Five AM Traveller is all about the experience of travel and everyone has a story to tell. I decided to ask some of my buddies to share some of their experiences, provide some entertainment or perhaps give us some tips along the way.
I am really pleased that the first comes from Career Renegade himself, Jonathan Fields. If you are not aware of Jonathan yet then you are in for a treat, head over to his blog right after reading this. He is good for your brain, your career and is a brilliant guy all round!
Best travel experience …
… was renting a house with 18 people on the Outer Banks in North Carolina on the ocean for a week. It’s always dicey with so many personalities, but the with the right group of people, you end up with real community and everyone’s experience is made that much more enjoyable. Photo from the deck above.
Worst experiences …
Taking an 8 person jump flight from San Jose over the mountains to the coast in Costa Rica. The thermals coming off the mountain tops were so wicked, the plane felt like a leaf in a hurricane. Several people were kneeling on the floor praying, screaming and crying.
And, then there was the time I was flying back from Chicago and we felt a jarring, then the cabin went silent, followed by a loud grinding noise every 30 seconds or so.
We were told that we lost an engine and part of the hydraulics. Coming in to land, we were rerouted to a different airport where we circled over the water, the plane dumped its fuel, then we were all told to assume the head between the knees crash landing position.
Thankfully, we hit the tarmac with a fleet of emergency vehicles racing after us, and the landing was fine.
When deplaning, I asked the flight attendant what the grinding noise was and she said it was the good engine. We were all then shuffled off the plane to wait by the gate where we were told the plane would be fixed, then we had to reboard to get back to the originallly intended airport.
There was a brief mutiny, before the airline decided it might be best to run shuttle buses back to that airport instead.
Thanks for your great stories Jonathan!
Have you and your fellow passengers ever mutinied on a flight? Had to fly on a broken plane? Shared a holiday home with too many other people? Please share in the comments! …
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Wow – blown about by a leaf – that sounds…terrifying!