19 People Who Traveled Abroad Only to Experience Something Unforgettable

When traveling to a foreign country, no matter how safe it is, foreigners should always be extra careful. There are many possible dangers, from keeping their valuables close to their bodies and not drinking too much, to not going to unknown areas. So, the best thing to do is to research the place before visiting. This way, you will be prepared and hopefully be able to avoid scary situations like the people below.

• I was traveling in Nicaragua several years ago when I got lost and ended up having to take a taxi at 9:30 PM back to my hostel. When the taxi pulled up to the curb, the taxi driver locked the taxi doors and told me that I had misunderstood the fare. He claimed I owed him $100 USD, which was several times more than we had agreed upon. I tried to pry the doors open from the inside, but was completely trapped. Thankfully, he let me out of the taxi after taking all the money I had on me. Unknown author / Reddit
• I stayed in a haunted convent in Florence. The lights would randomly turn on in the middle of the night, the shower would randomly turn off while in use. There was a candle in the room that lit itself one day. One morning I woke up and all the pillows and toothbrushes had been moved into the middle of the room. As much as I love Florence, I was ready to leave. Afuzzyredpillow / Reddit
• Oh man, my dad had the dumb idea of taking the metro in Barcelona to get to our hotel. My Mom and sister were ok, but my Dad and I got targeted by pickpoketers who surrounded us. We ended up clubbing them with our luggage to get away. We got really lucky all things considered, we were only left with bruises. My dad decided to just take a cab for the remainder of our trip. thegreaterfool714 / Reddit

• When I was about 13/14 (about 6 years ago) we went to Egypt (Sharm). My dad and sister decided to go on a camel ride there while my mum and I stood and watched, the man who owned the camels started talking to my mum, and she pushed me behind her (I didn’t catch what he was saying as it was loud, and I wasn’t concentrating on them.) About two years ago, I asked my mum why she pushed me behind her, and she told me the guy had offered 21 camels and 2 chickens to buy me and marry me. cjunet / Reddit
• In Valparaiso, I got mugged and chased after the guy until I ended up lost in a favela. Luckily, two lovely Chilean teenagers helped me get back to my hostel, and told me something terrible would’ve happened if it wasn’t for them. I hope those guys are doing well. DEUK_96 / Reddit
• I was traveling in Iceland, pretty far away from the nearest town, and decided to take a nap on the beach. I woke up pretty disoriented and had a feeling I was being watched. I looked over my shoulder, and there was a man standing 5 feet away, staring at me... He says, “Gotcha!” And then runs off into his car and drives away. I was completely spooked. reef_higgens / Reddit

• I was in a small fishing town in Mexico with a class. We were living with families in the town, so we could learn about their culture and learn to speak Spanish. I was sitting on the curb waiting for my host family to come out of the grocery store, and I had a homeless man come up and sit next to me.
  He told me his entire life story and I thought it was a genuine interaction. Not to my surprise though, he proceeded to ask me for money, and after saying no and trying to walk away, he grabbed my ponytail and pulled me down to the ground. The father of the family I was living with walked out and ripped the guy off of me. UnluckyPenguins / Reddit
• My sister and I were in Marrakech, Morocco, staying at a riad. Our taxi driver dropped us off as close as he could, but this area was a giant maze of narrow walkways with shops, restaurants, and riads, so we had to walk the rest of the way without knowing the direction. The taxi driver tried to point us the right way as best he could when some guys came up to us and said, “We will take you there, we can show you.”
  Our taxi driver kept telling us not to go with them, so we ignored them and just continued on with them trying to point us in “the right direction.” We eventually found our riad, which was nowhere near where they wanted to take us... just makes me wonder what would have happened if we had let them guide us. Joce7 / Reddit

• I was in Paris with my girlfriend. We are walking on the street at ~6am, then a group of kids showed up with a partition, which is obviously fake, so we walked away quickly. But then those kids started to chase us, so me and my gf ran instead (with our suitcase). When I looked at my girlfriend, a kid was already catching her up and open her bag, I immediately pulled her away from that. The kids gave up afterwards. welovefreedom77w / Reddit
• I was on a train in Rome, and the ticket inspector came around checking tickets, as they do. He took my ticket and kept insisting that it was wrong, and I needed to come with him because I had the wrong ticket, and it was really wrong. I knew it wasn’t, but eventually, I went with him because I couldn’t seem to get through to him. He then informed me that the men in the carriage with me were known pickpockets and had been known to get violent when caught. Unicornmon / Reddit
• I was in Madrid with my family, and we went to a cafe to eat. Everything was fine, I finished my sandwich, and was sitting on the counter waiting for them to finish when a woman came up to me and told me I reminded her of a friend. She asked my name, and I told her. I said goodbye to her, and at this point, she was just staring at me the whole time.
  We went outside to catch a cab, and she followed us. I got inside the cab, and while we waited for the traffic lights, I saw her standing outside watching me with this crazy look on her face. She was also reading the taxi’s license plate, seeming to try to memorize it. Babylondoorway / Reddit

• I was finishing my exchange in Japan with a massive road trip. Everything was awesome until our Japanese GPS took us to an abandoned ’80s/’90s hotel. What was creepy was that it felt like people just dropped what they were doing and left. snexjk / Reddit
• I was in France with my best friend and her mom (who grew up there). I was 16 at the time. We went to Paris for a day and decided to take the train.
  As we were planning out where to get off, some old guy came up to her mom and pointed at us. “DO NOT get off at this stop. Your daughters won’t be safe there.” windycityfosters / Reddit
• Oh, one time in Thailand, they stuffed too many people onto a small boat I was on, and it nearly capsized. That was freaky. Ash_ash / Reddit

Have you ever had a negative or even scary experience while traveling abroad? How did you handle it?