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Of mishaps on the road I have had many; often it has been through my own negligence. In general, I have been both good and lucky, and I have also been able to cope because of a certain cool head that I have always had.
The first time was as a child, with my family in the excavations of Pompeii. We lost one of my three brothers, in what is a very large area. I was nine years old and I remember rolling up my sleeves and moving to look for him. I admit that I enjoyed it.
The photo of the featured mural is by Agim Sulaj. It is located in the village of San Giuliano in Rimini, where I spent my childhood.
Who helps you if mishaps happen on the road? Yourself first
Not panicking is crucial, but it is also a character issue. On one ski trip we went little skiing but had a great time, me and my other nine friends. I risked compromising everything when we went to the slopes the first time. I had been given custody of the keys to one of the cars and lost them rolling down the slope. Not only was I incapable of skiing, but more importantly I had left my jacket pocket open.
Before alarming the rest of the troop, I tried to solve the problem myself by going up the trail. To think about it was madness, but one must believe and struggle, also because there is always time to despair. Of course, I couldn’t find them, but as a matter of fact, before I despaired, I tried the last card, to go and ask at the bar. Bingo!
As soon as I arrived in Budapest, sleepy after a sleepless night, I managed the feat of getting both ATM and credit card blocked. I did this by getting the withdrawal codes wrong too many times. I always carry the emergency numbers with me, which I also needed in Bolivia. In that case, in the middle of a long trip and in a distant country, it was also crucial to keep money in different places. So in these cases I was guilty, but my organization helped me.
I was also good at Sofia, when an exaggerated man threatened me for no reason at a traffic light in broad daylight. I looked at him unconcernedly and slipped away at a fast pace, but without running, as soon as the green light went off.
But even from home they can lend a hand
Sometimes being good is not enough, and for really serious issues it is good to be in contact with the Italian embassy by registering in theappropriate link.
To be honest in Cuba, the embassy even made our situation worse. In that case my brothers from home helped me. I was with a friend and we really didn’t get up to any good, getting drugged and robbed of practically everything like two chickens. The whole trip was compromised, but that time I risked worse, as the substances they made us drink could have done great damage.
In addition to skimpy wenches, around you have to pay special attention to taxi drivers and accommodations, especially privately run bnbs. From those who hassle you on the street, I must say that I have never been fooled, partly because I often use my special phrase to ward them off, namely that “I like piadina with prosciutto” in Romagnolo dialect.
Cab and bnb
While always looking for the cheapest solutions, in hotels I have never had big problems, with the private improvisers, sometimes I have.
In Istanbul it took me a while to discover the incredible reason I had struggled to find my lodging. It had been closed by the authorities for a few hours, and the owner had not even notified me.He was at least quick to refund me. With the host in Bucharest, on the other hand, I had to bring in Booking’s always excellent customer service. He had bailed me out of possible damages for no reason and without even responding to my requests for an explanation. I later learned that this was his custom and he even occasionally changes his name online to zero in on reviews and complaints.
One of the most memorable scams was what I called the invented cab in Dakar. I used an app for the first time, which in theory would be used to get a more serious taxi driver, without bargaining and therefore who could not cheat you on the price. The guy who came up waving his cell phone and pointing at me was not only not registered on the aforementioned app, he didn’t even have a car. When I realized that he had gotten a ride from a stranger and that he was an impostor, I played along because it was so late and I was in the middle of nowhere, somehow I was supposed to get to the hotel.
Thai taxi drivers are also bad; in Bangkok one would have made me miss my plane if I hadn’t realized that he was doing the goose run on purpose. The thing that annoys, besides the lost time, is that they necessarily think you are stupid. A good rule of thumb is to lie that you have just arrived; better to brag that you know the country well.
Dogs and monkeys
All sorts of things happened to me in Thailand, including tipping over in a kayak and falling off a bamboo bridge, giving me a cut that became infected and gave me some trouble. But I was mostly chased by both a monkey and stray dogs, twice and by the same ones within minutes. I got away thanks to the sinister noises made by the very unhinged bike I had rented.
Fortified by these experiences, I have since learned not to give animals too much credit. As for health problems, on the other hand, I have definitely convinced myself to always have a health insurance policy with me in Egypt. For a tiny cut, which got infected by mistakenly brushing against a rock in the water, I spent an absurd amount of money.
Sometimes mishaps on the road basically just more
Also in the water, a very serious event happened to me for a blinded person like me. It is dramatic to lose passport, credit card or cell phone, but even without glasses where do you go if you are nearsighted? Fortunately it happened to me close to home. The really funny thing was that passing through the pine forest behind the beach, and seeing absolutely nothing, I did not notice that a person was in front of me. She thought I was following her and was even happy about it. Her technique was to crouch down in the path to pee. When, getting too close, I apologized to her, saying that without glasses I could not see, she invited me to take a closer look. But she was not my type, in fact, just gender, since she was a male!
Still speaking of the woods, one who was definitely my type, however, was what I later renamed just the lady of the woods. I got lost in the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines, and in a clearing, where, sitting on top of a boulder was a blond girl with a map. I asked her where we were, and a short but very intense story was born.
Links with my travel misadventures
The articles where the anecdotes I mentioned here are more in-depth and contextualized
- Lost a brother in Pompeii
- Lost keys in the ski slope in Trentino
- ATM and credit card knockout in Budapest
- Lost wallet in Bolivia
- They want to beat me up in Sofia
- Drugged and robbed in Havana.
- The missing hotel in Istanbul
- The thieving bnb in Bucharest
- The nonexistent taxi driver in Dakar
- Chased by dogs and monkeys in Thailand and Cambodia
- Always make health insurance
- I lose my glasses in the sea
- I get lost and find a new girlfriend in the woods
The general links with which I group all the articles
Trips taken, travel stories divided by continent
Anecdotes, divided by type in travel narratives
Countries visited in my travel stories
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