My scariest travel moments

This post is part of  the monthly travel link up and is all about scares and fears. Now, the majority of my travel experiences have been nothing but positive, however there have been some hairy moments. Usually these aren’t really things I would talk about as I’m definitely a half glass full kind of person but I’m loving having the opportunity to share them with you in this post.

So here are my scariest travel moments, in no particular order:

A terrifying taxi ride from Chennai to Pondicherry in India waaaaaayyyyyy back in 2005.

I was young and fairly green to travelling abroad. I was visiting a friend who had moved there for work and we decided to spend a weekend in Pondicherry. We hired a driver and it was a 3 and a half hour drive and I don’t think I stopped praying the entire way! If you’ve ever been to India, you’ll know why…. if you’ve not been to India, imagine animals crossing anywhere and everywhere, driving in the middle of car lanes and motorbikes carrying entire families.

Thinking we were going to be kidnapped in Cairo.

We were in a taxi from the airport after a stay in Sharm el Sheikh and were heading to our hotel – a route we’d already done – when I couldn’t recognise the route. Being paranoid (and having an over-active imagination), my thoughts wondered to images of us being kidnapped or robbed. Of course we were fine. I guess there’s more than one route….

Being stung by FREAKING jellyfish.

I have this THING about not being able to see what’s in the water when I’m swimming so I always wear goggles – even though I look ridiculous. We had hired our own boat in Capri and found a gorgeous spot to swim. There were other people swimming too so we weren’t alone. My husband spotted a grotto and wanted to swim inside and he convinced me to go too.

Fairly far in I felt something sharp on my leg so I put my face in the water to see what it was and it was SHIT LOADS OF JELLY FISH. Needless to say I screamed blue murder, warned my husband and swum so fast out of there I may have broken a World Record. I had a bloody bad sting on my wrist to show for it that lasted for days. My husband was fine.

Now I never go in to grottoes unless someone else is already swimming inside and not screaming.

Feeling sick with fear from turbulence.

I don’t know why but the older I’ve got and the more often I fly, the more terrified I am when there is turbulence. When we were on a flight back from New York, it was so bad it woke me up and I grabbed my husband’s hand and squeezed so tight I actually hurt him. I know you should only worry if the air stewards look nervous but I can’t help but think,”Oh my God we’re gonna die!!” whenever the turbulence hits.

Being robbed in Cape Town.*

Back when I still lived in South Africa, I went to Cape Town with friends on a holiday. We were on the train from Cape Town to Simonstown when the train stopped along the tracks. The next thing we know, this gang climbed in through the window and started harassing us for money. They were really threatening and we were scared. We gave them some money but luckily there were other people in our carriage who intervened. Although we gave them money, they could have robbed us of much more – our cameras for one!

*PLEASE do not let this put you off visiting this beautiful country! It was a very long time ago and is much safer now. Trust me. I’ve been loads of times since.

So what are my travel fears? Apart from turbulence, scary taxi rides, freaking jelly fish and being robbed? Honestly?

It’s not having the ability to travel anymore.

Whether it would because of money or something else… that would be my greatest fear. There’s so much of the world I still want to see and memories I want to make. I hope that never ends.

Liked this post? Pin it!