Worst Haircut Ever While Traveling – Senegal Travel Diary #5

Sometimes bad things happen when you travel. This is one of those times.

I got the worst haircut I’ve ever had in my life.

If he had just said that he didn’t know how to cut my kind of hair I would have left and everything would have been fine.

But he didn’t.

The damage was done in an instant and the efforts at recovery were futile. it got far worse before it was salvaged to the level you see in this video.

Sometimes bad things happen when you travel. At least this one will grow out in a few weeks.

This Senegal Travel Diary brought to you by poor judgment.

Video Transcript

  • Well, we told you we that

we’d give you the truth, good and bad.

Well…

  • [Trina] This is bad.
  • Yeah, it’s bad,

but it’s not that bad.

  • Yeah, it is.
  • No, it isn’t, all you can do is…

You’re just playing it.

You’re the playing the role.

  • [Trina] You’re not the
    one suffering with it.

(Tim laughs)

Oh, yeah, listen to him laugh.

Listen to him laugh.

He getting too much of a kick out of this.

  • I’m just laughing with you.
  • [Trina] No, you’re not.
    (Tim laughs)
  • Yes.
  • [Trina] Okay, so you wanna
    tell them what happened?
  • Well, why don’t you tell them?
  • [Trina] Okay, but the
    picture stays on you

for the moment.

  • Okay, fine.
  • [Trina] I went out to get
    some stuff, some drinks,

and it was my first day going out

on the main street in the neighborhood

which was a little twisty and hard to find

and I found us, these apples.

Here, take the apples.

  • Oh.
  • [Trina] Blind guy taking the apple.
  • See?
  • [Trina] These are
    little pink lady apples

and they’re really tasty and I found these

and I was feeling all good
about my successes for the day.

  • Uh-hmm.
  • And then it happened.
  • Oh, it didn’t happen.
  • It happened.
  • It wasn’t that far.
  • It was, okay.
  • What are the times, ooh.
  • If you saw-

I did a thing on Instagram

and you can see how my
hair was a total mop.

Well, I kind of decided to get a haircut.

No big deal.

I get my haircut in different
places all the time, right?

  • Yes, well, you went
    to surprise me, right?
  • [Trina] Yeah, let’s say that.

I was testing the place out

to see if we should take you there.

  • Uh-hmm.
  • That’s it.

I took one for the team here.

  • I see.
  • [Trina] And well, they
    said, “Sure we can handle it,”

and it turns out
(Tim stifles a laugh)

I don’t think the guy had ever touched

a white person’s hair ever

in his life.

  • By the way, we are in Africa.
  • [Trina] Yeah.

Yeah, this is Senegal.

  • This is at the scene.
  • [Trina] And they should
    have turned me away

and said, “No, sorry, we
can’t do it,” but they didn’t.

  • Oh, they were adventurous.
  • [Trina] See, I don’t wanna show ’em.

This is a bad haircut.

  • Yeah, you gotta show ’em.

‘Cause you gotta show ’em so you can see

how adventurous these guys were.

  • [Trina] How adventurous?

Yeah, getting a haircut is adventurous.

  • Yes and, well, it is
    when you’re a black person

in a white person’s hair.

  • [Trina] Whenever you’re
    in a different culture,

you’re taking a risk with your hair.

  • Very true.
  • [Trina] Okay, I’ll show ’em.
  • Go ahead.
  • Okay, Tim, don’t laugh.
  • Okay.
  • See, there we go.
  • You still have the hat on.
  • I know.
  • [Tim] You’re supposed
    to take the hat off.
  • Okay.
  • That’s not showing
    them your hair, right?
  • Okay, so, okay, go ahead
    and laugh if you gotta laugh.
  • [Tim] I’m not gonna laugh.
  • And yeah, he didn’t
    know what he was doing.

I mean, seriously.

It’s like I told him not
to cut the bangs too short

because, you know, I’m not
super attached to bangs

except they look cute under the hat

and then the next thing
I knew, they were gone

(Tim stifles a laugh)

and then I don’t know what he was doing,

but with the sides, they
were all sort of a mess.

I did tell him to just shave those down

because when the sides
are messy, it looks messy

so he at least got that,

but the way he approached
my head with the razor,

I mean he was like, he
started pushing it through

and it’s like he didn’t know

how to even use a razor on my hair.

I mean, he uses a razor all day long,

but on my hair, he had no
idea what he was doing.

  • [Tim] Oh, the pain, oh, the pain.
  • And I don’t blame them for not knowing.

I blame them for not
saying, “We can’t do it.”

  • Take the hat off.
  • No.
  • [Tim] Come on.

(Trina laughs)

  • I’m trying to set the scene here.
  • Yeah, I think you’ve got the scene.
  • Okay, okay.

So that
(Tim stifles a laugh)

is my lousy haircut and
if it just looks smushed

’cause of the hat, let me show you.

  • It looks better.
  • Yeah, ’cause see look,

I’ve got this over here,
which is tiny to shortish,

and this which is super long

and I think he was going for some…

  • It’s not so bad.
  • Yeah, except it’s like

here, it’s just chopped

and I don’t know what he was thinking

and I don’t know what he was
thinking for this whole thing.

I didn’t think he knew what he was doing.

  • He was an artist.
  • No, he didn’t know

what he was doing.

  • He was an artist.
  • And so now, this is the…

Four years and I’ve never
gotten one this bad.

In fact, my whole life, I have
never had a haircut this bad.

Even when my mom cut things all crooked

when I was like three-years-old
or four-years-old,

it’s wasn’t this bad.

  • It wasn’t that bad.
  • And, oops, I dropped my hat.

See, I wanna show you what
problem is that, you guys know?

Yeah, I usually wear
my hat back like this,

but with no bangs,

it’s like I’ve got all forehead
going on here, you know?

I’m not super vain about this stuff,

but I got a lot of forehead going on here

without some bangs going on

and so now I gotta wear my hat down here

so that I don’t look goofy.

  • [Tim] He just wanted to give
    you more bang for your buck.
  • Oh, yeah, no, no, he gave
    me less bang for my buck.

(Tim laughs)

  • So, yes, I am sharing with you,

we always said we would share with you

the good and the bad of travel.

We’re traveling full time so
it’s not like I can run home

and have my favorite
hairdresser fix this for me.

Now I’ve gotta decide do I
try and just fix it myself

and kind of make it
all one length up there

until it grows out or do I
leave it and let it grow out

or do i go have someone
that try and find someone

that knows how to handle white hair

and they can fix it properly?

Do I try to fix it myself or
do I go get it fixed properly

or do I just let it go?

  • Just shave your head.
  • And keep the hat on
    permanently until it grows out.

(laughs)

Feel free to leave your comments.

Leave your comments,
should I fix it myself?

Should I try and find someone
that is capable of fixing it?

Or should I just let it
grow out the way it is

and you know deal with
it in a couple weeks?

Fortunately, my hair
grows fast and that’s it.

So now, after seeing that, Tim.

  • Yes?
  • I’m gonna put

the camera back on you.

  • Okay.
  • And…
  • Why not?
  • [Trina] So what do you really think?
  • What I really think?

I think you look wonderful, dear.

  • Uh-huh.
  • This is the kind of look

I have thought that
supermodel should all have.

  • [Trina] Oh, yeah, uh-huh, so.
  • You believe that, right?
  • I believe you know
    how to save a marriage.

(both laugh)

Okay.

  • [Tim] Well.
  • So I will say goodbye.

I will say, actually let’s flip it around.

We’ll say it together.

  • Flip it around, yes.
  • ‘Cause we like to do this together.
  • Yes.
  • So now you know.

I’m dealing with really bad haircut

so if you see me in my hat
and all pulled down tight,

you’ll know why.

  • Uh-huh.
  • And my sweetie here.

(Tim laughs)
(item clatters)

  • Oops.
  • Oops, we dropped something.
  • I dropped something, oh, okay.
  • So yes, the good and the bad of travel.

This being one of the bads,

but I’ll survive.

  • But it’s not so bad.
  • (laughs) Yeah, says you.

Thank goodness I have a hat.

We’ll see you next time.

We’re changing location soon

and we’ll be filming from there soon.

So definitely tune in for
this and the next travel diary

and we’ll be with you soon.

  • Yes.
  • Cheers.
  • G’day.

(video plinks)

  • Bye.
  • Au revoir.
    (video plinks)

Trina Phillips

I've been traveling to off-the-beaten-path destinations for more than 20 years. Now I'm sharing my continuing adventures in Africa.

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