These 18 Travel Horror Stories Are So Stressful, You’ll Be Relieved Summer Vacation Season Is Ending

14.

“We were traveling across the country with two kids under the age of 2 (four-hour advanced time change). They never fully adjusted, but we did. The second day upon arrival, I had an ear infection so bad that my ear had a pulse and was a weird shade of purple. I went to the doctor and got some drops, and was fine. We were there for a wedding, and it was at a campground. Someone decided it would be okay to bring their baby, who had some sort of virus and a high fever. They said, ‘It’s okay because she had Tylenol and the fever is broken.’ Well, when I was at the cabin showering and getting ready, someone let our kids play with the sibling of the sick baby. This was halfway through our trip, and not 48 hours later, my youngest came down with a fever and threw up all over my husband. She refused to eat and was completely miserable for three or four days.”

“Two days later, my oldest started screaming in agony because of her tummy; she couldn’t poop, had a fever, and was vomiting (twice all over my husband). Our flights were for the next day. 

Our youngest came home completely fine — no fever and back to normal. Our oldest had a panic attack on the plane 45 minutes into an eight-hour flight. She freaked out that she had to go to the bathroom, so my husband took her, and then she screamed for me, as he was walking up the aisle, which caused her to throw up all over him and some poor lady’s arm. Luckily, super mom packed spare clothes for everyone except me, and a tub of sani-wipes, which made for a quick sponge bath. 

Miraculously, we made it home. My daughter ran a fever, barely ate anything, and didn’t poop for a week. She would scream in agony over her stomach. We went to the emergency room twice and were told she had the stomach flu both times, and on the second visit, that it might help to give her a suppository at home. I did and didn’t like what I saw. I googled, and all signs pointed to a very common parasite that would have lived in our camping area. She just so happened to swim in the river and get a few mouthfuls of water. We took another trip to a hospital (this time a children’s hospital) and she was better within days. It was the worst three weeks ever. It was the trip that never ended. We did learn one thing: they always want Daddy if they are going to puke.”

—yourfaceisamess