(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

[An explanation for the photos appears at the bottom of this post.]

I recently asked myself whether I have ever regretted traveling anywhere. Was there any place that I wished I had never seen or experienced?

I have certainly had unfortunate travel experiences. I discovered that part of my luggage had gone missing upon arriving in France in August 2014. A couple of years before that, *all* of my checked luggage disappeared on the way back from San Antonio, Texas. We were turned back from the Argentina border in 2016 because of a visa problem. It’s been nearly nine years since I tried to get to Memphis…and I still haven’t made it there. Going to the hospital in Glasgow due to food poisoning wasn’t a whole lot of fun.

I’ve been to places that were not very welcoming…sometimes in general, and sometimes just to particular people. The recent surge of nationalism is unfortunately nothing new either. I was happy to move on from two particularly intolerant parts of Europe.

There are certainly a few places to which I will never (purposely) return. But any true regrets? I don’t think I have any.

Every experience, good or bad, has been revealing. Sometimes about the place we are visiting, but also sometimes about me or my fellow travelers. While seeing extreme intolerance made me sad, it also reinforced the importance of tolerance. And dealing with some lost luggage is really not that catastrophic in the big picture.

In fact, some of the unfortunate travel experiences become the most vivid stories and memories. Although it happened more than 20 years ago, we still remember the miserable pelting rain we experienced on arrival in Kirkwall (Orkney Islands). It was almost horizontal due to the high winds, and we were drenched by the time we arrived at our B&B. To this day, we describe such weather conditions as simply “Kirkwall”.

So, how about these photos? They are all travel photos, but I think it’s safe to describe them as somewhat regrettable. Most are from the pre-digital era, when you didn’t realize a photo was bad until you picked up the prints at the shop. The photo at the very top is from Aberystwyth, Wales, and was apparently taken at the end of the roll.