Last year, TikToker Georgia (@g.m.peachy) went on a solo trip to Amsterdam and almost got kidnapped. It was the scariest moment of her life.
The trip was a graduation present from her parents, and she had been really excited about it. She had already visited Amsterdam twice before, so she was familiar with the city.
This time, she just wanted to go to museums and do some sightseeing because it was going to be a short trip. The day after her arrival, she wanted to shop around and explore the city. She went to the red light district during the day. She got funky novelty gifts for her friends and snacks for herself.
She started walking down an alleyway where people were coming in and out of, so it didn’t seem suspicious at all. She saw a red door lit up with lights. As she passed the door, it opened.
A woman was standing in the doorway, smoking. She blew smoke directly in Georgia’s face. The smoke was sour and pungent. It smelled horrible, like ammonia and cat pee.
“As soon as I inhaled it, my world turned completely upside down,” Georgia said. “Like up was down and down was up. I felt like I was walking on my head. I was dizzy, I was super nauseous, I was terrified. I immediately started sweating.”
She realized that she needed to get out of there, but two men suddenly came around the corner. To her, it felt planned. The men followed her all the way to the subway.
She kept looking behind her to see if the men were still on her trail. One of the men noticed that she kept looking back, so he stopped, pulled out his phone, and made a call.
They stopped at the top of the escalator she was going down. Even in her state of panic, she spotted two other men in a corner, watching people coming down the escalator.
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The first man pointed at her. She quickly got on a train, and they hopped on, too. She gripped the pole to prevent herself from falling down. Everybody stared at her because she probably looked like a mess.
“I started to feel like everybody was involved in this weird, horrible situation,” Georgia said. “And I felt like I couldn’t trust anybody. It was wintertime in Amsterdam, freezing cold. I had sweat just pouring down my face. My hair was drenched. It was a nightmare. I felt so sick.”
Finally, she made it to her stop and ran as fast as she could to her hotel, which was only four or five blocks away. There were many twists and turns on the way to the hotel, so she hoped she could lose the men. She also knew she could trust the people at the hotel to help her.
When she reached her hotel room, she locked the door and collapsed on the ground. She called her mom, and once she could catch her breath, she explained what had happened.
She felt proud of herself for following her instincts. She did not let the situation ruin the rest of her trip, but she was extra cautious after that.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
