Inside three travel disasters that turned dream trips into chaos
The tales of nightmare vacations came courtesy of an annual contest to find the ‘world’s unluckiest travelers’

© Lloyd L/World's Unluckiest Traveler
The tales of nightmare vacations came courtesy of an annual contest to find the ‘world’s unluckiest travelers’

© Lloyd L/World's Unluckiest Traveler
The new lists are courtesy of a website that monitors turbulence using the same sources that pilots turn to when planning flight routes

© Getty Images/iStockphoto
Ski patrollers elsewhere in the region have been unionizing

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The rollout will happen in phases, starting with American’s narrowbody jets

© American Airlines
Saint Lucia’s Carnival takes place during the rainy months which only adds to the fun, finds Natalie Wilson

© Grey Card Media / Phillen / Saint Lucian Tourist Authority
An airline spokesperson said it ’will continue to monitor the situation’

© AP
Carriers were judged on design, seat pitch and headrest comfort

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As Machu Picchu struggles with crowds of tourists, Joanna Booth finds tranquillity at an alternative ancient site

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One injured flyer said they missed the seatbelt sign announcements due to being asleep

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You could get all your money back from most rail firms for a one-hour delay – but on Grand Central and Eurostar payouts are a lot less generous

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Here are the obligations each airline has and what you can expect if your journey is disrupted

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Exclusive: 50 flights cancelled at Heathrow with an estimated 7,000 passengers affected

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Simon Calder, The Independent’s travel correspondent, is here to answer your questions on why travel is getting harder in 2026 – from rising costs and EU Etias to US Esta, social media checks and other new rules – and how to avoid the red tape

© Charlotte Hindle
It’s not that writer Emma Clarke has an aversion to other people or spending time with them, but she struggles in larger group settings – here, she shares the travel tips and tricks she’s picked up along the way

© Emma Clarke

There is no automatic compensation for cruise delays or cancellations, but Marc Shoffman explains that there are some protections in place for passengers

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Find an itinerary that works for you – from North American cities to Caribbean islands

© Royal Caribbean
While the Eternal City is one of the country’s headline act, it does come with one major downside: the crowds. So here are some quieter destinations where you’ll find culture on par

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I found solace in looking through my father’s slides after he died. They made me gasp – and my childhood turned from monotonous monochrome to glorious Technicolor
When my sister handed me a box of old Kodachrome slides last summer, I almost didn’t bother looking through them. Unusually for pre-smartphone times, my camera-crazy father had extensively documented our lives, filling dozens of photo albums. What could the transparencies possibly reveal that we hadn’t already seen countless times? I dimly remembered him ambushing us to watch slideshows, until we were old enough to rebel.
My father died in 2012. Not long before, I had developed an interest in photography myself and, after he was gone, I found solace in my viewfinder. It was, and still is, a way of feeling connected to him. What prompted me to set up my iPad as a makeshift lightbox to view the slides was technical interest.
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© Composite: Guardian Design; Tomekbudujedomek/Getty Images; handout

© Composite: Guardian Design; Tomekbudujedomek/Getty Images; handout

© Composite: Guardian Design; Tomekbudujedomek/Getty Images; handout
The new lists are courtesy of a website that monitors turbulence using the same sources that pilots turn to when planning flight routes

© Getty Images/iStockphoto