our sun burn in St.Lucia

My first time away was a nightmare.i thought I had it all planned out. I was wrong . I was taking my 9month old to Paris with my mum. We were taking the euro tunnel. First off we missed the train and had to buy new tickets we were at the station for ages before but didn't realise we needed to que a certain amount of time in advance. Id planned our route to the hotel using the metro. I've clearly taken the UK for granted as there wernt any lifts and it was a nightmare getting up and down all the stairs. We didnt use the metro again. My little one cried the entire weekend. The entire weekend! He was constipated but i couldnt get anything out. It all to a climax on the way home in the eurotunnel waiting area. Some boy had come out of the only disabled/changing room and had blocked the toilet with shit. My mum had enough and just laid his pram flat down and did that leg thing and a squeezed a weekends worth of poo out of him with everyone watching. They probably hated us. But finally he was silent.

My absolute worst travel experience was when our flight got cancelled which was annoying and an inconvenience but the airline put us up in a hotel for the night so it wasn't all bad. Unfortunately both my husband and I got food poisoning during the night and I have never felt so ill in my life and when we had to go for the flight the next morning I can remember not thinking that I was going to make it but luckily we did though there was some vomiting on the flight which was embarrassing. Luckily the kids were fine as I don't think I would have had the energy to look after ill children on a flight when I was being sick.

Boarded our flight to Orlando & found the plane half empty. The 3 of us had a row each to ourselves & the flight was a breeze!

We travelled on a train journey to london. We were visiting the tower of london,museums, buckingham palace etc. So there was so much to plan using the underground and marking the stops off. This kept my son entertained on the journey down as well as on the ubderground whilst we were there.the journey and plannung are part of the adventure.

We decided to visit the Hartz Mountains by train - for our first big trip to Europe - all organised by ourselves - 24 different trains in totals. Great satisfaction when everything went like clockwork. Much nicer than an organised trip.

Our journey from Coventry to the South of France was delightful! Poorly kids and hours spent in the car :( Thank god for calpol and story book CDs! Once we made it to our destination at 7pm (we set off at 3 in the morning) we had a fabulous time but the journey was a nightmare

When my eldest daughter was 2.5 years old we decided to travel to the south of France by car. This was not long after we had potty trained her. Of course the journey took much longer than expected with quite alot of stops for the loo!

We were in traffic on the motorway for about 30 mins and my little girl in the back started being sick in the back seat! There was nowhere to park so I had to run from the front seat to the back to tend to her. It was manic and I always remember it now!

It wasn't a holiday but when I was eight years old, my family moved to Bahrain for two years.
We'd settled in nicely when at tso thirty one morning my DM woke me up to tell me that my DS (aged six years old) was ill and we needed to take her to hospital immediately.
Cue a nightmare journey when I kept describing the situation as if we were in a secret seven book, whilst DS was retching quietly in the back of the car whilst I bounced around with the excitement of an early morning adventure!

My most memorable journey for all of the wrong reasons was when we had a out first holiday to Skegness, we'd booked it months before (lucky I had taken my confirmation email with me) the hotel owner knew nothing about our booking - it was peak season, and the hotel was full. The children were tired and crying, the hotel owner rang around his contacts and paid the extra to have us put in a 4 star hotel (well what else could he do ?) The hotel had a heated indoor pool, and the food was amazing - so after a bad start - it all turned out well, (we gave the hotel a good rating on TripAdvisor for his solving our problem.

We used to take boiled sweets with us for long car journeys, something to break up the journey a bit, until my DS choked on one, he's been so jumpy around what he eats since

Stuck in Sardinia in the middle of a public holiday when everything shut down for 4 days! It was hell

Worst is happening right now - currently sleeping on a bench in Atalanta airport. Grrr

Worst for us was on the way home from a day out in the forest. Car was filthy so we stopped at a car wash on the way through. Just as we entered the car wash our youngest had an exploding nappy which filled his car seat and the smell was horrible. No space to change him and unable to open any windows it was a long 5 minutes sat in the car.

Best journey for me was driving to our hotel after a wedding, it was beautiful evening and the stars were out so we put the roof down and drove along the beautiful countyside whilst star gazing.