20 Vacation Stories That Are Better Than Any Souvenir

Traveling is great because we can experience new cultures and new things. Besides, while traveling, unconventional situations often occur, allowing us to bring back not only souvenirs for friends and family but also a sea of impressions.

• 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
• 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 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 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.
• It so happened that I fell for a completely unromantic guy, who didn’t know how to make romantic gestures. I dated him for 4 years and just forgot what a romantic date is.
  We went to the seaside and decided to go scuba diving. He arranged for photo and video recording. Everything was insanely interesting and beautiful. About 10 minutes into our underwater adventure, he swims up to me and awkwardly kneels, presenting a ring box.
  I clumsily nod “yes” to him. He puts the ring on my finger. The cameraman captured everything. I cried at the bottom of the sea. © Ward No. 6 | Anonymous Stories / Telegram

• We were on a tour. They brought us there on a small boat, about 12 passengers. Everyone was given the exact time of departure.
  And when it’s time to return, a storm rises on the lake, but one couple is missing. Evening, all boats have already left, only ours remains. We can’t leave without them, and we don’t have their phone numbers.
  About 20 minutes later, we see a guy running, but no sign of his girlfriend. And only 10 minutes later, she appeared on the horizon and slowly shuffled to the boat. The girl, in principle, was not in a hurry.
  We had to go back in the storm, tossing us all over the boat, and they both calmly took out sandwiches and somehow managed to eat them in this rocking. © YA.NINA / ADME
• 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 am nearsighted, so I wear contact lenses, but sometimes I am too lazy to put them on. So, on the last day of our trip, my husband and I are standing at the train station. It’s early morning, we’re tired, and I’m without lenses, waiting for the arriving train.
  Then I realize I need to use the restroom because the train is old, and the sanitary zone will last for about 2 hours. I rush to the station restroom, show my ticket (which allows free entry), dash into an open stall, and come out much calmer. I look around and with my blurry vision, I see 2 people standing nearby, talking about something disgruntledly.
  And suddenly I realize it’s guys standing at the urinals, scolding me. I run out of there in shock, the ticket lady looks at me disapprovingly, and my husband is laughing because he saw from a distance that I went to the wrong side. © Stories from Work / VK

• My younger brother went on a solo trip for the first time in his life. Instead of taking a plane or a train, he decided to hitchhike... My parents and I were really worried about him, constantly trying to keep in touch, but one day he just disappeared.
  He wasn’t answering calls or messages, and there was no other way to reach him — we had no idea where he was. We were even thinking of going to the police, but he called himself. Turns out his phone had just died, but it seemed like he vanished! © Not everyone will understand / VK
• My friends and I were once traveling around the country, and we met a group of young people also out for a vacation on the train. A beautiful girl approached my friend and asked if he could switch places so that she could be with her friends. He agreed, as he was the only one in that compartment, and it didn’t matter to him where he slept since he couldn’t fit into ours.
  We spent 2 weeks traveling across the country, and the final destination was a small village in the east. And there we met the same girl! What are the odds of such a sequence of events? 2 weeks, various plans, a tiny village in the east!
  We told our friend it was fate and that he should get to know her and exchange contact information. He plucked up some courage and approached the girl.
  Do you know what he said to her? “So, how did you sleep on the train?” He awkwardly exchanged a few words with her and returned to us. What a fiasco. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• My husband and I often travel to different countries, and we usually stay in cool hotels. My favorite part of these trips is walking into the room after it’s been cleaned, eagerly anticipating what I’ll see on the bed...
  Yes, yes, I’m talking about them, the towel animal figures. I’ve seen all sorts! Swans, crocodiles, monkeys. Every time I am excited when I see them.
  Sometimes, I even play games with the maids — I’ll leave my hat and put sunglasses on it, and mostly they play along, and soon enough, there are towel elephants and frogs with sunglasses waiting for me.
  In short, I highly recommend the towel stress-reliever to anyone who finds themselves in a hotel at least once! © Not everyone will understand / VK

• 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
• 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

• 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 the mid-twenties and like 90% ginger.
  It was a sea of rowdy redheads 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
• 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.

• My parents went on a honeymoon to Hungary, and it became part of not only the family archive, but literally entered history.
  The thing is, during a tour of the Esterhazy fortress-museum, there was a nondescript pedestal with an open book in one of the galleries. The guide explained that it was something like a guest book, and then directed the group further. Without thinking twice, my parents sincerely wrote about how much they enjoyed their trip.
  Later, a scandal erupted: the book was meant for signatures by kings, dukes, princes, etc. That’s how my parents added themselves into world history. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• 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
• 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

There’s always something interesting happening on trips. Some situations leave a lasting mark in our hearts. Do you have remarkable stories about traveling? Share them in the comments below.

And these travel stories seem to be straight out of a novel.