#22

national express seats are rigid as fuck and they always drop you off at service station 2181 or somewhere about half hr away from the centre of town

#23

In terms of time, school trip to Italy by coach. 24 hours. On the way back, the coach toilet was out of order and we only stopped once.

In terms of crushing defeat, the time I woke up in my Cambridge flat with an awful hangover and had to get the train to Baldock to do the end of tenancy clean on the house I’d been sharing with my ex. Forty five minute hungover walk to the station, slow Sunday train to fucking Baldock, five minute walk to the house, go to unlock the doI’ve left the fucking keys in Cambridge, haven’t I. Yes.

So did the whole thing in reverse, then back again, then had to clean the whole house (still hungover).

The hoover broke five minutes in. I don’t know how long I sat on the floor with my head in my hands.

10 Likes
Things that will never not feel stupid as hell
Wasted Journeys
#24

Flying from Gatwick to Rochester NY via Detroit, leaving Monday morning.

As we approached Detroit it became apparent that a huge storm from Lake Michigan which had already closed Chicago’s airspace meant we’d have to change plans, so the plane diverted to Pittsburgh. However, Pittsburgh is not an international airport, and therefore had no way to process us dirty foreigns, so no one was allowed to disembark. Sat there all afternoon with all supplies dwindling and no idea what would happen next.

Sometime in the early evening it was decided we would take off again and head for Detroit. Got there and found that pretty much every flight outbound was cancelled, aside from my flight to Rochester, which had been delayed to be the last flight of the day. Stayed at the airport until close to midnight ready to fly when the flight was, inevitably, cancelled.

Thanks to the efforts of my father in law, his cousin who lives in Detroit and I’d never met offered me a place to stay and came and picked me up. Dropped me back at the airport the next morning, everything was still chaos. Barely any flights going and the times were all messed up. Spent all day being booked onto different flights that were getting cancelled left and right. Eventually I was offered a flight to Buffalo (just over an hour’s drive from Rochester). Got on late in the evening and made it, and my in-laws drove to pick me up.

My bag somehow travelled direct to Rochester and beat me there.

So yeah, what should have been about twelve hours at a good run took two whole days.

3 Likes
#25

stag do in gibraltar for a mate who lived in wrexham. coach from gib - malaga, plane malaga - liverpool, minibus liverpool - wrexham, train wrexham - manchester, bus manchester - home. took 24 hours coz the plane was cancelled to begin with, ended up kipping on my mate’s floor in wrexham coz we arrived there way later than the last train to manc. ridiculous

#26

Probably when I had to pick up my uni stuff from my aunts place.

Took a taxi from house to the coach station at around 5 Am took the coach from Milton Keynes to Leeds, took a train from Leeds to Dewsbury and then took a taxi from there to my Aunts place in Tingley.

Packed up all my stuff into a white van then my aunt drove e back to Dewsbury took a train back to Leeds and took a coach from there back to Milton Keynes.

Somehow I managed to get home before the van and I was able to unload all my stuff. Pretty sure I slept for about 12 hours afterwards.

#27

Top, top Dad-ing right there.

8 Likes
#28

wah wah 48 hr plane delays and military outposts with significant language barriers

I had to wheel a fucking tuba
And this was not on flat, well developed streets - this was in wales

6 Likes
#29

ive got a friend who coaches it from mcr to malaga with her mam every year. they add a day onto their holiday either way, fucking ludicrous

#30

I went to a wedding in the UK last year, from Stockholm. Booked last minute and the cheapest way to do it was to fly from Stockholm to Romania and then to the UK (slept in the airport). Then drove from London to Cambridgeshire where the wedding was. Fucking awful.

Also once carried a whole band backline on the bus from Oxford to London and across London on the tube. Also fucking awful.

#31

I’ve had absolutely BLISSFUL completely empty 7am megabuses from Bristol back to London where I just lie in a blissful drug addled state after raves. Get the whole back bench, obv.

1 Like
#32

Got it through a deal in the papers I guess. My parents were poor.

#33

yeah mine too when we were small, we just stayed at home (I got car sick on long journeys and my dad didn’t fly so it kind of ruled out anything until we were a bit older/ parents had more money.) I don’t think I could go that long on a bus, even now.

#34

Left it too late to get direct flights to Barcelona for Primavera in 2016 and had to get a bus to Dublin, fly to Madrid and then get a high speed train to Barcelona. That was pretty fun, high speed trains are fucking class. I just got drunk and read Kurt Vonnegut books and listened to Fucked Up.

The return was less fun. I couldn’t afford the train back so, with a stonking hangover/comedown combo I got a nine hour bus from Barcelona to Madrid. It was awful. Armed police raided the bus at one point and dragged a lad off. I thought we’d be dropped in Madrid and I’d have to get a bus out to the airport but I just got dropped at the wrong terminal instead. I ended up on the wrong floor which was when my fear of heights reemerged and I had a panic attack.

I eventually calmed down and got to the correct terminal, only for the gate to be changed and the flight to be delayed Eventually got to Dublin, where the first text I got when we landed stated that a friend’s wife had died. got the bus which was empty until Dublin city centre when it filled with Irish football fans, all supremely fucked up after a game. I got home and immediately drank two cans of Beamish and fell asleep for a day.

2 Likes
#35

Oh, there was also the time my glasses got stolen at Primavera 2015 and I had to get back to Ireland on my own. Literally holding on to strangers guiding me through train stations, airports and bus stations. Never again.

1 Like
#36

From Glastonbury, via home, to the Dutch Islands for fucking summer school. Bus - train - taxi - tube - train - plane - train - bus - ferry - bus. 5am-11pm on no sleep, wasn’t great

1 Like
#37

are we allowed metaphorical journeys, like say, life?

#38

Probably benicassim to London in 2008. Got up at 6am to get to the airport because that’s when the last bus was, waited 24 hrs in Valencia airport to catch flight to Rome, then switched to get to London. Delayed for five hours at Heathrow because the baggage handlers were on a break, missed the train, had to wait until the following morning to get home.

#39

it’s a bit like saying your favourite cuisine is “food” but I’ll take it

#40

Ended up with a police caution after swearing at a security guard at Heathrow who then activated their panic switch.

#41

I do like a good bit of food