‘I found a snake in the toilet!’: Guardian readers on their holiday disasters

Holidays, especially abroad, are off the cards for many this summer. So it's good to remember they aren't always the idyllic break we dream of. Here are our readers worst experiences

We went on holiday for Christmas to a friend's parents house in Marlo - a village in Victoria, Australia. We got there on Christmas Eve to find the only shop was pretty bare - so Christmas lunch was a frozen turkey roll, Fanta, chips and some frozen peas. I made a Christmas tree out of a stick and some toilet rolls, determined to be cheerful. On Christmas morning, I woke up and went outside. It was nice and hot - yay, beach day! Then I stepped on a very large brown snake on the doorstep and screamed. I found another snake in the lounge room, one in the toilet, and others all around the house. It was my idea of hell. I had no idea whether they were poisonous but it didn't matter. I was terrified. Lesley Podesta, retired, Australia