Instead of the post I had scheduled for today, I’d rather share a few of my recent travel (mis)adventures in an effort to highlight the importance of being prepared for the unexpected while traveling….

Lyme Disease in Greece

For my trip to Greece, I found out a few hours before we were due to board our plane that I had Lyme Disease. Undeterred from our original plan to enjoy every bit of island-hopping bliss, I boarded the plane not feeling so well and armed with what seemed like a year’s supply of medication (we’re still not sure how I was bitten by a tick, but I’m fairly certain it was during our annual Acadia camping trip a week and a half prior).

Bribing the Policia in Mexico

While in Mexico, we were randomly pulled over by (and forced to bribe) the Policia. There aren’t many words to describe the feeling of standing on the side of the road with a machine gun pointed at you while the man holding it smiles and tells you he will let you go if you give him all your pesos.

Wrecking the Rental Car in Ireland

Now, while in Ireland, I’ve experienced the joy–and utter terror–of driving for the first time on what seems to me as the “wrong” side of the road. Yesterday, I was motoring along at about 90 kmh when I came to a sharp curve in the road. No stranger to these crazy types of junctions after 4 days of driving in the Irish countryside under my belt, I continued along, taking the curve like a pro.

That was until I came around the corner to find a Mack truck coming at me…in my lane! Needless to say, our little Nissan ended up in the ditch with a marred hubcap while the truck driver continued to barrel on, completely unphased.

Considering I’m driving a rented vehicle, some quick thinking was in order. A few hours, plenty of screams, 65 euro, and one new hubcap later, the damage has been repaired in what I hope will be a case of “the rental car company. will. never. know. a. thing.”

Planning for Travel Disasters

Sharing these stories (in an effort to make you laugh, yes?) highlights the necessity to plan ahead when it comes to traveling. “Expect the unexpected” is hardly enough to express the importance of budgeting for not only the cost of the trip and spending money, but also for travel-induced emergencies.

Had I not paid for the trip, saved plenty of spending money, and included a bit of a buffer, who knows what kind of hurt my budget would have been in when returning home. Tonight, I will sleep soundly knowing both my finances and rental car are still in one piece despite yesterday’s excitement.

But I do have to say that the Cliffs of Moher were worth every hair-raising second of the drive up to the top. There’s really no way to describe my hike other than un-freaking-believeable….