Stranded in Foreign Territory... Now What Do We Do?

“Hahaha! Imagine if we miss our coach home! Wouldn’t that be hilarious!?”

*Watching as your only way home casually drives by* “….Um.. Oh no..Now what do we do?”

So today’s topic is; when travelling takes a turn for the worst…My question for you all is, where have you guys been? Any horrific stories? Any funny stories? Any stories in general to share? What’s the most interesting place you’ve been to?

I really love traveling, but have been really limited in the places I’ve been to. A couple of days ago, me and a close friend of mine spontaneously decided that we wanted to take a day trip to London. Yesterday, our dreams became a reality. However with everything good thing comes a catch. Somehow  fate always has other plans for me, and I just seem to attract bad luck. That and weird awkward situations. Last time, it came in the form of a strange Dutchman assuming I was a prostitute… This time, it came in the form of annoying coaches and transport people..

Everything was  going deceptively smoothly. We caught our early morning coach, made it just as the shops were opening.  We somehow ended up spending most of our time in food shops.. Something that always happens. All in all a good day. An hour early, we decided to make our way to the coach station thinking that was plenty of time! … It apparently wasn’t

We proceeded to get lost as well as miss our coach home – by 5 minutes. Something we always joke about but never think will happen! It annoys me how last time I was there, my coach was delayed by an hour. The time before that, half an hour. The day I’m late by no more than 5 minutes, it happens to be on time!  What was even more annoying was the fact that the reason we didn’t make it on time, was because there’s about 3 places with the same name as the place we were meant to get our coach from! I think it’s all a conspiracy, their way of making money from innocent tourists like myself.  Not backing down, I pulled out the negotiating skills of a politician, an act worthy of a Grammy and the charm of the finest prince there ever was! All in a bid to get home..

..But I guess some people just don’t see talent the way they use to..

We were then presented with more bad news! The next coach was fully booked and the one after that was due to arrive at 10pm! Considering the journey home would be  more than 3 hours, and it was only half 4 at the time, we were pretty devastated to say the least. Luckily another coach happened to be leaving at 5… But a more expensive one. If my pockets had a voice, they would have been protesting nearly as much as me!

It also annoys me how, no matter how much you pay to get a coach, it will always be the same story! My biggest complaint being the toilets. I chose to reach the point of dehydration because I was so scared of going into the dreaded cubicle! What’s even worse is the stress it causes me. You spend half an hour debating whether to go or not, and mentally convincing yourself it won’t be that bad. When you go in, some person has missed the seat completely, confirming your worst fears. I know it’s a moving vehicle and all, but really? You then evaluate the bladder situation. Which would you rather do? Piss yourself and spend the rest of your journey in your own pee, or sit in someone else’s piss.  After that train of thought, decide there’s no way you can possibly go.  Right on queue kicks in the worry. The one about the amount of time you’ve spent in there! A foolish part of the brain whose sole purpose is to make you do foolish things, seeps it’s ideas into the rest of the cognitive process. “It will be fine” it says, ” no one will notice if you leave really quietly.” You’ve obviously forgotten you were sat nearer the front of the coach, and manage to hit everyone along the way. They probably noticed. Then when the next person goes in, another worry. “It wasn’t me” you mentally shout! In the case where you’re with a friend, you do the only rational thing your mind tells you to do – other than standing at that front and shouting out of cause. And that’s to  start talking really loudly about how appalled you are by your fellow humans who can’t respect the fact that other people may need to go aswell! Especially the person who went in  before you! .. Maybe it’s just me who goes through this?

Anyway! When getting on to this more expensive coach, the driver proceeded to tell me I couldn’t get on! At this point, I was ready to potentially hit a baby in the face. (not that I ever would)  We spent a good amount of time arguing;  him saying that I’d shown him my payment ticket, not the correct ticket. But surely, if I have a payment ticket that’s something in itself? It turns out, the other half I’d given to my friend, were the actual tickets. He hadn’t realized when she’d shown it to him. He tried to laugh it off. I wasn’t impressed.

Besides that little ordeal,, we had a pretty great time in London! And so I present to you:

My day: In tiny picture form… and the odd bit of commentary.

We spent a fair amount of time looking at cakes we couldn’t afford… A fair amount of time being 2 hours.. Harrods is a big place! We laughed when the cake man asked us if we would like directions around the shop.. Not too soon after, we learnt the errors of our ways.

Touristy stuff because we’re touristy people.

I cheated, this next one is from my last time in London. It’s giant stuff stuck on giant buildings. And man with random child. As well as  a man in chains – very 50 shades.

We met some old friends.  It’s safe to say time has been much kinder on some more than others… Poor Minnies even behind bars!  She’s changed.

And for my favorite, lady with wig! Proudly attempting to store food in wig since 1837

And yeah, that’s a glimpse into my eventful day! If you made it through, thanks for reading!