crazy trip ever

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What's the craziest trip you've ever taken?

I've been on some great trips over the years - most of the time I do my own planning, and as a result, have been on some doozies. For instance, a few years ago, I went to Malta, Lebanon, and Spain - all on the same trip (over a three week period). I called it "The Mediterranean from East to West". And despite the seemingly disparate locations, it actually worked out quite well. It ended up being a taste of Spain for me, and I went back three years later.

I have a significant "round" birthday coming up later this year and want to do something special. The plan all along has been to go to Japan (where I've never been) for 2 weeks. But Paris has been in my head for the last 2 weeks or so, where I had a very enjoyable 10 days 3 years ago (just after things were reopening after Covid). I still wasn't able to do everything I wanted to do during that time, such is the variety of things to see and do. So the thought occurred to me - why not do both? (Basically a week in each, although the time in Japan would be limited to Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto as a result).

Am I nuts for even considering this? More and more I think I am and will probably just spend the 2 weeks in Japan, save Paris for my next trip to Europe, although the logistics of the trip really aren't that daunting (to me, anyway)

Just wondering if anyone has done or thought about similar "crazy" trip ideas.

I've done plenty of trips that various people told me were crazy (of course, those people were wrong...). You only have to justify it to yourself (if even that).

To your question about splitting 2 weeks between Japan and Paris...while I wouldn't call that "crazy", I would call it "highly inefficient" simply because of the logistics involved. To me, doing that would involve burning a too-significant amount of time just on the flying and getting settled in each location (not to mention inviting two separate doses of jetlag).

Japan is a wonderful destination, and you will want more than just 5 or 6 days there (which is all your "split two weeks" plan would give you). That alone would push me towards spending two weeks in either France or Japan. If you've never been to Japan, I'd go there for 2 weeks (you'll get about 12 usable days there, which is just enough of a taste to stimulate your appetite for more).

It's your trip though, if you want to split it that way, don't let anyone else stop you.

We did a trip back 20 years ago or so, that would send chills up the spine of many on here. We bought air tickets, flying into Athens, Greece, and out of Milan, Italy some 3 1/2 weeks later...and zero reservations, no pre-purchased transportation, nothing.

Yes, we had a couple guides, a rough itinerary, lots of notes. We deviated from the plan as we went, went some places we had not planned, skipped some that just were not working out, added a few days to the places we liked.

But mostly we relaxed, had fun, and despite lots of other trips around Europe, we still bring that one up as one of the best.

First of all, I meant this to be an open forum where people can share their stories, so please feel free! It's not just about my proposed trip. Thanks @Paul for sharing! That does sound like an amazing experience.

@David, yes, you're probably right and I'm leaning that way myself. But the logistics aren't as far fetched as you might think. 6 full days in Paris (bearing in mind, I've already been - it would be a time just to truly relax, and not rush around seeing the sights). An overnight flight to HND from Paris, then a full 6-7 days in Japan. But yes, I agree - just save a return trip to Paris for another time. Not like it's going anywhere. And Japan almost certainly does deserve more time.

OK, well, in that case, if you want crazy, my first trip to Europe in 1986, not quite three weeks...of course, we tried to go everywhere.

First I drove from Seattle to New York, because flights were cheaper to Europe there, I had a free place to stay there, and I could park my car at my folks' house while we were away. Fresh out of college, I had a few hundred dollars in my pocket from cutting fish heads in Alaska that summer, no credit cards in my name, but a girlfriend who was a Rick Steves fan and a copy of one of his guidebooks. Before dropping us at JFK for our flight, my very kind father took pity on me and quietly slipped me a gas station credit card in his name and a couple hundred bucks in cash.

The cheapest ticket available was of course on old Icelandic Airlines to Luxembourg; after all passengers were seated on the plane at JFK the captain announced we would be flying first to Baltimore, to pick up more passengers, after an hour on the ground there, off we flew to Keflavík, eventually ending up in Luxembourg. We rented a car there and drove through Luxembourg, across France, Paris, Normandy, south to Carcasonne, across the Pyrenees, Andorra, into northern Spain, west through the Basque Country, to Santiago de Compostela, south into Portugal. Lisbon, Sintra, the Algarve, to Sagres, then east to Sevilla, down to Gibraltar, up around and through Andalusia, Cordoba, Granada, Toledo, Madrid, along the coast through Valencia, to Barcelona. At this point, we were getting very low on money, and it's a good thing my wise father had slipped me his gas card before we left, since I was charging every tank-full, that card was getting a real workout. We continued north, stopping at Chateaux in the Loire Valley. We were rapidly running out of money and time, too, our flight home was coming up fast.

On the day of our flight back, we were racing through Alsace, heading for Luxembourg to drop the car at the airport and catch our flight. It would be tight, but we had just enough time to make it to the airport. With our car running on fumes and us just about out of cash, I stopped at a gas station to fill the tank, at one of the gas station brands where the card usually worked. The pumps rejected our gas card, and our hearts sunk. My girlfriend started crying. I was digging in the car seats looking for loose coins, going through our packs, counting our few remaining dollars, francs and pesetas. Things did not look good. I must have appeared pretty stressed out, pacing around the car and trying my card over and over to no avail.

A Mercedes Benz pulled up to the pump behind us. A man filled his tank, paid, and got back in his car, but he didn't leave, he just sat there. After a couple minutes, he got out, and approached me. An older German man, he asked in English if I needed help. I explained we were out of gas, just about out of cash, and needed to get to the Luxembourg airport in the next couple hours or we would miss our flight home. He paused, smiled at me, walked over to the gas pump, stuck his own card in it without saying a word. The pump came to life, he filled the tank on my car. I told him I could not pay him now, asked him to write his address and promised I would send him the money to reimburse him once we got home.

He smiled, shook his head, and put his hand on my shoulder. "No, my friend", he said. "Today, I help you. Some day, you will help someone else. This way is better." He looked in the car at my crying girlfriend, and told her not to worry. He turned back to me, pointed towards the road, and said, "You have a flight, don't miss it." I could have kissed him. I stammered my thanks, he waved me off and got in his car, drove away. We drove to the airport, returned the car, and just barely made our flight.

Since that day I have always tried to help others in need when I can, bought more than a few tanks of gas for others, and I will never forget the kindness of that man.

Does marrying my boyfriend from Yugoslavia at city hall in NYC so he could apply for a green Card then sailing with him 3 days later, from a Brooklyn pier, to Rijeka on the container ship he was a cadet on in the Yugoslav Merchant Marines. Then taking an overnight train a few months later from Rijeka to Frankfurt to visit with a Married couple, who were and still are, good friends, at an army base where he was an officer. Then said commander of the base finding out our friend had a visitor from a communist country staying with him on the base when some New weapon was being introduced - it was 1980. Needless to say we were allowed to stay but couldn’t go out alone and couldn’t take pictures. Our friend was debriefed after we left a month later. We were probably followed too but we didn’t care we were having fun.

Good grief, David. That itinerary for 3 weeks is not to be believed!

My first trip lasted the entire summer of 1972. I had a cheap roundtrip ticket to London and money loaned to me by my mother, who knew how badly I wanted to travel. I think the whole trip cost about $1700. This was before airline deregulation and Rick Steves, but it was the heyday of the Student Eurail Pass. I traveled with a copy of Europe on $X a Day, basically hitting cities that had chapters in that book. Even then I wasn't willing to spend all my time moving from place to place, so I didn't make it to Belgium, Spain south of Madrid, Italy south of Florence, the Balkans, Poland or Scandinavia beyond Copenhagen. I organized everything as I went except for taking a cheap, 2-week student tour of the USSR, which was memorable for feeding us dreadful food and waltzing us through several Lenin Museums because we were falsely assumed to be a group of young Communists.

These days my crazy trips are quite different and are marked by an irrational hatred of mid-trip flights that leads me to do things like travel overland from Sofia to Podgorica via two day-long bus rides.

It's interesting how often the trips that seem quite imperfect at the time turn out to look like the Good Old Days in the rear-view mirror--if only for financial reasons.

I agree - there are crazy trips and there are inefficient trips. Those are not necessarily the same. Nowadays, I tend to not even worry about inefficient trips. I usually start with a logical plan, but somehow sometimes circumstances change. Last October I added a short what most people would deem bonkers long weekend trip to the end of my 7 weeks of travel.

Last May I said yes to a casual 4 day invitation and changed days in Thessaloniki to a bus trip to and from Sofia to meet CWSocial for a couple of day tours. Not actually “crazy” but definitely unplanned and last minute. Ha!

My 7 weeks starting this year in May is kind of 5 trips all put together: 10 days in England, 4 weeks in Ireland, a week in Wales (because it’s “so close”), ending with meeting a friend for 12 days in northern Italy. Definitely not efficient - but it will be lots of fun!

A full 6-7 days in Japan you are shortchanging yourself. You have already been to Paris, so there is no crazy there. Japan would be rushed to even try and cover three cities. Maybe that is the crazy part. Don't be stuck on Paris because of some old memory. Crazy is new stuff not the reworkings of things you have already done.

Japan is my favorite E. Asian country. You need more than a week there.

Plan on spending two weeks there.

Not sure what you mean by craziest trip. Don't waste your time and money visiting widely separated places.

Perhaps not crazy, but busy. Last summer I set out from PIT to Jakarta (via JFK and Doha), worked in Jakarta for two weeks (visited Bali on the weekend between the weeks), then flew to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) for a few days, then flew over to Phnom Penh for a few days, then flew to Siem Reap , then flew back to Jakarta (via Kuala Lumpur), and home via Doha and JFK to PIT. It was a busy but rewarding month of travel by myself.

I'm working in Jakarta again this summer and thinking about where I want to go when I finish. I'm thinking Singapore and back to Siem Reap (didn't get to see all I wanted to see in the archaeological park).

Don't waste your time and money visiting widely separated places.

A waste of money is going to places you didn’t really want to go. Sometimes other factors than a straight line determine where we go and what is worth our money.

I say do it. I once spent seven straight days in Paris and wished I could have stayed seven years. And I was in Tokyo for just two days and wished I could have spent two years.

A key consideration is the time in the sky. Depending on where you live in the US -- if you're American -- the trip will be seven to 10 hours-plus to Paris. And it'll be something like 18 to 21-plus hours to Tokyo. Can you handle those extremely long amounts of time in the sky, especially if you do the trips in close proximity?

As far as crazy trips, two come to mind. On my Tokyo trip, I flew to the Philippines, then to Tokyo for only two days and then back to the Philippines. The flight from Manila to Tokyo is something like four to five hours each way -- a long trip for just two days.

If you want another idea on another plain, I would recommend a long hike. I've hiked two 100-mile-long trails in Ireland called the Dingle Way and Wicklow Way. I have seen hikers in Scotland (about 20 long-distance trails if not more) and Israel (Israel Trail and Jesus Trail). Consider a long-distance hike. My Ireland hikes were among the best things I ever did traveling.

Barbara wins.

Barbara’s trip is a winner!

My craziest travels were on a two month eurailpass when I was 20 and on such a shoestring budget that I had a notebook where I wrote down every coin I spent. I slept on A LOT of trains, and a good many hostels. I covered Europe from Copenhagen down to Lisbon in those two months. My parents wrote me letters to American Express offices in certain towns and I would stop by to cash a travelers check and see if I had a letter. I wrote them regularly, but today it seems crazy that they were on a multi-week lag to even know where their daughter was.

Well by modern standards I flew around the world with no reservations, no itinerary and solo in 1982. Chased cheap tkts in local English language newspapers, had a couple Lonely Planet Guides. Took 23 days and stopped in 6 countries, transited two more. I often didn’t know where my next stop would be from night to night. Spontaneity seems to be out of fashion now so that’s why I registered here for “crazy”!

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The Unknown Enthusiast

19 Funny and Crazy Travel Stories From My Own Personal Travels (The Misadventures of Traveling)

I love traveling! The new places, cultures, and people! The food! (Oh, the food…) It has the potential to be more than just “time off”; it so often feels like an epic adventure! That is… until something goes awry and your idyllic vacation starts morphing into one of those unexpected or crazy travel stories.

Then you’re scrambling, adjusting, and hoping things don’t go from bad to worse. And yet, sometimes those MISadventures make for EXCELLENT stories later on!

The 19 Funny and Crazy Travel Stories

These are my best and more unexpected crazy travel stories over the past several years of traveling. Some of these are funny stories of cool and unexpected things that happened on vacation. And many of them are crazy travel stories about some kind of misadventure we experienced.

Several relate to some kind of physical illness on vacation. Others are from our own mistakes – things that looking back on, we could have avoided with maybe a little more precaution. And others are just plain ole bad luck.

However, all of them make for a funny travel story now, and are certainly things that we have learned from!

Here are some of the memorable crazy travel stories we’ve experienced while globetrotting:

1. Got an Infection in Iceland

Oh boy, this was a crazy travel story that was definitely stressful. We were doing our big Iceland road trip , and I woke up from a quick nap in our campervan to the unmistakable (I’m unfortunately no stranger to this situation– TMI?) burning feeling of a UTI. Craaaaaaap.

It was particularly bad timing because we were about to go on a 5 hour guided glacier hike , where we would be on a glacier, in a small group, with a harness on. So, no place to pee and definitely no privacy.

I was stressed and literally praying like crazy that I could make it through the hike okay. I went to the bathroom several times and chugged a ton of water to help flush things out as best I could, and then we just went for it. And, I made it through the hike with absolutely no problems (and it was one of the coolest experiences, ever). 

However, within a day it was a BIG problem (the classic UTI stuff of needing to go to the bathroom every 2 minutes) so we stopped in the city of Höfn and found a doctor’s office to get a prescription.

Not my favorite experience ever, but I also definitely feel like a boss for managing that while on vacation. 

2. Puked out the window of our car in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco

I find the older I’m getting the more I’m becoming prone to carsickness (NOT COOL, INNER EAR!)

When we started our road trip through Morocco , we quickly learned that there are basically no straight roads in the whole country, they wind and swing back and forth constantly. Those first few hours out of Marrakech and into the Atlas Mountains I got nauseous – really nauseous.

After moaning for a while, I finally got to the point where I knew I was going to hurl. We were in the tight switchbacks of a rather steep mountain road at that point, with no shoulder and definitely no place to pull off. I ended up rolling down my window and puking out the car while we were going up and through the mountains – the first and only time I’ve ever had to do that!

At one point as my head was still out the window, we passed a road construction crew and the only thing in my mind was “don’t throw up in front of the crew. Don’t throw up in front of the crew.” 

While I obviously felt pretty awful during those couple hours, and no one wants to upchuck out the window of the car, for some reason it was also extremely funny to me, even in the moment. As in a “I can’t believe I’m throwing up in AFRICAAAAAAA! WOOOOO!” moment. I was just super stoked to be on the continent, I guess, ha!

It also helped that even though we continued to have winding roads, once I threw up, I was fine from there on out. Thankfully, this was one of the crazy travel stories that resolved quickly and was a really funny story to me, even as it was happening!

3. Took 9 Covid Tests Solely for Travel

As soon as countries began re-opening their borders to travel following the covid-19 pandemic, Matthew and I were chomping at the bit to explore.

Generally speaking, this period of travel was fantastic – we enjoyed much lower crowds and the accompanying lower prices.

It also meant, however, that we had to take a lot of covid tests. Some countries required testing upon arrival at the airport, some required a covid test to be taken in the US prior to boarding the airplane, and we always had to test for re-entry into the United States.

It was a decent number of tests, but SO WORTH IT. 

4. Car Was Towed in France

While most of the crazy travel stories in this article are just due to bad luck or circumstances beyond our control, this one was definitely the result of a not-so-smart move on our part. This experience happened during our European Christmas market tour, where we traveled through Germany , Luxembourg , Switzerland , and finally France , hitting up a new market every day.

We were trying to maintain a really tight budget on this trip and were looking for ways to save money, so we were always on the hunt for free parking.

In the little village of Colmar , we parked next to a church that had free parking, and was about a 10-15 minute walk from our VRBO. Well, it was indeed free every day, but… on Saturday a local farmer’s market set up shop and the lot was closed. There were signs at the lot saying you couldn’t park there from 6-12am on Saturday, but they were very small and not obvious at all, and so we showed up Saturday morning around 10 to get our car, and found a market there instead. 

We talked to some of the vendors there about the situation and they said it’s actually pretty common to have cars towed because of the poor signage. They were also super, super nice and really helpful with helping me figure out where to go and what to do to get our car back. I was also particularly proud of myself for having that more technical conversation in French!

It took us several hours to get our car back, which involved walking back into town and to the town hall to get some paperwork at the police precinct. This actually took us several hours, because, being a Saturday, a lot of things were closed. It took quite a while to figure out where the police precinct was and how to get in.

Then it was another chunk of time to walk down to the towing company, pay the fine ($120), and collect our car.

We got delayed several hours and definitely did not end up saving money on parking in Colmar, but we were just incredibly grateful that we got our car back on a Saturday in France.

I’ve only heard bad things about French bureaucracy, so while it sucks to get your car towed anytime and really sucks to get your car towed in a foreign country, I’m SO GLAD we came out of that situation as well as we did.

Funny Travel Stories #5. Took Some Hilariously Bad Photos

One of the fun parts of running a travel blog and Instagram account has been learning how to take better pictures. We’re not professionals at all and are still learning a lot!

We take a lot of pictures specifically with blog posts in mind (horizontal, capturing the area more than the people in it) but we’ve also tried to get better at taking cute pictures of me or Matthew and me together.

Usually we end up with a whole bunch of not great photos and then FINALLY one or two good ones, but the most epic fails we had were in the Sahara desert of Morocco . I had seen this awesome inspo picture on Instagram that I wanted to copy and didn’t look too hard – we could totally do it!

View this post on Instagram A post shared by DIANA | Travel Tips✈️💃🏻 (@dwanderess)

We tried for the same type of sand flipping picture. Here’s what we got (my face LOLOLOL):

This memory is such a funny travel story to me – I legit cannot stop laughing at my faces!

6. Inexplicably Bruised My Big Toenails 

What’s funny to me about this travel story is that I don’t even know how I got injured! I’m still a little baffled even looking back at it.

We were in Disney World for a week and I was wearing some cloth sneakers around. The first couple of days were totally fine, but then on day 3 and 4 my toes, in particular my toenails, were really hurting, which seemed… weird .

The very last day, I noticed a little bit of bruising on my toenails. The bruises got darker over the next couple of days and then stayed bruised for the NEXT 9 MONTHS until they finally fell off. 

The whole thing was so bizarre, partly just because I had dark blue toenails for the better part of a year, but mostly because there wasn’t any specific injury to them, and my feet had felt fine walking around those first days!

Crazy Travel Stories #7. Crossed the German Border in an Unexpected Way

Like the story of getting our car towed in France, above, this story also comes from our tour of Christmas markets where we were on a budget and trying to minimize parking expenses.

For this story, though, we were arriving in Basel , Switzerland. Basel is a unique city because its right at the intersection of the borders of 3 different countries: Germany, France, and Switzerland. Basel is really close to both Germany and France – in fact, if you arrive at the Basel airport, different airport exits lead to different countries!

Anyway, if you are driving into Switzerland from another country, there is a 40 franc (about $40 USD) fee you will need to pay as you enter the country. Then, parking in Basel is extremely expensive – as we were researching ahead of time, the least expensive option we could find that was at all close to our hotel was going to be around 30 CHF a night (and we had two nights)

. So we were looking at 100 CHF just to be able to drive into the country and park, so we could spend one full day in Basel!

We were feeling extra frugal at this point, and were just not enthused about what felt like a crazy high cost just to drive literally a couple miles across the border.

Knowing that Basel is so close to the German border, and learning that there are, in fact, free parking lots on the Germany side of the border, we thought – hey, why don’t we just park in Germany at the free lots and then take the free tram across the border?

That was the plan, except we ended up arriving at the parking lot very late – at midnight. There were no more trams for the day.

No worries! It’s only 50 minutes on foot, we’ll just walk!

So, to paint the picture, we are crossing the German border into Switzerland, on foot, at midnight, to avoid paying a fee. The situation hearkened back to many a World War 2 novel I’ve read (except, for the small point that our lives weren’t in danger and the border wasn’t actually guarded. Details schmetails!)

Thankfully, it worked out totally fine, the route felt safe and straightforward, and we arrived at our hotel in good shape after the refreshing late night stroll. It ended up being a pretty funny travel story!

8. Regularly Exceeded our Initial Travel Budget

As someone who kind of makes it “my thing” to travel on a budget and get great travel deals, and I almost always write a “travel budget” post for our destinations (see Colombia , Morocco , Iceland , Rio de Janeiro , Vietnam , and Costa Rica ), it is a little embarrassing to admit that we do regularly end up spending over our budget when we’re in a destination.

I will say though, that I don’t really regret those extra dollars spent (especially since it’s usually not more than a couple hundred, and not like we’re blowing our budget by thousands of dollars), and they are almost always spent on fun experiences we decide to do in the moment. 

A few examples? Well, doing the Patriot Point museum in Charleston ended up being a highlight of our time there, going ATVing in the Sahara was wicked awesome, and parasailing for the first time in Costa Rica , with a running beach start, was so fun and rather unique for parasailing.

These costs were all late additions to our budget and EXCELLENT uses of our money. And okay, okay, this may not really qualify as one of the “crazy” travel stories, but I think its definitely a relatable experience (ha!), and for sure are times when things don’t go exactly as planned.

9. Frequent and Very Long Road Trips

As people who like having control over their schedule, and as a couple who has four kids, we end up roadtripping A LOT!

The amount of time that we spend in the car, and in particular the amount of time we spend in the car with our kids sometimes baffles people! We really think nothing of an all-day driving expedition, regularly doing 15-20 hours in one day.

This summer we did a massive road trip around the US with our kids, which involved over 100 hours of driving time, and 24 hours in the car just to reach our first destination!

We’ve also regularly done international road trips, like our 7 day Iceland road trip (still one of my top 3 travel experiences, ever!), my southern Spain road trip , driving around southern France , and even our smaller Costa Rica road trip . We love getting on the road and checking out new places!

10. Got Tear Gassed in Rio de Janeiro (Our Funnest Crazy Travel Story!)

As far as crazy travel stories go, this one was actually, beginning to end, the COOLEST experience and one I feel extremely lucky to have had.

But let’s set the scene. We’re in Rio de Janeiro and going on a favela tour (an activity I found enriching and incredibly interesting).

While on that tour, our guide was wearing a Vasco de Gama shirt and talking about how excited he was to go to the big game tonight – apparently there was a big rivalry match between two of the biggest clubs in Rio: Flamengo and Vasco de Gama.

We had REALLY wanted to go to a futbol match in Rio since Brazilians love their soccer, and the Maracana stadium in Rio is a pretty big and famous spot for futbol/soccer. However, we had had a really hard time finding information about tickets, or even a schedule, online, and had given it up as not possible.

So I jumped at the opportunity to get information from a local who clearly knew things, and asked him if he could give us any information about how to get tickets for the game.

He immediately invited us to go with him – he said he was going to scalp tickets there for himself anyway and could definitely find 2 more for us. At first, we were like, “Um are you sure?”, but then happily (but cautiously optimistic- would it really work out?) accepted his offer. We exchanged numbers and made plans to meet up at the stadium later.

At the Stadium

When we got to the Maracana stadium about an hour before gametime, there were big crowds of people congregating, singing songs and getting SUPER hyped up before the game, setting off firecrackers, and getting absolutely plastered (ha!).

We met up with our new Brazilian friend and in fact he had gotten us tickets! We were golden! He introduced us to all his friends and in we went. Going in was an experience unto itself, too. We go in with a big crowd of people and as we’re entering someone sets off another firecracker right in front of us, everyone backs up really fast, and we get pushed back and against the walls.

Then we had to find the rest of the group, since we had to go in at different entrances. We were with a couple of the Brazilian friends, who were all really nice to the foreigners they had just barely met that night.

However, it was REALLY crazy because there’s no assigned seating and we were going into the area behind the goals, where the most intense fans sit. Everyone is crowded really close together.

People were standing in the staircases so we had to wind our way up and really squeeze past people. Then almost everyone was standing two 2 deep in the rows – meaning someone was standing on the seat and another person standing on the ground in front of them.

People were super sweaty as we were squeezing past them (but everyone was also really, really nice about it) and beer was literally flying as people tossed their cups in the air as the game started.

Normally, I am not into this kind of vibe, but we were at MARACANA so it was all just part of the fun!

During the match, the fans literally were singing songs nonstop. There were massive flags being waved in our section, and a group with drums playing beats. I’ve been to college and professional sports games in the US and fans are intense here too, but this was a whole different beast of nonstop singing, cheering, and yelling the whole game. We loved it!

We don’t speak Portuguese really at all, so we just clapped and jumped and cheered with everyone and sang along to random words with their songs. It was awesome and just such a fun and crazy travel experience!

After the Game

So then, the match is over (the side we were with, Vasco de Gama, lost to Flamengo, which was pretty much expected because Flamengo is known to be the better team), and we figured we would just walk out and grab an Uber. Easy peasy.

Oh, no no no.

We hung out in our seats with the group for a while after the game to let the crowd dissapate, specifically to avoid most of the troublemakers, because fights can and do break out after games.

Still, as we left, we heard some more bangs, like the fireworks that were going off a lot before the game, but we were told afterwards there wouldn’t be fireworks and that was not a good sign.

As we left the stadium, our Brazilian friends were keeping us close and making sure we stayed together, and they were more serious and intense than anytime up to that point. At the street corner, we found out what the bangs were – not firecrackers, but tear gas that the police were using to disperse some fights and troublesome crowds.

We got the tail end of that tear gas (it spreads a lot), so everyone in the area just huddled and covered noses and eyes for a few minutes. Even not being in a direct hit area, that tear gas stung!

Then we carefully skirted by a Flamengo fan holding a handgun and walking menacingly (the only part of the night where I actually felt nervous).

Then we hustled by a whole bunch of riot police looking threatening, in full-on riot gear, including some on horses, and into the metro station. Of course, here some Vasco fans began hurling insults down at Flamengo fans. The police came running by and decided to break up that ruckus with more tear gas as we got on the train, and we got part of that tear gas, too.

Then, the metro started and we rode back to our stop in peace and calm. The whole thing was one adrenaline rush to another, and one of my craziest travel stories to date. Despite what was definitely a tense situation after the game, we actually felt pretty safe – the Brazilians we were with were super nice about watching out for us and got us out without incident.

When we were on the train and going, we asked them, “so, was that actually dangerous?” And they just laughed and said oh, no it’s always like this (REALLY?!) and it’s usually fine as long as you aren’t in the middle of the main, crazy group.

That was our baptism by fire into Brazilian football! It was seriously so fun and wild and such a different and authentic experience that just fell into our laps. The guys we were with were unbelievably nice and welcoming – we loved having that experience.

When we got back to our hotel, we just looked at each other and laughed – a night like no other, to be sure.

11. Last Minute Food Poisoning

The crazy thing about this travel story is that we had been very careful in Morocco, in particular paying attention to the food preparation techniques at the stands in the famous Jemaa el-Fna square (where accounts of getting food poisoning are common). 

But then in the very last hours of the very last day we spent in Morocco, we visited the stunningly blue city of Chefchaouen. And there we bought a cup of freshly squeezed orange + lemon + sugar cane juice.

I drank some of it, but Matthew drank most of it. Now, you wouldn’t normally suspect juice to be a food poisoning culprit, but it is the only thing we had that day that makes any sense of giving us food poisoning. Perhaps the fruit or sugar cane was unwashed, or the guys hands, or maybe it was the water mixed in. Either way, our insides were soon unhappy.

We flew from Morocco to Paris for the next 3 days. My stomach felt a little off for a little bit in Paris, but Matthew got pretty sick basically the whole time we were in Paris – boo! 

Thankfully, he was not throwing up all the time, but he was also not feeling great a lot of it, either. Oh, and news flash, Paris does not have a lot of public toilets! At least the juice tasted good.

12. Kidney Stones at an Incredibly Unfortunate Time

Back in 2006 my parents surprised my brother and I with an international senior trip to France! This was the first time I would be leaving the country, I had been studying French in high school, and had been wanting to go to France.

They surprised us with the plane tickets about two months before departure, leaving enough time for me to plan basically everything else (which they knew I would love to do!)

So, after all this anticipation for this big, international senior trip, literally the morning we were supposed to leave, my dad starts getting severe stomach pains and quickly ends up in terrible, terrible pain and in the ER. Diagnosis: massive kidney stones. 

In fact, these kidney stones were so big that he had to go to surgery to get them blasted out. As our plane that we were supposed to be on was leaving, he was in surgery. While we were most concerned about my dad’s wellbeing, all of us were absolutely devastated about the trip. 

By some miracle, Dad actually got to go home after surgery that night, took some pain pills, and was seemingly better in the morning. We were, very surprisingly, able to rebook our tickets for no additional cost for the next day, and ended up going on our big France trip after all. 

We had THE best time together, although there were some definite adjustments we had to make to accommodate my dad (he had a stent put in as part of the surgery, and had to be careful to walk slowly and eat and drink very, very small amounts to prevent the stent from moving). We actually had a few scares while we were in France!

This was really my very first crazy travel story and one that actually had some unexpected benefits for my dad! A client who my dad had worked with heard that story from another co-worker and said, “That guy has six kids and went around France with a kidney stone? He’s too tough for me.”

That street cred actually helped my dad negotiate some really favorable contracts with the client later on – who would’ve thought?!

13. Lost a Cell Phone… and a Remarkable Ending (TWICE!)

We were on our way to a cooking class (one of our top favorite activities in Marrakech ) and had taken a taxi to the meeting point. After we got out and had walked down the street, Matthew reaches into his pocket to double check the map only to realize that he doesn’t have his phone – it was gone.

Cue STRESS!

We frantically searched the square and the spot where we had gotten out – no phone. We figured it had either gotten left in the taxi, or had dropped on the ground and someone had scooped it up already.

We tried calling the phone, but it rolled to voicemail – Matthew hadn’t been getting great cell service in Morocco, and we figured if someone had grabbed it, they would’ve turned it off or taken out the SIM card. We tried calling it many times with no success, and finally just had to accept it: the phone was gone .

We tried to put it out of our heads and enjoy the cooking class. An hour or two later, I got a text on my phone from a friend back home, saying “Matthew left his phone in a taxi.” I responded with, “Yes, I know… but how do YOU know???” Apparently the taxi driver had found the phone, and been calling contacts, trying to get a hold of someone to return Matthew’s phone to him, and had been able to talk to this friend of ours.

With that information and a spark of hope, we tried calling Matthew’s phone again, and long story short, with the help of the cooking class instructor, we were able to get in touch with the taxi driver and meet up with him to get Matthew’s phone back (and give the driver a very big tip).

Losing the Phone Part II – Medellin

Then, less than a year, later, we did the exact same thing in Medellin , Colombia.

We got out of a cab and 30 seconds later Matthew realizes he doesn’t have his phone. Again, we just thought it was gone, no hope of getting it back.

We do start calling his phone from my phone non-stop, and after several calls, the taxi driver picks up. He doesn’t speak English, and we don’t speak Spanish, so Matthew says a little bit in English, and then just keeps repeating the name of the place where we got dropped off, over and over.

The driver said “uno momento” and then a few minutes later we see him pull up, Matthew’s phone in hand. We thank him profusely, give him a big tip, and say goodbye. After that, every single time we got out of a cab or Uber, we always did a “okay, you have your phone, wallet, and keys?” check before I shut the door of the taxi.

In my opinion, the main reason these experiences qualify to be on this list of crazy travel stories isn’t even that we lost the phone, it’s that we actually got the phone back. And twice! We got so incredibly lucky both times that the taxi drivers were both so honest and helpful, going above and beyond to make the situation right for us.

Crazy Travel Stories #14. Blustery Days in South Dakota

The setting was the beautiful Badlands National Park – a spot that was rugged and gorgeous. We were loving the striated hills, watching the prairie dogs run from hole to hole, and the wild bison sightings. Everything felt so raw !

…Including the storms.

We spent 2 days and 3 nights in the Badlands and were camping just outside the entrance to the national park. When we arrived at the campground, we were warned that the winds can get strong and to stake down our tent really well, which is exactly what we did.

However, that night, when the winds started picking up, our big family tent was not able to withstand the 40+ mph gusts. The stakes kept getting pulled out of the ground, the whole tent was just billowing in the wind, and on particularly strong gusts, half of the tent would just collapse into itself.

We were working on the tent for over an hour in the middle of the night before we finally realized there was nothing we could do at that point. We moved our 4 kids out of the tent and to the car, pulled our suitcases out, collapsed the poles, put the suitcases on top of the now flat tent to weigh it down, and slept in the car.

Certainly not ideal, and thankfully the next night the wind was much calmer and passed without incident.

The Last Night

HOWEVER, on the third and final night of our stay in the Badlands, we arrived back at our campsite at 10pm after a long day of hiking, exploring, and star watching, to see that our tent had been basically destroyed in the afternoon thunderstorm that had rolled through.

All of the poles had snapped in half and the tent was totally collapsed in.

We had unthinkingly left the windows unzipped that day, so rain had gotten in and soaked all of our things. In fact, there was actually a good 2 inches of standing water inside the tent. Our sleeping bags and pillows were floating in water and absolutely sopping.

To put the cherry on top, we had also left our suitcases open and all of our clothes we had brought for this multi-week road trip were soaked.

We got out and just kind of stared at the collapsed, flooded tent, and said, “Well, crap.”

We pulled all our things out, spread them out to dry the best we could on the picnic table and threw some things in a dryer (so thankful for the camp laundry at that point!). We were almost laughing about it, because at this point it was either laugh or cry.

The funny thing about this was that even after all that, we still went back into the park at midnight to watch the stars (it was a clear, dark night with no moon and almost no light pollution – you can’t miss out on that!), came back to camp to sleep in our car (minus any pillows or blankets since they were all still dripping wet), and then woke up a few hours later to head back into the park to go watch the sunrise.

I don’t know if we otherwise could’ve pulled ourselves and the kids out of the tent to get in the car and drive into the park at 5am, but since we were already all in the car, it was easy to just drive in and park by a great sunrise spot. I’m so, so glad we did, because the sunrise by Big Badlands Overlook was absolutely spectacular.

This is also really the only of my crazy travel stories that involved the kids and a pretty difficult situation. I think it was a really good learning experience for them too! The younger two were asleep, but the older two got out and helped take care of unloading the tent and spreading all our wet things out to dry.

Definitely a character-building experience, and one that we can now always look back on and laugh about together as a family!

15. Got Hustled in Marrakech and Scammed in Bogota

Encountering scams is, unfortunately, a part of travel, particularly in certain destinations. Here are 2 that we somewhat fell for, one in Marrakech, and one in Bogota.

Alright, so we encountered a lot of scamming attempts in Morocco , mostly in the form of people on the street trying to take you places or give faulty directions. We knew what to watch out for, but we still fell for a scam our first full day in Marrakech. We were looking for the El Badii palace and the map seemed to indicate we could cut through a particular side street. 

A friendly young man stopped and told us that “oh, that way is closed” and ostensibly, it did look closed. Then he said “El Badii closes for lunch from 12-3 each day,” which sounded weird, but, hey, maybe it did. He kept chatting with us and then convinced us to let him take us to this “super great artisan market.” 

El Badii, as we double checked later, was certainly not closed from 12-3 each day.

Our second mistake was going to the “artisan” market with him, which was a huge warehouse of goods where the locals get a kickback when they bring customers. To underscore that point to us, he saw us again later, asked if we liked the store, and when we were like “meh” he said oh, you should go back later (and buy something so he could get his commission). 

We wised up a lot after this encounter, however, and the many other times we encountered a similar type of scam in Morocco, we just ignored them and continued on to our destination.

One of the days we were in Bogota , we decided to take a daytrip to the Zipaquira Salt Cathedral, that’s about 1.5 hours from the city. To do that, we took a taxi to the main bus terminal and caught the bus to Zipaquira.

The taxi we picked up outside our hotel decided he was going to try to take advantage of the international, non-Spanish speaking travelers. First, he took us to a spot that was nowhere near the bus station. It was a taxi terminal and he said, “oh, here you’ll get another taxi there to the bus station.” Wait, what? This is not what we had agreed to.

Second, Matthew noticed him messing with the meter as we were driving, but he didn’t register it as something to weird at the time. So, as we arrived at the spot where he dropped us off, he pushes the button that has the meter give the final cost, and the meter said 45,000 pesos (about $10).

Matthew, passed him a 50k bill, and the guy did some fancy handwork, and showed us a 5k bill. At first Matthew just reaches for it, as that should be the change, but the guy says “No, you gave me the wrong bill.”

We both recognized here that something funny was going on, both with the handwork, and his actual claim. Matthew was like “No, I gave you a 50. Plus, see, look, all my bills are creased from my wallet. That 5k bill you’re saying I gave you has no crease – it couldn’t come from my wallet.” We went back and forth with him about this for a bit (using Google translate), and then finally just got out of the car.

At that point, we realized the extent of the scam – not only was he trying to get us to pay an extra 50k, there was no way that the ride we took actually cost 45k pesos (we checked an Uber-type app which said the trip should have been about 14k). And of course, this was all to the wrong spot!

Even though we could tell things were getting weird on the ride, we didn’t put the whole thing together until about 1 minute after we got out of the cab. And by then, we were mad . We were real mad!

It’s a little crazy because we’ve traveled quite a bit and have encountered plenty of people trying to take advantage or be dishonest. Usually we’re quite good at avoiding getting scammed. And yet, there can still be situations that catch you off guard.

This is definitely one of those travel stories that I really wish didn’t happen, but that we’ve definitely learned from!

16. Days So Windy We Basically Couldn’t Go Outside

It was 2019 and Matthew and I were having a delightful time traveling around southern France.

However, we arrived in Marseille to strong winds, and the next two days we basically couldn’t do anything in the city – those winds were actually 50+ mph and were literally blowing us over. We tried to do some things, but halfway through the second day we just called it quits and spent the rest of the day in our rental apartment. 

Thankfully, we were staying in an adorable AirBnb that had all this old French architecture and a view over the water, so we bought groceries, cooked a meal, and hung out in our French apartment (unfortunately this apartment is not available to rent anymore).

It actually ended up being a really fun afternoon and evening and one I actually have very fond memories of, despite some of our plans being cancelled.  

In general, I try to not get too bothered by less than ideal weather and go with the flow rain or shine, but this was one time we really had to just ditch our plans for the day!

Crazy Travel Stories #17. Was Homeless in London for a Night

During my sophomore year of college I did a 3 month study abroad in Paris, and it was one of the most magical times of my life! I went with a group from my university, and we lived in pairs with French families around Paris. 

During these three months, we took advantage of living in Europe and did several weekend trips to different spots. We visited the Loire Valley chateaux and Normandy with our entire group, and then I went with a small group of friends on separate occasions to visit Brussels, London, and Rome. 

It’s pretty funny to me to look back on those trips, because we did so little prep and research before taking off for the weekend. (In contrast to the massive amount of planning I do before trips now!)

In fact, a few days before we spent the weekend in London, we were researching hostels to stay at that were less than $20/night – we were on a pretty shoestring budget and anything more than that felt exorbitant!

For our last night in London, we couldn’t find anywhere that felt appropriately cheap to stay, so we just put off booking anything, saying, “We’ll figure it out when we’re there.” 

Spoiler alert : We did not, in fact, figure it out.

We kept avoiding thinking about that pesky little fact all through the weekend, and when 9pm on that final night came, we just said, “Well I guess we’re not going to stay anywhere tonight.” 

So what did we do?

We ended up wandering around London for quite a while. Around 1am, we started riding busses. We rode the bus to the end of the line, and then would turn around and ride the bus back the other way to the end. At one point, I think around 4am, we ended up falling asleep on the bus and woke up an hour or two later to the bus driver saying “HEY! You can’t sleep here!”

Apparently while we fell asleep the bus driver finished his route for the night and drove back to the bus depot, where all the busses were stored and maintained, and we had slept through until he realized there were still some stragglers in the back.

We were jolted out of sleep and like “oh, sorry” as we stumbled out of the bus and made our way out of the bus station… to walk across the street and catch another bus back into London, ha!

This is one of those crazy travel stories that was pretty funny to us at the time (and I mean, I still think it’s a funny story), but also, we could have just paid $50 and actually gotten a good night’s sleep!

18. Our First Meal in Costa Rica

The first night that we were enjoying our meal in Costa Rica , my parents’ bill for dinner came to about $72. My dad gave our waitress his credit card and told her to run it in colones, which is the currency in Costa Rica. A few minutes later, he got a text from his credit card company that his purchase was denied because it was over his credit limit.

He understandably had a short heart attack before figuring out the issue – $72 is 23,000 colones, and our waitress had mistakenly run the bill as 23,000 DOLLARS!

We really believe it was an honest mistake and everything got sorted out just fine, and we never had this problem anywhere else in Costa Rica. But WOW that dinner got real bougie real fast!

19. Getting Lost in the Wilderness on a Snowmobile Trip

Back in 2010, Matthew and I went with my family (my parents and four of my brothers) on a snowmobiling trip in northern Minnesota. My family has lived in Minnesota for years – I was born and raised there! – but this was our first time snowmobiling up north. We couldn’t wait!

We stayed in a cabin in the middle of the forest and rented four 2-seater sleds to drive around. It was exhilarating zooming along the snow covered trails, with the pine trees coated in white snow.

One day as we were snowmobiling, Matthew and I were on a sled together at the back of the pack, and we had to stop real quick for me to adjust my scarf. The scarf had shifted, and the cold was hitting my neck and was absolutely freezing. I toughed it out for a while but then just had to stop and fix it.

While we did this, we got way behind the rest of the group, but figured they would notice and stop for us a little bit up ahead.

Well, we kept on going…. and going… and going… and never caught up to them. In fact, we reached the point in road that was a turnoff point and they weren’t there (which was extremely surprising because my dad would always regroup at any trail junctions).

We weren’t sure what to do. We were in the middle of nowhere, so we had no cell reception. We weren’t sure if they just made the turn, forgetting to check for everyone, or if they had just kept going straight. We decided to keep going straight for a while and see if we could find them, but after several minutes we still couldn’t see any sign of them.

Stumped about what to do, we decided to go back, make the turn, and continue on the planned route. The plan was to go to Hungry Jacks, an isolated restaurant up in the woods. We figured that wherever they had gone, they were also heading to Hungry Jacks, so we’d find them there.

Well, we show up to Hungry Jacks and… no family. We talked to an employee about if they had seen a family come through (maybe we had missed them? no luck), ate dinner, refilled our snowmobiles with gas, and made the 2-3 hour journey back to the cabin, thinking FOR SURE they’d be back at the cabin. It was night at this point, and the stars were bright overhead, light reflecting off the snow. It was beautiful!

But, when we got back, there was still no family. This was honestly the first time we were concerned — this whole time we had figured they were fine and had changed plans! About an hour later, the rest of the family pulled in. My mom walked in with this concerned expression on her face, saw us, and said, “OH THANK GOODNESS.”

My Parents’ and Brothers’ Side of the Story

The rest of the family had had quite the adventure. They were cruising down the straightaway, and because it was open and straight, everyone was just going full speed. Finally, they came to a point where there was a stop, and they were waiting for everyone to catch up.

Well, they were waiting and waiting for us to catch up, thinking “wow they are going really slow.” But of course, we never showed up.

So then mom and dad figured they should go back and try to find us. Some people stayed where they were, and some went back for several miles, realizing as they did how far ahead they had gone. They never ran into us though, and so they were really confused about just where the heck we had gone.

My parents were starting to get nervous for us, because we weren’t anywhere on the trail, so they thought we had made a wrong turn and were lost in the woods by ourselves somewhere.

They started going down some random trails, thinking maybe we had made a wrong turn somewhere, but then those trails became impassable, so it was obvious we hadn’t gone there.

Things Get Really Rough

Then, my dad’s snowmobile got low on gas while they were all still out on the middle of nowhere. It was weird because it was the only snowmobile running out of gas, while the other gauges were still high. Well, it ran out of gas, and now they had 2 people stranded on the dead snowmobile and two people (Matthew and me) who were separated from the group.

It’s starting to get dark now and Mom actually was starting to feel panicked, knowing that I have type I diabetes and was pregnant at the time, and what if I had a medical emergency while being lost in the woods by ourselves.

At this point, the three snowmobiles were split up: Dad and one brother were with the dead snowmobile, my two teenage brothers were still on the side of the trail (in the snow, alone, as it’s getting dark, so they could grab us in case we happened to come by) and my mom and 5 year old brother went to go find help somewhere, praying they could find something somewhere that would be open.

Thankfully, a little farther down, the trail ended at a road and on the road they found a B&B with the owners at home.

This couple was so nice and helpful – they had an extra gas can they brought back to my dad’s sled so he could drive again, they gave some directions to Mom and Dad, and they called around to the other resorts in the area – including Hungry Jack’s, who told them that yes, we had been there, gotten dinner, and had headed home.

It wasn’t until this point that mom and dad realized that they were, in fact, the ones who were lost, and Matthew and I were on the right trail. (In their defense, the maps of the trails were absolutely terrible. They were truly incredibly difficult to read – Matthew just happens to have an excellent sense of direction).

Mom and dad were incredibly relieved to know that we were okay. When they showed up an hour or so after we arrived back, I was really shocked to hear how crazy their afternoon and evening had been – it made ours feel so much tamer!

How to Prepare for When Travel Goes Awry

There’s a lot that we do to try to avoid bad, trip-interrupting experiences. We plan our itineraries instead of winging it, we download offline maps, and we bring some back ups of essentials.

We also practice good safety measures (e.g. keep our valuables secured, don’t wander into dangerous situations, learn about common scams in a destination ahead of time, etc.), and generally, that has served us really well! None of these crazy travel stories in this post have ruined our trips.

We also try to be pretty laidback and flexible when we’re on vacation. Have to make a detour to the doctor’s office in Iceland? It’s fine, it’s fine. Lose a phone in Morocco? Don’t stress, we can make it work. Tent collapsed and all our clothes, pillows, sleeping bags, and gear is sopping wet? Just laugh and shake your head at the absurdity of it all.

Always Have Travel Insurance

However, one of the biggest things we always do before any trip is get travel insurance. Securing some travel insurance is an important part of prepping for any international trip – you really never know when something might happen, and your regular insurance generally won’t cover you overseas. 

Costs for a medical emergency on vacation can add up extremely fast, so it’s just better to be safe than sorry. (If life, and especially covid, has taught me anything, it’s that you never know what could happen!)  

I like booking insurance at Insure My Trip, as they offer a variety of plans with different coverages to choose from, so you can find the right option for you. Plus, they have great customer support if you need help before, during, or after your trip.

Check rates at Insure My Trip here!

Final Thoughts on Experiencing Those Sometimes Funny, Sometimes Crazy Travel Stories

I’ll admit, many of these experiences were not exactly ideal, to say the least. They were often stressful or frustrating. But some of these were just really funny travel stories!

However, learning how to handle curveballs has definitely helped me a lot in life! Things happen, even (and especially) on vacation. Being adaptable to what happens, taking it in stride, and not letting it sour the entire trip has been a valuable lesson to learn (over and over again, ha!)

And I’m sure I’ll be adding more crazy travel stories to this list regularly in the coming years!

Stephanie is the author of The Unknown Enthusiast. She's visited 21 countries and 37 of the 50 US states (but her first love will always be France). When she's not traveling, she enjoys reading, taking naps, playing games, eating popcorn, and spending time with her husband (Matthew) and 4 daughters. Stephanie lives in Alabama, USA.

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Home » Budget Travel » 21 Insane Bucket List Adventures You MUST Experience in 2024

21 Insane Bucket List Adventures You MUST Experience in 2024

There’s nothing I love more than dreaming about bucket list adventures, especially when they’re around the corner. If you’re reading this, you too, are likely in the need of some seriously epic inspiration right about now.

Don’t worry–you’re in for a heck of a virtual (which will hopefully turn into the real thing soon) adventure!

Whether it be a dream trek somewhere in the mountains of South Asia, or an unreal road trip through a can’t-miss national park, our planet is filled with bucket list trips that you’ll remember for a lifetime.

These are the types of journeys that stay with you forever, adventures that push your limits and make you reconsider what’s truly possible… AKA the best type of bucket list experiences.

So with consideration for all types of travelers in mind, here are 21 travel bucket list ideas that will be sure to make this year the most memorable yet!

The 21 Best Bucket List Adventure Ideas (to Knock Your Socks Off!)

Epic adventures for your travel bucket list, kinda’ crazy bucket list ideas, unique bucket list ideas you’ll never forget, top-tier adventure bucket list ideas, what to pack for the bucket list trip of a lifetime, bucket list inspo achieved.

Crazy adventures, travel bucket list trips, wild experiences: you’ve dreamed it, you can do it. From the best destinations for adventure travel to the most absolutely insane adventures you can have, here are 21 ultimate bucket list ideas to change your life.

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Travelers, these are for you. Pack up and get ready for some of best international adventures around.

1. Road trip the Karakoram Highway

You can’t talk about bucket list travel destinations without mentioning Pakistan. It’s only adventure travel’s crown jewel, after all. And what better way to experience its magic than via a road trip through the 8th Wonder of the World, the Karakoram Highway? 

From the delicious history, culture and food of Lahore to the unbelievable beauty of Gilgit Baltistan , the entire country is epic, but the Karakoram Highway alone is enough of a reason to make a backpacking adventure in Pakistan a bucket list trip ASAP. 

The famous Karakoram Highway (which connects Pakistan with China) coasts along some of the most beautiful views I’ve personally ever seen. The iconic Passu Cones along with a multitude of other mountains and iconic scenery will greet you. 

Other must stops along the highway include:

• Hussaini Suspension Bridge
• Attabad Lake
• Batura Lake
• The Passu Glacier
• And if you like meat, the best restaurant I may have ever visited in my life: the Yak Grill near the Passu Cones!

A week is enough to get a good feel for the highway (including the Karakoram National Park where hundreds of yaks and marmots live), though you’d need a lifetime to truly get to know Pakistan.

484 pages with cities, towns, parks, and ALL the out-of-the-way places you will WANT to know. If you truly want to discover Pakistan , download this PDF .

2. Take in India by train

Traveling through India on its extensive railway network is a life-changing experience. I experienced it in 2019 (or part of the country anyway) and to say it’s a bucket list adventure is a massive understatement.

India is truly a multitude of worlds within worlds, and traveling by train is the best way to see it all. You can visit almost every part of the country via India Railways, except for some of its more mountainous regions. 

Start your trip in New Delhi, head to Rajasthan, and keep making your way south until you hit India’s magical beaches and coastline. Make a U-Shape to hit the East Coast, and don’t forget about Northeast India, the 7 sister states that will make you feel like you’re in a different country altogether.

3. Self-drive through Namibia 

Have you heard of Namibia? If not, you should! This African beauty should be on every stargazer/astrophotographer’s collection of bucket list countries. 

But even if you’re not too keen on either of those things, odds are you’ll love a self-drive through Namibia.

Exploring Namibia with your own vehicle will also allow you to go for a full-on independent safari–all at your own pace. 

The real highlight of a Namibia self-drive is a camp-out at NamibRand . The nature reserve is one of only a few gold-certified dark sky reserves, meaning on a clear night with little moonlight, you’re in for the best star show of your life!

4. Experience the magic of Bhutan 

Bhutan should be at the top of every traveler’s bucket list destinations list. The South Asian Kingdom borders both India and Tibet and is one of the few countries in the world that makes visitors pay a minimum daily rate.

While this might sound rather hefty at $250/day, Bhutan uses the money to preserve its heritage and provide for its citizens. It’s also the world’s only carbon-negative country! 

Taking a trip to Bhutan is tricky, but the rewards are well worth the effort. The beauty of Bhutan’s landscapes, delicious food, ancient and well-preserved historical sites, and a culture very few have been able to experience–it’s truly one of those places that’s worth saving up for. 

If you do make it to one of the most incredible countries in the world, must-do’s include:

• Entering the beautiful Tiger’s Nest monastery
• Checking out the phallus-fixated village of Sopsokha,
• And heading out on a trek or two. 

Since the $250/day package requires a guide, you can either choose a fixed route or exert some control over your itinerary.

5. Go Backpacking: Travel the world on $10/day!

And now for what I consider to be the best of all possible bucket list adventures: traveling the world on $10 a day . 

Traveling on a low budget in epic countries taught me more about life and the world than 18 years of school ever did. Eating street food, finding out what a hostel was, making unforgettable memories in the most beautiful of places…these are but some of the benefits of traveling the world on a shoestring. 

It forces you out of your comfort zone, thrusts you into new ways of life, and is absolutely 100% guaranteed to bring about some crazy adventures. If there’s just one thing on this adventure list that you ACTUALLY end up doing, let it be this one.

Everybody needs to try budget travel. At least once.

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The type of adventure ideas that really scream “bucket list.”

6. Sail to Antarctica 

Being the most unexplored continent by far, Antarctica is one of those bucket list trips of a lifetime. Unknown, dangerous and infrequently visited, a sailing trip to Antarctica might just be in a category all of its own.

A place where you can see nature at its most raw and wildlife at its least disturbed, a trip to Antarctica comes at a high price tag, and a high amount of penguins to be seen.

The journey will take you through rough seas to quite literally the end of the earth. But all that it entails is well worth the reward–there’s no bucket list inspiration on Earth quite like Antarctica!

7. Cycle the Pamir Highway 

Vast, magical, high and about as remote as it gets, the Pamir Highway (or M41) is typically ridden from Osh in Kyrgyzstan to Dushanbe in Tajikistan (or vice versa if you prefer).

Its highest point is over 4600m, and the landscapes along the way make the Pamir Highway an essential travel bucket list item. The sights you’ll see in Central Asia and, particularly, while traveling through Kyrgyzstan are nothing short of otherworldly.

While you can hitchhike, self-drive, or hire a driver, the most extreme way to see the highway is undoubtedly from the saddle of a cycle. 

With the ability to wild camp anywhere along the way, you’ll get to see Pamir at its rawest, and feel pretty damn accomplished after cycling over 1200 km through two countries!

8. Up the fear factor by bungee jumping in New Zealand

An extreme bucket list adventure that will be sure to REALLY get your heart pumping is the famous bungee jump in Queenstown, New Zealand. At 134 m high, the Nevis Bungee jump is made for adrenaline junkies. After a 35-minute 4×4 ride, you’ll find yourself at the highest bungee point in all of New Zealand.

Any last thoughts or prayers?

Joking! But you might want to keep in mind that dropping 134 m in less than 10 seconds might raise your blood pressure a little! There are TONS of companies in Queenstown to check off this crazy bucket list idea with, and you can expect to pay around $200.

9. Go paragliding in Interlaken, Switzerland

Yes, paragliding might be one crazy bucket list idea, but isn’t that the point of an adventure?

Switzerland is known for its state-of-art paragliding locales, and Interlaken is one of the best areas in Switzerland to head to if you’re serious about getting a taste of life as a bird. 

Clearly, paragliding isn’t something to be taken lightly! If you’ve never done it before, you’re going to need some lessons and a guide for your first few flights. 

Luckily, Interlaken has dozens of companies to choose from to help you make the most out of this big bucket list adventure!

6. Embark on a journey to K2 Base Camp

So you’ve probably heard of the EBC (Everest Base Camp) Trek, but have you heard of the trek to K2 Base Camp, a journey that allows you to get up close and personal with the 2nd highest (and MOST DANGEROUS) mountain in the world? The amount of incredible hikes in Pakistan is truly impressive, but few can compare to K2.

Known as the Savage Mountain, K2 has only been successfully summitted a handful of times due to its insane weather conditions and numerous other technical difficulties. But while reaching the summit is for trained professionals, you can make it to the basecamp with only moderate fitness.

While it certainly can be categorized as one of those extreme bucket list ideas, this trek is perhaps the most beautiful in the world as it allows you to take in some other-worldly scenery. 

Due to its extreme nature, you need a NOC and a licensed guide to check the K2 Basecamp Trek off this bucket list adventure. But, well, that feeling of pride…?

That lasts a lifetime .

The type of bucket list trips that you might not even have considered.

11. Get on the saddle of a horse in Mongolia

Mongolia is one of the wildest countries in the world: with rolling grassy plains that make up thousands of kilometers in area, it’s a landscape that’s best seen via horseback. 

Riding through the Mongolian plateau on four legs might just SOUND like one of those crazy bucket list ideas, but it’s seriously doable. If you’re extra experienced on the saddle, you can even potentially opt to go on a solo ride. 

But for most of us, arranging a trek with a Mongolian company is the best (and safest) option. Ulaanbaatar –the capital–is the best place to start your trip and plan further. Surprisingly, there are a few decent hostels in Ulaanbaatar , so it’s a decent base.

But keep in mind that travel in Mongolia is extremely seasonal–this is a bucket list country best experienced during the summer.

12. Get up close to volcanoes in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula

Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula is well known amongst Russians but is often left off of most other travelers’ adventure bucket list. The 1,250 km long peninsula is made up of some of the world’s rawest landscapes, tons of wildlife, and even active volcanoes.

Kamchatka is located in Russia’s far-east and has a dramatic climate with a short window of opportunity to visit. July-August is the best time to soak it all in, though you’d be able to manage without catching hypothermia any time from May-September. 

Make sure you don’t miss Klyuchevskaya Sopka , the highest volcano on Kamchatka as well as the highest active volcano in all of Eurasia!

13. Fly over Bagan, Myanmar, in a hot air balloon

Myanmar is a magical place to visit , but Bagan is an especially magical place. Over 2,000 ancient temples, pagodas, and a ton of greenery fill the ancient city which is best viewed at sunrise from above. 

Each morning, the sky above Bagan becomes filled with balloons, which is undoubtedly the best way to view this one-of-a-kind landscape. 

Personally, I’m a fan of the temples at sunset, but be sure to check them out at both breaks of day to see which one you prefer yourself. You can also visit the inside of some of the pagodas!

Balloon rentals can be arranged at MANY places nearby (including your Bagan hostel).

14. Visit the Ancient Angkor Wat

Cambodia’s signature bucket list inspo is a 900 year old temple complex that used to be covered in gold. 

Angkor Wat is located not far from the center of the city of Siem Reap which in and of itself is quite a small area of Cambodia to stay . The best way to take in the spiritual, ancient structures is via tuk-tuk, or better yet bicycle. Both are easy to rent from any accommodation in Siem Reap, but you can also do it online beforehand!

For the best adventure list experience, try to make it to Angkor Wat for sunrise. Cambodia is generally hot AF year-round, but it’s on another level in the summer. 

To enjoy the temples without feeling like you’re quite literally melting, visit during the “cool” months of December-February. 

It will take days to see all the temples, and whether you buy the 1, 2, or 3-day pass is entirely up to you, but make sure you don’t miss these specifically: Ta Prohm (where jungle meets history), Bayon , and of course, the namesake Angkor Wat which will greet you upon entry!

15. Drive across the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia

Covering an area of more than 4,000 square miles, the Salar de Uyuni (AKA the famous Bolivian salt flats) is the largest in the world of its kind. It’s truly impossible to describe just HOW flat the region truly is. Basically, it’s one of those bucket list adventures that truly feels extraplanetary. 

Uyuni can be explored by bicycle, car, or with a tour. You also have the option to hire a driver if you prefer.  Salar de Uyuni is one of the best things to do while traveling in Bolivia , but also just one of the more unique bucket list adventures out there. It’s certainly not every day that you’ll have the opportunity to soak in one of the planet’s rarest landscapes.

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Single-use plastic bottles are a MASSIVE threat to marine life. Be a part of the solution and travel with a filter water bottle. Save money and the environment!

We’ve tested the Geopress  rigorously  from the icy heights of Pakistan to the tropical jungles of Bali, and can confirm: it’s the best water bottle you’ll ever buy!

Bucket list trips that are sure to be remembered for years to come.

16. Trek to Machu Picchu, Peru

The secret city of Machu Picchu is known by all travelers–it’s one of those bucket list travel adventures everyone has had their eye on at one time or another. And for good reason–the trek to the ruins is truly one-of-a-kind. 

The best part is that there are MANY routes that lead to Machu Picchu, all of varying difficulty and length. The 26-mile Inca Trail is by far the most popular, and while beautiful, that means your experience will be far from private. A permit is also required to tread along the famous Inca Trail. 

For those that are looking for lesser-touristed Incan sites , off-beat alternatives include the difficult Vilcabamba Traverse or via the infrequently visited ruins of Choquequirao . Keep in mind that the dry season runs from April-October, and trust me take that seriously–you don’t want to hike in a downpour!

17. See the Great Barrier Reef

Situated along the North Queensland Coast, travellers on Australia’s East Coast will find the Great Barrier Reef. It’s hard to miss–it’s the longest in the world. Visiting the Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s most well-known bucket list ideas. 

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system. Stretching along over 2,000 km and containing nearly 3,000 individual reefs, this is a bucket list adventure that you seriously won’t find anywhere else in the world. Because it’s one of a kind.

There are many places to choose to base yourself near the Great Barrier Reef, and considering it’s so long, there are plenty of stay options as well. 

Cairns is considered to be the main gateway to the reef, though if you’re on a budget you can opt for the more wallet-friendly Townsville .

18. Trek through Patagonia 

Patagonia in Argentina is one of the most stunning places you can trek IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Period . 

The Torres del Paine Circuit (located in Torres del Paine National Park ) is the most popular of the dozens of hiking trails in Patagonia and will give you unreal multi-day views of jagged, snow-covered peaks and glacial lakes that come in shades of blue you never even knew existed.

The entire trek is about 80 km (50 miles) and the highest point is just below 1200 m. Though the distance may sound daunting, the altitude isn’t that high meaning anyone of average fitness should be able to enjoy this bucket list adventure.

19. See the Northern Lights in Scandinavia 

A bucket list for travel can’t leave out seeing the Northern Lights–this epic phenomenon is a top Earthly-adventure that you really have to see to believe! As great as photos are, they simply cannot do them justice. 

Finland, Norway, and Sweden are some of the best places to see the Northern Lights due to their polar locations. But don’t make the mistake of thinking you can see them all year-round; the window for Aurora Borealis sightings is within October-November and February-March . 

Self-guided trips and tours are both possible, if you decide to head out on your own make sure your itinerary dates are generous, it’s not a given that the lights will be visible every night.

20. Summit  Mt. Kilimanjaro

Few mountains can compare to Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro. Trekking to its summit is undoubtedly something to put on your once-in-a-lifetime adventure bucket list. At 5,895 meters, its summit is the so-called “roof of Africa” and will prove to be a meaty challenge. 

Unlike other bucket list adventure ideas, Mt. Kilimajaro can NOT be done independently. Luckily, there are dozens upon dozens of companies to choose from when booking your adventure tour.

When selecting a company, keep in mind you’ll get what you pay for in terms of comfort and food. Combine it with an independent backpacking trip through Tanzania to get the most out of flight prices!

21. Road trip through America’s National Parks

With 63 parks to choose from, America’s national park system is in a class of its own. Each of the very different park options offers a different kind of adventure bucket list item to experience. 

From seeking out alligators in the Florida Everglades to experiencing the White Sands Park in New Mexico to the many, many hiking opportunities each of the 63 holds, there’s no better way to see the US than via a road trip through some of its best natural assets. 

If you’re planning to visit a ton of parks, your most wallet-friendly option is to buy an annual pass, which will quite literally save you hundreds that you could be spending on other bucket list adventures!

You can’t show up to a bucket list trip of a lifetime unprepared! A good set of backpacking gear (and good travel insurance) goes a long way.

Here are some of our top recommendations on what should go in your pack, and as always, we recommend World Nomads Travel Insurance to protect it all with.

Osprey Aether 70L Backpack

Ya can’t go backpacking anywhere without a blasted backpack! Words cannot describe what a friend the Osprey Aether has been to The Broke Backpacker on the road. It’s had a long and illustrious career; Ospreys don’t go down easily.

Feathered Friends Swift 20 YF

My philosophy is that with an EPIC sleeping bag, you can sleep anywhere. A tent is a nice bonus, but a real sleek sleeping bag means you can roll out anywhere in a and stay warm in a pinch. And the Feathered Friends Swift bag is about as premium as it gets.

Grayl Geopress Filtered Bottle

Always travel with a water bottle! They save you money and reduce your plastic footprint on our planet. The Grayl Geopress acts as a purifier AND temperature regulator – so you can enjoy a cold red bull, or a hot coffee, no matter where you are.

Petzl Actik Core Headlamp

Every traveller should have a head torch! A decent head torch could save your life. When you’re camping, hiking, or even if the power just went out, a top-quality headlamp is a MUST. The Petzl Actik Core is an awesome piece of kit because it’s USB chargeable—batteries begone!

First Aid Kit

Never go off the beaten track (or even on it) without your first aid kit! Cuts, bruises, scrapes, third-degree sunburn: a first aid kit will be able to handle most of these minor situations.

And Pack Some Damn Travel Insurance!

Ok, so you can’t pack travel insurance BUT it’s absolutely daft not travel without it. You truly never know what’s going to happen on the road, and if something not so ideal does, you want to make sure you (and your wallet) are protected.

Do you want to be another sad case on GoFundMe of an adventurer who thought they were too cool for travel insurance?

Didn’t think so.

We highly recommend you choose from one of the top travel insurance companies that has a good reputation for assisting travelers in far out lands.

Here at The Broke Backpacker, we always recommend World Nomads for all your trust travel insurance needs. Check out our World Nomads review so you too can protect yourself, your valuables, and your trip!

ALWAYS sort out your backpacker insurance before your trip. There’s plenty to choose from in that department, but a good place to start is Safety Wing .

They offer month-to-month payments, no lock-in contracts, and require absolutely no itineraries: that’s the exact kind of insurance long-term travellers and digital nomads need.

SafetyWing is cheap, easy, and admin-free: just sign up lickety-split so you can get back to it!

Click the button below to learn more about SafetyWing’s setup or read our insider review for the full tasty scoop.

And there, you have it: 21 absolutely epic bucket list adventures that are sure to tingle your travel senses! From road trips to climbing some crazy mountains, to seeing some of the world’s most unique landscapes, these adventure list ideas have something for every kind of traveler.

So what are you waiting for? Plan the trip, book the flight, and cross off those bucket list destinations!

And for transparency’s sake, please know that some of the links in our content are affiliate links . That means that if you book your accommodation, buy your gear, or sort your insurance through our link, we earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). That said, we only link to the gear we trust and never recommend services we don’t believe are up to scratch. Again, thank you!

Samantha Shea

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Machu Picchu is absolutely mind blowing! Then when you factor in the various treks you can take just to get there, you gain an appreciation of the tenacity and intelligence of this ancient Indigenous society. Can’t wait to knock off the other trips recommended on this list! Angkor Wat especially.

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My Funniest, Cringiest & Most Embarrassing Travel Stories

Last Updated: October 18, 2023

*FYI - this post may contain affiliate links, which means we earn a commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase from them. Also, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Check out our Privacy Policy and Disclosure. for more info.

Whenever I tell people I’m a travel blogger, the first response I typically get (well, besides the backing away slowly) is “wow you must have so many fascinating travel stories to tell” .

At which point I laugh nervously and try to change the subject.

The truth is, most of my best travel stories happen because I did something shockingly stupid, as opposed to the fearlessly inspirational wanderlust stories most people imagine.

Truth be told, these days, my site (like many travel blogs) is more geared towards helpful, practical how-tos and guides. That’s what the people tend to want, and (truthfully) that’s where the money is.

But you really can’t beat a good travel story.

So here are my top stories about travel – zapped of all practical tips and paraded here for your amusement only.

Save this list of funny travel stories for later!

You’ll be very glad you did.

To offer a semblance of organization to the chaos, I’ve divided my travel stories into the following sections:

• My funniest and most embarrassing travel stories (short travel stories to make you laugh)
• My best travelogues (journal style content that is only slightly more serious)
• An archive of my old travel updates organized by month/year

Simply tap on each Travel Story title and the tale will reveal itself. Enjoy!

My Funniest & Most Embarrassing Travel Stories

I’ve long considered myself a magnet for cringe, awkwardness and embarrassment. Luckily. my pride’s loss is your entertainment’s gain! Here are the funniest travel stories I have in my repertoire.

I’ve always considered myself a grandma in disguise. 

After all, I love baking cookies, I often use the term “youths” non-ironically, and quite frankly: I’m nostalgic for time periods I wasn’t even alive to witness. 

But you know, dating a grandpa by accident – that’s where I draw the line.

And as absurd as it sounds, this happened. I went on a date with a man 3x my age one night in Liverpool. All by accident. 

Here is that story. 

Let me start things off by saying – I wouldn’t consider it an actual “date”, though maybe he thought differently. Moreover, my boyfriend finds this story rather hilarious so let’s not slander my name with terms like adulterous and wench.

Anyways, last summer I found myself in Liverpool while criss crossing England by train. This was a true bucket list trip for me, one that I’d dreamt of ever since deciding in high school that I’d be weird and listen exclusively to music that was at least 40 years old.

So yes, an early onset obsession with the Beatles is what led me to Liverpool.

My visit coincided with peak season, meaning a hostel was all I could afford without subsisting off ramen the entire trip. I was excited though – it had been a while since I’d stayed at a hostel, and I was looking forward to the social element.

Well, the social element definitely came through in a way I did not expect.

One night, after delighting myself with countless Beatles  tours that flung my fangirl heart into overdrive, one piece that remained missing was seeing a live performance at the Cavern Club, where the Beatles rocked the stage decades ago. 

I stopped at my hostel to quickly drop off my things and rest up before attending the show. 

To my surprise, as I flung the door open, one of my dormmates happened to be slightly above the average age of a backpacker. 

… By like, 50 years.

“Oh helloooo!!” he sang as I tip toed in. His enthusiasm was undeniable. 

After an awkward hello, I quickly learned that this man, easily 50 years my senior was in fact a local – Liverpool born and raised, supposedly holed up in my hostel dorm due to some water issues at his own home. 

And while I was taught since birth to avoid hanging out alone in rooms with strange old men, I was captivated by his stories. He rattled on and on about what it was like to grow up in Liverpool during such an important time (yes, he grew up with the Beatles’ rise to fame), and chatted about his favourite spots in the city.

Then came my ultimate blunder.

In an awkward attempt to fill the conversation, I asked him if he had ever seen the Beatles tribute band at the Cavern Club on Thursdays.

His response? 

“That sounds great. LET’S GO!” 

Did I just ask him OUT? 

It seems, in a comical twist of events, he had interpreted my question as an invitation, and before I could clarify he was already rattling off how excited he was to be going again. 

As a safety net, I roped in another guy from the dorm to come, turning my awkward maybe-date into a definite threesie-date type situation. 

We took the short 5 minute walk to the Cavern Club, and as I slipped through those iconic doors to see the exact setting where the Beatles performed decades ago, I temporarily forgot I was on a date with a strange old man.

What about my safety net invite, you might ask? Let me tell you – that man did NOT stick around. He soon faded to the back of the room and left me alone with my grand-date, who had sweetly scavenged some beers for us as the concert began.

But I was too blissed out to care. After all, I was in the Cavern Club, watching a Beatles Tribute Band that (to my blurry vision) was a dead-ringer for the real Fab Four. 

This was living.

Of course, there were moments here and there that would snap me back to my bizarre reality, like when Gran-Date tried to teach me how to twist. 

Or when he tapped me on the shoulder mid-twist to say “I’m so glad you dragged me to this!”, likely to the horror of anyone who could hear.

But most curious of all was when briefly after the intermission, I turned to my side mid-jam, and found my Gran-Date nowhere to be found.

Gone like the wind. Replaced with a wall of drunk tourists.

Apparently I’d been ghosted.

After the concert, I walked back to the hostel, soaking in the brisk Liverpool air, trying to process the simultaneous euphoria of a bucket list concert and the bizarre company I’d mistakenly roped into the ordeal.

And just as I pondered the mystery of my disappearing date, I slipped into our shared hostel dorm and found him snoring away in his bottom bunk, dreaming (I assume) of the golden days where he’d twist and shout the night away. 

I slipped into my bunk, dress soaked through with the stench of smoke and spilled beer from the Cavern Club, thinking about what a weird day that all was.

All in all though, I’ve had worse dates.

There are few times in my life when I have laughed hysterically, uncontrollably and in sheer terror.

My dear readers, today I will recount to you one of those times.

This is the story of how I once managed to forget an entire suitcase on my way to a trip. No, I did not leave it at a bus stop. I did not negligently have it taken from me in a busy cross street. No, I simply left it on the floor, meticulously packed on the dusty carpet of my studio apartment, probably wondering why his mommy left him. 

It was a hazy November evening, specifically – it was Black Friday.

Exhausted from a recent press trip and the daunting catch-up to be played that morning, I can fully admit I was not myself, mentally-speaking. Marbles might have been lost, or destroyed entirely. 

But a Christmas market getaway was soon to be my reward for a hard day’s work! 

My to-do list that day was the only thing standing between me and a weekend in üusseldorf munching on bonbons and frolicking wherever the glühwein was fresh. 

So, dutifully, I started my day by packing for the weekend, and then proceeded to spend the next 8 hours glued at my desk, clacking away at the keyboard.

When my boyfriend got home from work, we had to act fast. Our train was set to depart within the hour, so it was very much a “grab bags and go situation”. Luckily, having pre-packed, I felt pretty smug as he darted around trying to find his toothpaste while shoving all his things into an oversized duffel. 

I was clacking away at my keyboard up until the moment he said “time to go!”, at which point I threw my laptop in my backpack and off we went. 

Throughout the 15 minute commute to Munich’s main train station, I kept my nose glued to my phone, attempting in earnest to craft the perfect caption for a Facebook post (yes, really). 

“How Cosmopolitan of me!” I thought. A woman on the go juggling work so effortlessly en route to a weekend away in a glassy new city. 

I AM CARRIE BRADSHOW MEETS MICHELLE OBAMA, I gloated giddily to myself, thumbs still working as the U-Bahn came to a slow crawl. 

Hauptbahnhof. Central Station. That’s me – the woman on the go.

It was at this moment that I felt the emptiness of my hands. 

I didn’t have ANY OF MY STUFF. 

In horror, I realized I hadn’t brought the suitcase I had so dutifully packed, and had nothing on me but my small black backpack with my laptop and camera.

But with my train leaving in 10 minutes, I had to go. Forget running back to get my suitcase – I had to bust my butt to even make it on the train.

Luckily, I did.

And so I sat on my overheated train bound for Düsseldorf, 5 hours ahead to allow the full gravity of my problem sink in. 

I had no clothes… nothing but the woolen granny sweater I threw on last minute, and a black tank top which was sure to be caked soon with 72 hours’ worth of sweat and humiliation. 

And my boyfriend? Smugly unhelpful.

There are a few moments of my life that I’m not terribly proud of. In the aftermath of my realization, and amidst the hysterical laughter that followed, I would have traded places with any of those prior moments 20 times over.

But as they say, even lemons can be made into lemonade. I hurled myself into a DM upon arrival and stocked up on makeup and hygiene essentials, and treated myself to a dorky Christmas sweater to last me the rest of the weekend so I had at least one outfit change.

Add on some borrowed clothes from my cooperative boyfriend, and I was back in business, able to frolic and enjoy Düsseldorf’s Christmas markets to my heart’s content.

72 hours later, when I arrived back home to Munich, I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically a final time as I saw my sad suitcase sitting in the middle of the room, handle up, ready to go… exactly as I had left it only a few short days ago.

Maybe next time, bud. Maybe next time.

Warning: this story will make zero sense if you have not seen Game of Thrones (or at least familiar with its main characters). Read at your discretion. 

Dear readers, there was a time not too long ago that I was a raging, rabid fangirl.

Like, to the point where I would fly long distances to meet my favourite musicians, gift them fan art, and attend the PBS taping of their concert special.

And while those dark times are now (fortunately) in the past, there are still some specks of that fangirl enthusiasm that remain. 

Said speck is what spurred me to buy a last-minute ticket to see Kit Harrington’s play in the West End by myself on one random London day, an expensive and spontaneous decision that would lead to one of the weirder days of my life.

(Bear in mind this took place during the peak of Game of Thrones hysteria, so try not to judge me too hard)

With a ticket confirmation in hand for the performance later that evening, I swung by the Duke of York’s Theatre in the late afternoon to get my ticket. 

As I exited the theatre, my fangirl spidey senses began to tingle. Stood steps from the door, I watched as a silver car pulled up to the curb…

And the passenger door swung open to reveal a mass of curly black hair.

KIT. FREAKING. HARRINGTON.

Literal metres from me.

I froze in place as a mob of fans seemingly emerged from nowhere, swarming him for photos and autographs. He made a pretty firm beeline for the theatre, stopping only for a photo or two.

And just like that, he was gone.

As I reeled trying to process that flash entrance, a French accented voice snapped me out of my daze. 

“He arrives everyday at this time. I always come when I have the day off” she said. 

I turned to see a girl about my age, holding a letter she’d written for Kit and intended to give him. 

For a few minutes, I chatted with my fellow fangirl in battle. She told me how she’d met Kit Harrington only twice, but she’d recently met Shawn Mendez 11 times, and how she had a group chat on Whatsapp with fellow fangirls where they swapped Shawn-spotting tips daily. 

She also told me how Kit’s work had helped her during a tough time, and that she’d written him a letter with the specifics… something she intended to give him at some point today, even though she didn’t have a ticket to the show.

I knew instantly, if anyone was going to crowbar her way into Jon Snow’s heart with weaponized fear, it would be her and her alone. 

So we said our goodbyes, I grabbed a romantic Chipotle dinner for one (AKA the ‘Cry for Help’ combo) and headed back to the theatre.

There, I watched the play (it was terrible) and rushed outside right after the final bows, just as I was instructed. 

Immediately, I saw my new ally, feet planted into the concrete, guarding her position at the front of the gate. She motioned me over, permitting me the honour of fighting by her side in this battle.

I mean… with stakes as high as breathing Kit Harrington’s air, we needed a united front.

Together we stood, hopes high with every squeak of the door, watching with the ferocity of hawks. Countless cast members exited, each ushering in their own wave of disappointment.

Then, finally – another squeak of the door… and there he was! Black curls, black coat. “King of the North!!!!” Except, sad? Oh no…. 

We watched as he leaned in and whispered with his security guard. Suspenseful murmurs. In the silence, you could almost HEAR the crowd peeing their pants. 

Then, he turned away. The King of the North turned away… and walked off.  

“Unfortunately Kit is feeling under the weather and can’t do signings today,” announced the foxy security guard.

Nooooooo!! YOU KNOW NOTHING, JON SNOW!!!!! I later pieced together that this was the evening he had gotten in massive trouble in the media for claiming male actors were also “sexual objects”. Not a great chapter of sweet Kit’s life, I’ll tell you.

And so, defeated, the crowd dispersed, eager (I’m sure) to air their grievances over Twitter.

In my grief, I began my walk of sadness towards the Tube. I walked no more than a few blocks to see another mob of fans, no different from the one I had just bitterly exited. Feeling like I had nothing to lose, I asked an excited gaggle of girls in line “What are you waiting for?” 

Their answer? “ROBB STARK! HE’S PLAYING ROMEO!” 

……… Iiiiiiiinteresting. 

Like a well-trained robot, I claimed my spot in the Robb mob. 

And not even 10 minutes later, the play ended, the crowds emerged and our mob doubled in size. Another 10 minutes and Robb Stark was there – right before our eyes, smiley, charming and beautiful as ever. 

Somehow I had weaseled my way into the front of the mob, literally a foot away from him. Bear in mind I hadn’t even watched the play, so had no ticket, no program, nothing for him to sign.

There I stood, deer in headlights, nothing to sign, just a fangirly glob of goo vaguely pieced together as a human being. As he passed me, he smiled, Sharpie in hand, then, seeing that I was just a motionless psycho who didn’t even want an autograph, he moved on as quickly as he came.

And so, I suppose I did end up meeting the King of the North, one way or the other.  Proof that sometimes fairytales do come true. 

… You just have to be a little shameless 😉 

It’s 5pm at Gatwick Airport and my pockets are filled with bacon.

Literal, raw slabs of bacon.

… as in, “salty fat strips plucked from the fluorescent freezer at Tesco’s” bacon.

I can admit this was a bizarre situation to be in, but allow me to pepper in a smidge of context. You see, for some time, one of my biggest gripes with life in Germany had zero to do with the red tape, the bureaucracy or the fact that it made me fat. Rather, my #1 complaint was simply the bacon: too thin, too flimsy and woefully unsatisfying. 

So when I found myself in London for a little break before retreating back to Germany, I immediately recognized an opportunity… 

“England has GREAT bacon” my brilliant mind mused. 

I could simply bring home a bundle of English bacon and then rid my new German life of its one mild (but troubling) imperfection.

I’ll take my Nobel Prize by mail, thank you.

Slow clapping at my supposed perfect plan, I set the wheels in motion. One cloudy London morning, en route to the airport, I slid my way into a fluorescent Tesco’s and got my claws on a few packs of sweet English bacon.

Fast forward to airport security. 

… I’m sure you can tell where this is going.

After dutifully removing my coat, my shoes, and my bag, I went through my usual security routine, perfected over dozens of airport visits and that classic Canadian fear of confrontation. 

Then it happened…

I watched as my backpack zipped into place on the secondary conveyer belt, the one intended for re-checks of delinquent liquids above 100mL and rogue electronics. 

Except my backpack wasn’t filled with delinquent liquids or rogue electronics. My backpack was filled with sweet, English bacon. 

Paranoid thoughts began to cloud my already questionable judgment. Oh god, what did I do? Was it worth it? Was I doomed to rot in airport jail, alongside other fearless smugglers of cured meat? 

I stood there, accumulating pools of sweat in my furry Uggs, as he swabbed my bag for classic things one might smuggle, like Columbian cocaine. All he managed to locate however were the tattered remains of my dignity.  

“It’s bacon,” I squeaked.

The look on his face said it all. If I could translate facial expressions, his probably translated to “daheq did you just say, child?” 

“It’s bacon. I hope that’s okay. I just… the bacon is Germany isn’t very good… so…” I continued to mumble. 

After the disbelief washed off his face, I watched in slow motion as Mr. Airport Security flashed a smile. “So the bacon’s no good then?” he confirmed.

I breathed a sigh of relief as he handed me my bag and moved onto the next delinquent in line. No airport jail, just a crippling sense of shame. Also known in my life as an average Friday night.

I wish I could tell you the rest of the commute was smooth. Unfortunately, I found myself at the mercy of EasyJet’s strict one bag policy, meaning my backpack had to be stuffed in my carry-on suitcase, which simply wouldn’t shut for one reason: 

That damn bacon. 

So that’s how it ended up in my pockets. All of it. There was nowhere else to put it.

Boarding that flight, I threw on my big burly coat, pockets precariously stuffed with bacon, as I climbed into my narrow seat, I prayed for mercy from the gods of embarrassment. “Please don’t let a pack fall out… please don’t have anyone tell me Miss, you’ve dropped your…….. bacon?!” 

I am forever indebted to the gods of mercy because thankfully, dear readers, all of said bacon did manage to stay unseen, all throughout the 2 hour flight and the subsequent 1 hour commute home… 

Success: My sketchy meat smuggling remained secret for another day. 

And yet, amidst all that chaos…. I can still say: I have zero regrets. That well travelled bacon (who has travelled to more countries than some actual humans) turned out to be just as delicious as I hoped. Just maybe next time, I’ll bring a bigger suitcase.

I often speak about my travel experiences with a fairly a rosy lens – with words like magical, enchanting and postcard-perfect getting prominent use in my (admittedly) Disney-fied vocabulary.

But there are travel experiences that jade even me, the token overexcited corgi of the travel blogger world. 

Today I’d like to share with you one of those times.

This is the untold story of when my boat in Venice vanished, and the whirlwind hell that ensued.

Once upon a time, when I was still interning for a river cruise company as a photo reporter, it was my actual job to visit magical places, live on boats and document the whole thing. 

My 5 th cruise brought me to Venice, one of the most romantic cities in the entire world. 

I had been there before once as a high schooler, and I couldn’t wait to see it again in my more mature form. As I rode from the airport to the docks, I passed through an industrial side of Venice I had never seen before. Giant loading zones for mammoth cruise ships, and woah – roads. The Venice I knew didn’t have roads. 

As we reached our stop: “San Basilio Dock”, my taxi driver pulled into an empty parking lot and gestured unhelpfully towards the water. “Boats there!”  

At the time, I was confident I’d figure it out. There was no time to clarify or press. I was in Venice! There was pasta to be eaten! Gondoliers to fall in love with! Or you know, at the very least, many tourist pictures to photo bomb. 

And so, I made my way along the water, passing super yachts, cruises, little dinghys. I didn’t know how long I’d have to walk but at this point, I had seen these cruises multiple times, I thought I’d recognize it instantly, so I wasn’t worried.

… About 15 minutes later, that delayed worry began to kick in. Where was this stupid boat? 

Nervously, I dragged my rolling suitcase across the rickety cobblestones, demolishing the romantic ambiance with my utter lack of grace.

I still do wonder how many proposals I ruined that night. 

Up and down, I searched for my boat. I doubled back twice as the sun sank lower and lower behind the rippling waves of blue.

In my panic, I ducked into the only official looking building around, showing someone a print out of my boat’s name, and the printed instructions to visit this exact dock. 

The burly Italian man, with orange, sunburnt skin squinted at my papers… Then with 4 words, destroyed my already shaky sense of confidence.

“MS Michaelangelo? No here!” He accompanied his harsh words with an even harsher X made with his arms, to really hammer in the fact that no, this boat was not here, I was kinda homeless in Venice and I had no (real) idea where I actually was. 

All I could muster was a weak “okay” as I escaped outside to contemplate my demise. 

Searching through all my papers in a panic, I finally found the boat’s phone number. A fast-talking Italian woman greeted me on the other end. 

“No no no, we are not at San Basilio. Walking will take 1.5 hours, take the vaporetto and….” The rest of her directions came out in a jumbled, frenzied mess, capped off with an “okay bye”. 

It turned out the boat had not simply vanished, but was docked elsewhere for the night due to scheduling/water levels.  

But how the heck was I supposed to get there?! 

Nervously, I waddled to the first vaporetto spot I could see. I didn’t know how to read the timetable, so I just stood there, and literally stared. I was the definition of helpless. The vaporetto schedules made no sense, it was getting dark, I had no idea how to get to this boat, and I was (quite honestly) certain of my imminent death. 

Then a voice came from nowhere. 

“Do you need help?” 

There stood a short, thin man, teeth so bright they practically glowed.

Over a short conversation, I found out he had lived in Montreal for 10 years, now in Venice for 20 and knew the city like the back of his hand. I told him the name of my new location, and he explained the complicated route to me, which required two vaporetto transfers and a short walk in the dark. My eyes were glazed over. I had no idea what he was saying. 

And so Mr. Mysterious Montreal stood with me as countless boats passed. “Not this one”, he would repeat. He probably had kids wondering where the heck he was all night. “Helping a useless Canadian girl, kids… helping a useless Canadian girl.”

Then, it came. Vaporetto #2. Like an action movie right before an impending explosion, he held his foot down on the boat, extending his hand and shoving me on board through the exit. 

I sat there in fear the entire time, clutching my suitcase like my first born, as the Venetian sun came down. For a brief second, the worry dissipated as I caught glimpse of the final shreds of orangey sunset in the sky. I followed the steps as advised, and arrived to the boat like a traumatized puppy – drained and in need of a good cuddle.

And so, as I entered my tiny cabin home for the next week, I set my bags down and heaved a sigh of relief. I didn’t die in Venice that night, but what happened the day after made me wish I had. 

… but of course that’s a story to be continued. 

I embarrass myself often, but there are times far worse than others that make me wish I could buy a secluded cabin in the woods and never see another human again.

This tale of a chocolate goatee was one of such times. 

When I arrived in Venice to find my boat was nowhere to be found, I was traumatized (to put it lightly) and in need of some serious dessert therapy. 

With a free day before my cruise was set to begin (I was working on board as the resident blogger/photographer), I decided to embark on a personal mission to eat the woes away: find the largest gelato I can find, and eat it. 

So that’s what I did. 

If my life were a coming of age film, this would have been the montage scene of me living my best life to upbeat music, dancing through the streets of Venice as a liberated solo female traveller. I escaped into narrow streets, skipped across bridges and you know, embraced a day of feeling pretty darn pleased with myself.

I felt like James Bond gliding through the streets, only with a much less serious mission: to find and consume a gelato the size of my face.

And I found one! 

A perfect, giant gelato cone the size of my face – 4 whole scoops – for only 5 euros. 

I ferociously wolfed it down, realizing I had only 15 minutes to get back to the boat for boarding and introductions. I would soon be officially meeting the crew I’d spend a week with, alongside all the passengers I’d be tasked with interacting with. I wanted to make a good first impression. Riding off the sugar high, I was rocking my favourite dress and I felt on top of the world. I was ready to impress.

I walked up to the boat, many passengers already boarding. I introduced myself to passengers, to crew, to pretty much anyone that would listen because I WAS JUST SO HYPED UP ON SUGAR.

I thought I did great.

Feeling mighty proud of myself for successfully interacting with humans, I walked back to my room, still riding that sugar high (and now a grossly inflated sense of self-confidence). 

That’s when I looked in the mirror. 

And oh god… it even hurts to type this right now…

I had a flipping goatee. 

A GIANT, CHOCOLATE GOATEE. 

What had happened? Who had I pissed off in another life to warrant this kind of karma?!

I had a slow motion flashback to my first voracious lick of that gelato. My chin landed right on the chocolate scoop. I must have been too enamoured by the treat to notice. I had just met everyone on the boat, passengers and crew, had full-on CONVERSATIONS, all with a chocolate splat the size of Mt Vesuivus firmly stained on my chin.

It was my worst professional blunder to date. 

But it didn’t retain that honour for long.

Because less than a week after, I would do something far, far worse. 

Though again, that’s another story to be continued…. 😉 

When people lightheartedly ask if I’ve ever missed a flight, my entire body cringes. 

Because my dear readers, the answer is Yes…. Yes I have. By an entire 24 hours. 

You might be wondering how this is even possible… well, here is that story.

During the summer of 2015, I worked as an intern on board European river cruises, documenting the experience for the company’s blog and social media channels.

My 5 th cruise brought me to Venice, where I encountered a rough start (the boat had vanished) and an even rougher middle (when I introduced myself to everyone while rocking a chocolate goatee).

Little did I know, the end of this cruise would by far take the cake… and it still goes down as one of my worst travel fails in history. 

My next destination was Croatia, the cruise I had been looking forward to most. I had heard time and time again that this was one of the company’s best cruises, and I even had a friend I met on a previous cruise set to work that route with me.

So on my final day in Venice, I was excitedly awaiting my taxi when I got the worst phone call I’ve received (probably) in my entire life.

Sat in the ship’s lounge, sipping a too-sweet cocktail, my phone began to shake, quickly lighting up with a string of mysterious numbers.

Nothing could have prepared me for what came next.

“This is the captain of your Croatian cruise. Where are you????” an angry voice shouted on the other side.

My heart sank. My stomach dropped. I might have peed a little, who knows.

Over the course of a panicked conversation, I was made to realize I had somehow missed my plane by 24 hours, that the crew had been expecting me since yesterday and that they were set to depart in a few hours, without me on it.

Through a further round of panicked phone calls with my supervisor, I went through rounds of apologizing profusely, them saying they would get back to me and then, the gutwrenching blow: There was no way I could make it to Croatia in time for this cruise.

I felt like I could literally see my dreams get thrown out the window. 

I ended up staying in Venice an extra 3 days, and placed on a cruise in Berlin in lieu of Croatia and the Loire Valley in France. Of course, things could have been much worse, but I couldn’t shake that feeling of complete failure and humiliation.

Of course, in time, as most things do, this story resolved itself. The first fully sponsored trip I was offered on this blog was, you guessed it, a sailing trip through Croatia. It felt like my life had come full circle, and you know what – things do (no matter how mortifying) happen for a reason. 

I guess, sometimes happily ever afters come a little delayed.

For many, the prospect of hitchhiking sounds like an enchanting shortcut to getting murdered. 

Having grown up on movies and TV shows where hitchhikers were exclusively murder-bait, I too subscribed to this belief.

But when a few friends and I attempted a really poorly planned hike in Bosnia & Herzegovina and missed our last bus in the process, we had no choice but to give it a try.

After all, we were three nervous girls stranded in Blagaj with no more buses until the next day. The sun was setting, the hanger was imminent, and times were getting desperate.

So with a deep breath, we stuck out our thumbs.

Within minutes, a BMW began to slow as it came up to us, and it truthfully took everything in me to not immediately run for the hills screaming for my mom. 

Luckily, my friends were brave.

“Mostar??” we collectively said, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. He nodded wordlessly and then waved us in. 

And so, like the start of any good horror movie, we three girls piled into a stranger’s car. 

As we drove, the language barrier became clear immediately. 

Attempting only with excessive gesturing to get his point across, our driver admitted to knowing zero English and continued to furiously blab in a language we knew zero of. 

But soon, his tone changed. We turned onto a vast county round and his eyes lit up.

 “Lavanda!” he proclaimed. 

“Lavanda, lavanda! MY lavanda.” The repetition was Pokemon-esque, and deeply confusing. 

He whipped out his ID card, and in minimal English tried to explain to us his roots, his religion and what he did for a living.

Tough topics to tackle when you know like 3 words. 

But nonetheless he persisted and continued the drive, which was scenic and somehow pleasant despite the broken conversation.

The short drive passed uneventfully, and as he pulled up to the curb a few blocks away from our hostel, he ejected himself from the driver’s seat and popped open his trunk.

“This was it! He was gonna throw us in the trunk and never look back!!!” The paranoid freak in me lamented.

But no. None of that happened. Instead, he flashed a toothy grin as he unveiled his roomy trunk…

Which was filled with tiny draw-string packets of dried lavender.

Lavanda. Lavender. This man was a lavender farmer!

“Lavanda!” he said for a final time as he waved us off and got back into his car.

Relieved and dazed, my friends and I continued our walk home, laughing to ourselves that we had just rode through Bosnia & Herzegovina with a baller lavender mogul. 

And true fact: he’s the reason why to this day, I still smile every time I see lavender.

Once upon a time, I drove through the Dolomites with a burst appendix.

Except just kidding – my appendix hadn’t burst, though for some time I was very convinced it had. 

You see, being a drama queen and mild hypochondriac has troublesome consequences. 

For one, WebMD will literally keep me up at night. By my own diagnoses, I should have died twenty seven times. 

Another consequence, clearly, is interpreting mere stomach pain as a serious medical condition, whilst among the mountains in a foreign country.

It was while driving through the stunning Dolomite mountains in Northern Italy that the latter happened. 

And it’s painfully embarrassing to recall, even now. It was an early morning and we had been driving for about an hour, en route to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo hike, one that has dominated my bucket list for years. That’s when it hit me. 

“Ow. My stomach hurts.” I whined to my boyfriend as he diligently weaved through the route’s hairpin turns.

It could have been all those winding roads, or perhaps the fact that I was practically inhaling a bucket of yogurt because I wanted to save time on breakfast… but my stomach started to clench, like someone had clamped over my intestines and just started twisting. 

I couldn’t tell if I wanted to vomit, cry or what.

We pulled over to a scenic viewpoint, and as I opened the door, I keeled over like a little baby.

Truly, without exaggeration, I had never experienced this level of pain before in my life.

“I think maybe my appendix burst” I declared to my all-too-worried boyfriend as I sprawled out on a luckily placed bench.

Here’s a hot travel tip for you: when you literally pull out Google maps and search “hospital”, there’s a high likelihood you could in fact be in trouble. This is what he began to do just in case.

Then came the WebMD. A list of vague symptoms that apply already to most people. 

“Do you feel nauseous?” YES 

“Do you need to pee?” I DON’T KNOW, MAYBE.

And while I was ready to speed off to an Italian hospital for what I was sure would be an emergency surgery, my boyfriend, every the rational one, tried to calm me down. He encouraged me to lay still for a few moments and try to breathe. 

Within minutes, the pain began to ease.

He then suggested we go for a walk around the lake to hopefully “walk it off”. 

Indeed, a loop around the lake and I was fine.

As we headed back into the car, appendix (most likely) in tact, I realized maybe I was indeed being a bit of a drama queen.

But if there’s one thing you take away from this story, it’s this: do not eat yogurt in a fast moving vehicle. The symptoms may lead you to believe that death is imminent.

My Top Travelogue Stories

If you’re looking for more journal-style travel stories complete with photos, here are some of my best ‘travelogues’, from Verona to Istanbul!

“So, how did you meet your boyfriend?”

For me, that’s always a fun question to answer. I could tell you that I met my boyfriend halfway across the world while dressed as a teddy bear (which is true), or that our first date involved building an IKEA table (which is also true).

I could detail the very random circumstances that led to our meeting, and the string of punny conversations that promptly followed… but the reality is: I probably  would not have a boyfriend if it weren’t for one thing: Flixbus.

Yes, the budget bus company.

I guess, in the random tangled mess that is my life, this odd choice of Cupid makes sense. Here’s how a simple bus trip landed me a new leading man.

Let me start by saying the obvious: dating in the 21st century is a  very  interesting thing, full of secretive codes, unspoken rules and bucket loads of uncertainty. I’ve never been good at these kinds of games, especially since my first relationship started at the bright-eyed age of 15 and lasted… well, until last September.

Call me rusty, call me out of touch, but one thing I pride myself on is that I’m not a complete and total maniac.

… Well at least I thought so… until I booked a VALENTINE’S DAY  getaway to  ITALY  with a  GUY WHO WASN’T MY BOYFRIEND.

Yes guys… raise those red flags.

To be fair, I’m a spontaneous exchange student.

When you’re doing study abroad, weekends away are pretty much on par with grocery shopping in terms of frequency.

So naturally, one day, while chatting with a new boy in my life, the conversation switched to a cheap sale that Flixbus was having. 10 euro tickets for almost all their routes. It was a tempting offer indeed.

With a midnight cutoff pending, we proceeded to plan a trip at lightning speed.

“Where do you want to go?”   Uhhh Verona. “Let’s do the weekend of the 12th?” Okay. 

30 seconds later, we were booked. Sure, a weekend away seemed a bit committal for two 20-something ‘seeing each others’, but we got along really well, so what could go wrong?

Well…

Turns out that was Valentine’s Weekend.

Valentine’s weekend in Verona, to be precise… one of the most romantic destinations in Europe.

There would be red wine, beautiful art, cheesy candles, and many guitar serenades from men named Pablo.

The result of our epiphany was not panic or cancellations… on the contrary, after bouts of nervous laughter and jokes, a mutual decision was made to embrace clichés and make this the cheesiest weekend we possibly could.

So, with this mindset, I packed a suitcase decked in red and black, channelled my inner rom com heroine and embarked on a ‘romantic getaway’ for the ages.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and soon learned the hard way that storms do not press pause for anybody, not even two dummies on a ‘special romantic getaway’.

We arrived at our bed and breakfast in the state of two drowned cats.

Our chatty host Vittorio (a burly Italian man with a perfect beard) welcomed us in, at which point I could have passed out. In an unexpected turn of events, our room was gorgeous . I mean, for a last-minute booking on Hostelworld, I definitely did not expect this: 

Gold-framed mirrors, dreamily draped curtains, and wall motifs of books and clocks… There was even a tray of snacks, aperitifs and wine to welcome us.

By the end of our first interaction, it’s safe to say we were both head over heels for Vittorio, who sang Rihanna at the top of his lungs when he thought we couldn’t hear him (another true story).

After collectively fangirling over our room, we hit the city, armed with a map scribbled with recommendations from our bearded Italian angel. Hence began Operation Romantic Getaway.

It wasn’t until we arrived in the city centre that we realized just how Valentinesy this trip was going to be. Strolling through Verona was like getting punched in the face with red, hearts and chocolate.

The city was brimming with festivities for the annual ‘Verona in Love’ celebration, which meant heart lanterns, an endless parade of couples and chocolate-dipped everything.

While we weren’t quite Romeo and Juliet, we did spend our first day #coupling pretty hard, wandering around Verona’s gorgeous little streets, exploring picturesque piazzas and cozying into cafes for gelato and drinks.

The rain only got fiercer as the day went on. By dinner time, we were a shivering mess of wet boots and numb fingers… which prompted us to seek refuge in the closest restaurant on Vittorio’s recommendations list.

We ended up in Ristorante Maffei, one of Verona’s top-rated restaurants – a place where fancy waiters wore white and we walked in (literally) on a red carpet. The verdict? We left very full, and very bankrupt.

The next day was a maniacal whirlwind of sightseeing. With Verona being a small city, we were able to cover an impressive amount of ground.

In the span of 10 hours, we explored grand churches like San Zeno and Sant’Anastasia , scaled the Torre di Lamberti for incredible panoramic views, got our culture on at the  Achille Forti Gallery of Modern Art , soaked in the grandeur of the Verona Arena and walked through the Teatro Romano . 

Of course, we capped things off with a mandatory stop at Juliet’s House, where we did NOT rub her statue’s boobs for good luck, in case you were wondering…

… But you know what? We didn’t need Juliet’s boobs. (Now, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say). Instead, it seemed the magic of Verona was enough.

Throughout the two days of extreme coupling, we had indulged in all the cliches: running through the streets while holding hands, watching the sunset with a bottle of red, eating at fancy restaurants that we couldn’t afford. 

Despite this story having all the trappings of a classic rom com, it wasn’t… this was my actual life.

A life that did, against all odds, get more cliched… because the weekend wasn’t over.

We were going to spend Valentine’s Day in Venice. 

And it was there that he popped the question.

… to be his girlfriend though. Obviously. Read on for Part 2 of this Valentine’s Saga.

I’m a cheesy person, I really am.

BUT, sometimes, I’ll do things that even I find tremendously cringeworthy.

Spending Valentine’s Day in Venice was definitely one of those things.

A few weeks ago, a boy and I planned an accidental romantic getaway to Italy… ( backstory here ), and yes, if you’re still reading this, it was a genuine accident.

And, to clarify, we did not murder each other.

On the contrary, we decided to embrace the cheesiness of our circumstances, and inadvertently became an official couple in the process. I mean…  Valentine’s weekend in Italy.  We were kinda asking for it, weren’t we?

A visit to Venice is quite possibly one of the world’s most romantic holidays… I mean, come  on.  There’s the beautiful canals, the picturesque houses, and enough gelato to feed ten armies. Apart from the kitschy souvenir stalls, this city feels like a step back in time, and yes, it is extremely, heartachingly romantic.

But enough about Venice. You’ve probably read a million stories about it already.

You’re here for the stories of a psycho girl who dragged a guy to Venice on Valentine’s Day. 

So how did that play out exactly?

After two days of non-stop red and hearts in Verona, we boarded a train to Venice, only a short hour away.

As far as romance goes, it seemed we had the odds stacked against us.

We arrived to an absolute downpour of rain, with a long drizzly walk from the train station to our canalside AirBNB. Surrounded by poncho-clad tourists and jabby selfie sticks, this was hardly the romantic vision that taunted us from the city’s many postcards…

But, you know how we dealt with it?

Alcohol. No, just kidding – optimism… and creativity! As it turns out, there’s no shortage of romantic things to do in Venice, even when it’s pouring rain.

Sure, you can’t laze out in sunny piazzas, but you can still explore the countless hidden backstreets that make this city so mysterious and wonderful. Along the way, you can still discover the hidden gems that give Venice its inexplicable magic, places like the Libreria Acqua Alta (one of the prettiest bookshops in the world) and the many mask shops that fill the Venetian streets.

And sure, with the rain, at times the gondolas don’t run, but you know what’s perfect rain or shine? The delicious comfort of a perfect, Italian meal.

So I guess what I’m saying is: Venice can be amazing with or without rain… you just need to find what makes it special for you.

And so we spent our time experiencing Venice differently… Instead of trudging around the main tourist sites, we ducked into cute cafes and shops whenever we could, enjoying the simple joy of perfect cappuccinos and crazy masks we could never pull off.

We took a day trip to Burano , rode up to St Mark’s Campanile and ate until we were human blobs. Genuinely, the city seemed void of V-Day gimmicks, a welcome relief from the heart explosion seen in Verona… Although I did have to run from a rose salesman (or ten).

And as for Valentine’s Day dinner? A cozy table for two, in a tiny restaurant where we were the only customers the entire evening. That’s the funny thing about Venice – no matter how crowded and touristic it gets, there’s always little pieces of this city that you can call your own.

And despite the torrential downpours, the rain-soaked crowds and the many many silly encounters with rose salesmen, I had the best time exploring Venice, the most cliched city in the world to spend Valentine’s Day.

… all because of a boy that I invited to Italy by accident.

A boy that, at the end of the weekend, formally asked me to be his girlfriend.

Which I now am.

So you know, sometimes life throws you a curveball, annnndd you get a boyfriend out of a Flixbus seat sale.

Seriously guys, never underestimate how random life can be.

You know what? I have to admit, sometimes I love it when things go wrong.

Tales of misadventure are my favourite because they’re the funniest, and well, like any optimist who hates dealing with their problems, laughter is my coping mechanism of choice.

You see, when things go awry for me (which, I admit, is often), I remind myself that no matter how scary, awful or random things are at the moment, a hilarious new story is waiting at the finish line.

With that in mind, I want to tell you about one of the most ridiculous nights of my first backpacking trip in 2014 – my accidental foray into Berlin’s alternative nightlife scene.

In a single night, I braved a gothic horror bar, a boozey Ping Pong pub, some punk rock tavern and a gay club nestled in an underground parking lot. An epic adventure for sure, which, like all great journeys, began because of a mistake.

This is the story of how I accidentally ended up on Berlin’s 666 Anti-Pub Crawl.

Truth be told, it was pretty much all my fault. As cliched and touristy as it was, I had my heart set on attending at least one pub crawl during my time in Europe.

After all, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it right? When we arrived at our hostel in Berlin, it seemed like it was fate that the welcome chalkboard wrote in bold letters: “PUB CRAWL TONIGHT – MEET IN THE LOBBY AT 8:45”. I figured, of all places, why  not  Berlin? Despite my travel partner’s reluctance, she gave into my puppy dog eyes.

That was her first mistake, because I should not be trusted with decisions.

A few hours (and coats of makeup) later, I had my party girl disguise on, eager to blend in with the throngs of cool, Berlin partygoers.

We were led to our first bar by a slightly-out-of-it tour guide, who rolled his cigarettes on his lap as we sat on the tram. Ha, oh Berlin, you so alternative. 

Our night began at Yesterday , a quirky cocktail bar decked out in a crazy, over-the-top mish-mash of decor. Sunflowers topped the blue ceiling, with assorted knick knacks clinging to the walls.

There was just about anything you can imagine filling the corners of this place – even pinball machines. Our group appeared to be the only ones there, so we took this opportunity to get acquainted with everyone, shouting introductions over the mellow mix of 60s-80s oldies.

So far so good, I thought to myself. I’m so freaking hip! These people have no idea I’m a 20 year old granny.

A few potent cocktails later it was time for us to venture into the great unknown of Berlin’s nightlife. We were ushered outside, and huddled around our tour guides, one of which began with a compulsory spiel on what a great night we were going to have.

But, we knew something was off when he ended this pep talk with  “Welcome to the 666 Anti-Pub Crawl!”

Wait, whaaaaaaaat?

That didn’t sound right. 666? Anti? It seemed like there was a simultaneous epiphany on our parts that this wasn’t what we had signed up for.

My group exchanged confused glances… Hmmm, the hostel never mentioned that this was, in fact, an “alternative” pub crawl and that we would soon be whisked away to solely off-the-beaten path nightlife destinations in Berlin.

Full disclosure: I’m not much of a partier. Yes, I’m a huge fan of wine and beer, but even at home in Canada, clubbing and going out is not my activity of choice.

This chronic homebody syndrome was probably a huge source of my discomfort throughout the night. Luckily, I’m a much braver soul when I travel, so I wasn’t too phased initially… I mean, what was the worst that could happen?

We were promptly separated into three groups, our new friends ripped from our clutches as we were dragged separately into the glittery abyss of Berlin’s party scene. With enthusiasm, our tour guide informed us of our first stop:  Dr. Pong!

If the name doesn’t give it away, Dr. Pong is a ping pong bar. What exactly does that mean? It is literally what it sounds like – a bar where people play ping pong.

Immediately as I entered, I got the feeling that I wasn’t supposed to be there.

It had a seedy garage feel to it, with bare decor and a single blue ping pong table in the centre of the room. “ Oh my god we’re in a crack den”,  exclaimed my travel partner.

She tends to be a worrier, and maybe she was being a little dramatic, but I felt some truth to her words. The bar’s windows were suspiciously covered, and the entire space had a grungier feel than us innocent girls were used to. No doubt, we were out of our element.

But alcohol could fix this right? A minimalist bar was set up in the back, so I grabbed myself a beer and took a seat on a creaky plastic chair.  Drink until this feels okay  was kind of the motto for the night.

After watching some sweaty men circle around the table playing ping pong, we were whisked off to our next stop. But first,  we were treated to some free shots on the sidewalk! No doubt, I wasn’t in Canada anymore… But again, drink until this feels okay , right?

The next stop of our adventure was  Last Cathedral,  a heavy metal-blasting gothic horror bar.

… Talk about not fitting in.

The decor of this place was crazy. With skulls lining the bar counter and torch lighting on the walls, I felt like I was in Dracula’s basement. I’m pretty sure the locals could smell my nervous sweat from miles away.

Apparently it was singles night too, so yay lucky me.

Berlin’s gothic horror crowd (is that even a thing?) was out in full force, and they sure were singles ready for minglin’. I’ll never forget trying to dance to heavy metal that night, a feeble attempt at fitting in with the lone dancer – an enthusiastic German headbanger who flung his majestic mane like nobody’s business.

To ease my discomfort, I ate nachos here. I like nachos.

I didn’t take down the names of our last two stops, but nonetheless, we journeyed onwards. The first was a tavern featuring a live punk rock band. I think this spot was the most in my element. I love live music, and the band playing was pretty cool.

Save for the eye-stinging smoke machine, I was rather into it.

This stop gave us a chance to relax a bit, especially after braving three bars that were  way  different from what we were used to.

My travel partner was no doubt ready to murder me for this accidental adventure at this point, but I tried my best to laugh it off.

After all, travelling is your time to live a little and try something different. Even though some of the stops felt sketchy and unsuited to my taste, I learned a very valuable lesson that night:

Sometimes you just gotta go with the flow.

After our chill punk rock session, we headed out to our last stop of the night, where we were reunited with our entire hostel group.

What magical place marked the end of this wonder tour, you ask? Of course, it was an underground gay night club! And when I say underground, I mean they literally brought us into a small elevator and lowered us into a smoky parking lot.

Well folks, I guess it doesn’t get more Berlin than that, right?

With blaring electronic music, glittery drag queens and an alarming lack of ventilation, it was a thoroughly interesting end to a crazy night.

As we trekked back home, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself about the last few hours and where I had been. Sometimes, travelling brings you the most random moments and adventures.

Absolutely, I was out of my comfort zone and felt totally sketched out half the time, but there was honestly no reason for me to be scared.

I was in a completely different part of the world, spending time where locals do, taking in new cultures (and subcultures!) that I would have never otherwise encountered.

At the end of the day, isn’t that what travelling is all about? Looking back, I could (and should) have been more openminded… and that’s a big lesson I learned for sure.

And although this little nightlife adventure was a bit much for my prudish, Canadian heart, it is still to this day one of my favourite memories from my Europe trip.

There’s something about Berlin’s nightlife that you just don’t forget. Regardless of whether or not I’d do it again, it’s safe to say: I had my taste of Alternative Berlin, and a great story to toss around for the rest of my life.

It’s 2pm on a Tuesday, and I’m strolling through the streets of Munich in a banana suit.

There are times when I do really question my life decisions, and no doubt, this was one of those times.

Now, before you assume I had some kind of mental banana suit breakdown, let me inform you that there was a reason for my fruitlicious garb. 

One of the best things about living in Europe is the many reasons to celebrate and have fun, and this past Tuesday (recognized as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras elsewhere in the world) was one such example of mad celebrations at their best!

I mean, with Lent about to begin, it’s a common occurrence that good boys and girls get together and unleash all their madness before giving something up.

In Munich it’s called Fasching, elsewhere in Germany, it’s Karnevale… Carnival in Brazil, etc. etc. No matter how you name it, it’s a fun excuse to get out, be ridiculous and have a good time. It’s serious stuff though: Bavarians even get a half-day at work for the occasion!

So, eager to get in the Fasching spirit, I zipped up my teddy bear onesie, layered on my floppy ‘too long for me’ banana suit, and clasped the hand of my boyfriend, dressed up as a tropical version of Frozen’s Olaf.

What a pair.

Our plan was to visit Munich’s main square, where we heard there were tons of stages, festivities, dancing, etc. happening.

With a 15min trek to Marienplatz, we couldn’t wait to get out and see everyone’s vibrant costumes and onesies! My mind was dancing with images of all the awesome party photos I had seen from the year prior, and I was certain the streets would be abuzz as soon as we stepped out.

And so, the banana and snowman hit the town.

… and there was nothing.

Well, besides some judgemental German frowns, there was nothing.

It was SO weird!  Besides our ridiculous outfits, everyone else was cloaked in the unofficial Munich uniform of black waterproof coats and boots. For the 15 longest minutes of my life, we walked through town to reach Marienplatz…

A number of questions ran through our heads, namely…

“… Did we get the date wrong?”

“Are snowmen and bananas offensive???”

“How quickly can we run if a hypothetical mob chose to attack us?”

Even as we crossed into Old Town, through the (usually lively) Hofgarten, we didn’t see a single soul dressed up. We were 100% sure we had somehow gotten the traditions or dates mixed up, and were already thinking up an escape route that would minimize our public humiliation.

Then, we saw it.

A tiger onesie here, a crazy clown there…

We had found our people!

Despite a shaky (and paranoid) start, we got to Marienplatz and finally found the party. The weather might have been grey and soggy, but the next few hours were an absolute blast.

Even better was the fact that there were all these traditions that we had no clue about, which made things all the more fun. From the many kids aggressively throwing confetti (AT us, by the way) to the red-faced partiers hollering German hits that I didn’t know the words to… it was all in all, a pretty wonderful way to spend a Tuesday.

We ate crepes, chowed down on Hungarian langos, bobbed in the crowd during a bunch of musical performances and in true Bavarian fashion, drank plenty of beer. The periodic rain and dreary Munich grey didn’t seem to deter anyone from being their craziest selves.

I even got stopped for a few photos, because clearly I’m one irresistible banana.

Maybe one day I’ll make it to the big Karneval celebrations in Cologne or maybe  (let’s dream big), even Rio! 

Until then though, I’m pretty happy with my first Fasching experience. In fact, I’m already brainstorming the costume ideas for next year…!

I need to make it known that I am the absolute worst road trip partner (possibly in the entire history of road trips).

Not only am I an inept driver, it seems I was also born without any inner compass, which means maps are (ironically, as a travel blogger), my kryptonite.

I had high hopes and dreams of exploring Germany’s romantic road last weekend, a plan quickly dashed by my lack of navigation skills and complete inability to stay awake in moving vehicles. You know how children unfailingly doze off in cars? That’s me, except far less cute.

This is how I ended up 100km off course during said road trip. The initial plan was to grab a bus up to Frankfurt, rent a car, take a detour to Eltz Castle and then onwards to Würzburg, where we’d drive along the Romantic Road down to Munich.

These were great plans, except for one fatal flaw: they counted on me being able to accomplish basic tasks … which I am not. After loading up the Google Maps route, I perked up as chief navigator and informed my boyfriend “It’s only 1.5 hours away!”. We got on the ever speedy Autobahn and those were the last words I remember, until I was gently nudged awake about an hour later.

“Are we almost there?” my boyfriend asked. I felt silly (but not surprised) that I fell asleep, but I assumed there weren’t many turns or exits anyway. I picked up my phone and realized that… nope, we were nowhere near Eltz Castle, and were in fact, en route to Cologne, about 100km away from where we had intended to go.

SOOO, I guess we were going to Cologne!

Now, this accidental detour wasn’t my first time in Cologne, but it was the first time I’d seen it so empty. I have to admit – it was really nice to step into the epic Cologne Cathedral without a huge crowd mobbing the front square.

The city was setting up for Karnevale (with big festivities this weekend), but there was barely anybody on the streets. With shops not yet open, and because apparently I hate myself, I decided to climb the cathedral’s tower, which was a thigh blasting 533 steps. A good morning workout to jolt me out of my zombie-like state!

We spent a little while exploring the city centre. I have to say, Cologne’s Old Town is ridiculously pretty, with picture-perfect sights like this that we got to enjoy all to ourselves. Not a bad place to chow down on a pretzel, I’d say. It was a short stop (mostly for a driving break/sustenance) but a pretty happy accident all in all.

After fuelling up with some breakfast and (maybe 10) energy drinks, we made the drive to Eltz Castle, our initial 1st stop.

I have to say: Eltz Castle is a sight truly worth the detour. I mean, hey, after all, this is travel guru  Rick Steves’ favourite castle (sorry for that nerd fact), and for a guy who’s travelled a ton and seen (I assume) his fair share of castles, that’s a rather big deal. We visited knowing full well that it would be closed. After all, it’s super off-season for them, but I desperately wanted to prance around, play princess, and see the prettiness for myself.

To reach the castle actually requires a 15-20min walk through the forest (which, I promise, is much less shady than I make it sound). The suspense was killing me. Every time we turned, I expected to see the castle towering above me, Disney intro style. When we finally caught our first glimpse of it, we saw the castle from the side, and I have to admit, I was a bit surprised by how normal it seemed….

It was a very quiet day to visit, with no more than 2 or 3 groups of people there at a time. All the better, since I hate crowds and had lugged a helium heart balloon with me (for a rather cheesy Romantic Road photo shoot I had planned).

As I shamelessly posed #forthegram, I got the craziest surprise ever…

I was almost run over by a van!

Like huh?? Where did it even come from?! It was the most bizarre sight, seeing a regular van pull up to the old wooden door of this fairytale castle.

An old man climbed out of the car, opened the door and proceeded to drive in, worriedly peeking at me to ensure I wasn’t going to follow them in.

Yeah it’s okay man, I’d be terrified of the crazy girl with the balloon too.

Since my boyfriend is more of an athletic explorer type, we went on a little trek around the grounds to get a new perspective on the castle. That’s the thing – Instagram ever only shows you one side, so it was really cool to be able to climb up some hills and dangle my feet off some (very muddy) rocks and see the castle from a whole new perspective.

After bidding farewell to my dream home, we made a quick detour to Frankfurt to visit Chipotle (where all my burrito dreams came true) and then continued onwards (in the night) to Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Naturally, this didn’t go according to plan either. Thanks to yet another Google Maps disaster, for an hour, we drove towards another Rothenburg that wasn’t actually where we meant to go. For a variety of reasons (including severe sleep deprivation), I lost it.

And I started bawling like a baby.

“I’m… just… so… bad… at… MAPS!!” I remember heaving through the lamest sobs known to man. It was at that point that my tears mixed in with my day-worn eyeliner and I started looking like I’d been dumped at prom.

Some Class A consoling later (gold star for boyfriend!), I picked up the shambles of my dignity and watched Google maps and every sign like a hawk.

By some miracle, we made it to Rothenburg ob der Tauber before midnight, through its epic city walls and into the cozy bed of our guesthouse, strategically positioned above a lovely Italian restaurant.

When in the morning, it was a blue sky day in Rothenburg and I finally got to see the medieval town that we had driven into, I could have cried (out of happiness this time). I’ll have full guides on Eltz Castle and Rothenburg ob der Tauber coming soon, but for now, just take a peek at these picture-perfect photos:

So in all, despite many wrong turns (literally) and more than a few missteps on my part, what started as a romantic weekend did end up being one… with a few unexpected stops, 100% more Chipotle and much less of the Romantic Road than expected. Still, it was one for the books.

It might surprise you guys to know that at one point in my life, I absolutely  hated  Rome.

*gasp* I know, how could I? Rome?   “But Gladiator was suuuuch a good movie!”

Trust me – nobody was as shocked as I was.

Call me a starry-eyed backpacker, but the first time I set foot in Rome, I was ready to be swept away like the heroine of a cheesy rom com. I had all these dazzling images of Rome in my head ( thanks Lizzie McGuire ) and I had my heart set on loving the city as much as I always thought I would.

But, following a mucky week of thunderstorms, sketchy guesthouses, sweaty crowds and one pickpocketed purse… I was done. I shook my fist at the unfair travel gods and left in a huff, vowing never to return.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago: I was swept away in my usual 3am Skyscanner binge (#rowdyFriday), testing all sorts of dates and combos for a quick January escape. Because Munich had turned me into a walking popsicle, I craved a visit to someplace warmer. That’s when a suspiciously cheap flight caught my eye.

… a cheap flight en route to Rome.

It seems my impulsivity outweighed my pettiness, and I decided that Rome was worth a second go. A week and a half later, I had recruited a travel buddy and soon found myself in the mecca of carbs and glorious architecture. And you know what? In an unexpected turn of events, Rome won my heart in four short days.

Here’s how.

Visiting Rome in January was drastically different from June.

For one – you only get stabbed by a selfie stick once every few hours, rather than thrice per minute. Second – the insane heat fizzles out, and you feel much  less  like a melting slab of dough. For the first time, I felt like I could see Rome for what it was – a glorious city with epic history and sights, rather than a cesspool of fannypacks and tripods.

It’s genuinely incredible how many  amazing things you can do in Rome for free .

Our first day was devoted to exploring all the tourist must-sees, starting off with the  Trevi Fountain, which recently re-opened after a 2 year restoration. 

One of the most bitter moments from my last visit was when I trekked to the fountain, excited as a puppy to see it for myself, only to discover (upon arrival) that it had been drained out, covered in ugly scaffolding and shut down for (literally) 2 years without a word.

For me, this visit was redemption time, and you know what? It was worth the wait.

The fountain was absolutely stunning, and while I felt embarrassed throwing my coin in, I later learned that 3000 euros are collected from the fountain each day, and are then put towards social programs.

So hey, cheesy photo opps for a cause!

After an amazing lunch where we ate our weight in pasta, we rolled our food babies to the Pantheon , Rome’s most famous temple.

The inside was absolutely gorgeous, and substantially less crowded than in June. With bright light flooding through the oculus, the entire temple was lit up with unbelievable golden tones…

Like an idiot, I stood there with my mouth hanging open, trying in vain to capture the beauty on camera. We lingered here for a few minutes, soaking it all in before we pried ourselves away to our next stop: the Piazza Navona.

Truth be told, it almost felt like the universe was saying “yo Christina, your last visit really sucked. Have a balloon and let’s make this right.”

But actually though, when we arrived at Piazza Navona, it was decked out in gorgeous balloon arches (in heart form, no less) and all sorts of carnival booths with colourful toys and prizes. Coupled with kids running around having the best day ever, it was quite a different vibe to the Rome I remembered.

Sadly, all this hub bub wasn’t actually to appease me, but rather to celebrate Epiphany, the 12th day after Christmas. My favourite bit? The live band looking dapper in their matching outfits.

All love’d up from the buzz at Piazza Navona (where we coincidentally ran into a classmate of ours from Germany), we raced to our final stop off the day – Castel Sant’Angelo, the cylindrical beauty at the end of the Sant’Angelo Bridge.

The views at this museum (formerly a mausoleum, fortress and castle) were just ok. No, I can’t lie to you – they were amazing. So amazing that my SD card filled up.

When Day 2 came, I had already formed an odd attachment to the city. I just couldn’t believe how much better it was the second time round.

According to my phone, we logged almost 20km of walking on Day 2 alone… but don’t worry – the calories lost were promptly replenished with oversized gelato cones the size of my (already rather large) face.

Our long walking day took us from Termini Station onwards to  the Spanish Steps, passing gorgeous attractions like the Santa Maria Maggiore, the Opera House, Piazza di Republica and more along the way. While the Spanish Steps themselves were sealed off for restoration (oh Rome), we were able to walk up to the Villa Medici, where we got the most gorgeous view ever of the city:

As we climbed back down, we made our way past Piazza del Popolo and then to the quaint neighborhood of Trastavere,  an amazing subset of Rome with the laidback vibes of small town Italy.

The lovely cafe-lined streets were a welcome change from the heavy tourist bustle, so we decided to rest up in the coziest possible way – sipping foamy cappuccinos while wolfing down cups of panna cotta.

We held nothing back on Day 3, when we conquered Ancient Rome with the agility of badass gladiators. One combo ticket was all we needed for access to the Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill.

Pro tip: if you purchase your combo tickets at Palatine Hill (which usually has little to no lineups), you can then jump ahead in the queue at the Coliseum.

That alone saved us 1.5 hours in line! If you’re looking for an opportunity to improve your smug face, this would be an excellent one.

The logical reward for all this sightseeing was an unnecessary amount of food.

On this particular day, my waistline was heftily expanded through the following events: a pre-lunch sandwich that ruined me for other sandwiches, a delicious seafood pasta lunch and a post-lunch suppli (a deep fried rice ball oozing with tomato sauce and melted cheese).

Yuh huh. It was as good as it sounds.

And rather than give into a food coma afterwards, we lugged ourselves to see the  Altare della Patria  (the massive typewriter-esque building that Romans love to hate) and the  Galleria Borghese,  one of Rome’s most well-known art galleries.

And for our final day, we crossed into the world’s smallest country: the Vatican. Our first order of business was climbing the dome ( cupola)  at Saint Peter’s Basilica, a feat not suited for the claustrophobic or exercise-averse.

After cramming myself through some  pretty  narrow passages, I survived the 551 dizzying steps up and came head to head with this stunning view:

And then onwards to the impossible grandeur of the Basilica’s interior…

Even though it was my second time inside, I still couldn’t believe how incredible it all was. For real, I was getting neck pains from staring at all the ceiling’s fine details. I even saw a few people who were so moved, they were crying. If there’s one thing you can’t miss in Rome, to me this is it.

By 2:30pm (after a long lunch of course), we had made it to the Vatican Museum, surprisingly void of crowds. What’s it like getting a massive museum like this all to yourself? Well, it was tough to resist the urge to just slide down this epic stairwell, but I assure you: I kept my cool and acted like a proper adult.

We ended our last night in Rome with a lovely outdoor dinner beneath the twinkling lights of a Roman side street. On our way home, we picked up our final scoops of Italian gelato (dulce de leche and stratiatella to be precise) and headed home, 10 pounds heavier and with the fondness of Rome I always knew I had.

And so, for those thinking of visiting Rome in the off-season,  do it.  Just remember to pack stretchy pants.

Further reading:

A Local’s Guide to Rome

Sometimes in life, you just have to trust your gut.

Truth be told: when I found myself with a plane ticket to Istanbul only 48 hours after a terrorist attack, I didn’t know what to do with myself.

Frantic pacing was involved of course, alongside incessant Googling and nervous wine guzzling… but as I’m sure you can appreciate, “TERROR ALERTS ISSUED FOR ISTANBUL” weren’t the most comforting of headlines to read.

It didn’t take long for my travel buddy to cancel her trip, prioritizing safety over the lost cash from our bookings. Simultaneously, the panicked phone calls from home began to pour in, with my parents urging me to play it safe and (essentially) lock myself at home in panic position.

My ever-so-lovely parents even offered to fly me home from the chaos, despite the fact that I was in Munich, miles and miles away from where the bombing even occurred. But… you know how logic can often escape worried mothers.

So I did what I thought was right: I assured them of my safety, cancelled my hostel booking and went to sleep in a huff, feeling robbed of my dream trip to the beautiful city of Istanbul, which had glittered for ages at the top of my bucket list.

I’m not quite sure when or why I woke up and said “screw it”… but I did. Maybe I dreamt a particularly adventurous dream… but something in my gut told me I would regret not taking this trip of a lifetime. So, with a few white lies told and a quick panic packing session, I found myself all alone on a plane bound for Turkey’s capital.

And it was the best decision I ever made.

I can’t lie to you and say it was all Turkish delight and free apple tea… although my waistline can attest that there was much of both. Instead, I’ll say this: it was one of the most amazing, but challenging travel experiences of my life.

Istanbul is a stunning city oozing with depth and culture. I ate some of the best food of my life here, and saw some of the most beautiful sights and architecture.

I originally wrote this post in 2016, leaving the story at that – the good stuff, but I feel I’d be doing you a disservice to not tell the whole truth. I adored Istanbul and I adored being out of my comfort zone, with zero clue how to do anything properly (even buying a ticket for the metro)… but as much as I’d like to romanticize this experience as a whirlwind adventure, it was also the same trip that I got hopelessly lost, partially stalked, a few times followed and as a result, became more of a badass solo traveller.

So here’s a (rather long) photo diary of my trip – a review of the good and the bad. This experience is by far one of my most memorable, not just for the impossible beauty that is Istanbul, but because it reminded me of why it’s so important to travel, and to try it solo every so often.

Traveling is  supposed  to challenge you – your assumptions, your limits and of course, the boundaries of your comfort zone. I’m beyond thankful that I got this chance to learn, grow, and eat baklavas til near-implosion… here’s what I got up to:

The culture shock began as soon as I arrived at the airport. Without even a clue of how to buy a metro ticket (or token, I guess), I realized just how out of my element I was.

I’m used to travelling on my own, but mostly through Western/Central Europe where most systems are the same, and cater to dummy tourists like me.

After a great deal of confusion, I took the long ride from the airport and got off at my stop, realizing all too quickly that I never saved walking directions to my hostel.

It was at this point that I got hopelessly lost navigating the steep streets of Istanbul’s Galata neighborhood, following a zig zaggy blue dot on my iPhone.

It took over an hour of searching (and a terrifying roaming bill), but I finally found my home for the next few days.

After resting up, my first full day was dedicated to seeing all the sights. Even in the winter, Istanbul was absolutely breathtaking, and unlike any place I’d ever been. 

The byproduct of this beauty was of course, utter distraction, which led to me walking straight into a poor old Turkish man en route to the Old City, whose tea did an impressive splat across his entire body. I apologized profusely, he smiled, and I felt bad for the rest of eternity. #CanadianProblems

One of my first stops was the  Basilica Cistern, a famous underwater reservoir known for its appearance in “From Russia with Love”. In full tourist garb, I didn’t feel much like a Bond girl, but I did manage to sneak a few glorious long exposure shots.

It was an eerie but fascinating setting, with long illuminated columns lining pools of still water. Wonderfully tranquil (bar the many other visitors who thought flash photography was a good idea…)

I then emerged from the darkness (which is a cool sentence I never thought I’d say) and set my sights on one of Istanbul’s biggest attractions: the  Sultan Ahmed Mosque  (AKA the Blue Mosque).

With its close proximity to the bombing site just a few days prior, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sure enough, there were security guards all over the place, patting people down, plus a sea of police officers and civilians making their way to the mosque.

I had arrived at prayer time (during which it’s closed to visitors), so I explored the area, made friends with stray cats and people-watched from a gorgeous courtyard nearby.

When I was finally able to go inside, I got dressed in the robe, skirt and headscarf that they provided and stepped inside.

Truly, wow.

The detailed tile work was absolutely mindblowing, and was of course a recurring theme in all my Turkish sightseeing. After grabbing myself a quick lunch (did I mention how cheap and wonderful the food is?! They even gave me free tea as I waited!), I set my sights on my next big attraction of the day: the Hagia Sophia.

Once the world’s largest church (before it became a mosque), the Hagia Sophia today is a badass museum that will truly make you stop and stare. 

I’ve seen a lot of churches throughout my time in Europe, but this one genuinely blew me away.

The sheer scale and beauty of the place is borderline unbelievable, with ornate mosaics and towering pillars everywhere you look.

Coincidentally, it was while lining up here that I ran into one of my hostel roommates who I had met earlier that day, along with two guys he had met while sightseeing.

It’s always interesting how quickly plans can snowball when you’re a solo traveller. Case in point: within a matter of seconds, I went from roaming solo to conquering Istanbul with 3 friends (two of which were apparently entertainment moguls who knew Jet Li. … or so they claimed).

We spent the evening together, sampling Istanbul’s best sweets while sipping gallons of apple tea. My new friends even treated me to a dessert of my choice, and after an agonizing few minutes staring holes into the menu, I chose a delicious Burma Kunefe  (a swirly pastry wrapped with layers of pistachio).

It was oh so perfect.

After completing the night with a smoky local shisha bar (where I most definitely did not blend in), I spent my next day doing something I’m a bit better at: shopping.

As a female travelling on her own, and one that’s visibly not Turkish, I wasn’t surprised at all that I’d be subject to much hollering and swarming at the local markets. I wasn’t bothered by it – more amused by the eyebrow swaggles and “HEY LADYs” that became the soundtrack of my day.

After getting attacked by pigeons at the New Mosque,  my first stop was the  Egyptian Spice Bazaar , where I was greeted by picture-perfect spice mounds, sparkly tea sets and stand after stand of unknown treats.

Here, I learned about the Turks’ very liberal sample policy (which meant I ate my weight in Turkish delights) and moreover learned flavours like cheesecake DO exist!

Of course, despite my earnest attempts at haggling, I still walked away with a much lighter wallet, and a camera bag crammed with spices, teas and treats.

Ugh,  weakness is me.

Mourning my monetary losses, I made my way to the  Süleymaniye Mosque,  the 3rd largest mosque in the city.

It was probably the quietest and most peaceful spot I visited in Istanbul. Right next to the mosque was a gorgeous Ottoman cemetery and a big courtyard boasting the best ever view of the Bosphorous.

While admiring this viewpoint, I caught a photographer using me as a prop for his photos, his ninja snaps not being as subtle as he thought.

Recognizing that I do have a pretty good “staring out wistfully” pose, I pretended to not notice and instead tossed the guy a few gramworthy poses. You’re welcome bro, I know the struggle.

From oddly peaceful to hopelessly touristic, I made my way from the Süleymaniye to Topkapı Palace, where swarms of tour groups had arrived to snoop around, just like me. Once a main home for the Ottoman sultans, today the palace is a museum and tourist magnet.

It’s not hard to see why. All I can say is: dang those Ottomans knew how to  live. 

Sprawling over four courtyards, this place was like getting smacked in the face with opulence. Especially in the Harem (my favourite part of the visit), I was surrounded by an endless display of elegant tiles, intricate patterns and vibrant colours. Needless to say, I wouldn’t mind moving in.

Of course, a little retail therapy was needed after all that hard sightseeing work.

Off to the  Grand Bazaar  I went,where I came face to face with a Turkish movie starlet.

… except well, not quite.

Passing by my 10000th rug shop of the trip was when I met a dapper mustached salesman who with a prideful tilt of the chain, waved me over. I had gotten pretty good at dodging salespeople at that point, but something about him seemed intriguing.

He gestured at my giant Nikon and beckoned “Take my photo… I’m a famous Turkish movie star!” This guy couldn’t be for real. I laughed, ever the skeptic, but indulged him in a mini photo shoot.

After showing me a few of his rugs, he sheepishly confessed to me that he wasn’t in fact a movie star,  but  was happy to have some company for once.

Well shucks. I of course forgave him quickly.

Going through the markets was a really interesting experience for me, mainly because it was so much emptier than I expected.

While chatting with a shopkeeper (a young guy who got sucked into the family biz selling lanterns), he told me that tourism had been going down a lot in the area… but that for locals, life went on as normal. “What are we going to do, stop our lives?”

Over a few cups of tea, he told me about how he just came back from studying in Australia, and how he hated the way Turkey was portrayed in the media.

I opened up to him about some of my safety concerns… like how I avoided being out on my own at night “just in case”. He laughed and asked what I was afraid of. “If you’re afraid of being robbed, I can promise all these guys are richer than you are”, he said as he gestured to the shops around us.

Despite how lighthearted our conversation was, it did make me think.

While I loved Istanbul, there were definitely moments where I felt uneasy being on my own.

There were some men who approached me on the street, walking with me and asking me questions for several blocks.

There was the shopkeeper who shook my hand as an introduction and then didn’t let go for an unsettling amount of time… There was even, in my own hostel, a guy who waited for me to wake up so we could hang out (another story for another time), but all these experiences did (as much as I hate to admit) make me wish I wasn’t travelling on my own.

My new shopkeeper friend dismissed my worries as paranoia. I’m still not so sure it was. When he decided to close up shop early and invite me to another place for tea, that’s when those same worries began to settle in.

“We’ll go for shisha at a local place too, I’ll show you!” The sky was getting dark, I was pretty far from home and this guy, while very lovely, wasn’t someone I actually  knew.

So I declined the invitation. The offense he took was clear. A quick, snappy goodbye later, he stormed away in the opposite direction.

Maybe I should have been a bit more openminded… but if there’s anything I’ve learned from my travels, it’s to trust your gut. I love venturing abroad with friends, but one of the perks to solo travel is that you develop assertiveness, thick skin and an ability to fend for yourself. 

Our interaction may not have ended so well, but I’m still thankful for the eye-opening conversation, whether or not I was being paranoid.

On my final day, I had just a few short hours left to explore the city before heading to the airport.

I had been eyeing the Galata Tower all throughout my stay, mostly because it was part of my daily walk back to the hostel. My last day seemed a fitting time to finally visit.

Unlike most tower views in Europe, this one omits the typical leg blasting climb and opts instead for a quick elevator ride that zips you right up. It was a very quiet morning, which meant yes, I felt like the queen of Istanbul with this view all to myself:

The rest of the day was dictated naturally by food. I had a few remaining liras in my wallet, and the most accurate description I can use is I went full Pacman through the streets of Istanbul.

It was, without exaggeration, a marathon of Turkish street eats, with me buying essentially every item that caught my eye.

After leaving the tower, I made my way to  Karaköy Güllüoğlu Üretim Tesisi , renowned by many as the maker of Istanbul’s best baklava. 5 flaky, gooey baklavas later, I can confirm that it was a most heavenly experience, one that made me melt into a puddle of caloric joy.

This proceeded with many cups of fresh fruit juice and creamy ayran (a Turkish yogurt drink) , plus a doughy simit (a circular bread encrusted with seeds) and lamb köfte (spiced meatballs). Not a bad consumption record for like… 3 hours. No regrets, because every bite was absolute bliss.

It was with that eatathon that I ended my time in Istanbul. I hopped back on the metro (my pants feeling much snugger than before), and promptly made my way back to the airport.

In hindsight, I am so extremely glad that I went with my gut and boarded that plane.

This experience taught me that fear should never hold you back, and that despite all the risks and dangers everywhere in the world, it’s still important to venture out there and experience what the world has to offer. It won’t always be easy, especially if you’re travelling alone, but you’ll widen your perspective

Thanks for an unforgettable visit, Istanbul… I hope to be back someday soon.

my Travel Update Archive

Once upon a time, this travel blog had a ton of Dear Diary type posts that I eventually phased out. Looking back on these updates though make me smile and realize how far I’ve come, so if you’re also curious to see snippets of my life from years ago, feel free to flick through these old travel stories and updates.

Surrrprise, guys… I’m alive!

Okay, I really have to own up to it…  it has been an embarrassingly long time since I’ve blogged.

I could make up a million excuses for this bit of Internet silence, but the simple truth is this: since packing my bags for Munich three months ago, I’ve been caught in a whirlwind of new friends, new experiences and jam-packed days.

I’ve been trying so hard to soak up every single moment that I’ve gotten a little neglectful… erm, lazy even… with documenting them properly for the interwebz.

That said though, with 2016 just around the corner, I figured it was finally time to resurrect this little site of mine… hopefully, for good 🙂

So what’s new?

Well… On September 1st, I left Vancouver to live abroad on my own for the first time in my entire life! I am now more than halfway into my exchange semester at LMU in Munich, where I’ll be studying until the end of February.

After that, I intend to travel around Europe for a few more months before settling back in Canadaland.

I’ve been sitting here for about 20 minutes trying (in vain) to explain how much I love my life here in Munich. Do you know those moments in life when everything seems to just fall into place?

That’s exactly how the past few months have been. From randomly meeting the greatest group of friends to landing an unexpected job, my exchange has been an absolute dream. I have so so many stories to share, and I can’t wait to blog them up for you soon.

Onto more site-related news, some of you might have noticed the name change!

As of now, Hello Guanster is no more, and here’s the simple reason why… You know that cringey feeling you get when you revisit your first email account? (e.g. ahh [email protected] … what was I thinking??)

That’s the feeling I was starting to get about Hello Guanster. It seemed catchy and cute at the time, but I definitely feel like I’ve outgrown it.

My plan is to orient this blog more towards travel in the coming months, and beyond just a place to offer tips and guides, I want it to be a place where I document how my adventures have helped me grow.

My plan is to turn this blog into a space where curious optimists can get together and fangirl collectively at how great this world can be, so here it is…! I think Happy to Wander has a pretty nice ring to it… don’t you?

To sum things up, 2015 was hands down the best year of my life so far, and I’m determined to make 2016 just as great.

With trips in January to Rome, Istanbul and Marrakech, I think I’ll be off to a good start.

And on a more bloggy note, I plan to spend a lot more time working on Happy to Wander, writing up stories, tips and all that good stuff for you. Finding a good balance between ‘living in the moment’ and documenting moments can be tough, but striking that happy medium is undeniably rewarding.

Like all good things, travel blogging takes a great deal of dedication, hard work and patience, and I’m making it my goal for 2016 to really give my all to this site. I hope you’re ready!

I’ll have plenty more posts for you soon. Until then, enjoy the rest of 2015!

With an overflowing backpack on my shoulders and an unshakeable grin on my face, I’m thrilled to announce that I am officially on the road again, and will be travelling full-time for the next 1.5 months.

While I’ve travelled quite a bit in the last few months, this will be the longest trip I’ve taken in a while. Going back into ‘constant travel’ mode will take some getting used to, but it’s a challenge I’m s ure I can handle. With eight new countries in the pipeline, here’s a sneak peek at where I’m headed in the next few weeks: 

1. Finland and Scandinavia

I’ve seen quite a bit of Western Europe, but never the North, which is why I am so excited for this part of my trip. I just stopped for a long layover in Riga and am now in Helsinki for a few days.

From what I’ve seen, this city oozes ‘cool’ and I can’t wait to spend a few days museum & restaurant hopping. From here, I’ll get a chance to relax at a friend’s summer cottage near Turku before working my way through Scandinavia. See you soon, Stockholm, Bergen and Copenhagen!

2. Amsterdam and Rotterdam

After wrapping up my mini tour of Scandinavia, I’ll be spending Easter Weekend in Amsterdam at my first music festival! This will be my third year in a row visiting the Netherlands, but hopefully this time around I’ll get to dig into more ‘off-the-beaten-path’ itineraries for both Amsterdam and Rotterdam. If all else fails, I’ll just stuff myself with Dutch cheese and apple pie. I’m pretty good at that.

My excitement for this trip borders on ridiculous. Iceland has been a dream of mine for years, and finally ,  at the end of March, it’ll become a reality!

From Amsterdam, I fly to Reykjavik, where I’ll be driving across the country with two friends in a cozy camper van.

From the Blue Lagoon to mindblowing nature at every turn, I’m pretty much ready to vomit from excitement. If you want to see why, here’s the video I watched years ago that inspired my Icelandic obsession:

4. Ireland and Scotland

Last but not least, before returning to Munich, I’ll be flying from Reykjavik to Dublin! This part of my trip is still a bit fuzzy on details, but I definitely plan to see Dublin, Edinburgh, and many undecided places along the way. Any recommendations would be much appreciated!

Ahhh… I am  so ready to take on these next few weeks! I hope you’ll all follow along by catching updates on  Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a  lot  of planning to do…

Apparently I do monthly updates now!

I know this is pretty random, but the past few months have been packed with existential crises, the most recent of which made me realize my blog has been severely missing a personal touch.

While I LOVE writing guides and photo diaries, sometimes it’s nice to remind you that there’s a human potato who’s behind these giggly words, which is why I’m now committing myself to monthly updates that catch you up on what I’ve been up to, AKA which countries I’m currently pillaging for carbs.

And so, for the creepos interested in tracking my movements, this one’s for you 😉

Now, why two months bundled into one?

Well, I just came up with the idea now (#showerthoughts for the win), plus March and April have been absolutely insane months packed with travel, which will make me seem a lot more exciting than I am 😉 I am so painfully behind on blogging about all the beautiful places that I’ve stumbled through in the past two months… but I’m slowly working my way through! For now though, enjoy some highlights!

You know those major bucket list destinations that haunt you from the corner of every Pinterest board and Instagram? Since moving to Munich, that has been Slovenia for me.

No joke – some days I would just stare longingly at a map, daydreaming about how close I was and how easy a weekender would be. Mid-March, I finally did it!

A short road trip later, I was able to do a sunrise hike around Lake Bled, discovered the unreal beauty of Ljubljana and found zen at Bled’s less famous cousin, Lake Bohinj. The verdict? Not enough time at ALL. I’m already plotting my return.

After Slovenia, I took the slow route back to Munich and spent a few days in the all-too-underrated Croatian capital of Zagreb.

I’m a rather stubborn person, so after repeatedly hearing that Zagreb was boring, I set out to see for myself. People, Zagreb is so far from boring !

At the end of March, I headed off to Malta for a press trip and it was absolutely incredible. One of the coolest, most interesting countries I’ve visited in a long time in terms of architecture, history and food. Four days of pure bliss, I came home with a full SD card and a little extra cushioning around the tummy. I guess some sacrifices need to be made eh?

PS: The swishy hotel I stayed at even had a tanning bed in the bathroom (which I did not use) and a Jacuzzi on the balcony (which I used plenty). My lifelong dream of eating chicken nuggets in a hot tub? Fulfilled at long last.

MONTENEGRO, CROATIA AND BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA

After catching my breath for a few days in Germany, I headed off again for a week in the Balkans. For the first time in my life, I went in with absolutely no plan, embracing a go-with-the-flow spontaneity that would make any backpacker proud.

This was my first solo “backpacking” trip in ages and was such a great reminder of why I started travelling in the first place. From Podgorica, Montenegro, I had a week to make it to Tuzla, Bosnia. Besides that, no fixed plans!

That’s how I ended up hiking fortresses in Kotor, meeting friends who convinced me to stop over in Dubrovnik for a night, then falling absolutely head over heels with Mostar. So much that I kept extending my stay, leaving only one day in the capital of Sarajevo.

I’ll be writing more in-depth about how this trip affected me, but truly – there is no country in the world like Bosnia. Besides its stunning beauty, it is a genuinely captivating country that will simultaneously break your heart yet fill it up with hope.

Mushy and vague I know, but I’ll elaborate further in some future blog posts. While here, I did some wild things… I climbed an abandoned sniper tower for sunset, scaled a mountain on all fours in a dress and even hitchhiked for the first time. I know, right? Who have I become?!

Hey you guys wanna hear a funny joke? I ran a half-marathon.

For real! Me! I am now officially Christina Guan – human potato / half-marathon runner. My packed travel schedule meant almost zero training, so it’s a miracle that my knees didn’t just snap off. Here are some fun screen grabs of the awful photos they got of me at the finish line. I know, I look like a thumb.

And now, as I type this rambly mess of an update, I’m sitting in a beautiful artsy café in Bulgaria, a country that has challenged and surprised me daily. I’ve been here since the end of April, and will continue making my way through the country until mid-May, when I’ll be in Bucharest, Romania for an awesome event called #ExperienceBucharest!

I’ll be joining over 100 other bloggers, vloggers and influencers who will be storming through the city to experience what it has to offer and showcase the epicness of Bucharest.

It’s my first blogger event ever – can you imagine? I’ve got my business cards ordered and have been practicing being a normal human daily in the mirror, but we’ll see how that pans out. I’ve never been one for networking, but this will be interesting!

SO if you’ve made it this far… congratulations and thanks for reading! I’d love to hear in the comments what your travel plans are. Talk to me, friends! 🙂

When the other day, I had the epiphany that we’re over halfway into 2017, I might have peed a little.

Here’s the thing – I don’t deal well with time passing. It makes me feel old and weirdly vulnerable. I mean, despite my “early 20s status”, there are some days when I feel ready to just procure a rocking chair, learn to knit and call it a day.

That said, after I staved off my existential crisis, I realized how long overdue I was for a monthly update! I have to admit, when I valiantly promised monthly updates back in April, I didn’t expect my plans to unravel so quickly.

To be fair though (as will be revealed in this post), May was non-stop go go go and June was packed in a different way. Hence hello, yet another “monthly update” – 2 for the price of one 😉

May was a month spent entirely on the road, which sounds really cool and romantic, but in reality was just a mix of poor nutritional choices (I’m nursing a prominent #BalkanBulge around my midriff as I type), coupled with wearing the same 4 shirts over and over.

BUT, if that’s the tradeoff for seeing and doing epic things, I guess I’m okay with that.

Here’s where I went in May!

When I first told people I was visiting Bulgaria, initial reactions consisted mostly of “why” and “ where?? ”.

But seriously, I need you to know this: Bulgaria is ridiculously awesome.

I’ll admit, I endured a shaky start travelling solo in a country where I couldn’t even read the alphabet, let alone carry any kind of conversation.

But in spite of initial struggles, Bulgaria amazed me . It is hands down one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever visited. My two weeks took me through Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, and Veliko Tarnovo – the unsuspecting city that completely rocked my world.

It was here that I met the coolest group of friends who adopted my little scaredy cat self and transformed me into a (slightly more) adventurous badass.

With them, I shimmied into abandoned Communist monuments, went night time swimming in waterfalls and hiked trails that would make former-me cringe.

It was the best experience ever, and the biggest “eff you” I could have given to my comfort zone.

I plan to write way more in the future about Bulgaria, but here are some photos of the amazing things I saw. If you get the opportunity, please go. I’ll pay you a good chunk of my savings to bring me back some  banitsa  and  tarator  soup. *drools*

Waddling into Bucharest, I felt like the chosen one.

Chosen for #ExperienceBucharest that is – the largest ever tourism campaign the city has ever seen, and run entirely by volunteers to boot. It was my first time at an event of this kind, where I got to rub shoulders with over 100 other bloggers and influencers, many of which I have stalked  admired for years .

I mean… business cards were exchanged, so you can imagine how important and fully “adult”ed I felt.

But I bet you can also imagine also the 50 shades of awkward I breezed through, because I am me, and cope poorly in social situations.

Here’s an actual photo of me awkwardly sipping wine at a networking event:

Blue wine aside, the main focus of this trip was about discovering Bucharest, and I have to say: this Romanian capital was a wonderfully unexpected surprise.

From cool hidden cafes to colourful, secret passages – Bucharest was absolutely nothing like I imagined. If you’re looking for a unique getaway that’s more off the beaten path, book a flight to Bucharest and you will be smacked in the face with awesome. I promise!

Plus, despite initial networking anxiety, I met some really cool blogger friends along the way. Woah – I have real (non-Internet) friends again. #bigstep

Straight after Bucharest, it was onwards to London.

Oh, London… AKA that time I went bankrupt. I can’t lie, my budget had ten heart attacks jumping from Romania to England, but in the spirit of “hey it’s expensive anyway”, I decided to go 1000% wild and treat. mah. self.

I’m talking: fancy brunches with ridiculous views, high teas where the pastries looked like makeup (lol) and all sorts of frolicking around neighbourhoods I couldn’t afford.

Here, I met up with some friends from home and just tore through the city’s food scene with Pacman-esque enthusiasm. I have zero #ragrets.

Exploring England by Train

After a few amazing days in London, I spent the next week city hopping around England thanks BritRail . I admit, train travel is not the cheapest option for seeing the country, but I’ll be damned if it ain’t amazing and convenient.

Oxford was my first stop, and it was just as gorgeous as I always imagined. I got the chance to tour a few of the colleges and realized, Hogwarts is REAL. (Well, pretty much anyway). The architecture in this city is both droolworthy and photogenic – a must visit when you’re in England.

After that, I caught the train to Liverpool , a place I now affectionately dub as “my spirit city”.

I always knew I would love it because my Beatles fanaticism knows no bounds, but beyond that – I discovered a buzzing and vibrant hub for food, culture and entertainment.

Plus, it was here that I accidentally went on a date with a 70 year old who grew up in Liverpool during peak Beatlemania. No joke. 

We met at a hostel, and with so much excitement, he told me what it was like growing up in the city during such a crazy time. I then asked if he’d ever seen the tribute band that plays at the Cavern Club every Thursday (where the Beatles themselves played hundreds of gigs). He paused, then was like “great idea! LET’S GO!!!”

SO that’s how I spent the entire evening at a (pretty convincing) Beatles tribute concert, while this crazy 70 year old jammed out and relived his youth next to me. He knew every lyric to every song, and kept saying “I’m so glad you dragged me to this!!”

Well, I didn’t, but okay.

My little England tour was capped off with my greatest travel fail to date – or rather, my boyfriend’s (FYI, my actual boyfriend, not the 70 year old Liverpool guy). He was joining me for the weekend and had literally one job: book a hotel.

He ended up booking a hotel in the wrong city.

(And people wonder why I swim in trust issues).

Ending up in Eastbourne rather than Brighton, I soaked in the serendipity of this booking gone wrong. Though my time in the city was brief, I got to enjoy a cotton candy sunset, a pretty walk along the water and a rather unexpected tribute concert for one of my favourite bands, the Killers. Random, but very wonderful.

We did end up in  Brighton the next day, where I ate my weight in sweets at Choccywoccydoodah and soaked in the buzzing atmosphere of the seaside, crowded despite the cloudy skies. I’ve always admired the Brits for their optimistic weather outlooks! Brighton was a really cool city – I mean, it was no Eastbourne , but I liked it alright. 😉

[FYI – that was a joke. Both cities were great. You can put those tomatoes away.]

London (Again)

Before flying home, I returned to London for one last nerdy hurrah.

… at a fan convention!

Yes, I’m a geek and I refuse to apologize for it. I mean, a chance to breathe the same air as some of my favourite TV stars? *swoon*

Wrapping up my London celebrity bingefest, I caught John Bodega in Woyzeck, an amazingly powerful play where as a bonus, I had Steven Ogg from the Walking Dead sitting at the end of my row, much to the gleeful joy of my TWD fan-boyfriend. He never mustered up the courage to talk to him, a fact that I am confident will haunt him until the end of days.

A Month Back Home

In June, I returned to my hometown of Vancouver with a sole purpose: vengeance.

No just joking, I really just needed to graduate and get my degree. Or, you know, the pricey piece of paper that tells the world I’m apparently worth something.

I officially walked the stage on June 9th, after a week of rejuvenating naps and eating all the sushi within eyesight. Without a doubt, Vancouver sushi joints have learned the wrath of Guan.

Fun story about my graduation: after years of buildup and moral support, my parents somehow managed to miss the crucial moment they’ve waited so long for – me crossing the stage.

They heard the announcement of my faculty “Communication, Art and Technology”, heard only the “technology” part, thought: “oh she’s not studying that” and decided on that exact moment to take a washroom break and not pay attention.

Oops. I also managed to be the only girl out of the hundreds of grads to receive the wrong hood pinned on her by accident.

We were all properly lined up, ready to walk out when another girl noticed my hood was a different colour. They had (obviously foreseen my genius) and decided to give me a Master’s hood. I had to waddle in heels to get a repin, but made it out just in time. Only me, am I right?

After my grad fiasco, June was mostly a homebody month, apart from…

A Road Trip to Alberta

Father’s Day weekend was a really special one for me. It was the first time in over ten years, I went on a vacation with my dad… and I got to make it ridiculously special by surprising him with his dream hotel, a promise I made when I was a silly nine year old girl.

His reaction was priceless. You can watch it here.

Onwards to a Journey Across Canada

And now, as I type this, I’m on a shaky Canadian train eastbound to Saskatoon, where I have literally no idea what awaits me.

This month, I’ll be crossing Canada by train (a dream of mine for ages) so I’ll be on the road, being ‘interesting’ again.

Then, at the end of the month, I’m jetting off to a mystery destination… and I can’t wait to tell you where. HINT: it’s a country I’ve never been to before… and it’s in ASIA!

I can’t wait to submerge myself in noodles.

What can I say? Miracles do happen.

Every once in a blue moon, something truly extraordinary graces the planet with its rarity, an unexpected anomaly disrupting the fabric of existence itself.

Today marks that moment… because Christina’s monthly update is actually on time, and finally for a single month, rather than two.

Please be wary of the flying pigs on your way out.

I apologize for the dramatics, but I am (quite frankly) shocked that I actually published this on time, and I can’t wait to share my crazy month with you… which I spent entirely on the road.

Before we begin, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram  for real time updates/stories, since that’s my go-to platform when I’m travelling. Wait what? Was that a desperate grab at followers? Shhhh – just let this happen.

July: All about riding the train across Canada

Long story short: Canada’s national rail company this year released a few thousand special edition tickets celebrating 150 years of the Canadian confederation…  This meant the lucky fools who got one (me included!!) received unlimited train rides in July for the swoonworthy pricetag of $150.

Ripped straight from the pages of the Willy Wonka playbook, this publicity stunt worked, and when July hit, thousands of bushy-tailed backpackers descended upon the country with blankies in hand and snack-stuffed backpacks.

Truth be told, it wasn’t exactly a glamorous experience.

After all, we had no access to showers or proper beds on board, making dry shampoo and baby wipes the most precious things one could own. Plus there were often delays exceeding 12 hours… but hey who was keeping track? 😉

Luckily, I stopped every few days to explore a new city, particularly ones that I never thought I’d see. This turned out to be the best decision I ever made.

Canada is one beautiful, badass country. Here are some of the places I visited by train. Let me know in the comments if any of these were new to you!

If you’re wondering Saska- where,  I feel you. Honestly, Saskatoon, located in the Canadian prairies (read: the middle bit) is a city that I never in my life thought I would visit.

I grew up being told that it was a boring place with nothing to offer. For the two days on board that it took to get from Vancouver to Saskatoon, I had countless travellers laugh at me for stopping there at all.

And so, I skipped into the city expecting a barren wasteland of tumbleweed nothingness.

Instead, I discovered a colourful city with hip neighbourhoods, crazy good food and fun events going on all over the city.

From open mics and DJ shows, to watching a bluegrass  twist on Shakespeare, I found myself unexpectedly falling for the underdog. Saskatoon won me over, and is solid proof that “boring” cities are some of the most fun to explore and discover.

Onwards from Saskatoon, I rode a day-long train to Winnipeg , found in the heart of the Canadian prairies.

Similar to Saskatoon, common west coast snobs will dismiss Winnipeg for being flat, boring and uneventful. After 48 hours there, I can confirm that these west coast snobs  sit upon a throne of LIES.

I mean, in a mere two days, I saw polar bears, relaxed in a stunning Nordic spa, saw dozens of epic street art murals and visited some truly unique museums (including the world’s only museum dedicated solely to human rights awareness).

I was also given the opportunity to dine like an absolute queen, with a food scene just as diverse as Winnipeg’s multicultural population. 2 days wasn’t enough! Pouty and whiny, I forced myself to move onwards East, AKA…

From Winnipeg, I caught the train through Ontario back to Toronto, where I was given a day to explore and frolic around (with an open heart and even more open mouth).

With only 24 hours to spend, I had a wildly baller time digging into the best of Toronto’s food scene. Among the casualties were a beautiful sushi donut, (more than a few) rooftop cocktails, and a shake-inducing combination of sweet coffees from gorgeous cafes around town.

For a day, I pretty much adopted the life of a socialite, meeting up with friends as I ate my way through social gatherings and overdue catchups. It was pure caloric chaos, but nothing compared to my time in…

I have two words for you about my time in Montreal: poutine pregnant.

Those of you familiar with the glory of Canada’s favourite drunk snack will understand what I mean, and those who aren’t, well…. Imagine a heaping serving of crispy fries, topped with squeaky cheese curds and mounds of savoury gravy. NNNGH. On those days, I thanked the universe a million times for loose clothes.

Montreal for me has always been a city of indulgence.

The last time I visited, it was at frigid winter temperatures during which the air legitimately hurt my face. This time, in the summer sun, Montreal was more alive and buzzing than any city I’ve ever seen.

Every two blocks marked the start of a new festival and with the sunshine on my skin, I couldn’t have been happier just walking for hours, seeing all the sights again in a whole new light.

[Give me a gold star] I also managed to sneak away to get some work done at the coolest concept cafe of all time – the Anticafe, which bills you by the hour rather than by your purchase.

Basically, you pay for the time you spend there (at a maximum of $9 for the day) and then you get to hang out in their cozy living room-esque space, drinking up all the caffeine and inhaling all munchies your little heart desires. Yes, it is as splendid as it sounds. Be sure to go if you’re ever in Montreal!

Atlantic Canada: Halifax and… PEI??

Up until this trip, Quebec was the farthest east I had ever been. This time, hopping on a train, I crossed through New Brunswick and into Nova Scotia… a region known as Atlantic Canada.

My original plan was to spend four days in Halifax, but then spontaneity got the best of me, and within 24 hours, I went from “hi what’s your name” to sharing a car/bed with total strangers.

… wait, that sounds bad, but let me explain!

You see, in travel, things tend to escalate quickly… and you can go from being strangers to family in the matter of days.

Essentially, I met up with some fellow travellers on my train who were keen on the idea of visiting Prince Edward Island, the smallest province Canada has to offer.

Quite simply, this is a place that young travellers don’t often visit, which, for the curious George in me, made it all the more appealing. Some last minute planning later, we found ourselves squished together in a little car, en route to PEI for a night.

It was a gorgeous trip that played out to the background of rolling green fields packed with hay bales and golden canola. It was here in PEI that I had a lobster roll so good, I almost cried, and also where I frolicked across red sand beaches with Grand Canyon-esque rock formations.

I feel so grateful to be from a country with so many unexpected tricks up its sleeve.

After this spontaneous jaunt, I had two days left to #DiscoverHalifax.

… and it was seriously nothing like I expected. In place of a quiet, maritime town, I found myself in a buzzing city crammed with cool museums (the Canadian Museum of Immigration and Maritime Museum were my favourites), awesome sights (like a hill-top citadel overlooking the city) and of course, fresh seafood that could make a grown woman cry. I mean, look at this lobster poutine and tell me it isn’t a true work of art:

And from bright rainbow chairs scattered around town, to comfy orange hammocks dangling by the water, this city showed to me that there’s way more to Halifax than its port. I’m already plotting my return… *ominous music*

And now for the ultimate plot twist: from Canada to… Indonesia! I left Halifax ten pounds heavier and headed back to Montreal, where I caught a ridiculous 24 hour commute over to Jakarta.

Why am I here? Weeelll, for the next two weeks, I’ll be venturing around Indonesia for #TripOfWonders alongside 9 other awesome bloggers from around the world.

I’d love if you followed along on Instagram (and all the better if you turned notifications on because the time difference is killing my reach).

The focus of this trip is on cultural discovery, and I seriously can’t wait to dig deeper and see what Indonesia has to offer across its 18,000 islands…. (though I’ll only be visiting 4!)

I keep pinching myself that this is really happening. I’ve always joked that I’m the only travel blogger in the universe who has never been to Bali, so I am beyond stoked for that to change.

… Just get me one of those big hats and I’ll be a walking cliche 😉

Hello my name is Jetlagged, and I am very Christina.

… wait. I think I mixed that up.

*trembles while sipping 10th coffee*

It goes without saying: August was a ridiculous whirlwind, and I am now one very tired coffee bean. 3 continents, 1 transatlantic move, starting a new business and lots of awkward dancing along the way.

But you know what? Despite the fact that I’ve shoved my inner body clock into a rickety blender, I’m grateful for every second and opportunity. This month was a big game changer for me, so without further ado – here’s what happened in August!

You might remember that last month, I decided to travel across Canada by train. A sensible person would have gone home first to pack up and regroup, but instead, I acted like the overexcited corgi that I am, flying straight from Montreal to Jakarta, Indonesia.

In total, I spent 2 weeks in the country, the first ten of which were exploring the country’s cultural wonders with the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism for their #TripOfWonders campaign.

… and it was SO MUCH FUN.

This was my first time in Indonesia and I loved that we visited so many lesser-visited spots and saved Bali for last. Yes, this deprived travel blogger finally  made it to Bali, where all the cool kids apparently hang out. Many smoothie bowls were consumed, I can confirm.

But while I did like Bali, the highlight of my trip was getting to explore the culture and cool sights/history elsewhere in the country.

We started off at Lake Toba, the world’s largest volcanic lake, then moved onto other cultural hotspots like Surakarta (AKA Solo), Semarang, and of course, the epic Tana Toraja (known around the world for their fascinating burial rituals).

After the press trip wrapped, I spent a few extra days in Bali living THE Instagram-perfect life at Alila Villas Uluwatu with Sher from Sher She Goes . It involved a lot of posing, photoshoots and awkward candid laughter.

It was as glam as you’d expect, although I quickly realized just how tough and staged the “IG perfect” life really is. Nothing makes you question your life decisions more than when you call hotel reception asking for rose pedals and extra fizzy bubble bath for the gram.

I am 100% certain the hotel assumed that Sher and I were lovers.

Surprise: I moved to Germany! … again.

After spending less than a week back in Canada, I was on the move again and set my sights on Munich – my new homebase for (at least) the next year while I make the most of my working holiday visa.

I absolutely love it here… the beer gardens, the lakes, the mountains, the beer gardens, the beer….. 😉 Being based in Central Europe is such a dream.

A few hours in any direction and I can be immersed in a whole new culture! Quite legitimately, it’s like unleashing a rabid child into an all you can eat candy shop.

My days have been consumed by 4am Skyscanner/Flixbus binges to see where I should go next. There are too many options, guys! Someone please put a kiddie leash on me.

So, as you’d predict, it didn’t take me long to head somewhere new (48 hours to be exact). My first stop after moving back to Europe was…

Let’s be clear: the first rule of living in Europe is, you ain’t wasting your weekends. 

With that in mind, still groggy from 2 major time zone changes, I sped off to my first destination only 48 hours post-landing.

My first adventure? A glamping weekend in Slovenia with BIG BERRY.

An accurate summary of the weekend would be to tell you that I’m well on my way to unlocking Slovenian housewife status. I drank a ridiculous amount of wine (aka a typical Friday), learned to make bread and even had some time to relax with my main girl, Mother Nature.

Because BIG BERRY is located right on the border to Croatia, I actually got to canoe over to a new country one morning, which (trust me) sounds much more impressive than it really was.

I had an awesome time with BIG BERRY. Read more about my experience here: 

Hyperlocal Glamping in Slovenia: Soaking in The Big Berry Experience

Plans for September

And now? I’m fresh off the heels of a little family weekend in England (where, no big deal, I kinda won a trophy for trivia despite not technically being part of the family #braggingrights).

I’ll be off to Austria for a weekend of hiking in the underrated Vorarlberg region and soon after that, it’ll be a non-stop flood of guests coming into Munich for Oktoberfest.

It’s going to be a busy, beer-filled month but I’m ready for it. Bring on September!

Talk to you crazies soon,

Sometimes when I think about the past month, my head spins a little.

Part of it might be due to the weeks spent at Oktoberfest, sipping elegantly (lol jk – chugging) on beers the size of my torso. But also, it was a crazy month packed with a lot of life changes.

There were exciting things (like gaining momentum on a new business venture ), fun things (like the many days spent at Oktoberfest) and also very sad things (like losing my best friend, my sweet pup Rodeo who I’ve had since I was 10 years old).

And while admittedly, I did spend many days sulking, soaking in my grief thousands of miles from home, it reminded me that travel and life abroad isn’t always rainbows and comically large pretzels. Inevitably, there will be times when it sucks… like when you’re forced to say your last goodbye over Skype.

But that’s life, with all its ups and downs.

And while I admit yes, it has been a tough few weeks, I’m quickly bouncing back to my usual (caffeine-crazed) self.

This isn’t meant to be a sad, pity party type post (after all, Rodeo lived to be almost 100 in dog years – a legitimate shock as he never exercised, much like me) BUT I just wanted to take a second to let you know that life on the road certainly has its lows, and if you ever need to talk about it, I’m here for you 🙂 <3

With that out of the way, the rest of this post will be wayyyyy more lighthearted! Here’s where the month of September brought me.

My month started off with a quick weekend break in England to visit my boyfriend’s extended family.

As in like… cousins, aunts, uncles, random little children… all in one swoop.

It was a bit nerveracking, meeting so many family members at once, but I stifled my ironic (and phony) English accent for the weekend and tried my best to emit some kind of Canadian charm. According to insider sources, I did alright, and even managed to snag a “FAMILY WINNER 2017” trophy out of it, after getting weirdly competitive at trivia.

My ego was quickly knocked down a few pegs when I tried to be cute and teach one of the little kids my name. At the end of the afternoon, when I asked him “Heyyy Leo, who am I?! his answer was a blunt “nobody.”

It was a big win for my self-esteem.

Travel side-note: I learned on this trip just HOW CHEAP it is to get from Bavaria to London if you plan right. The airport at Nuremburg runs budget flights that literally cost 10 euros if you book early enough. That’s cheaper than a day ticket to travel around Munich. You can bet my UK friends will be seeing me a lot more often 😉

A few weekends after (I needed time to nurse my bruised ego), I spent a weekend in Austria’s stunning Vorarlberg province, specifically in the Bregenzerwald.

I love Austria. I’ve been to Salzburg, Vienna, Innsbruck and a few towns along the Danube during my old river cruisin’ days. It’s a stunning country and I always look for excuses to go back.

Here’s the thing though: Vorarlberg is not at all like the rest of Austria. Bordering Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, this province is known for its modern adaptations of longstanding tradition, which means so many different things, like surprisingly contemporary architecture, an exciting food scene and all sorts of events like you’d never expect from a sleepy Alpine region.

I spent the weekend enjoying an array of cool activities, like culinary hiking (where you hike from course to course in the Alps), doing self-guided scavenger hunts through town, eating my face off and even jamming out to a rock concert in the clouds (or well, at the top of a mountain).

Highlights include zapping my butt on an electric fence and eating cake for breakfast (before a 4 hour hike). All in all, a solid weekend. I would definitely recommend checking this region out if you find yourself in Central Europe!

Oktoberfest in Munich… over and over

When Oktoberfest hits Munich, every resident can expect at least one drunken friend to crash on their couch.

… it’s practically part of the rental agreement.

And this year, I think I maxed out my limit when I fit 9 people at once in the tiny shoebox apartment I call home.

Yes, nine. I was basically running an unlicensed hostel.

Here’s the thing: I’m absolutely rotten at goodbyes. I will literally say anything and everything to avoid the awkwardness of saying a forever-bye to someone.

This applies to friends met while travelling… and last May, when I spent 2 weeks in Bulgaria, I met some ridiculously awesome travellers I soon came to recognize as family. During our sad goodbyes, I inevitably blurted out “COME VISIT ME DURING OKTOBERFEST!”

The crazy thing is: they did. Friends from 3 different continents managed to align their schedules again to come visit…  and it was absolutely wild.

Besides my Bulgaria fam, I also had two friends from home visit for a weekend. I think I terrified them a little bit with my enthusiasm for the city. I honestly love living in Munich so much, it borders on weird. I swear the city only gets prettier every time I walk through it, and my “tour guide spiels” pour out more like creepy fan letters. It’s okay though, when your city looks this nice, I reckon you’re allowed.

I had a total of one night without houseguests before I set off for my last stop of the month –  beautiful Romania!

Back in May, I spent some time in Bucharest  and ended up really falling in love with the country. Every day since then, I’ve been plotting my return, so when I was invited to explore an underrated gem in Transylvania known as Covasna County, I signed up quicker than the Energizer Bunny on steroids.

Covasna is a quiet, undiscovered county in Romania with a lot of different nicknames – Land of Mansions being one.

That’s because there’s almost 200 different castles, manors and mansions in the region, many of which have been restored and repurposed for tourism. We got to stay in one and it was awesome – I felt like I was in some old timey murder mystery!

Over the span of a few short days, we explored the best of what Covasna had to offer, visiting local artisans, soaking in the unspoiled nature and going full Pacman on the wide range of food and drink. Naturally, I enjoyed a cotton candy 4x the size of my head and attended a festival dedicated to cake. We also watched bears and painted gingerbread cookies. What can I say – it was a packed itinerary!

It was also during this trip that I (low key) became a local celebrity. In the span of a few days, I was interviewed for two national TV channels (speaking about cake, of course), once for a local newspaper and I even attended a press conference where I did not realize until we arrived that I WAS SPEAKING AT the conference, and not just attending. Why is my life so strange?

Anyways, take the hint Romania, if you’re looking for a hype gurl, hit me up.

Onwards to October…?

I’ve been more inclined to take it easy these days with travel. Constantly being on the road burns me out, and now that I have a new business to worry about, my main goal is on productivity (shameless plug: check out Slaying Social here!). I do have two trips planned for the end of the month (guess where?!) but that’s still a few weeks away. So, my next (mega-exotic) destination is a James Blunt concert. #wanderlust

I’ll also be partnering with Eurail to discover some of Europe’s most scenic train rides. I have my pass for the next two months, but I haven’t made solid plans yet. Let me know if you have any recommendations for me!

Now, allow me a few seconds to be super basic, but ahhhh, I’m so excited for Autumn! I’ve been watching the leaves change colour from my window while I happily sip tea and bundle on increasingly fuzzy scarves. My life might be a chaotic mess right now, but at least it’ll be a sweet pumpkin spice mess in the coming months 😉

Sorry for that longwinded update. I hope you enjoyed it! Talk soon.

We all have that one ridiculous friend that is fifty shades of pumpkin by the time Autumn arrives.

*awkward wave* Hi, Christina here, and  I’m that friend.

Honestly though, October is always a sure recipe for joy in my books, between the chance to throw my boots into crunchy leaves and burrito myself into layers of blankets… Yes, this month I’ve been a happy, happy girl.

Of course, watching the leaves change in Munich (with a stalker-esque intensity I must add) has brought on a whole new set of feels. I feel so lucky to call Germany home, and it’s really hitting me now (2 months in!!) that this is  home for the next little while. That doesn’t mean I stayed put too much though. Here’s where the wonderful month of October brought me:

Life in Munich

Let’s be real: this blog mostly shows you the adventurous traveller side of me.

The other side that goes woefully undocumented is the Domestic Human Blanket Burrito side, the one that needs Netflix as much as oxygen itself. This was the side of me that I happily indulged for the first half of October, as I soaked in the cozy colours of Fall and became one with my sofa.

Here’s what I’ve learned: settling in a place for a while allows you to recapture the joy of simple “little thing” type pleasures.

Hence why one of the highlights of my month was a meatball + showroom pilgrimage to IKEA, which in some ways, made me just as happy as hopping on a plane to Stockholm. Hi, broken travel blogger here – reporting for duty.

That’s not to say I didn’t go insane exploring my own “backyard”.

I mean, when your backyard is a bucket list destination in itself, there’s no time to waste.

One of the highlights was doing a (ridiculously gruelling) hike from Heimgarten to Herzogstand, one of the most scenic routes in Bavaria. For me, it meant 8 hours of almost passing out. Still, it was worth it… for extraordinary views like this:

Another highlight was reaching ‘peak basic’ when I found out Germany was home to the world’s largest pumpkin festival. Guys, I am not making this up. This incredible event takes place every year in Ludwigsburg, Germany, only a few hours from Munich by train. Naturally, I sped there like a sugar-crazed child.

You can’t blame me. This festival is hosted on the grounds of a spectacular palace, and pays homage to all things pumpkin – from spectacular sculptures and foods, to delicious products and every shape of gourd you can imagine.

This year’s theme was Rome, which meant tons of Rome-inspired pumpkin sculptures. I couldn’t believe it. Definitely a worthwhile trip if you find yourself in Germany next year! 😉

The Netherlands

After literally rolling around in pumpkins, I took the train up to Utrecht to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Everyone always describes Utrecht as a mini-Amsterdam, happily without the bucketloads of confused tourists.

I can confirm that Utrecht is, indeed, a selfie-stick free zone, bursting with beautiful architecture and charming Dutch streets at every turn. I was sold, and look forward to visiting again sometime soon to explore properly.

I even caught a few rainbows along the way 😉

From ‘dam to ham, I found myself on a short press trip to the Sierra de Aracena region of Andalucia, Spain. This lesser known part of Andalucia (only 1 hour away from Seville by car) is packed with the cutest villages and enough ham to turn one’s blood into pure lard.

… That was not a complaint, by the way.

I had so much fun visiting this underrated slice of Spain, the highlight of which was the spectacular food and natural magic. I can’t wait to share more about this region with you soon!

Last but not least, I am crushing  hard  on Mother Nature right now after a ridiculously spontaneous trip to Northern Italy to hike the Dolomites.

Here’s the thing: Bavarians get a ludicrously wonderful number of holidays. This year, two holidays came stacked back to back, with only a Monday between them and the weekend. This meant my boyfriend was able to only take one day off work, allowing us to skip off into the Italian sunset for a magical long weekend.

Hiking through the Dolomites has been my dream since forever, and it was every bit as wonderful as I always dreamed. We hit the road in our tiny Volkswagen, pulling over at every opportunity, hiking for hours until the sun came down… I’ll be writing up more details soon – but for now, enjoy these photos!

Plans for November

And now you might be wondering: what’s next?! Well, I’m typing this from the Nuremberg Airport just before midnight, with my sights set for London tomorrow to attend World Travel Market, one of the biggest travel industry events of the year. Will I fall flat trying to network my face off? Only time will tell. Until then, I hope you enjoyed that update, and I’ll chat with you all soon!

Sooo, monthly updates still count when they’re 6 months apart right?

Hi guys! *awkward wave*  It’s Christina, here to claim the title of “actual worst”. Around this time last year, I vowed to write a monthly travel update for you all, and dutifully, no matter how painful, I kept it up.

But then (as they usually do with me), things got a little wacky, and my plans went off the rails.

The truth is, I iced the updates because I thought nobody was reading them. Sometimes it felt like I was typing up all these muddled thoughts, sending them up to cyberspace only to receive virtual crickets and the occasional pity comment from my mom.

But when (from time to time), I started getting questions about my next update, where the personal posts had been, I realized maybe there’s like 1-2 of you that actually read them.

So here I am… for you!  If you do happen to enjoy these more personal posts, please let me know 🙂 A quick emoji in the comments… a virtual high five. Something to rescue me from crying myself to sleep, maybe? Thank you!

Desperation aside, if you want jokey, play by play updates of my travels, your best bet is to follow me on Instagram and watch my Stories.

Now, onwards to the update…

An Exciting New Partnership with Omio

First thing’s first, I announced on Instagram a few weeks ago that I have officially joined Omio as their Munich local expert! For any of you travelling in Europe, Omio is an awesome, free site that allows you to compare prices, times, etc. on transport routes all around the continent, which means you can quickly and easily see the best ways to get from Point A to Point B. You can check them out here.

I’ve been using Omio for years (since my first backpacking trip, if I remember correctly), so this partnership is a total dream come true. I can’t wait to produce monthly content with them all about my beautiful city, things like this insanely detailed guide to public transport.

My New Travel Partner

Next, I need to introduce you to my new travel partner: Alphred! He’s dark, handsome, takes amazing photos, and….

Okay, fine, he’s a camera. Alphred is a camera.

But not just ANY camera… My Alphie is a shiny new Sony A7iii , a full-frame mirrorless beauty that takes THE dreamiest photos. It has been a full four years since I’ve bought a new camera, and while my Nikon D3200 (my first ever DSLR) served me well for a long time, an upgrade was long overdue. Friends, say hello to Alphie! 🙂

My 2018 Travels so Far

Okay, now onto this long overdue travel recap. Honestly, sometimes I scroll through all my photos from the past three months and wonder how I survived without becoming an actual coffee bean.

In the past three months, I’ve hopped through three continents. Here’s a quick recap.

February brought me to India for a very exciting collaboration with Incredible India. As one of 60 bloggers invited to take part in the  Great India Blog Train , I got a chance to experience one of India’s top luxury trains: the swishy Golden Chariot, which took me through the South Indian provinces of Karnataka and Goa. You can read a full review in this post.

Immediately after that, I did a surf camp in Fuerteventura with Planet Surf Camps . Trading in a sumptuous luxury train for a surfer hostel was interesting to say the least. I think the princess in me withered up and died a little. Overall it was good fun, and you can read my full review here . I survived, but my dignity remains in tatters.

Trading in a wetsuit for a business suit, I flew directly from Fuerteventura to Berlin to attend ITB, the world’s largest travel trade fair. Of course, I arrived ten shades tanner thanks to the Spanish sun, and so my first stop was to buy myself some new foundation that didn’t make me look like a surprised ghost.

To my shock/horror, I was officially the darkest shade offered in Germany: so-called “chestnut”.

For the next few days, I scooted my chestnut butt around ITB, catching up with great blogger friends, getting barraged with “YOU’RE SO TAN?” and making some great business connections along the way. If you’re a fellow blogger, I can’t stress the importance of attending in-person events. It’s so important!

Arriving back in Munich, I had all of two days’ to myself before my best friend from Vancouver flew in for a visit. Basically she decided to like, parachute in while my whole world was in flames.

Sleeplessness aside, it was great to have a familiar face in my new hood, and after showing her all my favourite spots in Munich . Together we then jetted off to Porto (one of my favourites) and Lisbon (a new favourite, despite an unlucky brush with pickpockets ).

We managed to visit during a freakish rainstorm as well, which locals found comically unusual. Oh, and a seagull stole an entire omelette off my friend’s plate. Against all odds, I still had an amazing time.

On the way back from Portugal, I stopped for a quick city break in the beautiful fairytale city of Bruges, where I drank from mugs larger than my face, gawked at a vial of Jesus’ blood and stood over top the world’s first beer-filled pipeline.

Guys, Bruges is cool. You can copy my 48 hour itinerary here , check out some alternative things to do, or read about the top, beautiful must-sees .

I only had a few days after that trip to repair my trust issues, when another friend decided to drop in on a parachute: Penelope from the The Flyaway Girl !

After a whirlwind visit in Munich, we flew off together with AirBaltic to visit Vilnius, Lithuania . There, we partnered up with the awesome team at Travel Addicts Club and they showed us a side to Lithuania I never knew existed. Guys, Vilnius is amazing.

You need to go. Here’s a post I wrote explaining why I fell so hard, and of course a great roundup of things to do in the city.

Now, I can’t lie to you – my main reason for visiting Vilnius though was that I had booked a very very cheap flight deal from there to visit home in Vancouver for two weeks (like, 300 euros cheap), two weeks filled with a non-stop parade of sushi and international eats I can’t get my grubby hands on in Munich.

I also happened to be home just in time for peak cherry blossom season, a happy coincidence that resulted in one of my most popular posts this year – where to find cherry blossoms in Vancouver .

My days were filled with blossom chasing with my parents as co-pilots, and it was pretty darn awesome and after a brief Insta-training, my dad is getting weirdly good at photography.

The blossom trend continued as I returned to Europe.

My flight home stopped in Amsterdam , which made a brief foray into the famous Dutch tulip fields a must. With my spontaneity being costly (what, on a holiday weekend in APRIL in the Netherlands), I looked for alternative accommodation outside of Amsterdam, which is how I found myself in the magical little village of Giethoorn .

It was crowded, but lovely, and staying the night there made all the difference (especially for super vain pics like these):

I then got to meet up with a friend off Instagram, Kristy from Tassie Devil Abroad, who gave me the okay to third wheel a romantic tulip adventure with her and her partner.

We skipped the oh-so-popular Keukenhof in favour of lesser-known tulip fields around the province of Flevoland. It was bliss!

Then came Paris. Spring time in Paris has always been a dream of mine, and so I couldn’t resist a quick break here. Side note: I know it sounds like I’ve been making it rain euro bills all over the place, but travelling around Europe can be SO affordable ( here’s my guide to cheap transportation options ), and I actually hopped on a bus from Amsterdam to Paris for less than 50 euros. Amazing.

In Paris, I was blessed with brilliant weather, spring blooms, and the most perfect few days in one of my favourite cities. For those of you who hate Paris or think it’s overrated, fight me.  Yes it’s cliched, yes it’s touristy, but if you know how to do it right, it’s also pure magic. It helps of course that I got to work with Hotel Le Pavillon while there, a brilliant boutique hotel with the most absurdly stunning view. I didn’t want to go home!

My last stop before going back to Munich was a press trip to the amazing butterfly-shaped province of Trentino, a beautiful area in Northern Italy between the Dolomites and Lake Garda. Genuinely, I think it’s one of the most underrated spots in Italy I’ve been to – all the beauty and sights, without the crowds 😉 I can’t wait to share more of my trip with you soon!

So… What’s Next?

I really want to slow things down for the summer. Dial it down to a slow mo, light some candles, yenno, the good stuff. I genuinely believe that travel is best appreciated when there’s balance and ample time to reflect.

I have a few short weekend press trips lined up, but apart from that, I want to make the most of my time in Munich and the European summer… maybe try to get back in shape, because although round is a shape, I’m getting noticeably doughy, a not-so-ideal consistency for bikini season.

This time last year, I had just finished a half marathon, and now this year, the only half I’m finishing is half a cake. Then the second half.

I also need some time to focus on work. I’m a workaholic by nature, so the inability to sit down and get things done is really weighing down on me. I guess you can expect a loooot of content coming your way.

To be honest with you, I’m still struggling to find the balance between travel and work, an especially troubling issue given that I’m a full-time travel blogger.

The issue is this: when I’m in a new place, I always try to do it all, experience it all, often to the demise of my productivity and sleep patterns. The amount of times I’ve fallen asleep, mouth-open in bed while editing photos or writing is far too many… but it’s a 1st world problem I’ll happily take if it means I get to do what I love.

So anyways, another “short” updated that has turned into a novel. I guess I really am back 😉 Talk to you all again soon!

I hope you enjoyed my list of Travel Stories!

I don’t write a ton of narrative type posts anymore, but let me know in the comments if you’d like me to add more.

My Go-To Travel Favourites:

🧳 Eagle Creek: My favourite packing cubes

💳 Wise: For FREE travel friendly credit cards

🍯 Airalo: My go-to eSIM

🏨 Booking.com: For searching hotels

📷 Sony A7IV: My (amazing) camera

✈️ Google Flights : For finding flight deals

🌎 WorldNomads: For travel insurance

🎉 GetYourGuide: For booking activities

2 thoughts on “My Funniest, Cringiest & Most Embarrassing Travel Stories”

Firstly I have to say you are such a great story teller, you had me in stitches from the go! It is so refreshing to read something so different to the usual “Top 10 tips” type of travel blogs! I think I can top your grandad date though…. I inadvertently went to an erotica with my dad. Now that is awkward!

Great fun to watch your Christmas markets guide, and to read some of your stories! I will definitely be coming back for more

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Best Short Travel Stories: 15+ Bloggers Share Their Favorite Travelling Story

Table of Contents:

Every tourist has at least a few interesting travel stories to share. The more you are exploring the world, the greater the chance that you have experienced something unique. We’ve asked our blogging friends to share their most memorable experiences. Check out these awesome short travel stories and get inspired!

Best Travel Stories Including Romance

Love at first lettuce.

by Juliette from Snorkels To Snow blog

4 years later the hunky builder became my husband.

Adventure With A Stranger In France

by Barbara from Jet Settera blog

After our short meeting, we kept on chatting for about a month on Facebook and then we decided to meet up in Florence in a hotel room and explore Tuscany together.

We agreed on the itinerary and he flew in from Vienna and I arrived from Milano. We rented a Fiat500 and we traveled all around Tuscany for a long weekend.

We visited some of the most romantic cities in Italy , such as Siena, Lucca, Pisa, and Cinque Terre. It was an amazing adventure together.

We had lots of fun on the trip and we went on more trips after that. The conclusion of the story was that sometimes it is good to come out of your comfort zone and take a chance on a stranger, maybe he will be an excellent travel partner.

Scary Travel Stories That Will Give You Chills!

Jumped by an adult puma in the bolivian jungle  .

by Aaron from The Dharma Trails blog

Cheap, Bolivian vodka . That’s what got me there. Isolated, deep in the Bolivian jungle, with an apex predator wrapped around my body (and hot breath on my face).  

Volunteering at a Bolivian animal sanctuary I saw all kinds of monkey bites and scratches. It was common for backpackers to show off their fresh wounds at the end of each day. But no one had a story like this…

The weekly volunteer party got out of hand (the night before). Those with the appropriate big-animal training didn’t wake up or sign in to the morning’s meeting. I was there. Hungover, but there.   So, I agreed to help out with the puma (even though it normally requires months of training and animal integration/familiarity).

After an hour of trekking through the jungle, one of the team members and I reached the puma’s enclosure. The huge cat growled at me with a distinct sense of dislike. But that didn’t stop us from continuing our task.   We entered the caged area, attached two ropes to the puma’s “collar” and begun to walk him through the jungle.   

The puma, completely unpleased with my intrusion, stepped forward hesitantly. After only a couple of minutes, he stopped, looked back at me, and growled directly into my eyes. I watched helplessly as the puma leaped 10ft into the air towards me. In a split-second, his powerful legs wrapped around my waist, arms wrapped around my throat and fangs pressed into my forehead.  

I heard my team member scream. But I couldn’t move. Completely still, I assumed the worst. Yet, somehow it felt completely natural. The circle of life. The scream faded as I began to lose consciousness. Then, all of a sudden, I was released.   The animal let me go and stepped backwards.  

After swearing profusely, my team member yelled “stick your palm out towards him”. For some reason, I did.   The huge cat stepped back towards me and licked it. And, that was it. He knew that I knew, who was king of the jungle. After that we were friends.  

Volunteering with animals is a great way to give back while you  eco travel . Just be sure to pick places with adequate training if you don’t want to have bad travel stories like mine!

Getting Arrested in Gansu, China

by Wendy from the Nomadic Vegan blog

My short story about my travel experience is from Asia. On our first trip to China , one of the destinations my husband and I were most looking forward to, was visiting the Labrang Monastery. Located in remote Gansu province in the west of China , Labrang is a holy site and a place of pilgrimage for Tibetan Buddhists. 

At that time, neither one of us spoke any Chinese, and we were finding it frustratingly difficult to get where we wanted to go. We didn’t understand why all the bus drivers were refusing to let us get on the buses heading towards the transport hub from where all onward transport to Labrang left.

When one of them finally did let us on, he then forced us to get out on the outskirts of town, well before we reached the bus station. Confused, and not knowing what else to do, we started walking in the direction we thought the station was in. We didn’t get far before two police cars skidded to a halt next to us, and we were suddenly surrounded by six cops wearing S.W.A.T. badges on their sleeves.

They brought us to the head of the prefecture, who luckily was a very friendly Tibetan man who spoke enough English to explain what was happening. Unbeknownst to us, the Chinese government had recently made that part of Gansu off-limits to foreign tourists in light of protests by ethnic Tibetans in the area.

After treating us to a tasty lunch of vegetarian Chinese food , the head of the prefecture drove us back across the prefecture border himself and made sure that we got on a bus back to where we had come from.

We never made it to the Labrang Monastery on that trip, but at that point, we were just happy not to be in a Chinese jail. As I write this, we are in Mongolia, planning to cross back into China in a couple of weeks. We have been told that Labrang has reopened for foreigners, so 10 years later we are going to give it another shot. Hopefully, we don’t get arrested this time and we will only have amazing travel stories to share!

Snake Attack In Vietnam

by Lina from Divergent Travelers blog

We were just about to take a final stretch of country road and head onto highway 1 for the next leg when we saw something in the road ahead of us.

It was up ahead of Jon and it was the kind of thing you couldn’t really tell what it was until you were right on top of it. In an instant, we saw Jon whip his legs up as a huge snake lunged at his leg when his scooter sailed next to it. I was mortified as I am very afraid of snakes. The last thing I wanted was to have this thing striking at me as we cruised by.

We pulled over, laughed, and discussed the size of it while noticing a local man running down the road with a long stick. He was hollering at us excitedly and pointing at the road. Apparently, snakes of that size are worth well over 1.2 million dong and the man was bursting with excitement about catching the venomous beast.

Asking where it went, he moved into the grass at the edge of the rice field in pursuit. The movement caused the snake to flee into the rice paddies and the local man immediately gave chase into what became a dance between him and the snake. Each challenged the other until the man lept to the opportunity and seized the snake by the head with his bare hands.

He smiled proudly as he came back to the road, showed off the snake then as swiftly as he appeared, left us standing there while he made his way down the road back to his house. Snake in hand. You don’t see that every day! It was definitely one of these fun travel stories that we will never forget.

Dangerous Night Trip In Peru

by Danielle from the Like Riding Bicycle blog

Not every travel story is fun. I have many scary travel stories to share, including the one from Peru. Many years ago, when I’d just started traveling , I took a bus going through parts of the Amazon… at night. Apparently, this wasn’t the best call. Around 3 am I was alarmed to wake up to the bus stopped, and a man in a black mask with a huge black gun pointed at us all. He yelled in Spanish and everyone’s hands went up into the air, so I flung mine up following suit. Before long the men were marched off the bus, leaving us women, hands still in the air, to wait for what would come next.

I had a moment in which I thought: “What are they about to do with the men? What are they about to do with the women? What are they about to do with me, the only foreigner on the bus?” I was far from rich, but they didn’t know that.

After some time another man came on the bus, this time with a small silver pistol which he pointed at each of us as he robbed us blind. No one was physically harmed, though I knew that people who weren’t as fortunate to be a Westerner like myself lost more than they could afford to replace, which was a hard thing to realize. I couldn’t help, only sit there with my arms in the air.

So go to Peru – it’s amazing! – just don’t take a night bus through the Amazon!

Mutant Bugs Attack

by Nathan from Foodie Flashpacker blog

Although at the time it happened I wouldn’t have called it my best travelling story, now, looking back on it, it’s one of the best/funniest stories of my nearly three years of traveling. This all took place during my visit to Fez , Morocco in 2016.

The time I survived a direct attack to the face by killer mutant bugs from outer space. And then visited a vagina doctor with the world’s oldest x-ray machine to put my face back together again.

Long story short- one day I woke up with a face full of bug bites. The concerned guest house owner sent me to a pharmacist who then sent me to a doctor.

More specifically, I later learned, was that I had been sent to a gynecologist. We established that some large insects had attacked my face and I was in need of multiple medications. And, for reasons still unknown to me, an x-ray. At least I think he x-rayed me.

Being A Suspect In The Disappearance Of Girl In France

By James from The Portugal blog

One of the funny adventure stories that I have is from the time I found a 5-month housesit in the middle of the French countryside. It sounded idyllic, and perfect for me and my girlfriend at the time who had just started out as digital nomads. 

In reality, it wasn’t quite as idyllic as advertised. The biggest issue was the lack of internet; something which was supposed to have been installed by the time we arrived. But, we made do. We bought French sim cards with 3 GB of internet each (the max we could get at the time) and vowed never to look at YouTube or anything that might use lots of data for the entire 5 months.

It was all going perfectly until one day there was a knock at the door and two local French policemen were standing there. They began asking us what we were doing on the property and where the owners were. In the best French, I could manage, I explained the concept of house-sitting but I could see it wasn’t going over. 

Then, they showed us a picture of a girl who was missing. We hadn’t seen her and, in fact, didn’t know anyone in the town. We apologized that we couldn’t be of more help, thinking that was that. 

It wasn’t. One of the policemen then pulled out a printout of a forum conversation between the missing girl and someone who they believed was her biological father. Then in the forum conversation, they showed me a mobile number: my French mobile number. 

I didn’t know how to explain it apart from to say that it must be a typo, but that wasn’t good enough. They asked to see my computer and began looking through the search history. Then, obviously not buying my house sitting story, they asked where the owners were again.  

Unsatisfied, they told me to come into the station that afternoon for more questioning at 2 pm. I didn’t know what to do. There wasn’t enough time to find a lawyer or even a translator as they would probably have had to come from the nearest city. I opened Google Translate and tried to come up with as many useful sentences as I could, but it was hard to concentrate. 

At 2 pm on the dot I walked through the doors of the police station and when the policeman saw my worried face he burst out laughing. “Lucky for you, she showed up,” he said. And that, amazingly, was the end of that. I’ve never heard any more about this again. 

Lifechanging Short Travel Stories

Stepping out of a comfort zone in dubai.

by Michaela from Awe Inclusive blog

In 2014, I was scrolling through a Facebook group when I spotted a post claiming $200 roundtrip tickets to Duba (btw if you want to save on your next trip, check out this trip com coupon ). As is routine in that group, I confirmed the deal, checked my calendar, and booked tickets – no asking friends, no waiting for job approvals, and no overthinking. It would be my first trip alone.

I met Jibri during the layover. She got my attention and started chatting about travel deals and groups. During our small talk, I considered putting my earphones back in or making up a reason to excuse myself. Instead, I decided to embrace a new person and see where it could lead.

Not only did we exchange contact information to meet-up in Dubai, but we joined other travel group members who rented out a yacht for an afternoon cruise along the Persian Gulf.

It was totally outside of my comfort zone and totally what my comfort zone needed – to be stretched out of shape! I met amazing people and forged exciting friendships.

Dubai was life-changing. I learned to trust my abilities and instincts even when I had to improvise. I learned that strangers are just friends who haven’t met you. Most importantly, I learned that my suitcase was much lighter when I didn’t fill it with fear.

This year, I took a solo trip to Thailand and it was the absolute best. More solo trips are in my future as I continue to challenge myself to get uncomfortable and do more than I thought I could.

See also: Best travel stories from Thailand .

Beautiful Travel Friendship

by Viki from Chronic Wanderlust blog

I’ve been in Playa del Carmen, Mexico for a few weeks now for my divemaster training. I spent every day in the water with customers and my instructor. I loved it! We shared the boat with another dive shop and I started to notice that they were also training a divemaster to be.

She seamed to be my age and so I started talking to her. Janice is from Canada and also madly in love with the ocean and all things diving. We started to hang out more and more and even became very good friends then.

She left Mexico a few days before I left, but we managed to stay in touch. For almost two years now we talk several times a week, she helped me through many things as a stupid breakup.

Last year I told her I was going back to Mexico for a few weeks and if she wanted to meet me there. She told me that she couldn’t manage with work. I had wanted to see her so badly! And I knew she wanted to be in sunny Mexico with me as well.

I remember the 30th of December when she told me that she had just bought the ticket and will be in Mexico the next day! I was beyond happy, I was going to see my best friend again. I was going to see her for the second time in my life and yet she knows more about me than any other person that I see more often.

I love how friendships can last over distance and time zones. Meeting Janice is definitely one of the best solo travel stories that I have.

Best Adventure Travel Stories

Hawaii adventure.

by Carole from Berkeley and Beyond blog

Even though I have many short stories about traveling the world, I want to share the one from Hawaii. I’ll never forget the time I landed on the remote Hawaiian island of Molokai and was told, “We have a wedding and two funerals on the island, and so we have run out of cars.” It was at about the same time as a popular movie with a similar title was out, so the statement had a humorous overtone.

However, since this was hang-loose Hawaii , I was assured by a mellow employee that all would work out and so there was really nothing I could do but relax into it. The car agency arranged for (and paid for) a cab to deliver us to our condo so we could check-in, and told us that the next morning someone would pick us up and deliver us to the mule ride.

Done, though we did almost miss our morning ride due to confusion regarding the meeting spot, but the point is we didn’t  miss it, and we were told by that driver that our car would be waiting in the parking lot for us after our ride.

And there it was! Pure Molokai magic.

Visiting A Real Quechua Village

by Gabor from Surfing the Planet blog

Although Machu Picchu is simply indescribable, it turned out that a totally improvised adventure left a much stronger mark on us. When we were staying at a Couchsurfer’s place in Cusco, we asked him whether it would be possible to visit a real Quechua village.

He said we could try, although we would have to find it out ourselves since these Quechua communities live quite far in the Andes and there’s no public transport to get there.

In the end, we got very lucky, since looking for transport in Ollantaytambo, we found out that the local doctor and other social workers were going to visit some of these tribes and they let us join them.

We were really happy because we had the chance to stay in a Quechua community, learn about their traditions, see the colorful clothes they wear every day and take part in their daily routine for some time. We often had to use hand gestures to communicate, since most of these people don’t speak Spanish, only Quechua. This is one of our most interesting travel stories and a real heart-warming experience that we will never forget.

Funny Short Travel Stories

Mistaking a brothel for a massage spa in china.

by Talek from Travels With Talek blog

Ah… cultural confusion.  One weekend I was in a part of Beijing I was not familiar with and decided to get a massage.  I remembered what appeared to be a massage spa nearby. The location didn’t look exactly like a typical spa, but I went in anyway.

The inside of the location had all the spa-like features which reassured me.  However, when the hostess approached me, she appeared apprehensive and asked me something in Chinese. I pantomimed a massage.  She disappeared into a dark room behind a beaded curtain. I could hear her and another woman speaking animatedly.

After some uncomfortable moments, the woman returned and lead me to a dimly lit, rectangular room with a massage table in the middle. I positioned myself as I normally would. A different woman came in and gave me a lackadaisical massage for about an hour. I paid and went back to my hotel.

The next day my colleagues and I discussed our weekend. I mentioned my massage at a location next to the Wanda department store. “Oh! That’s a high-end brothel” they said. They’re probably still laughing.

Crazy Travel Stories

Free helicopter ride.

by Kris From Nomad By Trade

My favorite travel story is from a business trip I took to a small town in Kentucky. One morning, my co-worker noticed that there was a helicopter parked out on the hotel’s lawn, which we thought was odd but pretty cool.

That week, we ended up befriending the helicopter’s pilot and his wife and talking to them at breakfast and the evening periods of light snacks.

He somehow offered to take us up for a free ride, so one morning before work, we each took a turn hopping in his helicopter and flying up and over town. He banked, dipped, and shot up to the sky like a rocket during our jaunt through the Kentucky skies.

I still find it funny that I wouldn’t get in a car with a stranger, but I had no qualms about hopping in a helicopter with one. I’ve been traveling on an almost weekly basis for work for six years and that’s still one of the coolest things that I’ve gotten to do on the road.

My Birthday In A Private Castle Near Prague

Crazy Flight With A Hyperactive Child

by Alexis from World Travel Adventurers blog

We’ve had our fair share of unforgettable and funny travel stories as parents traveling with a spirited 2-year-old and 4 years old, but this one still takes the cake. We think every parent who has ever flown with young children can relate.

We were on our way home from Salt Lake City to Baltimore, which is a 5-hour flight, so my husband had the brilliant (or so he thought) idea to sedate our energizer bunny son (whose nicknames include Taz, tornado, hurricane, wrecking ball, the destroyer) to make the long flight easier.

Having a wild toddler restricted to a seat for 5 hours is no fun for anyone, but a sleeping toddler sounded much more appealing.

We had given him Benadryl before when he was sick and it put him right to sleep like a charm, so we thought we were in the clear. It turns out, some kids have the opposite reaction to Benadryl and turn into hell on wheels.

Well, our son turned into that kid. I think everyone on the flight, especially the person sitting in front of him, wanted to kill him or at least put him in a straightjacket and a muzzle. The flight attendant, who used to be a nanny, could tell early on that something was up and had a hunch it was from Benadryl gone wrong.

In the midst of his craziness, I took him to the bathroom at the front of the plane to change his diaper. When we headed back to our seats, he took off running down the aisle full speed ahead. He was so fast and agile (being much smaller than me and able to maneuver through the narrow aisle like a star football player) that I couldn’t catch up to him until he had run the entire length of the plane.

My husband said he saw a flash go by his seat, and then saw me running after yelling my son’s name. He thought it was hilarious. I did not. We can both laugh about it today and will NEVER make that mistake again.

So to all my fellow parents of traveling youngsters, beware and never use Benadryl for a stress-free flight unless you’ve tested it a few times and are sure that your child will not turn into a Tasmanian devil. Unless you want to add something to your funny holiday stories collection, then go for it.

Meeting The President Of Ecuador

by Dane from Holiday From Where blog

My best travel story is from a time I was in a small city called Salinas on the south coast of Ecuador . I was just hanging with a local friend and surfing every day before I started to head north. I kept hearing about this wave that was really good and you couldn’t surf because you had to sneak through an air force base to get to.

One day my friend was telling me it was going to be really good, so, we decided to try and sneak in. In hindsight, it was really stupid. We were crawling on our hands and knees through some bushes on the bad side of a shooting range while they were actively shooting. We made it to the beach got changed and ran for the ocean.

We were in the water for all of 15 minutes when two large me with AK-47s appeared on the beach and started to yell and whistle. We got a few more waves and went in. The men were extremely un-impressed and very angry.

We knew we were doing the wrong thing but obviously played dumb. As we were about to get dragged off a man and his wife came over a small dune and just walked up to us. The man asked us how our day was and if we had a good surf we replied we did and he just smiled at us and walked off.

As he did my friend informed me that it was the President. Everything happened so fast and in no time we were in the back of a military vehicle being taken to a small building. I was out a short time later with a stern warning never to return. 

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Did you enjoy reading this post? Share your best travel story in the comments below!

72 Responses

Love it! Thanks for including our story. Traveling opens you up to so many incredible (sometimes hilarious) experiences so it’s great to hear about other memorable moments from fellow travel addicts!

It’s our pleasure, Alexis! Your story is great, thanks for sharing it :)

Pinoy TV is one of the few international channels that provide high-quality entertainment.

These stories are great. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Thanks for the inspiration Karolina! Traveling the world is something I’ve always wanted to do, but have found it hard to make the leap.

Hey Karolina,

Very inspiring travel stories! Makes me want to book a flight now and create an amazing travel story ever told! ;) There is nothing more gratifying than traveling, yes you spend but you learn more. Been to many places and every story is just different and amazing!

These stories are inspiring and it makes me want to travel more. Cheers!

Some amazing stories in there! It’s amazing what opportunities can present themselves when you are travelling abroad.

There’s some incredible stories in there. It’s amazing to see what opportunities can present themselves to you when you are travelling abroad. We’ve got a lot of great memories and stories from our time abroad, can’t wait to get even more!

Getting arrested in China must have been an exciting experience. Luckily, no jail. So happy end.

Thanks for the inspiration Karolina!……,! great story

Glad I enjoyed the post! Thanks for sharing this.

You’re welcome!

The only way to achieve happiness is to cherish what you have and forget what you don’t have

I really liked reading your post! Very high quality content and useful information. With such a valuable blog I believe you deserve to be ranking even higher in the search engines.

Thanks for your comment, Maria.

Wow, interesting crazy stories! good stuff!

Incredible stories. Frankly, I envy people who travel freely, I hope that I succeed.

Such a kind of knowledge give by this stories.

Much Appreciated! Get your travel and tourism guide of top tourist places, attractions about travelling and exploration of the world.

Hey really Incredible stories.Appreciated your blog.Such interesting travel story.The details are very informative.I also love to travel.This stories inspires me to travel to my dream place.Looking forward to see more from you.

Thanks for your comment!

I’ve got no idea what I’d do if a snake lunged at me while on a scooter! Hopefully, I’d have the commonsense to hit the accelerator and keep going. Even non-poisonous snakes can be dangerous. And I’m guessing that the snake ended up as someone’s dinner or that seems be have been implied :/.

I also love to travel the world. Your story inspires me a lot

Your travel stories are awesome. I love to travel to other countries and experience every culture.

Wow, interesting crazy stories! good .

thanks for sharing this info superb

Wow this is very interesting and amazing article for all travellers and I hope they will get lots of information from this article. It will also helpful for all beginners. Thanks for sharing this article to us..

Hey, it’s amazing way for our time . Thanks for sharing.

These short travel stories always teach me something new.

Its really amazing post for me. Thanks for sharing

Excellent post with rich knowledge for travelers. Thanks for sharing

Amazing stories! Thank you so much for sharing them. As a traveler it is exciting to hear new stories. It certainly makes you want to go out and travel again.

It was nice to be inspired by you, Karolina! Although I have always dreamed about traveling the world, I have struggled to make this step because it seems so risky.

Hey, I think it’s a great way to spend our time these days. That’s great that you shared that with us.

I love your all content keep share with us, keep shared with us.

thanks for sharing this info, superb article

I have been wondering where to travel across Europe. And getting exposed to this amazing stories has energised my travelling plans and the countries to visit. Thanks so much for sharing such a wonder and useful stories. Looking forward for more stories.

I am really happy with the quality and presentation of the article. Thanks a lot for keeping great stuff.

Travelling is one of the best way to create memorable stories.

What a great idea for a post and a wonderful collection of stories!

Thank you for this great sharing!

Thank god! The housesitter did not have to go to a Chinese prison. The whole incident was quite amusing.

Thanks for this site i like it.

Article was very lovely and all stories are great

All stories are lovely and amazing.

There is no better way to create memorable stories than by traveling.

Traveling is one of the ways to create and be a part of stories. The travel stories in the blog are all interesting. I have also read stories on how travelers are set up by placing drugs in their luggage at airports.

Yeah however I am not sure if it’s true.

Thanks! i loved this site thanks for recommending.

Excellent post with rich knowledge for travelers.

Unforgettable

Such a great post thanks for sharing this with us and keep posting these are soo amazing.

There is no better way to create memorable stories than by traveling. :)

thank you so much

Thank you. you have explained almost everything.

Great post.Thanks for sharing. You have explained almost everything.

all the stories shared are good and well explained.

Thanks for sharing this article it was quite insightful.

Thanks for sharing such information. I appreciate your hard work

Great post, Thanks for the information provided! Your post is so awesome. Keep it work and share your amazing post with us. Thanks again!

Thanks a lot for sharing this post. Your travel story is so amazing.

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks!

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We are Karolina, Patryk, and Mia, the lazy traveling family. After spending 5 years as digital nomads, and living in many countries in the world, we decided to make Poland our base.

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45 Funny, Heartfelt, Unforgettable Travel Stories

Adventurous Kate contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks!

I tell travel stories for a living. I do this because I can’t NOT tell travel stories — every experience I have is shaped in the moment and waits in anticipation to shoot out of my fingertips.

And I live to share those stories with an audience. As humans, we’re hard-wired to be influenced by storytelling, and I feel like stories are what inspire people to actually book a trip.

To be honest, though, compelling stories are what’s missing from most travel blogs today, where SEO-driven travel planning posts make up the majority of the content.

We have SO many great travel stories to tell. But we’re not telling them as often as we should. So I decided to share some of the best stories in one place.

I reached out to my travel blogger friends to share their most entertaining posts of all time. Nothing travel planning-oriented, nothing keyword- or affiliate-stuffed — just fun, entertaining stories that would make a stranger smile or laugh. And did they EVER pay off!

Each of these stories is a treasure. I hope you enjoy them.

Note: Due to COVID-19 and a dwindled demand for travel worldwide, travel bloggers have lost significant portions of their incomes. Between people not researching or booking travel and advertisers reducing their spend, many travel bloggers will be making a small fraction of their usual income for months.

The best thing you can do right now is find a story you like on this list and visit several pages on their blog. It costs you nothing, but your eyes on their display ads (no clicks necessary, we get paid by views!) will earn them some much-needed cash in a difficult time.

Want to help out even more? If you love one of these blog posts, sign up for their email newsletter. You can find mine here.

Table of Contents

Funny Travel Mishaps

Are you looking to read about crazy mishaps that happened on the road? Here are some good ones!

Possibly My Favorite Travel Poop Story Ever

Nomadasaurus

OMG. I had never read this one before but this is one of the funniest travel stories I’ve ever read!

Jared tells the story of when diarrhea hit at the worst time ever — on a Chinese bus — and where he ultimately ended up pooping!

Embarrassing Stories From My Travels

Legal Nomads

Jodi is well-known for being pooped on while traveling — 14 birds and one bat so far — but this post shared plenty more of those stories.

If you’ve ever wanted to know the most embarrassing way to ask where to catch the bus in Argentina, here it is.

Hooked on the Cook Islands: My Giant Wedgie

Neverending Footsteps

Lauren is well-known for her extensive list of disastrous “travel incidents” around the world.

This one involves a snorkeling trip where she accidentally flashed her vag to an entire boat of people, including a family with young kids.

I Have a Confession to Make

Journalist on the Run

Imagine being a travel writer who gets paid to stay in a luxurious resort in the Maldives. Dream job, huh?

Now imagine that you get hit by the worst diarrhea of your life while pretending that everything is normal as the staff gives you a tour! Janet lays out her experience in excruciating detail.

When a City Girl Goes Camping

Suitcase and Heels

I may be a city girl who took her first steps in a tent — but not all city girls take to camping so easily.

Melissa shares a camping adventure in Newfoundland that did not go as planned! (NEVER forget the bottle opener!)

An Ode to Señor Frog, The Worst Car in Cozumel

Emily Luxton Travels

What happens when you rent a weird pea-green car that looks like an emaciated Volkswagen Beetle? Well, you definitely get an adventure out of it, Emily shares.

Know this before you rent a tiny car on a Mexican island!

How to Have the Worst Day Ever in Phuket (and How to Turn It Around)

Why Wait to See the World

Sometimes you have a travel day when you hit disaster after disaster after disaster — and sometimes it’s when you’re on your first full travel day with your boyfriend, ever.

That happened to Steph in Phuket, but soon she found a way to turn it around.

The Time I Got Pissed On in Manila

Aussie on the Road

Continuing the bodily fluids theme, Chris shares a rather disgusting late-night incident in a hostel dorm.

This proves that sometimes fellow backpackers are the most horrifying thing you could run into on the road!

Terrible Travel Tales: Mishaps, Setbacks, and Comical Foibles of Globe Trotting

Year of the Monkey

From missing a flight at the last minute due to a nosebleed to getting mistaken for a child at the age of 32, this is a big list of stories.

Paroma shares her favorite travel mishaps she’s collected over the years, all in excruciating detail.

That Time We Got Held Hostage by Monkeys in Ubud

Bridges and Balloons

And I thought I was terrified in the Monkey Forest in Ubud — Victoria and Steve got TRAPPED in a house surrounded by monkeys and couldn’t escape!

One of my worst nightmares. They seemed to handle it well.

My Embarrassing Driving Experience in Ourzazate

Norbert had never driven stick before in his life — so when the car he rented in Morocco turned out to have a manual transmission, he figured he could just wing it and learn to drive stick that day. NOT SO MUCH!

As a fellow driver who has never driven stick, I felt this one.

Ayurvedic Massage, Not for the Modest

Jessie on a Journey

If you had the chance to get a massage for just $16 in the heart of Kerala, India, you would go for it, wouldn’t you?

Then Jessie found out that this massage was done naked. COMPLETELY naked. With lots of oil and boob massage.

Scary Travel Mishaps

Sometimes mishaps can be on the dark side — though often you’ll find aspects of them humorous in retrospect. Either way, you won’t want to miss these posts.

Disaster Strikes

Escape Artistes

When horseback riding in rural Mongolia, Theodora’s son fell and severely broke his arm…in the middle of absolute nowhere.

This kicked off a breathless emergency of trying to find healthcare in one of the most remote places on Earth. It’s a gripping read.

When Traveling Sucks: A Hospital Visit in Fez, Morocco

Foodie Flashpacker

What’s worse than getting bitten by a bunch of bugs in the night? Getting bitten by giant mutant insects whose bites swell up enormously…right in the middle of your forehead.

Nathan details the story of his medical incident in Morocco and a doctor’s office that looks straight out of Chernobyl.

When a Man Comes Knocking

Borderline Crazy Bloggers

One of the scariest things while traveling is when a man has fixated on you — and because the culture is so different, you’re not sure whether you should be afraid or not.

In this story, Marieke shares the story of an Indian man who showed up at her door and kept refusing to leave.

Tales of Romance and Love

Do you love stories about love? I bet you do!! Here are three stories that will make you believe in finding love on the road.

The Last Time I Saw You (Part Five)

This Battered Suitcase

This is an ongoing series on Brenna’s blog where she tells the stories of the loves she’s met while traveling.

This is a short story that feels like it’s much longer — an incredibly romantic dalliance with a French man on a tropical island, then how it all crashes down once returning to real life.

10 Love Stories From My Travels

Adventurous Kate

It’s been years, but this is still one of my favorite posts I’ve ever written. I share ten different love stories from my travels, and tell you the ten locations where they took place — but you have to use logic and deduction to figure out which location matches with each story.

Nobody has ever guessed all 10 correctly. Maybe you will.

Nacpan and Calitang Beach: One of the Last Starry-Eyed, Lovestruck Journeys of the Previous Chapter

Nomadic Experiences

Looking back to days on one of the most beautiful beaches near El Nido in the Philippines, Marky tells the story of a special girl and the sweet moments they shared on one of the most idyllic islands in the world.

They’ve long since broken up, but he gently holds the experience in his hand, frozen in time.

Unforgettable Travel Experiences

These are the moments that got us out of our comfort zone, introduced us to memorable characters, and turned us into better travelers — and people.

How I Met Gunther, The Best Taxi Driver in Vienna

Budget Traveller

Every now and then, you meet someone who restores your faith in humanity. Gunther the taxi driver was one of those people.

Not only did he defy the odds to get Kash to his bus on time, he was unbelievably kind about the dilemma that happened next.

The Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done: Two Weeks Hiking Japan’s Kumano Kodo Iseji

Adventures Around Asia

The Kumano Kodo hike in Japan is one of the most famous spiritual pilgrimages in the world. Richelle was excited to get out of her comfort zone — then ended up doing the hike in convenience store waterproof pants.

Despite a very tough start, it turned out to be a fantastic experience.

Hiking in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Inside the Travel Lab

Sometimes the most magical travel experiences take place in the most remote areas.

Abi extols the romance and beauty and culture of these isolated villages of Morocco, yet wonders if bringing more travelers here would be a good thing.

What I Learned From Giving Up Meat, Alcohol, and Complaining in India

Ashley Abroad

When Ashley went to Rishikesh, India, for yoga teacher training, she went out of her comfort zone by staying sober, sticking to a vegetarian diet, and giving up complaining.

Did it work? In some ways, yes, and she learned a lot about herself from the experience.

The Thrilling Adventures of Super Boyfriend

No Place to Be

So your girlfriend has dropped her camera in the Nam Song river in Laos. Surely a lost cause, isn’t it?

Not for Poi — a.k.a. Super Boyfriend — who leaped to the rescue, underwater among the sharp rocks.

Alaska Road Trip: Our Top 12 Adventures

Alaska is a destination that so many travelers dream of — but the reality ends up looking different from what you pictured.

Mike and Anne share gorgeous photos and stories from their multi-year honeymoon.

Controversial Takes

A lot of bloggers swear that controversial posts are the way to get traffic. I agree, as long as you go about it the right way. By that, I mean make a point, be fair, and defend it well. And PLEASE don’t trash the Philippines just to get crazy traffic.

5 Reasons to Stop Hating on “The Instagram Girl”

Follow Me Away

It seems so fashionable to hate the “Instagram girl” with the popular travel account — after all, who really wears a ball gown on top of a mountain?

But in this post, Victoria points out why the hate is misguided and the reasons why we should be supporting women with unconventional careers.

8 Reasons Why You Should Never Go to Wales

A Dangerous Business

Sure, Wales is beautiful and fun and interesting to explore, Amanda writes — but do they REALLY need all those castles and myths? Come on, now.

(Let’s say some people didn’t quite get the sarcasm.)

5 Reasons Travel Just Totally Isn’t Worth It

travelingmitch

I’m sorry, why are we even traveling, anyway? It’s so annoying, Mitch says!

What if people don’t speak English? What if you’re forced to challenge your preciously held views? WHAT IF YOU GET LOST AND CAN’T GET UN-LOST?! Better stay at home.

Is a Backpack Just Another Word for “Female Mid-life Crisis”?

GrrrlTraveler

Turning 40 and continuing to backpack around the world as a single woman with no kids. It’s what Christine enjoys — but is this what she really should be doing at this age?

For her, the answer is yes — and this post really shows how deep our cultural norms can set.

8 Reasons Hiking Sucks

Food Fun Travel

When people love food and wine and music as much as Tommo and Megsy, it’s not surprising that they’re equally passionate about what they hate: hiking.

Who needs to go back to nature? Who likes going somewhere without pubs? Is it a bonding experience? Bonding in misery, maybe!

How-To Guides You Never Thought You’d Need

Travel blogs are a great place to learn something new! And often it’s something you NEVER thought you needed to know…

How to Throw Out Your Garbage in Germany

Ali’s Adventures

Who knew just the act of throwing out your trash was so ridiculous and complicated in Germany?!

Ali shares what she’s learned as an expat in Berlin. Also, the comments are a gold mine.

How to Use the Toilet in India

BreatheDreamGo

Worrying about stocking up on toilet paper? Indians don’t use toilet paper at all!

India expert Mariellen shares all the tips for using the toilet in an unconventional (better?) way, and shares a hilarious video from Wilbur Sargunaraj.

How to Survive a Power Outage like a Puerto Rican

Indecisive Traveler

Reese spent years living in Puerto Rico, and during that time she went through quite a few power outages, including a four-day outage in 2016.

Step one? Immediately buy all the cold beer you can and take it home!

Big on Bidets: How Do You Use a Bidet and What is a Bidet For?

LL World Tour

Have you ever stopped in your tracks at the sight of a bidet in a bathroom in Italy or France and not known exactly how to use it?

Lisa shows you what you need to know. Because there’s nothing better than a clean anus!

Quirky Stories from the Road

All of us love to travel for the unusual things we discover on the road. Here are some of the best stories of unusual discoveries while traveling.

The Peens of Pompeii

Domestiphobia

Did you know that the ancient ruins of Pompeii are filled with penises? WELL, YOU DO NOW!

Katie visited the ruins for a day and was struck by how you can find a peen outline just about everywhere you look.

The Funniest Farm Market Sign in Southwest PA

Around the World L

Proof that there’s lots to be loved here in lesser-known parts of the US.

I love this sign that Lillie shared from a farmer with a side of sass!

Pictures of Cats and Dogs in Naples, Italy

2 Food Trippers

Naples is one of the greatest food cities in Italy — if not all of Europe — so it’s no surprise that the felines and canines of this city are as plump as they are adorable!

A cute post from Daryl and Mindi.

Sheep Driving Distractions in the Lake District

Raulerson Girl Travels

The Lake District of England is a wonderful place for a scenic drive…if it weren’t for the kamikaze sheep who leap right in front of your car!

I didn’t believe how fearless the sheep were until I saw Heather’s crazy photos.

How Creepy is the Ringling Brothers Circus Museum in Sarasota, Florida?

My Wanderlusty Life

You don’t have to be afraid of clowns to be creeped out by this weird museum, Ashley opines.

If you’re a hardcore circus fan, sure, knock yourself out! Other people? You don’t know what you’re getting into…

Lady Fails at Grocery Shopping

A Lady in London

Who knew it was so hard to grocery shop in the UK as an American? (Me. Boy, do I know that.)

Turns out none of the items are the same as what you would look for in the US (no tomato sauce ANYWHERE!) and Julie struggles to find normal items she just wants to cook.

Transportation in India: What the Tuk-Tuk?!

Traveling Canucks

Tuk-tuks are one of the most common forms of transportation in India — and they can be TERRIFYING.

Nicole and Cam vividly share every detail of a typical tuk-tuk ride, from near-accidents to carefully maneuvering around cows, and you’ll be white-knuckling it along with them.

That Time Angie Made Us Stay in a Sex Motel

Living the Dream RTW

When Jeremy and Angie had to spend the night in a Colombian border town, Angie chose a nondescript hotel.

Well. Turns out it was filled with a wide cadre of “hourly” guests all night long — and the walls were paper-thin.

You know…these funny posts don’t fit anywhere else, so here they are.

50 Amazingly Achievable Things to Do Before You Die

Fevered Mutterings

Forget those usual bucket list items — go skydiving! See Machu Picchu! — and focus on things that you CAN do. Trip on a shoelace. Use a leaf as a bookmark. Walk into plate glass.

Mike makes sure you’ll finish this post with a smile on your face.

8 Places to Travel in Case of a Zombie Apocalypse

Amateur Traveler

So once the zombie apocalypse actually hits, where should people be going? Chris shares his favorite spots, including Louisville, home to the famous baseball bat.

I have to admit, the isolated Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha is an inspired choice.

8 Funny Facts About Traveling With Your Twin

Slow Spirit

Guilherme and his twin brother Gregório are identical twins who travel together — and they are VERY distinctive-looking. They get photographed nonstop, people who meet them individually refuse to believe there are two of them, and yes, they play a lot of pranks.

I laughed out loud at their hostel prank!

Thanks for reading! We loved sharing these posts with you.

Which one of these stories was your favorite? Share away!

16 Short Funny Travel Stories That’ll Make You Laugh Out Loud

These short funny travel stories are sure to make you laugh!

From crazy travel stories involving bathroom mishaps to funny stories about language barriers to wild travel stories that take you on safari, this list is sure to make you chuckle.

I’ve even included a video sharing about my strangest Couchsurfing experience!

Before scrolling, I recommend grabbing your favorite beverage and getting comfortable, as we’ve got 16 fun travel stories below to help put a smile on your face.

After reading these funny true stories, feel free to share your own best travel stories in the comments below!

Table of Contents

Short Funny Travel Stories — That Are Also True!

1. file under embarrassing travel stories.

One of my most embarrassing funny stories happened while I was backpacking South America — specifically during a 4×4 tour from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile to Uyuni, Bolivia.

The trip takes you through the desert for three days to see otherworldly sites like hot pink lagoons where flamingos search for food, an abandoned train graveyard, and, the highlight, the world-famous Uyuni Salt Flats.

During the trip, you share a car with four or five other people.

At one point, I was sitting in the front seat and it was getting really hot in the car. Our driver didn’t speak English, but I spoke decent Spanish — or at least I thought I did.

“Estoy caliente!” I said, looking right at the driver. To my confusion, instead of rolling down a window, he looked horrified…or maybe confused?

I decided it was probably my New York accent confusing him. “Estoy caliente!” I said again, this time in what I thought was a more local-sounding accent. He looked even more horrified-slashed-confused.

Suddenly, the one native Spanish speaker in the car spoke up from the back:

“Umm, I’m assuming you’re not meaning to tell the driver you’re horny, right?”

Apparently, the way I was saying “I’m hot” literally translated to, well, another meaning of the phrase. As I turned bright red, I decided I didn’t really need the window open and would just sit in silence and try to disappear by melting in the car seat.

But hey, when it comes to learning a language while traveling, embarrassing mistakes can certainly be a great teacher. Plus, I can add this to my list of hilarious vacation stories to share at parties.

-Jessie Festa, Jessie on a Journey

2. My Craziest Couchsurfing Story

Here is one of my most interesting travel experience stories .

For this anecdote, which is part funny travel story and part horror travel story , you’ll have to watch the video below:

One of my favorite funny travel videos

By the way, if you like crazy and funny travel story videos like this one, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon so you get notified when future videos publish.

I’ve already got a few more short travel stories recorded and scheduled to come out over the next few weeks!

3. An Unpleasant Night With Bob Marley

My funny travel experience happened during a trip to Morocco in 2015, when my husband and I spent a couple of days in the Sahara Desert as part of a tour group.

I was super excited to ride a camel for the first time and spend a night in a Bedouin tent in the desert. Little did I know that I was about to experience the longest and most unpleasant night of my life.

Our camel ride started with me hanging upside down from the saddle with one foot in the air. My camel, Bob Marley, had decided to stand up before I could settle into the saddle.

I held onto the saddle for dear life as our Bedouin guide pushed me up onto the camel’s back. Bob Marley let out a grunt of disapproval, and we rode off. I thought I was in for a bumpy ride; but save for the fact that the camel in front of me, named after Jimi Hendrix, was having a bad case of gas, it turned out to be a very pleasant journey.

After dinner and some impromptu drumming around a bonfire, my husband and I retreated to our tent for a good night’s sleep. Our bed was just a mattress on the carpeted ground.

Despite cocooning myself in a couple of thick blankets, I was shaking from head to toe. My husband fell asleep straight away, and so did the other people in our group — judging by the cacophony of snores that filled the air.

Two hours later, I was still wide awake — and freezing cold.

Thankfully, the snoring started to subside and I gradually drifted into dreamland, only to be jolted out of my sleep by a very loud and unusual noise. It sounded like a bellow and was followed by a very awful smell.

I tried to go back to sleep, but someone or something started to chew loudly. And then another groan, another unpleasant smell, and more loud chewing. This went on for at least another two hours.

After what felt like a never-ending night, I checked the time. To my delight, it was time to get up to watch the sunrise. I stumbled out of our tent, grabbed a glass of freshly-brewed mint tea, and dragged my sleepy body out of the Bedouin camp.

There, stationed just outside the tent where my husband and I had spent the night, was Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, and the entire caravan. Bob Marley made direct eye contact with me, and I could swear I spotted a smug grin on his face.”

– Daniela from Grumpy Camel

4. Trying To Pee On A Bumpy Bus Ride

If you enjoy travel love stories , this trip tale from our honeymoon has a humorous twist.

While visiting Sapa, Vietnam on our honeymoon, we had to fly into the large city of Hanoi.

From Hanoi, we could have either taken a bus, a train, or a rental car up to Sapa. Because we are cheap, we decided to take the bus. Even further, we booked an overnight bus trip, so that we could save one night of accommodation booking.

We showed up at the bus station at 11:30 pm for our midnight departure, and everything was going well. We boarded the bus and got to our beds, which was a row of five plastic cots wide with no cushions. We did get a blanket, though, and settled in for the night on our uncomfortable beds.

At about 3:00 am, I woke up and had to pee. We were on the freeway, and the driver only spoke Vietnamese, so I couldn’t communicate the fact that I needed to pee.

In the commotion, the driver also noticed there was a payment issue with our booking, which my now-awake husband was trying to figure out.

I still had to go, and it was becoming an emergency. The bus was still rocking and rolling down the Vietnamese highway. It was 3:15 am, my bladder was bursting, and my new husband was trying to have a Google Translate conversation with the driver to figure out our booking.

I tried to get my pee emergency into the Google Translate conversation, with no luck. All I got was my husband giving me a bottle.

A soda bottle?! What was I supposed to do with that?! The mouth of that thing was the size of a thumb. I am not the Jason Bourne of pee-aiming.

Realizing my choices were non-existent, I tried to use the bottle. After some awkward maneuvering, I opened the floodgates and, as you might have guessed, peed all over my bed…and my husband’s.

Thankfully, the sound of the pee spraying on the plastic beds did not come to the attention of any of our neighbors or the bus driver. Or maybe he purposely ignored it.

After figuring out the booking issue, my husband scooched back into his bed only to realize that Lake Urine had formed in the middle of it.

After some shock and stifled laughter, we cleaned it up with one of our blankets, had an extremely uncomfortable three more hours of travel, and finally pulled into Sapa. We couldn’t get off that bus fast enough.

On the bright side, it’s one of our favorite funny stories about traveling to share.

– Zach and Julie from Ruhl of the Road

5. The Time I Had My Boobs Massaged In Morocco

Our favorite short funny story to share is all about massages and spa experiences in Morocco.

They are supposed to be tranquil, soothing, and calming. But what happens when you try to have a relaxing spa experience in another country without doing your research?

You could find yourself swimming in your underwear and having your boobs massaged, that’s what!

When my husband and I were in Morocco, we decided to go for a traditional Moroccan Hammam massage at our hotel…and all kinds of hilarity ensued!

First, we were asked to get undressed by the staff who only spoke French, so there were a lot of frantic hand gestures going on.

Then we were taken to a room where straightaway we could see a woman being rubbed down while completely naked.

No robes, no doors… just all kinds of naked. We were shocked and immediately started thinking: “Wait…is this what a hammam massage is like?”

Thankfully, not in our case, but it doesn’t get much better.

We’d worn our underwear because we actually thought we were just getting a pleasant back massage like in the UK.

We were wrong.

We were taken to a steam room where we were rubbed with mud in front of strangers and then asked to shower it off. Next, we found ourselves swimming in a saltwater pool. All of this while in our everyday underwear!

And then finally we got to the massage part where we were separated and I was asked to strip completely naked.

This was fine while lying on my front but then came the fateful word:

Yep, this was when I found myself having my boobs massaged by a total stranger!

Moral of the story:

Do your research. And don’t wear underwear to a Moroccan hammam massage. Go for swimming gear just to be on the safe side.

– Justine from Wanderers of the World

6. When Nature Calls, Literally

I have many funny short stories about travel, though one of my favorites to tell happened in the Serengeti.

Now, there are a lot of really awesome things about camping in the Serengeti:

It’s a relatively affordable way to go on safari. You meet other adventurous people. You’re camping in the freaking Serengeti! Like, hello, how cool?!

However, there may be one or two less-than-stellar things about this type of safari…like not knowing what’s outside your tent during the night.

Personally, I didn’t really want to come face-to-face with the hyenas — or anything else — that I knew could be out there. My method of avoidance came down to not drinking too much water during the day. Other than the bathroom, nothing could draw me out of my tent at night.

Well, one day I was thirsty and had more to drink than I should have.

The result?

You guessed it — I needed to pee pretty bad by about 3 am.

Let me take you back a few hours though, to the afternoon. We were making camp that night at a spot that was to be shared with some of the park rangers. Earlier in the day, the rangers had brought a goat to camp. I thought they were taking this goat further on their journey and I didn’t think about it past that.

Well, guess what the rangers had for dinner?

That night, from the safety of the tent, we could hear the hyenas munching away on the leftovers. It was gruesome.

It also meant that I absolutely knew the hyenas were in the camp, right between me and the bathroom. Well, by 3 am, I was desperate and cared less about the hyenas than about my bladder.

However, we’d been strongly warned not to go out by ourselves. So, I asked my friend if she wanted to go on an adventure. She said no and advised I go back to sleep.

I tried; I really did. An hour later, I asked her again, “Isa, want to go on an adventure?”

Her answer hadn’t changed.

Just behind our tent were the dining cabin and a small hill. I was desperate. Really, my bladder was going to explode. I went just behind the tent, right up to that hill, and did my thing.

After, I went back into the tent and didn’t stray anywhere close to where the campfire had been, and the hyenas currently were. I was safe! I didn’t get eaten or attacked by anything. Basically, I was Superwoman!

The next morning we were packing up our stuff to go on that day’s safari when our guide casually asked if we had heard the lions the night before.

Nope, we hadn’t heard them. Apparently, they’d been close.

Their lair?

Just on the other side of the small hill behind the camp.

This one definitely goes on my list of crazy yet funny adventure stories!

Lindsey in Moscow. Photo courtesy of Lindsey Puls.

7. Naked & Confused In Moscow

Naked and confused in Moscow? Yes, you read right. This is one of those funny vacation stories that you won’t forget…

I thought I knew all that there was to know about Russian banyas — until I found myself in Moscow, lying naked and sweating to death on a table in front of 12 other naked women of varying ages, who were all strangers to me, getting flogged with a couple of birch branches by a kind but very strong woman named Olga.

And I had actually paid for this beating. It’s all part of the experience!

In short, a banya is similar to a sauna. The biggest difference, though, is that a “banya” has high levels of humidity in it, while a sauna will have dry air. They’ve been a part of Russian life for over a thousand years.

Another interesting aspect of the Russian Banya is flogging using birch twigs ( venik ). This is supposed to benefit your health and improve your immune system, and honestly, if you have someone who knows what they are doing, it does feel really good.

I knew when I signed up for this that I would likely have to be naked for this flogging — I had done it before in a private bathhouse; however, this was my first time in a public banya, and I didn’t expect to be on display for the rest of the banya goers while it was happening! I was envisioning this to be a little more, ah, private?

But there I was, naked as the day I was born in front of everyone, getting smacked around by Olga as she shouted commands in Russian…which I imagine was something like, “Now, flip over! Raise your legs! Cover your boobs! Scoot your butt down further!”

Actually, though, I had no idea what she was saying. So, she gave up and just started pulling me and moving my naked body parts to where they needed to be — much to the amusement of everyone in the banya, who were not shy about their giggles!

Olga hit/massaged almost every square inch of my body with the branches. Then, once she was done, she led me by the hand to a shower area, sat me down, and threw a cold bucket of water over my head. And then a warm one, followed by another cold bucket. My body was thoroughly shocked after that!

Needless to say, this banya experience was a little less relaxing than my previous experiences with it; however, I still felt like a million bucks after it was done, and I will absolutely do it again.

– Lindsey from Have Clothes, Will Travel

8. A Short Story About Traveling That’s Out Of This World (Literally)

When the weather starts to warm up we love heading to the beach for a few days. Any beach really, though Miami holds a special place in our family’s hearts. We even have a favorite hotel by the beach that we always stay at.

During one such trip, after a few days of being lazy on the beach and spending way too much time walking the boardwalk, we decided to go for a drive.

We rented a car for the day and drove to Key West. Our plan was to enjoy a scenic drive on Highway 1 and maybe try some key lime pie and head back, but the day turned out to be more memorable than that.

It was a breathtaking drive and we kept our eyes glued to the window. The scenery was gorgeous and felt like we were driving over water.

Driving from Miami to Key West takes about three hours on the scenic coastal Overseas Highway. When we were closer to Key West, suddenly Mr. Suburbia — aka my husband — stopped the car, grabbed his camera, and ran out looking up at the sky — leaving me looking at him bewildered.

After a few minutes of looking and pointing at a shiny object in the sky, he was pretty thrilled to announce he’d spotted a UFO. I should mention here that hubby loves his Sci-Fi movies and UFO shows — the likes of Project Blue Book — and strongly believes we are not alone.

We eventually got back in the car, stopped at a nearby store, and asked someone in the parking lot:

“Do you see that shiny thing in the sky?”

The man looked up and casually responded, “Do you mean that weather blimp?”

We came to find out later that what we saw in the sky was “Fat Albert” or a version of the radar aerostat blimp that the US Drug Enforcement Administration uses to keep an eye on shipping hereabouts.

The shiny object in the sky was not an unidentified flying object or alien craft but a weather blimp. It is one of the short funny travel stories that always come up when we talk about our trips.

It starts with one of the kids saying “Remember the time when dad thought he saw a UFO…?” and always makes us laugh.

– Priya from Outside Suburbia

9. An Unpleasant Travel Experience With A Ghost Shrimp In Spain

When it comes to funny short travel stories, there is one I always love to tell.

A few years ago I had a wonderful trip to Andalucia, Spain, together with my family.

We spent hours road tripping to the best places in this region and enjoying Spanish culinary delights like fresh seafood and delicious produce. Grocery shopping at local markets was definitely a highlight of the trip.

To get around, we rented a car from a recommended company. We were lucky enough to receive a car of a better standard than what we ordered. It was a nicely-equipped van, with key-free unlocking, automatic doors, and a lot of space inside. Quite luxurious, I must say.

At one point during this one-week trip, we opened the door of our car and were met with a horrendous stench.  We almost passed out. Our first thought was that something must have died inside.

We noticed that the stench was coming from the trunk. It turned out that a little bit of liquid had escaped from the bag with fresh shrimps the evening before.

We tried to clean the trunk with cleaning supplies found in our rented apartment. Then we found out some homemade methods to remove the smell. Desperate, we even tried out a special freshener for domestic animal scents.

But, alas, the ghost of the dead shrimp was still there. For the rest of the trip, we drove with all of the windows open.

Before the last day, we headed to the gas station. I popped into the shop to look for car fresheners. My mom was more resolute and tried to have a conversation with the staff — note here that we’re Polish, and she can genuinely only say a few words in Spanish.

She pinched her nose, made a telling gesture, and said “car fish caput.” The service guy started to laugh but he luckily understood her. And after a short while, he came to our car with a huge specialist atomizer and sprayed all the interior. We were so grateful because the problem seemed to disappear.

But the awful smell came back the next day; the day of our departure.

Early in the morning, we left the apartment and headed to the car rental agency. We were stressed about what the agency’s employee would say about the smell and we were wondering if insurance would cover such an incident.

Luckily for us, the moment we locked the car on the agency parking while waiting for the service was the last time the car key-pilot worked. At that moment, the battery died. The car agency representative wasn’t able to open the car.

And because it was so early in the morning, the main office with the spare keys was still closed, and this guy was taking care of the parking only. He noticed we had purchased full car insurance and only asked if we refilled the gas tank.

When we returned home we found an email from the car rental agency with an appreciation note for using their services. So we assumed the weird smell was covered by the insurance. While back then we were embarrassed about that incident, we now look back at it with a smile.

Always purchase full insurance. You never know when a shrimp decides to escape.

– Dominika from Sunday in Wonderland

10. A Massage In An Unexpected Place

This is one of those stories that will make you laugh!

I worked in Beijing for many years. I used to go to a place called Dragonfly for massages, which I really liked. One time I was in an area of Beijing that I was not familiar with and wanted a massage.

The local Dragonfly was just too complicated and far away to get to, so I decided to go elsewhere and try something different.

I remembered I had seen what appeared to be a massage parlor a few blocks from where I was staying, and I walked over. The location didn’t look exactly like the type of spa place I was familiar with.

I guess that should have been my first warning.

It had pictures of smiling women in the window that I supposed were the various massage therapists. Flashing neon lights in blues and reds decorated the outside.

To be honest, I felt a tad apprehensive but thought that was just because I had never been there before. I know from experience that many times things might feel strange in unfamiliar cultures, but once you dive in, chances are you’ll discover a wonderful new experience or location, or a delightful food you never tasted before.

With this in mind, I went in.

Inside I tried to communicate that I wanted a massage to the woman attendant. I rubbed my shoulders with kneading fingers pantomiming a massage. She disappeared into a dark room and quickly returned with another woman who asked me something in Chinese.

I repeated my pantomime and the two women engaged in a long and animated conversation behind a beaded curtain. I couldn’t understand what the confusion was.

Finally, they led me to a small, dimly lit room with what I took to be a massage table in the middle. I disrobed and lay face down on the table as I normally would.

A woman came in and started to give me a massage. It wasn’t a great massage but certainly adequate. After an hour the woman indicated the massage was over and gave me a cup of green tea. I paid, gave the lady a tip, and went back to my hotel.

The next day was Monday. Everyone came into the office discussing their weekend. I told my colleagues about my massage.

“Oh! Don’t tell me you went all the way to Dragonfly?!” a colleague asked surprised. I explained my massage experience at the spa a couple of blocks away.

After identifying the exact location, they told me that was a high-end brothel. Everyone had a good laugh at my expense. I suppose they’re still laughing.

-Talek from Travels With Talek  

11. Hammock Hanging Newbie

One of my favorite funny short stories traveling happened when I spent a semester studying abroad in Cuba in 2009, which was actually my first international trip.

There are many beautiful things about Cuba, perhaps the best one being the peoples’ resilience and creativity in solving problems and getting by without having access to the things we take for granted.

I, in fact, had to learn some of that craftiness myself.

Not long after we arrived, I bought a hammock at an artisan market in Havana. I couldn’t wait to hang it up, and there was a perfect pair of trees on the grounds of the apartment-hotel where we were staying.

There was just one problem. I couldn’t find rope anywhere. I must have gone to five hardware stores. No rope to be found!

I ended up picking up some pieces of cloth and old electrical wires in a vacant lot. Now I thought I was good to go.

Back at the hotel, one of the security guards helped me out — thank goodness for the kindness of strangers — and I settled in with a Cuba Libre and my book to enjoy relaxing in the hammock for the first time. Until…

The cloth broke about 10 seconds later and I ended up on the ground covered in rum and Coke!

Along with my newfound security guard friend, we tried several more times to get it to stay hung, me falling on my butt several more times as well.

Two of my classmates apparently had quite the laugh watching from the window and had even taken a video of these failed attempts. Fortunately, that video got lost or erased somehow before it was shared with the whole group.

Undeterred, I ventured back out and found some thicker cables. With those, I finally succeeded in getting that hammock hung. I even carried it around much of the island and hung it on my porch back home in the US for years afterward with those same cables.

Lessons learned were that perseverance matters, always check your hammock is stable before trying to enjoy a drink in it, and if you’re unsure, make sure no one’s watching from the window!

– Adam from Cartagena Explorer

12. A Road Trip With A Resilient Mouse

Here is an adventurous trip story that takes place in Death Valley National Park, which my friends and I thought got its name because nothing lives there.

While cooking dinner in the campground, one of us had an idea to open all the car doors in the evening to release the stale air inside.

This didn’t turn out to be a very good idea.

The next morning, we packed everything up and got ready to discover other parts of Death Valley, when suddenly a mouse jumped on my legs!

“Boys, we have a mouse in the car!” I screamed.

My brother turned to me disbelievingly. “What are you talking about?!”

I got a similar gaze from Jakub, who nervously asked, “Are you sure?”

The mouse quickly disappeared, and I was left trying to get the rest of the group to believe me.

The truth came out the next morning, though. Jakub grabbed a pack of pasta and it started to spill all over the car trunk. The mouse must have bitten a hole in it.

Now they believed me, and we set off on a mission to rid the mouse from the car.

Our first plan was to download a number of mobile apps producing squeaky anti-mouse sounds. In the evening, we opened everything possible and turned on our phones to maximum volume. After a while, we were going crazy due to this terrible sound. The mouse, on the other hand, didn’t mind at all and, I can only imagine, quietly laughed at us.

In the morning, we found more mouse damage — a leaking barrel of water had soaked half of our things, and the mouse had eaten through my headphones. Plus, we were starting to worry about the car’s electricity.

We decided our next step was to go to Walmart for traps. Before heading to bed we carefully filled the traps with cheese and spread them evenly throughout the car, eager to see if we captured the mouse by morning.

Unfortunately, when we woke up they were empty — and we found more holes in our packed food. There was pasta everywhere!

It was clear that if there was enough food in the car, the traps wouldn’t be interesting for her.

On the other hand, we understood the mouse. She probably hadn’t seen that much food in her entire life in Death Valley and suddenly there was this huge banquet! What mouse wouldn’t want to explore such a rodent paradise?

She traveled with us over 600 miles before we got to Yosemite National Park. This journey brought new hope to our struggle.

Bears rob 130 cars a year in Yosemite, so there are bear boxes in every campground. Therefore, we completely unloaded our car. Every crumb was removed.

It was our last hope. If it didn’t work, nothing would.

We set up the traps and went to sleep, and in the morning there she was, one of the fattest mice we’d ever seen. We agreed that’d she’d probably just had the most amazing “all-inclusive trip” of her life.

– Matěj from Czech the World

13. An Unexpected Fall Into Crocodile-Infested Waters

If you’re looking for funny adventure stories that are also a bit scary — or even travel disaster stories — this one is for you.

Safari tourism hadn’t really taken off when we visited Malawi in 2010 during an overland trip through Africa.

Health and safety weren’t major considerations, and it was certainly a far cry from the safaris we did in South Africa , Tanzania, and Botswana.

Arriving at Liwonde National Park in the south of Malawi we were excited as we knew it was a great place to spot elephants.

We relied on our campsite to book a canoe safari for us. Luckily, as soon as we set off we spotted loads of elephants — and even hippos — along the shoreline.

The trip leader in the canoe behind us suddenly shouted to our guide. Then there was an unexpected bump and we were thrown out of the canoe.

Our canoe had been flipped by a hippo!

The moments that followed were a blur. Thankfully local fishermen had seen the commotion and came over to help. We knew that there were crocodiles in the water as well as hippos and wanted to get out as soon as possible. We managed to haul ourselves into the fishermen’s canoes and were paddled back to the shore.

Amazingly nobody had been hurt and we were very thankful to the local fishermen. While we were drying out, we were pretty shocked to be asked to pay for the trip. They finally settled for a 50% reduction and we paid with the wet notes from our wallet.

We weren’t traveling with smartphones in those days so finding a reputable tour company was a bit hit and miss.

Often, there are lessons to be learned through these stories of travel. These days we would recommend Googling reputable tour operators, although as with all wildlife adventures, always expect the unexpected!”

– Jacquie from Flashpacking Family

14. Remembered By The TSA

One of my favorite short funny stories to tell is this one.

I traveled out of the Kansas City airport about every other week for the past three years.

Before I leave my house, I clean out the fridge and put any fruit that would go bad into a stasher bag.

I have TSA Precheck but have learned it’s just easier to pull it out of my purse into a bin and it won’t ever get questioned.

Last summer I was going through and the X-Ray guy says, “Hey! It’s strawberry girl!”

Then three others perked up and waved to me.

Except for that day, it was sliced peaches, and I felt like I let them down.

-Katie Boutwell, Katie B Traveling

15. Confusion In Small-Town France

I feel like this is one of those relatable funny stories because who hasn’t ended up in the wrong location?

In 2019, my husband and I took a trip to France to attend the wedding of my former exchange student, Christelle.

The day after the wedding, we set off from our hotel to the small village of Montcourt-Fromonville to attend a luncheon for close friends and family.

Shortly after arriving in the small village, we happened to pass Christelle’s family gathered in a small parking lot. We wondered if we should stop, but they didn’t look settled, and Google Maps was continuing to direct us.

We drove further, and eventually, Google Maps did the thing where it says you have arrived, but you look around and don’t know where you’ve arrived to.

My husband and I were very confused. Per the invite, the destination was called Chateau de la Mairie de Montcourt-Fromonville, but there was no address associated with it. When I typed it into Google, it came up as being a city hall.

Looking around the vicinity, we did see a castle-looking building in the distance, but it seemed way too fancy for a luncheon. Plus, would Christelle really be having her luncheon at a city hall?

We turned around and decided to go back to the parking lot where we had originally seen Christelle and her family. Of course, when we got there, no one was outside anymore. We approached a residential building nearby, thinking perhaps the luncheon was at someone’s personal residence there and snooped around a little bit.

Unfortunately, there were no signs of any gatherings in this quiet building. As we walked away, I heard a voice behind us say, “Bonjour.”

Turning around, I spotted a woman I had never seen in my life and wondered how I would explain our apparent snooping in French.

“Nous cherchons une fete.” (We are looking for a party)

The woman continued to stare at me.

“Pas ici?” (Not here?)

The woman shook her head “no” with a confused look on her face. Feeling her eyes upon us, we immediately left before further damage could be done with my limited French.

Frustrated, we followed Google Maps back to the lovely castle-looking building. Now we saw more cars there, and we thought maybe that was the location after all.

Our suspicions were confirmed upon parking outside of the chateau “city hall” where we were relieved to finally find Christelle and her family.

We were very grateful this was such a small village. Otherwise, I’m not sure how much bad French I would have had to stumble through before finding the luncheon!

– Theresa from Fueled by Wanderlust

16. An Unexpected Mountain Encounter

One of my most interesting vacation stories happened a few years ago. My younger brother and I decided to take a drive from Oklahoma City to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge to see if we could get any photos of the bison herds that live there.

We couldn’t find any, unfortunately, but we did find some very ornery longhorn cows!

We drove up to the visitor’s center to get directions to where the bison were at the moment, but we couldn’t get out of the car. There was a small group of about four longhorns gathered around watching something. When we got close enough to see what was so exciting, we realized that there were two teenage-looking steers fighting with their horns locked!

We wanted to watch the fighting because it was so entertaining — and not what we were expecting — but we learned that it was a mistake when one almost knocked the other into our car.

We absolutely did not want to be stuck getting out and having to be around them without the protection of a two-thousand-pound SUV separating us, so we drove off.

But I’ll never forget the feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realized we could have been in a car accident where the longhorn hit us and not the other way around!

It’s one of the best funny road trip stories we often share with friends!

– Stephanie from Oklahoma Wonders

Bonus Short Travel Stories

Looking for more interesting travel stories and funny travel anecdotes? Don’t miss:

25 Crazy Travel Stories You Need To Read To Believe

23 Inspiring Travel Stories Sharing The Kindness Of Strangers

38 Inspiring Travel Love Stories From The Road

Sexual Assault Stories From The Road (& What I’ve Learned)

8 Crazy NYC Subway Stories That Will Make You Hail A Cab

17 True Short Adventure Travel Stories To Inspire Your Next Trip

A Host’s Perspective: My Worst Airbnb Horror Stories

11 Epic Travel Fail Stories From The Road

18 Scary Travel Stories From Haunted Hotels To Creepy Cabins

Do you have any short funny travel stories to add to this list?

Enjoyed this list of hilarious travel stories? Pin these funny anecdotes for later!

Related posts:

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28 Comments

Thank you so much for sharing your stories. Hope to see you in Morocco for an excellent adventure trip. Enjoy and keep doing excellent trips!

@Moha: Thank you!

OMG!!! I can only imagine what you must have gone through. Really funny stories. I would surely be careful next time before booking a massage 🙂 Thanks for the super hilarious blog.

That’s a lot of spa stories. I too had boob massage in Indonesia and Thailand. Whoops!

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Losing and Finding My Way in Japan

by Norm Williams

For much of my career, I traveled the world as a salesman.  Our company hired people in each country we sold in to help with various duties. One year I went to Japan, and the sales agent chose the Kokusai Hotel in Kyoto for my stay due to the efficiency of its proximity to his office.  I left early on a calm, bright morning to find my way through a beautiful historic part of the city built in traditional Japanese style.   The cute, smiley hotel receptionist had written directions on a map, circled the area of my destination, and wrote out the address in Japanese in case I needed help.  Shyly, she said in broken Japanese-English and with her hand covering her mouth, “It’s in this area.  If you get lost, here’s the address.”  With an early start and a clear sense of direction, I felt comfortable about arriving on time – a business culture imperative in Japan. I thought I found the circled area on the map with ease.  I then compared the hand-written address to the kanji characters on the buildings to discern a match.  With no Japanese reading ability, I struggled as if trying to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs without the Rosetta stone.  I soon realized, “I’m lost, and not just in the usual way when I’m at home in the U.S.  I’m lost without local reading or speaking ability, not knowing anyone in the city to go to for help, and a cell phone without reception in this country to call my sales agent.”  Bewildered and disappointed that I could not find the way on my own, I began to wander.  I looked for help among the passers-by. 

I used my ignorant foreigner look, which I had patented around the world — the clueless, helpless, American businessman who is hopelessly lost, out of his element, and pleading for some host country compassion. I tentatively approached a businessman, presumably walking to work.  Being deep in thought, I surprised him as a foreigner.  But, kindly, he took pity on me. He looked at the address and, after a long pause, said, while shaking his head side-to-side, “Aaannnooo.”  To me, this sounded like, “I don’t know.”  Later I learned that “anno” is the Japanese form of “mmmm.”   We parted with a mutual look of apology.  I continued to beg for help as I disrupted Kyoto’s quiet, morning street routine.  A coffee shop appeared to be a prospect for a captive audience of potential helpers.  A lone, older man, enjoying his coffee and newspaper, sat in the corner, isolated.  I cornered him.  He had no choice but to help.   He took a long, discerning look at the address, then the map, then the address, then the map again.  He pointed to a spot on the map with an air of precision and confidence.  But beneath his veneer of clarity and calm, I thought I saw a man pinning a tail on a donkey piñata while blindfolded.  Time to move on, I thought. I learned later-on that addresses in Japan are codes to unravel.  They indicate a ward, a district within the ward, a subsection of the district called a chome, a block number within the chome, and, finally, a building number.  In Japan, they number buildings in the order of their construction. They are not in numerical order as in the U.S.  The address I looked for could be located anywhere on the block, not somewhere in sequence. In place of a conventional numbered street address, an address in Japan could read like this in the U.S.:  “Go down this alleyway, take

a right at the nightclub, continue past the graveyard, and it’s the red door on the right after the old oak tree.”    Next, I found a lady pulling boxes on a cart.  I guessed that a delivery person would know the area well.  After quickly reviewing the address, she waved me hurriedly in another direction as if she knew exactly where to go.  We eventually reached her old van in front of a gas station.  She took out a map. As she looked at it for a long time, a deep crease began to form in her forehead. Her air of confidence became a look of “I don’t know.”  Fortunately, her fellow worker, who sensed the problem, stepped in, analyzed the address and map, and then pointed with the certainty of a commanding general to an area of buildings across the street.  My translation of her gesture, however, was:  “It’s somewhere over there!”  Another pin-the-tail moment. By now, I trusted no one walking the street.  So, I waved down an expert – a taxi driver.  His response to reading the address was an elongated samurai grunt and finger-pointing fit in Japanese-English, “Why are you taking a taxi?  It is around here.  We don’t need to drive anywhere!”  But I could detect uncertainty in his expressions as he desperately tried to help me.  I responded to him in my best, polite international English that I had learned works around the world – simple words pronounced slowly and loudly with a local accent as if the person cannot hear me well enough. In English with a Japanese accent, I said,  “Pleeease driiiive meee tooo theee ahdresssss ah.  I wiiill paaay youuuu eeeeven if it iiis aaacross the streeeeet.”  Then it dawned on me that he did not understand any of my Japanese accented English.  So, I resorted to the universal sign language of desperation conveyed with an American G I Joe gusto that said through body gestures, “I don’t want to walk there.  I am very late!  Please drive me even if it costs $50 to go 10 feet!”

He interpreted my gestures differently from what I meant because he zoomed off with me towards the center of town.  He tossed me what looked like a Japanese language guide-book to the city with pictures of landmarks and pages of street maps.  It was like he was giving me a tour of the town as he pointed to various places.  Perceiving the misadventure ahead, I emphasized my unwavering interest in going to the phantom address by vigorously and repeatedly pointing at the address written on the paper.  He responded with more grunts mixed with smiles as if saying, “You can point all you want.  You are my prisoner.” After many miles, we arrived back where we began the city tour and parked outside the gas station.  A determined and, apparently, a compassionate man, the driver did not want to let me down now.  He went to the gas station’s workers and pulled them together for a conference.  For what seemed like an eternity, they diligently researched maps, considered directories, animatedly discussed possible locations, and pointed in various directions. Then the gas station workers appeared to bow to each other in a humble celebration. Grandly, one of them stepped forward from the group and pointed to a building directly across the street. In the same direction that the cart puller’s fellow worker had gestured to, and the taxi driver told me about, I wondered, in despair, “Could it be that the building was, all this time, just over there, and I hadn’t listened to them?” The elated cab driver, who dearly wanted to finish the job, eagerly waved me into the taxi.  Ecstatic, I jumped in.  With a simple U-turn, he would deliver me to the door of the building across the street.  But, of course, that would be too simple. We drove in Japan, and the strict traffic laws overrode any sense of simplicity. My cab driver pulled out, zoomed off, took a dozen or so turns down one-way streets, and we finally pulled up to the building that was across

the street. I could have walked back and forth between the building and gas station twenty times while in the cab.  Gratefully, I paid the taxi driver a ransom for my release plus a tip for the city tour.  As I walked into my sales agent’s office sixty minutes late, his lady assistant graciously approached me, saying, “He is waiting for you at the Kokusai hotel to bring you here.”  “Oh My God! What message did I miss that told me to wait there?” I thought in anguish. “I spoke with a half dozen Japanese, disrupted their morning routine, struggled endlessly to understand them, walked many city blocks, traveled unnecessary miles, felt the helplessness and hopelessness of being lost, arrived an hour late, and I only had to wait for the sales agent to quickly and efficiently take me to his office! Feeling quite humble, I entered the meeting room and sat down at the conference table. My sales agent began to speak, and I listened carefully to his direction.

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Adventure Bucket List: 50 Crazy Ideas & Things to Do

No bucket list, whether for travel or for life, is complete without some items that seem a little crazy; dangerous, even. Perhaps you find yourself in need of even making an entire adventure bucket list, solely dedicated to the craziest and most adrenaline junkie type of activities you could possibly come up with?

To get you started on planning your next adventure, I’ve compiled a list of some crazy and adventurous things to do that can give you great ideas. Some of these may seem easy, while others just might get you nervous just thinking about them.

PS: I must preface this list by saying participating in these adventures is at your own risk!

Adventure Bucket List: Crazy Ideas & Things to Do

1. air boat across an alligator swamp.

Because if something goes wrong with this activity, it can go really wrong, this has deservedly earned its spot on an adventure bucket list for anyone. You can trust, though, that rather than being dangerous, it’s likely going to be a lot of thrilling fun, possibly with some gator sightings to be made. Just do your due research to find the tour that best soothes your nerves ahead of time.

2. Arrive By Seaplane

Some places in the world, such as the private islands on Maldives, can only be reached by a seaplane that will take-off and land on the water. Make a plan to visit an island or a similar sight with this in mind and you’ll find yourself adding a bit of additional thrill to your journey.

3. Base Jump With a Wingsuit

This one is definitely for those looking for the most crazy bucket list ideas! You’ll don on a wingsuit, get on the edge of a high point – such as somewhere on the Alps where this is a particularly popular sport – and then you leap off it. The purpose is to glide back onto the ground with the help of the webbing-sleeved jumpsuit, but this is understandably an incredibly dangerous sport to try and tackle.

4. Bungee Jump

Bungee jumping is a classic bucket list item for any daredevil out there. It’s possible to try out almost anywhere in the world, and if you happen to be particularly adventurous, you might want to choose to do it precisely based on where the nature around you is the most spectacular to look at as you are falling off that ledge attached to a large elastic cord.

5. Cage Dive with Sharks

Also featured in some thrilling movies, cage diving into waters with sharks is not for the fainthearted. Thankfully, it is also a lot more fun and a lot less dangerous than what the films make it seem like, as long as you join a reputable tour for it. A truly unforgettable adventure, especially when you do it in one of the World’s best places to shark cage dive !

6. Catch a Wave Surfing

While this may not be the craziest item on this bucket list, it does take a fair bit of practice to learn how to surf. And especially when you’re just getting started, it’s particularly thrilling to see whether the approaching wave is one you’ll catch successfully – or whether the wave’s going to catch you instead! The feeling that comes from catching those waves once you’ve finally got the handle on surfing is such a great and exhilarating feeling.

7. Cliff Jump

Another great item to get added and then checked off your adventure bucket list is cliff jumping. You’ll want to do your due research ahead of time for approved spots, and maybe go with people who know what they’re doing, but finding gorgeous spots for cliff jumping is the easy part of this. If you love water and aren’t scared of heights, maybe this one’s for you to try out?

8. Dive to a Shipwreck

The sea is vast and filled with treasures like shipwrecks to be explored. Not only is this one adventurous and memorable activity, but it requires a lot of practice and skills with diving before it should even be considered. But once you’ve got all that down, diving down to explore a shipwreck is a lot of people’s dream come true!

9. Dog Sled

While cold weather may not be many of our things, it’s undeniable that wintery scenes and landscapes aren’t absolutely beautiful, not to mention filled with totally awesome winter bucket list activities . Dog sledding is perhaps from the most family-friendly end of them, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a thrilling activity in its own right, even for us adults.

10. Eat Fire

You’ve probably seen a performer or two eat fire before, and already got curious back then over how easy they make it seem. It’s a really cool act to master, especially with all the possible tricks you can do while eating fire, but this one’s crazy enough you definitely don’t want to start learning without a supervision from someone who’s mastered it. You can start by read this article: How do fire eaters eat fire?

11. Eskimo Roll in a Kayak

“Do what now?” may be the first thought that crossed your mind upon reading this one, but knowing how to Eskimo roll in a kayak is actually a useful skill to know! Of course nobody wishes for their kayak to roll over in the first place, but you never know what could happen, so perhaps it’s a good time to learn this before you hop into your kayak again. 

12. Explore a Cave

Could this adventure bucket list item be your next on your hobby list ? As with many other hobbies, to get into exploring caves, you’ll also want to start off easy and gradually move towards more challenging ones. Best way to go about this is to find a caving club near to where you’re living and join them for one of their easiest caving trips. Even if you want to progress to exploring caves independently, a great rule of thumb is to never do so alone.

13. Flip on a Trampoline

We’ve all jumped on trampolines here and there when we were kids, and these days it’s easier than ever to get one added onto your backyard or to go hang out at a trampoline park. But flipping on a trampoline isn’t something all of us can do, so why not make it a fun challenge for yourself to learn how to flip on a trampoline, and then do it?!

14. Fly on a Trapeze

Trapeze acts are performing acts we’ve all seen and admired from afar before, but it’s totally possible to get your own turn to shine as you fly on a trapeze! Especially for those of us who are afraid of heights, this can come across as quite a crazy bucket list item idea, but it’s thankfully possible to try out in a safe supervised environment. In fact, the Internet is full of websites offering just that and you can read about my experience here: A day at trapeze school: a circus-style aerial class .

15. Flyboard

In the last couple of years, flyboarding has really become a hit among water sports lovers. It is a water sport where propulsion drives you up in the air. Seems like it’s possible to do in so many spots these days, especially around Southern Europe and Dubai (I went flyboarding in Cancun, Mexico !). It’s not quite like riding a banana boat, though; you’ll have to spend a little bit of time learning the basics and even then it can be a challenge to successfully do it. However, it’s a fun and adventurous, but relatively safe way to challenge your mind and body once you get properly started with it. 

16. Free Dive for Abalone

You’re not allowed to scuba dive in order to catch abalone, which certainly makes this a unique adventure to try. This extreme sport is especially popular around Northern California, though it may be possible to do elsewhere too—and also illegal in some other places. Find a good spot for abalone, don on your swimwear, and get diving! 

17. Get a Tattoo

Although getting a tattoo isn’t among the craziest of ideas on this list at first glance, putting permanent ink on your body – and being in pain throughout the experience – is quite crazy after all, if you ask me. Many do it on a whim, but I do recommend you at least give it enough thought to come up with a tattoo you won’t regret five minutes later, let alone the next fifty years. Maybe check out on of these 27 Beautiful Tattoos That Tell Their Own Travel Stories for inspiration.

18. Go Bamboo Rafting

While opting for a bamboo raft may not make for an adventure as exhilarating as jumping on a whitewater raft would, it’s still a great and memorable, unique adventure in its own right. Not to mention it’s environmentally friendly! You can go bamboo rafting in Jamaica and Thailand’s Chiang Mai, but China’s Yangshuo is perhaps best known for it. 

19. Go Bobsledding

If you’re looking for a thrilling winter sport to try out with a friend or a loved one, bobsledding is a great one to give a go with. You’re going down narrow and icy tracks in high-speed with a sleigh that’s powered simply by gravity – what isn’t adventurous and exhilarating in that?!

20. Go Fat Biking

Fat bikes have such brilliantly thick tires they allow for biking in environments that’d be difficult on a regular bike, such as a thick forest or snowy grounds. That means that with your fat bike, you can take it off-road and go explore areas you otherwise might’ve only walked through or choose not to visit at all. 

21. Go Heliboarding

Are you a lover of snowboarding and downhill skiing, and now looking to kick it up a notch with it? Then you’ve got to hop on board a helicopter to reach a more remote slope, and then jump off it to ski or board all the way down. Talk about crazy bucket list ideas, this one is certainly not for the faint of heart! 

22. Go on a Police Ride Along

While this will likely not turn out to be as crazy of an experience as portrayed in some movies, it’s still a thrill to hop into a police car and spend a day shadowing officers on the job. It will definitely give you a more authentic image of what their job’s like than any TV show or movie could! 

23. Go on a Survival Weekend

This can be a hardcore challenge especially those of us entirely accustomed to the city life. It’s not dangerous by any means, but you have to camp outdoors, and essentially will have to also pick and hunt your food. It’s a great experience to make you in general more resilient and resourceful in life. 

24. Go Paragliding

Paragliding is an awesome and adrenaline pumping way to see your surroundings from the air! You’ll usually fly with an instructor attached to you and the paraglide, so whilst an extreme sport of sorts, it’s by no means one that’s particularly dangerous. Of course, if you’re experienced in this, you may fly on your own, too.

25. Go Whitewater Rafting

Now, this is the more adventurous way to go rafting. Although moving through a stream, sometimes at high speed, may seem like a dangerous activity, if you choose your course right and go with the right crew, you should lose nothing, and only be gaining spectacular memories! This cool activity can be done all around the world, from the US to Turkey to South Korea. 

For an even more adrenaline rush, try Tidal Bore Rafting Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy Tides !

26. Go Windsurfing

To get the best of both surfing and sailing in one fell swoop, why not add windsurfing to your adventure bucket list? It’s fun and thrilling, but also easy and safe enough for even a beginner to try out. Since even kids can start learning windsurfing, this can be a fun activity for the whole family to do together! 

27. Go Zorbing

Although many of us have probably yet to try this one, I’m sure you’ve all heard of zorbing, where you place yourself into a big, transparent orb, then roll down a hill in it. I’d say if you’re looking for crazy bucket list ideas, this is a good one to add to it!

28. Hang Glide

If paragliding isn’t enough for you, time to amp up your time in the air and go hand gliding! A hand glider is non-motorized, so it is simply you and your body controlling the movement of the glider. This can definitely feel like a crazy and scary activity, but you’ll at least be attached to your glider by a harness, so suddenly losing your grip and falling off the glider shouldn’t be an issue of concern.

29. Join the Mile High Club

Yup, you all know what this one’s about, right? Being intimate while flying in a plane is certainly on a lot of people’s sex bucket list . It may be a little bit dangerous, because it just may get you in trouble with the airline you choose to score the achievement on. So, better make it worth the while and bring on your best moves and spirit!

30. Kite Surf

Here’s another surfing-like water sport to get your adrenaline pumping with! You may not need just as badass skills to stay standing on your board as you would with surfing, but controlling that kite while flying through water and air is a game of its own to master. It’s possible to kite surf through snow and ground, too. 

For the ultimate experience, complete this on at one of the 10 Best Places in The World to Kite Surf !

31. Parasail

An alternative to paragliding, especially if you happen to be scared of heights, is to go parasailing instead. You’ll still be gliding in the air with a parachute attached to you, but instead of controlling your own movement, you’re attached to a boat driving you all around a water-area, like a lake or sea. 

32. Play a Game of Paintball

Looking for an activity to do with your friends that’s fun, but also challenging? Then paintball may be an amazing choice! The object is to shoot guns with paint-filled capsules at your opponents before they tag you! It can get a little painful, so dress up in many layers! 

33. Rappel Down a Mountain

Climbing up a mountain is one thing, and rappelling down a mountain is another. Both are a challenge, and especially for those of us scared of heights coming down a mountain may prove to be much scarier than getting high up in the first place. Tackling a mountain, especially heading down one, just may be the next adventure you go on. 

34. Rappel Down a Waterfall

Even more exhilarating than rappelling down a mountain is to rappel down a waterfall. This is an extreme sport that has been gaining a lot of popularity over the last decade, and numerous tours are being arranged these days to conquer waterfalls like this. It’s by no means an easy feat to complete and therefore another great and adventurous way to challenge yourself. 

35. Rappel into a Cave

You can also go exploring those caves we talked about above by rappelling into one! This is the way to go if it’s a cave with an opening only at its top. It’s a tad bit scarier than just walking into a cave, but can honestly be a lot of fun, not to mention picturesque.

36. Ride a Bull

Yes, to some extent it may still be possible to ride a bull in the way you’ve seen cowboys do in rodeo. But do note that this one does have potential to go awry. If you’re up for the challenge, find a way to do it; if you’re OK with a less thrilling experience, then find a bar with a mechanical bull.

37. Ride ATVs

Riding an ATV, whether it’s near your home or whilst somewhere on a trip, is another fun and easily accessible adventure to add to your list. If you’re completely new to it, I do encourage trying it with hired professionals for the first time, but if you end up getting your own ATV to ride down the line, many driving adventures can be had with this. 

38. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon

Riding high in the sky in a hot air balloon will give you a birds-eye view of the landscapes below. 

39. Ride in a Luge

Now here’s an experience you don’t hear everyone talk about, or might even know what it is yet! A luge is a self-driving car system, kind of like a go kart, except it relies on gravity and a downhill path to move. The only ride in the US is available in Michigan and it’s rather different from a traditional luge ride; to get the real thing, your best bets are Queenstown in Australia and Sentosa in Singapore.

40. Ride on a Scary Roller Coaster

Every big amusement park in the world seems to be equipped with at least one roller coaster these days that’s absolutely wild in how steep it can get or how fast it can go. Oftentimes it’s a combination of both! If you’re a thrill seeker, try to find the scariest roller coaster possible to tackle next. And if you’re one of those who’s been too fearful to get on that one particular scary roller coaster, now’s your chance to right that wrong!

41. Sail a Boat

Despite it seeming like a rather peaceful activity, sailing a boat can be surprisingly strenuous, and is most certainly always its own little challenge. If you’re looking for items for your adventure bucket list, but aren’t too much of a thrill seeker, this is a great one to add to your list.

42. Scuba Dive

Even if your scuba diving adventure doesn’t take you to exploring a shipwreck, at least not immediately, it’s always a fun adventure to embark on once you’ve learned its basics. There’s a lot of beauty to be discovered undersea, and while you can explore some of it by snorkeling, diving gets you properly close and intimate with life under the surface. 

43. Skydive

We’ve already covered paragliding and its equivalent forms, but skydiving is really where it’s at if you want to get as high in the air as possible. This is a truly gutsy hobby to embark on, but it can be incredibly rewarding if you just have the patience and courage for it. If this is just too scary for you, then how about having an indoor skydiving cxperience ?

44. Snowboard

Alternatively, you can go with skis as well. Either way, as long as you are going down a snowy hill, you’ll be doing a tremendous job checking this one off your bucket list. The world is full of amazing resorts with incredible slopes available, so you’ll likely end up going through a few of them once you get properly addicted to snowboarding or downhill skiing. 

45. Swim with Stingrays

While you’re advised to stay away from stingrays you come across in the wild, this is a fun and memorable activity you can do on a tour specializing in swimming with them. It’s possible elsewhere as well, but the most famous, and therefore most reputable, for swimming with Stingrays is Stingray City in the Cayman Islands .

46. Swim with Whale Sharks

Unlike the sharks you meet while cave diving, with whale sharks you don’t have to worry about them suddenly gaining interest in your flesh. Yes, they’ve got big mouths, and with everything we know of sharks you’ll probably be really nervous to get into waters with them. However, these gentle creatures are on a plankton diet, so you should be able to get in and out of the water with all of your limbs attached. 

47. Take a Geocaching Adventure

All you need to embark on a geocaching adventure is a GPS, which most of today’s phones come ready with, and perhaps some clothing and shoes appropriate for the weather. While the main purpose of geocaching is to find geocaches in your area, it can easily take you to places you’ve yet to discover, leading you to catch two birds with one stone. 

48. Try Skijoring

In this wintertime sport, you’ll be on skis, but instead of moving using ski poles to help you move, you’ll be attached to a dog, or a horse, or possibly a vehicle that’ll be pulling you forward. This originated in Norway, and is today mostly conducted as a competitive sport. 

49. Walk a Suspension Bridge

Suspension bridges are bridges where the deck of the bridge hangs on vertical suspenders attached to suspension cables above the deck. Even Brooklyn Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge are considered to fall under this category, so just by walking through those you can tick this item off your list. However, I encourage you to challenge your adrenaline levels and instead go for a bridge like Sidu River Bridge, for example. 

I walked this cool one while in Guyana :

50. Walk on Hot Coals

Also known as firewalking, walking on hot coals isn’t just a popular catchphrase, it’s an actual performance-type activity some skilled folks can do. But it’s possible for you to also learn firewalking, or at least try once! Though perhaps do so with a trained professional, so you don’t actually end up burning yourself.

51. Walk on the Wings of an Airplane

And yes, I’m talking about doing this while the plane is in the air! Just the thought of it may get goosebumps popping up all over your body, am I right? It’s actually considered relatively safe, though, as you will receive training for it and will also be attached to a harness all the way through.

52. Wrap a Snake Around Your Neck

Perhaps not the first thing you ever thought you’d do in your life, but turns out that sometimes the opportunity simply presents itself. Maybe don’t try to do this with any random snake you find in the wilderness, for both your and the snake’s safety, but it’s quite likely you’ll get lucky and find a moment where it’s possible to find yourself with a snake wrapped around your neck.

53. Zip Line

Finally, no adventure bucket list is complete without zip lining included in it. This is an extreme sport where you are attached to cords that “zip” you from one tree to the next. It has grown so popular over the years it seems to be possible to do just about anywhere – so easy to check off your bucket list! And while it can get your nerves on overdrive before setting off, it’s usually totally safe to do. 

How many of these adventure bucket list ideas have you already managed to complete? How many were you already planning on doing, and how many more dreams did just get added to your crazy bucket list?

While compiling bucket lists may seem like a corny idea, they can give an amazingly clear picture of all the things you want to complete in life, besides just getting that dream job and dream apartment. Going on adventures should be a big part of all of our lives, too! 

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through my links, I earn a commission that helps to keep this blog running—at no extra cost to you. For more information read my full disclosure .

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8 thoughts on “Adventure Bucket List: 50 Crazy Ideas & Things to Do”

Hello! Every Traveler would love to read your blog like me. This blog is one of the best blogs that you’ve written, which took me here to leave a comment. Though I’m an adventurer, I will never wrap a snake around my neck! But would love to get the Bird’s eye view of the landscapes below by riding in a hot air balloon. Every adventurer will have a dream of trying bungee jumping at least once in a lifetime so as for me. I even want to swim with sharks. Your travel blogs are awesome and I’m looking forward to more such blogs to read.

Glad you liked the articles

Hey, It’s an Amazing Post. I liked it and I love to share it.

VERY GOOD EXCELLENT

Really liked your post, so unformatted. I am always for your new posts.

thanks for giving such a great information for us, keep sharing and keep it up

I was actually surprised that I’ve done more on this list than I thought haha I’ve zip lined, I’ve rode a bull (mechanical), I’ve done parasailing, walked across a suspension bridge and explored a cave! I love the print out too, really awesome.

Really good bucket list !

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Hey Bucket Listers! I'm Annette .

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Bucket list ideas travel facing fear & anxiety.

What a thrill, to travel vicariously through the words and images of my colleagues over the past year, as they journeyed to some of the farthest reaches of the globe—and their imaginations—to tell these stories. This series of Epic Trips began with a pitch from AFAR photo editor Michelle Heimerman, who proposed a trip to one of the world’s greatest archaeological sites in the historic region of Mesopotamia, along the northern edge of the Fertile Crescent (aka Türkiye). At a glance, we were sending her to the middle of nowhere, but as she so astutely points out in her photo essay on ancient Göbekli Tepe, “You’re actually squarely in the middle of somewhere, circa 9500 B.C.” With the help of archaeologists and professors at the top of their field, she experienced “the places of our ancient ancestors, to allow space for the unanswered. To use travel as a way to think about who we once were.”

That got my mind racing. What if we could cross deserts, journey up mountains, raft river rapids and sail remote seas, even touch the edge of space to better understand our past? To examine the impact humanity has had on the planet—from different angles—and a future where we can see the world’s most stunning environments responsibly?

We traveled with companies like Lindblad , Modern Adventure , a certified B Corp, and Exceptional Kangaroo Island , an essential local business, to be sure these trips had a positive impact on the destinations we visited. How’s that for a modern definition of epic?

Read on for this year’s collection of Epic Trips to Australia, the Arctic (and Antarctica), Brazil, British Columbia, Fiji, Greenland, Mexico, the Nile in Uganda, Peru, Türkiye, across Europe, and up to the rim of the atmosphere.

-Laura Dannen Redman

From misty Northern California redwood forests to sun-kissed Southern California beaches, the enchanted Golden State may seem like a dream. Luckily, it’s all very real. Discover hundreds of places to visit, learn our diverse regions and lively cities all in one place.

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Our Top 10 Unique & Unusual Vacations

You’ve been there and done that. You’ve traveled well and you’ve traveled far. And now you want to do things differently . Well, our unusual vacations take you off the beaten path – and they keep on going.

Unusual – for us – isn’t about being a voyeur. It’s about really getting to grips with a very different way of life. Let a Mongolian nomad teach you how the eagle soars. Build your own igloo in Greenland’s endless North. Batten down the hatches as you sail across the arctic. This is all about the weird and wonderful.

Our Top 10 Unusual Vacations List Includes:

• Live With The Bürtkitshi Of Western Mongolia
• Walk Face To Face With Gorillas In Rwanda
• Learn The Art Of The Ninja In Japan
• Explore Prehistoric Lakes From The Base Of Your Camp
• Receive A Blessing In The Floating Villages Of Lake Titicaca
• Ski Unnamed Peaks In Lofoten
• A Different Kind Of Safari
• Join The Dani Tribe In Papua New Guinea
• Go Back To The Beginning In Ethiopia
• When India Opens Its Doors In The Summer

With the help of our Travel Experts, is your next unusual story around the corner?

Psst if you’re looking for something truly unique and unusual for you and your family then follow us down the rabbit hole and explore our adventures inspired by classic children’s stories, Take me on a Story .

#1 Live with the Bürtkitshi of Western Mongolia

In the far corners of the Bayan-Olgii region, Kazakh nomads traverse the plateau as their ancestors did before them. Goats wander, gers are packed and unpacked, milk is served, eagles sore, communities move to fresh pasture. The cycle continues. This is one of the most remote and unchanged communities in the world. 

Local legend says that whilst a man trains the eagle, the eagle trains the man. On this trip you’ll live the legend – learning the struggles and the euphoria of this way of life. The highlight will come when you ascend the Altai Mountains themselves, where your Great Eagle Hunter host – and guide – will show you how the community supports and sustains itself. You’ll become truly embedded in this alternative way of life.

Open your eyes – and your heart – and step inside an ancient tradition that’s still very much alive and kicking. And soaring, of course.

EXPERIENCE THIS

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#2 Walk face to face with Gorillas in Rwanda

It’s an early morning start. You’ve eaten breakfast, sipped bleary-eyed at your coffee. A last check of your bag and you head north, passing local communities where farmers are harvesting coffee beans and children run alongside you whispering with excitement about your destination and the mythical hosts you’ll meet. 

There’s nothing usual, even to the locals here in Volcanoes National Park, about coming face to face with the region’s most unusual inhabitants. The jungle is dense and mysterious, everyone’s energy is high with anticipation. It’s one of those moments you can see coming but don’t know what to expect.

What does it feel like to look back 10 million years? How will you react once sitting within feet of the Great Apes as they peer back at you? You can’t be sure before you go. One thing that is for sure though: a single journey into the jungles of Virunga can change your life.

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#3 Learn the art of the Ninja in Japan

You’re traditionally dressed, trained and educated in the way of one of Japan’s most ancient ways of life. There’s your moment, the story you’ll bring back. Born from half-man, half crow, the history and presence of the Ninja in Japan is mysterious and at times otherworldly. For over a thousand years the Ninja have been deployed for their espionage and strategy, to infiltrate, understand and – when needed – assassinate .*

Today, their descendants continue in this meditative, progressive way of life. Without the killing. But they do know their way around a sword. 

You’ll meet your Ninjutsu teacher at the sacred Dojo – a place of learning and peace. Here you’ll be taken on a journey through the history of the Ninja and learn to think, breathe and fight like these infamous warriors of ancient Japan.

* don’t worry, you won’t have to assassinate anyone. That costs extra.

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#4 Explore prehistoric lakes from the base of your camp

40,000 years ago Lake Minchin in the Altiplano region of Bolivia began to recede. Year by year it receded, leaving behind a 10,000 square kilometer crust of salt. The extraordinary Salar De Uyuni salt flat is an adventurer’s playground, where the vast horizon and reflective salt create visual illusions that feel like being pulled into a new world.

What’s different about our trip to this otherworldly place? Well, whilst others visit, you’ll be staying on the salt flats themselves. After all, a few hours isn’t enough to really immerse yourself in somewhere so ethereal. Whilst everyone else heads back to the world’s highest capital, La Paz, you’ll be sitting outside your custom dome camp, staring up at an infinite galaxy of stars. 

Welcome to Bolivia. This isn’t another planet. Even if it looks that way.

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#5 Receive a blessing in the floating villages of Lake Titicaca

This isn’t the capital. It’s not the beach town everyone goes to. This is the home of the Uros, a community that predates even the Incans. They say they’ve been here longer than the sun itself when the earth was dark and cold. They live high in the Andean mountains, on the shores of Lake Titicaca where Totora reeds are bedded down one atop the other until they’re stable enough to build entire communities on.

That’s what you’ll find here: an ancient tribe of people, relatively unchanged in a millennia, who have made reed beds the foundation of their community, one that floats on the surface of the spectacular Lake Titicaca.

If you want to find out more, the shaman here will take you into his shelter and tell you the stories of his people and how they outlasted the Spanish, the Incan’s and even the sun itself.

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LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE?

Had a read of the above but still looking for something else? We have some more options for you below and if you’re looking to pick up some sunshine whilst exploring a weird and wonderful place, take a look at our unusual beach vacations here.

#6 Ski unnamed peaks in Lofoten

You’re in the arctic circle. Yesterday you were sailing through a wintery archipelago. Today you’re skiing unnamed slopes (go on, name one). Tomorrow you’re setting out in search of the Aurora Borealis. Welcome to Lofoten, not your usual adventure. Not your usual story.

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#7 A different kind of Safari

This is not Kenya, Botswana or South Africa. This is the Congo. And very different. Our eight day adventure through Odzala-Kokua National Park will take you into a new world. One of the most mysterious on earth. Lowland Gorillas, African grey parrots, and forest elephants await.

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#8 Join the Dani Tribe in Papua New Guinea

The world is getting smaller, the blank space on the map are all but filled in. Papua New Guinea however, is one of those wild untamed wildernesses where remote tribal communities continue today as they did 10,000 years ago. Ready to step back in time and join the tribe?

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#9 Go back to the beginning in Ethiopia

Not many people consider Ethiopia, simply because of the challenge of traveling there. We’ve unpicked this enigmatic destination however and will take you completely off the grid into the hidden monasteries in the Simien Mountains, the castles of Gondar and rock-cut monolithic churches of Lalibela.

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#10 WHEN INDIA OPENS ITS DOORS IN THE SUMMER

It can only mean one place – Ladakh. High in the north western region of India, hidden in Jammu and Kashmir you’ll find yourself in an ancient kingdom, impassible but for a few short summer months, when the place lets a few visitors sneak in to marvel at a region untouched, undiscovered and full of adventure to be had.

Experience this

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NOT WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR?

Whilst there are some unusual destinations and events happening around the world that we tap into to create our experiences. We also take our own approach to travel, creating exclusive unique experiences from the ground up, ones that can only be enjoyed with Black Tomato. From wilderness survival to glamping on unconquered mountains, these are our unique services.

Designed for those looking for a once-in-a-lifetime challenge. Train with elite survival experts before traversing a polar, jungle, coastal, mountain or desert region in your mission back to civilization. Ready for the challenge?

The ultimate luxury camping retreat. From the Sahara desert to the Andean Mountains, with Blink anywhere you can envisage it, we will create it. Stay where no one has ever stayed before and where no one will ever stay again. An experience exclusively for you.

Some people talk about ‘culture shock.’ We’re talking about embedding yourself in an entirely different way of thinking, and of learning directly from experts on the ground; people who know their culture back to front. You may be surprised by what you discover.

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15 Crazy Life Experiences I've Had Thanks to Travel!

With the 'travel bingo' posts going around, it made me wonder if any of them would ever match up to the crazy experiences I've had all thanks to my travels. So here's a look back at some of the silly and precious moments because of my obsession with travel:

Travelling without tickets to Hampi

A group of nine of us decided to take the train to Hampi despite having only two confirmed tickets. It was quite a tough night with no sleep, evading the officer and finally convincing the officer to let us make it to our final destination. The weekend was still an eventful one!

Got electrocuted and survived!

A rare but unforgettable experience - when I was in the shower, surrounded by water and the heater malfunctioned. I should have died but perhaps my visit to the Ajmer Sharief Dargah earlier that day saved me.

Tam Coc Ninh Binh

Shopping in the middle of a remote river in vietnam.

I love shopping! And have managed to shop at the most unexpected places. But shopping under limestone formations in a little boat in the middle of a river filled with water lilies has got to top the list.

No money, no problem!

When demonetisation hit, my biggest concern was 'how will I fulfill my dream of shopping in beautiful Rajasthan?!' As they say necessity is the mother of invention and my friends and I managed to raid the shops of Rajasthan despite having limited notes to spare.

Sleeping alone on the beach

If you haven't done this, do it! It's the most scary, yet calming thing. Scary because you're worried if you're insane to sleep in a flimsy tent on a beach with no one watching out for you. Calming because after you tide over the fear, the sound of the waves put you to sleep like a lullaby!

Getting locked in a temple at twilight

This is hilarious but likely given that I get very lost in architectural beauty. I forgot that the temple was about to close and ran in to photograph the gorgeous twilight. I got locked in along with a few others. Luckily the temple guards let us out (after a huge fuss).

Hong Kong International Airport

Wore 4 kilos of clothes to avoid excess baggage.

A great hack, but not recommended as it's illegal in some countries too. But when you've had a crazy night and made it just in time for your flight from Hong Kong to Vietnam, you just go with the flow. We forgot our flight had a low baggage allowance and decided to wing it, by wearing layers of clothes. My friend was asked if she was pregnant after she'd stuffed her skirt with clothes. But Vietnam was worth it:

Visited a temple with buffalo heads lying around

I know it might sound dark, but do make a visit to the wonderful Kamakhya temple in Assam. It's a divine experience and one like no other! The sanctum sanctorum is surrounded by buffalo heads, from the sacrifices of the day. It can take at least an entire day here because of the winding queues.

Three countries in one day just for an art exhibit

India, Singapore and Hong Kong all in a day (thanks to time zones, it was in a day) just to visit the beautiful exhibit at the Art and Science Museum. The Team Lab exhibit was showing for just one year and I had to make it. Yes, I love art and art galleries!

Danced on a bar table in a hostel

To me this was on my birthday and it was an incredible experience! This trip had me knock of 29 random things to do, which according to me are too wild for me! Sometimes I think travel brings out a more fearless side to me.

Visited a toddy shop for the food and conversations

The simple, underground places sometimes serve up the best food. It's worth it, even if you're in a dress. You also get to make friends, once you shrug off those awkward stares.

Walked blocks just for ice cream

When you love food, you're sick and you come across a brand you've been wanting to try since you were a kid, you make the effort to get lost for ice cream! Well the 9 layer ice cream from Haagen Daz, the best ice cream in the world at the time (around 2009) was worth the effort.

Fighting a mob at an ATM

Only in Rajasthan during demonestisation! When we found an ATM with (valid) currency notes, it soon led to three girls inside an ATM holding on to dear life (and the ATM door) so we don't get attacked by a mob outside.

Claiming I've been married thrice and on to my fourth husband to avoid attention

When you're a single girl travelling, you'll find you're often followed by shameless men with phone cameras. Most of my creepy experiences have been on beaches. So you tend to make up elaborate stories to get out of a sticky situation.

Witnessed a performance at a dance bar, without knowing

When you're in a holy town like Pushkar, the last thing you'd expect is to walk into a dance bar. But this did happen and it was hilarious!

I've got a lot more crazy experiences, but it's best left out. Hopefully I'll get to have many more with many more wonderful people in the world whom I probably haven't met yet.

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12 crazy activities for your adventure travel bucket list

by Jeremy Scott Foster | Mar 13, 2019 | 0 comments

Note: All travel is subject to frequently changing governmental restrictions—please check federal, state and local advisories before scheduling trips. This article was last updated October 2020.

One of the best parts of traveling is the thrills you experience along the way. We’ve partnered with adventure travel expert Jeremy Scott Foster from TravelFreak,  as he talks about some of the most exhilarating travel bucket list items you can one day try around the world.

RELATED : Vacation rentals with beautiful waterfall views

What’s your favorite souvenir to take back home from a vacation? A few tacky magnets or maybe some cheap shot glasses?

How about bringing back memories from an unbelievably insane experience? Thankfully the world is full of hair-raising, spine-chilling, blood-tingling adventures that are just waiting to be ticked off of your travel bucket list.

That sounds way more exciting than a trinket you’ll immediately shove into your desk drawer.

Travel practically goes hand in hand with crazy experiences, and you don’t have to search far to find thrilling adventures . But just in case you need some inspiration, here are some of the wildest travel bucket list ideas.

1. Hot air balloon over Cappadocia, Turkey

While it’s possible to hot air balloon almost anywhere in the world, soaring high above the fairy chimneys in Cappadocia is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The rocky peaks and steep valleys look as if you’re floating over the moon.

Want to know what makes this adventure even more spectacular?

You’ll be flying with upwards of a hundred other balloons, making the view even more stunning than you could ever imagine.

2. Hike China’s most dangerous mountain

Blurring the line between thrilling and dangerous, trekking Mt. Huashan is less like a hike and more like knee-shaking shuffle over thin, wooden planks. With only a steel cable chaining you to safety, you’ll have to rely on your balancing skills to make it to the end.

If being suspended on the side of a 2,000-foot cliff doesn’t scare you, then grab your chain and swing out on one foot for an unforgettable thrill.

3. Walk on the wings of an airplane in Essex, U.K.

Would you call me crazy if I said you could ride on an airplane 1,000 feet in the air while being strapped to the outside?

Wing walking is an adrenaline-fueled ride atop a 1940s biplane that twists, turns, and dips while flying a heart-racing 130mph. If you’re not afraid of flying, then check wing walking off your travel bucket list.

4. Bungee jump (naked!) in Queenstown, New Zealand

Free falling with one of the world’s largest bungee jumps might be hair-raising enough for some, but why not take it to the next level? Leave your underwear and pants on the side and jump the Nevis Bungy completely naked!

Your 8-second fall will feel like an eternity as you plunge 440-feet through the Nevis River Valley with nothing but your sneakers on.

5. Hike the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska

Trekking through the icy pools and deep crevices of the Matanuska Glacier is more than your average weekend hike. The 27-mile long trail winds you through 10,000-year-old dramatic glacier cliffs and glowing ice falls.

Although the setting may seem peaceful and serene, glacier hiking should always be done with an experienced tour guide. You don’t want to encounter a sudden steep cliff or fall through a thin sheet of ice!

6. Skydive over Mount Everest in Nepal

Don’t just hike the world’s highest mountain — fly over it! Skydiving over the Himalayan Mountains with Mt. Everest as your backdrop should be ranked high on your list of travel bucket items.

With adrenaline pumping through your veins and the crisp mountain breeze flowing through your hair, the 23,000-foot plunge over Mt. Everest is an adventure you will never forget.

7. Run the Marathon des Sables in Morocco

Even the most dedicated of athletics will break a sweat if you mention the Marathon des Sables. Considered the toughest race in the world, this ultramarathon will test your limits physically and emotionally.

Not only are you faced with running 156 miles over six days, but you’ll also need to run it through the Sahara Desert where the average temperature hovers around 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

8. Board Down the Cerro Negro Volcano in Nicaragua

With over a dozen active volcanos, it’s easy to see how Nicaragua earned the title, “The Land of Lakes and Volcanos.” While many tourists come to hike the molten Cerro Negro volcano, the best (and most thrilling) way to experience the mountain is by sliding down its slopes at 65mph!

After strapping on your sandboard, you’ll whizz down almost 2,500 feet through sand and ash while lava radiates the surface below you. Although you have a handbrake, the ever-present reminder that Cerro Negro could erupt at any time should propel you to go as fast as possible.

9. Race rickshaws through India

The quarter-yearly Rickshaw Race takes eager adventure seekers from one side of India to the other on nothing more than a broken down, three-wheeled rickshaw.

You must start and end your journey according to the rules, but the route along the way is entirely up to you. From exploring the lush Central Highlands or zipping through rural villages, the Rickshaw Race is the perfect way to explore a country while crossing off a few items from your travel bucket list.

10. Cave dive in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula

If you’re looking to take your scuba diving to the next level, then think about plunging into the depths of Mexico’s cenote caves . The Yucatán Peninsula is home to the longest cave system in the world, with over 30,000 individual sunken cenotes to swim through.

Exploring the dark, dim underwater caves is not for the inexperienced or claustrophobic, but it’s a unique opportunity to discover the ocean from a perspective that few have ever seen.

11. Ice Karting in Levi, Finland

We’ve all heard throughout our lives that driving on ice is dangerous and should always be avoided, but ice karting flips that whole thought upside down. In Finland, you have the chance to race 13 horse-power go-karts as you speed and slide around corners of the icy, outdoor track.

Although it’s often compared to indoor go-kart racing, ice karting is in an entirely different league. Slippery sheets of ice may not be the easiest terrain to drive on, but it sure is an exciting idea to add to your bucket list.

12. Jump off Berlin’s highest building

Although the panoramic views from Berlin’s Park Inn Hote l are stunning, you won’t have time to admire them as you fall 400 feet towards the city street below you. Unlike bungee jumping, base flying decelerates your fall right before you hit the ground, so you don’t spring back up.

Base flying is even more spectacular at night, with the twinkling skyline and Berlin tower illuminating the sky.

Bucket lists exist for a reason. They remind us to step outside our comfort zones and tackle life head-on. The world is full of adventures , so don’t be afraid to do something completely and utterly unforgettable.

• Latest Posts

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• 17 cheap places to travel in Europe - April 26, 2019
• 9 essential packing tips for traveling carry-on only - March 27, 2019
• 11 Unbelievably Beautiful Scuba Diving Destinations in the Caribbean - March 26, 2019

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Greatest crazy concept cars ever made

Posted: December 8, 2023 | Last updated: March 26, 2024

Ever since the first 'dream cars' were created in the 1930s, designers and engineers have tried to look into the future.

They built prototypes and design studies to show what might be possible one day. New propulsion systems, electronic driver and safety aids, plus advances in exterior design have transformed production cars over more than a century.

But take a look at some of these crackpot concepts and you could be forgiven for wondering why the pace of change has been so slow. Or being thankful that most of these crazy creations never reached showrooms. Enjoy the trip:

Volvo Venus Bilo (1933)

This car was so radical when it was first shown, the company behind it refused to be linked to it. In an era where full-width styling was very much in the future, the Venus Bilo embraced it, but it wasn’t until years later that Volvo admitted it had bankrolled the project.

Chrysler Thunderbolt (1940)

The Chrysler Thunderbolt wasn't a small car, but it could seat just two people as its retractable hard top was stowed behind the cabin – then behind that was the luggage bay. Nick-named "the Push-Button Car", the Thunderbolt's roof, windows and retractable headlights were all electrically controlled.  Six Thunderbolts were made, all trimmed differently, for displays across the US.

Fiat Turbina (1954)

Admittedly this was more of a prototype than a concept – but what an incredible design! Fiat started to develop a gas turbine engine for automotive use as early as 1948. Using a Fiat 8V chassis, the Turbina was honed in the wind tunnel and the result was a drag co-efficient of just 0.14. Fiat wasn't the only car maker to build a vehicle powered by a gas turbine engine – and just like all the others it realised the technology was never going to work.

Ford FX Atmos (1954)

The FX stood for Future Experimental, those spears on the front were aerials to help control the car to stop it running into vehicles in front, and the ‘Atmos’ was taken from atmosphere, which Ford said “came from free and unlimited creative thinking”. With a glass canopy, seating for three and a pair of aircraft-style fins, this was truly a jet-age design.

Ford Maxima (1954)

Dreamed up by Alex Tremulis  (1914-91), the three-wheeled Maxima was a rocket car designed to be propelled by a jet engine at speeds of up to 500mph. Way too radical to inspire any road cars, Craig Breedlove's Spirit of America land speed record car did take some of its styling cues from the Maxima.

GM Firebird I (1954)

The first of three Firebird concepts, this one featured a single-stick control system which dispensed with the steering wheel, accelerator and brake. Because it was located in the middle of the car either the driver or passenger could operate it; power came from a gas turbine which could be used to power a house via a built-in generator.

Ford La Tosca (1955)

Capable of being driven via remote control from up to a mile away, the Ford La Tosca was designed by Alex Tremulis, who had also penned the Tucker 48 'Torpedo' . Featuring fins at the front as well as the rear, the La Tosca was a typical jet age concept with its Plexiglass dome over the cabin.

Dodge Dart (1956)

Created in the wind tunnel, the Dodge Dart was the world's most aerodynamic car when it was unveiled in 1956. Dodge claimed that the Dart had less than one third of the drag of the most aerodynamic production cars of the time. Capable of seating four, the Dart's steel roof could be kept in place or retracted into a concealed compartment behind the rear seat.

Oldsmobile Golden Rocket (1956)

Nobody could keep up with the Americans in the 1950s, with one space-age creation appearing after another. The Golden Rocket packed a 275 BHP punch from its 3.2-liter V8, and it introduced us to powered steering column adjustment. Its party piece was the way the seats rose up and swivelled outwards when the doors were opened – and at the same time, the roof panels hinged upwards so it was easier to get in and out.

Chrysler Imperial d'Elegance (1958)

From the A-pillar back the Imperial d'Elegance wasn't quite so radical; many of the features would appear on production cars very soon after this concept was unveiled in 1958. But that nose would always be controversial with its vestigial bumpers, full-width grille and concealed headlights.

Ford DePaolo (1958)

The Ford DePaolo was named after Indy 500 racer Peter DePaolo (1898-1980), who had enjoyed success in the 1930s. Designed by Buzz Grisinger (1908-2002), the DePaolo was intended to be a key exhibit in Ford's Stylerama project – dreamed up to compete with GM's Motorama which toured the US in the 1950s. But Stylerama was canned before it ever reached fruition, and with it went the DePaolo.

Ford Levacar Mach 1 (1958)

Think of the Ford Levacar Mach 1 as an ancestor to the Renault Twizy – or is it a successor, way in the future? Either way, the single-seater Levacar was supposed to float along on a cushion of air, gliding a few inches off the ground. Intended to be powered by a turbojet engine, the top speed was supposed to be around 500mph. Which would have been hair-raising on a dedicated race track, never mind the public road.

Ford Volante (1958)

The imaginations of Ford's designers were particularly fertile when they came up with this one – a hover car that was propelled by three engines in triangular formation. These gave the Volante lift as well as thrust, but as the picture shows – this is one that never got off the ground as it was just a scale model.

Plymouth Cabana (1958)

In some ways this doesn't look that dissimilar from some of the cars that were on American roads in the early 1960s, but that roof treatment is pretty wild with its huge three-dimensional rear window, fins and sharply sloping windowline. If the Plymouth Cabana seems to be multiple cars in one that's because it was; the brief was to come up with a four-door hard-top station wagon and an ambulance or hearse conversion in one vehicle.

Cadillac Cyclone (1959)

Few cars can make the iconic 1959 Cadillac appear low-key, but the Cyclone of the same year gave it a pretty good go. Those black cones in the nose were equipped with radar to help the Cyclone’s driver avoid anything in the way, while the cockpit was protected by a single-piece plastic canopy coated with vapourised silver to deflect the sun’s rays.

De Soto Cella (1959)

Another one that never got beyond the scale model stage, the Cella from Chrysler looked futuristic enough, but it was the propulsion system that was out of this world. Instead of using a conventional engine, the Cella was powered by an electrochemical system that was supposed to transform hydrogen and oxygen into silent electrical energy to drive lightweight motors fitted to each wheel.

Pininfarina X (1960)

We're struggling to work out what the benefits are of a rhomboidal wheel layout – that is one up front, one at the rear and two in the middle. Mounted over one of the central wheels was a Fiat 1100 engine and by honing the aerodynamics (the CD was just 0.2) the Pininfarina X could travel swiftly and frugally. But whichever way you looked at it this was one hideous concept.

Plymouth XNR (1960)

Asymmetrical in the same way as a Jaguar D-Type, with its off-centre fairing, the Plymouth XNR could seat two, but with a tonneau over the passenger seat it was generally set up for just a driver. Power came from a 2.8-liter straight-six rated at 250bhp.

Dodge Flitewing (1961)

Concepts have a habit of answering questions that nobody ever asked, and in the case of the Dodge Flitewing it was about improving access to a generously proportioned two-door saloon. Dodge tackled this by incorporating flip-up panels into the roof, so the Flitewing had a combination of gull-wing and conventional doors. Naturally everything was controlled electrically, via push buttons.

Ford Gyron (1961)

You could be forgiven for thinking that the Gyron was a three-wheeler, but as the name suggests it actually had just two wheels. To aid stability there was a stabiliser on either side of the rear wheel to keep the Gyron upright when stationary or while getting up to speed.

Ford Cougar 406 (1962)

Someone at Ford had clearly spent a lot of time lusting after the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing , resulting in this concept featuring exactly the same door treatment. Unveiled at the 1962 Chicago Auto Show, the Cougar 406's doors popped open and shut electrically, while power came from a 406 cubic-inch (6650cc) V8.

GM X Stiletto (1964)

Someone was clearly putting the boot in when they issued the brief for this one; a super-slippery sports car called the Stiletto. With its climate-controlled cabin, variable-ratio steering via electric motors, a rear-view camera and ultrasonic sensors around the car it was certainly prophetic, but we wouldn't fancy having to foot the bill to replace that expansive windshield when it got hit by a stone.

Dodge Deora (1965)

Based on a 1965 Dodge A100 pick-up truck, the Deora was created for the 1967 Detroit Autorama. Chopped and sliced to the nth degree, the Deora's windscreen was the rear window of a 1960 Ford station wagon, the 2.8-liter straight-six engine was moved forward 15 inches, and the vehicle was painted in metalflake gold.

OSI Silver Fox (1967)

There's radical and then there's this. In a bid to create a super-slippery shape, OSI came up with a car that featured twin pontoons, with the engine mounted behind the passenger. Aerodynamically the car was a success as its CD was just 0.26, but for some reason the design didn't catch on when it came to production cars.

Autobianchi Runabout (1969)

Ironically, while the Runabout was never intended to ever go into production, its basic design formed the basis of the Fiat X1/9. Conceived purely as a fun car, the Runabout was powered by a mid-mounted Autobianchi A112 engine, there was no weather protection, the only instrument on the dash was a compass and the headlights were mounted above the two occupants' heads. Unsurprisingly, quite a few changes were made to turn the Runabout into the X1/9.

Plymouth Duster I (1969)

If you're creating a high-speed racer and aerodynamics are crucial, a slippery shape would be a good starting point. but when Plymouth created the Duster it lopped the roof off a Road Runner, fitted an aeroscreen, then plastered the bodywork with adjustable flaps to control lift and drag. There were two in the front wings, two in the rear and another pair in the hoop spoiler above the cockpit.

Buick Century Cruiser (1969)

Designed originally as the Firebird IV in 1964, this high-performance car was designed as an autonomous vehicle with all of the comforts of a living room. As such the seats could recline and swivel, there was a TV and pull-out table and even a built-in fridge. Looking at the picture it’s hard to see how they fitted that lot in; it must have been very cosy inside...

Chevrolet Astro III (1969)

If you’re starting with a clean sheet to design a car, the obvious thing to do is to get the wheel layout spot on, not just close. Nobody told GM's designers though; they put the Astro III's two front wheels next to each other so it looked like a three-wheeler, massively compromising stability.

Chrysler Concept 70X (1969)

This sleek-looking beast wasn't that far removed from a contemporary production vehicle if you imagined it with conventional doors – but instead they popped out then slid forwards or backwards to allow entry and exit. It's a system that's never caught on (funny that…), although proximity sensors have done so, albeit only recently. The Concept 70X's sensors fed a series of lights on the rear-view mirror, warning of traffic approaching from behind.

Lancia Stratos Zero (1970)

The seventies was the decade of The Wedge and this was one of the wedgiest concepts ever dreamed up. It was also one of the lowest at just 83cm. Another Marcello Gandini (born 1938) confection, the Stratos Zero featured a 115 BHP 1.6-liter V4 from the Lancia Fulvia. Talk about all mouth and no trousers.

Mazda EX-005 (1970)

Proposed specifically as an urban commuter car, the EX-005 offered seating for four, but little in the way of comfort as those seats were of moulded plastic. The weather protection was also pitiful and as far as crash safety was concerned, forget it. However, the rotary/electric hybrid powertrain was far-sighted, if something of a dead end.

Toyota CX-80 (1979)

Car makers often set out with good intentions to create a car that genuinely moves things on – then they naff it all up by coming up with a design so unspeakably awful that nobody could ever take it seriously. The CX-80 was just such a car; it was intended to offer ample space for a family of four, while taking up less road space than Toyota’s smallest production model, the Starlet. So it’s a shame it looked as though the CX-80 had been designed by a five-year old.

Citroën Karin (1980)

The Citroën Karin was the work of Trevor Fiore (born 1937), who presumably had overdosed on Toblerone at the point that he penned this rather triangular concept. With a central driving position, the driver was flanked by a passenger on either side and behind, McLaren F1-style.

Mercury Antser (1980)

Another car with weird doors for the sake of it. In fact they look as though they cause more problems than they solve, as once open they'd just get in the way. More impressive was the electronic dashboard which incoprated a (non-functioning) navigation system that allowed traffic jams to be avoided.

Zagato Chicane (1983)

Looking like a cross between a Subaru XT and the IAD Alien (the latter is coming up very soon…), the Chicane featured a chassis onto which pretty much any body configuration could be fitted. The 2.0-liter engine could be mounted in the middle or the rear but as with so many Zagato designs, the Chicane failed to look appealing.

Peugeot Quasar (1984)

Just a few months after Peugeot put its ultra-affordable 205 on sale, the French company unveiled this – an extreme supercar with a 600 hp turbocharged four-cylinder engine. There was four-wheel drive (all visible from the rear) and the cabin featured "dichroic transflective liquid crystals" for the instrumentation, while a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) displayed warning messages, maps and telex messages – remember those?

Sbarro Challenge (1985)

You can always rely on Franco Sbarro (born 1939) to come up with something wacky at the annual Geneva Salon. There were three iterations of the Challenge and this one is the first. Unveiled in 1985 with a mid-mounted Mercedes V8, the Challenge's CD was just 0.26. Those two flaps aid high-speed stability, with the car claimed to be capable of 180mph.

IAD Alien (1986)

The Alien was certainly a break from the norm, and the key technology it previewed - that of removable power packs - still may have a place in the electrified future. The Alien succeeded spectacularly in being one of the most jaw-dropping supercars ever created, even if nothing like it has ever gone into production.

Italdesign Machimoto (1986)

A cross between a car and a motorbike, the Machimoto was intended to provide cheap transport for up to nine people in developing countries – clearly comfort and safety weren’t expected to be too high on the agenda though!

Volkswagen Scooter (1986)

Is the VW Scooter crackpot or genius? In concept it's not that far removed from the brilliant XL-1 that went into limited production years later. The three-wheeled Scooter featured gull-wing doors, a glovebox that could double as a briefcase, a drag co-efficient of 0.25 and was tested with 41 hp 1.0 and 91 hp 1.4-liter engines. Sadly the Scooter remained just a concept though.

Bertone Genesis (1988)

Many people laughed when Vauxhall and Opel introduced the Zafira GSI, with its turbocharged 2.0-liter engine. After all, MPVs are meant to be dull, not racing cars in disguise – so where does that leave the Bertone Genesis with its Lamborghini V12, borrowed from the contemporary Countach? Capable of seating five, the Genesis came with unnecessarily complicated doors and acres of glass for maximum impracticality.

IAD Hunter (1988)

This sport-leisure utility vehicle looked quite smart, but you don’t have to look too closely to see that the IAD Hunter offers no weather protection, little in the way of roll protection and it forces its occupants to wear restrictive helmets on the move. There may have been some who thought this constituted fun, but they were already tucked up in a padded cell.

Plymouth Slingshot (1988)

Chrysler would revive the Slingshot name in 2004 for a Dodge concept, but this was the original; a "lifestyle-oriented vehicle purposely targeted at the young people of the 1990s". Powered by a mid-mounted turbocharged 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine, the rear-wheel drive Slingshot featured a carbon fibre tub and outer panels which enveloped eight narrow tyres – two on each wheel.

Renault Megane (1988)

Before the Megane production car arrived in 1995, the name was used for this luxurious limousine which was shorter than a Mercedes S-Class, but featured a longer wheelbase for maximum interior space. With a drag co-efficient of just 0.21, there were sliding doors for easier entry and exit, helped further by swivelling chairs.

A 3.0-liter V6 petrol engine powered all four wheels via an automatic transmission, while there was electronically controlled four-wheel steering and adaptive suspension.

Cadillac Solitaire (1989)

When Cadillac came up with the Voyage four-door saloon concept in 1988 it should have quit while it was ahead. But instead the GM off-shoot came up with this two-door version which looked pretty good as far as the B-pillar, but then it all fell apart. Power came from a 436 hp V12, but that wasn't enough to stop it looking like a cut and shut.

G. Pollman Die Limousine (1989)

One of the biggest cabriolets ever made, Die Limousine was 200 inches (5080mm) long, featured four doors with frameless windows and was powered by a front-mounted six-cylinder engine of unspecified capacity. The bodywork was made of plastic that appears to have been moulded in flat sheets, which seem to have then been cut and stitched together by five-year olds. But worse was to come…

G.Pollman Familienspass (1991)

Not content with having created one of the most ungainly cabriolets, Pollman followed up Die Limousine with Familienspass (Family Fun). With short overhangs and a long wheelbase there was plenty of cabin space, with the rear seats arranged in a V-shape for some reason. The roof was effectively one big venetian blind, which must have been fun to get sealed.

Volkswagen Vario I (1991)

When Volkswagen unveiled its ID Buggy at the 2019 Geneva Salon, few people knew that the company has form when it comes to making its own impractical beach buggy-style cars. Based on the Golf Syncro, the Vario I featured an eye-searing interior, no doors at all and a radio that could be pulled out from the dashboard so it could be played on the beach.

Volkswagen Vario II (1991)

Whereas the Vario I was produced by VW's own design team, the Vario II was the creation of the Art Centre College of Design in Switzerland. This was as bizarre a design as you'll find because while the front two passengers sat inside under a fixed roof, those in the rear had to sit in the rumble seat, which flipped up so there was no weather protection at all. Ugly and bonkers.

Renault Zoom (1992)

City cars are often attractive because of their low price, achieved by reducing complexity to the minimum. Clearly nobody told Renault this, because in conjunction with Matra, the French outfit produced perhaps the most complicated small car ever, with complex rear suspension that provided an adjustable wheelbase. Just what the world needed.

Renault Racoon concept (1993)

Renault churned out concept cars throughout the 1980s and 1990s, many of which were so wacky that you had to wonder what they'd been smoking. One of the most ridiculous was the three-seater Racoon, which was claimed to be watertight, fire-proof and was height-adjustable.

A Safrane-sourced 266 hp V6 engine drove all four wheels via a six-sped transmission but incredibly, nothing like the Racoon has entered production. So far.

Peugeot 806 Runabout (1997)

People carriers often handle like a boat, but Peugeot got carried away with this theory when it created its 806 Runabout. Crossing its 806 people carrier with a speedboat, the Runabout was contrived and ridiculous – and those were among its better points. In the transformation to Runabout the 806 lost its people-carrying abilities as well as any semblance of practicality.

Buick Signia (1998)

Somebody, somewhere, signed this off thinking that it looked the business. It was as though the Signia was wilfully ugly but nobody realised. Taking all of the worst bits of an SUV, wagon and a hearse, the only good part of the Signia was the motive power – which was courtesy of a supercharged 3.8-liter V6.

Honda Fuya-Jo (1999)

Shown at the 1999 Tokyo motor show, and a cross between an armoured car and a supermarket trolley, the Fuya-Jo featured a minimal glasshouse plus wheels that looked as though they’d been stolen from a Lego set.

Pontiac Aztek (1999)

Of all the concept cars ever unveiled, the Aztek must rate as one of the ugliest – a view with which the entire world seemed to agree when the car debuted in 1999. Despite this, Pontiac reckoned it would make sense to put the car into production – virtually unchanged. Helped in part by a New Mexican called Walter White, the Aztek now has a cult following.

Toyota Celica Cruising Deck (1999)

If you were asked to come up with two types of car at opposite ends of the scale, you’d probably choose something like a sportscar and a pick-up. One is built purely for the fun of driving and the other exists to earn its keep, lugging stuff from one place to another.

Try to combine the two and you’d be guaranteed to fail, but that didn’t stop Toyota giving it a go, with its lamentable Celica Cruising Deck, which was effectively a pick-up with a pop-up seat in the back. Bonkers.

Toyota Pod (2001)

The Pod detected its driver’s pulse and perspiration rate to relax them, by changing the colour of its lighting and wagging its ‘tail’ (an antenna on the back) – which were more likely to wind the driver up than placate them.

Cadillac Sixteen (2003)

GM has come up with some outlandish concepts over the years, but few can top the Cadillac Sixteen, with its 13.6-liter V16 that was reputedly good for 1000bhp. Nothing like it was ever going to enter production, but it did introduce a new design language for Cadillac, elements of which can still be seen on its production cars today.

Dodge Tomahawk (2003)

It may look like a motorbike, but the Tomahawk actually featured four wheels. But who would strap themselves to a four-wheeler with the stability of a motorbike, capable of around 300mph thanks to its 8.3-liter V10?

Peugeot Moovie (2005)

Billed as an agile and environmentally friendly city car by its designer André Costa , a full-scale model of the Moovie was built, but for some reason Peugeot never committed to making the car available in its showrooms.

Bertone Suagna (2007)

Bertone has designed some of the most beautiful cars ever made – but the Suagna definitely wasn't one of them. The key problem was that the Suagna was a coupé-cabriolet and while this concept didn't look too inoffensive with the roof down, once it was up it had all the poise of the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Ford Airstream (2007)

As the name suggests, the Airstream was inspired by the classic American trailer of the same name. Unveiled at the 2007 Detroit motor show, the Airstream was powered by a plug-in hydrogen fuel cell which fed electric motors at each wheel. With the only exhaust emission being water vapour the Airstream was the stuff of dreams in 2007, but such tech seems to be edging ever closer…

BMW i-inside Future (2017)

To be fair to BMW, the i-inside Future was created to show off new technologies rather than to give an indication of what a future BMW might look like. A touch-sensitive holographic dash display was a key feature alongside an interior designed for life on the move without having to do any driving, thanks to a full suite of autonomous technologies.

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• Fight Schedule

Max Holloway Calls ‘BS’ on UFC Stats, Credits Justin Gaethje with First-Ever Knockdown

Holloway revisits his fourth round scare with Gaethje: "It didn't count as a drop, which is crazy."

• Author: Christopher De Santiago

UFC 300's Justin Gaethje is due some respect.

Former UFC Featherweight Champion Max Holloway had one of the most incredible performances of his illustrious career when he went up weight class to fight the BMF titleholder. Holloway would have his way with Gaethje in most of their striking exchanges before putting his lights out in a last-second slugfest.

Had the fight gone to the decision instead of ending in an iconic KO, "Blessed" would've likely won every round except for one. In round 4, Gaethje started to finally find his groove against Holloway, dropping him with a punch. It was the rarest of occurrences, as Holloway has never been knocked down in his 29-fight UFC career.

RELATED: Max Holloway Wants to 'Top' UFC 300 KO, Reveals Biggest Fight He Wants Next

The seemingly unbreakable Holloway didn't succumb to Gaethje's lightweight power as he sprung back up to his feet and returned the next round to finish a nearly perfect fight for him.

"I keep hearing the talk about, 'His chin gotta go this time...' When the hell is my chin– my chin was supposed to go the last 20 fights. Like what are you guys talking about?" Holloway said on The Joe Rogan Experience .

Following the fight, it turned out that Gaethje's knockdown of Holloway wasn't a knockdown at all — at least, according to the UFC's official statistics. The new BMF Champion believes Gaethje should be accredited with being the first fighter to him down in the Octagon. "It didn't count as a drop, which is crazy," Holloway said. "ESPN is like posting it, saying like, in however many fights I'm with the UFC, I stayed there and didn't get dropped. I'm like, that's some bulls***. Get Justin [Gaethje] down. I'll take it, you know what I mean? I wouldn't be a man sitting here and telling you that I didn't [get dropped]."

Facing a gauntlet of champions and contenders in the past, Holloway relives what it was like to be dropped by a powerhouse like Justin Gaethje.

"I remember getting hit by that punch and then like I sat and then I came back up. I was like, what the f*** did he just hit me with? I was like, holy s***. I was like, that was a good punch. And then when I rewatched it, he hit me like right on the top of my dome. I was like, holy smack brother. This guy smacks.

"I was fine," Holloway recalled the moment in round 4. "As soon as I got up, it was one of those like, boom, the legs just give out. Like, I was still there even when I was standing, I was looking at 'em. But, I don't know how that didn't count as a drop, I don't know what they count as a drop. That was crazy."

While the knockdown may not be reflected in the record books, Justin Gaethje isn't going to throw a fit about 'semantics' from his UFC 300 war against Max Holloway.

"I think when this fight goes into the UFC Hall of Fame as one of the best fights of the year, It'll be known that we both dropped each other," Gaethje told MMA Knockout's Mathew Riddle in a recent interview. "But he put me to sleep. There's no top of that. So, he was definitely the winner. And I'm not going to get angry about semantics. I think that obviously, he went down from a strike, but it is what it is."

Should Justin Gaethje be awarded credit for knocking down Max Holloway?

Stick with MMA Knockout for more daily coverage of the UFC and MMA

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Fighting 'intensifies in eastern Ukraine as troops fall back'; UK estimates 450,000 Russian losses since war began

Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi says his troops have taken up new positions west of Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka in order to conserve their forces while armed forces minister Leo Docherty tells the UK Defence Journal tens of thousands have deserted Russian's military since February 2022.

Sunday 28 April 2024 19:15, UK

• Fighting intensifies in eastern Ukraine as troops fall back
• UK minister estimates 450,000 Russian losses since war began
• Tajikistan citizens warned not to travel to Russia
• 'Well-provisioned' Ukrainian troops could prevent Russian advances
• Russia destroys 17 drones launched by Ukraine
• Explained : Why is Chasiv Yar the next target for Russia?
• Your questions answered: Will Ukraine launch another spring offensive?
• Listen to the Sky News Daily above and  tap here  to follow wherever you get your podcasts
• Live reporting by  Emily Mee  and, earlier, Lauren Russell

A priest sprinkles holy water on believers holding willow branches during an Orthodox Palm Sunday service. 

The service is being held in Donetsk, in an area occupied by Russian forces. 

Russia gained full control of the city of Donetsk in October 2022, but the area has been a major site of fighting since 2014. 

The majority of people in Ukraine are Orthodox Christian, although they follow different branches. 

As we've been reporting, Russia has been pushing forward in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region. 

Ukrainian military officials say their troops are falling back to new positions in at least three places along the frontlines. 

But they are facing public criticism about the transparency of their military updates. 

Ukrainian military blogger Myroshnykov and Ukraine's DeepState monitoring group, which updates daily changes in frontline positions, both say the updates have been unrealistic. 

DeepState shared a video on social media of a Russian soldier being killed in a drone strike in the village of Soloviove, arguing such footage was being used to mask a bigger picture. 

"You can watch with pleasure forever the video of a Russian [soldier] being torn to pieces, but nearby there is another location that requires attention: Muscovites calmly moving around the village, keeping it under control. 

"The [Ukrainian] Defence Forces inflict fire damage on them, and one can repeat at least a billion times that two-thirds of the village is under the control of the Ukrainian military, but the picture of reality is completely different." 

It appeared to be referring to a statement from Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukraine's military in the east, who also said the nearby village of Ocheretyne was still two-thirds controlled by Ukraine. 

However, DeepState says it believes Russian troops have been in control of the centre of Ocheretyne for at least three days. 

The site accused some military spokespersons of incompetence last week. 

Police have arrested a 57-year-old Russian on suspicion of murder following the killings yesterday evening, German news agency dpa reported. 

The two Ukrainians were 23 and 36 years old, and lived in the southern German county of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

They were killed at a shopping centre in the village of Murnau in Upper Bavaria.

The names of the victims and suspect have not been released due to German privacy rules. 

It is not clear if the men knew each other. 

More than one million Ukrainian refugees fled to Germany following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

Donald Trump's stance on Ukraine is "not as black and white as some people think", the Polish foreign minister has said. 

The former US president, who is running for election again this year, has said he will not commit to providing Ukraine with defence assistance. 

Republicans aligned with Mr Trump were also the reason behind a six-month delay to aid for Ukraine. 

But foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview with the Axel Springer media company that Mr Trump had sent Ukraine anti-tank missiles before Russia's invasion "when others were not doing it". 

He was referring to Javelin anti-tank missiles supplied by the US in 2018. 

Mr Sikorski also said Mr Trump was "right in urging us all in Europe to spend more on defence".

He said he "did not hear any protests from Trump" once the $61bn aid package for Ukraine was approved. 

"So, I hope that candidate Trump has seen that this opposition to helping Ukraine is not actually popular in the United States, that it is harming his chances [to be re-elected]," he added.

Earlier we reported that a top Ukrainian general said troops had fallen back from three villages in the east of the country. 

We can now bring you more from Oleksandr Syrskyi, the chief of Ukraine's armed forces, about the situation on the ground.

Mr Syrskyi said the Donetsk region (in the east) remains one of the hottest sectors of the frontline as Russia continues its offensive.

He described the situation in the eastern cities of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove as "the most difficult one" now.

Russia is reportedly using up to four brigades (anywhere from an estimated 8,000 to 32,000 personnel) to conduct assault operations in the direction of both the cities, which lie west of Avdiivka, which was captured earlier this year. 

Mr Syrskyi said the situation is changing "dynamically" on the frontline as a result. 

Meanwhile, Mr Syrskyi said the situation in the south also remains "intense" as Russia tries to advance near the village of Krynky in Kherson.

It also wants to advance towards the villages of Robotyne and Verbove villages in Zaporizhzhia.

Since 2023, there's been a record 30% increase in Russian men aged 31-59 with disabilities, the UK's Ministry of Defence says.

In data provided by the MoD, there were 2.17 million Russian men aged 31-59 with disabilities, up from 1.67 million the year before. 

It said the increase may be down to a growth in military casualties.

Two people have been injured after Russian strikes in the cities of Kupiansk and Vovchansk, local authorities have said.

A 52-year-old was taken to hospital for treatment after being injured, the military administration in Kharkiv said. 

Meanwhile, a 36-year-old woman was trapped under rubble and was given medical care after being rescued. 

Both cities are in the region of Kharkiv with Vovchansk close to the Russian border and frontline, while Kupiansk is crucial for logistics. 

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has worsened, with troops falling back to new positions in at least three places along the frontlines, Ukraine's top general has said.

Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that his troops had taken up new positions west of the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka in order to conserve their forces. 

All three villages are in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. 

Mr Syrskyi said Russian troops "achieved certain tactical successes in these areas, but could not gain operational advantages".

Earlier, we reported that the Russian defence ministry claimed that they had taken the village of Novobakhmutivka which is in the same region.

Ukraine has not commented on the claim.

Led by a 68-year-old commander known as Grandpa, Ukraine's Steppe Wolves unit, is made up of volunteers who are considered too old to fight - but still want to.

Staying behind the frontline, the mobile artillery unit use truck-mounted rocket launchers, take orders from field commanders and work with other troops, contributing to the war effort despite lacking official support from the military.

"We... get by thanks to the pension fund," commander Oleksandr Taran said.

The unit also depends on donations, in order to repair faulty rounds and capture weapons from the enemy. 

Mr Taran said his unit has been attempting to officially join Ukraine's armed forces to directly receive ammunition - and salaries - but has so far been unsuccessful.

Younger men who have been ruled unfit to fight have also joined Mr Taran's unit. 

Estimates by the UK's minister for the armed forces say 450,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded in Ukraine.

Leo Docherty told the UK Defence Journal that in addition to those killed, tens of thousands of people have deserted the Russian military since the start of the war in February 2022.

He said he did not know the number of personnel that were killed serving in Russian private military companies like the Wagner Group.

Turning his attention to estimates on weapons, Mr Docherty said over 10,000 Russian armoured vehicles, including nearly 3,000 main battle tanks, 109 fixed wing aircraft, 136 helicopters, 346 unmanned aerial vehicles, 23 naval vessels of all classes, and over 1,500 artillery systems have been destroyed, abandoned or captured by Ukraine in over two years.

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Breaking news, french musician becomes first-ever passenger inside flying car: ‘amazing experience’.

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A flying car company made history this week by taking the world’s first car flight with a passenger in what could be the future of transportation.

Legendary French electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre became the first to hitch such a ride, soaring twice through the Slovakian skies in KleinVision’s AirCar in front of captivated onlookers.

“One second you speak to the driver, and next, you are up there in the air. An amazing experience,” Jarre, 75, told Sky News .

Video released by the company shows the sleek, winged sportscar speeding down the runway on four wheels before suddenly, like something out of a sci-fi flick, it’s airborne, climbing into the sky. Jarre can be seen beaming in the passenger seat.

The vehicle, invented and piloted by Professor Stefan Klein transforms from an automobile to a flight-ready aircraft in just minutes. 

The AirCar was approved for flight in 2022 following more than 200 successful takeoffs and landings. The record-breaking vehicle became the first flying car to complete an intercity flight in 2021.

KleinVision’s co-founder Anton Zajac said he hopes it will be market-ready in a year.

The car runs on a 1.6 liter BMW engine — but Zajac said he hopes to run on batteries when the technology catches up.

It flies at speeds of up to 120 mph at altitudes up to 8,000 feet high, The Sun reported.

“We are bridging the gap between the road and the sky, giving cars the freedom they symbolized 50 years ago,” Zajac said in a statement.

In addition to a driver’s license, those interested in operating the AirCar must also complete a specialized two-to-three month flying course, according to Sky News.

Meanwhile in the US, SpaceX-backed Alef Aeronautics, a Silicon Valley-based startup, announced last month it received nearly 3,000 pre-orders for its Model A flying car totalling more than $850 million.

The 850-pound, two-seat car, first unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show last year , is an electrical vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (eVTOL) capable of reaching speeds of 110 miles per hour in the air and up to 35 miles per hour on the ground.

It was approved for air travel in limited locations by the Federal Aviation Administration last year but still needs approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to hit the roads.

Last year the FAA published a report  titled “Concept of Operations: Urban Air Mobility” which envisioned “air taxis” operating within corridors between vertiports built in city centers and airports.

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Secret Service removes agent from Kamala Harris' detail after 'distressing' behavior

WASHINGTON — A Secret Service special agent was removed from Vice President Kamala Harris' detail after having exhibited "distressing" behavior this week, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday.

The agent, whose identity has not been disclosed, had been involved with the Harris' departure from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Monday morning, when Harris was headed to Wisconsin.

The agent "began displaying behavior their colleagues found distressing," Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service, said in a statement Thursday. "The agent was removed from their assignment while medical personnel were summoned."

Harris was not present when the incident took place. She was at the Naval Observatory, the vice president's residence, and Guglielmi said her departure was not affected.

“The U.S. Secret Service takes the safety and health of our employees very seriously,” Guglielmi said. “As this was a medical matter, we will not disclose any further details.”

Additional information about the incident, which was first reported by the Washington Examiner , was not released. The vice president's office did not comment Thursday.

Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.