Our friend Ale Infantes, who lives and works as a tour guide in Havana, told us a story recently about a visit he made to Washington, D.C.
He was trying to take the city’s Metro system, and was told he should catch the blue train.
“I never pictured a completely blue train,” he said. “But I was expecting more than a sign saying just ‘Blue Line,’ which I never saw.”
Infantes watched for a while as gray trains passed by.
It might sound silly to native English speakers who grew up with American transportation, but these kinds of misunderstandings are common when traveling abroad.
Maybe you misread a sign at a restaurant that says “Employees Only.” Or maybe, like KPLU travel expert Matthew Brumley, you learned the sobering lesson that you never know who you’ll need to rely on.
“I was trying to read a bus schedule in Israel,” Brumley said.
The bus went through Jericho, and past the Dead Sea, before the final destination at a port city on the Red Sea. Brumley and his friend thought the bus went all the way.
“The bus stopped in the middle of the desert … and the driver just said ‘Get out. End of the line,’” he said. “There’s nothing around but a kiosk and a guy screaming at us.”
Brumley lost his cool. In his defense, it was a long time ago – when Brumley was in college, and before he’d done a ton of traveling. Today he knows better.
“Sometimes when you cross the Rubicon, you cannot go back,” he said. “I think I said something to him, like, ‘Shut up,’ because he was yelling at us, and we were stuck.”
Brumley didn’t know the guy also controlled the only place to get water or food. After Brumley snapped, the man refused to sell him anything. Brumley and his friend ended up spending the night in the cold desert.
“The lesson here is that when you’re traveling, you have to be diplomatic,” he said. “Never cross anyone. You never know who you’ll need.”
Have you had an awkward – or ill-conceived – travel experience? Tell us about it below.
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"Going Places" is KPLU's weekly exploration of travel topics -- experiences, tips, destinations and more. Matthew Brumley is the co-founder of Earthbound Expeditions,which provides small group travel to clients including KPLU. Leave a thought, or suggest a future segment topic, in the comments below.
