Worlds Unluckiest Traveler: Our Favorite Unlucky Travelers

	Tenacious Toddler Trouble Took my son to Disney World when he was 4 years old.Took his tiny metal cars on the plane to play with.Ten minutes into flight I realized this bad idea—he was crawling under seats to retreive them and the flight attendant almost slipped on one. Put them away. Wonderful visit to Disney World. He loved the magic shop and jokes; bought a few souvenirs. Before leaving the hotel I packed the tiny cars in the suitcase, telling him they were not airplane toys. While I was using the restroom, he unpacked all 30 of them and loaded his pockets with them. At the airport he chatted with security people—a nice lady and a man. Of course he triggered the metal detectors and as he pulled cars out, they rolled everywhere. I was frantically picking them up and stuffing them into my purse—angrily admonishing him, as did the security lady. I heard him ask her if she wanted some peanuts. Thinking "Now where did he get peanuts?", as she said yes. Suddenly I remembered and yelled "No!" Too late. She opened the can, the spring-loaded snake popped 30 ft in the air and she screamed while other guard laughed hysterically. Everyone within 200 ft looked. (before 9-11) Funny now, not then. :)
	Heart Stopping I was 31 and had recently been overly tired and had muscle aches. I asked my doctor to test me for Lyme Disease, but he said it would be unlikely that I would have that and to stop pushing myself. While on vacation the next week on the island of Anguilla, I felt faint. Being an EMT, I checked my pulse to find my heart was only beating 36 times a minute. I went to the local hospital and put the heart monitor on myself because the nurse couldn't remember how and self-diagnosed complete heart block—the lack of organized electricity in my heart—which was now beating as a muscle reaction and could stop at any time. A medical evacuation flight was arranged and by midnight I was in Puerto Rico where I spent 9 days in cardiac intensive care with a temporary pacemaker shocking me 72 times a minute to keep my heart beating. Only my 3-11pm nurse and the doctors spoke English. I was treated for an infection, the result of Lyme Disease. I did not have travel insurance at the time, but carry it on every trip since.
	The Incidental Case of the Bolivian Bucket Brigade I should hardly mention that I was attacked by a herd of monkeys; It's the least of my traveling troubles. I witnessed a chemical explosion in the-middle-of-nowhere Africa, survived the 2004 tsunami and a terrifying ferry accident a week later. My trip to Bolivia was no different. Enduring an unexpected seven hour walk through political roadblocks, I made it to the Bolivian Amazon on a jungle tour. The air was thick with smoke; farmers had set uncontrolled fires to acquire more land. Exhausted, I napped. I woke to the crackling of fire and went to investigate, camera-in-hand. I saw a guide running with a bucket of water and followed him. Ten meters into the jungle was a fire! I snapped pictures and showed them to others. Chaos ensued. The tour group had a choice: completely abandon the camp and its owner, or help. We formed a human chain. With water-filled buckets and machetes, the Bolivian Bucket Brigade was formed. We extinguished the fire in little over an hour. Ash, sweat and mud covered from my knee-deep placement in the Amazon River, I was thankful to survive yet another travelling adventure!
	Snakes on a Plane My unluckiest travel experience has to be our trip to Costa Rica. The trip itself was wonderful, but the souvenir pottery we brought home held some surprises. It almost turned into an international incident when the snakes appeared! We were told by the locals in Costa Rica that although their country was home to many hundreds of species of snakes, we would be LUCKY to see any! Well, they had hitched a ride in my pottery, gone through x-ray at the Costa Rica airport and were stored in the overhead on the plane to Toronto. They were discovered 3 days later when I opened the box to show off my beautiful pots. Our personal version of "Snakes on the Plane" ended when they were euthanized at an Ontario lab. My pottery was returned to me, but somehow, I don't feel the same about them.
	Bad Guinea Pig in Peru My story started in January of 2009 when my wife, several friends, and I went on a tour of Peru. Somewhere around Machu Picchu, I decided it would be fun to try the local cuisine. So one evening after an exhausting hike up Huayna Picchu, we decided to dine in a back alley restaurant to get that realistic Peruvian dinner. I had the baked guinea pig. I saw this on the Travel Channel and they said it tasted like chicken. What happened after that stuck with me like no chicken ever did. Over the next couple of weeks, I got ill. Fortunately I made it back to my home in Phoenix and was able to visit my family doctor. After losing 30 pounds, I eventually was checked in at the local hospital. That was on February 2nd, 2009. I don't remember anything till February 23rd. When I was finally conscious enough to know what was going on is when I learned the true meaning of Montezuma's revenge! I lost my large intestines and was now pooping in a bag. All due to a parasite that caused by a baked guinea pig.
	Tree Top Escapade My fiancee and I and our mothers were overnighting at "TreeTops," in Kenya, a treehouse hotel. During the day, the baboons would climb up to top deck to get treats and to show off their baby baboons to the tourists. When I wasn't looking, a mother baboon grabbed my handbag, and ran down the tree and onto the land throwing everything out of my purse on her way. My passport, wallet, everything was strewn all around the animal watering hole below. The guide said baboons would be frantically looking for food in purse.The local guides had to go with rifles to protect from surprise attacks from rhinos and elephants around the watering hole to search for my belongings.

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