The Titanic Awards

Name Sarah Schlichter
Who? Editor of IndependentTraveler.com, a comprehensive travel planning site offering deals, destination information and practical tips for independent travelers. Her travel advice has appeared in a variety of media outlets including the New York Times, USA Today, the Miami Herald, Fox News, MSNBC and AOL.com.
Age 26
Countries Visited 25

Titanic Nominations
Worst Airline Ryanair.  Every airport they fly into is an hour or two from the city you’re actually trying to reach, they’ve got one of the ugliest sites on the Internet, and they charge extra for everything (like online check-in and “payment handling”).
Worst Hostel Stay There was nothing wrong with my hostel in Madrid except my fellow guests. The first night four drunken British guys stumbled into our dorm room at 4 a.m., flipping on all the lights and bellowing in slurred voices about the bullfight they’d been to that day. The next night the Brits were replaced by a cadre of Austrian tweens on a school field trip, who whispered and giggled for hours as though they were having a big sleepover.
Worst Overland Journey In Morocco, we hired a 4WD vehicle to take us around the desert. The scenery was beautiful, but the constant up-down-up-down over the dunes had me wishing desperately for a Dramamine. I was actually glad when the vehicle got mired in a sand dune so I could get out!
Worst Tourist Trap The Palace of Versailles. Its over-the-top opulence doesn’t look so grand when the place is packed wall-to-wall with pushy tourists. For this I missed an extra day in Paris?
Worst Travel Magazine Any publication that writes — in sickeningly cutesy language — about “girlfriend getaways” centered around nothing but spas and shoe shopping.

Famous Travelers independenttraveler.com, Sarah Schlichter