As I was packing for my winter travels the other day, I started thinking about some of my travel experiences.  Some of my favorite moments were originally really terrible -  like getting robbed, but others have been funny or absurd.  I came up with my top three:

1.  When I lived in Ohio years ago, I flew with my now-husband to Hawaii to get married and have our honeymoon.  I made advance reservations with the airline to have my wedding dress properly stored so it wouldn’t get wrinkled.  It turns out that the “special accommodations” was actually a closet where they stuff wheelchairs and various supplies on the plane.  My wedding dress was severely wrinkled after the long flight.

After arriving in Honolulu, we were robbed the day before our wedding and our marriage license was even stolen.  Because we were in Hawaii, our credit card companies wouldn’t send us new cards so we had to make due with what cash we had in our hotel room.

2.  I was staying in Mexico at an eco-resort on the ocean that only had water and electricity for part of the day.  It had a salt water shower and just one light bulb in the entire cabana.  It was a really hot summer day, and I decided to walk down the road to the local restaurant and get a decent meal.  When I walked back to the “resort” I saw the mattress and chair from my cabana being removed and carried to a nearby two-story building.  When I asked one of the staff members what was happening, they said a hurricane was coming and everyone had to stay in the two-story building until the hurricane passed  in case the area flooded or rogue waves hit.  I didn’t stick around to find out how this would all work out.  Instead, I headed over to Valladolid a few hours away to stay at a hotel that resembled a castle in the middle of the town square.

3.  After hiking ten wet and soggy miles on Kauai’s Pihea Trail, I was soaked head-to-toe and covered in mud.  Even my camera was completely covered in mud and filth.  This wet trail forced me to climb up vertical stretches covered with mud and use tree roots to pull myself up.  I have hiked many trails over ten miles, but this trail (when wet) is an absolute killer!  I was so exhausted when I was a mile from the end of the trail that I just tuned people out.  I think people were talking to me, but at the time I did not realize it.  I heard a group of several people remark that I must not speak “American” because I wasn’t saying anything.  I began laughing hysterically after hearing that, which in hindsight probably just made me seem crazy.