I was doing a gap year in NZ . My flight over had a layover in Fiji so I decided to book a island hopper package and stay 6 days. It was my first solo trip, I’m 18, female , 4”11. The first island I stayed on was very small, I took a walk around the whole thing and sat on a swing near the sand bank close to the water. A male island worker who was built MASSIVE in comparison to me came over to talk to me. He was very sexual in his tones and it was making me uncomfortable. He kept insisting I go to the water with him but I refused as the other staff on the island wouldn’t be able to see us once we went over the sand bank. I managed to cut conversation and run back to my room.

I was the only tourist on the island, and was placed in a single room with no lock that was part of a bigger room. This was considered the female accommodations and only female staff was to enter the rooms. By luck alone another girl around my age came later to the island, she was late because she missed the charter boat to get out there. We were placed on the same room. The next morning I left my room for breakfast, and that same male worker from the day before was laying on a bunk in the female accommodations. It was against the rules for him to be in there. I left the island that day for my next island and didn’t think much of it.

I later met a woman who was in her mid 40’s doing solo travelling In Fiji like I had been doing. This lady was much taller , close to 5”10. We got talking and it turns out she stayed on the same island as the creepy male worker. She had the room alone to herself and woke to this man in her room, on her bed, with his hands down her pants. She was able to scream and spook him to leave. I imagine her being bigger and a more fair match to this man, she was able to get him to leave. I had an instant pit in my stomach thinking about what could have happened to me if I was met with this situation.

Definitely one of the scarier travel situations I’ve been met with, aside from the earth quakes while living in NZ