At one point or another we can all recall a disaster when travelling abroad. Here are just a few tales:

OPPORTUNITISTIC THEFT / PASSPORT / CASH & CARDS
My fiancé and I took a last minute booking to Puerto Banos in Spain. Our hotel was average but we came to get away from London and work so we didn’t mind. It wasn’t until our 3rd day that we met the chamber maid who was rude and miserable when we dared to stay in our room until 11am! On returning Sarah noticed that the case had been moved but thought nothing of it until later that night when she looked for her handbag. It was gone! It was not expensive but she had left our credit cards, some spare cash and our passports in it for safe keeping – so she thought. The hotel staff were not helpful and in the end we spent the next 4 days working out how to get new passports and money from our respective parents! The hotel of course was fine about it all. They had already swiped our card on arrival!  We never did see the maid again – funny that!? 
Fisher’s Travel SOS – Financial loss / Stolen Items (Passport) 

DATE RAPE
Some women co-workers who won a lottery syndicate decided to take a long weekend celebration break on a Greek island. Having each collected a sizable sum they were in the mood to enjoy themselves and this wasn’t lost on the locals and other male tourists. In the early hours of Sunday morning after a very loud but enjoyable night one of the group was found to be missing. She was last seen with a group of lads only a couple of hours earlier. The following day she returned confused and badly shaken. The doctor’s report was that she had been drugged and sexually assaulted whilst under the influence of the ‘date rape’ drug Ketamine Hydrochloride.

 Fisher’s Travel SOS – Medical (includes ‘Abuse’) 

FOOD POISONING
A family who had already spent an enjoyable week at their resort decided to venture out and try some local delicacies. After travelling for an hour they came across a street market. The variety displayed for sale appeared to be the answer in cuisine as far removed from the bland but acceptable fare offered back at the resort. Later that day the children and mother complained of stomach cramp and all became very sick very quickly. Unable to communicate easily with the locals the father struggled to find a doctor or medical centre. During this time the children, in particular, suffered badly from what was later diagnosed as ‘mild’ food poisoning.  

 Fisher’s Travel SOS – Medical

FALSE ARREST
Caught up in the excitement of watching his team win at the world series Peter and his friend dropped into a street bar full of English speaking supporters. Only minutes later a crowd of angry locals began smashing the windows and hurling sticks and bricks at the bar. A fight ensued between the hard core supporters only to be broken up by riot police. Unable to prove his innocence Peter was taken into custody and charged with several orders including violence, civil disruption and aggravated assault on fellow officers. No evidence was offered at the time of the arrest. His friend however had escaped but had no idea how to help Peter let alone find out where he was being held.

 Fisher’s Travel SOS – Legal

HOTEL DISASTER
The joking about the Carry On Abroad film, the hilariously bad catalogue of cock ups and crumbling bedrooms, poor / non-existent service and a hotel only half built echoed uncomfortably with a group of friends who now faced a similar dilemma.  Whilst some refused to stay let alone eat in the hotel the others put up a brave face and only gave in to good sense when they found the rooms full of bugs. With the time now gone 9pm they ordered two taxis, through the hotel, and waited and waited. Almost an hour later only one arrived and was only licensed to carry 3 people. After failing to find rooms in the nearest 3 hotels they gave up and returned back to the hotel and were forced to ‘enjoy’ one night in the Hotel from Hell. The next day they found not one but 4 hotels that could have accommodated them. 

Fisher’s Travel SOS – Accommodation 

NATIONAL EMERGENCY
When the tremor came the hotel shook with disastrous consequences. Walls crumbled and above the ceiling collapsed killing all but one person. All around I could hear the screams of people but it was hard to tell if it was from shear fright or the unbearable realty of people suffering under tons of rubble. It was both. I stumbled out of the room now laid almost bare and still falling away from the after shocks. We were on the edge of the quake but the damage was complete – nothing survived. Communication was shot and nobody knew what to do. Hours later help was hinted as coming but nobody arrived. Travelling 10km away from the area and communication was possible – only after a scrabble - but besides my family back in England nobody, including myself, knew who to contact.  

 Fisher’s Travel SOS – National Emergencies (survival pack)