DUE TO THE TECHNICAL ISSUES WITH BOARDING AREA, THIS CONTEST POST WAS NOT PUBLISHED ON THE BOARDING AREA WEBSITE EARLIER THIS WEEK, SO I AM RELAUNCHING THE CONTEST. IF YOU ALREADY SUBMITTED A STORY, YOUR ENTRY COUNTS. THE FIRST STORY POSTED UNDER THIS BLOG ENTRY WILL BE ENTRY #7 AS FAR AS THE RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR IS CONCERNED FOR PICKING A WINNER.
This past weekend, my wife and I were talking about our upcoming trip to Istanbul and London and we started to reminisce about the great times we have had in London on past visits. During those stays, we had ventured out to a few surrounding towns using the fantastic rail system. One of these venturings made us laugh all over again at the embarrassment that it had caused and has prompted me to write about it, and even put a contest together randomly awarding someone a prize for sharing their most embarrassing moment as a tourist.
OUR STORY:
On our last visit to London, we had planned to be there for 8 days to give us an opportunity to see as much as possible. My wife had been to the UK many times and had put together a great itinerary based on her past experiences and also based on things that we had not done on previous visits to what she refers to as the home of “Sting”.
In my desire to help come up with places to visit, I had asked if it would be possible to visit this place, solely on it’s appearance:
For those of you in the “know”, you will recognize this as Leeds Castle. For those that have never heard of this place, keep reading so that you don’t make the same mistake as we did.
My wife agreed that it would be a great place to visit, so off I went to the travel map and figured out how we could get to the castle. Looking at the map, I suggested to her that it is approximately a 3 hour train ride to Leeds, and from there I suggested that we can just hire a cab to take us the rest of the way. I mean Leeds castle has to be close to Leeds…..right????
So off we went, we dedicated one of our 8 days to go see this beautiful castle and took full advantage of our unlimited first class rail pass that let us travel where ever we desired on Britain’s railways. We figured to get an early start so that we can be back in London for an early dinner. After a 2 1/2 hour train ride north out of London, we finally arrive at Leeds Station and I make way for the information booth to inquire how we can go about getting to the castle.
At this point, I know something may be terribly wrong when the person manning the Info Booth returned a blank expression with a hint of suspicion as if I were setting them up for some kind of prank. The conversation went a little bit like:
ME: Hello, can you help me figure out a way to Leeds Castle
INFO BOOTH: Leeds Castle sir?
ME: Yes, we’d like to visit the Castle for the afternoon.
INFO BOOTH: Sir, Leeds Castle?
ME: Yes, the one with the water features surrounding her.
INFO BOOTH: Sir, Where are you coming from?
ME: We just came up on the train from London….
INFO BOOTH: London, Sir?
ME: Yes…..
INFO BOOTH: Sir, Leeds Castle is not here.
ME: Where did it go? What did you do with it??
INFO BOOTH: Nothing Sir, but Leeds castle is not in Leeds!!
ME: @$&#*@()!, where is it?
INFO BOOTH: When you return to London today, go 45 minutes the other way south of London and you’ll find Leeds Castle in Maidstone, Kent.
ME: Really? @#(**$@$…..Thank you for your help. I’m glad I stopped and asked!
INFO BOOTH: Your welcome sir, enjoy the rest of your visit to the UK!
ME: Thank you! (go back to my wife who had gone to buy water)
MY WIFE: So, do we know where to go?
ME: Yep…..#&$^(@#^@#
MY WIFE: What??
ME: Leeds Castle is 45 minutes SOUTHEAST of London, not 3 hours NORTH.
MY WIFE: @*&()~*$
ME: My sentiments exactly……
A MAP SHOWING LONDON (B), LEEDS (A) and LEEDS CASTLE (C) JUST TO PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE:
So, a day was wasted sitting on a train for 6 hours and accomplishing little except for the memory. We never did make it to Leeds Castle on that trip, but we have made it a point to make sure we see it on this trip. I’ve even signed up for the “Falconry” class at the castle. No doubt, we will laugh about this experiences a few more time!
There you have it, what I would consider one of my most embarrassing moments as a tourist. A moment that I think could win most contests for Most Embarrassing Travel Moment. That memory has prompted me to run just such a contest!
All you need to do is to share your own Embarassing Tourist Experience that you now look back upon and laugh. Just leave a comment to this post with your “moment” and I will pick a random winner (using a random number picker) from all entries received. The winner will receive a $25 Apple Itunes Gift Card!
ONE CAVEAT: IN ORDER FOR THERE TO BE A DRAWING THERE MUST BE AT LEAST 15 ELIGIBLE REPLIES (so please Tweet or otherwise share this post with others to ensure we get enough people!). To be ELIGIBLE it must be an actual moment or brief anecdote. Simply posting a reply without a story or description of the moment will render that reply ineligible.
The contest will end Midnight Wednesday, Eastern Daylight Savings Time…..
Due to technical issues with Boarding Area preventing the post to be published, the contest will end Thursday, March 15 at Midnight Eastern Time.
Due to technical issues with Boarding Area preventing this post to be published, the contest will end Friday, March 16 at Midnight Eastern Time.
Good Luck! I look forward to reading about your moments!
Embarrassing *
After planning a ‘perfect’ multi country two week trip with several flights, did not realize that our flight from Amsterdam to Dublin was booked one month EARLIER than our actual departure date. Aer lingus does not send out confirmations either shich didnt help. Unless we wanted to swim, we had to buy a ticket ON the day….not only e,varrassimg….expensive!
@LufthansaFlyer.. he was quite embarrassed and wanted to pretend it didn’t happen while skiing off quickly, and it was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life as well!
A few years ago, I was traveling in Thailand with a few friends. We saw a lot of the country and even volunteered at an orphanage. And during this time we made some good local friends and learned a few words of Thai.
Enough to bargain at least.
So on our last day in town I was buying souvenirs, and happily using the phrases Tao Rai Kha? (how much?) and Kap Khun Kha (thank you).
Then one of our new Thai friends pulled me aside and asked why I was speaking like a girl.
Huh?!? I was confused.
He went on to explain that I was using the feminine endings to sentences – Kha – which only a woman would do.
I nervously laughed it off, realizing I must’ve picked it up from the girls traveling with us. “No harm done”, I replied. “They must know it was a simple mistake”.
But then he went I to clarify that when a man uses the particle Kha, it’s not taken lightly. And it is generallly assumed to mean that the man wishes to redefine his gender to those that he is speaking with. In fact, this is common among Thailand ladyboys and gender-changing community.
I was mortified. Not that I disrespect those with gender change on their mind. But I am not one of them! In other words, I was saying to everyone I met in the market, and to my new Thai friends, that even though I’m a man on the outside, inside I’m all girl.
We traveled to Vancouver from Texas for a snow skiing trip up to Whistler, BC. I am a novice skier and will fall, trip, wipe out at the drop of a hat. I stay on the beginner slopes 100% of the time, and if I accidentally get on an intermediate or advanced slope, I slide down or walk down the slope. All this just to give a perspective of how much of a novice I am. Well, one of the entrances to the ski lift was particularly icy and there was a line to get on the lift. For a beginner, ice is terribly hard to manage, so I began to slip, slide, and fall. Given the line, I grabbed hold of the complete stranger next to me for support, with both arms wrapped around him. Unfortunately, it was unexpected to him and he offered no support, so I slipped all they way down his torso, down his legs and to the ground, still with both arms wrapped around him. There was only one problem, I took his pants down with me. I was laying on the ground clutching this man’s ski pants looking up at bare legs and boxers. I couldn’t apologize enough and put my skis away and sipped hot chocolate in the lodge the rest of the day 🙂
Thats probably one of the absolute funniest things I think I’ve ever heard. I can’t imagine the embarrassment of the person who’s pants you decided to rip off on top of a ski hill! 🙂
I was a young soldier stationed in what was then West Germany in the mid-80s. My buddies and I would often take the train to Frankfurt to go bar-hopping on weekends, and being somewhat responsible young men, we usually bought a return ticket on arrival, as one or two of us had previously experienced the misfortune of returning to the station after a night of revelry only to find that we had spent all our money and had no way to buy a ticket. Well, one night my forethought became useless when I joined my buddies on the train as it left the station, only to find no ticket when I searched all my pockets. It had fallen out somewhere along the way. Guess who spent a 45 minute train ride hiding in the bathroom?
My wife and I travelled through a new city a few years ago and checked into an uncharacteristically nice hotel. Normally, we are rather price-conscious, but this time around decided to splurge. After checking in, the staff showed us to our rooms and we had a look around the rather comfortable room. Then my wife went to freshen up.
She was in the bathroom for quite a while, and when she finally emerged red-faced she told me the toilet was blocked up. She had clogged it up and was humiliated, because no matter what she tried, the toilet was completely out-of-order.
So, just minutes after checking in, I had to wonder down to the front desk in search of a plunger. And then being a repairman to our room with my embarrassed wife looking on as he rectified the problem.
I’m pretty sure she was cringing during our entire stay there. Though it gave opportunity for plenty of jokes at my wife’s expense. 🙂
I lost my passport in the DMZ between North & South Korea. It fell out of my bag somehow during my day trip, never to be seen again. (Very sad, because I had lots of great stamps and visas in there). The embarrassing part comes in telling my friend who I was traveling with, who is much more organized and responsible than me, about it and then wasting time going to the American embassy to have it replaced. The consular officer who I talked to thought it was amusing, at least, and a good place to lose it. 🙂
Much like yourself, I assumed two places with the same name were in the same place. I visited London years ago, and stayed in an economy hotel across from Regents Park. Naturally, I assumed I needed to get off The Tube at the Regents Park station, because it would stop at Regents Park. I should have continued to the Baker stop, which by itself isn’t a big deal. However, I’d just arrived from my TATL flight, and had a cheap carry-on any my checked luggage and my bulky camera bag with me. And it was after midnight, so they were closing the stations, and, true to form, it was raining and I had no clue where to go. The first person I stopped to ask was the most beautiful woman I’d seen, and she was from Texas, of all places! Fortunately, she knew where I was going and walked me about half way and had a good laugh as she sent me on my way.
I was from the eastern country where our culture is “not to waste your food”, so to pack the leftover meal from a restaurant is totally nothing wrong with our culture. But when I asked the waitress to “pack” and “take away” the leftover food which I can’t finish in Netherland, Utrech, the waitress repeated my sentences 3 times and walk away. it takes her 1/2 hour to come back with don’t seems to be well prepared wrapping papers and aluminium foil (as she gave me the entire roll of wrapping paper and also the whole roll of foil) and ask me to DIY !! I do feel offended and very disappointed with the service compare to the price I paid for the meal. Eventually when i check with my Dutch friend, ‘doggie bag’ is not a culture of Dutch …. I was the one from another planet ….
I was locked in a hotel room, couldn’t speak the local language and so couldn’t call the front desk.
I was with my family member asking the concierge at the Hyatt Regency Paris – Charles de Gaulle about directions to the RER station for trains to downtown Paris. The Frenchman mentioned “…Zee Aeroport…”, in which my family member immediately asked to clarify “where”? He repeated, “Zee Aeroport” and my family member just started at me in confusion. I explained to my family member that the Hyatt concierge was actually referring to “the airport” and we all had a good laugh despite the rather embarrassing situation.
Bought wicked tickets online from broker and physically received them. Surprised Mrs WeeklyFlyer with a trip to NY and realized on the plane that I had forgot the tickets. I had to confess and I was most embarrassed when I had to go buy more tickets for the same show.
Not realizing that my checked luggage doesn’t automatically connect with doing an int’l to domestic connection. Discovered post-customs that I had to bring it through myself! Missed my tight connection but made the next flight a few hours later.
My girlfriends and I were in France for our post-college European tour on a very tight budget. Instead of eating at restaurants we would buy fruit, cheese, bread at local stores, especially for lunch. One day we went into a bakery and were trying to communicate that we wanted to get a baguette to split amongst the three of us. None of us spoke French and the woman behind the counter was not speaking any English. We pointed at a baguette and she went to grab it but took down the wrong one. My friend says, No, no we want the thicker loaf. But instead of saying it normally she said it really loud in a French accent so it came out “NO, NO, NO VEE VANT ZEE ZICKEHR LOAF.” And that’s when we realized the counter woman did speak English after all. She glared at us idiotic American tourists but in the end we got zee zickehr loaf. And it was very good indeed.