This summer in Ireland, I discovered that there are at least 8 easy ways to ruin your vacation. Some things may be just a minor inconvenience but others may prohibit your chances of a return trip abroad.
8 Easy Ways to Ruin Your Vacation
Ask For More Ice
What’s with European countries and the ice? When you ask for ice with your drink, your request is treated with a snarky attitude as if you’ve asked for free champagne. “Oh, you want more ice?” the waiter says, dropping one measly ice cube into your glass with tongs. And don’t expect free refills either.
Eat Food with Weird Names
In Ireland, choosing what to eat from the menu is a game of charades. My son picked the Cock and Bull Blaa at our first meal. “What’s a blaa?” he asked the waiter. Looks like: “It’s a doughy, white bread bun.” Sounds like: “Cock and Bull means chicken breast with steak.” Of course it is!
- Black pudding – sausage made from cooked pig’s blood, pork fat, pork rind, pork shoulder, pork liver, and well, you get the point
- white pudding – similar to black pudding but containing no blood
- coddle – layers of pork and bacon
- colcannon – mashed potatoes with kale
- drisheen – another type of black pudding
- crubeens – boiled pig’s feet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Irish_dishes
Hate Guinness Beer
It’s a big no-no to dislike Guinness beer in Ireland, a country that absolutely prides itself on this thick, creamy concoction. Coined a “meal in a glass,” the Irish can’t drink enough of it. Just ask any drunk in a pub their favorite beer, and they will proudly slobber, “Guinness.” They even have Guinness ice cream.
http://icecreamireland.com/2006/04/17/guinness-ic
Invite Men to a Tea Party
The guys in your life will not appreciate the finer nuances of an afternoon tea party. For instance, first one must wait for the server to completely set the table before indulging in the sweets and loading your plate. It is bad manners to knock her hand out of the way. Second, it is inappropriate to point a finger and ask, “What’s that gross looking thing?” when faced with a tiered cake stand filled with tiny, crustless sandwiches, petits fours, and pastries. Lastly, one should not fall asleep on the sofa midway through the tea service. That is all.
Pack Liquids In Your Carry-Ons
At the airport, TSA provides plastic bags for small liquids, like aerosols, gels, and creams. Take it from me. It’s worth the extra few minutes to check your bag again. I held up the area for 20 minutes over a tiny 2 oz. bottle of hand sanitizer. People in line become quite aggressive when you break this rule, calling out “idiot,” “jerk,” and “f#$!.”
Joke Around at Immigration
Everybody knows that before you can enter a country, you must go through immigration and show your passport. But did you know that the immigration officers have absolutely no sense of humor? The answer to the question, “How long will you be in Ireland?” should never be “A few hours.” This move may slow down your entry into another country by several days. Strip search not necessary this time. Warning: Don’t mess around with an immigration officer.
Lose Adapters
Our family of four brought four iPhones, one laptop computer, an iPad but no adapters on vacation. It’s that crazy little piece that allows American plugs to be connected to European sockets.Well, we had one adapter for the first 12 hours until we lost it. A game or rock, paper, scissors turned into a cage fight as we each tried to score some recharging time.
Bring Your Family
Enough said.
Which one of these things have you done to ruin your vacation? Leave me a message!
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Another great post! Let’s see…how about losing it in the hotel restaurant when you don’t find eggs over easy and a side of bacon on the menu! Not pretty…
Picking a restaurant is another way to ruin a vacation, no one is satisfied with the choice. Meltdown guaranteed.
Ah, yes, the joys of traveling. And of course, they all look to Mom to fix everything. I count myself fortunate that the vacation with so many disasters it was hard to keep track was a camping trip with another family. Instead of falling apart, the kids bonded – and wrote a song about the long list of things that went wrong. It kept us laughing long enough to solve the problems and still enjoy the weekend.
Without calamities, I would have nothing to write about. I say, “Bring it on!”
Ah, the adaptor survivor challenge…yup, we kind of suck at that too. However, we seem to have a gaggle of cords for phones we haven’t owned in the last five years.
I threw away a large box of plugs, cords, and remotes recently. Where are all our TVs?
Fun read. Thanks!
Sometimes the best way to relax is to send the family off to an exotic place and then Mom stays home. Glad I made ya laugh.
So true about the ice. It ain’t made of gold, playas, so quit being so stingy with it!
That’s a good one about the ice. With only three extra cubes, not sure why we needed tongs!
Hahaha, yeah, bringing the family on vacation totally screws it up royally. I don’t like the sound of having to eat in Ireland, but Guiness ice cream sounds intriguing for sure.
Had to keep the dialogue to PG13. Guiness ice cream much better than Blaa!
Girl, we have much to discuss. I lived in Ireland for three months. It was… a nightmare.
It’s a little quirky, people friendly.One thing I know, the food improved 100% from 15 years ago.
The people are amazing. I still have friends I met during that time. But I was living there in 2001, right after 9/11, and tourism was down and the economy was foundering. People were struggling. I myself lived with 2 other people in a one person flat overlooking a junkyard. Morale was low and jobs were non-existent. I had to leave because I couldn’t get work.
Such a beautiful place to live but not much work, that was clear.
The ice thing, right??? Traveling overseas has completely ruined me. I don’t even make ice anymore…. just stick with that nice pipe-warm tap water. Yummmmm