Kia ora! Hello!

I absolutely love traveling! Traveling is basically the beginning and end of my personality but as with all the great things in life, there are also the not so great things. So I shall share a few of my not so pretty situations and hopefully it doesn’t scare you, but instead highlights on situations to remain vigilant.

I do want to add that I have not been seriously injured in any of these scenarios (just very damn close, too close for my Dad’s liking - sorry Dad!).

1. Pickpocketed in Spain whilst on the bus.Lots of people grabbed the same pole in front me which when I look back seems to have been to create a distraction - lost our return train tickets to London, cash, NZ SIM card, sentimental coin purse and 2/3 of my bank cards that I had on me at the time.

2. Whilst traveling solo I took a wrong turn down a very bad street in South Africa. Thankfully a local verbally abused me (with some advice) to turn around before someone harms me.

3. Moped accident in Bali. We had never been on one before so I have no idea who we thought we were. To top it off we were only wearing shorts, singlets and jandels - this goes against everything I was taught but somehow traveling brain took over and we thought we were invincible.

4. Cambodian tuktuk driver dropped us off at a different bar, it turned out to be one for ‘locals’ far away from everything.

5. Bit by a monkey in Bali - thankfully didn’t pierce the skin but was bloody painful.

6. Shots of absinthe before walking home in Czech late at night, got separated from my friend and didn’t know where I was, where she had wondered off too, didn’t have my phone or know where our hostel was. Found her in the end, she had popped into a corner store for snacks down a side street!

7. Smacked by a local because I didn’t want to buy something from a stall in Thailand.

8. Silly Kiwi here wore jandels to a club and someone smashed a glass: foot - 0, glass - 1

9. 90% sure we were chased by a crocodile in South Africa. We had gone past a ‘DANGER - Crocodiles past this point’ sign and something splashed in the water and chased us.

10. Markets in Fiji. Someone immediately wanted to take us to their stall, then tried to seperate us and get one to stay with his friend. After refusing to be separated we ended up at his stall and he was adamant we could have a free bracelet, to the point he had wrapped it and forced it into our hand leaving us with no option but to purchase something before we could leave.

I’ve lived to tell the tales, and regardless of the above incidents I still enjoyed my holidays and continue to enjoy traveling.

Check out my other post - Safety Tips when Backpacking for quick tips to keep you safe!

Haere rā! Goodbye & safe traveling!