Cutting vacation short because foreign country is... too foreign
Jul 16, 2018, 1:29 am
#16
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Hong Kong, Jakarta
Posts: 221
As an aside it was also a strange trip as we had an 80 yo grandmother on the tour with 2 VERY heavy bags. We cursed them until we discovered Vietnam at the time was not set up for tourists. She would magically produce our every need from the bags and I fondly recall our afternoon teas with her. Yep she had brought an electric kettle with her and a tea set.
Ya VN wasn't that set up in around 10-15 years ago, but nowadays it's good to visit and i always want to spend more time there than cutting it short!
The only time that i encounter the cut-short situation was, unbelievably, in Singapore. Some of my friends got really sick because of the heat and sun there and they wanted to go back Hong Kong. However the flight tickets were tooooo expensive that they end up spending 2 full days in the hotel room trying to recover (while the other of us go wander around in the heat haha).
Jul 16, 2018, 4:55 am
#17
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Aeroplan, IHG, Enterprise, Avios, Nexus
Posts: 8,355
The only times I've cut a trip short is due to weather but they were all in North America. There are foreign places that I didn't care for however I stuck it out, couldn't leave soon enough and will never go back.
Last edited by Badenoch; Jul 16, 2018 at 5:47 am
Jul 16, 2018, 5:09 am
#18
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Germany
Posts: 71
I've flown out to ATL from Florida a day early to avoid Irma.
Also when I visited family on a Caribbean island flying there from freezing temps in Europe I spent the first two /three days rather miserable in front of a fan as the family lived in a house with no AC and I wasn't used to that kind of heat plus coming in from snow and freezing temperatures did not help.
I think sometimes with weather you need to give yourself a couple of days to acclimate before deciding if you can take it.
I prefer to stay somewhere with AC in that kind of climate and I am willing to pay a small premium for a room with AC - but that won't stop me from visiting my family who still live in homes without AC in the Caribbean again some time
Also when I visited family on a Caribbean island flying there from freezing temps in Europe I spent the first two /three days rather miserable in front of a fan as the family lived in a house with no AC and I wasn't used to that kind of heat plus coming in from snow and freezing temperatures did not help.
I think sometimes with weather you need to give yourself a couple of days to acclimate before deciding if you can take it.
I prefer to stay somewhere with AC in that kind of climate and I am willing to pay a small premium for a room with AC - but that won't stop me from visiting my family who still live in homes without AC in the Caribbean again some time
Jul 16, 2018, 6:56 am
#19
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: SJO - MAN - LAX
Programs: MileagePlus Gold, Avis PP, National EE, Lifemiles Silver, ConnectMiles Gold
Posts: 532
Happened to me in Slovakia. I was on a 6 day trip through Germany/Austria with a planned stop in Bratislava for a day to you know, see the sights. We took a train from Vienna and the moment we stepped out of the train, my girlfriend did not feel safe and we walked for a quite and that did not go away. It was just a bit too, umm, different. We finally found a shopping mall, made it inside, called an Uber, cancelled the hotel and made a bee line to the train station to go back to Vienna. We were there a whole hour and 30 minutes.
Not saying it's a bad place, it just didn't look too safe.
Not saying it's a bad place, it just didn't look too safe.
Jul 16, 2018, 7:48 am
#20
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
Hasn't happened to me thus far and it's hard to imagine it would, but you never know I suppose. I haven't enjoyed every place the same, and some locations I wouldn't plan to go back to, but none have been so bad that I wanted to bolt early.
Jul 16, 2018, 9:21 am
#21
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,271
There are places I would not travel too for varying reasons but there is no place I have travelled to that I wanted to leave because it was 'too foreign'. While I have heard of people doing this, I really don't understand how they got themselves into such a situation in the first place.
When living in Greece, I heard a story first hand from a tour company rep of a tourist who asked to be sent home on the next flight as, 'there were too many foreigners (meaning Greeks)'. Huh? What would you expect to find, only English (the tourist was English) people on a Greek island?
Another perhaps more understandable example that I have heard of is people visiting countries like India and when confronted with the poverty all around them, can't cope. That at least is somewhat understandable although anyone doing enough of their own research should know what to expect.
I think that research is the real issue in such situations. The lack of it, that is.
When living in Greece, I heard a story first hand from a tour company rep of a tourist who asked to be sent home on the next flight as, 'there were too many foreigners (meaning Greeks)'. Huh? What would you expect to find, only English (the tourist was English) people on a Greek island?
Another perhaps more understandable example that I have heard of is people visiting countries like India and when confronted with the poverty all around them, can't cope. That at least is somewhat understandable although anyone doing enough of their own research should know what to expect.
I think that research is the real issue in such situations. The lack of it, that is.
Jul 16, 2018, 4:56 pm
#22
Moderator: Information Desk, Women Travelers, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 15,665
As an aside it was also a strange trip as we had an 80 yo grandmother on the tour with 2 VERY heavy bags. We cursed them until we discovered Vietnam at the time was not set up for tourists. She would magically produce our every need from the bags and I fondly recall our afternoon teas with her. Yep she had brought an electric kettle with her and a tea set.
To more directly answer your question: I've never cut short a vacation, but did live for several years in the Middle East. We were in one of the nicest expat compounds you could find, but a couple times a year would hear about people who relocated (on the company dime) only to discover they just didn't like living in the Middle East. The company -- and it's a huge one that's well known -- had an amazing onboarding/orientation program for every family member to prevent just such a situation, but it still resulted in some people who didn't understand what they were getting into. (My parents both spent time in the country, as the company's guests, before making the decision; my Mom went through a multi-day orientation program in the US; once we arrived we all went through an orientation program, etc.)
Jul 16, 2018, 5:21 pm
#23
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Happily living in Frenaros Cyprus having escaped the near-death experience called Sofia Bulgaria
Programs: Etihad Guest Gold, DL FO and 1MM, and a bunch of others at a low level
Posts: 2,053
Happened to me in Slovakia. I was on a 6 day trip through Germany/Austria with a planned stop in Bratislava for a day to you know, see the sights. We took a train from Vienna and the moment we stepped out of the train, my girlfriend did not feel safe and we walked for a quite and that did not go away. It was just a bit too, umm, different. We finally found a shopping mall, made it inside, called an Uber, cancelled the hotel and made a bee line to the train station to go back to Vienna. We were there a whole hour and 30 minutes.
Not saying it's a bad place, it just didn't look too safe.
Not saying it's a bad place, it just didn't look too safe.
Jul 16, 2018, 8:04 pm
#25
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: SJC / DPS
Programs: AS G75K, UA Silver
Posts: 1,758
Out of 90 countries, I've done this once. I booked 4 days in Mongolia over New Years.
It was beyond cold, everything was closed, and a good time was nowhere to be had. I left after 2 days. I don't regret it, though; I can always go back during a more hospitable time of the year.
It was beyond cold, everything was closed, and a good time was nowhere to be had. I left after 2 days. I don't regret it, though; I can always go back during a more hospitable time of the year.
Jul 16, 2018, 9:29 pm
#26
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Raleigh
Programs: United GS 2MM,, Marriott/Starwood Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 754
I’d say the Americans who went to experience Russia in the late 1930’s and 1940’s wouldn’t agree with this romantic notion of limitless tolerance for “culture shock”. Most of them ended up dying of famine exhaustion and cold in the gulags. So yes - there are limits. There’s a point where it’s best to cut your losses and leave the locals to deal with the mess their corrupt and inept governments have created.
Jul 16, 2018, 11:57 pm
#27
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,347
This sort of thing only happens to me on road trips in the UK - at 5pm I realise that I'm still where I planned to be at 1pm because the roads are "too foreign" so I have to skip my afternoon plans and try to get to my next night stop on time...
Jul 17, 2018, 12:17 am
#28
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: SMF
Posts: 1,251
We did this during a family trip to Mexico City. Mexico City was incredible, the history was amazing, the culture was fantastic, and the food was delightful, at least until I had a Tostada and suddenly my insides wanted to be on my outsides. 2 days later, once I could walk again we went to the airport and bought the first flight out.
It was really a shame, and now I need to go back to experience everything I missed out on. Next time, though, no tostadas.
It was really a shame, and now I need to go back to experience everything I missed out on. Next time, though, no tostadas.
Jul 17, 2018, 5:31 am
#30
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,876
I almost left India early. Was in Delhi for the end of a trip (already had been there for a week), friend had left, found everything dirty and cold (didn't realize it gets cold in the winter, many hotels have heating issues). But stuck it out.