This year we're getting in the Christmas spirit, not by watching The Nightmare Before Christmas, but by compiling a list of travel nightmares before Christmas. We received a ton of travel nightmare submissions during our social media contest of who had the best and funniest travel fail. Wait no longer, ladies and gentlemen. The results are in and they are hilarious.
"Freshman year I had to go to a leadership seminar for my Jewish camp in Atlanta, Georgia. My ex-boyfriend was going to be there so naturally I thought I should dye my hair pink to show him I was a punk rock chick who didn't care about him anymore #missindependent. After a HORRIBLE weekend, I was ready to go home. I had a connecting flight back from Georgia to Dulles and Dulles to the Staunton airport. While waiting for my first flight, I got some Chipotle and then headed to my gate to board. When the woman asks me for my boarding pass and ID, all I could find was my JAC card and she had to reprint my ticket. This is when I realized I put it all in the Chipotle bag and threw out my license and boarding pass. I had like an hour so I started RUNNING to the other gate to dig through garbage for my f*****g license. As soon as I get there I poke my head in the can and it JUUUUUST GOT EMPTIED! People are staring at me like I'm on meth so I politely take my face out of the garbage and head back to my gate, license-less. While I'm in the airtrain I get a text from a friend saying, "Hey where are you you're supposed to give your speech for why you want to be historian," so OOPS! The fun doesn't end here. When I get to Dulles I go straight to my gate and wait for my flight, but realized like nobody was there. Of course I don't know what the f**k I'm doing so I sit and wait to board. Eventually me and several other passengers get called up to the front desk and told that our flight is cancelled and we can either take a flight in the morning or take a van back to Dulles. A VAN. A FREAKING VAN. I opted for the van...... I have 30% battery left on my phone and travel with five other adults into a sketchy airport van like the scene of the mother in Home Alone going back to her son, and we are there for 3 hours. Two adults are legit flirting with one another and all I had to contribute to the conversation was that I was an undeclared freshman with pink hair trying to make it to her 9:30 class in the morning. When we get to the airport, I asked the driver if he could drop me off at JMU since we're passing it on the way home because my phone was going to die and if he left me with no cab or way home in Staunton i would die too... he said yes. :) Silently, we drove at now midnight back towards JMU. My phone now on 4% I turn it on do not disturb so that it doesn't die on me. Finally, we pull up to the back parking lot of Chappalear Hall and I bring my suitcase upstairs and go into my suite mate's room and start to cry because of everything I just went through. I said, "One sec, I'll explain I just wanna call my mom first to let her know I'm home. AAAAAND cherry on top, my phone is in the backseat of sketchy van!! He couldn't have been more than two minutes away, and I couldn't even call my phone in the backseat because it was on do not disturb.
Remember this story the next time you travel because just when you think there's light at the end of the tunnel, it's actually a hypothetical train.
