The Honeycombers team removes our rose-tinted glasses and unveils the travel horror stories we never want to relive.
Luggage in tow, passport in hand – this exhilarating feeling of being at the airport never gets old. With wanderlust adventures clouding your mind, it’s hard to expect things to go wrong… right? As a team that has jetted off to multiple destinations around the world, we’ve (unfortunately) had our fair share of travel horror stories that’ve turned our trips upside down. Cosy up as we share our worst travel experiences that still have us shuddering before our next flight…
Psst: read till the end for an exclusive perk that’ll make your next trip sweeter!
Our real-life travel horror stories
1. Um… Who’s that in my room?!
During my (good old) pre-marriage days, I used to budget travel with my partner. We once stayed in a private room within a backpacker hostel in Brussels. On our second day, I was in the shower when I heard my partner yell, followed by the hard slam of a door and dead silence afterwards.
When I came out, he was extremely upset as a hotel staff member had entered our room without a reason. He looked shocked to see my partner and stood frozen till he got yelled at and left with a hasty “pardon monsieur”. We gave our feedback to the receptionist, who then investigated the issue.
This is where it gets scary. The same staff member said he had entered the room the previous night to retrieve something, and thought it was fine since it wasn’t locked and he didn’t see anyone in the dark. But we were right there, sleeping.
– Esther Chung, Branded Content Associate Editor, HoneyKids Asia
2. The travel ‘leech’
Over the span of a year, a couple of friends and I meticulously planned a two-week Christmas vacay to Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. We reminded each other to set aside enough money for expenses every time we met to discuss the trip. But when we landed in Tokyo, one of our friends told us they only brought $500, before reassuring us that they’d “make it work”. Spoiler alert: the money only lasted for three days.
I took matters into my own hands and insisted on covering their food expenses for the rest of the trip. “It’s like our dear friend is your pet,” my other friend said to me. I exasperatedly responded that it was a collective trip, and I didn’t want their oversight to affect my holiday.
And before you ask, I waived off any form of repayment. I’d like to think I’m still reaping any good karma from that decision!
– Sufyan Saad, Senior Lifestyle Writer, Honeycombers
3. When your network goes MIA
This happened on my first solo trip to London for work. It was my first time out of Asia, my first long-haul flight, and dealing with travel arrangements like insurance and eSIMs for the first time after five years of not travelling. To say I was a ball of nerves was an understatement.
Sleep deprived, dehydrated, and full of fear, I landed in Heathrow Airport at 5am after a dreadful 14-hour flight. But I didn’t see a driver waiting with my name on a placard. While mildly concerning, it was nothing a text message or phone call couldn’t fix.
Unfortunately, Heathrow’s WiFi wasn’t working and my eSIM decided to join the party by refusing to connect. Panic set in as I furiously checked all my settings and instructions, but I still couldn’t get a signal. Thankfully, my driver spotted me (hard to miss as the only Asian face left at the airport), but I ended up having to queue for a new SIM card at a mini mart. Note to my future self? Get an eSIM from a reliable travel provider that won’t give me any trouble with connection.
– Ashe Liao, Lifestyle Writer, Honeycombers
During my first trip to the outskirts of Seoul, my friend and I decided to be adventurous and go off the beaten path to explore a small local theme park. While we had the thrill of exploring a theme park native to the locals, it wasn’t long before it turned dark and cold… and we got lost!
What made it worse? Our WiFi egg didn’t have the best connectivity, so we struggled to find our way back to the train station. Luckily, I had taken a screenshot of the map around us before our WiFi egg’s connectivity went bonkers. Relying on my limited Korean reading skills, we managed to find our way back. After that trip, I swore I’d never rely on WiFi eggs again, and will gladly stick to eSIMs which are generally reliable and easy to install.
– Marcus Khoo, Digital Manager, Marketing & Content
4. Prepare for departure… or, maybe not
On my first trip to Japan, I chose an airline with a connecting flight in Taiwan. Visit two countries at once? Good idea. Or so I thought. Before we took off, the airline announced there was a six-hour delay. As I was only staying in Taiwan for a night, I thought I’d couchsurf. My kind host waited for me until I arrived at almost midnight, but everything was closed, so I wasted a day.
In Japan, I also missed my flight back to Singapore ‘cos I had a hard time figuring out which trains went to the airport. Thankfully, I booked a new flight on the same day, but it just meant I had to stay in the airport for another six hours!
–Lord Acuña, IT Manager
I was flying to Boracay, Philippines, for my cousin’s wedding, but a few days before our flight, we were informed that it was cancelled due to security restrictions for an APEC summit (that Barack Obama was supposedly attending). They didn’t give us a refund, but fortunately, we found an alternative (albeit more laborious) route and made it in time.
We thought it was all good and were ready to head home when we found out that our flight was cancelled… again! The reason? A plane delay from Manila, so they couldn’t fly out of Boracay in the dark. We headed to Kalibo airport, which was two hours away, so we could get back to Singapore. This time, we barely made it.
–Lorena Aurellado, Finance Executive
5. A bad case of traffic hiccups
On my first trip to London with my daughter, who was studying in Amsterdam at the time, we were unexpectedly caught in a train strike. With no direct train services from Amsterdam to London, we took a local train to Brussels to reroute our journey. Unfortunately, just as we arrived in Brussels, another strike began, forcing us to stay overnight at a nearby hotel.
Thankfully, we managed to catch the first train out the next morning and continued our journey to London. On our return, we were nervous about encountering another strike, but to our relief, everything went smoothly. Luckily, all the unexpected expenses from the delays were covered by our travel insurance!
–Jasmine Kok, Senior Account Manager
Having heard horror stories about the traffic in Yangon, we left our hostel two hours earlier to catch an overnight bus to Bagan. According to Google Maps, it was supposed to be a 30-minute drive on a good day. So two hours should be more than enough, right? No.
We were stuck in traffic for the whole two hours. Most of the time, it was a standstill. My overthinking brain figured we’d miss our bus and burn that US$25 (so not worth it). But luckily, we reached just in time and were the last to board.
– Esther Chung, Branded Content Associate Editor, HoneyKids Asia
6. Road trip gone wrong
My family took a road trip during Chinese New Year to Sarawak, Malaysia – it was a five-hour drive from Sibu to Kuching. We noticed that the rental car appeared older than the shiny new vehicle we were promised, but it didn’t give us any problems on the way there.
However, our worst fears came true on the return trip. While on the highway, a good four hours from our destination, the engine started to emit smoke and a foul, unbearable smell. Better safe than sorry, the six of us got off in the middle of the highway.
There was no civilisation in sight, just an endless road. The place we stopped at had a rundown wooden shelter, where we sought refuge from the sun, and a nearby toilet built by the locals. A dilapidated wooden shed with a hole in the floor and countless cobwebs and bugs, it was as barebones as it could get. (But our bladders were eternally grateful.)
After back-and-forth calls with the vehicle rental company and an arduous three-hour wait by the highway, we finally saw the happiest sight of our day: a tow truck and a new vehicle to send us back.
–Yuki Ling, Branded Content Writer, Honeycombers
These travel horror stories aren’t stopping us from our next trip…
Travelling isn’t all roses and butterflies, but you’ll still catch us booking our next getaway every chance we get. After all, what’s life without some fun twists and turns? The most important thing is to come prepared with the right essentials – and yes, that includes having a trusty travel data provider, in case we need to holler for help.
Reliable travel date providers in Singapore like Nomad eSIM are a foolproof way to steer clear of spotty connections, unreliable data providers and unnecessary charges. Partnering with top-tier global telcos, Nomad offers fuss-free, reliable yet affordable plans.
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All ready for take-off? We’ll see you on our next travel adventure!
This post is in partnership with Nomad.
