5 countries in 14 days with 2 kids under the age of 3 – why did we do it? We didn’t mean to! It all happened kind of accidentally – some out of spontaneity, and some because of circumstances beyond our control.

I have to admit; I’m that person that loves to keep track of how many countries I’ve visited and how many more I want to visit. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and hope. But I would’ve never thought to check off these many countries in such a short amount of time—and with little kids!

We had some amazingly good, bad, and downright ugly moments on our trip to Switzerland, France, Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia.

Would we do it again? How can you overcome those ugly moments if you ever find yourself in a similar situation? Read on.

The Good

 

There were so many good moments. Andrew took his first steps in Vienna. Henry had a blast going to 2 different zoos, one being among the oldest in the world (the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna). We got to see one of the most magnificent sunsets over Lake Geneva and welcomed 2018 with a full rainbow on our drive to Geneva. We went to France “just for lunch” and had fondue after playing in the snow.

We visited countless museums that we all enjoyed, like the Miniversum (Budapest), Vienna History Museum, Haus der Musik (Vienna), and the Alimentarium (Vevey, Switzerland). Henry found a friend on the streets of Bratislava, Slovakia who led us to the most eclectic and adorable International House of Art for Children. Henry still remembers each toy he got from each location.

There are countless memories that we will remember forever, and oh so fondly. You can read about our experiences in each place here.

https://www.facebook.com/handaguide/videos/160865681307990/

 

The Bad

On-the-fly Potty Training on a Train from Budapest to Vienna

It was the morning that when we had to leave Budapest. We were running low on diapers – we had one left between the 2 kids. We went to three stores before our train ride to Vienna and couldn’t find any.

We had to put that last diaper on Andrew (less than a year old at that time), so when it was time for Henry (almost 3) to get rid of his dirty diaper, he was riding free. It was time to potty-train on the way to Vienna.

There was a mix-up with our reserved tickets (since we needed one more thing to stress about!), so Henry had to sit on Tony’s lap the entire time. Needless to say, Tony was really hoping for no accidents. When people say “it takes a village” about raising kids, it’s so true.

I met a nice family on the train with similar age kids, and I had to swallow my pride and ask for a diaper. I will forever remember that family! (We saw each other again on the streets of Vienna. We wished we got their contact info! Contact us if you were the adorable family in Budapest/Vienna right after New Year’s 2018 who helped out a desperate family without diapers and talked about Lightroom.)

Family Meltdowns

Besides this comical “bad” moment, parts of the trip were hard. For example, one of the bucket list items I had for Budapest was going to see the famous Chain Bridge lit up at night. I had booked a night cruise because it was one of the most recommended ways to see it, and it was kid-friendly. Well, naps happened and didn’t happen at the right times, and we missed the cruise.

Later in the evening when everyone woke up, we decided to go out to see it. My hopes now were to at least stand by it, or, hallelujah, just walk a part of the bridge. Once we stepped outside, there was meltdown after meltdown from not only our kids, but us adults too. We were at that point in our trip where we were just getting tired.

We got lost, tried to find our way, and I gave up because I noticed that I was the only one that really wanted this experience. I did ask the taxi driver to drive by it because it was kind of on the way back to our apartment. Both kids were basically screaming when we drove past the bridge, so it was far from the dreamy experience I imagined.

And the Ugly – Travel Plans Gone Wrong

Woof. This was ugly… and it still gives me anxiety just thinking about it.

We were all packed and ready to go on our flight home. When we got to the airport, we were informed that our travel agency (a large “reputable” credit card travel agency) didn’t book our tickets correctly and we didn’t have tickets for Tony and Henry to go home. No one wants to hear that, especially with 2 little kids and jobs to go home to.

Following this news, I was on the phone for over 7 hours that day with over 15 “customer service” managers from the travel agency and the airline. We had no way to get home, and the travel agency put me on the endless loop of “please hold” and “let me connect you to someone else” while our kids grew restless at the airport. No one knew what to do with us. We didn’t know how or when we were going home for the next 36 hours.

We were told by the airline that the travel agency is probably giving us the runaround because there were no flights (even on different airlines) available for us for at least 2 days. With that news, we checked in to the airport hotel, and that’s how we ended up with our 5^th country – Slovakia.

It’s only a 45-minute drive from the Vienna airport, and we thought, “Hey, we’re stranded no matter what; might as well make the best of it.” We got a rental car and decided to go on a day trip – all while we still didn’t have our tickets to go home and I was on hold with the travel agency for the most of the time there.

We did get home… four days later. FOUR days! After we were finally able to leave on the 3^rd day (the airport workers remembered us and couldn’t believe we were finally leaving), we got stranded in Zurich on our layover (ugh, another long story I will spare you from).

At least the airline made their mistakes right, right away, and put us up in an amazing hotel with all the meal vouchers we needed for this mishap.

When we finally arrived in San Francisco, you betcha our luggage was the last one off the conveyer belt. Of course, right?

(*We claimed our hotel, car rental, and all expenses to the travel agency in a 7-page claim letter with A-X exhibits. We got all of our money back plus our airfare and points. Yay for my lawyering skills coming in handy! More on how to do this below.)

Would We Do It Again?

…I hope not!

Although the incidents that lead to the 5^th country was out of our control, and an amazing blessing, I wouldn’t want to go through unexpectedly being stranded for days beyond our trip plans.

I’m glad that I learned some valuable experiences about getting what you need and deserve when something goes wrong during a trip. (More on that below.)

Even without the mishaps, we also want to start taking it easier on trips with little kids. Tony and I used to be adventurous travelers. We once traveled to 4 countries in 24 hours at the end of our honeymoon. We would do as much as we could on a trip.

Now, with kids, we’ve learned that we love to stay in one place (at least for longer than 3 nights) to really be able to take it easy, soak in the local culture and uniqueness, and to just see the place. Maybe when the kids are older, we’ll be able to have thrilling, action-packed adventures, but for now, we know that we can have a great time, maybe even better when we stay in one place for longer.

The Takeaway – What You Can Do to Recover from Travel Mishaps

As I mentioned above, although it was a painful experience for all of us, I learned so much about how to deal with stress involving travel plans not going as planned. We’ve all been in situations where you are stuck due to situations beyond your control.

Here are my tips for what to do when faced with trip cancellations because of a company’s mistakes.

Tip 1: Get the Full Story

We wouldn’t have known what was going on if I didn’t ask a lot of questions to the airline counter attendant. They knew they weren’t at fault, so they were happy to give us all the information.

Ask all the questions. Why was the ticket booked incorrectly? Why is the plane not taking off? Who was responsible (in their opinion) for this mistake/issue? Write all the answers down, including the names of the people who helped you.

Tip 2: Keep Calling Until You Get the Right Person

I spoke to probably over 20 customer service agents within 24 hours after learning our travel agency didn’t book Tony and Henry’s return flights. I learned that if you notice in the first minute or two that the person isn’t going to be helpful to you, you should just hang up and call again to get someone else. Listen to your gut on this one.

I had to explain our story over 20 times because I was either talking to someone without authority, or I was “accidentally” disconnected. I ran out of time and breath speaking to representatives that didn’t seem capable of helping me. When I finally came across one customer service representative that seemed to fully understand our situation, was empathetic, and a go-getter, I knew it was worth explaining every detail to her.  She even asked for my number and email and provided me with her email, so we can contact each other directly to make things right. Until you find someone like that, save your breath.

If you notice there’s a long wait time, have your travel companion start opening another line just in case.

Tip 3: Talk to the Big Boss

Is there a company that oversees that company? I realized this towards the end. This travel agency was contracted by the credit card company that I went through. When I realized that, I explained my situation to the credit card company and how horrible of a job their contractor was doing, and they spoke on our behalf until they connected me to the right person.

Tell them, “I’ve been talking to so many people at that company, and no one is helping me. Please do not transfer me to that company without you getting me to the right management personnel.” Even within one company, it’s a good idea to let the first person you talk to that you want to talk to a manager because your issue involves something that needs management authority.

Tip 4: Keep Calm and Be Nice

This is so important. So many times, I wanted to scream over the phone (I probably did at times), but I got the most help when I was calm, and really stayed respectful. My key phrases were “thank you so much for your help. I know it wasn’t you personally that made this mistake, and I really appreciate you making this right on behalf of your company.” Or “I really hope you are the one to help me because I haven’t been able to find help from anyone else. Here is my situation… (and just lay out the facts and leave out feelings).”

Tip 5: Show the Agent a Benefit of Helping You

Once I found the customer service representative that was competent to help with my issue, I promised them that once this issue is resolved, I will directly tell their bosses what a wonderful job they did helping me. I believe that those customer reps helped us because they were empathetic to our situation and wanted to do their job the right way, but I also think this gave extra incentive to help us faster.

I did follow up with her bosses as promised and let them know what a valuable asset she is to the company. I made sure to emphasize that she went above and beyond everyone else I spoke with (and as you know, I talked to a lot of people at that company so that meant a lot!). I am still in touch with that rep today and ask her directly to help me with our travels rather than going through their website.

Tip 6: Use the Power of Social Media

Even if you don’t have a bunch of followers, having access to social media groups is so valuable. I personally don’t use this blog to bash companies (that’s why I haven’t named any companies here), so I didn’t want to use it or social media to get what I wanted, and I didn’t.

However, it was so helpful to be able to post on places like Facebook groups to get the support I needed and ask questions. The support I got was so comforting and helpful! Also, contact the company through social media contact channels like Facebook Messenger and Twitter. In my case, they didn’t help much, but they did get back to me right away and being able to chat online while I was on hold was nice.

Tip 7: Address Your Letter to the Right People

You want to make sure the claim letter reaches the right people and puts you on their priority. Even if you don’t know the exact email address, make sure in the letter you state “TO: Legal Department of XXX Company” or any department and company that needs to know about the issue.

Tip 8: Document Everything

As I mentioned above, when I got home, I put together a 7-page letter explaining step by step what happened with exhibits A-Z. The exhibits consisted of call logs, names of representatives that helped me (or didn’t help me), documents that the airlines gave me that showed the travel agency didn’t communicate to them correctly (I had asked the airline agent to print it out), all of our confirmation emails, and receipts from all the expenses we had to incur.

This made it easier to ask for what I deserved and also to put my story together later on. We got all of our money back, including our original flight cost and points, meals, hotels, car rental, train tickets, and extra clothes we had to buy.

There You Have It!

We hope you can use these practical tips when you need them most. Being stranded in an airport, especially over 10 hours away from home, is never easy. Especially when you find out that the fights you paid for were never booked to begin with.

We hope this never happens to you, but if it does, I hope these tips will help you get through it. If there is one takeaway, make the best of being stranded! You may get to see an entirely new country because of it. 🙂

Even this crazy experience hasn’t stopped us from traveling. The benefits and fun definitely outweigh the stress that comes with traveling. We have been on a few trips domestically after this and can’t wait for our next international trip coming up to Spain and Italy in the fall!

Want to know more about family adventures and tips on traveling with kids? Read more here:

• How to pack for a family of 4 in one bag, and save money
• How to get over jet lag when traveling with kids

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Have you had any issues while traveling? What worked for you and your family? Share us any thoughts you have in the comments or contact us!