Worst Travel Experience? (So far)

[Vulture]

I will start:

I had left Reno, where I was housed up for a week and a half. I got dropped off at Sparks. Hopped out in a 48 (I think, it was blue) double stack that was not completely filled by its containers. Smooth sailing to the next cc. There I got off to buy a magnum sharpie for hitchhiking. I got back to the yard to find my train was gone. I partly expected that. So I waited half an hour and the next train came by. It stopped. It was all shit and miniwells. I crammed myself in. I saw the Salt Lake and the mountains that appeared to be floating. After that, nothing good happened. In Wyoming, it was 29F and snowing. I was in my sleeping bag wrapped with a tarp, but still wet and miserable. I could hardly feel my feet by the time the train stopped in Cheyenne. I was slow to react. Then when I did I had to roll up my bag and fold my tarp. I was almost done with my tarp when the train started rolling. I grabbed my shit and sat on the ladder. It wasn't slowing down. Guess I am going to Nebraska... fuck. I set myself back up, but this time only with the tarp. The weather begins to alternate between snow and rain. The wind is hard and my wet tarp kept smacking out my cigarette, my only source of heat. I finally roll into North Platte. I haphazardly strap my tarp in. I stagger to the ladder, feet more numb than ever. The train seems to be going a decent hop off speed, so I wing it. I end up in a cold puddle on my side. Shivering, I look about for anover hang or building. The only thing there was a yard office. Guess what I did? I stood by the door, smoked a fag and walked right up into the office. I looked so pitiful the guys there gave me coffee and 2 bucks for snacks. $148 dollars later... still glad I did it. Going to be hitchhiking for a while...

 

[Adnil]

I went rubber tramping with a green kid I had known on and off for a few years. We had gotten in an argument and it ended with him going to a show and I to sleep in the back of his trailblazer. Being woken in the middle of a car crash and having to wake the drunken driver up since it seemed we weren't stopping, did he fininaly park the beaten car in a rich apartment complex. When I questioned his irresponsible behavior, he informed me that he had planned to kill me in the middle of nowhere. Knowing he was loading, I grabbed my pack and headed off. Bumping into two men a few yards over, one told me to get in his vehicle because the cops were to arrive soon and he can offer me food, shower, with a couch to rest on. I was a little curious about a few of his words and actions that late night, but I rested well assuming I will set off again when I woke to meet a friend who I knew bummed in a nearby city. In waking day this man became very aggressive, controlling, and obsessed over keeping me (as he just exited a dirty divorce). On the phone with his lawyer he spoke about his previous charge(s) - battery, assault, attempted murder. I panicked, but will laugh when he'll ask in a sweet voice if he can punch my face, beat me with a wrench, and gang rape me with his mature friends. The coming day when the large man stepped out to speak to a neighbor at his front door did I manage to grab my phone and text a sister to buy me a greyhound ticket for that night. Within time I grabbed my pack, jumped out the window of his bedroom while he was distracted by the neighbor once again, and ran for it. On the greyhound bus in the middle of my trip did we hit a stop. Men in black with their dogs circled around as stranger to stranger we asked "what's this about?". There had happened to be a passenger in the front who threatend to kill himself on board to the bus driver. We got delayed as the individual was being put to question on the spot and the bus had to be examined thoroughly twice for any weapons.

In those short days rubber tramping, hitching, and the greyhound failed me.

 

[Deleted member 125]

I went rubber tramping with a green kid I had known on and off for a few years. We had gotten in an argument and it ended with him going to a show and I to sleep in the back of his trailblazer. Being woken in the middle of a car crash and having to wake the drunken driver up since it seemed we weren't stopping, did he fininaly park the beaten car in a rich apartment complex. When I questioned his irresponsible behavior, he informed me that he had planned to kill me in the middle of nowhere. Knowing he was loading, I grabbed my pack and headed off. Bumping into two men a few yards over, one told me to get in his vehicle because the cops were to arrive soon and he can offer me food, shower, with a couch to rest on. I was a little curious about a few of his words and actions that late night, but I rested well assuming I will set off again when I woke to meet a friend who I knew bummed in a nearby city. In waking day this man became very aggressive, controlling, and obsessed over keeping me (as he just exited a dirty divorce). On the phone with his lawyer he spoke about his previous charge(s) - battery, assault, attempted murder. I panicked, but will laugh when he'll ask in a sweet voice if he can punch my face, beat me with a wrench, and gang rape me with his mature friends. The coming day when the large man stepped out to speak to a neighbor at his front door did I manage to grab my phone and text a sister to buy me a greyhound ticket for that night. Within time I grabbed my pack, jumped out the window of his bedroom while he was distracted by the neighbor once again, and ran for it. On the greyhound bus in the middle of my trip did we hit a stop. Men in black with their dogs circled around as stranger to stranger we asked "what's this about?". There had happened to be a passenger in the front who threatend to kill himself on board to the bus driver. We got delayed as the individual was being put to question on the spot and the bus had to be examined thoroughly twice for any weapons.

In those short days rubber tramping, hitching, and the greyhound failed me.

every single time riding the ol dirty dog i have a miserable experience. whether its some weary dude wanting to rub on my knee or the only available seat being next to a snoring farting person who for some god damn reason smells worse then i do.

as for worst travel experience ide say mentally it would be having to rush back to my home town from miami to deal with a pregnancy that was not planned and turned out to be a false positive. physically anything having to do with nola at all.

 

[Cozmcrae]

The worst I've had by a considerable margin was taking a 52 hour bus across Mongolia. There was literally no roads, it was -26 degrees Celsius, the bus was a 70's soviet POS with no heating, I couldn't communicate with anyone and to top it all off I had no seat. When I was sitting eating a greasy horse meat bowl of noodles in a shack at the half way point I could honestly say it was the lowest point of my life.

 

[Rob Nothing]

careful the train thing in cold weather. without realizing you aren't thinking so sharp anymore and one thing leads to another and down that slippery slope you start to get sloppy and take unneccessary risks. gotta be prepared for the wet and cold.

worst travel experience so far has got to be the first time I landed in jail. there were some crazy af sons and mothers in their and I had my first real glimpse of the way of things here in the states. I never thought I'd want to ride another train again, but time is the great mediator and here I am and I've accepted a few more things since then and that has made the rest of it easier. I am always greatful for tough knocks like that, so long as I manage to survive them anyways. . . sometimes we don't, sometimes we're not so lucky and people lose their Fing minds or other things or worse. I step carefully now and watch my ass all the time. no one there to do it for me.

 

[TMG51]

I haven't had anything -totally- awful, but, I've been to Mexico and all over the lower 48, and there's only been one time I felt physically threatened. Now, I pick up hitchhikers every time I see them, I use common sense, I'm a dude, and I just generally don't worry. But this one time I had arrived in a city and set out on foot to learn the layout without having to drive. This was after dark. As I walked around, I came to realize that a car had lapped me a few times... crappy ass 90s sedan... and I'm not a paranoid person, but it occurred to me to wonder if the driver was following me.

The car pulled up ahead and stopped. To test the theory, I deliberately walked such that there was an obstacle interrupting the line of sight between me and the driver. The car backed up so that the line of sight was restored. I thought, "holy shit, this guy really is stalking me."

I began walking around buildings and pedestrian passways such that the driver could not follow me directly. Each time, he would drive around on a road and meet me on the other side. Fuck. This guy was determined to stalk me. It kept up for nearly an hour, me trying to lose him and him following me - through parking lots, side streets, pedestrian passageways, etc - finally I thought I had lost him and I got back to my van. I jumped inside, locked the doors, peeked out the windows... and saw his car pull in and park next to me. He got out (couldn't see me, I was peeking through the curtains) and he was trying to look inside all of the windows while walking around the van. I was standing there with a baseball bat in one hand and a phone in the other trying to decide whether I should jump out and brain him or call the police.

Finally he went away.

I stayed awake a while, watching, and his car came back.... he didn't get out this time, but he sat next to my van a bit... then left.

After that I went to sleep in the same spot, didn't even move. Figured it was over at that point. So not that bad overall.

 

[TheWindAndRain]

every single time riding the ol dirty dog i have a miserable experience. whether its some weary dude wanting to rub on my knee or the only available seat being next to a snoring farting person who for some god damn reason smells worse then i do.

as for worst travel experience ide say mentally it would be having to rush back to my home town from miami to deal with a pregnancy that was not planned and turned out to be a false positive. physically anything having to do with nola at all.

Agreed. While certainly not my worst stories, Greyhound tops the list of something fucked up always happening. Whether it is almost getting arrested, shit stolen ,given shitty drugs, or breaking down multiple times.

 

[spectacular]

biked 75 miles, midway thru it's raining, i'm on a hill going up and my pack is too heavy so i fall back and then piss my pants.

 

[Deleted member 16034]

I have two that stick out. One I wasn't traveling so it doesn't count.


So my mate and I were hitch-hiking, and this dude who looked like a high school history teacher pulled up. He was just so average looking we were like, "fuck it!" And hopped in.
About immediately he started saying shit that stuck out as odd. He told us to never go to prison, repeatedly. and how he got sent to the big house for robbery and got addicted to shit and how they'd smuggle it in their assholes.
I should probably say my friend and I were fifteen at this point. If this happened now I think I'd ask if he had some to spare.
So he pulls over and gets some water do he can shoot a fucking 8-ball into his neck. My friend grabbed my hand, terrfied. This dude finally realizes how much he scared us poor children and he bought us a fifth of vodka, along with both of our packs of choice.

We ended up as far away from our destination as we were when we started. But we at least got alcohol and nicotine for our troubles

 

[Sprouticus]

Nick and I were in Thatcher Arizona and wanted to get back to Quartzsite for the Gem show. There were a couple kids there that we had met in Quartzsite that were traveling in a Uhaul with all their shit and a car being towed. They asked us if we needed a ride and we said yes, of course some other kids heard so they hopped in too. Everything was great, we were in the back about 6 of us with all the furniture and shit. pitch black without a flashlight, it was night-time and there was no way to get out unless someone opened the back door for u. We all decided to get some sleep because its a moderately long ride. All of the sudden there was a loud noise and we were flipped upside down with all the other shit in the back. I was knocked unconsious and when i came to the Uhaul was on its side with the back door up a little bit and flashlights looking in. I crawled out wondering wtf happened in a haze. What i saw blew my mind. The uhaul was on its side, it had slid a good 50 yards before coming to a stop and the car that was being towed was IN FRONT of the uhaul i think it musta flipped over the Uhaul and was about 30 feet in front. The driver had fallen asleep at the wheel and gone off the road, we hit a mound of dirt on the side of the road and the Uhaul flipped a few times because we were going at least 65 mph. Absolutly one of the scariest moments of my life. Anyways the EMT's came and asked us if we alright, at first i said yeah because i just wanted to get my shit and get the @#$$ out of there. After discussing it briefly with nick we decided to go to the hospital anyways to get free drugs. Sure enough we both go 2 huge prescriptions for Percocet....SCORE! We called our mothers and told em what happened, they felt so bad they got us a hotel room for a few days in Casa Grande Arizona where we crashed. It was pretty cool we just got super high, bought some pot from some guy and played around for a couple days. LOL i remember one day we were so bored we were using the remote as a B-52 bomber and dropping the bombs(batteries) on little army men we were so high lol. I miss Nick so much.

 

[Lost in transit]

I was in key west marching in fantasy fest. I was driving over the bridge to stock island from key west on the morning after and found out my bro committed suicide. I was going to meet him in Denver in a few days when He arrived from la. By the time I heard the news he had already been brought to ct and been buried. His dad said I was the last one talking to him for a half hour and I couldn't remember what he said. That was a long drive from key west to Denver solo. I got a slice of bud in Memphis for 20$ that was amazing

 

[Mankini]

1. Bennington VT 10/14: Wet on the trail and a Mama moose stuck her head out of the bushes about 20 feet away and went "Chiiirrrrrrrr!" to her baby. I shit and left.

2. Sausalito, 3/14: Sleeping in front of the library: woke up at around 2 AM, in a light rain, with around 30 snails climbing on my sleeping bag, and all headed for my face. I brushed them off and moved but they left slime trails on all my bedding.

 

[Nelco]

I was on a roof top patio area. I stepped into what I thought was a bush and fell two stories into an alley. Thought I was fine but woke up with contusions. I couldn't bend my legs or hips. I had to be pushed in a shopping cart to the er. Was fine as long as I drank for the next few days or my legs and hips wouldn't bend.

 

[Nelco]

I was at a strangers house a youngish girl that invited us over...low north east...I was traveling with two others. The home bums we met the day before...much older men..show up.
We're already schwilly so we don't think much of it..about an hour later..than the other two people with me start to pass out...I get a bad feeling...wake one up and start saying spidey senses over and over to get him up because they won't wake up...in his stupor he fights to wake up because he feels something is wrong...we pretty much drag the other person out because he can't wake up and as quickly as we can...I'm assuming they dropped the seroquel in our booze...the 30-40 seroquel I seen in the bathroom just laying out in the cabinet...Im assuming ol girl tried to trade us for crack or whatnot...but theres more...
So we're scrambling to the bushes to duck abd hide because we're all struggling to stay aeake and we know we're going to pass out hard so we want to get in an area where we'd be hard to find...next thing we see cops beaming the woods bear by from where we left...so we just hide and pass out where we are....wake up...Jiggy infestation...a type of body lice. I told thoae bastards I didn't want to sleep in a house..hahaa...

 

[Rob Nothing]

that's a slice of real-life right there. nice anecdote

 

[wavyhill]

1. Bennington VT 10/14: Wet on the trail and a Mama moose stuck her head out of the bushes about 20 feet away and went "Chiiirrrrrrrr!" to her baby. I shit and left.

2. Sausalito, 3/14: Sleeping in front of the library: woke up at around 2 AM, in a light rain, with around 30 snails climbing on my sleeping bag, and all headed for my face. I brushed them off and moved but they left slime trails on all my bedding.

I was out hiking with the fam in Yellowstone about twilight and a mama moose (with her baby) rose up between two trees we had been looking through. She was so large I just kept saying "OH MY GOD" repeatedly whilst my step daughter kept telling me to shut the fuck up, but I couldn't... finally had to put both hands over my mouth to stop the sound. So I totally get your "shit and left." Good times!

 

[wavyhill]

I was at a strangers house a youngish girl that invited us over...low north east...I was traveling with two others. The home bums we met the day before...much older men..show up.
We're already schwilly so we don't think much of it..about an hour later..than the other two people with me start to pass out...I get a bad feeling...wake one up and start saying spidey senses over and over to get him up because they won't wake up...in his stupor he fights to wake up because he feels something is wrong...we pretty much drag the other person out because he can't wake up and as quickly as we can...I'm assuming they dropped the seroquel in our booze...the 30-40 seroquel I seen in the bathroom just laying out in the cabinet...Im assuming ol girl tried to trade us for crack or whatnot...but theres more...
So we're scrambling to the bushes to duck abd hide because we're all struggling to stay aeake and we know we're going to pass out hard so we want to get in an area where we'd be hard to find...next thing we see cops beaming the woods bear by from where we left...so we just hide and pass out where we are....wake up...Jiggy infestation...a type of body lice. I told thoae bastards I didn't want to sleep in a house..hahaa...

Good story. I love those "escaped by the skin of our teeth" ones.

 

[wavyhill]

I haven't had anything -totally- awful, but, I've been to Mexico and all over the lower 48, and there's only been one time I felt physically threatened. Now, I pick up hitchhikers every time I see them, I use common sense, I'm a dude, and I just generally don't worry. But this one time I had arrived in a city and set out on foot to learn the layout without having to drive. This was after dark. As I walked around, I came to realize that a car had lapped me a few times... crappy ass 90s sedan... and I'm not a paranoid person, but it occurred to me to wonder if the driver was following me.

The car pulled up ahead and stopped. To test the theory, I deliberately walked such that there was an obstacle interrupting the line of sight between me and the driver. The car backed up so that the line of sight was restored. I thought, "holy shit, this guy really is stalking me."

I began walking around buildings and pedestrian passways such that the driver could not follow me directly. Each time, he would drive around on a road and meet me on the other side. Fuck. This guy was determined to stalk me. It kept up for nearly an hour, me trying to lose him and him following me - through parking lots, side streets, pedestrian passageways, etc - finally I thought I had lost him and I got back to my van. I jumped inside, locked the doors, peeked out the windows... and saw his car pull in and park next to me. He got out (couldn't see me, I was peeking through the curtains) and he was trying to look inside all of the windows while walking around the van. I was standing there with a baseball bat in one hand and a phone in the other trying to decide whether I should jump out and brain him or call the police.

Finally he went away.

I stayed awake a while, watching, and his car came back.... he didn't get out this time, but he sat next to my van a bit... then left.

After that I went to sleep in the same spot, didn't even move. Figured it was over at that point. So not that bad overall.

WOw, that was one determined perv. Glad you had a safe place to hole up, and a bat and a phone.