18 Vacation Stories That Prove Laughter Is the Best Souvenir

Curiosities
04/19/2026
18 Vacation Stories That Prove Laughter Is the Best Souvenir

Vacation stories and travel mishaps have a way of turning into the funniest memories. And not because everything went perfectly, but because it absolutely didn’t. These 18 stories are proof that the best souvenir from any trip is the one you can’t put in a suitcase.

  • At 19, I went on vacation alone for the first time in my life. Naturally, I miscalculated my future expenses, and the hotel didn’t include meals. So, the sea is there, the beach is there, I’m there, but no food. And there won’t be any for the next 3 days.
    So, I’m lying there sunbathing, my stomach rumbling. I’m thinking, “I messed up, for sure, but what should I do?” And then something touches my leg. A bill literally fell on me, enough to live normally for those 3 days. I really felt like the universe was helping me.
  • We were in Egypt and decided to go ATV riding in the desert. We stopped for lunch in a Bedouin village. A photo on a camel was $2. My friend and I climbed on a camel, took a picture, and then they told us, “To get off, pay $20 each!”
    But these schemers didn’t know that we had learned how to ride a camel and speak Arabic when we were in Tunisia (there was a sightseeing tour of the Sahara, and the whole group was taught “camel handling” skills).
    So we smirked, gave the camel the right command, it obediently knelt down, we got off calmly, and went to have coffee with a proud look. Although, we did pay the $2 they originally asked for.

My wife is 5’1″ and I am 6’7″. When it comes to hotel robes, one size does not fit all.

  • My mom went on a 2-week vacation to Italy with her friend. Every day she would send me photos, and each photo featured the same venue. I couldn’t believe that she liked it so much she decided to go there every day, especially since my mom is someone who’s always looking for something new in every aspect of life.
    So, I asked her why. Mom confessed it was the favorite café of her favorite actor or singer, and she hoped to meet him there. The odds were minimal, but this incredible woman was lucky, and she actually met her idol!
  • My coworker told me once how her neighbors had gone to Turkey on vacation. The neighbor is a plumber. And, of course, the toilet in their hotel room broke. The man decided that he was on vacation and let the locals fix it themselves.
    Anyway, when they came to the room for the seventh time (the previous 6 attempts to fix the porcelain throne were unsuccessful), the man gave in, got up from the bed, pushed the local Turkish repairman aside, tinkered a bit and voilà — everything worked!
    The hotel receptionists smiled at him for the rest of his vacation and greeted him personally by name. And while my coworker vividly described the plumber’s reaction and patience with every repair attempt, the entire office couldn’t stop laughing.

In Sharm El Sheikh, we had a man cleaning our room. For $1 and a small chocolate bar a day, he maintained perfect cleanliness and even folded various things out of towels.

  • In 2012, my wife and I flew to Egypt for a week. A 3-star hotel. The reviews weren’t very good, but we were young, full of energy, and decided to take a chance. We only needed a room to sleep in anyway.
    We checked in and were given a room, which was a complete wreck — and the boiler went “whoomph, whoomph” every 20 seconds. We went to the reception. They changed the room.
    We moved to a new one, everything seemed okay, we opened the balcony — and a palm tree came into the room! We somehow pushed it back outside and headed to the reception again.
    I took $20, handed it to the receptionist, and in return, he gave us keys to all the available rooms, saying, “Go and choose it yourself!” It was already night, and he was lazy. It was one of the best vacations of my life!
  • I was with my mom in Thailand in 2013. We were sitting on the beach, and I was about to head back to the room, while my mom decided to take one last swim and asked me to take her gold pendant. The pendant was very precious to her — it had been given to her for her 15th birthday.
    So, I took it and put it in my pocket. In the room, I was terrified to discover that the chain was there, but the pendant was gone. Naturally, my mom was furious!
    The next day, we went back to the beach. As I’m walking, I look down and see my mom’s pendant sticking out and shining in the sand!

We vacationed in Porto for a whole month, and rented an apartment with a cat. He was the deal breaker. The beautiful Boris Brando! Made us fall in love with him at first sight.

  • We were vacationing in Thailand. We went swimming at Sai Kaew Beach. There are many wild macaques there.
    So, my friend and I were sitting on the shore, sunbathing. Suddenly, we saw a monkey leap quickly toward someone else’s bag. Before we could blink, it had pulled out a pack of chips. It opened it and sat there, munching away in the most unabashed manner (even though we know this food isn’t good for macaques, but what can we do?).
    We never saw the bag’s owner — they had gone swimming. I hope she wasn’t too upset about losing her snacks...
  • Once, when we were vacationing by the sea, we rented a small house. The owner’s dachshund got into the habit of visiting us. She would brazenly jump up onto the bed and lay down next to us. With the heat outside, the door was wide open.
    Even though I’m a cat person, I still remember this adorable creature. It was affectionate and cheeky!

This unusual hotel lobby we found in Finland

  • Last year, I took my 12-year-old son to the Maldives. We swam with sharks and rode on one of the largest cruise liners in the world. We also visited the world’s largest aquarium in Abu Dhabi. I took him to Sri Lanka where he swam with huge sea turtles. We visited many other countries and places.
    Recently, I asked him, “Which country was the most interesting and what stood out to you?” He said, “Turkey was the coolest: there was a water park right next to our room and burgers just 3 steps away!”
  • Last summer we went to Bali. The night before the flight there was heavy rain and thunderstorm. Our area wasn’t affected, but there were huge traffic jams across the island.
    The airport was 7 miles away, but it took 1.5 hours to get there by taxi. We left 5 hours in advance! After 2 hours in traffic, we only covered 2 miles. Something had to be done...
    I stopped 2 scooters. And 2 Balinese guys skillfully took us past the traffic jams. We made it! And only at the airport did we read in the news that it was the heaviest rain in the last 10 years. Lucky us! Memories for a lifetime.
  • We were in Thailand with my daughter. At first, we bought fruit from the stalls in the tourist areas.
    Then we looked up online how to get to the store where the locals shopped. We got a bit lost, but we found it. And there were mangoes, rambutans, mangosteens, and other fruit. And all of it was really cheap!
    So, my daughter and I realized that one bag wouldn’t be enough. We bought a large suitcase on wheels in the same store and filled it to the brim with pastries, drinks, and fruit.

When we checked into our hotel room, they told us half the TV channels weren’t working. And they didn’t lie!

  • We vacationed in Crete. The hotel seemed decent and the location was nice, but you had to pay extra to use the air conditioner. They rented out the remote control daily.
    I rented it for the first day, set a comfortable mode, and then turned off the AC using the button on the unit (I’m 6 feet 3 inches tall, so I could easily reach it with my hand). I returned the remote in the morning, and for the next 2 weeks, I simply turned the air conditioner on using the button on the unit — it remembered the last settings.
    With the savings, I bought my wife a piece of local jewelry as a gift.
  • Back in 2010, my friend and I were traveling from Italy to Switzerland by train. We got confused with the transfers and asked an elderly couple for directions. They escorted us all the way to our hostel in Zurich.
    That evening, these lovely people came to visit us, organized a picnic with delicious treats, and even gifted us designer bags! We continued to communicate with them via email afterward. And in 2019, they fully paid for a trip for me, my husband, and our 2 children to visit them.
    They drove us everywhere (Switzerland, Italy, France), treated us to restaurant meals, and at the end they gifted me a watch and matching perfumes for my husband and me. I love this story and am so grateful to these people!

The stranger behind us took this photo during the fireworks display at Disney World. She tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I don’t mean to be weird, but I took this.” It’s now our favorite vacation photo.

  • 2 years ago, we went to Thailand with our parents and kids. Lunches and breakfasts were not included, and money was tight. We saved as much as we could, but we really wanted to eat, especially meat.
    One day, my son, diving deeper, found 2 bills at the bottom of the pool. And it just happened to be the second to last day at the hotel. That amount was enough for a decent dinner.
    All in all, we had a really good dinner that night, and we were really happy! Since then, we’ve been taking extra money with us.
  • We were vacationing in Spain with my family. Once, we were walking across the hot sand to the sea. I was in front, with my parents slightly behind. I felt like a real beauty with a perfect body.
    A guy approached me, “What time is it?” And I couldn’t think of anything better than to turn around and shout, “Dad, what time is it?” You just had to see that guy’s expression and the speed at which he disappeared from view.

In Malta, I was promised a room with a sea view. Well... At a certain time of day, you could indeed see the sea’s reflection in the windows on the right.

  • We once vacationed with my husband and daughter in Batumi. We had a huge room with a balcony on the second floor of a large house. I needed an iron, asked the hosts, and they said all their irons were broken.
    Well, my husband is quite handy. They brought us 3 irons, and my husband easily fixed them all. The host instantly felt respect for him and asked, “Are you an engineer?”
    Then my spouse fixed an electric kettle and a few other small devices. For this, we had freshly brewed coffee waiting for us every morning, and treats in the evening.

I gifted my new Nike running shoes to a Cuban hotel worker, and now he won’t stop making me things and giving me gifts.

  • We were returning from Antalya via Istanbul. Our flight was delayed, so we missed our connection. I was traveling with 3 kids and only had $3 in my pocket, and the airline put us up in a hotel. I thought, “What a joke: being in Istanbul for 2 days without a penny!”
    Meanwhile, the hotel was hosting a forum, and men in tuxedos and women in glamorous dresses were everywhere. So, my daughter rolled off the sofa in the lobby and found $500 under it! We couldn’t believe our luck.
  • We arrived in Egypt for a vacation. I had a standard room booked. It turned out that the hotel was almost full on those dates. We waited for the check-in, then we were told that the room was available.
    But when we got to our room, we found out that some tourists were still living there and weren’t planning to leave. Luckily, I decided not to make a fuss about it and patiently waited in the lobby.
    After some time, the receptionist came over, apologized, and asked if I wouldn’t mind being upgraded to a higher category room. And they put us up in a villa!

Every trip has at least one moment that doesn’t go according to plan, and that’s usually the one you can’t stop talking about.

Have you ever had a vacation moment turn into a comedy? Tell us your best travel story in the comments!

And for more moments that prove life is a beautiful journey, check out these stories full of hope and happiness that prove every cloud has a warmer side:

Preview photo credit Yana / Dzen

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