Geraldine Joaquim is a world traveler who has visited 67 countries and counting. The 54-year-old grew up in two homes, one in Malaysia and the other in the UK. So from an early age, she was packing and sitting through long flights. Eventually, her family moved to England permanently, but her wanderlust had just begun. She spent her teenage years seeing different European countries with her friends. When she was 24, she began scuba diving, and spent over a decade exploring global waters with her husband. She is generous with her tips for other travel enthusiasts, including where the country she will never visit again.
The Worst Travel Experience
Joaquim’s first career involved international marketing, which allowed her to continue exploring the world. Today, she is a hypnotherapist and wellness coach who travels purely for pleasure. She’s also able to plan her vacations entirely on her own schedule, which was how she was able to fit in adventures to Andorra, Belgium, Egypt, Italy, and South Africa in just 2024. She considers herself fortunate to have the opportunity to explore and learn about different cultures. However, not all experiences were positive.
During a work trip, she was flying in from Uruguay, with a late night flight to Caracas, Venezuela. She would spend the night there before going to Isla Margarita the next day. However, a simple plan turned into a nightmare. “It was probably one of my worst travel experiences,” she said to Express. “It felt pretty normal until I started waiting for the transfer [to the hotel], and waited and waited. I was there for hours and, as the small airport emptied, I realised I was alone.”
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But when the car finally arrived, the situation got stickier. “…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.” Joaquim was terrified but had no other choice after waiting in an empty airport with a broken phone. “…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.”
She was relieved to finally crash at the hotel, but her adventure in Venezuela had another plot twist. After arriving at the airport the next day, a young man whisked away her bags. She chased after him, and only later learned he was offering an informal check-in service that she had to pay for. She reluctantly handed him some money and checked in. Fortunately, the rest of the journey home was uneventful, just a short lay-over at the Caracas airport before returning to England.
Venezuela: Do Not Travel
Unfortunately, Joaquim’s experience could have been much worse. The United States’ Travel Advisory Department issued a statement cautioning Americans against traveling to Venezuela after withdrawing all diplomatic personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas and suspending all of their services in 2019. “The Department has determined there is a high risk of wrongful detention of U.S. nationals in Venezuela,” the statement reads. “Security forces have detained U.S. citizens for up to five years” without any notification or access to the U.S. government.
It further details common crimes in the area, namely “homicide, armed robbery, kidnapping, and carjacking”. Therefore, the department advises avoiding the country but those who choose to go should develop a crisis communication plan with their family, consider hiring professional security, create a contingency plan that doesn’t depend on government assistance, and draft a will beforehand.
Traveling tips
Overall, Joaquim’s experiences have been positive. “I love seeing new and different places…” she said to the New York Post. “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 added it makes her more appreciative of her own life, and she and her husband encourage their two daughters to travel as well.
Being a seasoned travelor, Joaquim has many tips on how to make the process as smooth as possible. First, she recommends getting ahead of jet lag by “setting your watch to the time zone you’re heading to” as soon as you enter the plane. “This will adjust your mental schedule to the new time zone,” she says to Daily Mail. Then do your best to sleep on long flights.
When you book, look for flights that arrive “late afternoon or evening. That way you can get to your accommodation, unpack and go to sleep rather than trying to stay awake all day.” Joaquim is particular about locations when she schedules her trips. “Try to travel west, it’s easier on the body clock to gain time than it is to lose time,” she suggests. “So if you’re going to Australia from the UK for example, travel via the USA there and via Asia on the way back.”
Above all, live in the moment, go with the flow, and don’t get caught up with the minor details. “It’s important too to remember that nothing is ever perfect, there is no perfect holiday or perfect experience,” she concludes. “Striving for perfection only leads to disappointment and a missed opportunity to enjoy what you are doing. Sometimes the greatest experiences happen when things don’t go quite according to plan.”