I overstayed my welcome in Turkey as an American, twice. The first time it was very scary, as the officials at the Antalya airport recognized the error when I checked in for my flight, and promptly escorted me over to the airport police station.
There were other people in the waiting room, also freaking out about whatever it is they got caught for. An hour and a half later (thank God I checked in super early), a police officer looked through my passport, tallied up the days I'd overstayed my welcome, and then told me to go to an ATM to pay cash for my fine – I'd overstayed by 20+ days, and the fine was a few hundred dollars.
I hit the ATM, paid the fine, and then got out on my regularly scheduled flight. Same thing happened the second time, but I'd only overstayed by a day or two so the fine was much smaller.
Apr 4, 2022·edited Apr 5, 2022Liked by Christopher Elliott
I can relate to sticking objects in an outlet, I tried that when I was a kid - well sort of. We had an extension lead and if you pulled out the extension part enough, the metal poles were still live and the gap was big enough for a finger. I would not recommend it to anyone, especially not in England where the voltage is 240V. It was very shocking, it felt like I was being smacked very hard.
My timeshare offered a place that was "supposed" to be near Zion, Brice and the Arches State Park. We picked the last week in May -- before schools got out but late enough that there shouldn't have been any snow. Unfortunately, there WAS still snow, and we were driving there! One pass was still closed, so we had to drive five hours out of our way to get there. Once there, we discovered it was NOT near the national parks -- in fact, it was near nothing but a little town. And there was hardly anyone staying at the resort! We soon discovered why. The first night we were awakened six times by false fire alarms going off! After the third one, none of us staying in the building even bothered to leave our rooms! We just looked out the balconies, saw no smoke, no fire trucks arriving, waved at each other and went back to bed. The resort did treat us to a $200 voucher good for meals in the restaurants there, but believe me, that week seemed to me to be about three weeks long!
Two months without a specific agenda can make the days grind along.
You should cover how to cope when your vacation hits the fatigue wall. Visit www.CoutureTrips.com/the-runway. I addressed vacation fatigue in our weekly blog.
Agree two months in SA is long I’ve been here since I landed January 18th and not due back until April 14th. Our yearly visits since 2010 have always been three months. Next year seven weeks. That’s the magic number! SA is a huge country, however, and to really hit all the sites along the western Cape, garden route Wild coast, Natal , Eastern Cape you need this time. A few days in Kruger etc. Avoid Johannesburg!
I’ve learned the hard way that longer is not always better. We won’t go into crime!
Bad memory: Contadora Island, just off Panama City, Panama. Actually we stayed too long for the entire Panama trip. It was way too hot; it was so hot that people were not out walking during the day. They go to huge empty, air conditioned malls. But Contadora Island was the worst of the worst. We stayed in a (not inexpensive) bed and breakfast/inn. A handful of rooms, inadequate air-conditioning--the electricity often went out. Other guest were pleasant but management was barely visible. Breakfast was abysmal. The whole places--especially the kitchen, was filthy. Beaches (including the water) were littered with plastic....which included disposable diapers. Plus the island did not have
a real water filtration system. We saw pipes leading to the ocean on beaches. Ick factor was huge. We had booked a week and could not wait to get out of there.
I've never stayed anywhere beyond the euphoria stage, so I find this really interesting. I look forward to reading of your experiences, so please write about them! I HAVE enjoyed extended stays in Iceland, but those were visits with my grad student daughter, and I've always had plenty to do. (Plus, those visits re-charge my Mom battery, and I never tire of that!)
Two months without a specific agenda can make the days grind along.
You should cover how to cope when your vacation hits the fatigue wall. Visit www.CoutureTrips.com/the-runway. I addressed vacation fatigue in our weekly blog.
I overstayed my welcome in Turkey as an American, twice. The first time it was very scary, as the officials at the Antalya airport recognized the error when I checked in for my flight, and promptly escorted me over to the airport police station.
There were other people in the waiting room, also freaking out about whatever it is they got caught for. An hour and a half later (thank God I checked in super early), a police officer looked through my passport, tallied up the days I'd overstayed my welcome, and then told me to go to an ATM to pay cash for my fine – I'd overstayed by 20+ days, and the fine was a few hundred dollars.
I hit the ATM, paid the fine, and then got out on my regularly scheduled flight. Same thing happened the second time, but I'd only overstayed by a day or two so the fine was much smaller.
I can relate to sticking objects in an outlet, I tried that when I was a kid - well sort of. We had an extension lead and if you pulled out the extension part enough, the metal poles were still live and the gap was big enough for a finger. I would not recommend it to anyone, especially not in England where the voltage is 240V. It was very shocking, it felt like I was being smacked very hard.
My timeshare offered a place that was "supposed" to be near Zion, Brice and the Arches State Park. We picked the last week in May -- before schools got out but late enough that there shouldn't have been any snow. Unfortunately, there WAS still snow, and we were driving there! One pass was still closed, so we had to drive five hours out of our way to get there. Once there, we discovered it was NOT near the national parks -- in fact, it was near nothing but a little town. And there was hardly anyone staying at the resort! We soon discovered why. The first night we were awakened six times by false fire alarms going off! After the third one, none of us staying in the building even bothered to leave our rooms! We just looked out the balconies, saw no smoke, no fire trucks arriving, waved at each other and went back to bed. The resort did treat us to a $200 voucher good for meals in the restaurants there, but believe me, that week seemed to me to be about three weeks long!
Two months without a specific agenda can make the days grind along.
You should cover how to cope when your vacation hits the fatigue wall. Visit www.CoutureTrips.com/the-runway. I addressed vacation fatigue in our weekly blog.
Thanks,
Susan Sherren
Couture Trips
Agree two months in SA is long I’ve been here since I landed January 18th and not due back until April 14th. Our yearly visits since 2010 have always been three months. Next year seven weeks. That’s the magic number! SA is a huge country, however, and to really hit all the sites along the western Cape, garden route Wild coast, Natal , Eastern Cape you need this time. A few days in Kruger etc. Avoid Johannesburg!
I’ve learned the hard way that longer is not always better. We won’t go into crime!
Enjoy Paarl!
Safe trip home through Istanbul
Christine Brusseau
Montreal Canada
Bad memory: Contadora Island, just off Panama City, Panama. Actually we stayed too long for the entire Panama trip. It was way too hot; it was so hot that people were not out walking during the day. They go to huge empty, air conditioned malls. But Contadora Island was the worst of the worst. We stayed in a (not inexpensive) bed and breakfast/inn. A handful of rooms, inadequate air-conditioning--the electricity often went out. Other guest were pleasant but management was barely visible. Breakfast was abysmal. The whole places--especially the kitchen, was filthy. Beaches (including the water) were littered with plastic....which included disposable diapers. Plus the island did not have
a real water filtration system. We saw pipes leading to the ocean on beaches. Ick factor was huge. We had booked a week and could not wait to get out of there.
I've never stayed anywhere beyond the euphoria stage, so I find this really interesting. I look forward to reading of your experiences, so please write about them! I HAVE enjoyed extended stays in Iceland, but those were visits with my grad student daughter, and I've always had plenty to do. (Plus, those visits re-charge my Mom battery, and I never tire of that!)
Two months without a specific agenda can make the days grind along.
You should cover how to cope when your vacation hits the fatigue wall. Visit www.CoutureTrips.com/the-runway. I addressed vacation fatigue in our weekly blog.
Thanks,
Susan Sherren
Couture Trips