I Got Scammed in Greece

A few weeks ago Sammy from To The Days Like This, one of my lovely Travel Tuesday co-host, tagged me with a list of travel related questions. Since I am currently rushing through airports and heading off for my two week trip to Croatia I figured this was a perfect way to kick off my vacation by sharing my answers to these travel related questions.

1. What adventures do you have coming up?
Did I mention that I am currently on my way to Croatia! H and I are spending two weeks visiting Dubrovnik, Korčula, Hvar, and Split. I can’t wait to do some exploring of this beautiful country, try all the different food and relax on the beach.

PrimostenCroatiavia
Another adventure I have coming up that I am looking forward to is a visit back home to Oregon this Christmas. It will be over a year since I have been home and seen my family and I am already counting down the days.

2. What is the hardest thing about traveling?
Often times the most difficult part about traveling for me is deciding where I actually want to travel to. There are so many places on my travel list that I am dying to see, but I think this is a good problem to have.

Travel Quotevia

3. Is there a place that everyone raves about that you’re not interested in traveling to?
As I mentioned in the previous question, my travel wish list is long, and there are not many places that aren’t on it. I will admit that for awhile I didn’t have that much interest in traveling to China. However after college a few of my close friends moved to China to teach English, and after seeing their amazing pictures and hearing all their stories China is now high up there on my travel list.

4. Do you prefer travel books or internet research?
I prefer internet research, mainly for the convenience and the fact that you can do basically all of your trip planning online. Being able to read reviews from other travelers about the places I am traveling to has helped give me a lot of insider tips!

5. Have you made any life long friends through traveling?
I have made some great friends through traveling! The people you meet while traveling is one of my favorite aspects of traveling. You never know who you will meet or when you will be having breakfast in a group of people representing 10 different countries.

Australia FriendsFriends from around the World

Even now, while I live in Iceland and am not just traveling here, I have made some great friends that I know I will stay in touch with if I move away. And of course my favorite life long friend I have made through traveling is H :)

6. Would you say you are a budget traveler?
I would say I am a budget traveler 75% of the time. When it comes to accommodation and flights I will shop around until I find the best deal. Actually experiencing the area to the fullest is where my money goes when I travel. Admission fees, boat tours, delicious food, and maybe some shopping at local markets is where I prefer to spend my money. You can read more about my travel style in this post.

7. Have you ever been scammed while traveling?
Unfortunately yes! When H and I arrived to Athens it was late at night and we had been traveling all day. We had to take a bus into the city and then take a cab to our hotel, it was exhausting. Basically we were to tired to have all our brain power switched on at this point.

Greece Bus
When our bus dropped us off at 1 am we were so happy to see two cabs, one with the lights on the others turned off. Of course we hop into the cab that said it was on duty while the friendly cab driver loaded up our suitcases. As soon as our nice cab driver got back in the car the second cab driver rushes over opening H and my’s doors, taking our luggage out of the trunk and yelling at our nice cab driver in Greek.

I was basically terrified.

Apparently mean cab driver was the first in the cab line so even though his lights where off he was the cab with priority. Nice cab driver didn’t argue so off we went into mean cab drivers car.

Things were going okay, minus the fact that I was now wide awake in the back seat with my pepper spray in hand. Mean cab driver went on telling us the sights we were passing on our 5 minute ride to our hotel. When we arrived mean cab driver pushed a bunch of buttons on what was the strangest looking meter ever before telling us it was 17 Euros.

Ummm what! H and I argued a bit with him, no way was it 17 Euros for a 5 minute cab ride. Mean cabbie argued that he gave us a tour bla bla and since H and I were too exhausted to argue more we handed over 20 Euros for the cab driver to give us change back.

Before I knew it the meanie was getting back into the cab saying, “yes I keep extra for tip.” Ummm no, you keep no extra for tip! But off the mean cab driver went, scoring 20 Euros for a 5 minute drive. The worst part was when we went into our hotel and asked the reception how much the cab should have cost and we got the answer, “maybe 4 Euros max.”

Yes we got ripped off big time on that one cab ride!

8. Favorite travel quote?
Travel Quotevia

This quote is one of my favorites about traveling! I love when I go somewhere that leaves me speechless. I am sure I will have some of these moments during our trip to Croatia!

Question of the Day?

Tell me your answers to these travel questions!

I am currently enjoying some much needed beach time in Croatia. I may be a bit slow responding to comments but will be back to normal blogging when I return! Thanks for taking the time to stop by!

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  • http://snowintromso.com/ Van @ Snow in Tromso

    How on earth did you get your pepper spray to Greece? It’s forbidden on the plane, in hand luggage and checked in luggage, KIKI!!!! :D :D sorry to hear you got scammed big time. We had a similiar experience paying way too much for a cab in Sweden though luckily it wasn’t scary at all!

    • http://www.rhymeandribbons.com/ Amanda @ Rhyme & Ribbons

      Hahahaha I was going to ask that as well! (I’ve been scammed into paying way too much for cabs to. Ugh) x

      • http://www.gutenblogyall.com/ Margo

        Ha! I love it Kiki! You go girl. Prepared for everything, the ultimate traveler! :)

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      I actually have traveled a few times with it, by accident since I always had it in my purse back in the states. If you go to college in the US you get a bit use to always having pepper spray on you when walking on campus. I am so glad they never saw it in my luggage though, I was always forgetting to take it out!

  • http://letuswanderlust.blogspot.com/ Carly @ Let Us Wanderlust

    Sorry to hear about the scam!! Ty and I actually got scammed big time by a cab driver in Las Vegas. From the airport to our accommodation, the fare should have been around $15. I’d been to Vegas before so when I noticed our cab driver taking us the long way round, I spoke up. He of course said “this is quicker, this is quicker!” And I was too polite to argue further. So $45 later I was loathed to give him a tip!! Scams are the worst! Enjoy your break Kiki xx

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      Ugh that is the worst! We had some cab drivers like that in Croatia, good for you for saying something!

  • http://bluehairinbelgium.blogspot.be/ Kerri Heritage

    Urgh, that’s the worst when you are super tired and you just want to get where you need to be. Happened to us too… Almost happened another time, taxi driver was trying to charge us stupid amounts of money for a 25km drive when we knew for a fact it was only 10km… Sometimes, people, grrr.

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      Seriously! Especially when your tired and not fully functioning.

  • http://prettythingandco.com/ Madaline

    Ick. Sounds like that was one of those unapproved taxi’s. After I return from the states Florence and I will be adventuring into the wilds of Sicily for a few weeks!!

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      Ohh Sicily sounds lovely! Enjoy your time in the states.

  • http://www.thegritsblog.com/ The Grits

    Sucks about the scam man!! I hate that for you! That happened to me in Panama City, Panama but I argued and argued with the cabbie and didn’t hand over cash until we agreed LOL - but I was fully awake, I am sure if I had been tired that wouldn’t have been the case

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      You go girl! Yes after we had slept the next morning we were like ugh we should have argued.

  • http://www.tothedayslikethis.com/ Sammy @ Days Like This

    Loved reading all your answers and that is one of my fav quotes as well. That sucks so much about getting scammed - I think everyone has been there though.

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      I think so as well, a scam here and there seems to come with traveling. Thanks for asking such great questions!

  • http://totravelandbeyond.wordpress.com/ Macy Gutermuth

    We are hoping to book a honeymoon cruise to Greece and Croatia, I can’t wait to see your pictures!!

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      I loved Greece and Croatia, I highly recommend both of them!

  • http://voyageofthemeemee.com/ Amanda MeeMee

    China probably wouldn’t be on my top list of places to visit either… I like tropical places mostly! But, I’m still curious about EVERYWHERE so I definitely wouldn’t say no to it either!

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      Same here, I am so curious about everywhere but would rather head somewhere tropical than a busy city.

  • http://wheretheheartblog.blogspot.com Caity @ Where The Heart Is

    One of my favorite things about travel (besides the fun adventures, incredible sights, etc etc etc) is all of the amazing and different people you meet! That’s one major reason why I choose hostels over hotels!

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      It is always so fun meeting people while traveling. You never know who you will meet!

  • http://englishgirlcanadianman.blogspot.ca/ Holly Nelson

    Croatia is gorgeous - I hope you are enjoying it? Not so cool about the cab driver. That must have been so frustrating!

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      We loved Croatia, it was so beautiful!

  • http://www.jadeoak.com/ jackie jade

    aww that’s so annoying about getting ripped off. sadly it happens to all of us, but luckily it wasn’t a ton of money!

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      It does seem like all travelers have been scammed at some point. At least it wasn’t anything scary and your right we didn’t lose a ton of money.

  • http://thethingsiamcrazyfor.wordpress.com/ Camila

    Cabbies are sometimes the worst! I know I got ripped off in Scotland as well when a cabbie swore there were no bus because it was a holiday and then his ‘special holiday rate’ ended up being a complete scam. Gosh I hate them sometimes…and other times you meet the nicest cabbies and they make you forget about those times!

    • http://unlockingkiki.com/ Kaelene Spence

      I agree, they can be so sneaky sometimes! Then you tend to be hesitant to the ones that end up being nice. If only all cabbies where nice and trustworthy!