What to Do When Things Go Wrong on an International Trip - Real Mishaps from the Field

It's pitch black on a back road in Cuba. The classic car has quit. Two of the smallest women on the trip are pushing it down a hill while the driver insists he must steer. Nikki is off in the weeds being sick. And the way the car eventually got fixed? Cigarette smoke blown on the engine and a tree branch.

That is the part of travel nobody puts in the brochure. And it's the part you'll be telling people about for the rest of your life.

In this post, three true stories — a broken-down Cuban Chevy, a car stuck in Moroccan mud that four men couldn't budge, and the night I crashed a Bogotá quinceañera because a stranger called me over from across the street. Plus the actual field guide: what to pack, what to trust, and how to tell the difference between danger and discomfort when you're traveling abroad.