A 54-year-old UK woman who has travelled to more than 60 countries has revealed the one destination she would never visit again. Geraldine Joaquim, from West Sussex, has seen some of the most beautiful sights the world has to offer. Her travel began while working in international marketing, and she has continued to jet-set since transitioning to a career as a hypnotherapist and wellness coach. In the last year alone, Ms Joaquim managed five international trips, the New York Post reported. She embarked on a skiing holiday in Andorra, safari in South Africa, a villa holiday in Italy, a week in Egypt and a Christmas market trip in Mons and Bruges, Belgium.
“I love seeing new and different places, really feeling like I’m in a completely diverse place to my normal life and experiencing interesting cultures. I think it’s a privilege to be a tourist in another country, so it’s important to see the good and the not-so-good, and not expect a sanitized version,” she said, as per the Post.
However, despite feeling fortunate to have travelled to so many countries, Ms Joaquim admitted that there’s one destination she’s vowed never to return to again – Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
“It was probably one of my worst travel experiences,” Ms Joaquim said. “I was on a work trip flying in from Montevideo in Uruguay and my flight arrived late at night. I had a car booked to transfer me from the airport to a hotel in the city for an overnight stay before heading on to Isla Margarita, a tiny island off the coast,” she recalled.
“It felt pretty normal until I started waiting for the transfer, and waited and waited. I was there for hours and as the small airport emptied I realised I was alone. My phone wasn’t working, it was 1pm and there was no-one else around. So when a man showed up and said in broken English that he was here to take me to the hotel I was relieved. But as I got in the car, there was another man sitting in the front seat and my stress response went through the roof,” she said.
“I would never normally get in a car with two strange men but I had no other options, so I got a tiny pen knife from my hand luggage and spent the 30-minute journey on high alert with it clutched in my hand,” the 54-year-old explained.
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Then, after finally reaching her hotel for the night and returning to the airport the following morning, her already distressing trip to the South American country seemed set to worsen. Upon arrival at the airport, she found herself chasing after a young man who had swiftly taken her bags and fled. However, later she discovered that he was offering a paid “check in service”, which she subsequently found out she had to pay for.
Ms Joaquim said she reluctantly handed over some cash and checked in for the onward flight. Luckily, her return journey only involved a short lay-over at Caracas airport before flying back home to the UK, she added.
