The worst travel advice I ever took. I almost didn’t make it home.

When I was 19, I was in Australia and I was hanging out with some new friends at a bar in Sydney. I noticed a girl, about my age, and she caught my attention. I asked my friends if they knew her. They said no, but she seemed to be enjoying our banter so I thought, why not, and went over to introduce myself. I was from a big city in the United States. She was from the Outback. We had very different lives. She had never been to the city. I’d only been to the bush once or twice. We had a lot to learn from each other. She was beautiful, smart, and had the most amazing laugh. We hit it off immediately. As the night wore on, we got to talking about our plans for the next few days. I had a trip planned with some buddies to go surfing. She told me she had to go back to the Outback. I didn’t really know where the Outback was. I thought maybe it was like the countryside or something. I didn’t realize the distance we were talking about. It took us hours to get there. I was going to the beach. I didn’t know anything about the desert. I remember she said, “It’s only a few hours. Do you want to come with me?” I was a young man in love. I thought, “I’ll come back to you. It’s just a few hours.” I didn’t tell my friends where I was really going. I didn’t want them to think I was being reckless. I told them I was sick and would meet up with them the next day. The next thing I remember was waking up in the back of a pickup truck, on dirt, surrounded by nothing but sand and red rock. I had no idea where I was. The last thing I remembered was being at the bar. My head hurt like hell. I could taste the blood on my lips. I sat up and saw a bottle of rum and a glass on the back of the truck. I thought maybe I’d had too much to drink. Maybe I’d blacked out. I picked up the bottle and took a swig. It was warm and stale. I didn’t remember drinking it. I got out of the truck. I saw a man standing against a car, smoking. I approached him. He said nothing. I asked him where I was. He said nothing. I asked if he could help me remember how I got there. He said, “You were with her.” I looked around and saw a building in the distance. I walked towards it. Inside, I found a restroom. I went inside and splashed water on my face. I looked in the mirror. My eyes were black. My lips were bloody and swollen. I ran my tongue over my teeth. One was missing. I don’t remember losing it. I left the restroom and saw a man at the front desk. I asked him where I was. I told him I couldn’t remember. He looked at me with a mix of disgust and sadness. He said, “You’re at the pub in Alice Springs.” I asked, “Where is that?” He replied, “The Alice, mate. You’re a long way from home.” I knew I had to get home. I knew it immediately. I didn’t know how I got there or what happened the night before, but I knew I was in trouble. I didn’t know if I could make it back to my friends. I didn’t even know if they were still in Sydney. All I knew was I had to get home. I begged the man at the desk to tell me what happened. He said, “Come on, mate. You weren’t exactly yourself last night.” I asked him to call my phone. It was dead. He said, “Don’t worry. I’ll look up your number. It’s easy enough.” He dialed my number. It went straight to voicemail. I asked him to try my friends again. He said, “Mate, you need to focus on yourself first. Where are you staying?” I told him I didn’t know. He replied, “Well, you’re not staying here. But I can call you an Uber.” I said, “Thank you.” He said, “No worries, mate.” I waited outside for the Uber to arrive. It took what felt like forever. When it did, I got in and told the driver to take me to the airport. I didn’t know how much money I had, but I knew I needed to get on a plane. I had no idea when my friends would be back in Sydney or if they would even look for me. I was on my own. I didn’t even know if I had a passport. When we arrived at the airport, I went inside and bought the cheapest ticket I could find. I didn’t care where it went. I just knew I needed to get out of there. I flew from Alice Springs to Sydney to Los Angeles to New York. I bought new clothes with what little money I had. I had no idea what happened the night before. I didn’t know if I was in trouble. I didn’t even know if I had a home to go to. When I finally arrived back in New York, I went to my apartment. It was quiet. I thought maybe my friends had already left for the trip. But then I saw the note on my kitchen counter. It said, “Man, we tried calling you. We can’t find you anywhere. We’re worried something happened to you. If you don’t show up tomorrow, we’re going to the cops. Call me.” It was signed with my best friend’s name. I sat down and cried. I had no idea what happened or how they were going to find me. I had no money. I had no phone. I had no idea what I was going to do. I decided to wait it out. Maybe they’d show up. Maybe I’d figure out what happened. The next day, I woke up early and decided to head to the bar where I met her. Maybe she’d be there. Maybe she could tell me what happened. I got there early. The place was already packed. I recognized a few faces. They were the same people who were there the night before. I walked up to the bar and asked if anyone had seen my friend. A girl pointed to a table in the back. I walked over. My friends were sitting there, drinking. When they saw me, their faces lit up. They ran over to me and hugged me. My best friend said, “Dude, where the fuck have you been? We were so worried about you.” I asked if they knew what happened. They told me they didn’t. They said they left me at the hotel and went out for drinks. They said I wasn’t there when they got back. They said they asked around but nobody knew anything. I told them I was in the Outback. They asked who with. I told them I didn’t know. I said I met a girl at the bar and she told me to come with her. My friends asked if I was okay. I told them I was hurting. They asked if I needed a ride home. I said I already was home. We hugged again. I thanked them for worrying about me. The night out with my friends felt good. It felt like I was home. But the next day, when I got to work, I found out the worst. The girl I met at the bar was a sex trafficker. I had unknowingly helped her traffick girls. She had been watching me. She knew I was from a big city. She knew I had connections. She knew I wouldn’t suspect a thing. She had a way with words. She had a way with people. She knew exactly what she was doing. I was arrested and put into protective custody. The police told me they were still looking for the girl and her associates. They told me I might have to testify against her. They told me to be careful. I thought my life was over. I thought I was in too deep. I didn’t know if I could get out. I didn’t know if I wanted to get out. I didn’t know anything. I thought about the worst. I thought about the things I might have had to do. I thought about the girls who might have been trafficked. I thought about the damage I might have caused. I thought about my friends. I thought about my family. I thought about myself. But then I thought about the girl. I thought about her laugh. I thought about her smile. I thought about the night we met. I thought about the way she made me feel. I didn’t know if I could ever forgive her. I didn’t know if I could ever forget her. I sat in my apartment, alone, scared, and confused. I had no idea what was going to happen. I had no idea what I was going to do. All I knew was I had to get out. I had to clear my name. I had to protect myself. I had to make it right. It took months. It took lawyers. It took investigations. It took witnesses. It took luck. But eventually, they caught her. They caught her associates. They got enough evidence. They got me cleared. They got me out of protective custody. They got me my life back. I never saw the girl again. I never found out what happened to her. I never found out what happened to her victims. I never knew if she was still alive. I never knew if she ever thought about me. But I learned. I learned a lot. I learned about the world. I learned about people. I learned about myself. I learned that even when things seem darkest, they can get brighter. I learned that even when you

The worst travel advice I ever took. I almost didn’t make it home.

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