From smart luggage causing an airport security panic to a destination wedding where the dress went missing, even the best-laid vacation plans can go wrong. Here, travel experts share their cautionary tales
Cat Jones, founder of Byway, flight-free holiday agents
This spring, my family and I took the sleeper train from London to Rannoch Moor in the Scottish Highlands for a few nights. It’s only accessible by train, is super-remote and there are no roads for 20 miles.
One day, we set off to climb a nearby Munro – me, my husband and our six- and nine-year-olds. As we reached the summit, the weather closed in and we realised we might have made an error trekking to a place where no cars could rescue us. We found ourselves in near-whiteout conditions in the snow. To make matters worse, I had recently torn my knee ligament, and while low-impact hiking was good rehab, I was unable to traverse steep terrain, so we had to take the long way round to get back down – all the while the snow was getting deeper and the visibility worse.
After several exhausting hours, including miles of carrying the six-year-old and endless shouts of “Are we nearly there yet?”, we finally reached the bottom just as the sun came out. After hours of seeing no human life, we were rewarded by a train full of waving passengers passing along the track through the moor. Never again will I climb a mountain with an injury unless there is a shorter escape route!
