My Worst Travel Moments of 2023

It’s everyone’s favorite post of the year: all my WORST travel moments of 2023! Overall this year has been a good one, in the fact that I had no major injuries and I’m still alive and healthy. But while the ups have been so good in 2023, the downs were pretty bad. So often, what we see online is just the highlight reel – but it’s important to share the bad with the good. Here are all my worst moments of 2023.

Rolling my car and becoming homeless

Nothing like a near-death experience to start this post off, right? Easily the worst moment of my year was when I rolled my car in Cape Range National Park. I should have died – I have no idea how I walked away from it with just a few scratches. Because I was living in the car, without it I had nowhere to go. So, after joking about being homeless living in my car driving around the country, I became legitimately homeless without her.

Not only did I have to deal with the logistics of the car crash (phone calls to insurance companies, towing company, claim documentation, etc), and sort out getting myself to a safe place to go/stay while I recovered (thank you Shelley and Troy!), but I had to deal with the severe trauma of the accident itself. I had never been involved in any major car accident before in my entire life – and rolling the car, spinning over in it, opening my eyes to a broken windscreen and my body covered in glass shards, was deeply traumatizing. I had so much anxiety driving for so many years, then overcame it in 2021 and had successfully driven 18,000km around Australia alone. The blow to my self-confidence was gut-wrenching.

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Three days after the crash, I drove an unfamiliar rental vehicle (with not one but two rooftop tents) 1,800km south to Perth. Without third-party liability insurance. There was no other option I could afford, it was what I had to do. I did it, and I’m glad I did because it got me back behind the wheel before the anxiety majorly kicked in again. But it was fucking HARD.

Getting covid in Jeju

Unfortunately, I tested positive for covid on my trip in South Korea when I was on Jeju. The restrictions at the time were to self-isolate for seven days, which meant I had to cancel and rearrange quite a few of my Thailand plans. It also meant I ruined my friends’ trip to Vietnam, as I gave my best friend and his girlfriend covid and they then had to isolate too (sorry Nate and Liv!). While we ended up making the best of our quarantine together, and it was probably the best-case situation for me to get covid in Korea as I had somewhere comfortable (and free) to quarantine, I was also disappointed I couldn’t see as much of the island as I’d hoped.

Getting bumped from my flight leaving Abu Dhabi

I’d specifically planned a stopover with Etihad on my journey from the UK to South Korea, as I wanted to visit Abu Dhabi and see a snapshot of the Middle East. Unfortunately, I was bumped from my flight, and forced to wait at the airport for nearly three hours before being told I wasn’t going to Seoul that night as planned. I was extremely upset, as I’d clearly shown intent to travel when I checked into my flight leaving Manchester the day before (did Etihad think I’d get to Abu Dhabi and just disappear?!), and I was supposed to be meeting my best friend, who had taken time off work.

In the end, I actually came out of it very well off. I said I needed a statement, in writing, that I could use for any travel insurance claims (my accommodation in Seoul kindly allowed me to cancel last-minute with no charge, so it wasn’t needed in the end). The airline arranged an extra night in the airport hotel on full board, so all of my meals were included (no need for reimbursement), and I was allowed to stay in the room (and use the hotel’s pool) until 7pm. I was upgraded to an extra-legroom seat on my flight to Seoul, and my excess baggage fee was waived. On top of that, I was given a compensation voucher, which I exchanged for cash in my bank account, for £520. My flights were only £543, so this was a huge win for me!! It was a good reminder of how to be a savvy traveler and I’m very happy with how well I handed the unexpected situation.

A minor car accident in Queensland

In August, I was leaving a lay-by after spotting a cassowary near Etty Bay, and another driver reversed into my car. She cracked the (plastic) front guard, which I eventually found impossible to repair. After hours on the phone to my car insurance, I was unable to get it repaired due to the fact that I was living in it and constantly traveling, and limited to repairs by their specified mechanics/garages – which had months-long waiting lists. It was a logistical nightmare, which no one at my car insurance company bothered explaining to me when I originally spoke to them. Thankfully, the damage was very minor and the car was still driveable. But it was so stressful, trying to figure this all out – when someone else was at fault, and she didn’t have to deal with any of this.

Getting my car stuck in the Blue Mountains

Within a week of leaving Sydney and hitting the road, I got my car stuck and needed to call my roadside assistance. Thank god I bought that! I was in a free campsite in the Blue Mountains, and as I pulled forward I didn’t see that part of the tarmac had come away – my wheel sunk right into the hole. Thankfully, there were several other kind people at the campsite who came to help me; Steve from NRMA showed up and pulled me out; and I came out of the situation with my best friend Hayley. But it was not the start to the road trip I’d planned!

The stress and emotional drain of leaving York

Moving is TERRIBLE – I have no clue how people do it! Packing up everything I owned, moving everything into a storage unit, saying goodbye to my house, my friends, my car, and my life in York was so difficult. Logistically it was challenging to organize everything (I did pretty much all of the moving and actual heavy lifting on my own, because I refuse to depend on anyone), emotionally it was heartbreaking. I cried and cried. I know that it was the right decision, because this adventure in Australia has been so amazing. But at the time it was just so much to deal with, alone.

My breakdown at Bangkok Airport

I flew from Phuket to Bangkok in Thailand, where I had an all-day layover before my overnight flight to Sydney. I had planned on staying with a friend from college for the first week in Australia, and the day before the flight he told me he had to leave the country and fly to Singapore for a family emergency. It left me in a total panic, as I now had nowhere to stay in Sydney. I sat down in Bangkok, scrolled through my phone to try to figure out who would be awake in my time zone, and asked my friend Nate to call me. He did, and I immediately started bawling my face off, alone in the airport.

“I’m landing in Australia tomorrow and I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing with my life,” I cried into the phone. “I have no plan and no job and I don’t think I can do it. What the fuck was I thinking?! I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.” In between my panicked sobs, he told me that everything was going to be okay, and that I could do it. I booked an Airbnb for two nights, so I’d have somewhere to stay when I landed. And despite the panic, I got on the plane, and flew to Australia.

My camera breaking in Mackay

I’ve had my camera since 2016. It’s not a particularly fancy camera, and it’s not expensive – but it’s served me well, I know how to use it very well, and it has been my trusted companion for so many years. The zoom broke on my trip to Eungella National Park, and all the photos using the zoom turned out exposed and just white. I was so panicked. Photography is not just a passion, but one of my incomes (thanks to my blog) – not being able to take photos the right way left me feeling naked and vulnerable. I went to Mackay and tried in vain to find somewhere that could repair it on the spot. Nowhere could. I ended up getting another camera, same make and slightly newer model, off ASOS – this needed to be shipped to my friend in Townsville (who I’d never even met at this point), and I’d just have to deal for the next 10 days until I could get there.

I sat in my car in the shopping center car park in Mackay and bawled my eyes out. In the end, it wasn’t really the camera that was the problem – it was that I was exhausted from having to constantly problem solve and take care of myself, all the time, non-stop, with no break and no help from anyone. I had no one to help me, to come up with ideas to fix it, I had no one. I was alone. I managed to dust myself off, figure out a solution, and keep going. But that moment of isolation, of exhaustion and loneliness, did really break me.

My credit card getting hacked

I’ve never had a card get hacked – ever. So, finding a slew of unauthorized payments on my card in July was a bit of a nasty surprise. Thankfully, my credit card company (Chase) had flagged it, they refunded all the charges to my account, and said they would send out a new credit card ASAP. Unfortunately, I was living on Great Keppel Island, with a bit of an unusual system for receiving mail. And I was leaving the island in two weeks, with no way to collect my mail once I left. My credit card got to Brisbane in two days (!) and sat there for several days, before UPS decided it didn’t like my address, and sent my new credit card back to Ohio. I was distraught. Thankfully, I have several other bank cards I can use, and can access my money in multiple ways. But this was my main credit card that I used for the majority of my purchases, and it was so annoying being without it. A huge thank you to Melyssa, who I’d never met before, but who let me send so many things to her address in Townsville!

The heat and the flies coming across the Top End

As I left Queensland for my long drive through the outback, to Northern Territory, the temps started climbing. Once I crossed the NT border and turned north to drive on the Stuart Highway, the flies descended. Throughout my time in the NT, the Kimberley, and northwest WA (especially Karijini and Exmouth), the heat and the flies plagued me. Living in my car, with nowhere else to go to escape the elements, was terrible. My car would be so hot, and nothing I could do could cool it down – although bug screens did help, so I could put the back windows all the way down at night. Buying a headnet did also help, but didn’t fix the problem. I forgot what it was like to eat without flies swarming. I’d get into my car and lie there sweating. It was just miserable. Thank you to my friend Julia who convinced me to buy a fan when I was buying gear for the car in Sydney – I don’t think I’d have made it otherwise!

An unexpected departure from K’gari (Fraser Island)

This is something that I haven’t talked about publicly much – but I was essentially kicked off the island when I was halfway through my one-month work exchange on K’gari (Fraser Island). I was given five days’ notice (strange, as I’d signed a contract saying a one-week notice was required from either myself or the tour operator) that I’d be leaving the island. I was taken aback, and very upset at first – I’d never done a work exchange before, it was taking me a while to get into the rhythm of it, but I was really looking forward to exploring more of the island.

I’m honestly not quite sure what was the real reasoning behind the decision. I was told that it was because they didn’t have enough work for everyone (they’d canceled several tours to allow for renovation works), and that one person needed to leave. And they’d selected me to go, as they knew I didn’t want to stay longer than four weeks (and some of the others did). Which on the surface, is fair enough. But surely they’d have considered this before bringing on new volunteers for a month with fewer tours?

In reality, I think it was because they (someone?) just didn’t like me. It was a huge adjustment for me to go from road tripping solo, to being surrounded by people and working in a new environment on an unusual schedule – plus I did feel like there was an expectation to always be socializing with others, which I struggled with as an introvert. It can take me a while to warm up to people, and I felt a bit awkward in a new group, even though I did genuinely like everyone. I also felt like we were required to be always “on” or available even if we weren’t on shift, which I didn’t feel was fair. I was happy to do my hours (25hr/week) for my accommodation and food, but I wanted my own time to relax (and work on my blog) outside of that.

Anyway, it ended up being far and away for the best. I had more time to road trip up to my next work exchange on Great Keppel Island (and visit some of my all-time favorite places, like Blackdown Tableland), and more time on that island – on a work exchange that was a much better fit for me. It taught me that I can’t depend or rely on anyone – people can always let you down. Things can and will happen unexpectedly, plans can always change and fall apart. I learned that I needed to always take care of myself, and do what’s best for me. I still recommend the company as I think their tours are fantastic! But maybe consider the expectations for their work exchange.

Bad weather in the Whitsundays

While I try to be as flexible as I can with my travel plans, sometimes you need to book things in advance. And unfortunately, the weather forecast wasn’t great for the days I booked my Whitsundays sailing trip. We spent the first few hours sailing in the rain – thankfully, the rain let up, and the sun even came out, when we got to Whitehaven Beach. The weather was so miserable the next morning that I chose to change out of my wetsuit and skip the second snorkel session, as I was just too cold and unenthusiastic to get back into the water. I can’t imagine how different this experience would have been if we’d had sunshine and warmer temps! I’m glad I had the experience, but I really wish I could have spent time out on deck in a swimsuit soaking up the rays, instead of bundled up and huddled under a big rain jacket.

The long drive across the Nullarbor (in the rain)

The Nullarbor is one of the great stretches of Australian outback – over 1,000km of literally nothing. It’s a very long drive, and particularly stressful when you’re dodging bushfires, sleeping alone in the bush during thunderstorms, driving in pouring rain doing your best not to hydroplane while avoiding dead wombats/roadkill all over the road, and ensuring you don’t run out of gas when your fuel gauge doesn’t work. It was a lot. I was so relieved to get to Port Lincoln and then Adelaide, and to know that my last long stretches of driving through outback Australia are behind me.

Meeting amazing people and having to leave them

I’ve been so blessed to meet incredible people during this wonderful, travel-filled year. And while I am so grateful for that, it has been so hard having to leave them. It’s so hard to part ways with people you get on so well with, you connect with, you really like. I talked about this a lot in my article about dating on the road – but it’s the same for friendships, too. It’s so hard letting people go.

So there you have it – all my worst moments of 2023. Car problems, covid, travel delays, and emotional stress… 2023 really did have it all. While there were so many good moments this year, there were some bad moments, too. I hope you enjoyed reading about it all!

Over to you – what were your toughest moments of 2023?