The Nightmarish Travelling Companion

My wife hates when I tell the story of the nightmarish travelling companion. She immediately starts groaning, “I don’t want to hear about Karen again!” I mean I get it… She lived it and that was enough. Out of respect for her, I will be changing the names of people and places. Unfortunately, that means I also have to be intentionally vague about a couple of things. If I wasn’t it would be pretty easy to connect some dots. Please also note that most of my travels have been solo. Whether that be Mongolia or China I have primarily travelled alone.

Some Quick Backstory

Due to some unfortunate circumstances, my wife and I were separated for a few months. During this time I was travelling and she was back home living life there. Granted this isn’t an overly unusual thing due to our history, but it’s straining sometimes. We missed each other.

Since we didn’t know how long it would take for those issues to be resolved my wife had an idea. She would come to visit me with some friends and stay with me for a bit after they left before heading back herself. As the day got closer those issues back home ended up getting resolved. 

Therefore the plan changed. She would come with two friends who would leave several days before us. That way we could get some time travelling alone. I was excited so I did what I do best. I planned out fun things to do and dealt with all the accommodation arrangements. That meant negotiating some pretty awesome deals with two awesome hostel owners in two different cities. Gotta be a half-decent trip host, right?

Well, I didn’t tell anyone other than my wife that I was negotiating these deals for everyone. I didn’t think it was important and didn’t want to humblebrag like I’m kind of doing right now. It makes me feel gross. I just wanted to do some nice things for my wife and her friends. Especially since I haven’t travelled much with others.

I had met these friends a couple of times so I was a tad nervous. One was an absolute sweetheart, let’s call her Beth, and the other, well, let’s call her Karen….

Oh Yes. This is a Karen Story.

It had been months since I had seen my wife so my excitement put off a very energetic atmosphere. For a few days previous to their arrival the people I had been spending time with at the hostel noticed a difference. Early in the morning, I took transport to the city I was meeting them. 

There was some added excitement as in doing so I was also meeting up with a bunch of people I’d met weeks previous. While waiting for my wife, I spent the day catching up with everyone. Revelling in their stories and experiences since we last spoke.

Eventually, evening came and with it, the ladies. The hostel owner and I were chatting outside as they pulled up. We got in a good laugh as my wife struggled for 10-15 minutes to park the car in the unusual customs of the area. 

Once the car was parked they grabbed their bags, leading to, much to my chagrin, the first traveller taboo. My wife and Beth each grabbed one large backpack. Karen pulls out a few bags… including a suitcase.

Thinking back on it I’m once again shocked. Who brings a suitcase on a trip consisting of at least two or three cities? Should I have sent out a packing list or would that have been rude? Not to mention the suitcase wasn’t enough! She had other bags! I’d been here for months and had one bag under 60 litres!

Like I said, shocked. I asked about it, but ultimately let it go. We went out for a lovely dinner, walked around the city for a couple of hours, and called it a night early.

A Day in a National Park

The next morning I got up early to grab everyone breakfast. By the time I got back, we were set to go. We took the car on the long route to the national park along the coast. An hour and a half of warm salty air. I loved it.

The national park’s key selling point was all the waterfalls scattered across it. Towering torrents of water fell into a crystal clear river that shimmered in the sunlight. All while reflecting several different shades of blue as the light hit it. The view was breathtaking. 

We spent the rest of the morning, and part of the afternoon, going around this main area of waterfalls. I wandered around on my own snapping pictures, as I tend to do, while the girls went off on their own. We met back at the entrance as the last ferry back to town a little before the last ferry. 

After getting back to the car we decided to go to another area of the park that had more waterfalls. A 30-45 minute drive later we parked on a cliff above a small village that was basically chiselled into the cliffside. Only a couple of buildings, a beach, and the docks filled the two or three layers of the cliff.

Unfortunately, the waterfall in this area wasn’t near the sectioned-off swimming area. Yet it was late enough in the evening that the boats were docked for the night. So I suggested to my wife that she and I should swim out there. My wife pointed out that no one other than Beth had a bathing suit. “Well, you and I can just go in underwear. It’s essentially the same thing anyway.”

Under a Waterfall

Well, Karen decides to invite herself along. I was hoping to have a “moment alone” with my wife. If you know what I mean. But yeah, sure, whatever. Karen decides to fully strip down. Soooo I went off to see if there was a closer place to start swimming from. It was a good 10-20 minute swim from the beach area after all. 

That for me was the first big “what the actual fuck” moment. There had been a series of, what I felt were, snide comments and completely unnecessary nagging sessions, but this was the first moment I first met the nightmarish travelling companion. Yet it was far from over.

I don’t know what it was that made Karen get out of the water and put her clothes back on. Whatever it was, thank God. I would’ve been way too uncomfortable having her tag along in the nude. 

I got back to tell Lisa that there wasn’t another way and we had to swim from the beach. Beth decided to stay behind, but Karen was determined to come. I was determined to try and be as friendly as possible despite being rubbed the wrong way. So we swim over to this large rock and spend some time revelling in the serenity of the falls.

My wife and I spent time taking some shots of the falls and river while we enjoyed each other’s company. It had been too long since I had seen her. Yet despite my subtle hints, Karen didn’t leave us alone, but instead basically demanded our attention. It wasn’t until we took a break at the dock during our swim back that she got the “hint”. Only because I straight out said, “I would like some time alone with my wife.”

The First of Many Car Related Issues

I ended up getting snagged on the dock and started bleeding so we headed back. By the time we got there, everyone was pretty tired from swimming. I was a little bit shocked by how much I was bleeding as well.  

Only Lisa knew about the bleeding since it was on my upper thigh and kind of embarrassing. Take that how you want to. It was then that Karen decides to get very anal about her car getting wet. I didn’t have the energy to argue about anything. Yet that was the vibe coming from her. 

Seeing my extreme annoyance and knowing about my issue my wife recommends I sit on a rain jacket. Great solution right? No brainer! Yet Karen still isn’t happy about it. I sure as hell wasn’t going to be sitting bottom half-naked in the front. Not around people I barely know. Especially not when I’m bleeding.

My shorts were barely wet so I was permitted to use the rain jacket. The drive back to the hostel was done in silence. We grabbed food and the girls did their own thing while I caught up with a friend. Eventually, everyone headed to bed.

The next day we split off into two groups. Lisa joined me for a while as I finished some stuff around town that I had to do. When she got bored she joined her friends as they walked around town.

Early afternoon we met back up to catch the ferry to our next destination. The ferry ride was overall uneventful. I got to spend some time alone with Lisa as we watched islands drift by. As we arrived at our stop the sun was setting. Lighting the world ablaze with hues of orange and pink that reflected off the water.

Poking Her Nose In Where It Doesn’t Belong

After the 20 or so minutes it took to finally drive off the ferry we were off to our final destination. It was a 30 to 40-minute drive that I had taken before so I would know where to go. After some time driving, I was sitting in the front talking with my wife while Beth and Karen were chatting away in the back.

Lisa and I ended up getting in a bit of a disagreement. Something small that was over just as quickly as it started. The whole thing was in hushed tones and over in less than a minute. Now I know that there isn’t much privacy in a car, but that’s no reason to get involved in someone else’s spat.

Yet the second it was over Karen is there poking her nose in. Something along the lines of “whatever the driver wants”. I’m sitting there dumbfounded that someone would butt in like that. My blood started to boil and came to an explosion point when the words “It’s my car, my rules. If you don’t like it then you can walk!”

 At that, I went off on her about getting involved in a disagreement she had no place in and about the situation around the car. I don’t remember what was said exactly, but the result was the rest of the drive I was silent. We got to the hostel and everyone checked in before calling it a night.

The Entitlement Paradox

Let’s stop here to talk about the car situation and the entitlement paradox that Karens usually have. Everyone who knows a Karen knows about the entitlement paradox. This sense of entitlement that Karen has no reason to have, but owns it anyway. Sometimes it’s situational others it’s just always there.

Well, the car situation was a unique one that I had never before, or since, experienced. So the car that my wife was driving was owned by Karen.  All good. They must’ve taken turns driving right? Nope. Karen doesn’t have a driver’s license and Beth just got hers and wasn’t comfortable with driving yet. From the few times that Beth did drive you could tell she wasn’t really capable of driving a standard.

So yeah…. Karen owned this car but didn’t have a license. They needed my wife to drive around on this vacation that she invited Karen on and that I had set up. Yet there she is threatening me with making me walk. I should have seen the foreshadowing. The nightmarish travelling companion was just starting my nightmare.

The Next Few Days

After calming down I decided to go back to trying to be the best trip host I could. Some days I went on a couple of outings with them to do what they wanted or showed them some cool things I had found. On others, I gave them space to do whatever they wanted to do on their own. A few days I had scheduled cool things to do such as cliff diving and scuba diving.

All the while I had been shooting photos and videos for different projects I had been working on. I had made sure to talk to my wife about letting them know this would be occurring. The whole time there had been no issue with it. 

That is until one night while we were at dinner all together. I was taking a video for my Instagram story and Karen pops up to say “I don’t feel comfortable being on social media. I don’t want to appear in any of your videos.” I’m just dumbfounded. Not one mention of this for several days. Karen showed up in so much of my footage including the swim out to the waterfall and the cliff diving.

I was speechless, but I bit my tongue. I bit my tongue a whole lot that week. It was that or I would be responsible for ruining a good trip. Yet all of the snotty, shitty comments, the jabs and thinly-veiled threats or putdowns, and the horrid attempts to correct my English were starting to wear me thin.

Extending Their Stay

So the initial plan was that Beth and Karen would stay for about a week before heading back on the train. That would have given Lisa and me a good amount of time to spend together away from home. 

They ended up extending their stay at least two times. One of which was so Beth and I could go scuba diving together. Unfortunately, I caught a cold and wasn’t able to go, but she had a great time so no complaints here. 

Luckily the owner of the hostel we were staying at gave them the crazy 60-70% discount I had negotiated for the original stay for most of their extensions. I was amazed and made sure to tell him how much I appreciated it. 

Yet their last extension was for one night so they could go back with us. On that extension, the owner decided that with how full they were he had to charge full price. Reasonable right? Well, apparently not. Karen blew a gasket. She went off about why shouldn’t she continue to get the same discount I had gotten for them. That it wasn’t right that I should be able to get a discount, but she can’t despite the fact I work in the travel industry. That and so much more. It started a huge fight between the two of us about her entitlement, superiority complex, and sheer ungratefulness. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. It didn’t end with that either.

What’s Hostel Etiquette? 

That’s the question that Karen’s actions screamed after she refused to extend. She decided she would sleep in the car for the last night. Fine, that’s her prerogative. She checked out by check-out time. So far so good.

That’s where things got weird. After checking out Karen continued to use all the amenities. She continued to use the bathrooms, internet, seating area, and kitchen. Even going so far as to use the shower before we left the day after she checked out. 

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think it’s completely fucked to continue using the amenities everyone else pays for after refusing to pay full price for one night. Especially when you’re acting like you own the place. Where is the proper hostel etiquette?

The First Half of the Trip Back

I spent the majority of the trip back in silence or just ignoring Karen. The first half took us back to the first city on our group trip. I had some work to do there and had gotten Lisa a tattoo. Our second stop was another city about halfway back to Vienna. We were stopping there for the night. Due to some bad luck, we ended up not staying where we initially intended but easily found a backup.

We get there and park a decent distance away. We head inside to a lovely little apartment. Everyone got ready for bed while I sat on the balcony catching up with an old friend. The next morning everyone got up to get ready to go explore the town separately. The first thing I noticed when I stepped foot outside was that the car was reparked a lot closer. The second thing I noticed was that the car was illegally parked. Who reparked it? Karen.

I have to explain that for the first hour or so after I wake up my brain is enveloped in fog. Until my prefrontal cortex warms up I am pure lizard brain. Completely filterless. So when I saw it reparked by her I went off. I couldn’t believe how irresponsible she was in doing this and I voiced it.

 Immediately Karen came back at me. She told me she could and would “drive as much as she wanted wherever she wanted.” That just blew my lid. all I could say was “Wow… You’re a real piece of shit” At that Karen started sobbing and I left. I knew that being around someone who would put herself, the people she’s with and other people in danger would make me say something worse. Hell, the girl couldn’t even park legally.

“Take The Train”

 Lisa and I spent the day going around town. We met up with some people I had gotten to know on the way down. Honestly, I had a blast both with my wife and some friends.

Eventually, we head back for the agreed-upon meeting time. When everyone gets there Karen made it clear that I’m not allowed back in her car unless I “do as she says and follow all of her rules” 

This leads to another fight about the various ways she tried to use her car as a means of controlling people’s actions. All while needing my wife to be there to drive. She said she would be perfectly fine driving herself and I couldn’t. Apparently, we weren’t leaving until I bent over to kiss her ass. Surely she wanted my nose to be a bit brown as well. She continuously threatened me with having to take the train if I wouldn’t bend to her whim.

After some time Lisa and Beth make it clear that we need to go. Karen is adamant that I have to take the train back. Somehow Lisa convinces her that that is absurd. Bless Lisa’s heart I have no clue how she did so. So I sit there with my headphones on and barely talk until we get home.

Finally Home

After we got home and got everything inside I thought long and hard about all that happened. I know I played a part in everything and I’m not innocent. Yet that trip, the first time I travelled with others, put such a bad taste in my mouth. Every time travelling with others gets put on the table I get nauseated.

All that being said I will leave it up to you. Who was the truly nightmarish travelling companion? Karen or me? Share your thoughts on that and if you’ve ever had a nightmarish travelling companion down below.
You know my opinion. Don’t be a Karen.