Travel Mishaps: How To Overcome A Bad Vacation Experience

Something always goes wrong when taking a trip. This is inevitable. Sometimes it is a little thing and other times you miss two days of travel because you miss your connection by 5 minutes. This happened to us during our summer trip in 2024. After traveling to 25 countries we have had our share of travel mishaps.

However, how your vacation turns out all depends on how you deal with them and not that they occur. And honestly they become some of the best stories. They just don’t feel funny at the time.

In this post, I’m going to give you the tools to use when travel goes wrong, so you don’t lose more time and money. These solutions will turn those bad vacation experience into a wonderful and memorable time. 

Some of the links on this post are affiliate links. When clicking on the links and booking travel, I receive a small commission with no extra costs for you. Please note, I only recommend brands I actually use and trust. Please see full disclosure here.

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Rain Rain Go Away! 

Rain is one of those travel mishaps you simply can’t control. Rain forecasted for every day on your trip is not ideal, especially if you were planning to sunbathe and play in the ocean all day. But don’t let this little travel problem turn your holiday into the worst vacation ever!

I remember one day while we were traveling in Bocas del Toro, Panama. We had planned a trip to Red Frog beach which is on a different island from where we were staying.

Not knowing what the weather would be, we booked the outing ahead of time for that day. When we woke up, it was raining heavily.

Now, in Bocas del Toro, rain is fairly common. It can rain for a short time and then stop or it could last all day. We didn’t know how the weather would turn out, but we decided to embrace the situation and head for the beach anyway.

When we got there, we saw a little restaurant. We took shelter there and enjoyed a nice breakfast, some hot coffee, and played a couple games of Uno. It was relaxing!

The weather then started to clear up and we headed out to play in the water. Sometimes you have to take the risk and still go to the beach.

Even if it hadn’t stopped raining, we would have tried to make the most of it! You can still swim in the rain!

Now, not everyone will want to head to the beach while it is raining and I get that. So, here are a few ways to turn the terrible rain scenario into a positive vacation experience. 

Rainy Vacation Activity Ideas

1. Research some fun indoor activities that the family will enjoy! While many people instantly think of museums for their rainy day activities (Some options being art, immersive, science, and history…), there are so many other options to search as well. Here are 20 alternative and unique indoor activity options to choose from:
   • Indoor mini golf – We always love a good game of mini golf. It’s a bonus when you can find one inside on a rainy day.
   • Shopping – Buy some souvenirs or just go window shopping
   • Game cafe – These cafes have 100s of games to choose from while enjoying a drink or even some local treats. Can’t find one? Go to a toy store and buy a favorite game or two and go to a cafe. Enjoy a cup of coffee and play games together!
   • Bowling – Beat your high score.
   • Go see the latest movie at the movie theater
   • Cat cafe – Who can resist a cute little kitty cat.
   • Food experience – Learn to cook something new or sample the local cuisine.
   • Sing some karaoke 
   • Visit an escape room
   • Go to an indoor skating rink – It could be ice skating or roller skating (Seriously! Roller skating rinks are still a thing. Check out this cool place in Amsterdam: https://wondrexperience.com/ams/roller-dreams/)
   • Indoor trampoline park – The kids will love you.
   • Go to a spa – Yes to a relaxing massage!
   • Indoor climbing gym – Can you make it to the top?
   • Indoor playground – Great especially for the really young kiddos.
   • Splash around at an indoor pool – What kid doesn’t like swimming?
   • Go to an arcade – Play some games and become a kid again.
   • Drive go karts – There are definitely indoor go kart tracks. Have a race!
   • Go to a local theater and see a play – It may be hard to find one in your own language, but it is possible. Or embrace not understanding every word. 
   • See if there are any concerts happening in the area.
   • Watch a dance show like Flamenco or Tango.
2. Accept the weather and go for a walk or a hike in the rain. If it’s still warm outside, swim in the ocean. Afterwards, take a shower and get a cup of warm tea and you will warm right up! It might even end up being more adventurous and memorable. You may even have the place all to yourself! 
3. Buy a poncho or umbrella and get out there! Rain won’t hurt you. Sure, it doesn’t feel as nice as the sun on your face, but it shouldn’t stop your adventure. With a little bit of gear, you can stay relatively dry and still have fun. 
4. And don’t forget to change your expectations and think positively. This is sometimes the hardest part. I know it is for me. When you expect one thing on a trip and it turns out to be impossible, it can be hard not to be negative. BUT where it might not be ideal, it is better to embrace a situation than be stuck thinking, “I should be doing…”

Your Lodging Is Dirty Or Not What You Expected

Where you stay can have a huge influence on if you view your holiday as a good vacation or a bad vacation. This travel problem has a few different solutions.

The best way to prevent being stuck in a dump is to read the reviews before booking your lodging. It’s not fool proof, but this will help you minimize the chances of booking a place that isn’t up to your standards.

Remember even if it’s only one or two complaints, there is a fair chance it really is an issue. So many people have a tendency to be extra nice in their reviews, so pay extra attention to the ones who point out some faults in a rational tone.

Pro Tip: Book a place with a good cancellation policy in case something goes wrong and you need to cancel. 

Airbnb Complaints

If you arrive at your Airbnb and it isn’t like the description, it’s not clean or sanitary, or an amenity is broken, you have rights to protect yourself.

There is a list of “Reservation Issues” that Airbnb will help you address on their webpage. Their policies for helping you rebook or get a refund for your stay are clearly stated too. 

If something is clearly wrong and you think that it could be resolved by the host, it is important to reach out to the host first, not Airbnb support.

Airbnb likes it when guests do this first and if the host isn’t willing to help, they will be more likely to help you find a resolution quickly. If you don’t hear back from the host in an hour, reach out to Airbnb support to assist you. 

For example, we booked an Airbnb in Bilbao, Spain and when we arrived there was this strange scent coming from one of the bathrooms. It was super gross.

So we contacted the owners and they sent someone over right away to resolve the issue. They even offered to reduce the rate. It was super kind of them. This shows that many travel mishaps can be quickly resolved with good communication.

It is also a good idea to take pictures or video of the dirty areas or the amenities that are broken. You can send these photos or videos to the host. If Airbnb gets involved, they will see that you tried to solve the problem with the host first and they can see the evidence you provided. 

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Hotel Complaints

If you have a problem with your hotel room, call or go to the front desk immediately.

Explain the situation and see what they will do to help. All hotels have different policies but they will either offer you a new room or if there aren’t any, they will help address the problem. 

What if it is too loud? Maybe you booked in an area of town that is very loud or possibly the air conditioning unit is too noisy. These are factors that hotels can’t usually change. However, many hotels have good cancellation policies.

Research other hotels to see if there are any available in a different area of town and book a room there. Then cancel the rest of the nights of your stay at the loud hotel. You shouldn’t have to pay for the nights you aren’t staying there. 

For all the issues you find at your hotel and Airbnb, please remember that the people working there and the hosts are still humans. Let’s be kind when addressing the situation. 

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Travel Mishaps At The Airport

Some of the biggest things that can go wrong on holiday can happen at the airport. Starting your vacation off on the wrong foot is annoying at best. But don’t let these travel mishaps get in the way of your dream vacation.

The Airlines Lost Your Luggage!

You checked your bags and after waiting for all of the luggage to come out, your bag didn’t appear. Oh no!!! The first step to stay calm. This is a frustrating experience, but there are some easy solutions to this travel problem. 

1. Check in with the airline. There are baggage desks where you can report your bags missing or delayed. Remember those little bag tags you get when you are checking your bags? The airlines will use those to see where your luggage is at. Nowadays you can even use the airlines app to see where your luggage is. If it says that it is at your airport, you may just need to wait a little longer. The agent can also confirm if this is accurate information or not. When we moved to the Netherlands, we had to wait 2 hours for our bags. This is not normal, but thankfully they eventually did come down the conveyor. 

2. If it’s not at the airport or it didn’t make the connection, you can file a delayed baggage report. They will take down your address and phone number and will let you know next steps. When the baggage finally arrives, make sure they drop it off to you. You aren’t responsible for going back to the airport and getting it.
   1. When my luggage went missing on my way home from Portugal, the airport dropped it off at my house when it arrived the next day. 
   2. Pro Tip: If the luggage is not in their system, which is rare, the airline will ask for other distinguishing features. Since many bags are similar, it is a good idea to attach a colorful ribbon or sticker that will help the airline distinguish it from other bags.

3. When filing your delayed baggage report, ask the airline what compensation they offer. Every airline is different, but they should do something. Usually it amounts to getting reimbursed for reasonable expenses.

4. Next, go shopping to get the essentials you need like toiletries and clothing. Keep your receipts. The airline will then reimburse you for the things you bought. If they don’t reimburse you, here are a couple more options:
   1. Check the credit card you used to book your flight to see if they cover baggage delays. For example, if the delay is longer than 6 hours, Our Chase Sapphire Preferred card will reimburse us up to $100 a day for 5 days. 
   2. Purchase travel insurance before your trip. I recommend Visitors Coverage. They are very clear with what is covered with their policies.

5. If your luggage is truly lost and doesn’t ever arrive, you will file a new claim for lost instead of delayed baggage with the airline. This new claim will have you include everything that is in the luggage and the value of these items. Of course this differs per airline but the compensation will be higher than if a bag is just delayed. 

If you are worried that this will happen to you, many people put Apple AirTags in their luggage for peace of mind. Then they can see throughout the trip where their luggage is and what they can expect when they land. 

Your Flight Is Delayed And Miss Your Connection

In the summer 2024, we went on a trip to Montenegro, Albania and Italy. While many parts of the vacation went well, we had so many things go terribly wrong. It was the universe helping me get more material for this blog post I guess! 😂 The biggest issue we had were our flights, so I’ll start there.

How We Missed Our Flight

The day before we left was the day that many airlines around the world were basically shut down because of a Microsoft update. Here’s a little reminder of what happened if you are curious. We were partly relieved that it happened the day before and our flights were still scheduled to depart on time. We were also hesitant that this huge disruption would cause issues. And it did!

As we sat in the terminal waiting for our flight, everything seemed to be going as planned. Our flight said that it was on time, but as we lingered in the waiting area, the flight time arrived but no plane had appeared.

One hour later, we were boarded and on our flight ready for take off. We had plenty of time in our layover city, so we weren’t too worried…yet.

After two hours of waiting on the plane due to delays on the runway, we took off. We weren’t going to make our layover. When we landed in Belgrade, Serbia, our connecting flight was actually delayed as well, so we had hope we’d still make it. Sadly, we missed our connection by 5 minutes.

What To Do When You Miss Your Connection

If you ever miss a connection, you need to speak with the airline to get rebooked on a new flight. Sometimes you can check the app you booked your flight on and it will rebook you automatically.

I noticed that we did get rebooked, but the flight was 2 days away. What? That seemed ridiculous, so we waited to speak with someone to see if we could get on another flight.

After speaking with an airline agent, we found out that the flight we were booked on 2 days from then was the earliest flight because of all the delays from the previous day’s debacle. We were stuck in Belgrade, Serbia.

What Are Your Options?

So there are a couple of different ways to handle this type of situation.

You can check for a rental car if you are close. You could also see if there are different public transportation options such as a train or bus. The airline will almost always offer to put you in a hotel room if the delay is long. They should pay for the hotel and offer you food too.

For our situation, we checked for rental cars, but there weren’t any available that would go over the border and there were no trains. So we were left with two options.

My husband found an overnight bus that would get us to Montenegro that evening or we could take the free hotel room for two nights and see what Belgrade had to offer.

As tempting as it was to hop on a bus and get to our final destination as soon as possible, we opted for staying. We were already exhausted and we had to figure out what to do about our rental car that ended up getting canceled (so many problems on this trip!🤦🏼‍♀️😅)

Pro Tip: Whenever your flight gets delayed and you miss a connection, you should apply for compensation. Use a company like Airhelp. They will do all the hard work for you for a small fee.

You will need to provide a description of what happened and any documentation that shows your delay. You could get up to €600 per person in compensation for delayed or canceled flights.

After fees, we received a little over a €1000 for our delays plus the free hotel stays and meals in Belgrade.

Belgrade, Serbia wasn’t on our bucket list, but this shows how travel mishaps can lead to unexpected discoveries. We researched a few things to do and explored for the day.

We enjoyed seeing the Belgrade fortress, checking out the Knez Mihailova pedestrian street and surrounding area, eating some yummy ice cream at Luff and found a tasty restaurant called Thyme. It ended up being an unexpectedly fun day.

Your Destination Doesn’t Live Up To Expectations

When we visited Lisbon, we thought we were going to love it. We had expected it to be oozing with charm. The way people spoke about it, made it sound like this was the place of our dreams. We really thought we would move there.

When we arrived, however, it felt different to us. For us, Lisbon didn’t have the appeal that Porto did, and it was so crowded that even the cute little sections were hard for us to enjoy. 

With social media and the internet these days, it can be hard to see past all the glowing reviews and your expectations of a place can get inflated.

Lately, I have been trying to set my expectations of a destination lower. This has helped me not feel disappointed in a location because it didn’t live up to the hype. 

But even when you have your expectations in check, sometimes the destination isn’t where you want to be. So, what should you do? Just like other travel mishaps, focus on the positive and be flexible with your plans.

Search Nearby Day-Trips

If the main location you visit isn’t what you want out of your vacation, maybe look to see if there are some interesting places nearby that you can visit during the day and still stay the night at your hotel.

For example, one day we visited Sintra which is about an hour train ride from Lisbon.

Some easy ways to find fun interesting things to do:

1. You can search on Viator or Get Your Guide for some day-trip ideas
2. Look at the train routes and see if they will take you to an interesting nearby town.
3. Rent a car and go for a hike in the mountains! The possibilities are endless!

Turn Your Travel Mishaps Around – Drastically Change Your Plans

Just like the hotel situation, if you can find a new location close by that will help you create positive fun memories, go for it.

Just because you planned a trip one way, doesn’t mean you have to stick with that itinerary.

Maybe it is as simple as going to a nearby city, finding a different hotel with a pool, or lodging near the beach. If you can easily cancel your hotel, this might be a good option for you. 

Summary Of When Things Go Wrong On Holiday And What To Do About It

There are many different scenarios that I could have added in this blog. For example, we had a terrible experience with a rental car in Colombia: Read all about it here! It’s actually a pretty funny story now!

My biggest piece of advice for when you are on vacation and travel mishaps happen, is to remember that every problem has a solution and to stay calm and positive.

Sometimes the obstacle can feel like you are on the worst vacation ever, but it doesn’t need to be. Think creatively, be positive and flexible, and work through the solution. This little setback might just be a rough start to a wonderful holiday.

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