Do you tell the truth about a lousy trip or vacation?

[Peregrine Took]

Most people - even close friends - will say "great" to an inquiry about a vacation but I wonder if they all can be so wonderful.

Traveling can be quite stressful, you are out of your "element, not in control, etc. and to me that is often a recipe for problems.

If I have a lousy time I usually say so - it was "ok" or "not good " depending on how bad it was - overwhelmingly so - or just a few unpleasant experiences.

Sometimes, if its terrible from start to finish (and you survive intact) it can be funny, at least.

[suninvited]

1. I took a vacation once

with my son and went to Texas, before I lived in Texas.

My son's car ignition caught fire in Jackson, Mississippi, we had to be towed, we were stuck in Jackson for 8 hours while all the wires under the dash were replaced. We had the greatest time in Jackson, though ! Just sitting at the mechanics, reading magazines and telling each other stories. One thing we REALLY laughed about was that the fact that my daughter had decided last minute she couldnt afford to go with us, because the fire and stuff would have made her miserable.

After we left Jackson, we hit the most severe lightning and rainstorms I have ever encountered, and when we were forced to roll up the windows because we were getting soaked and turn on the air, all of that powder from the fire extinguishers blew all over us, and because we were wet, stuck to us. Man, that really made us laugh ! We went to a Whataburger in Texas, with about a quarter inch of white powder sticking all over us. People did stare.

We made it to Texas almost 20 hours after we should have been there, and everything went smooth from there, but I have to tell you, that was one of my greatest vacations EVER !

[Peregrine Took]

10. We rented a "house" in the UP of Michigan for a week about 20 years ago -

when we got there it was like something out of a "B movie" - a row of 1920's era log cabins, right on the water, each illuminated by a single dangling light bulb. No heat, even though it was still cold out. We had to scour the beach every morning for driftwood to keep the darn place heated.

The bathroom was about the size of a tiny closet - but it was indoors at least.

It was a wild and wooly place, for sure, and scary at night as we were the only ones up there that early in the year, but we remember it more vividly and with more humor than many of the fancy, schmancy places we have stayed since which all kind of meld into a blur.

[PassingFair]

2. Those are the BEST!

I DRAGGED my two girls on a trip of the
"historical" east coast and Washington D.C.

They bitched ALL THE WAY. And they are SMART
girls, so it was CREATIVE BITCHING.

TEMPS were in the 90's and above, TEMPERS
were strained to the brink.

I STILL throw their lines back at them, 4
years later! And they HOWL with laughter.
The trip made them TIGHT co-conspirators!

And they will NEVER forget Jamestown!

[ghostsofgiants]

3. Well there is the occasional pilgrimage to see a fuckin' moose.

:P

[dembotoz]

4. my family trips are always a disaster

always good comedy value at the watercooler.
a trip to disney last year was worthy of a movie.
a very sad and very funny movie

[Mutley]

5. My stepmother went to Italy a few weeks ago.

She responded with "okay" when I asked her how it was. She sounded underwhelmed.

[Peregrine Took]

9. I hate it when people say that. There HAD to be something funny or

weird or terrible that happened - why don't people want to share their experiences?

I have a close friend who gives me those one word answers when she comes home. No matter where she goes - for how long - "great!!"

She and her boyfriend bring her 100+ lb Lab with them in a tiny car - they must have tons of interesting things happen but she won't share a word of it.

[skygazer]

6. I've never had a lousy trip or vacation

I think to a certain extent, your enjoyment depends on your state of mind and I'm an adventurer - I find pleasure in things a lot of people would find horrible.

But if I had, I'd probably just say it was "okay." I think the question "how was your vacation?" is a lot like "how are you?"

People don't really want an honest answer - it's a polite formality.

[peacefreak]

7. I always say...it had its moments.

That about covers any situation.

[seaglass]

8. Yep. My husband and I went on a cruise, hated most of it and

I have no hesitation about telling anyone - we do still have some good stories :-) We also went to Ixtapa once and did not enjoy that either.

Luckily Jamaica, Cabo San Lucas and Barbados were great :-)

[puerco-bellies]

11. I'll tell the truth, if a trip sucked, it sucked.

One of the first things me and Ali noticed about "us" is that we traveled together very well. We have never had a bad trip. We have traveled over 15,000 road miles in the Southwest U.S. and so far only run in to minor problems, but overall good times.

[Cant trust em]

12. I've had a decent amount of travels in my short years (28)

and I've never had a bad trip. There have always been some (mis)adventures here and there, but I've never given any trip a bad review. Even getting lost in the rain in foreign countries winds up being a fun story later.

[Lil Missy]

13. OMG! My best vacation ever was fraught with injuries and mishaps.

About 20 years ago, I took me and my son, my sister and her son, and my brother to a week in Lake Okoboji IA. It was fantastic - a stove, fridge, microwave. the works. And right on the lake with a deck to go fishing right out the front door.

My son was a special needs child that had to be watched constantly. But even so, I was adamant about including him in vacations and every family gathering.

During our trip to the lake, we rented some bicycles to go ride the bike trail. I got my son a three wheeler adult trike. At one point of the trail, it went downhill so fast that he went into a ditch, and skinned his knee and got all scraped up by a bunch of sticks.

My sister and her son drove back to the rental shop to get my car, and came back to pick up my traumatized son. I walked both his and my bikes back to the shop.

In another incident, my son was fascinated with the fish we caught. He was reaching so far down on the stringer we had them on, that he fell over the fishing deck and into the water.

Scared me half to fuck shit-less! I grabbed him by the back of his jeans, and pulled him out as well as I could. My sister helped my pull him out, but he got some scratches on his backside for the effort. I just about had a fucking heart attack!

And if the wasn't enough, a damned deer broadsided my car on the way home. I did not hit the deer, the deer ran into MY car. In broad daylight! So the side of my car was ruined, and not only his side of the car had shattered glass, but so did my windshield.

Since he was in a "special needs" situation. I had some major splainin' to do, and lots of incident reports to complete. They all laughed at me, LOL! We had a wonderful vacation, but jebus, he was awfully banged up.

Sorry I sent this earlier before I was finished. I fat fingered