Its Not Just fun and Games – Travel Frustrations and Tests of Patience
Today was one of those travel days you usually don't write about. We got up and had to return the car we rented the day before to tour the UNESCO World Heritage churches around the island. As we were about to drive into the rent a car place (which is also a car dealership and the only car rental on the island) I remembered that we had not filled the tank. So we left to find a gas station thinking we would only be a few minutes late. We knew where the gas stations in Castor were so we went to the closest one. It was closed because the truck was there to fill the tank for the station. We went to the second place, same thing getting refilled. At the second place a man told us it would be about 20 more minutes. We went to look at the last station we remembered near town and it was completely closed, bordered up, nothing happening. We drove back to the car rental place, explained the situation, the man said don't worry about it, take your time, so we went to the first station to wait. After about 10 minutes a worker came over and said it would be at least another 40 minutes. So we headed to gas station number two where they had said 20 minutes. What felt like many minutes later we had a full tank.
We drive back to the rent a car place. Just as we drive up a small service van of the business pulls into the driveway and stops. We wait. And wait. And wait. 20 minutes later no one has come back to the van and another car in waiting behind us to get in. Dave has started to fume. He held it together through the gas station hunt and wait, but this was too much. I got out and went in to tell the car rental guy we were waiting but couldn't come in because of the van. He said that's okay just wait. I knew this would not go over well with Dave.
Dave' s stress was just building as he sat in the car in the street, worried someone would hit him or some how hurt the car we were trying to return unscathed. Finally he lost it when my report sunk in. He said that's it, I've had enough, and stormed out of the car with the papers. (Anyone who knows Dave knows how unusual it is for him to get to this point.) He threw the papers on the guys desk, said," I am done.", and stormed out. I was shocked, it takes a lot to make Dave loose it. When he got back to me he said we are leaving. I said aren't you even going to roll up the windows? No! Then he hesitated. "I'll just make sure we didn't leave anything in the car", he says. He threw the keys on the front seat. At this point the rental man came out and asked what was going on. I tried to explain but Dave went off. Here I am trying to translate between the two of them and feeling worse and worse. When the guy said he deserved to be treated with respect and I translated that to Dave, Dave came back to reality immediately. We told the guy we would wait. Rental man went in and the man in the car behind us, who looked like he was buying a car, went in and spoke to the man who looked like he was in charge of sales. The service van got moved right away. We pulled in and went to sit outside the rental man's office. By now Dave felt like a bad boy. I realized the guy could make us wait for as long as he wanted, charge us for extra for something or make up damage or whatever, if he was upset enough. I was not happy and I told Dave I would not translate for him if there was any more fighting. When our turn came, Dave apologized as best he could in Spanish, the rental man was calm, everything went smoothly. I thanked the rental at the end for his patience and asked him not to think badly of us or our country. The rental man was very gracious and said oh it was only a moment that is gone now, don't worry about it. That was our morning, there went half the day.
We have actually had very few experiences of frustration or difficulty in the last seven months of travel. We have been very lucky. but here is a list of the stressful moments related to travel so far. (Notice I am not including stressful moments relating to parenting, family dynamics etc.)
We have actually had very few experiences of frustration or difficulty in the last seven months of travel. We have been very lucky. but here is a list of the stressful moments related to travel so far. (Notice I am not including stressful moments relating to parenting, family dynamics etc.)
Moments of Dismay on the Big Trip (so Far)
Thailand
Bangkok scam that cost 5$ and two hours
Leaving Anika asleep on the bus as it drove away in the middle of the night
Bali
A monkey stole Lysa's camera. Dave got it back.
Japan
Dave and the missing rail passes that showed up after we missed the train
Losing Anika on the Tokyo subway. We got her back too!
New Zealand
No room after 24 hours of travel even though we booked it before we left.
Chile
Waiting for the bus at the wrong terminal in Concepcion and missing our connection. We still got where we were going.
Dave leaves his backpack in the car and we all get on the bus. (we got the backpack back)
As you can see nothing too terrible. One of the things I have learned on this trip so far is everything works out some how. Not always they way you thought it would, or wanted it to, but it works out. And there is almost always another bus. Or way to solve the problem.
As you can see nothing too terrible. One of the things I have learned on this trip so far is everything works out some how. Not always they way you thought it would, or wanted it to, but it works out. And there is almost always another bus. Or way to solve the problem.
Not to make light of what sounds like a very trying day, but this really this made me laugh! Especially the end where you narrate the "moments of dismay" and, in particular, where you lose Anika (Freudian slip?).
ReplyDeleteIt must be hard being the translator -- even though it must be easier in some ways, since you know the language. Are you looking forward to being in a country where you and your travel mates are on a level playing field?
Love you!
So glad it made you laugh. We laughed to, later, much later!
ReplyDeleteBeing the translator is hard sometimes. This is one reason I wanted Dave and Anika to get survival Spanish under their belts. Then I don't have to ask every question. They both seem to be better at it now after our two intensive weeks of classes.
In New Zealand we were all on a level playing field. We all had to ask some people to repeat things several times because their accents were so strong. After the second time you don't want to ask again. I mean they are speaking English even if its hard to tell. The best misunderstanding had to do with Dave and " a bus" vs "abyss". But it can only be told live so you will have to wait till we get home!
Hi Dear Lysa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laughs. Sometimes enough is simply enough. When Andrew and I were driving over the High Atlas mountains in Morocco, on a questionable two lane road with a sheer cliff as a shoulder that set tourists up for a game of chicken, I lost it. We were on our way back from Merzouga, a dessert town in the Sahara, close to the border of Algeria. As if the Sahara is not hot enough, I got a raging fever of 103.5, on my birthday, an hour outside of Merzouga. We spent 2 nights in Merzouga as my fever jumping up and down before heading back over the harrowing mountain roads of the High Atlas. The evening before we drove over the pass, barely recovered from my fever, my eardrum burst in the middle of the night. We decided to head over the pass and on to Merakesch anyway as all I had to do was sit in the car, right? Andrew loves to take photos, lots of them, and it seemed to me that he was stopping every 10 minutes for another photo of rocks on rocks. What is incredible about the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco is that it seems that there is nobody around, and yet, you stop the car in the mountains and some body seems to appear out of a bad mirage begging you to buy something, give them your food, give them money, or give them a ride. I was a sitting (lame) duck in the car while Andrew happily shot his photos. At just about highest point on the pass a wicked storm was brewing, dark clouds lightening, thunder wind and hail were hot on our trail. Yes, it was a beautiful sight to see and dear Andrew wanted to behold the memory forever in photos and once again, stopped the car along some meager shoulder and begins to snap photos. I was patient for about 2 minutes, then I snapped, something like, hey, I have been very patient with my broken eardrum and not feeling well while you stop at every corner to snap photos and leave me to be accosted by every beggar on the mountain while a lightening storm is close to being on top of us. I must also add here that dear Andrew never assisted me in dealing with these (male) beggars. Another thing that pissed me off, especially since we were in a society where men were supposed to protect their women. I thought it appeared to others, and certainly to me, that Andrew did not care for me. Andrew claims he looked back to the car at some point and thought I was doing just fine fending for myself. Feminism gone wrong! Did I mention my blood sugar was also low? Well, dear Andrew gets in the car and begins to haul ass just as the sky falls on us in a sheet of hail and lightening bolts. A local man was running along the side of the road frantically waving his plastic bag of bread at us. We did not pick him up as the storm that was brewing inside the car was worse than the one outside. Andrew veers off the side of the road down, from what my perspective in the car, looks like a foot and a half drop into a parking lot of some restaurant. Driving down the mini cliff really set me off and we passed the inner and outer storm in the parking lot of some restaurant that was, of course, closed. Andrew still claims the mini cliff was part of the driveway. That's life on the road!
Love your story! Maybe others want to share travel stories like this too? Send them in people. We can all laugh at each other's frustrations that are so similar.
DeleteIs there something about women being sick and their partners not taking care of them that is a world wide phenomena? I know women in every country we have been to feel they work harder than men taking care of everything in the lives of their families. Including taking care of themselves when they are sick.