Traveling with Surprises

 

Jane Thompson Olson: My husband and I have had many wonderful adventures while traveling in our 28′ motorhome during this crazy Covid year.  We left our Park Ridge, Illinois home on October 31, 2020, and hit the road, expecting to return home in May. However, the joy of traveling and experiencing adventures turned into a huge misadventure on January 20th of this year while we were  visiting a favorite spot, Hilton Head.  My new E-bike and I had an unfortunate incident with a cement parking barrier resulting in a trip to the ER. Seven stitches in between my thumb and forefinger, fractured thumb and multiple abrasions on cheek, knee and both hands gives the parking barrier a win. Fortunately, I was wearing my helmet so no head injuries. I had hand surgery, wore a thumb splint and wrap on my swollen hand for five weeks and learned how to be right-handed. Many visits to the hand therapist have resulted in a close to normal left hand but physical therapy for my back and leg have not had the same happy results. In June I will see a neurosurgeon…. I’m holding out hope for a return to my E-bike and more adventures in our little “home on wheels.”

Lee Ayres: I have rarely traveled outside the U.S., but around 1991, Gene Carter and I took a trip to New Zealand and Australia. It was a great experience.

Except when I called home from a phone booth in a rain storm in Rotorua, New Zealand. I learned that my son Brad had totaled our Mustang 5.0 in Los Gatos, CA, as he drove onto a freeway after a football game. He was able to walk away, left the car in the freeway median, and hitched a ride home with one of his buddies.

Just before I called, the California Highway Patrol came to our home in Sunnyvale, CA, to issue someone a ticket for reckless driving and damage to public property. The officers asked, “Who was driving the car? How are they doing?”

Kids. 

Diane Rusch Zinn: The unexpected happens to travelers and to would-be travelers. Even pets can interfere.  The first day we were in Patagonia, at the far southern tip of Chile and the South American continent, we received a phone call from the guy taking care of our dogs. Our very best hunting dog had gotten into rat poison and eaten it.  She was at death’s door, but he got to her in time. He took her to the vet, and she recuperated after a few days. From Patagonia, there was nothing we could do but worry and then feel relieved.

We had a trip planned to New Zealand years ago, but we had to cancel when one of our children developed some serious health issues.

All kinds of surprises happen!

Have misadventures or the long arm of home life surprised you while you were traveling? Send your story to Marilyn at mbellert@niu.edu or use the Comment box below to share what happened.