Jayne Clark’s World Worsts

Doug Lansky — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:10:15 +0000

Name Jayne Clark
Who? A veteran staff travel reporter for USA Today who doesn’t mind a little discomfort as long as it makes a good story.
Age 53
Countries Visited 60 something

Titanic Nominations
1. Worst Airline Practice Spirit Air’s $3 charge for drinking water. Is that even legal?
2. Worst Souvenir I like to buy old indigenous stuff. But sometimes it stinks. Literally. In Tanzania, I found this container made of hide. It was soot covered and used to mix cow’s blood and milk — a refreshing beverage if you grew up in the area. I guess I thought it would be cool. But when I got home and took the lid off, it reeked of sour milk and dried blood. Not sure what I was thinking. Same goes for the pair of pointy-toe Moroccan slippers I bought at a tannery in Fez. They use pigeon crap and goat pee to treat the leather and that’s exactly how they smell. They’re still airing out on my porch.
3. Worst Lodging I was in rural Virginia recently and all the hotels were booked by NASCAR fans, so I ended up in a “rustic creek-side cabin” at a B&B. If you took a bunch of shop-class dropouts and told them to rip off materials from a demolition site and said they could make a dream cabin from it, that’s what I was staying in. The floors and walls didn’t fit together, electrical cords were dangling, insulation was exposed, there were stains in the toilet… you know, rustic. And just $135 a night!
4. Worst Bus Ride I took a bus from Tikal in Guatemala to Belize. I think the driver lived in the bus. At the ruins in Tikal, he parked on a downhill slope because he had to let it roll and pop the clutch to start it. It also required another odd ritual. He was peeing on the engine when we arrived. We were treated to the odor the entire journey.
5. Worst Travel Companions Years ago I was on a post-convention trip in Mexico with freelance journalists and photographers and some PR people. The dynamic was more class reunion than journalistic enterprise. I’ve never traveled with people who had such a huge sense of entitlement and such a total lack of curiosity. We were on a train going through the Copper Canyon and a photographer threatened to report the conductor to the U.S. embassy if he didn’t let him ride up front. A PR guy from Tennessee screamed at a young Mexican worker, saying, “I’m gonna whoop your ass, boy.” They were ugly, ugly Americans. I was mortified.

Jane Wooldridge’s World Worsts

Doug Lansky — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:22:09 +0000

Name Jane Wooldridge
Who? Travel editor, Miami Herald. She’s also an active blogger and past president of Editors Council of the Society of American Travel Writers. Her personal website is janewooldridge.com.

Age? 51
Countries Visited 100

Titanic Nominations

Worst Flight Late 1980s, New Dehli to London. Eight-hour delay, followed by a quick spin around the airport and landing with an escort — a small firetruck with a single hose. We were moved to a hotel, returned 12 hours later to the airport only to find ourselves stuck in an AC-frozen waiting room with no open food facilities; after another four-hour delay, the passengers rioted.
Worst Souvenir to Bring Home A pair of 6-foot-tall wooden dancing masks from Cameroon. Getting the package to the airline counter involved hundreds of dollars of bribes. Once there, it was overweight so we had to entrust delivery to a woman we’d just met. She did eventually get it to us!
Worst Airport The worst has to be in Doula, Cameroon. Aside from the bribes, there’s the complete lack of air conditioning, chairs, facilities and organization. Charles de Gaulle runs a tough second.
Worst Meal Any coach class flight across the U.S.
Worst Hotel A $2-per-night pit in Jayapura in the mid 1990s; walls didn’t go all the way to the ceiling, disgusting bathroom down the hall, bugs and very, very hot!

The Titanic Awards » SATW

Jayne Clark’s World Worsts

Jane Wooldridge’s World Worsts