18 Real Vacation Stories People Could Never Forget

A trip can turn into something unforgettable in a matter of seconds — a stranger’s kindness, a bizarre coincidence, or a mishap that reveals a completely unexpected side of a place. These people took regular vacations and came back with the best stories that prove real adventures are waiting where you least expect them.

• In Morocco, a street vendor gave my daughter a “lucky bracelet” for free. We smiled and walked away. Ten minutes later, a man ran after us through the market, shouting. People stopped and stared. He grabbed my daughter’s wrist, looked at the bracelet, and started laughing hysterically. He was the vendor’s brother, and apparently the bracelet was actually his wife’s — the vendor had accidentally grabbed it off the wrong display. He swapped it for the right one, added a second for free, and invited our whole family for mint tea.

• We stayed at a resort in Mexico and every night left our balcony door open for the breeze. One morning I woke up to a strange weight on my legs. I slowly looked down and saw something moving under the blanket. My husband whispered, “Don’t scream, it’s a coati.” A raccoon-like animal had wandered in, curled up on the bed, and fallen asleep on my feet like a house cat. The hotel staff arrived with a banana, lured it out calmly, and told us it was a regular guest they’d named Ricardo.

• We were vacationing in Tunisia and always left some tips to maids. On the last day, we decided to leave a large bill as a farewell.
  We went to the beach. After returning to the room, we see that it’s dim, only the TV is on. And there’s someone sitting on the bed.
  We turn on the light, and it turns out the maid had made a person out of towels. It was wearing sunglasses, a cap, and holding a remote control. We laughed so hard.

• I’m 45, married 17 years. We booked a quiet beach vacation in Florida to “reconnect,” since we barely spoke anymore. On the second day, I grabbed his phone to take a sunset photo. A message popped up: “Can’t wait to see you when you’re back ❤️.” My heart stopped. Classic cheating husband story, right?
  I didn’t scream. Didn’t cry. I just handed him the phone. He looked confused. It turned out it was from our 16-year-old daughter. She’d changed her contact name as a joke. He showed me the full thread. It was about her driving test.
  We both started laughing. Like real laughing. The kind we hadn’t done in years. That night, we stayed up talking until 2 a.m. The vacation saved our marriage. Or maybe it just reminded us who we used to be.

• My friend and I were on vacation in Turkey. We went into a place with lots of cats, and she is absolutely crazy about these furry critters. We ordered food, it arrived, and these whiskered faces were terrorizing us with their gazes. I’m a stubborn woman, so I didn’t feed them, but my friend fell prey to the cat power.
  She gave almost all of her food to the cats, ordered more food, and again gave it all to them. So, here’s a life hack: if you want my friend to sign her apartment over to you, dress up like a cat, look at her with those eyes, and voilà, the apartment is yours. © Caramel / VK

• We went to a dance camp in China. Our instructor was quite strict about rules and morals. He gave us a list of what we were allowed to do and what we weren’t. For example, we could only go out until 11 p.m. And this was despite the youngest among us being 25 years old.
  Well, one evening the instructor went out for a meeting, and I managed to sneak out for a date. I warned the girls, “If our ’supervisor’ comes back, let me know.” It’s 1 a.m., I’m approaching the door and get a text, “He’s back, sitting in the hall.”
  Well, I thought, there’s nowhere for me to run now. I start dialing the door code. I barely get it entered when the door swings open. Our instructor is there, looking at me in shock, and asks, “What are you doing out here?”
  Nothing smart comes to mind, so I confidently say, “Oh, I was at the supermarket,” and strut back to my room. He was so spooked, thinking burglars were breaking in, that he didn’t even scold me the next day.

• I arrived in Egypt, everyone else had gotten their bags, but mine was missing. There was one bag that kept circling on the baggage belt, but it wasn’t mine. I’m running around the airport lounge in panic, sent my son outside to see if someone took our suitcase by mistake.
  An airport employee comes up, I explain the situation, almost in tears, and he picks up that lone suitcase, and there’s my surname on it. I had just bought this bag recently, and in my memory, it was beige, but it turned out to be gray. © aigularis

• I was in Berlin feeling a little self-conscious about standing out as a solo female traveler. I look vaguely northern European (fair skin, light hair/eyes, etc.) and was trying to blend in and not call attention to myself as an American.
  After a long day of exploring, I just wanted some food quickly and without much fuss. I found a pizza place where I could order at the counter and grabbed a paper menu to look over the options. The #9 has veggies, pepperoni, the works, and looks delicious.
  The guy behind the counter looks at me expectantly and says something in German, which I’m hoping means, “What do you want?” I’m still playing it cool and casually say “9” with a smile. The guy looks super confused and asks for clarification.
  Again, I just say “nine,” thinking that maybe he didn’t hear me before. He again looks super confused, and I just gesture to the menu and repeat again, “Nine.” More confusion, and he looks at me like I have 2 heads.
  Finally, it clicks. I’m in Germany, and ’nine’ in English sound a lot like “nein” in German. I’ve just been happily saying “no” to this guy and his questions. I realize my mistake, apologize in English, and use full sentences to complete the rest of the transaction. © Emergency_Kitten7 / Reddit

• Once, my daughter and I took a road trip around the Caucasus countries. At one point, we were driving through a remote area in Armenia, and we saw an old man hitchhiking by the road. We stopped, and he asked if we could give him a ride to a nearby village.
  We took him aboard, reached the village, and he said, “I can’t let you go without a treat!” and invited us to his home. As it involved Caucasian hospitality, almost the entire village gathered there.
  We sat down, having tea with all sorts of goodies, and already felt full. We said, “Thank you very much, but it’s time for us to go.” To which the old man replied, “What do you mean? We just had tea, and now we’re going to have lunch.”
  And indeed, they brought out more food, and we realized we got stuck. We ended up participating in a many-hour-long village feast. It was amazingly delicious, but it was too much for us.

• I went on vacation to Turkey and rented an apartment. I was struggling with my suitcases, and then a handsome man ran up to me and helped me with the luggage. It was the neighbor’s husband.
  Since then, she started keeping a close eye on me. One day I came home and found a “message” from her. It was her pitch-black cat. I laughed and sent the guest back to its registered address.

• We booked a cheap Airbnb in Bali and the host was super friendly, always bringing us fruit. On our last morning, we found a handwritten note under the door. My husband translated it using his phone and suddenly went pale. He looked at me and said, “We need to go check the garden.” The note was a warning that a large monitor lizard had nested under our bungalow. We peeked outside and saw a 2-meter lizard casually sunbathing on our rental scooter. The host arrived with a broom and calmly guided it back into the jungle like it was a house cat.

• Once, we and a group of friends went on a big road trip with 2 cars to the European Football Championship. Everything was very cool, and on the way back, one of our cars was running out of gas. And there seemed to be no gas stations.
  We were already considering how to transfer some gas from one car to another or send someone ahead to persuade the gas station attendants to fill a canister, but we decided to see how far the “little horse” would run on its reserves. We were astounded when their car managed to run 30 miles with the fuel warning light on and just barely made it to a gas station as it was running on fumes.

• I was once flying in a window seat. A mother and a daughter around the age of 6 were sitting next to me. We didn’t bother each other, everything was calm.
  During the flight, I dozed off. When I woke up, I turned my head and was genuinely shocked. The girl was calmly sitting in the aisle seat, either drawing or reading — I don’t remember exactly, but in the middle seat, her mother was doing yoga!
  I have no idea how she managed to contort herself on that seat to lift both legs in the air with an absolutely impassive face, while supporting herself with her hands on the seat in front, but the sight was, to say the least, astonishing to wake up to. © Ward No. 6 / VK

• Funny. From Colorado. Drove to California. Stopped at a light, and the guy behind us is honking and yelling. Oh, geez. What could we have done to annoy this guy?
  We escape and drive like crazy people all over LA. He finally trapped us, jumped out of his car, and dashed to the driver’s side window. Makes roll down the window motions.
  “Hi! Saw you guys are from Colorado. I’m from Littleton. Where y’all from?” Turned out to be a nice guy, just being a little homesick. © WemblysMom / Reddit

• I was studying abroad in Scotland from the US in 2016, and I was traveling around during break. I was on a plane from London to Glasgow and not joking — I was the only woman on the plane except for a couple of flight attendants. The entire plane was an Irish men’s rugby team, all in their mid-twenties.
  It was a sea of men yelling, drinking, doing team chants and cheers the entire flight. It felt like I was being punked as soon as I realized. So genuinely hilarious, and one of my favorite “well, that was new” experiences from my time there. © AK_1418 / Reddit

• I took a tour bus to Belgium alone. When it was time to get back, I was stuck (some concert), so I missed the bus. My backpack and stuff were in the bus. I only had phone and wallet. I panicked, went to the train station, bought a ticket to Amsterdam (I was staying there).
  The phone was dying, so I asked this girl in a shop, “Can I borrow your charger, you won’t believe me if I told you what happened,” then we talked. Turns out she too was left by the tour bus. © peachy-grey / Reddit

• After a week of comparing everything to Lord of the Rings, I walk into the airport bathroom and there’s this kid, maybe 5 or 6 crouching on the sink splashing at the running water making the ’Gollum’ noise. Until his mother came out of the loo and told him to get off. © Bones_McGinson / Reddit

• I’m 34, and I booked a “dreamy beachfront Airbnb in Mexico” for my husband and our two kids (6 and 9). It was our first family vacation in three years. The listing said: private house, ocean view, safe neighborhood.
  On the first night, I heard footsteps upstairs. We had rented a one-story house. My heart dropped. My husband grabbed a frying pan (why is that always the weapon?).
  We followed the noise, opened a locked storage door, and froze — inside was a fully furnished studio apartment. With a suitcase. And a phone is charging.
  It turned out the owner “forgot” to mention that his cousin lived there. We got a full refund. But the cousin? He waved at us at breakfast like we were the weird ones.

Don’t miss our other article packed with even more vacation stories that are far more unforgettable than any postcard.