THEY say bad things happen in threes but for Becky Parker they come in fives as she discovered when her dream honeymoon became the stuff of nightmares.

Following their wedding in 2018 Becky, 31, and her husband prison officer Luke, 34, saved every penny they had to jet off on the trip of a lifetime to Tokyo, Japan.

Speaking exclusively to Fabulous for our new series, Holiday Horrors, Becky explains: “Luke is a self-confessed nerd and he had always dreamt of going to Japan and immersing himself in the world of Anime and Manga.

“I could think of nowhere better for us to spend our honeymoon.

“However, when we started looking into prices I thought there was no way we’d ever be able to go, it was just so expensive.

“But we did our research and by avoiding package holidays and finding cheaper flights we worked out that if we saved and saved we’d just about be able to afford it.”

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After squirrelling every penny they had away, a year after their wedding Becky and Luke, who live near Caerphilly, South Wales, made the 7,000 mile journey to Japan.

“We were so excited,” Becky recalls, “We’d been waiting for over a year and it felt like a lifetime so we couldn’t wait for the holiday to start.

“It was a 14 hour flight with a four-hour stopover in Beijing so by the time we’d arrived in Tokyo we were exhausted and ready to settle into our Airbnb.”

Becky and Luke had paid £270 for an apartment in central Tokyo, just a few minutes walk from Tokyo Tower.

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The tower block apartment had almost exclusively five-star reviews and having booked it through an established company Becky assumed they had nothing to worry about.

“We’d instructions to get in before I’d even paid the final instalment and it seemed totally legit,” Becky says.

“After what felt like forever we finally arrived at the apartment and I popped the code we had been given into the key safe, but we were surprised to find no key inside.

“We tried contacting the host but we had no answer.

“When it got to about 9pm we tried knocking on the apartment door on the off chance our host might be waiting for us there.

“What we were not expecting was to be greeted by a near-naked Japanese man with a towel around his waist who was just as confused as we were.

“At that point it all just got too much and I just started crying.”

With the help of an English-speaking friend of the man's, the couple discovered that the apartment had been sold to the man a month before.

Left with no other choice, Becky and Luke were forced to wander the streets seeking alternative accommodation.

“It was the Rugby World Cup so it was almost impossible to find anywhere, especially within budget,” Becky says.

“Luckily back in England my sister was able to find us accommodation for the rest of the week.”

Airbnb initially offered the couple just £17 back as a good will gesture, but after fighting tooth and nail they agreed to cover the cost of the additional hotel stay.

With a decent place to stay, the couple were ready to start enjoying their holiday, making a trip to Disneyland in Tokyo on their second day.

“Pretty much as soon as we got there I began to feel off,” Becky says.

“I had been hospitalised due to my gall bladder before we left but had the all clear from the doctors before flying.

“But two hours into our visit I was in agony.

“We left immediately and headed back to the hotel, luckily I didn’t have to try and navigate a Japanese hospital but I was rolling around in pain until the following morning.”

While Becky and Luke were able to enjoy a couple of days exploring the areas Harijuku and Akihabra, on the fourth day of their trip they were delivered yet another blow.

“Before we’d left I had handed in my notice at work as a support worker and accepted a job offer, so I was really excited to start a new role when I returned home,” she says.

“I had explained that I had a disciplinary in my former role and they told me that wouldn’t be a problem so I was surprised to receive a phone call from them.

“They explained that they had my reference from my old workplace and that after reading it they wouldn’t be taking me on.

“Of course it completely ruined the rest of the day which I spent in the bath in tears.

“I had been rejected from my dream job and when I called my old work I discovered my old role had already been filled, it was a nightmare.”

Determined to enjoy the penultimate day of their trip, the couple headed out on Saturday to enjoy some shopping in the local neighbourhood.

As they were picking up a snack, Becky was suddenly aware of sirens going off and loudhailers warning people to take cover.

Hauled up in their hotel room and with the wind whipping around their doors, Becky and Luke found themselves in the middle of a natural disaster.

“It was Typhoon Hagibis, it was on the news and everything,” Becky says.

“I’d never experienced anything like it, I could feel the hotel moving.”

Sunday was the couple’s final day in Tokyo, and with the majority of their trip in tatters they were determined to tick off the final thing on their wishlist.

“Luke had been saving up to try wagyu steak while we were in Japan,” Becky says.

“It had been on his bucket list for years and we’d saved it until the last night as a special treat.

“But the aftermath of the typhoon meant nothing was open, the trains weren’t running and there were sandbags everywhere,  so we didn’t even get to do that.

“The following day we headed back to Wales.”

Upon landing back in the UK, Becky began hunting for a new job.

She says: “It took me about a month and I managed to get a job in another key company, which didn’t work out unfortunately.

“Eventually I got a job in Citizens Advice, which I still work in and I’m very happy.”

Despite their truly disastrous holiday, Becky says that she doesn’t regret their trip.

“It was still truly incredible,” she says.

“The people there were so kind and so polite, the food was incredible and the places we did get to visit I’ll never forget.

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“I think in the future we’ll just be a bit more careful about the accommodation we book and check the weather forecast!”

Fabulous has contacted Airbnb for a comment

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