Worst travel experience in Chicago
- Damien Chung
- Nov 5, 2019
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 11, 2021
Okay hear me out. Chicago is an amazing city, unique architecture, beautifully designed and by far the most unique out of all the cities I have ever been to. However, that does not outweigh the rest of the experience I have been having while in this city.
I started my Chicago trip going to the museum, where you can easily spend 5 hours inside as there are TONS and TONS of stuff to see. It is well worth the money if you are into museums. The Field Museum is the most worth museum to visit in my opinion, with my city pass, I have also taken the North side tour where they took us to discover some of the suburbs just outside of the CBD, apparently one of the Playboy original mansions was there, that's according to the tour guide. We had a 20 minute stop outside the zoo and garden where we were able to have a quick look, and I was amazed that the zoo is free to enter, it was more of a park than a zoo but they combine it and I think this is a good idea where families can spend good time in the park with their children. I have never seen anywhere that you can visit such things without breaking your bank. My short 15 minutes run at the zoo got me to have a peek at some giraffes, penguins and polar bears. I wish I had more time but that's just how tour works. Next up at the pier, I went on this pirate ship (for a sail not to join), looking back at the skyscrapers of Chicago and the amazing skyline, I wish it would have been a sunset cruise as it would be even more beautiful with the backdrop of the skyline, however it was freezing in the afternoon so I wasn't too keen to go for a night sail anyway.
That is as far as my good experience went, now why did I not enjoy my Chicago trip after all the good stuff I said above. This all comes down to 2 major events that happened on the exact same day. 22nd June 2019, the worst day of my life probably, and also the worst day during my whole travel experience by far. That weekend is the Chicago Pride Festival, one of the biggest Chicago LGBT street festivals before the pride parade for the following weekend, also the main reason I chose to go to Chicago at that time. After taking the subway to the nearest station, I walked towards the street where all the action is happening, and then about 200m away from the pride festival, that's where a queue has formed. While queuing up, I saw a bunch of far right activists across the street holding up signs with slurs and mostly an amused crowd since 99% of the people there are LGBT or allies. About 20 odd minutes later I got in, crowd descended into this blocked off street with lots of things happening, there were stalls selling merch, food, and other things that I could barely remember as it was just chaotic. There were 3 main stages set up spread out on each side of the entire street. I stopped at the middle stage after I saw everything and decided that was the one that suites me. It was amazing, I was dancing and enjoying the drag shows. After 1.5 to 2 hours, I decided to get some dinner at Whole Foods which is inside the blocked off zone and take a rest, then I wanted to try to see if the other stages have something more exciting happening. I was walking through this section where the bars are set up which was a mistake as I couldn't see from where I was that there was a massive blockage, I suddenly came to a halt and getting squeezed by people coming towards me and people pushing from behind trying to get through, and suddenly I felt something wasn't right and I touch my pocket to protect my phone and I found out that my phone was gone, I started to look on the floor and told the person next to me that my phone got stolen but they didn't say anthing, then I started walking back to where I was coming from to try to see if anyone is holding a phone that is similar to mine as I have a more unique phone case, without any luck, I quickly walk to where I saw a group of police officers were gathering and told them my phone got stolen. I was directed to the police station right around the corner and I went in, file my report, and the worst thing was that my multi-currency card and my transit card was inside my phone case and I am living in an Airbnb about an hour train ride away, without much cash left and no idea how to get back as I am not familiar with the area. I wanted to try to get into my Google account to see if I can track my phone but the police officers weren't being too helpful and told me to go to this LGBT centre along the festival area where they might have public computers available, and without much luck they said they were closed and did not allow me to use it. Back to the police station and they check to see if the library is still open but unfortunately it wasn't, I asked them if I could get hold of my phone carrier to get them to either track my phone or lock it, and I was appalled when the police officer asked me if I have the number, who on earth remembers their carrier's phone number, more so I am a foreigner. He went on to serve another person and left me sitting on their waiting area, and then a group of 3 ladies came in and one of them had their phone stolen as well, and then another lady came in saying her phone was stolen, at that moment I knew I wasn't alone in this and something very fishy is happening at that festival. After chatting with them for a while, they offered me their phone to try to search for my phone but I couldn't access my account without an authentication code from my phone, which was stolen so there's no way I could get in. I found the carrier number and call them, they told me it's basically gone and there's no point tracking it, which I figured as much as told them to cancel my sim card (RIP new phone 😭 ). The ladies needed to accompany their friend to get a new phone and they offered to let me tag along and see if I can get one as well, but given it's a locked phone as they only go to those carrier stores and there wasn't any Best Buy nearby, I was out of luck. They brought me to the train station and even helped me to top up some money into my new transit card which I really appreciated it. I gave them my insta username but I didn't realise that I had the number wrong so they wouldn't have been able to find my account, but thank you anyway if they eventually find this somehow. After taking the train back to the city, I found my way to the train that get back to my Airbnb, however there was train work going on and I had to take another train line, the sign says it is going to this place which sounded familiar to me so I thought it might be going to the right direction until over 20 minutes later I found out I was in the opposite direction, so I had to hop out, waited another 20 minutes for the next train going back and by the time I managed to get back to my Airbnb it was 11pm, my phone was stolen at 5pm, that's 6 hours trying to sort out my phone with the cops and finding my way home.
Wooh, that was a long read, but do you think that's all, nop. Could it get any worst, you are about to find out. I got back to my Airbnb, I knock on my host's door and their child answer the door, I told him what happened and I need to use their computer just for a few minutes trying to sort things out as I did not bring any other electronics with me due to weight. After I manage to contact my father and got him instruction to give me the codes to get into my account, I left and went back to my room as it was very late and I wanted to get ready to go to bed. I heard music going on somewhere in the distance and I was curious, so I was looking out while getting ready to go to shower, there was a couple of people walking around the street, I was looking at one guy walking along and he stopped, turn around with his hands up, BANG BANG BANG, I was confused as I couldn't tell whether it was gun shots or fireworks as fireworks was common at my home and they do sound similar. I wanted to call 911, but I remember that my phone was stolen, 2 minutes later police started driving around, I did not want to assume the worst but it seems like I have just witnessed a guy shooting something or someone. 5 minutes passed, 2 ladies staying next to my room came out and then asked me if I have heard it, I said I wasn't sure if it was fireworks or gunshot but they said they think it's a gunshot and they got woken up from it and the screaming, then our host came over and went to investigate, she said that there's a couple who have been fighting for a long time and it could be them. Since it's out of my control and I have had a really long day from the pickpocketing incident, I went on to take my shower and went to bed, hoping the day will never repeat again.
Chicago is the capital of gun violence in America and I guess I am in the right place at the right time to witness that, it wasn't as scary as I thought, given my distance from that person, I wasn't in much danger to start off with. Yes, Chicago has beautiful architecture and good transport system, but after speaking to many people around Chicago, they weren't shocked to find out that crimes are happening everywhere in Chicago. A beautiful city ruined by the society's lowest. Would I visit Chicago in the future? Maybe, but definitely would not be in the top of my list.
CLIMATE:
I was in Chicago in late June, nearly mid summer however temperature could still feel like winter, so make sure to pack a thick jacket just to be sure. If you don't need it, at least you won't regret it when you need it.
FOOD:
I got to try the much hyped Chicago deep dish pizza, and my first impression of it was a meat pie that impersonates a pizza. Would I have it again, unless there are no other choices then yes, but otherwise, no.
TRANSPORTATION:
Chicago transport system is pretty good, you have the overhead and underground subway system, and also the train goes all the way to the airport. When you are in the airport, you can use the ticket machine to buy the Ventra card, which is a transit card that you can load money into or passes (1 day, 7 days, 30 days, etc). You can also use your contactless credit card at the turnstile directly if you are only going to use the public transport once or twice.
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