Who would have guessed that a story of a
trip-gone-horribly-awry could actually win a contest prize?
Many travelers have shared tales of trips gone wrong.
As a result, travel insurance provider Travel Guard solicited
stories of travel nightmares from across the U.S. and Canada. After scores of
visitors submitted stories of their travels-turned-travail, four winners emerged
after weeks of voting.
The grand prize winner received $10,000 USD for his
submission “From Holy Water to Holy Soaked” a story of his once-in-a-lifetime
trip to Rome to see the Pope, only to encounter an unholy storm that left his
cold, water-logged and nearly unable to see the object of his trip.
Second place story “Flip Flop Fiasco” recounted the writer’s
travel to California to meet his goddaughter, then make an adventurous visit to
the epic Vazquez Rocks, a sojourn marred by an unfortunate choice of footwear
(and perhaps an unfortunate choice of friends). However, the runner-up’s tale
did pay out $5,000.
“The $28K Snowboarding Souvenir” garnishing third place, told
the story about snowboard trip to the Australian Alps that only lasted two
hours due to a shattered wrist and lengthy, expensive hospital stay, but won a
$3000 cash prize.
In fourth place “What Cancer Didn’t Take, Travel Tried”
shared the experience of an almost impossible trip to Copenhagen for a family
event, met with numerous obstacles, including a plane catching fire. The winner
received a RIMOWA carry-on suitcase.
And as luck would have it, one randomly selected voter in the
2025 World’s Unluckiest Travel sweepstakes won a GoPro action camera and kit.
“The stories of our winners are not typical, but travel
mishaps can befall anyone, so we encourage travelers to prepare for the
unexpected and protect
their trips,” said Rhonda Sloan, Senior Vice President of Marketing at
Travel Guard in a statement.
She added, “We launched the World’s Unluckiest Traveler to
recognize those who have endured hardships in pursuit of their love of travel
and to highlight those sorts of misfortunes – particularly medical issues –
that might make a travel insurance plan worth considering.”
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