travel stories

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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

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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.

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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.

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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!

Travel Stories

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Short Travel Stories

Love short travel stories?

Then you’re in the right place!

This guide shares some of the best travel stories you can find.

Discover funny anecdotes that will make you laugh, inspiring love stories from the road that will warm your heart, wild travel tales that will have you glued to your screen, travel horror stories that will take you out of your comfort zone, scary travel stories that will creep you out, and more.

Along with reading my own personal short stories about traveling the world, you’ll hear from other nomads who have unique anecdotes to share.

On that note, scroll down to read some truly interesting travel stories that will make you giggle, cry, scream, and more.

Q: Why do people like to read travel stories?

Crazy travel stories.

A collection of wild stories from the road.

25 Crazy Travel Stories You Need To Read To Believe

8 Crazy NYC Subway Stories That Will Make You Call A Cab

Travel Horror Stories

You’ll be thankful that you’re reading — and not telling — these horror travel stories.

Travel Horror Stories You’ll Be Glad You’re Not Telling

10 Travel Insurance Horror Stories That Prove You Need Coverage

A Host’s View: My Worst Airbnb Horror Stories

18 Scary Travel Stories From Haunted Hotels To Creepy Cabins

Short Travel Stories About Kindness & Love

Inspiring travel love stories & anecdotes showing the kindness of strangers abroad.

23 Inspiring Travel Stories Sharing The Kindness Of Strangers

38 Inspiring Travel Love Stories From The Road

Funny Travel Stories

Stories about travel that will make you laugh.

16 Short Funny Travel Stories That’ll Make You Laugh Out Loud

11 Epic Travel Fail Stories From The Road

20 Embarrassing Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh & Blush

Travel Experience Stories

These short travel stories talk about life-changing trips!

17 Inspiring Travel Experience Stories About Life-Changing Trips

12 Short India Travel Stories From The Crazy To The Inspiring

17 True Short Adventure Travel Stories That Will Inspire Your Next Trip

Inspiring Travel Stories

Inspiring stories about traveling the world from people experiencing transformation and overcoming challenges. These are some of the best short motivational stories on the internet!

How One Woman’s Cancer Journey Led Her To Sell Everything & Travel

Kilimanjaro Trekking: A Healing Experience Summitting Africa’s Highest Mountain

Black Solo Female Travel: An Eye-Opening & Empowering Guide

How To Successfully Explore The World As A Deaf Traveler

How Traveling Can Help When Coping With Loss

How Hiking The Camino Helped One Woman Heal & Grow

Short Travel Stories FAQ

Below, find answers to frequently asked questions about the topic of short travel stories.

Q: What’s the best way to start writing a great short story?

Wondering how to write short stories?

One strategy I love using is to start with some writing prompts .

Because thinking too much can hurt your creative flow, I recommend picking one randomly and then diving into your story without spending too much time agonizing over the details. Instead, just write.

By the way, even if you only have one day to spare on education you can learn a lot.

Here is some helpful information on how to improve your creative storytelling skills for more engaging writing, as well as how to tell better stories through photography .

Q: What are the best short travel stories you have ever heard?

Personally, I love travel stories that make me feel something and take me on a journey. The story can be funny, sad, heartwarming, crazy, scary…

…or even a mix of everything, like my own crazy Couchsurfing story, shared here:

Q: What is your latest noteworthy travel story?

On a personal level, my sexual assault stories from the road have been some of the hardest but most important to share.

Additionally, I recently wrote a story about exploring England beyond London by train last which was a lot of fun to write.

Q: What are the categories you can put on a travel blog?

It is up to you, though I suggest considering the hierarchy you want your blog to have.

Think about the main topics of your blog — for instance, short travel stories is one of my categories — as well as how you can organize destinations. For example, I have continents as my categories, and then I list countries and cities as tags.

Q: What are your favorite travel stories while traveling in India?

One of the wildest India travel stories I’ve ever shared is about when I tried bhang lassi during a trip to Varanasi a few years ago.

It was the first time I’d ever heard of the drink, and it really was one of the craziest travel experiences of my life.

Here is a video I posted sharing the details:

Because stories are addictive, and great travel storytelling can transport you to destinations around the world right from your living room.

In fact, stories offer one of the best ways to travel at home .

Bonus Short Travel Stories

I hope you enjoyed reading these stories about world travel.

The amazing stories above span the globe — South Africa, South America, Machu Picchu, New Zealand, NYC, and beyond!

If you’re still craving more tales:

Click here for more short travel stories .

Click here for stories from inspiring travelers .

What are your favorite short travel stories?

Enjoyed these short stories about travel? Pin this page for later!

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TravelAwaits

Our mission is to serve the 50+ traveler who's ready to cross a few items off their bucket list.

Our 25 Most Read Travel Stories From 2022

• Destinations
• News and Tips
• Travel Tips

As our team reflected back on 2022, it was exciting to revisit the most popular stories from the year and rediscover them with new, fresh eyes. As usual, our writers found a way to share expert advice and tips about their exciting journeys and experiences while inspiring us to try new things. Their experiences included exciting firsts, moments of introspection, and some truly remarkable locations that you’ll want to add to your 2023 travel list. Thank you for reading, and we look forward to many new adventures in 2023!

1. Where You Should Travel As Soon As You Retire

Retirement is a subject near and dear to many TravelAwaits readers. It can open up new paths to pursue that may have been more challenging during the time-strapped years of gainful employment. We polled our readers and asked where they would recommend someone new to retirement consider for their first trip. The answers came rolling in, and these four destinations topped the list. Learn which four places you should travel as soon as you retire .

2. Things I Wish I Knew Before I Booked An Amtrak Sleeper Car

Have you ever considered traveling across the country by train? Overnight travel by rail is a fantastic way to reduce the miles between you and your destination without having to concern yourself with late-night caffeine binges to keep you safely on the road and out of the ditch. Writer Jill Robbins has wanted to do just that ever since she was a child and she finally got the opportunity. This year, she shared the story of her first Amtrak sleeper car experience , and how she plans to do it differently next time.

3. The Things You Should Do Every Time You Walk Into A Hotel Room, According To A Flight Attendant

Flight attendants spend a substantial amount of their time in hotels between flights. And depending on flight times, they may find themselves checking in and out of rooms at unusual times of the day. As someone who has been working in the industry for nearly 25 years, Kentrell Charles knows this all too well. Over the years, he has developed a list of eight things that he does every time he walks into a hotel room , and he graciously shared his list with our readers. Staying safe and healthy is important for anyone traveling, especially if you are traveling alone, so take a look and see if you need to add any of his tips to your hotel check-in process.

4. Beautiful Beach Towns Perfect For Retirees

The rhythmic lapping of waves on the shore; the whistling sound of the breeze off the water; the cacophony of gulls seeking a place to roost. These are just some of the sounds that call out, drawing many a soul towards the beach. Finding a beach town that meets the specific needs of those in retirement is no simple task, but our team is here to assist. Discover what makes these nine beautiful beach towns great for anyone, but perfect for retirees .

5. Amazing Walkable Cities Around The World

What does a city need to be considered walkable, and what makes walking desirable over other modes of transportation? Well, for starters, cities with ample and well-maintained sidewalks make the list while those with narrow alleys or non-centrally located business centers did not. Our team uncovered a few cities that blow others out of the park in the area of walkablity. Wide, uncrowded pedestrian paths, charming storefronts, and stunning views are just a few of the reasons that these cities take the cake. Plan a trip to one of these seven amazingly walkable cities today.

6. Our 12 Favorite Cities To Visit In The U.S.

The Best of Travel Awards give our readers a chance to celebrate their favorite travel spots around the world each year. As part of this year’s vote, our team tasked readers with sharing their favorite cities from around the country. From small and mountainous to metropolises on the coast, these cities stuck out above the rest in the eyes of our readers. Did your favorite city make the cut? Discover all 12 of the cities named as our readers’ favorites in 2022 .

7. Packing Tips For A Long Trip When You’re Only Taking A Carry-On

If you are tired of the long lines to check in your luggage just to then have to wait even longer after de-planing to retrieve your bag from the slowly moving carousel — if your bag arrives at all — then you might consider becoming a carry-on-only traveler. Christy Karsten is an airline pilot who has perfected the ability to fit everything she needs in one small carry-on. If you struggle with overpacking, consider these seven tips for packing for a long trip with just a carry-on .

8. The Things I’ve Decided To Let Go Of At 71 Years Old

Louisa Rogers has been all around the globe, adding to and crossing off many great destinations and experiences from her bucket list. Now that she is in her 70s, she has come to realize that it is time to let go of what she doesn’t need and delight in those things — and experiences — that she already has. Discover the seven things Louisa has chosen to give up at the age of 71 . Are there any you should consider letting go of yourself?

9. Reasons This Historic Arizona Train Is A Perfect Experience For The Whole Family

The Grand Canyon sits as one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Approximately a mile deep, and an average of 10 miles wide, this Arizona wonder is popular among tourists and nature lovers alike. But did you know that there is a way to enjoy the canyon that doesn’t involve standing at the rim or hiking down in? Head for Williams, Arizona, and hop aboard the Grand Canyon Railway for a truly unique way to roll up to the iconic rim. Here are nine reasons this historic Arizona train is a perfect experience for the whole family .

10. The Most Popular BBQ Restaurants In The U.S.

Barbecue has become a staple in the U.S., especially in the South and Midwest. The regional tweaks to how the meat is prepared and served have segmented the country into as many different barbecue regions as there are ways to spell the word itself! Our readers spoke up and shared their favorite places to enjoy amazing barbecue around the U.S. during this year’s Best of Travel Awards . Have you been to any of the top 10? If not, you may have to change that in the new year, if only to keep the drool at bay.

11. How To Pack Your Luggage Perfectly Every Time

Whether you are cramming everything into a single carry-on or filling multiple suitcases, it is important to do it the right way, every time. We sat down with Rashmi Hudson, creator of Alltimate Luggage , and picked her brain for packing tips — and she did not disappoint. Keep her tips in mind to ensure you pack your luggage perfectly every time .

12. The World’s 8 Most Beautiful Train Stations

Train travel was once the way to travel, and in some parts of the world, it still is for some. The stations that have been built over the years to accommodate train passengers were expertly designed to both stand out and simultaneously blend in with the surrounding architecture and vibe of the cities that they serve. Many of these stunning, cathedral-esque depots are found on the European continent, while others are dotted across the globe. Enjoy our picks for the world’s eight most beautiful train stations that you can visit during your next adventure.

13. It’s Not All Hammocks And Margaritas: My Life As An Expat In Mexico

The daily life of a retiree living abroad as an expat may not include a 9-to-5 job, but that does not mean that every day is a vacation. Just ask an expat! Daily responsibilities continue, of course, and it is important to know what to expect so as not to be taken unaware. Louisa shares her take on life as an expat living part of the year in Guanajuato, Mexico , with her husband. It’s not all hammocks and margaritas, after all!

14. Charming Small Towns To Visit On Florida’s Gulf Coast

Pepsi or Coke? Paper or plastic? Atlantic or Gulf? When planning a visit to Florida, this final question is the one that can truly divide. If you prefer white sand and calmer waves, the Gulf may just be calling out your name. When planning your next beach vacation, consider one of these six charming small towns on Florida’s Gulf coast rather than a trip back to the Atlantic. You won’t regret it!

15. My Favorite European Cities To Avoid The Crowds

Europe is a dense area, filled with residents and tourists alike. During the late summer months, the crowds can be truly overwhelming. Traveling off-season is a great way to avoid some of the crowds, but if you can’t get away during the shoulder season — or just need a change of pace — it might be necessary to skip the most popular destinations in favor of some lesser-known gems where you will have freedom to explore. Consider a trip to one of these 13 great European cities if you are looking for a less crowded yet still rewarding experience .

16. How I Made Friends As A Single, 73-Year-Old Woman In A New Town

Leaving everything you know behind and moving across the country can be a scary proposition for anyone. Now imagine doing that at 73…and single. Carol did just that, leaving behind the hustle and bustle of Chicago for a more relaxed day-to-day in coastal South Carolina. The move itself turned out to be the easy part; making new lasting friendships was the larger commitment. Learn how she made new friends as a single 73-year-old in a new town , and you might even be inspired to follow in her footsteps.

17. Reasons You’ll Fall In Love With This Quaint Arizona Town

Nestled between — and often overshadowed by — its neighbors Jerome and Cottonwood, this under-the-radar gem is more than just a waypoint in Arizona’s Verde Valley. Stop in Clarkdale for a history lesson on the copper mining industry. Or climb aboard the Verde Canyon Railroad for a comfortable journey through the gorgeous valley. All this and more is awaiting you in Clarkdale , so plan your visit today!

18. Travel Essentials I’m So Glad I Had On My 10-Hour Flight

Peggy was set to take her first long-haul flight in years: a 10-hour flight between Seattle and Frankfurt. She knew that the longer flight could prove to be a challenge for her circulation and wasn’t sure how her body would handle sitting in one place for so long. Fortunately, she came prepared, and the flight was a success! Read her honest reviews of eight travel essentials she was glad to have brought on her 10-hour flight , most of which she plans to never fly without in the future!

19. Key Packing Tips From A Professional Baggage Handler

Have you ever wondered what happens to your luggage between the time you drop it off at check-in to the time you pull it off the carousel at your final destination? For most of us, it is a mystery, and one that we are happy to keep as such. However, these six key packing tips from professional baggage handler Tammy Mendoza shed new light on the baggage handling process, ensuring your personal items arrive as you intended. Do you need to add any of these to your process moving forward?

20. Fantastic Places To See California’s Gorgeous Wildflowers This Spring

California is a state with it all: majestic mountains, beautiful beaches, towering forests, scorching deserts, and acre-upon-acre of delectable produce and fine wine. With so much natural beauty and diversity, it should come as no surprise that the state is a wonderful place to see fields of beautiful wildflowers each spring. With spring just around the corner (wishful thinking for some of us, maybe!), consider one of these six fantastic places to see California’s gorgeous wildflowers .

21. My 11 Favorite Beaches To Visit In The World

Writer Sarah Kingdom grew up near enough to the beach in Australia that she spent a good portion of her weekends enjoying all the fun that comes with the beach life. When she moved to central Africa over three decades ago, she may have lost her ease of access to the beach, but not her love for it, as she has found and enjoyed exciting beaches wherever she travels. If you are looking for ideas for a new and exciting beach vacation, consider her list of favorite beaches around the world .

22. Marriage Ground Rules That Helped My Husband And Me Thrive In Retirement

Louisa and her husband Barry have been married for over 40 years, and have had many of the same ups and downs as any marriage. Yet four decades in, she claims that they are now “healthy, happy, and strong.” Anyone who has been married for more than a day knows that this is no simple task, so how did they get where they are today? She attributes their success in marriage to the ground rules that they have set up to ensure they continue to thrive. Read Louisa’s full list of nine marriage ground rules and see which you can adopt in your own marriage.

23. Customs From Other Countries I Wish The U.S. Would Adopt

Americans often stand alone in the way we approach life when compared to the world around us. We have all but completely forsaken the metric system and confused the sporting world with our own form of football. Whether it’s national pride or stately stubbornness that fuels these differences, one thing is for sure: There are times when being more like the rest of the world would actually be a positive thing, even if we don’t want to admit it. Writer Louisa shares 10 customs from other countries that she would like to see us adopt here in the U.S. , and I can get behind each of them!

24. This Quaint Island Town In California Is Perfect For A Romantic Weekend

Two Harbors is doubly quaint: It’s the second largest town on one of the few inhabited islands off the coast of California. Getting there takes some planning, but you will be glad you did once you arrive. The town of Avalon in the southeast is where most visitors arrive, and stay, during their time on Catalina Island. But, for a cozier, more romantic vibe, head north and see why the quaint island town of Two Harbors is perfect for a romantic weekend .

25. Amsterdam’s Red Light District: All Your Questions Answered

The Red Light District — well districts , as there are in fact at least three in Amsterdam — is as iconic as the city’s Anne Frank House, yet for very different reasons. Knowing where to find this notorious piece of Dutch culture is as important for those that want to visit as it is for those who want to avoid it. Whichever court you may fall into, Sage Scott shares her expertise from numerous trips to the Netherlands. She answers all of the questions you may have had about Amsterdam’s Red Light District , and even some you didn’t know to ask.

He has traveled to 44 states and has taken several trips outside of the U.S.; he experienced London as a tourist during college and took immersive trips to both Mexico City and Athens through a former career with a college student ministry. One of his favorite travel memories was serving a Christmas meal to refugees in Athens and hearing their stories of hope; Athens is truly the crossroads of European, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern cultures and shouldn't be missed!

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• 2023 IN REVIEW

9 travel stories our readers loved in 2023

From the best places for northern lights in Europe to remedies for motion sickness, these are the topics travelers were most interested in this year.

Whether hiking a new trail through a tropical rainforest or tasting an emerging wine region, people were venturing out this year in numbers that have even exceeded pre-pandemic levels. As of November 2023, more than 61 million Americans flew to international regions, compared to more than 55 million during the same period in 2019, according to the United States International Trade Administration .

Here’s a look back at nine of our globetrotting readers’ favorite travel stories from the past year.

Is this California wine region the new Napa? Its vintners hope not.

The Suisun Valley—a lesser known northern California wine region—offers top-notch wines on small-scale family farms.  

Read more on how to taste it for yourself before the crowds catch on .

One of these 7 places may be America’s next national park

It’s been three years since West Virginia ’s New River Gorge became the U.S.’s newest national park. What wild spot might be named the 64th? The candidates range from the world’s largest intact temperate rainforest in Alaska to an Apache “Wonderland of Rocks” in Arizona .  

Discover the seven sites that might be considered .

These breathtaking natural wonders no longer exist

Over the years, hundreds of landmarks have drastically changed—even disappeared. Here are some natural beauties the world has lost over the last 50 years—and some fragile sites you can still visit, responsibly.  

See, and appreciate, those that remain before it’s too late .

Puerto Rico’s stunning new trail traverses a tropical rainforest

Puerto Rico ’s new NorEste (Northeast) Trail in El Yunque National Forest is one of a kind: “Rarely can you hike in a rainforest, be at a mountain peak in the clouds, and go to the beach all in the same day,” says Keenan Adams, forest supervisor of El Yunque.

The 40-mile, multiday adventure takes hikers from the island’s coral reefs to the forest’s highest peak.

Read more about the first multiday backpacking route in Puerto Rico .

Walk across the sky in the U.S.’s highest-elevation city

At 10,158 feet, it’s no wonder that Leadville, Colorado , is nicknamed Cloud City. The Rocky Mountain town is also the site of the legendary “Race Across the Sky” ultramarathon that takes place every August.

Explore this former mining town turned outdoors adventure hub .

What causes motion sickness—and how can you prevent it?

Nausea, dizziness, cold sweats: encountering motion sickness is a common plague for many travelers. Here’s why motion sickness happens and what travelers can do to prevent it—some of the hacks might surprise you.  

Here’s the trick to not feeling queasy .

6 places to see the Northern Lights in Europe

Experts believe 2024 may bring the best auroras in 20 years —and may even be seen in regions they’re not normally spotted.  

Here’s where to go aurora hunting in Europe .

This grand trail will one day connect Washington, D.C., to Washington State

The Great American Rail-Trail will link towns and cities along a dedicated, 3,700-mile path that uses many converted railways. Not only will it take hikers and bikers on a cross-continental journey, organizers hope it will help revitalize the economy of America’s heartland.  

Trace the growth of this ambitious new trail .

Nudity, sex, and disrespect: Bali looks to rein in bad tourist behavior

Bali is proposing rules aimed at curbing decades of disrespect by some tourists at sacred sites, including temples and mountains.  

Here’s what to know about the proposed hiking bans .

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Perceptive Travel

The Good, Bad, and Confusing on the Maya Train

Sleeping on the Side of a Cliff at 11,000 Feet in Peru

Limping Home from Kashgar as a VIP

History and Hooch along the San Antonio River

June Book Reviews

A Day at the Beach on Nusa Penida in Bali, Indonesia

Welcome to the June edition of Perceptive Travel, the online magazine featuring tales from wandering book authors.

We've got a collection of new travel stories from around the world for you again, though we do spend a lot of time in the Americas this go-round to offset the May retrospecctive on Europe.

Lydia Carey is back with a story on riding the new Maya Train in Mexico and stopping off a few places on the way, getting the vibe from other passengers and dealing with remote train stations in the Yucatan. I head to San Antonio to find part of Mexico that no longer is, one with a river you can walk along for the better part of a day.

Norm Baur and his wife decide that the ultimate aspirational hotel booking is to sleep and eat on the side of a cliff on the edge of the Sacred Valley in Peru.

James Dorsey returns with a story from China about a souvenir that becomes a golden ticket to special airport treatment and first class travel.

Gillian Kendall brings us three new book reviews: another National Park box tick-off, a history of travel and passports, and a mother-son road trip across America.

One Reader Gets a Foam Roller Two-pack

Each new issue we give away something cool to our traveling readers who subscribe or follow us. Congrats to Elliot and Debbie W of Massachussets: their number came up in the randomizer and they'll be ready to nap or sleep in the woods with the mini double hammock from Tentsile .

This time the company Oceanfoam is ready to help you with your aching back if you've been hiking, biking, or running around the pickleball court. And you can feel good about the planet while you're rolling out your spine or massaging your muscles too: these items include recycled plastic and algae bloom materials that also give them a unique design look. The winner gets a foam roller bundle that includes a full-size version for home and a smaller one to take on the road.

All you need to do is reply back to the monthly newsletter with the requested info or watch our Facebook page for entry instructions. This is no lottery—odds are so good that more than a few of our readers have won twice! So click that link and get on our list join us if you're not part of the club already.

Looking for some more great travel stories? Dive into the Perceptive Travel story archives, where you can find hundreds of travel stories from around the globe, everything that has appeared here since our debut in the mid-'00s. In between new online magazine issues, check out the award-winning Perceptive Travel Blog for shorter takes on weird and wonderful places around the world.

Thanks for reading our online travel magazine, - Tim Leffel, Editor

A Little Adrift… 23 Inspiring Travel Stories from Around the World

Last updated on January 21, 2024 by Shannon

It’s easy to share a list of the best travel books out there—although everyone has their favorites, there are a handful of books that always make the list. But inspiring travel stories are a different beast altogether.

These stories may come in the form of a book, such as a memoir detailing someone’s time on the road, or may be a journey noted in the history books, but in this digital age many of the best out there are actually in blog form.

When I left to travel the world in 2008 on a yearlong trip , there were just a handful of travelers sharing their inspiring stories via travel blogs (and later social media). Now there’s a diverse cast of characters of ever race, creed, and abilities who have made travel a priority and have embraced off-the-beaten-path adventures to every corner of the world.

Below are the best travels stories you can look to for inspiration—I included the books that tell a great tale, but also bloggers and historical figures who are notable for something about the way they traveled.

Table of Contents

The Best Online Travel Stories

Traveling blogging took off more than 15 years ago, growing from a small, close-knit collective to a sprawling industry. That said, a lot of travel stories just sound the same after a while. I’ve read travel blogs since 2007, when I was planning my round the world trip , and some stories are just a lot more compelling than the rest.

The travel community is also a lot more diverse—less WASPy and more inclusive. The travel stories below excel in some way that sets them apart. Either it’s the family’s incredible photography and aspirational adventures, or the voice of a storyteller that keeps you coming back for more.

Roads & Kingdoms

Roads & Kingdom is a captivating website that delivers phenomenal travel storytelling. Not only are the stories fascinating—and impeccably written and edited—but the immersive articles share stunning photography, and thought-provoking narratives.

Each story takes readers on a journey around the world, shedding light on diverse cultures, untold stories, and lesser-known destinations. Its unique blend of travel, politics, and culture creates a rich tapestry of exploration that goes beyond typical travel writing, offering a deeper understanding of the places they cover.

The site is run with one simple idea at the core: The more you know, the better you travel. The long-form features and useful information are aimed at armchair and aisle-seat travelers alike.

Before his death, Anthony Bourdain was Roads & Kingdoms’ sole investor—head to the “ Dispatched by Bourdain ” section for the most deeply reported, fascinating travel stories on the site.

Fearless & Far on YouTube

If you prefer your travel inspiration via video, then this adventure travel YouTube channel is the antidote to your wanderlust. It’s a wild ride with Mike Corey, who serves up his travel adventures with a side of danger in many cases—but not all!

His fascinating “Lost Tribes” series showcases a unique side of destinations you won’t find shared in many written travel stories. He’s also just charming and personable and it’s fun to watch his travel story unfold in real time as he wanders the globe.

Erik Gauger of Notes from the Road

There’s a lot to love about Gauger’s travelogue, chief among it that he focuses on storytelling and not travel advice. What you find when you read and follow Notes from the Road is funny, powerful and personal travel stories from all over the world.

What a concept! But its rare to find on travel blogs these days, so if you’re keen to follow an ordinary guy’s extraordinary adventures around the world, this is the one to follow.

He’s adventurous but not so adventurous that you think, “wow, that’s nuts” and travelers will find humor, warmth, and inspiration from his large collection of travel stories dating back to when his blog started in 1999 (not a typo!).

Jeff Jenkins of Chubby Diaries

Jeff Jenkins, the adventurous soul behind the Chubby Diaries , offers a fun and inspiring travel story that challenges stereotypes and embraces body positivity. He’s a bit of a character, so it makes a fun travel story to follow via his Instagram account .

Jeff is now a National Geographic Travel Host, and uses his online platforms to share his remarkable journey as a plus-size traveler, encouraging others to pursue their wanderlust fearlessly and unapologetically.

With his infectious enthusiasm, Jeff breaks down barriers and promotes inclusivity, proving that one’s size should never limit their ability to explore the world. His uplifting presence and empowering message make him a beacon of travel inspiration for travelers of all shapes and sizes—he’s a good reminder that travel is for everyone.

The Bucket List Family

The Bucket List Family—a husband, wife, and their three photogenic children—shares adventurous travel stories on Instagram and YouTube . I’ve followed their travel story for years now, and as an experienced traveler I still love traveling vicariously through their family adventures.

They offer stunning photography and heartfelt narratives, and bring followers on a virtual exploration of the world’s most captivating destinations. Beyond showcasing picturesque locations, they emphasize the importance of shared family adventures and creating lasting memories. My young son was born in 2021, so although he’s already visited eight countries with me, I’m still inspired by the places they take their kids—many of which are on my own bucket list.

The Bucket List Family’s story focuses on experiences over material possessions—but keep in mind they are very wealthy (one-percenters), so they go on some super bougie trips that are aspirational for most.

While they certainly weren’t the first family travel storytellers , as they claim, they do a great job. They encourage travelers to step out of their comfort zones, embrace the unknown, and prioritize quality time together—a message I can get behind. Although they technically have a website, they don’t blog. Their travel story is best followed Instagram and YouTube .

This website was a curation platform that, while it no longer shares new articles, has a treasure trove of absolutely stunning short travel stories—most are readable in about 10-20 minutes. It’s a great sadness that it’s no longer updated with fresh stories, but you can get lost for hours in the archives.

The best place to get started is with this travel story, “ Weavers of the Sky ,” or this one, “ Keepers of Ganesh: The Vanishing Art of Mahout. ” Or head to the editor’s picks page for a curated list of the best of the archives.

Oneika Raymond from Oneika the Traveller

Oneika Raymond is an Emmy-winning travel storyteller. Her stories are engaging and authentic, and she’s all about promoting inclusivity and breaking down misconceptions. Oneika’s posts inspire travelers to step out of your comfort zone and embrace the beauty of different cultures. It’s like getting tips from a friend who’s passionate about travel and believes in the power of exploration to bring people together.

While her website now pumps out more generic travel planning content, following her on Facebook is the perfect way to collect the best pieces of her travel story that encourage cultural exploration and adventure—she regularly re-shares her best videos, stories, and photos from her years of travel.

Best Historical Travel Stories

Gertrude bell.

Gertrude Bell, often dubbed as the “Queen of the Desert,” was an extraordinary woman who defied societal norms and embarked on incredible journeys across the Middle East in the early 20th century.

A British explorer, archaeologist, and writer, she traversed vast deserts, climbed mountains, and immersed herself in the cultures of the region. Her inspiring travel story lies in her unwavering determination, intelligence, and deep respect for the people and places she encountered.

Bell’s book, A Woman in Arabia: The Writings of the Queen of the Desert , encapsulates her adventurous spirit and offers an intimate glimpse into her experiences, documenting her encounters with tribal leaders, her insights into the region’s history and politics, and her unique perspectives on the challenges faced by women in those times.

Her courageous and independent spirit continues to inspire travelers, historians, and feminists alike, making her an icon of female exploration and an incredible travel story even today.

Ibn Battuta

One notable historic travel adventure that captivates the imagination is the journey of Ibn Battuta, an explorer from the 14th century. Ibn Battuta embarked on a remarkable travel odyssey that spanned over 30 years and covered a distance exceeding 75,000 miles, making him one of history’s greatest adventurers.

His extensive travels took him across the Islamic world, including North Africa, the Middle East, India, and even as far as China. Battuta’s story is inspiring due to his fearlessness, curiosity, and the vastness of his exploration, which allowed him to experience diverse cultures, encounter various civilizations, and encounter numerous challenges along the way.

His travel story provides insights into the medieval world and serves as a testament to the enduring spirit of exploration. Although there are translations of his travelogue available, Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century by Ross E. Dunn is a good option to really immerse in his journey because Dunn provides a lot of historical and societal context that enriches Battuta’s story.

Emily Hahn, a trailblazing adventurer and writer, holds an inspiring travel story that spans the globe and breaks boundaries. Known as the “Mickey Mouse girl” due to her unconventional lifestyle, Hahn fearlessly journeyed to places that were deemed off-limits for women in the early 20th century.

From exploring the remote regions of China, where she witnessed political upheavals and became an unofficial concubine, to her daring escapades in the African wilderness and beyond, Hahn’s travels were marked by her independent spirit and relentless curiosity.

Her travel story, No Hurry to Get Home: The Memoir of the New Yorker Writer Whose Unconventional Life and Adventures Spanned the Twentieth Century , is captivating. Her memoir showcases her extraordinary life and captures the essence of her adventurous spirit. Emily Hahn’s audacious exploration and refusal to conform to societal norms make her an inspiring figure, leaving a lasting legacy for women in travel and writing.

Sir Ernest Shackleton

There’s just something magical about the travel stories of the great explorers from history. With the world so connected, these kinds of harrowing travel journeys are more rare (thankfully!). Shackleton’s extraordinary expedition to Antarctica in the early 20th century is renowned for its remarkable story of survival and endurance.

In 1914, Shackleton and his crew set out on the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, aiming to cross the Antarctic continent. However, their ship, the Endurance, became trapped in ice, eventually sinking. Shackleton and his crew were stranded on the ice for months before embarking on a perilous journey in lifeboats to reach Elephant Island.

Despite the immense challenges they faced, Shackleton displayed exceptional leadership, courage, and resourcefulness, ensuring the survival of his entire crew. His story of perseverance and determination in the face of extreme adversity continues to inspire adventurers and explorers to this day.

Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing is a classic adventure travel story and makes for a great read. (And if you love this style of historical adventure travel, I truly loved The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey , which I read in just two days .)

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou, an iconic poet, author, and civil rights activist, embarked on a profound and inspiring travel journey that shaped her worldview and enriched her literary voice. Through her autobiographical work, All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes , Angelou chronicles her time living in Ghana during the 1960s, immersing herself in the vibrant tapestry of African culture and the fight for independence.

Her travel story is one of self-discovery, resilience, and profound connection, as she navigates the complexities of identity, racial inequality, and personal growth.

Maya Angelou’s courage to venture into unknown territories, both geographically and emotionally, and her ability to find strength and inspiration amidst adversity, inspires readers around the world. Her travel experiences beautifully illustrate the transformative power of exploration and the importance of embracing diverse cultures and perspectives.

10 Best Travel Stories on A Little Adrift

I’m guilty of sharing a fair bit of travel tips and advice for travelers of all shapes—I have detailed cost of living guides for countries around the world, as well as travel guides to my favorite countries in the world.

But deep in my 15 years of archives are travel stories and photography that I remain proud of, even if they’re not search-friendly content that’s likely to appear at the top of Google Search. These are the best travel stories from my years on the road.

• A Journey to Uncover What Sustainable Coffee Really Means : The journey an Akha hill tribe community in rural Northern Thailand is taking toward creating a sustainable business and social enterprise. Filled with beautiful photographs from their community and their journey toward fair-trade sustainability.
• How One Maasai Chief is Using Tourism to Change His Community : An innovative Maasai chief and his community are using tourism funds to help end FGM in Maasai communities and instead educate girls.
• The Case for Using Tourism to Help Destinations Recover : In the wake of Nepal’s devastating earthquake, this piece looks at how tourism shapes rural economies and how it can be a vehicle to help these communities recover after natural disasters.
• A Guest is a Gift from God : One of my favorite memories from Tbilisi, Georgia was sitting under the Mother Georgia statue with group of locals for an evening of song, conversation, and snacks. In short, for the famous Georgian hospitality.
• A Pastel Sunrise Over Wadi Rum : A dawn camel ride as the sun is rising over Jordan’s desert is etched in my memory as the pinks and blues tinted the sand and rocks.
• An Unexpected Afternoon with a Taco Stand Family : A simple question leads to a wonderful afternoon learning about Mexico’s blue corn.
• Peat Fireplaces, Rugged Ireland, & Something Special : Ireland holds such a special place in my heart, the smells of fireplaces mixed with yeasty beer and flowing conversation ebb and flow throughout the island.
• A Child’s Journey Through Chinese New Year : Go on the journey of Chinese New Year festivities in Thailand’s Chinatown told through the eyes of a young child.
• A Secret Spot in Ireland’s Heart : Ireland is an island of mystery as I tap into the cadence and rhythm of the locals speech, lore, and attitudes while hiking through sheep pastures and along coastlines.
• This One’s for Africa : Riding the local transport in East Africa leads to some hilarious encounters that constantly reminded me, “Oh yeah, this is Africa.”
• Finding the Travel Spark in Yangon : After years on the road it’s a single moment in Burma that pinpoints for me why I travel and reignites the wanderlust.

Looking for more inspiration? I’ve curated the best travel books not only in general, but for each region of the world.

Life-changing travel experience stories

There’s nothing like other travelers’ tales to get inspiration . When you are home longing to be on the road, or when you are on a journey wondering why you left the comfort of your house, submerge into these life-changing travel experience stories, beautiful tales of how a trip can alter the trajectory of your life .

I’m sure my regular readers are used to me talking about travel experiences . But for those who are discovering this little window to my soul called Experiencing the Globe , you can see that it all started with a bucket list of all the –surprise, surprise– travel experiences I want to have around the world.

The list is my goal in life, so I’m spending as much time as I can on the road. But when I’m home in between trips I seek inspiration in other travelers’ tales. I’ve read as many books about exciting journeys as I could put my hands on. And recently I got a hold of Lonely Planet’s Travel Goals: Inspiring Experiences to Transform Your Life .

It got me thinking of my own life-changing travel experiences . Like my transformation into a sustainable traveler after fully grasping what that meant for the planet and all the life in it. I have a trip to the Caribbean to thank for that. The first trip I took alone, when I was starting to test my boundaries, empowered me as a solo female traveler, and opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities! I’m so thankful I chose Italy , an amazing destination to explore on your own! I reaffirmed my faith in human kindness after spending a month in Iran , meeting the loveliest people I’ve ever encountered.  And the most literal life-changing travel experience, moving to Croatia after meeting the love of my life in this beautiful country that now I call home.

The book also encouraged me to ask other travelers if they had a story in their own travels that changed their lives in one way or another. I was overwhelmed with the beautiful tales… some of the best life-changing stories that’ll inspire you to travel!

Life-changing travel experience stories that’ll inspire you to travel

Collecting memories, not counting countries.

I want to start this series of tales with my own. As I told you, many aspects of my life have changed over the years due to a travel experience, but the one I want to elaborate on is the one that defined what my life would be. Traveling hasn’t changed me, it has made me. It’s who I am. Several trips to the south of Chile showed me where I was going. This is the story of how I became the person I am today:

My parents took me camping to the Chilean Lake District every summer while growing up. This was in the dark age, before the internet. Back then we had to rely on maps and guidebooks. So through the endless hours of our road trips, I kept myself entertained glancing at a map, reading about the small towns we passed, and convincing my folks to take a detour to visit some place that caught my attention.

During one trip I told them that I have decided I wanted to go everywhere in the world. After a few laughs, my dad told me about the Travelers’ Century Club (TCC), a group for people who have visited 100 or more of the world’s countries and territories. My eyes sparkled with the thought of being a member, and I made it my goal.

Obviously, I started asking to go to another country instead of the same National Park we always visited. They laughed again –conscious of the monster they have created– and offered a compromise: they’d take me to our neighbor Argentina, my first trip abroad, but I had to see more of my own country before I embarked on my adventure of visiting another hundred. I happily accepted.

See, what I immediately realized is that –as much as I wanted to be part of the TCC– the main reasons to travel should revolve around what I’ll get out of a trip –whether that’s meeting locals, tasting the typical cuisine, exploring nature, or adventuring into an activity– it shouldn’t be just to count countries . I know the “why you should travel” is super personal, but ticking countries off a list only because you put your feet there feels meaningless to me.

Why do people travel? Well, there are as many reasons as people traveling, but even if it is to get a tan while you’re permanently sipping from a cocktail, that trip will always be part of your story, so you should make the most of it.

After visiting every region in Chile, I started to go abroad. Nowadays, getting closer to 100 countries and territories of the TCC list properly visited, what I knew instinctively, transformed into lessons I learnt during my travels … What inspires me the most to hit the road is experiences, because they feed my adventurous soul –the TCC list (and my own bucket list) became the means to guide my journey, not an end themselves.

Spreading the word about the truth of traveling

Claudia’s life story is remarkably similar to my own. Being avid travelers changed the way we perceive a destination, and the story that should be told about it. We both left behind an academic career and repurposed our research abilities towards travel writing. Now we both blog from a distinct point of view. This is the story of how in a visit to Cuba she found her true calling:

“Cuba changed my life because it was nothing like I had expected it to be –quite the opposite, in fact. You see, being the avid traveler that I am, before my trip to Cuba I spent months reading just about anything I could put my hands on. If it talked about Cuba, I had to read it. Everything made it sound like traveling to Cuba would be easy, and locals would be generous and welcoming.

My time in Cuba was less than fabulous. Don’t get me wrong, it is a gorgeous country and now, a few years later, with much more traveling experience and understanding, I am ready to go again. But back then, it was awful. My 23 days there were a constant challenge to avoid scams –a challenge that a few times saw me succeed but that other times saw me fail miserably. It was frustrating. I felt I could not trust anybody. Where were the lovely Cubans everyone talked about in their blogs?

Cuba taught me that people lie, even (or especially) online. Because nobody really wants to say they have had a bad experience, and nobody is really interested in reading about others’ bad experiences –but is that really the case?

I decided there and then to be different. I decided that I had to warn others, tell them the truth, let them know what they should expect and what they should do to avoid scams. That’s why I opened my blog. It was just a pastime at the beginning.

Fast-forward 2 years and I realized that I did want to make an effort to make it work out. After all, what did I have to lose? My contract as a research fellow at the university had expired and I had no real prospect if not a series of menial short-term teaching jobs I was less than interested in. So, I gave blogging my heart and soul. And it worked. I’m a much happier person now. I love what I am doing. I wake up in the morning to face a long list of to-do things and I read it with a smile on my face, which is priceless.

Cuba changed my life. And despite all the frustration I felt back when I was there, it changed it for the best.”

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Encountering wildlife to find yourself

Camilla was looking for something, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Her heart lead her to India , and after that trip her life would never be the same. Animals can have different impacts in our life, but for this former vegan chef, one particular big cat meant more than anything. This is her story:

“January 2017. That’s the date I first arrived in India. By that time, I used to work as a freelance vegan chef in the hustling city of Paris. Having attended a 4-weeks course on yoga and Ayurveda, I had planned to spend the following month exploring this amazing country.

Little did I know that a special encounter would change my life forever.

Always an animal lover, over the years I had developed a passion for the most majestic of big cats: the tiger. The striped animal had somehow summoned me. To what reason and to convey what message I do not know, but to such a call one can hardly resist.

India is home to more than 60% of the world’s remaining wild tigers. The critically endangered species is highly protected, and the country has given to many of its national parks the status of Tiger Reserve.

It was time for me to see my first one in the wild.

With zero safari experience and many hours of research, I booked 4 drives in Ranthambhore, one of India’s most famous Tiger Reserves .

I will always remember the excitement before that first drive in the jungle, and I will never forget the distress of realizing that finding the elusive cat is no easy task. 

But all of a sudden, there it was. Glorious in its fierce black striped orange coat, a killer look and an attitude to die for. My first wild tiger.

That fleeting moment was enough to make me want more. Today, I have moved to Central India, prime tiger landscape of the world, and I have seen 103 different individuals. But every time I see those eyes, I feel the same excitement that I felt as a total beginner that day in Ranthambhore.”

Finding love in an unexpected place

Traveling is full of surprises. A spontaneous detour can change your life forever. Don’t I know it! A quick, unplanned stop in Split after exploring Dubrovnik ended up seeing me move continents for love. A simple recommendation of a town in The Philippines had the same in store for Alya. This is the tale of the trip that lead her to her husband:

“Meeting my future husband was definitely one of the most life-changing travel experiences I’ve ever had. We met 6 years ago in the Philippines. I was traveling alone around Southeast Asia for a couple of months. After completing my dive course in Gili Air Island in Indonesia and didn’t know where to go next. I was looking for a good place to learn to surf. My dive instructor told me about a small town on Luzon Island in the Philippines. It sounded like the perfect place for me. I bought a plane ticket immediately and two days later arrived in San Fernando.

The hostel I stayed at had a big dormitory with many beds. I met many travelers including Campbell. In fact, we had neighboring beds in the dormitory. He traveled alone as well and we liked each other, so we started going together to the beach, surfing and going out at night. By chance we had very similar travel plans and decided to continue our trip together.

We both like doing the same things, like surfing, diving and hiking. We left San Fernando and traveled around the Philippines together for 2 months. From there we went to Singapore. Unfortunately, I had to go back home, my 4-month holiday was over. We arranged to meet up again two months later in Nepal since we both had trekking to Everest Base Camp on our bucket list. So we did, it was our first multi-day trek together.

We met up a couple of times on the road again in different countries. After 6 months of on and off I decided to quit my job and join Campbell on his around the world adventure. Three years later we got married and decided to start a travel blog . In the last 6 years we’ve done hundreds of hikes, spent a year hitchhiking through Latin America, drove thousands of kilometers across Africa and walked seven Camino de Santiago routes.

Now I can’t imagine how my life would look like if I hadn’t gone to that place in the Philippines and had never met my husband.”

Giving is better than having

A trip to South East Asia gave Corritta’s life a whole new meaning. Possessions are overrated, true happiness comes from giving. She and her family left a comfortable life in the United States behind to fill their souls while making the world a better place. This is the tale of their journey:

“My life changing experience prompted me to sell our house, car and possessions to take off on a journey to see the world. That may seem a little extreme but let me explain. My first international trip was to Bangkok in 2018. I thought this trip would be a great way to get away from the stress in my life. It turned out to be a life altering experience that made me realize I was existing, not living. 

While in Bangkok we took a day trip to Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand and it changed my life. We learned how cruel animal tourism is and how we, as tourists, are unwitting accomplices. We support illegal pouching and animal cruelty by taking part in animal tourism. This includes taking pictures with large cats or monkeys and riding elephants. When we do these things, we are not only hurting the animals, we are ensuring things will never get better. I must admit I was never an animal lover but being up close and personal with elephants changed something within me. It made me want to give back.  

So, two years later, with my partner and our one-year old baby boy, decided to take off for a  family gap year .  We sold everything and left San Diego to live a life of service. We will use this time to give back to those less fortunate. 

When I left Thailand my definition of happiness changed. It was no longer associated with material possessions, but by the quality of life I wanted to live. I realized what truly matters is the love of your family. The Thai people with their families were happier than most Americans. So I decided to take back one of the most invaluable things in the world, time. Never forget, all the money in the world can’t buy you more time.” 

Small changes can make the world a better place

A trip to Australia developed plastic-issue awareness in Simona. Seeing how the tides brought tons of plastic to the shores made her change her approach to traveling. From carrying her own grocery bags and water bottle, little adjustments made her a much more responsible traveler. This is how her journey towards sustainability started:

“The first time ever I realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet was during a road trip in Western Australia, almost 12 years ago.

We stopped at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast to buy some groceries and the lady at the counter told us they didn’t sell any shopping bags to prevent plastic in the ocean and to help preserving the endangered turtles living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, we gathered all our shopping in our arms and left, reflecting on what we had been told.

This was just one of the many experiences I’ve lived that made me more conscious about my impact and pushed me to adopt various habits to live and travel more sustainably. For example, after that trip, I am always carrying a cotton bag when I go shopping.

Our eco-honeymoon to Borneo was another life-changing experience that has strengthened my resolution to turn to a zero-waste lifestyle. I selected three ecotourism projects to visit. In Asia finding safe drinkable water is always a challenge, but we traveled with our water bottle, and we chose the right service providers engaged in sustainable travel so, with a little effort, we managed to avoid almost entirely the use of plastic during our trip.

However, we were seriously struck by our stay on Libaran Island, where a sustainable and turtle conservation project was launched 10 years ago. Despite the big efforts carried out by the project and the community in cleaning up the beaches and creatively re-use plastic, the shore is washed daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides. Walking on a carpet of plastic that almost prevented us from seeing the beach underneath was quite shocking.

Facing this global issue in person, raised in me a contrasting feeling of sadness and anger that soon turned into determination: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in our life. Sometimes we may feel helpless in front of big problems, but we should be aware that small changes can actually make a difference!”

• The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Travel
• Sustainable Travel Photography
• Eco-friendly hiking: sustainable tips and packing guide
• Plant-based diet & Sustainability

Discovering happiness in simplicity

When her career and personal relations were failing, Soujanya decided to retreat to the mountains. The Himalayas were the perfect setting to get away from everything and regain perspective. In a small village she discovered that technology is overrated, and that what counts are real connections. This is how a trip to India changed her take on life:

“Back in mid-2019 I wasn’t in a good place in life. I was getting out of a serious relationship, I was burn out at my job, I had problems within my family, and the ever-increasing sense of loneliness had thrown me into a pit of depression. During that time, I turned to the only positive thing I had going on for myself, which was travel and blogging.

After some contemplation, I decided to quit my job to travel. I had saved up enough money that would last me 8-10 months so I didn’t give it much thought because I knew it was the only thing that would keep me from tipping over the edge.

The first thing I did after leaving my job was to head to the Himalayas in India. I spent a month in the Kinnaur and Spiti valleys in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The Kinnaur district was a breath of fresh air. The snow-clad mountain range in the distance, the lush green vegetation all around, the sparse population and the friendly people spoke to my soul.

There was one village called Chitkul , which lies on the Indo-Tibet border and has no cell connectivity, that helped heal me the most. A remote village with a population of less than a thousand people and only a handful of tourists, with nothing around it for many miles.

I spent my days sitting by the river, hiking to the nearby hills and walking through meadows. Just being there surrounded by the Himalayas, without any social media due to lack of connectivity, and making real connections with other travelers and the villagers had some sort of magical effect on me. Not only I have the best travel experience of my life, but the place also healed my mind. I came back happier than ever, with a renewed spirit, ready to enjoy everything that life had to offer.”

Uncovering a braver version of yourself

We all have that one thing we’d love to do but we’re too scared to try. A trip to Thailand taught Allison that life is what we made of it. Pushing her boundaries not only allowed her to have a ton of fun, but also gave her a new path, one in which she gets to do what she loves. This is her story, an encouragement for you to get out of you comfort zone too:

“Shortly after I graduated from college, I moved to a new state to start a full-time job. One day at work, I found myself wanting to go traveling. As I didn’t have any friends there, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to go on my first ever solo trip. So I quickly started doing research on where I’d like to go.

I had never traveled alone before, especially overseas, so I decided to sign up for a guided group that was going rock climbing in Thailand . This gave me a sense of security, being new to solo traveling. It felt like a great way to dip my toes into being alone and meeting strangers, but also doing something that sounded really fun and engaging for 2 weeks.

The entire Thailand trip forced me out of so many comfort zones that ended up being one of the big turning points of my life. The time I spent in Thailand navigating airports and taxis alone, meeting a group of complete strangers, and spending 2 weeks climbing with them in often remote parts of the country, ended up being one of the greatest experiences of my life. Up until this point I had always considered myself a ‘shy’ and ‘cautious’ kind of person, but this travel experience lit me up to become different. It showed me a brave, strong, and self-sufficient side of myself that went on to influence my life in dramatic ways when I returned home.

When I got back, I pretty much dedicated my life to spending as much time as possible outdoors whether that be climbing, hiking, or backpacking… essentially doing things that I once thought I wasn’t ‘capable of’ or was ‘too scared of’. Today, roughly 6 years later, I’m an outdoor empowerment coach and backpacking educator.

My trip to Thailand was the spark that I needed to make that change. It showed me what was possible. I don’t know if it was the people I met, the experiences I had, or the beauty of traveling in Thailand – likely a bit of all of it– but whatever it was, it changed the trajectory of my life, and I’ll forever hold Thailand (and all the people I met) in a special place in my heart.”

A leap of faith towards a new life

Getting to visit a new place after a business trip is nothing out of the ordinary. For most people. For Derek and Mike it was literally life-changing. After a quick trip to Copenhagen , they packed up and started a new chapter of their lives as expats in a different continent. This is the tale of their journey:

“In November 2016 we had a life-changing travel experience in Copenhagen, Denmark. My partner Mike was asked to make an unexpected business trip to the city to help with a project. His company had recently acquired another company in Denmark, and he was asked to help with the integration. He flew there from our hometown, Philadelphia, with only a few days’ notice, and on his first day in the office they asked if he would stay a few weeks longer. He agreed but asked for time off during the American Thanksgiving so that I could fly to Denmark and take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a cheap trip to Europe with no-cost lodging and some meals expensed.

We loved getting to check out a city that we didn’t have on our travel bucket list before this opportunity came about. We did a few tours, visited the Christmas markets and dined out. At one restaurant we got to try the Christmas traditional Danish meal . I enjoyed Copenhagen for 5 days and Mike remained there for work until the end of November.

On his last night in Denmark, he had dinner at his boss’ home. They shared a meal with a lot of wine and then Mike called me when he got back to his hotel. I could hear the excitement in his voice. He asked if I liked Copenhagen, which seemed odd because he knew I enjoyed myself when I was there. Then he asked if I liked it enough to move there, because on that final night, his boss asked if we would take an expat assignment in Denmark.

We didn’t hesitate to accept and our life abroad began almost right away. That trip to Copenhagen was certainly life-changing!”

Learning to fully appreciate what’s in front you

No matter how much you have traveled, there are places that will bring up the best of you. No matter how much there is still to see, some places will take your breath away and will forever stay in your heart. A trip to Antarctica transformed Wendy into a student. She acquired as much information as she could to fully absorb the beauty that she was about to witness. And now she is longing to go back. This is her story:

“Before my cruise from Ushuaia to Antarctica , I was already quite well-traveled. I had visited about 75 countries and seen plenty of natural beauty before. But all of that paled in comparison to the White Continent. The Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina had mesmerized me just days earlier, but now I was seeing dozens, even hundreds, of sparkling white glaciers practically everywhere I looked. These landscapes were so different from anything I’d ever seen that it felt like I’d traveled to another planet.

On the times when the weather was bad, and on the long days of crossing the Drake Passage between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica, I soaked up every bit of knowledge that I could about this snow-and-ice-covered land. Our ship, the MV Ushuaia, was manned by a full staff of scientists and lecturers who were experts in a number of relevant topics, from geology to ornithology. When we were out on the high seas with nothing to do, these experts held lectures on the flora, fauna, history and geology of Antarctica, and I attended every single one.

When we stopped at the British base at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island, I grilled the staff there with questions about how I too could go live and work on the island. And while that dream never materialized, my memories of Antarctica are still sharp in my mind 11 years later, and I still dream of returning one day.

Such an expensive voyage would normally be the trip of a lifetime, not a return destination. But if you’re willing to try your luck, sharply discounted last-minute deals can be found at the port in Ushuaia a day or two before departure. In recent years, these huge discounts have become few and far between, as most ships fill up months in advance. But still I’m thinking of a return trip to Antarctica for some more adventure!”

No matter where you go, every single place in the world has the potential to change your life! Tell me in the comments if you’ve had any life-changing travel experiences!

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16 thoughts on “Life-changing travel experience stories”

Wow this is really amazing,I pray that I will be opportuned to travel around the world one day

Sometimes we think it’s a far away dream because it’s dangerous, or expensive, or because we can’t take time from work. I’m aware that for some people it’s actually quite impossible due to their passport or the political situation in their country. For others, their responsibilities are far too great to leave behind. But for most of us, it’s just a matter of priorities. Don’t wait until you have all the money you think you need, or all the time you’d like to spend on the road. Just go! Even if it’s a weekend trip to your neighboring city, or to the countryside close to your place. You got to start somewhere, and every trip has the potential to be life-changing! Let me know how it goes! 🙂

I was looking for inspiration, and inspiration I found. I can’t travel at the moment, but I’m already thinking of how to be more sustainable on my next trip. Thank you all for sharing!

That’s amazing to hear, Dani! Welcome to the sustainable traveler’s team! 🌱

I googled inspiring travel stories to see if my day could be picked up, and I’m so glad this popped up! Lovely stories, super inspiring! I can’t wait for the pandemic to be over to create some travel stories of my own ❤️

Awww! I’m so happy to read your comment, Monty! Hopefully the pandemic will be under control soon and you’ll get to have some travel stories too. Make sure you tell me about them!

Beautiful tales! I can’t wait to start traveling again. Travel already has changed my life, but I’d be happy living through any of the wonderful experiences described here!

When you get to travel again, keep an open mind and an open heart… amazing experiences will happen! ❤️

Very inspiring stories! Thank you for sharing them!

It was a blast to write this, and collect other wonderful tales!

Love all these stories! Love how travel has shaped everyone!

In one way or another, every trip makes us a bit different. It was great to get these wonderful travelers to share their stories -now I’m sure it’s not only me who is deeply changed by travel!

These are all such inspiring stories! Really goes to show you how much travel can impact your life. Thanks for sharing!

It’s crazy how much travel can change us, and how much we can learn from it, no matter where we go!

I loved reading this! All of the stories are such an inspiration! I can’t wait to get back on the road 😍

In times of armchair travel, nothing like beautiful stories to keep the wanderlust up, right? ❤️

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77 Short Travel Stories from around the World

We love good travel stories! We want to keep it simple and to the point. Therefore, every Short Travel Story is written in less than 200 words.

Real-life Travel Stories (less than 30 seconds)

Every traveler has their own unique story he or she loves to share. It is one big, important part of the travel experience.

Whether it is a funny or special story about a hostel experience, or an interesting adventure on the road. Hostelgeeks features unique stories from backpackers and travelers from around the world.

Hardcover Books with Crazy and Fun Travel Tales

A great story belongs in a book. We had a look around and found a bunch of very fascinating travel books you will love too.

• How not to travel the world
• A Thousand New Beginnings
• Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

Especially “ How not to travel the world ” by Lauren Juliff will make you want to travel the world even more. With little to no life experience like never riding a bus or even eaten beans, she goes out to explore the world. She shares her failures, her travel mistakes of full of bad luck and near-death experiences. Lauren was scammed, assaulted, caught up in a tsunami, had the brakes of her motorbike fail.

How Not to Travel The World is about following your dreams, no matter how many curveballs life throws at you. It is about learning to get out of your comfort zone, finding the humour in messed up situations, and falling in love with life on the road.

Funny and Crazy Travel Stories

When travelling the world, you will live beautiful, weird, unique and other experiences you would not believe. Bring your own travel journal and take your notes. Get your own travel journal sketchbook and simply use an app like Polar steps. Find here our guide to best travel apps in 2024.

And now: Keep scrolling.

Read all those great stories around the world. You can instantly share them as well if you enjoy them on facebook and instagram .

Best Short Travel Stories

From hell to heli-pads.

From monkeys climbing on my head to sleeping on train floors to cocktails on top of the world… Travelling gives you the greatest opportunities and the weirdest lessons, both teach you a lot about who you are (and what you can handle). One night it’s an overnight bus with jagged metal arm rests, A/C in your face and two Asians crammed on one seat watching you sleep and the next night you’re being taken for cocktails on a helicopter pad overlooking Kuala Lumpur.

12 hours can make a big difference .

One night we were sleeping in a floating bamboo shack on the River Kwai, no electricity and completely at peace with nature – until a cockroach crawled on my face at 4am with no light available to find it, so while my buddy Hannah is screaming I’m shooting the toilets “bum gun” blindly all around the room. The next morning and we are bathing an elephant called Wandii in the river, bliss! The Thai trainer asks me, “Are you brave?” Daring me to ride Wandii (with her permission) and I decide I am brave, and I climb into the new situation as nervous and excited as the day I boarded the plane.

Take the bad with good, it pays off as memories last longer than scars.

I have been to Merlin’s Camelot – Château de Pierrefonds in France

I’m a HUGE film and TV fan! It’s why I work in the industry for goodness sake! So when I was able to visit Château de Pierrefonds  in France I was thrilled! Many of you may know it from the TV series ‘Merlin’ where it served as Camelot . Let me tell you, it is as magical as Merlin himself! I was just in awe of the castle! It’s tremendous and magnificently beautiful!

Tucked in a small town in France, it’s not a big tourist attraction so I felt as if I had the castle to myself. I’d love to go back again some day!

In a Mosque we discovered the Silence of Cairo

When I first visited Cairo with an old friend of mine, I immediately fell in love with its noise, food smells, and sense of identity. But it was almost too hectic at times, and in the afternoons when we were tired from having merchants constantly calling to us and children tugging at us , my friend and I would duck into one of the many mosques in the “City of Minarets”.

Our regular haunt was the massive al-Azhar Mosque in the center of the city. We stayed out of the way, often just sitting in the shade, journaling quietly, people-watching, or praying to ourselves. I loved that the mosque was a place where people lived their everyday lives , it didn’t feel separate from daily errands or social visits. We were welcomed in the mosque, to enjoy the peace and recharge before diving back into the city.

Read: 13 Crazy Travel Stories – when the Hostel burns down

The little Asian Spot in Orsigna, Italy – Tiziano Terzani

Tiziano Terzani was a famous Italian journalist and writer . He traveled across Asia and he witnessed important historical events like the Vietnam War and the coup d’etat organized in Cambodia by Pol Pot. Old and ill, Terzani decided to spend the last years of his life back in Italy, in the ancient town of Orsigna.

Here, in the woods, he found a big tree, decided to attach two small eyes on it and called it “ the Tree with the eyes “, in order to teach his son that the trees are alive and they have a spirit . Nowadays people come here and bring souvenirs and letters to thank Terzani for his inspiring books and teachings.

First 24h in Hanoi – an introduction to the city by English-Students

“ Are you busy? “, she asked us, and 6 more pairs of eyes were looking at us.

We arrived in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam. We just slowed down from our first wander around the old town of iconic Hanoi. We got a first glance of the city, and tested the waters for buying a motorbike in Hanoi. After all, this is the plan: getting two motorbikes and drive them from the North to the South of Vietnam.

We just bought a soft drink, and sat down at the famous Hoàn Kiếm Lake, when these 7 young Vietnamese approached us.

“ Are you busy? “, she asked. “ Well… “, we replied only hesitantly, looking into the excited eyes of young men and women.

“We are students, and we want to talk with you. In English. We are looking for foreigners we can talk to.”

“ oh, yes, sure “, we replied. They sat down next to us, and we started to chat about so many topics. Hanoi, food, our heritage, their heritage, their language school, motorbikes, and they even shared the legend of the Hoàn Kiếm Lake.

Our travel tips Vietnam here: 27 Best Things to do in Vietnam – including motorbikes, tractors and monkeys

I found my favorite Café in Barcelona – thanks to a book!

I dislike entering bookshops . Every time I walk into a bookshop, I will end up buying one.

I entered an international bookshop in Eixample, Barcelona, while looking for some cool things to do in Barcelona . And as expected, a book named “ The dead alleys of Barcelona ” got my attention, a crime novel. Long story short: I bought it, went home, and started reading.

In this book, the author Stefanie Kremser talks about a special part of El Born, downtown Barcelona. She describes this magical square, this narrow street the main character lived in.

I didn’t know this exact street, and I was curious. I went downtown, wandered around the square and saw this café with the few tables on the terrace. Until today, 7 years later, it is still my favorite café in Barcelona – thanks to this book!

This Short Travel Story was written by Matt, the guy behind Hostelgeeks. Here at Hostelgeeks we award and collect 5 Star Hostels around the world.

Fancy more coffee?

Find the 13 best coffee shops in Barcelona here.

Barcelona is our home. You can find our best-kept secret tips for Barcelona as well as 23 fun things to do . It also includes our favorite Café in Barcelona.

We also compare the 7 top bike tours of Barcelona .

The very last moment changed my Impression of Saigon, Vietnam

The city of Saigon, Vietnam was tiring to all five senses, and I was looking forward to an escape.

With a few hours to kill before our overnight bus, my friend and I wandered the streets in search of food. It wasn’t long before we were approached by two young, fresh-faces students who wanted to practice their English.

Suddenly enthusiastic Vietnamese surrounded us and the next two hours flew by so fast that we almost missed our bus. Our exchange may have been brief, but I walked away with a brand-new outlook on the city – I hope they can say the same about the UK.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame for Two

My daughter and I spent a week in Paris together with my cousin and a work friend. We splurged on an evening boat ride on the Seine to celebrate my cousin’s birthday, we shopped, we walked, we ate croissants, and I took photo after photo of the City of Light.

On our last day, my daughter and I woke up just before dawn, so I could photograph the sunrise at the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It is absolutely my favorite spot in Paris. We arrived at 7:00 a.m. just as a janitor stepped outside the massive front door to smoke a cigarette. We chatted briefly with him, and then he just stepped aside and asked if we wanted to go in.

The church was completely empty except for a lone woman on the altar with a carpet sweeper. I was so awestruck that I forget to take out my camera.

Heading to the French capital? You can find +24 fun things to do in Paris , collected by us. Rollerblading, boat party, and pizza picnic – enjoy! Also, make sure you enjoy one of the 3 best hostels in Paris .

Fat-Bike with Ninja – my 3h Stars Tour in the Italian Alta Badia

Spending an entire winter in the mountains has its perks; an invitation to fat-bike through the snow being one of them. Ninja, as he is known, is notorious in the Italian Alta Badia region for his outdoor skills.

During our 3hr Stars Tour, my friend and I experienced cycling on a frozen lake, holding on for dear life as we sped down a piste and learned what it takes to control wheels as thick as tree trunks. After cycling home in the thick, falling snow, we smiled and huddled up with a hot chocolate to toast our unique, thrilling experience.

Read: Short Adventure Stories from around the World – Machu Picchu to Sandboarding

Our morning traffic was a herd of goats – Rural Petrich in Bulgaria

Having spent 6 weeks in the small village in Petrich, Bulgaria , I must say that it was the biggest cultural shock I have had to date. We went there (11 other students and I) as part of our university course, with the aim to create a geological map for our dissertations.

We were staying with a Bulgarian family, who didn’t know any English. Hence, the past few weeks before our departure was spent learning the Bulgarian language. The Bulgarian community in Petrich were lovely, and we were warmly welcomed upon arrival. One lady came up to us and hugged us all , which was a bit of a relief as we all felt a little nervous.

A humble, old, Bulgarian lady who we called ‘Baba’ (Bulgarian for Grandma), cooked our meals, 3 times a day for 6 weeks . We were shocked, to begin with, to learn that her house was made from chipboard, only had two small rooms, and she cooked from her stove located in her bedroom. Amazingly, she produced lavish 3-course meals for dinner and we were always full!

After a few weeks, we all felt really settled; we were used to the morning traffic – a herd of goats equipped with brass bells trotting down the road ; we had gotten used to the strong taste of the locally-made Rakia and used to the way of life in Petrich.

It was a sad day when we had to leave Petrich, but I will always remember my time fondly, with the hope of returning one day.

Freezing Christmas Sea Swim and I survived

The annual Christmas sea swim has been taking place for almost 60 years on Clacton beach, Essex, United Kingdom. The low mumble of excited folk, showing off their Santa hats whilst sipping mulled wine, increase the tension as everybody stands, half naked and raring to go.

Without much warning, hilarity sets in and the crowd go storming towards the calm sea’s chill – the low-risen sunshine flickering on the tide, screaming his invitation to jump right on in. Arms flail and cameras click; toes hit the water, and it is now or never, keep running or quit? Within what feels like seconds, it is all over.

Looking out to sea it’s hard to believe anybody had disturbed the water this morning. Except for that one head I can see still bobbing around, his body now comfortably numb; he must look back at me and my quick escape, and think by god how incredibly boring.

The Sleeping Dragon – Dalai Lama, Salzburg, and Me

I can feel the snowflakes softly falling from the sky. They land gently on the tip of my frozen nose. At the top of this mysterious peak, famously called “sleeping dragon” by the Dalai Lama, I am alone . It is just me and the mountains. Okay, that’s not exactly true. It’s just me and a dozen yapping crows soaring through the mist. Up here on Untersberg, as I look down at Salzburg below, I know that it’s me against the world .

That it’s just me and the silence that threatens to engulf me whole.

Getting Lost on Purpose in Tokyo – Discover Hidden Tokyo

When we headed over to Japan, we wanted to totally immerse ourselves in this wonderful country we had traveled half the world to experience.

With awe and wonder, we decided instead of being intimidated by the complexity and challenges of this new land, that we would embrace its exhilaration.

We set off to wander, with no particular destination in mind other than exploration.

To see the details, to come across the unexpected and to embrace the idea of being totally lost and the thrill of expectation.

Getting lost is part of the adventure, it is when the city takes you on a journey where you are never sure of what you might find or where you may end up.

We wandered the winding streets, jungle crows cawing from the tangled wires above. This was a Tokyo we hadn’t expected and loved discovering.

Little electric cars buzzed around us at the beat of a monk’s drum, and the smell of incense filled the air. Amidst the glowing signs and the melody of sounds, we found the wonderful hidden world of a tiny, ancient Shinto shrine.

We watched as locals came and went, wafting themselves with the sweet smelling smoke, washing their hands and clapping before bowing in the ornate temple.

We took our own turn to pay our respects, writing out our own “Ema” plaque and sending our wishes for continued travels and peaceful wanderings up to the “Kami”.

Furthermore, we discovered the quiet passion of Tokyo beyond the technology and modern metropolis, we sat and learned the ways of a new culture and shared someone else’s daily routine with wonderment and appreciation after stepping out of the safety net of certainty.

Traveling to Tokyo? Check out 3 best hostels in Tokyo .

Cycling to a hidden Waterfall in Baños, Ecuador

It was a glorious afternoon in Baños, Ecuador, so we decided to rent bikes to cycle to a waterfall. We headed out of town and turned off the main road onto an impossibly steep track, following signs to “la cascada” (the waterfall). We pedaled past tiny houses with children playing on the front steps. Furthermore, we heard the thundering sound of water falling down a sheer drop, and a beautiful waterfall cutting through the thick vegetation came into view.

We hid our bikes in some bushes, took off our shoes and climbed as far as we could up the rocks at the side of the waterfall . I love getting off the beaten path, and the views across the valley in the bright evening sun were breathtaking.

Read: best hostels in Baños

Rishikesh, India – meat, eggs and alcohol are forbidden

Located at the foot of the Himalayas, crossed by the river of the Ganges, Rishikesh is an important pilgrimage city. From here the Ganges heads to the Himalayas, and from here pilgrims start their voyage to the holy places in Garhwal Mountains – like we did on our trip “ On foot to India” ( originally in German: Zu Fuß nach Indien ).

Like in many sacred places in India, meat, eggs and alcohol are forbidden in Rishikesh – an absolute dream destination for vegetarians and vegans.

Lakshmana, this lion among men, one of three brothers of Rama, whose deeds are written down in the epic Ramayana, once crossed the Ganges here in Rishikesh by just using a rope made of jute. At this point they built the bridge called Lakshman Jhula.

Not far from this bridge, one morning we sat down at the rooftop of a temple to eat some delicious fruits while enjoying the beautiful view to the Ganges.

Spontaneously, some gray languor joined us for breakfast, and we decided to share our food with some more primates.

We wrote up a big new guide to the best hostels in Rishikesh .

Trying Aperol Spritz for the first time in Venice, city of Refuge

This short travel story is an excerpt from the new novel Exquisite Hours by Joshua Humphreys. Set in New York, Bangladesh, Bangkok, Venice, London, and Vietnam, Exquisite Hours is the story of Anaïs Spencer, a beautiful young woman who travels the world lying to men.

‘What brings you to Venice, then?’

‘I, Octavian, have always felt that I would end up here. And somehow I have, ended up here. ’

‘Is this the end?’

‘Do you think it is?’

‘How should I know? Taste that.’

She pushed the skewer back with her finger and drank. ‘That’s amazing.’ Astonished, she broke into a smile. Then she moaned with pleasure. ‘That…’ she sipped again. ‘Oh. … It tastes like sunshine. You could drink that all day.’

‘And so we shall,’ he assured her.

‘What’s it called?’

‘ Spritz Aperol ,’ he said with a very attractive Italian accent.

From within was brought a large plate arrayed with every deliciousness that Anaïs had yet tasted from the lagoon. ‘The fish and chips are cold,’ she said, touching them with the backs of her fingers. Then she had some. ‘ That’s amazing. It’s delicious .’

‘You just ate mermaid tail.’

She cackled and then tucked into the grilled vegetables.

‘All mermaid stories aside, you’re in Venice, why?’

‘Yes. How did you come to be sitting at Paradise Lost? ’

‘Well you walked into that gallery today didn’t you?’

‘Not today. I mean, how have you ended up here? What have you fled? All strangers who come to Venice have fled something . The city was founded by refugees. You’ve fled something, no? Was your heart broken, Anaïs? Declare everything.’

When heading to Venice, make sure you take a look at our tips to discover the hidden Venice . Does it still exist? Yes, and we will help you find your own piece of Venice.

Here is our guide to eat on a budget in Venice .

It covers 22 restaurants to eat like a king without paying a million euros.

In The Footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi and Napoleon

They say that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

When you walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain, the journey begins with a day-long hike through the Pyrenees, starting in France, ending hours later in Spain. Most pilgrims continue to Santiago de Compostela, another 790 km away.

My son and I wanted to be like most pilgrims, even though our plan was just to walk for another two days, ending in Pamplona. We climbed high into the mountains and came down through a thick forest, arriving late afternoon. But my feet were covered in blisters, and I was sunburned to a crisp . We hailed a cab to Pamplona.

Even though we didn’t keep walking, for the rest of my life I can tell people about the day I walked through the Pyrenees with my son: in the footsteps of Charlemagne, St. Francis of Assisi, and Napoleon.

Are there wolves in Umbria? Nicola did not reply

“ Are there wolves in Umbria? ” Just silence from Nicola while the howling was still coming from the valley. We were alone, sleeping in a tiny tent in the wood along Spoleto – Norcia, Italy abandoned railway. We had been too adventurous, cycling along the hills and camping in this isolated spot. Maybe we (and by we I mean Nicola) could have learned how to light a fire to protect from the animals; maybe we were going to be attacked by a pack of wolves.

“ Nicola ?” He quietly answered, “ A few ”. Wolves sounded far from us , but I felt frightened and could not sleep for hours.

Howling stopped only before dawn when hunters started to shoot in the valley. Waking up, we smiled as we felt like little red riding hood saved by the hunter.

10 Hours of Big Boys fighting – Sumo in Japan

Japan is not only the land of cherry blossoms and sushi: it has also the home of sumo, a traditional fight that resembles more to a sacred Shinto ceremony rather than to a wrestling sport.

We arrived in Fukuoka, Japan during the November tournament and bought a ticket to see some Sumo fights. We ended up spending a full day at the stadium and over 10 hours watching big boys practicing ancient ritual gestures and fighting against each other to be the last one standing on the Dohyo (Dohyo is the ring in which sumo wrestling bouts are hel d).

When you see them on the ring they look so cold and powerful , but if you meet them in the corridors or outside the stadium, you’ll be impressed by their humble and sweet smile more than by their physical stature.

This is exactly the way Japan looks like: strong, fierce, noble but also kind, gentle and with an unbreakable inner strength .

Travel Memories as a Child vs. Adult – different world in Milan

I’ve travelled to Italy several times with my parents as a child but, until now, haven’t returned by myself. On the plane I couldn’t wait to see it all again: the old men sitting on the street, beautifully dressed ladies strolling around, laundry drying in front of the windows, gelato everywhere.

When I reached Milan, I was confused: Where were the people who had been sitting on the streets? When did the ladies stop wearing nice dresses? All these pictures in my head – I couldn’t find them.

Then, on my third day, I walked into a supermarket to buy some water. And there they were, right next to my water in the fridge: these tiny bottles of coke I’ve never seen outside of Italy .

I saw my mother standing in front of me in her bathing suite, handing me this very special treat I was only allowed to have on vacation. Colorful umbrellas on the beach right behind her, the feeling of sand stuck to my skin with layers of sunscreen.

The Italy that probably never existed the way I remembered it, a little part of it was still there, hidden in the fridge of a tiny supermarket in Milan .

Psst! Check out our 5 Star Hostel in Milan, Combo Milano .

Hitchhiking in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

No transport, no rush!

Hitchhiking: the golden answer to budget travel! It doesn’t cost a dime, plus you can meet interesting people, and get a sneak peek into their lives.

In Fuerteventura, we were hitchhiking from Lajares to the beach in El Cotillo. It’s only a 10 km ride, and hitchhiking is very common across Fuerteventura and the Canary Islands. However, it was our first time ever.

The very first cars had big yellow and white corporate stickers on them. The tourists that were driving them looked at us with big scared eyes…” No, dear tourists, we are not planning to kill you, we just want a ride. ”

After a few minutes, a beautiful camper van appeared. Anna said, “ This one would be fantastic! ” The camper stopped and gave us a lift . It was a woman from Berlin. Together with her two kids and husband, she was spending two weeks of holidays on Fuerteventura.

This beautiful old camper van had come with their apartment rental. They explored the island of Fuerteventura and even hopped over for a night to Lanzarote.

It’s an old saying, you always meet twice in life. The next day we ran into each other on the beach in El Cotillo . This is when we took this photo of her beautiful automobile.

Meeting a new friend while Hitchhiking in New Zealand

Our first attempt at hitchhiking was from the suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand, into the city . Almost immediately, a car pulled over to pick us up and as we climbed in, full of elation, we met our (Saint) Helen; who insisted on driving us ALL the way to our destination. We left the car, thinking our paths would never cross again.

However, the very next day, on Christmas Eve, while enjoying our picnic of chips, guacamole and Pico de Gallo—along the Hutt River— when our Saint Helen strolled by! We eagerly invited her over to join our picnic. While talking naturally, as old friends would have, she invited us over to her friend Clive’s. Claiming she didn’t want us to be alone on Christmas. We sat in Clive’s Jacuzzi, drinking in the city view, and some wine! Helen came to our rescue a week later, letting us crash at her place before our 2am ferry to the south island, and even paid for our cab too!

Read: best hostels in New Zealand  

The power of spontaneity – College, friendship, and travel!

I live in Fullerton, California and attend CSUF with my friends. None of us knew each other before coming to college, but we were all brought together by sheer luck. Our friendships have blossomed, and  we have been on so many adventures together throughout the first semester of school. It was sad to be heading home for winter break, but when we returned to school it felt too good to be reunited!

Our first weekend back, we decided to take a trip to Santa Monica, which is about an hour away from Fullerton (depending on traffic). We found a parking spot, and strolled to the pier to find florescent lights and ocean smells . I am a videographer, so naturally I filmed some of the fun moments with my friends and later turned it into this video.

We had dinner at Urth Café, and took pictures at sunset with the beach in the background.

This night of spontaneity is now one of my favorite memories with the girls, and I will cherish it always.

To Lauren, Lindsey, Jessica, and Naomi – You have made my freshman year so unforgettable, and I cannot wait for the adventures and great times to come. Love Always, Nevada

We smiled and laughed with Children in Zimbabwe

Walking 1 mile down a straight dirt road in the blistering 40 degree heat would usually cause most people to grunt, especially when it had to me, trudged twice a day. But not here; not in Zimbabwe. Instead of a monotonous route where you’d expect to walk head down, hands in pockets, primary school children brought color to the picture.

Sure, they were cheeky asking for sweets and stroking my freckled skin , but all they wanted was interaction.

Each day we’d bring something new to entertain and by far the simple game of passing a rugby ball between them was the favorite – generating smiles so big, their faces could barely contain them.

A clean beach is a good beach – Nyang-Nyang Beach in Uluwatu, Bali

“ Can I take a photo ?”, I asked the street beach vendor.

“ How much do you pay me? “, he responded, smiling friendly, his white teeth showing.

“ I buy cold water from you, ok? ”

We hiked down the rocky trail to Nyang-Nyang Beach, near Uluwatu in South Bali. Only experienced surfer come here to enjoy the thrill of a wave ride.

Here, at the beach with the colorful name of Nyang-Nyang Uluwatu, we met Bagus. Since a couple of years now, he comes to the beach to sell cold drinks and snacks. The surfers trust him, leaving their belongings with him while catching waves.

We are not experienced surfers, but experienced beach-goers. So, we sit down and watch the surfers doing their job. Bagus constantly picks up the trash at the beach. Once he’s bored, he sits next to us and starts chatting.

“ I always have to clean up. Nobody else does. The trash comes from the sea, some tourists forget their trash as well. It’s annoying, but I do not want to have this beautiful beach dirty. ”

Find more than 180 Short Travel Stories with Hostelgeeks. We visited Nyang-Nyang when reviewing Bread&Jam Hostel in Kuta, Bali.

Read here our complete guide to the best hostels in Ubud .

Also, read our guide to the top hostels in Canggu with Boutique and Luxury Hostels.

Coronavirus Travel Stories from the Community – Hostels and Traveller

In March 2020 and during the ongoing crisis due to Coronavirus, we asked our community on how they were holding up.

10 Months Backpacking cut short – we will all be back

I was in the middle of a 10 month around the world journey when C*v** began to effect countries around the world. I was in Southeast Asia when the world began to find out about what now has become a travelers nightmare.

I somehow managed to get from Thailand to Vietnam to Trinidad and Tobago to Curacao to Colombia before the worldwide lock down and border closings. I was heading into month 8 of my journey before I decided to go back to the States.

I am grateful for all of the help I received in getting back home, only 1 day before the Colombian President decided to stop all entry and exit from the country. I hope to finish my journey one day but for now I am truly blessed to be back home with family. I will say that being on stay orders in my country was the best decision for me, but my hats go off to my travel friends who are sticking this out in other countries. The world is a beautiful place, can’t wait until we can explore again!

Stuck in a Hostel in Quito

I flew to Quito, Ecuador the beginning of March.

I was here for about a week before the quarantine started. I’m staying at this really nice hostel called Community Hostel , really great food and staff.

They kept up to date with cleanliness procedures, and always made activities so we wouldn’t go stir crazy.

Read : 3 best hostels in Quito including Community Hostel

Last Minute Flight from Bali to Berlin

We had to catch a last minute flight from Bali to Berlin. It was not easy, and the flight was full up to the last seat. We thought it would be half empty. The stewardess were our heroes. Although they were overworked and not as friendly as usual, you could tell they were giving their best.

The atmosphere at the airport was strange. People were nervous. Some were wearing masks although they are not sick at all. We are now home safe, happy to be back.

Trying to find a job in New Zealand – when C*v** hit

Hey fellow travellers,

I’m a young female from Czech Republic.

I came to New Zealand with Working Holiday Visa, thinking I’ll travel a little and then find a hostel job. I manage to do the first part and travel around the North island of NZ. While I was living in my van I was constantly dropping my CV’s around the country, but didn’t have any luck with finding any hostel position.

Another factor was that hostels in NZ are not a really big thing ’cause everyone travels in their vans.

Anyway, I decided to settle in one of the towns I really liked and admitted I might have to lower my expectations and find another job.

I lived in a hostel for while tried to impress few more mangers but no luck again. At that time things got really bad in Italy and people started to talk about C*v** much more.

I printed approx. 20 CV’s and dropped them personally in almost every cafe, bar, restaurant and diner in area I moved into. Luckily I found a job in a Burger diner just 2 weeks before the lock-down. I got a job, moved to a house and everything seem to be on a stable path at that moment. After a week working first cases of C*v** showed up in NZ and that was the start.

I just finished my second week of working when the PM of NZ announced that we will move to Alert 4, meaning everything apart essential businesses have to shut down. So after 2-month long hunt for a job and only 2 weeks working I was unemployed again. Luckily I had a house to stay in and amazing people around me.

NZ’s government also released a wage subsidy for those effected and that was another lucky moment that allowed me to stay in this amazing country. But the money I received barely covered my rent. SO job hunt again!

Before I came to NZ I said that I really don’t want to work in any kind of farm or orchard. Where do you think I work now? Yep the universe gave me a lesson again and here I am working as a kiwi picker.

Let me tell you it’s a hard job, I don’t like it at all, but what I realized is that I should be grateful for all of it. There’s so many people out there that have no chance of any kind of income that would do anything to accept any kind of job.

I complain, I cry but I also consider myself lucky at this stage.

Zagreb hit by Earthquake and Corona Crisis

by Swanky Mint in Zagreb

***Support your favourite hostel and plan your future trip now***

From now on you can buy a voucher in any amount you want and use it any time in the future. Depending on the amount chosen, we’ll give an extra thank you present – discount, swanky souvenir, free breakfast, free cocktails, free tour or a dinner at our restaurant. 🍹 🍕

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Contact us directly to mint[at]swanky-hostel.com with subject ‘ Voucher ‘ and we’ll send you info about the payment via email and you’ll get your voucher and our staff’s eternal gratitude 🤗

Airbnb in New Zealand

Currently working remotely in New Zealand, I’ve been moving between housesits, volunteering placements and hostels for the past 6 months. The day after the announcement of a 4-week ‘lockdown’ in NZ, I was set to head to a new Workaway to help build a winter veggie garden.

Luckily for me, I happened to be staying in a VERY posh Airbnb and the owners came round to offer my partner and I a chance to stay for a very reasonable price.

Thanks to the generosity of strangers, I now get to enjoy my own space and unlimited WiFi so that I can continue my online work. I am full of gratitude and have no doubt that this situation will bring people together rather than pull them apart.

Helping each other out – Free Self-Run Hostel in Iran

by Golnar from HI Tehran Hostel

This story is a bit different since we weren’t stuck ourselves. But we had many guests who were stuck in Iran. In Hi Tehran Hostels , we stopped accepting new guests immediately after hearing about the start of epidemic in Iran to play our part in reducing the risk for everyone.

Yet, we continued monitoring the new chaos, and acknowledged the remaining foreign travelers, who were confused and clueless about when and how they could fly out, were facing many difficulties.

Unfortunately, with the closure of borders, frequent cancellation of flights, and poor support from many embassies in Iran toward their travelers, we started to notice there were still numerous travelers in Iran who couldn’t fly back home any time soon and they were very tight on budget or out of money since they didn’t predict such a long stay.

Of course it wasn’t our job to take care of that and the related offices should’ve managed these conflicts to control the risks.

However, we decided to stand up and provide a help by offering a FREE SELF-RUN accommodation to tourists who were still in Iran with cancelled flights till they can fly home. There were of course, safety protocols which was and still is checked by health ministry that the residents should follow seriously.

Otherwise, staying with us would’ve been meaningless and not different from staying in individuals or Couchsurfing!

Hostel in Delhi, India helping out

by Aakash Ahuja

As part of the hostel community, we run Podstop Hostel in Delhi, India.

Due to the C*v** 19 situation all over the world, many travellers are either unable to go back to their respective countries or don’t want to move from their current location. We have hosted people from 18 countries since Delhi/India went into lockdown.

We’ve been accepting and inviting any and all travelers from around the world who need a friendly, safe and secure place to stay.

Following WHO guideline, we are monitoring, actively checking each of the hostel resident under supervision of trained staff. Although delhi is under complete lockdown, we are arranging for food and other supplies through our network to provide basic food for our guests. Please let us know if anyone in Delhi/surrounding reaches out to you.

We’ll be happy to accommodate. We do charge each guest just enough to cover our basic cost at this time. This means we put down our prices for accommodation by 30% and for food by 50%. Every 4night the travelers stay for free at the moment.

Flights cancelled

by anonymous

Our flight has been cancelled, no surprise there, but KIWI.com is guaranteeing a 20% refund on our flight costs. This is seriously taking advantage of the current events in 2020 and because of this paltry refund policy, we will never use the service again and will not recommend to friends.

Staff helped us out in Cartagena, Colombia

We stayed at Life is Good Hostel in Cartagena . All the staff members stand out as fantastic members of staff – my friend and I had a nightmare with trying to get back home due to coronavirus and they both went out of their way to do everything they could to help us – could not be happier with the service!

Our Scary and Risky 3-Day Journey from northern Philippines to Berlin

by DJ from Dreameurotrip

I am at a loss for words on how to describe what we are going through at this moment. We are currently on the 2nd day of our 3-day journey back to our home in Berlin. The riskiest part of our journey. We’re waiting at NAIA airport to board this rare direct repatriation flight from Manila to Frankfurt sent by the German government.

There are only 350 seats and almost 500 registered people trying to get  into the flight. We arrived at the airport at 1PM and got thrown into the middle of the chaotic crowd managed by only 1 guy from the embassy. It’s a super risky hot mess. I wanted to cry. Everything we planned to do to protect ourselves from being exposed is thrown out the window.

We were unsure if we will get in. The guy is using a “prioritization” system that is unclear. I don’t have a German passport. Even Filipinos holding German passports are asked to line up with other Filipinos. We worried that he would let my husband board the flight and ask me to stay.

After four hours of waiting surrounded by hundreds of people who act like social distancing is a foreign idea, we got in. Finally. A big sigh of relief. But super stressed with the hours of exposure we had outside.

We’ve been at the airport for almost 10 hours now, exhausted and a bit scared. We try to keep it positive. We talk about recipes we will cook and shows we will binge watch on our projector. We online grocery shop in Rewe to deliver food to our apartment in time for our arrival. This is happiness for us now.

We should be boarding soon. We can’t wait to sleep and recharge. Lord knows we need all our energy for this 14 hour flight and the 6 hour train ride to Berlin after.

Send us protection as we make our way back home. We hope you’re all healthy and safe at home.

Hang tight! We will survive this rollercoaster.

Update: We are safely in Berlin now and feel fine.

Moroccan Street seller in Granada

This was a simple dialogue with a street vendor in Granada, Spain.

“Which photo do you like? I have the most beautiful posters from all over Spain!”

“I love this one with Felicidad (Happiness). How much is one photo, though?”

“Sorry, here are the prices. The police just passed, and I had to put everything away.”

Sharing Rum with New Friends in Cuba

I tell time by looking at the sun’s position. Spanish, Italian, French, German are my mother tongues for a beautiful moment.

An island of poetry in every wave that crashes on the Melecon. Humble and proud, humid and alive. Pilgrimage of Hemingway, home of heroes, this is Cuba. Don’t hesitate to share the shade of a palm, don’t hesitate to pass around the rum with strangers – now friends. Get on the bus heading anywhere and stop where it pleases you, you will be welcomed. I came filled with stories of precaution, and left, left my heart in Cuba.

What’s not to like about Texas? I laughed

I stared out the window as the bus crossed the state that had the most pride. I tried to like Texas. Not only that, but I wanted to see why Texans were so proud of Texas. But I saw nothing but empty, parched land .

I headed to the Backpacker Hostel in Irving. I saw an overweight girl with Texas stars dangling from her ears, wearing a Texas T-shirt that clung to her spare tires.

At the hostel, I talked about it with my new friend Gabrielle, from Holland. She pointed to signs on the walls of the kitchen: “ American by birth, Texan by the grace of God ,” and “ Texas, it just feels right ,” and “ Don’t mess with Texas .” I marveled at the attitude: it just didn’t add up with what I had seen of the state.

Gabrielle said, “You have to laugh at the Texans because they take such a militaristic pride in their state.”

Stumbling across Live Piano Music in Matanzas, Cuba

There is always noise in Cuba. In the countryside cockerels crow and dogs bark, in cities drivers honk their horns and reggaeton blasts from the bicitaxis.

Strolling through the busy streets of Matanzas, I glimpsed the sparking of sun on the surface of water and I went to the bay hoping for quiet . The noise of the car engines seemed to die down as beautiful piano music drifted out of an open window . I laid on the wall, closed my eyes, basked in the afternoon sun to the wonderful sound, and said to myself again that I love this country.

The Triangle of Life, my food in Japan

Move over, Elton John! Japan just proved that life is a triangle. Anyone who has been to Japan knows how good the food is. No matter where you go. Whether it’s a Michelin restaurant, a hole in the wall place, or a convenience store, you can never go wrong with food when in the land of the rising sun.

My three weeks in Japan were packed with travelling from one city to another, which is why I was able to see 9 different places. You know those days when you just don’t have time to sit down and eat while travelling, and you pack your bag with energy bars? Well, my three weeks in Japan were all about that, and I found this great replacement to bars – these triangles shaped rice snacks stuffed with meat or fish and wrapped in seaweed.

These triangles (I still don’t know what they are called) became lifesavers; they were quick to grab, easy to eat, and filling thanks to the rice. I may have missed out on some great restaurant food, but at least these snacks kept me on my feet in what was once-in-a-lifetime-dream destinations.

Lost in Translation? Not in Japan!

We’ve all heard about the kindness of strangers, but you’ll never experience it in quite the same way anywhere in the world as you would in Japan. During my one-week stay in Tokyo, my brother and I ended up in the over-crowded Shibuya district looking for a well recommended restaurant by our friends. Now, anyone who has been to Shibuya will know that finding a specific restaurant is tougher than finding a needle in a haystack.

Needless to say, we were lost, and what’s more worrisome in Japan is that you are always worried that your request for directions from strangers will get lost in translation.

We had no choice but to stop someone, who already seemed to be in a rush. We asked him about the restaurant, and he had no idea what we were saying till we showed him the name on our phones. He had no clue where it was or how to get there. At this point, most people would apologize and walk away, but not this stranger. He started to walk around asking people about where the restaurant was; and once he figured it out, he actually walked us to it! Only in Japan do people treat tourists like guests to a home.

So don’t worry about the language barrier if in Japan – the people there know how to break those walls.

Lanquín, Guatemala: Home to the Sacred Waters of Semuc Champey

We arrived in Lanquín, Guatemala, after being packed like sardines on an 8-hour bus trip from Tikal. The scent of burnt foliage from the ubiquitous slash-and-burn stung our noses as we exited the bus onto the orange mud road that had led us into the depths of the Mayan jungle.

We’d come for Semuc Champey (Mayan for Sacred Waters). The clear, turquoise lagoon flows from an underground cave in the middle of the jungle, beckoning visitors to bathe with the fish. Colorfully-clad Maya sat at the water’s edge, observing us with reluctant fascination as we graciously explored their sacred oasis.

Find all the best hostels in Semuc Champey here.

Stealing a Shower on The Roadtrip to San Francisco

It was four in the morning, my friend and I were driving through endless towns on our way to San Francisco. We had been crashing in my car the last 3 nights and at the start of our third day of driving I had only one condition.

“ Wherever we end up tonight, it has to have showers .”

My friend had begun making phone calls that afternoon. But it was a home game in San Francisco and everything was booked solid. It looked like another night of restless sleep in the car, and even worse, no shower.

Suddenly fate intervened. We drove past a sign that read “RV Park, laundry and showers.” I didn’t hesitate. Grabbing our towels, we stole like thieves across the RV Park, giggling quietly. I took the longest shower of my life that night , terrified of being caught breaking in yet reveling in my rebellion.

100.000 Crosses at The Hill Of Crosses

Breathtaking. That’s the only word that came to my mind when standing on the hill of crosses in the middle of the Lithuanian nowhere. Wherever I looked, there were crosses tucked in the ground, on top of each other, with rosaries dangling from them in all colors. Not being religious, this place still overwhelmed me simply by the number of crosses people have brought there one by one. Tiny ones stacked on top of each other and huge ones, several meters over my head.

No one really knows who started it and why it’s there, but it keeps growing, and there must be a hundred thousands already on the hill and on the surrounding fields. And all I can really say is: Breathtaking.

Shooting Stars in Wadi Rum (pun intended)

Jordan is a strange country. There are big cities, forgotten majestic mausoleums, mountains and depressions, but most of all there are deserts. My boyfriend and I traveled around Jordan in August (not so hot as people said) and we lived for more than ten days in a Bedouin tent camp in Wadi Rum desert , southern Jordan.

We put ourselves in some awkward situation with our guest Kaled, who is quite a notable person in Bedouins village, especially struggling to eat with a single hand and annoying him with our Italian chitchat, but he was so kind not to kick our butts out of the house…

Anyway, Nicola is a photographer, and he immediately fell in love with desert starry nights and shooting stars. Kaled took him to a quiet place near the camp and, with his tripod, Kaled taught Nicola how to take unbelievable pictures of the night sky and stars . When we saw the photos, it was a blast! It felt like looking right into the universe! If you look closely, you can see that Nicola captured some shooting stars scratching the sky above the tents. Of course, we made a wish…but it’s a secret!

Welcome to Remedios, Cuba – a small Concert at a tiny Square

We trudged through the streets of sleepy Remedios*, Cuba, our rucksacks feeling heavier under the midday sun.

In search of a Casa Particular*, we stumbled onto the main plaza, where the town’s band was playing a slow march under the dappled shade of the band stand. The loud brass felt like a regal welcome, as though we were being rewarded for making it to this tiny place that tourists don’t bother with. The music was wonderful, and I smiled at the thought that some experiences cannot be planned. They just happen and you have to simply enjoy the moment.

Good to know about this Short Travel Story:

Remedios in Cuba is located in the northern east coast in the center of Cuba. This town is famous for their “parrandas”. This is Christmas festivity where – and get this – 2 different districts compete with each other showing off the best fireworks the all night long.

*Casa Particular : A Casa Particluar is the Cuban answer to a guesthouse and budget accommodation. This property is managed by a local family. Beside finding mostly private rooms, they also offer home-cooked meals, and sometimes even more like events, and tours! Staying at a Casa Particular can be easily seen as the Cuban version of AirBnb and Hostels.

We visited the old witch bath house – Miyazaki’s Animated Film

We were walking in the narrow streets of Shibu Onsen, a Japanese village in the mountains near Nagano. A lot of people going around after having thermal baths. We stopped in front of a big old hotel, with a few people taking pictures. We looked at the hotel, illuminated in the incoming night, and it was that bath house from Spirited Away anime (a famous 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film)!

Actually, in Japan it is recognized as the inspiration for Miyazaki, the director, to create the old witch bath house of the anime and you must visit it if you are a Miyazaki fan!

Here you can find the best hostels in Japan .

Losing my Shared-Taxi at the Togo-Benin border

Usually, problems crossing borders involve corrupt officials, visa troubles, or unexpected closures…

I’m not sure what the locals thought when they saw a tall hairy white man running barefoot from the border in the morning sun, with no luggage, clutching his chest pocket to ensure his passport didn’t fall out – asylum seeker or drug dealer maybe.

Truth was, I’d managed to lose my shared-taxi . I was traveling from Benin to Togo, and being a ‘foreigner’, I’d had to be stamped in/out of both countries, rather than doing as the locals do & showing ‘ID’ in the form of small-value local currency. I’d left my luggage in the taxi & jumped out at the Beninese post – but by the time I’d been processed, got my Togo visa, and crossed over, the taxi had disappeared.

I wasn’t too worried at first – I hadn’t paid him yet – but it meant I had nothing on me other than a shirt, trousers, my passport, and a small amount of money; even my sandals were in my backpack. After waiting for 15min, the border officials suggested that my taxi might be waiting at the car park some 200m up the road. Turns out, it wasn’t.

Several thoughts crossed my mind; I’d lost pretty much everything – tablet, phone, clothes, power leads, debit card – & figured I’d have to go to the British Embassy in Lomé to plead my case, then realized there wasn’t one. Was I going to be stuck in a country I was only visiting because it was ‘in the way’?

Luckily, within fifteen minutes my taxi returned – he’d been waiting for me to get through immigration, got bored, & dropped off his other passenger before coming back to find me. Crisis narrowly averted, I headed on towards Lomé.

Sunrise at Worlds Deadliest Mountain Annapurna, Nepal

Full of the crowd, waiting for that moment and then finally click after click… Yes, that was the scenario of Sarangkot in Pokhara, a most popular tourist spot to view the spectacular sunrise of the world’s deadliest mountain, Annapurna.

All are looking at the sky, it was very cold. But who cares?? I have never seen such crowd and love for the sun and the sunrise among peoples before. Nobody wanted to miss a single moment of the beautiful sunrise view and capture. I was amazed, I was blessed and I was super happy for being able to view my dream mountain sunrise for the first time in Nepal. Miss you SUNRISE!

My love to Nepal I never thought and still can’t believe what happened recently with Nepal (Earthquake 2015). This natural disaster made me speechless and decided to dedicate this story to entire Nepal and people around there. I wish to see my loving Nepal once again like before. Let’s pray for the best. – Nafisa

Speechless in Khao Sok: No WiFi, No TV, and electricity for only a few hours at night

After spending four days in the craziness of Bangkok, we set off on the very long and smelly train journey to Surat Thani, Thailand.

I was so glad to arrive in Surat.

The smell from the toilets and even though we had pull down beds, I was constantly whacking my head off the top of the bed (if anyone reading this has done the journey and they are over 6feet tall they will understand) every time the train hit a bump. And trust me there are a lot of bumps.

When the train arrives, it is not like at home.

There was no call of which stop you were arriving at. You had to do a quick run to find a worker on the train, hoping he understood what you said, grab your bag and jump off.

After a quick snack, we jumped on the minibus and headed to the National Park Khao Sok.

On arrival, we jumped into a long tail boat, within minutes of the boat setting off I was sat there in amazement.

It’s not often I have been left speechless, but Khao Sok had done it.

While on the way to the floating raft houses I must have taken about 50 photos.

As soon as we arrived, our bags were straight in the room and we went for a swim in the fresh lake. Going from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok to this place made you appreciate it even more: no wifi, no TV and electricity for only a few hours at night.

And the food, let’s say, the fish is very fresh. A paradise!

Find all the best hostels in Thailand here . We wrote up complete guides for

• best hostels in Bangkok
• best hostels in Phuket, South Thailand
• best hostels in Chiang Mai , North Thailand

1 1/2 Month of Travel and Work in France

I was studying abroad in Strasbourg, France and wanted to do the travel around Europe and find myself deal. While I was planning, a friend in the programme introduced me to HelpX, a network that lets you work internationally for room and board. You typically work 4 days out of the week and travel for the rest. After some searching, I decided to go for it!

For a month and a half, I worked at an organic hotel and restaurant in the tiny village of Tichville, France. Population: 10 people and hoards of ducks, chickens and cows. I worked as a waitress in the restaurant and general garden help. I picked tiny strawberries, fed chickens, made elderflower syrup, laughed with guests as they helped me with my French and had colourful conversations drinking cider and staring at the stars.

On our days off, we could go wherever. I biked to Camembert (where the cheese is from), couchsurfed in Caen, had our hosts’ friends show us the D-Day beaches and swam in the river. I just went with the flow and it worked out fabulously! Sometimes less is more.

Read : How to work and Travel with Worldpackers

Walking a Waterfall and Meeting Up with Local Students

One of the best moments of our trip to China was in Dehang, a traditional Miao Village in Hunan. There we met a Chinese couple who led us along a trail to the tallest waterfall of China, and we walked behind it: so exciting!

Back to the village, we were looking for something to eat, but nobody could speak English. Seeing us in troubles, a class of students dragged us in a traditional restaurant with them: they ordered tons of food we never could have been able to, they were so friendly, and they offered us some local rice wine as well. Definitely the best lunch of our trip!

Warned about the Children in Cambodia

Be careful and judge each situation for yourself! We were warned about the children of Cambodia asking for hugs and stealing your watch, yet we saw none of this.

The children we’ve met so far are blind to prejudice, race, gender, religion …

They simply wanted attention, and we spent afternoons in Sihanoukville, Cambodia throwing them around the ocean, chasing them up and down the beaches, we taught them card games, and they smiled proudly as they practiced their English. They had little but were content, it was beautiful to see. I don’t know what’s next, but I’m so happy living in the moment and am very lucky to meet someone new and interesting every day.

Read : the best hostels in Cambodia

The monk who didn’t want money but silence

We were visiting Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, surrounded by hundreds of pilgrims all dressed in white. Suddenly we noticed a Buddhist monk staying silently close to a Stupa : he was still, his eyes to the sacred monument in front of him, at his feet a handwritten sign:

“ Do not give me money, it’s no use for me. If you want, you can take a picture, I don’t mind. But please do not speak to me “.

We had the camera in our hands but decided to turn it off and respect this monk, his silence and his faith. His message made us think about the vacuity of our lives and the depth of the message he was trying to convey.

Read : our guide to best hostels in Sri Lanka and unique things to do

You are not a man if you haven’t been on the Great Wall

As they say in China, you’re not a man if you haven’t been on the Great Wall. In November 2011, during my honeymoon, I visited the Mutianyu site , which is 90 km from Beijing. Mutianyu is one of the best choices to see the Great Wall because it is beyond the tourist circuits, but good for everyone that would like to see the famous bastions and 22 control towers.

The part of the Great Wall in Mutianyu is 2 km long. Even if it seems to be short, it could be very difficult to climb it at all because there are a lot of steep sections. Take your time and enjoy the magnificent view (especially if you’re there very early in the morning): the Great Wall looks like a dragon hiding in the fog!

At the end of your visit, take the Toboga , a slide that runs down the mountain, to reach the end of the valley. I promise you an exciting experience!

Chasing Koalas on the Great Ocean Road

We were quietly eating breakfast in the morning sunshine at a picnic table at our Great Ocean Road campsite. We’d hired a camper van for a few days, and it had been our first night on the road.

All of a sudden, a fluffy ash-coloured koala walked across the grass in front of us without a care in the world. It was our first sighting of a wild koala, so we left our brekkie and followed the cute creature across the woods, where it decided on a new tree to climb. He loved the attention!

Free Henna Tattoos For 100 Dirham – Marrakesh Travel Tip

“ Lovely lady, let me give you a present from me to you. ”

I’ll admit, my friend and I were both skeptical as the two Moroccan women grabbed each of our hands and began painting. As I hesitated and attempted to pull away, she reassured me it was a gift. Within minutes, what was once plain, white skin had now been transformed with beautiful black swirls which supposedly resembled my name. It is not something I’d desired to get on my trip to Morocco, especially as I was starting a new job only one week later, but you can’t turn down a freebie, right?

As we began to walk away, the woman’s tone suddenly changed: “ That will be 100 dirhams! “

This Self-Educated Highway Builder in China impressed me…

While taking a 20-hour train ride on the perimeter of the Taklimakan desert in northwestern China, I had the kind of humbling, education, and above all else, wonderful encounter with a local that all travelers crave. A young Han Chinese man approached me on the train . My new friend spoke virtually no English, so I gleefully relished this chance to practice my Chinese.

Over several hours, he would tell me about how he had attended a two-year professional school to quickly find a job building highways in order to help pay for his younger sister’s school fees. She was going to start college the next year. Perhaps most remarkably, however, was the fact that this man spent hours studying every day after hard manual labor. Without batting an eye, he would quote a translated Emerson passage before asking about the literary prestige of American writers as a whole. “And what do you all learn about Russian authors?” I recall him asking at one point.

It would have been easy to rely on my preconceptions about this fairly dirty highway builder who had never been more than a couple of hundred miles from home. But this highly informed, self-educated, and admirable person prevented me from doing so, and in the course of a couple of hours showed me just how much one has to gain from traveling with an open mind, and a willingness to engage locals from all walks of life.

3 Travel Stories from the famous Camino de Santiago

What is the first thing that pops in to your mind when you hear „Santiago de Compostela“? This smallish city in the North-West of Spain, is the final destination of thousands of pilgrims every year. They walk the Camino de Santiago, the world’s most famous hike.

We, Anna&Matt from Hostelgeeks, went to Santiago de Compostela, and beforehand we were not really sure what to expect. But we knew many pilgrims will arrive at „kilometer zero“, the spot right in front of the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. The place where people from around the world will come together, to celebrate their victory with the new friends they found along the trail.

Update: Movie about Camino de Santiago

STRANGERS ON THE EARTH, a documentary film about the Camino de Santiago.

This “deeply moving” (NOW Magazine) and “marvelous” (Globe and Mail) documentary film about Europe’s most popular pilgrimage, el Camino de Santiago, debuts in the US after storming across the international festival circuit to much acclaim. A tapestry of pilgrim narratives, STRANGERS ON THE EARTH examines the inner life of the myriad intrepid wayfarers who walk the ancient path in search of meaning, notably including Cleveland Orchestra cellist Dane Johansen, who ventured to walk the 600-mile path with his instrument on his back, performing Bach for his fellow travelers along the way.

Wondering what is the Camino de Santiago? Here is an extended guide to Camino de Santiago .

We sat down at the „Plaza del Obradoiro“, watched and listened .

It is the end of October, and the weather is getting cooler.

This time of the year „only“ hundreds of Pilgrims arrive every single day to visit the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is very emotional! As we are talking with many hikers, it turns out it is not necessarily emotion brought on by religious beliefs.

Many of them teared up a little because they had succeeded in finishing a long, painful but joyful journey.

We talked to some of the pilgrims, and what we heard is inspiring and impressive .

Here we are keen to share with you three Short Travel Stories by Pilgrims from Santiago de Compostela and the Way of St. James.

Walking the Camino for the 3rd time – Alex from Montreal, Canada

3! That is the number of times Alex has done the Camino. „ Every time the path is the same, but the experience is different. “

Back in 2001 and 2009, he walked the path with a friend during summer.

This time in 2015 it has been different. Alex was not satisfied with his job in Montreal, Canada, so he quit. He needed time to slow down and to think, and before long the camino started to call.

Alex decided to go by his own, and instead of summer, it became autumn.

„When you walk, sometimes you do think a lot and sometimes you don’t think at all. Which is also a relief.“ – Alex

„ What is the difference between the other two times and now? “

„Technology! Back in 2001 internet access was very limited and every now and then you could find a computer with slow access. Nowadays it can happen that someone walking next to you calls the office giving instructions.

Also, now it is way more popular.

This time I tried to sleep in smaller towns outside the bigger towns on the trail. This way I had more time for myself. Sure there were days I joined the groups in the bigger cities, as human contact is also part of the journey.“

Changing a young life – Joao from Portugal and Holger from Germany

In front of the famous Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela we met Holger, a social pedagogue from Osnabrück in Germany.

Holger works with teenagers in the need of help due to family issues or general problems teenagers have nowadays.

The most common problem: not finding their way and place in society.

Instead of talking theory, Holger decided to take the next step. He started the initiative to walk the St. James’s Path with his teenagers . It is the perfect metaphor, and as it turns out a great way to teach teenagers valuable lessons in life.

“You have to undertake the journey on your own, nobody will walk the way for you, but many people along the way will be there to help you! You have to take different steps, face several challenges, and walk towards one big goal: Santiago de Compostela.” – Holger

One of the teenagers from Holger is Joao, 18 years old with a Portuguese heritage, speaking perfect German.

He and Holger started the Way of St. James together in Pamplona.

They hiked side-by-side for 7 days until Holger had to take a flight back to Germany, so Joao continued his journey by himself. Three weeks later Holger and two more of his teenagers took a flight back to Spain.

They walked the last part of the Camino de Santiago, and met Joao on the path.

775km later Joao stands with his certificate in front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, clearly proud and happy.

Holger tells us the story of Joao’s biggest challenge along St. James’s Path .

The day before he had to walk up a mountain with a height of 1500 meters, he came down with a serious fever.

He was feeling weak and tired but kept on walking instead of resting.

He climbed up the mountain and prayed. A fellow hiker passed by and as Joao did not look too well, he gave him some colorful pills. Joao took those pills, and feeling better he continued his hike – but not for long.

Luckily a German bus tour came his way and helped him.

They would be happy to take Joao with them in exchange for a favour: if he would talk to the bus about his experience on the Camino de Santiago.

So, what did he do?

He took the microphone, stood up in front of a big group of strangers, and started talking about his biggest adventure of his very young life.

We asked Joao about his next plan.

He wants to do Work&Travel around Australia and maybe New Zealand.

We didn’t know Joao before, but the confidence he gained from walking the Santiago de Compostela spoke through him.

Finishing High School, and then Walk – Ireland and the Netherlands

Sitting in front of the cathedral, and enjoying the sun and view to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

We talked to these two girls from Ireland and the Netherlands who have just finished the Route of Santiago de Compostela.

„We met on the Camino de Santiago.

When walking you keep meeting people along the trail, and the last steps before arriving to Santiago de Compostela we went side-by-side. Now that we have arrived, I feel both very happy and sad at the same time.“

„ Would you walk again? “

„For sure, but maybe not now. Maybe at the age of 50. It would be the most amazing thing if we could walk again with all the people we met this time.“

„ Why did you walk the Camino de Santiago? Are you religious? “

„More spiritual. I just finished High School in Ireland and I wanted to travel.

The trail is very safe for a woman traveling alone. All my friends are already working, or not up for this adventure. So I thought, why not go on my own?!“

„Same goes for me! I started with a friend who is currently in the Hostel. We finished High School in the Netherlands, and we wanted to travel before starting university.“

Summary Short Travel Stories from Santiago de Compostela:

The Plaza del Obradoiro is a very emotional spot for people around the world. You will see people crying loud, crying silently, feeling sad and happy at the same time, hugging, laughing.

Every single pilgrim has its very own story, background, motivation, but they all have something now in common: they are all unique, and have found new friends whilst walking the most famous path in the world!

Keep on walking!

Falling in Love with Paris, these moments are forever

One evening, my husband announced that we were going away the next morning. At the departure gate, people gathered for two flights: Birmingham and Paris. And then of course I knew.

We arrived in Montmartre and started exploring its cobbled streets. I looked over the Parisienne roofs, thinking about Lautrec and other artists who walked the same paths .

Around sunset, I spotted the Eiffel Tower on the horizon. The skies were cloudy and reflected the sun in shades of the palest peach and pink. I looked at the view for a long time, wanting to memorize it forever.

Heading to the French capital? You can find +24 fun things to do in Paris , collected by us. Rollerblading, boat party, and pizza picnic – enjoy!

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True travel stories set in countries throughout Europe. Discover what it’s like to travel in Europe, and if you have a story to share, you can also submit your travel writing today.

Superyachts and Sailors: The Shifting Seafaring Culture of Kotor, Montenegro

Our “On the Edges of Europe” columnist gawks at the superyachts in the ports of Montenegro, but while on a boat tour in Kotor, he realizes the historical reality of life …

Finding wisdom in the footsteps of philosophers in Athens, Greece

Amidst the grime and graffiti of present-day Athens, our ”On the Edges of Europe” columnist dusts off his philosophy degree and takes a walk to the Acropolis alongside Plato, Aristotle, …

A Refuge in Romania

While volunteering on a farm in Voivodeni, a small Transylvanian village, Jennifer Roberts encounters an opinionated manager and makes a connection with two refugees fleeing the war in neighboring Ukraine. …

Finding Home in a Bottle of Chacha

When an English teacher in Gomi, Georgia is evicted by his host family, he wanders the village streets in a daze… until comfort is offered by a kindly, heavy-drinking stranger… …

Paddling to the Dragon’s Cave in Pomos, Cyprus

Our “On the Edges of Europe” columnist sets off in a kayak off the coast of Cyprus in order to track down the ominously named Dragon’s Cave. The countless cracks of …

The Teacher of Vanadzor

On the road from Yerevan to Tbilisi, two travelers stop in the charming yet disheveled Armenian city of Vanadzor to pay a visit to a local high school gym teacher. …

Escaping to Vlieland

When people think of the Netherlands, grand, canal-strewn cities like Amsterdam and The Hague often come to mind. But for one traveler, a certain kind of solace was found in …

Cancelled — Coming to Terms With the Chaos of the British Train System

Our “On the Edges of Europe” columnist returns home to Britain, where he’s faced with the infuriating experience of catching a train, inspiring him to dig into the reasons behind …

Unintended Baggage

After being stopped by several soldiers upon entering Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, photojournalist B.A. Van Sise soon realizes that there may very well be a bomb close by. …

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Travel Stories And Guides For Independent Travelers

Ready to Wander? Where would you like to start? Search Search Or browse the site… Explore

LATEST TRAVEL STORIES AND GUIDES

Exploring the Volcanoes of Hawaii on the Big Island

On The Big Island Of Hawaii

My Amazing Encounters With Wildlife in Tikal National Park

“not all those who wander are lost.” (j.r.r.tolkien).

And those who are lost might enjoy it. They may get a thrill from being lost and from the challenge of finding their own way. This process allows them to learn about the places they wander through. It allows them to understand their history and people, their flora and fauna. The writer of the site, I am such a wanderer. I am often lost in a new place; Sometimes on purpose. While finding my way to my destination, I learn about the places I visit or stumble upon. I suppose I write primarily for wanderers like myself, who like to find their own way, who travel in search of more than typical sightseeing. I write for independent travelers who don’t need a tour for sightseeing. My ideal readers see places to visit as more than tourist destinations and want to learn about their natural, archaeological, historical, and cultural background. All my articles are based on my personal experiences of getting lost and finding new ways through places. They are also based on over thirty years of planned travels, of wandering through places I knew well and others I only heard about.

Some of my favorite places to wander through – and sometimes get lost in…

Often during our travels, we have a general itinerary. We may have a few planned destinations, but others are incidental. We may stumble upon a place that intrigues us and add it as a stop. Or, we revisit old sites when we notice something new about them. The articles below result from incidental stops along longer routes during our family travels.

Hormiguero Ruins in the jungle…

There is nothing like driving down a narrow dirt road with no signs and no other vehicles in sight to feel like you are lost in the jungle… and then you find the place you were looking for, and it exceeds your expectations…

Izamal, the Magical Yellow City of Yucatan

We also like to stop in a new city we’ve never been to, park the car, and start walking… that was the case when we visited Izamal for the first time… we wandered through the city, enjoying the feeling of “being lost” in a new place…

Just another trail on the Oregon Coast

Sometimes, we might find a trail in a new area we are visiting, and even though we never heard of it before, we just star walking on it to see where it takes us…

Encounter with the Salt River Wild Horses

We also take short drives close to home, and get on trails we find in a new area. That’s how we stumbled upon the trail along the Salt River where we saw the wild horses I heard about before.

TRAVEL STORIES

While sharing travel stories, I also offer an insight into the places I learn about…

Exploring Rio Bec with a Local Maya We Just Met

On a quest to find the ruins of Rio Bec we read about, we met a local Maya who took us on ATVs through the jungle to the ruins… besides exploring the ancient site, we also met his family and people of his village.

Hiking Canyon de Chelly with a Local Diné

Once upon a time, when we first moved to Arizona, we went on to explore the state. During our visit to Canyon de Chelly, we met a local Diné, who took us hiking into the canyon to Spider Rock, and told us stories of the land…

Stranded on the Beach: My First Day In Mexico

“Only in Mexico” is a phrase we use often when we visit one of our favorite countries. However, it doesn’t always translate to easy travels. But with the right attitude, almost any situation can turn into a fun adventure.

“Cabanas de Jaguares” – in the Lacandon Jungle

We usually travel without booking hotels in advance, and hope for the best. While at our destination, we usually find something, even if locals tell us “there is no hotel in the area. But I know of a place”… Cabanas de Jaguares was one of them

Every place has stories to tell

It’s not all about our travel stories. The places we visit have their own stories to tell, through their geology, history, myths and legends involving their creation. While traveling, either to a new place, or to well-known destinations we revisit, I try to unearth these stories, and share them in my articles.

Learn about the history, myths, legends, and geology of the places I visited

The Pyramid of the Magician: Myth and History

Read about the history and learn the legend of how the famous Pyramid of the Magician Uxmal was built in Uxmal, besides an overview of the site and tips on how to visit it.

Rupea Citadel: Myth and History of M edieval Transylvania

Though I grew up in the vicinity of this citadel, I didn’t visit it until years later. When I finally did, I felt I needed to share not only its history, but a legend of it I knew about from my childhood.

Stories of Yosemite

Did you know what the name Yosemite means? Learning about the park’s name gave me an opportunity to learn about the myths and legends of the creation of its most prominent features. I also added the science-backed stories for comparison.

Turda Gorge: Legend, History, and Geology

With its steep walls filled with caverns and a rushing stream on the bottom, Turda Gorge is one of the most dramatic landscapes in Romania. I grew up nearby, and visited often, so wanted to share its history and geology, and even a legend of its creation.

The team behind the site…

I am Emese , publisher and writer of Wanderer Writes, a US-based travel writer with bylines in publications like Lonely Planet , TravelAwaits , Roadtrippers Magazine , Matador Network , and GoNOMAD , among others. My travel companion and trip planner, my husband of over 30 years, Jeff, is the person behind the wheel and often behind the camera during our travels. Many of the trips you read about are the result of his ideas.

TRAVEL GUIDES

It may seem to go against Wanderer Writes ideas to publish travel guides. However, independent travelers could sometime use travel guides, though not in the traditional sense. Our guides offer all the information about a place, often including its stories, sometimes even tips on how to get there and where to stay once there. However, they are just general guidelines, leaving the independent traveler plenty of choices to find their own way, to enjoy the feeling of discovery.

Maya Archaeological Sites

Many of our travel guides feature Maya Archaeological Sites, since they are some of our favorite destinations we visit – and revisit – often.

A Complete Guide to Ancient Maya Archaeological Sites

This is a guide to all the Maya sites we visited over the years, besides a brief history of the Ancient Maya civilization, and stories of encounters with modern Maya people.

A Guide to Maya Ruins in Quintana Roo

This is a guide to several of the best Maya ruins in the state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Calakmul: Guide to the Ancient City

A guide to one of the largest and most important ancient Maya city from the Pre- Classic and Classic era, a city that played an important role in the history of this civilization for over twelve centuries.

Yaxchilan: Classic Maya Site

A guide to Yaxchilan, once a powerful center during the Classic period of the ancient Maya civilization, with impressive stone lintels, ornamental facades, and roof-combs that awed archaeologists for years.

National Parks in the US – and Beyond

One of humankind’s the best ideas in recent times, in our opinion, was establishing National Parks and Preserves. During our frequent visits to the National Parks, both in the US and abroad, we appreciate the preservation and protection of both stunning nature sites and ancient structures.

Guide to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim

The fist time I saw the Grand Canyon, I was in awe. I could not have imagined something so immense. Living in the Grand Canyon state for over three decades now, I revisited often; this guide is the result of all those visits.

A Guide to Mesa Verde and its Famous Cliff Dwellings

Living within driving distance from Mesa Verde, we visit the National Park often, so naturally, we learned a lot about the first National park designated to preserve “the works of men”. Here, I share some of what we learned.

Guide to Petrified Forest National Park

Petrified Forest National Park is one of my favorites in Arizona. Desolate, in the middle of nowhere, it preserves the geological vestiges of a distant past, when this desert was a lush rainforest. We visited it several times, this is what I learned about it…

Guide to the North Cascades National Park

One of our favorites, the North Cascades National Park protects one of the largest wilderness areas in the US. It represents everything I think a National Park should be: enormous pieces of untouched wilderness, with no roads through for motorized vehicles. We might not be able to see too much of it, but it’s a great feeling knowing that it’s there, pristine, without development of any kind.

Arizona and the Desert Southwest

When we first visited Arizona in 1992, we fell in love with the state. A few months later, we moved here, and haven’t left yet. We love to explore our home state, which results in many articles, travel stories, and travel guides featuring it in some way – usually its natural beauty. Here are a few favorites…

All About Arizona

Our guide to Arizona, featuring fun facts about the state, and all our articles, travel stories, and guides about different places in the state.

A Guide to Ancient Ruins in Arizona

We love exploring ancient ruins and Arizona has plenty of them, from spectacular cliff dwellings to small remains of some ancient walls. Here is a guide to a large number of them.

Best Museums in Phoenix

Arizona is not just desert and outdoors; Phoenix is also home to some world-class museums. I visited and revisited them often, with out-of-town guests, my kids, or alone. This guide reflects all I learned about them.

Guide to the National Parks and Monuments of Arizona

Here is a guide to the National Parks and Monuments in the state, reflecting years of exploring them in all seasons. Known as the Grand Canyon State, Arizona is home to 24 National Park units; this guide include most of them.

Everything published on this site is based on the writer’s personal experiences. I do not publish any AI generated content, or anything written about a place the author did not visit personally. You will also find the date of each piece published, (either the original published date, or a new one, if I felt the need to update), so you always know if the information is up-to-date. However, many of the pieces published here are travel stories, and include history, myths, and legends of the places visited, which means their publish dates are irrelevant.

Welcome to Wanderer Writes! Hope you find something of interest here.

I recently launched a newsletter, Letters from a Wanderer , on Substack. Consider signing up to get more posts and articles directly in your inbox.

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Whatever your mode of travel, tell your story to your audience with our award-winning technology.

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Keyboard_arrow_down, explore the places you travel and want to travel., free gps self-guided audio tours - for travelers and virtual travelers, build tours to reach new audiences, interested in building a tour of your location our team is here to answer your questions.

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Every Place Has A Story To Tell. Expand Your Audiences Even During COVID-19 - TravelStorys high quality tours can be built and enjoyed onsite and remotely, especially designed to enjoy from anywhere.

Find A Tour Near You. Drive, walk, bike or paddle along a tour route at your own pace. Stories about where you are — the history, wildlife, culture, and more — will automatically play as you go.

Hands-Free. Heads Up. Start a tour and let our technology do the rest. Less like an app and more like a private tour guide, TravelStorys works offline and inside a pocket. Download a tour, hit the play button, and focus on your surroundings instead of your device.

Featured tours, check out our newest tours, piermont on the hudson, the history, the river, the village, welcome to arco, idaho, first in the world, explore kirksville, a historic downtown & more.

Explore the early beginnings of the vibrant village of Piermont. Learn about its connection to the Hudson River, its role in the American Revolution, its industrial past and its commercial significance to the country.

Welcome to Arco, Idaho! Arco is a place of transition, where the desert plain meets the mountains, blue streams disappear into black lava, and the urban of Idaho gives way to the wilds of Idaho.

Welcome to this walking tour of Kirksville, Missouri! This tour will take you to Kirksville’s most fascinating and historically significant landmarks, while sharing the stories of the people who made this such an interesting city.

What Users Are Saying

“Awesome App - A must have app for anyone who enjoys learning more about the area they are in. While being entertained by great stories and information. Great job!!!”

“Great idea! - What an innovative idea! So enjoyed my first tour (of Red Mountain Park) by using your app. I look forward to using it at other attractions in the future and have high hopes that all cities will offer this first class format to help enhance the experience of traveling.”

"We used this app in Jackson,WY and through Teton National Park. As we drove through Teton NP, we listened to the historical story of the area. It gave us so much more understanding of the area and added so much to our drive. It’s really easy to use and added so much to our trip. Would gladly use it again."

“Awesome app - This app is great when traveling around Wyoming. The stories told make you appreciate what you are driving or walking through! A must have whether you are a local interested in the history and wildlife or a tourist on the go!”

- Travelstorysgps lover!

“Excellent app! - I love this app! We used it on a recent trip through Grand Teton Park and it provided us with a depth and breadth of information (regarding the park) to which we would not otherwise have access! I look forward to seeing what other tours will be added. Great work!”

- IloveWyomingandtheTetons

“Fantastic road tripping tool! - My family used TravelStorys to plan our trip to Jackson Hole and this app was indispensable! We listened to several of their tours through the Tetons and absolutely loved it. The app spoke to us while driving, so we didn’t have to look at the phone once!”

“Great app for traveling families - When you approach a destination, the app will automatically start, you don’t need to do anything but listen. If you don’t want the audio, you can read the text. There are also great photos for each section. The stories are quirky and fun and both kids and adults will find them interesting.”

- onealmond.com

“Great app with great potential - I can’t wait until there are even more stories! Great idea.”

“Great App. A must have for self guided, easy to use interface!”

“What fun - Turns a normal drive into a fascinating history lesson”

“Fun tour app! - Learned so much without hassle!”

“Sooooo cool!! This is the best app I've ever used. If your traveling to new places use this app to learn the history! Couldn't live without it!”

- Ray Kennedy

“Eye opener My family and I have traveled to Wyoming many times but we always seemed to visit the same old places again and again. However this app allows me to check out new places I've never even considered before. I guess there is a lot more to the state than Yellowstone. Can't wait to plan new adventures.”

“Indispensable! Used this app to plan and then tour the Tetons and surrounding areas. Our whole family was entertained and we learned so much! And it's free. Thank you TravelStorys.”

“I like it, great idea! Music and Radio only lasts so long on road trips. This app is awesome because it tells you stories about what you are driving by, and gives you cool info about the area. Great idea!”

- William Davis

“Loved this! My sisters, mom, and 7-year-old niece used this app as we visited the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. It was wonderful! It really helped us feel a connection to the mountains and places we toured. I want this for everywhere I go now!”

- R. Tynker

“Love it, learn the history of where your traveling too via this awesome storytelling app. Love the vocals for the great Smoky Mountains! Grateful!”

- JillianPress

“Great! Local travel info & stories. I love this app. I learned a lot about the Jackson, Wyoming area & Grant Teton Nat’l Park. I have already recommended it to folk who connect with my own local Jackson based business, xcDogs. Everyone I speak to about it loves the idea…”

“Excellent adventure stories for the Grand Tetons”

- Rick Aune

"For new visitors paddling on a sunny day, the new TravelStorys app is an opportunity to understand the ecological and culture significance of the area. At home or in the classroom, the voice narration coupled with photos can entice and enhance the experience before a canoe even launches."

- NewJersey.com

"Great app for visitors & locals - This app rocks. Learned so much about Jackson Hole and the surrounding areas just by having my phone on me. Anyone who is adventuring in the wild Wild West should consider having this app on their phone. You’ll be surprised with how much you can learn on your trip!"

- Austin Hopkins

Neat app! Great for a frequent traveler or history buff! Very interesting stories about pikes peak! Can't wait for the Garden of the gods tour!

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Destinations

Back to the beach: a lost interview with alex garland.

Twenty years ago, Frank Bures chatted with a young Alex Garland about his travel novel, The Beach . Bures recently unearthed the interview—a time capsule from the dawn of global backpacking.

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Besides the Obvious

Besides the obvious, travel quiz – test your knowledge.

Whether you’re a seasoned globetrotter with stamps from every continent or an armchair explorer dreaming of far-off lands, there’s something here for everyone. So, grab your virtual passport, sharpen your travel trivia skills, and join us on an unforgettable adventure through the captivating realm of global exploration. With topics ranging from famous landmarks and culinary delights to natural wonders and cultural traditions, our collection offers endless opportunities to expand your horizons and discover new facets of our diverse world. So, dive in, challenge yourself, and let the journey begin!

The Ultimate Dubai Quiz

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WHERE TO NEXT?

Choosing your next travel adventure can be both exhilarating and overwhelming in a world of mesmerizing destinations. The possibilities are endless, ranging from the sun-kissed beaches of tropical paradises to the rugged terrains of remote mountain escapes. Yet, amidst this sea of options lies an opportunity for self-discovery, personal growth, and unforgettable memories. As you stand at the crossroads of wanderlust and wander ponder, let this chapter serve as your compass. By guiding you through the intricate art of selecting your next travel destination. Click on the desired continent to unveil the related countries!

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Somebody asks you to switch seats on a plane — do you have the right to refuse travel experts weigh in.

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Do passengers have a right to refuse — or are they being just plain switcher-rude?

As myriad past incidents have proven, swapping seats has become a contentious travel issue , with armchair experts flocking to each side of the aisle .

Fortunately, bonafide travel gurus have cleared the air on what passengers should do when propositioned with a seating shakeup in the sky.

Their general consensus? It should be left up to the passenger getting asked.

“I you’re asking someone to do a swap for a lesser seat in their eyes, the other passenger is completely entitled to say ‘no,'” Jessica Dante, a travel influencer and the founder of the travel guide Love and London, told Business Insider.

“The passenger being asked should assess the situation, ask what the reason for the request is, and have a look at the swapped seat. If the swap means a less comfortable seat for you, it’s perfectly OK to say no,” she said.

In likely one of the worst trade proposals to date, a woman allegedly asked a fellow business class passenger to swap seats with her husband — who was assigned to economy class.

Dante suggested that it pays to be polite but firm in one’s response, adding that they should enlist the flight attendant should things get testy. Meanwhile, fellow flight aficionado Ally Gibson, who founded the travel blog Ally Travels, claims she even advises the aspiring switcher to ask the flight crew for help.

However, Gibson expressed little sympathy for those in a situation where they need to swap, which she feels is most commonly attributable to poor foresight on the requester’s part.

“It’s frustrating paying extra to sit in a certain seat, only to be moved at the last minute because of other’s terrible planning,” she declared. “It’s something that both the passengers needing changes and airlines need to do better at.”

California author and etiquette expert Rosalinda Randall dubbed seat swapping quite the on-the-fly demand : “Compelling someone to make a decision on the spot, without a lot of information or time to inquire, sounds impolite and a bit unreasonable.”

However, contrary to popular belief, getting separated from loved ones isn’t always the prospective swapper’s fault — it could be due to a force majeure.

Carrie Bradley, a former flight attendant and author of the travel blog Flying With A Baby, explained that cancellations and booking glitches and result in families getting scattered about the plane.

“There are all kinds of travel quandaries, ranging from missed connections to equipment swaps, or late-minute bookings due to personal emergencies, that even the savviest traveler can find themselves in a bind,” according to The Points Guy , a popular travel blog. “While your instinct may be a hard and fast ‘no’ to trading seats when asked, it’s still important to consider and empathize with any request.”

Meanwhile, Dante observed that there also other legitimate reasons people propose sweat switches, ranging from disability to fear of flying and helping someone who’s traveling with small children.

No matter what the reason, passengers can maximize their chances of landing a swap by offering an equivalent or perhaps even more appealing trade .

This means potentially losing an aisle seat, but gaining some legroom in a bulkhead chair or swapping a window seat next to the lavatory “for a middle seat at the front of the main cabin,” per TPG.

That being said, they should always be prepared to get rejected, even if the requestee is seated in middle seat of the last row and the trade proposer is in Emirates first class.

“No one has the obligation to switch their seat, nor explain why they won’t switch,” declared Randall. “And the person making the request has no right to expect, or get angry, when they don’t get their way.”

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Singapore Airlines offers at least $10K for passengers injured in turbulence

More than 25 passengers suffered spine and brain injuries when their May flight hit severe turbulence.

Singapore Airlines said Monday that it is offering between $10,000 and $25,000 in compensation to passengers who were injured on a flight from London to Singapore that hit severe turbulence in May.

Singapore Airlines Flight 321 was traveling over Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Basin when the plane plummeted about 178 feet in 4.6 seconds, creating 1.5 G-forces and throwing passengers and crew to the ceiling, according to a Transport Safety Investigation Bureau of Singapore (TSIB) preliminary report .

One 73-year-old passenger died of a suspected heart attack. According to a hospital in Bangkok, where the plane made an emergency landing, 22 people were in intensive care with spine or spinal cord injuries, and another six had brain and skull injuries. There were 211 passengers and 18 crew members onboard.

An Australian passenger, Kerry Jordan, told an Adelaide newspaper that she was paralyzed as a result of her injuries.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Singapore Airlines said passengers with severe injuries were offered an advance payment of $25,000 and invited to “discuss a compensation offer to meet each of their specific circumstances” directly with the airline. The $25,000 would be considered part of the “final compensation” they receive.

Passengers with “minor injuries” were offered $10,000, Singapore Airlines said. It did not specify what it views as minor.

The airline said it provided all passengers on Flight 321 with $739 (1,000 Singapore dollars) to meet immediate expenses upon leaving Bangkok, and every passenger on the flight will get a full refund if they have not already.

Passengers who are eligible could receive European trip delay compensation worth more than $600.

“We are very sorry for the traumatic experience that everyone onboard SQ321 went through,” Goh Choon Phong, the CEO of Singapore Airlines, said in a video message shortly after the incident. “Our priority is to render all possible assistance to all passengers and crew members.”

Paul Hudson, the president of the nonprofit FlyersRights, said in a statement he believes this is an attempt by the airline to avoid any litigation. Singapore Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for information about conditions for passenger compensation.

“This offer accordingly can be viewed as a first offer and should in our view not be accepted unless it does not require a waiver of additional liability,” Hudson said.

An international agreement, the Montreal Convention , sets the maximum compensation in the case of injury or death onboard an international flight at about $170,000. An airline does not admit fault when making payments up to that amount. Travelers can sue for additional damages but must prove that the airline was negligent.

Ladd Sanger, a managing partner at the Texas law firm Slack Davis Sanger who has worked on multiple airline incident cases, said the compensation for uninjured passengers was “pretty good.”

He estimated that the offer was worth several thousand dollars to uninjured travelers — including refunds for airfare and any compensation for delays — and significantly more to those who were injured. For passengers who did not suffer injuries, Sanger said the compensation alone was probably more than what they could expect from a lawsuit after legal fees.

“In general, that’s not a bad offer,” said Sanger, comparing it with those made by U.S. carriers previously. Sanger did recommend that Singapore Airlines passengers who were seriously injured seek legal support.

Alaska Airlines offered passengers onboard Flight 1282 $1,500 in compensation , as well as mental health services, after a door plug broke off the Boeing 737 Max 9 plane shortly after takeoff from Portland, Ore., in January.

Several lawsuits have been filed against Alaska and Boeing in the Flight 1282 case.

Some passengers aboard Singapore Airlines Flight 321 have hired the Australian firm Carter Capner Law to investigate possible negligence on the part of the airline.

More on air travel

Leave flying to the pros: Think you could land a plane in an emergency? Experts say you’re wrong . Here’s what you should actually do if something goes awry during a flight .

Pet peeves: Why do “gate lice” line up early for a flight ? Psychologists explained for us. Another move that annoys airline workers: abusing the flight attendant call button . For more on how to behave on a flight, check out our 52 definitive rules of flying .

Plane mess: Stories about extremely disgusting airplanes have been grossing out travelers. The question of plane cleanups became the subject of a recent debate after a flight attendant allegedly told a pregnant passenger to pick up the popcorn spilled by her toddler.

Frequent flying: Airline status isn’t what it used to be, but at least there are some good movies and TV shows to watch in the air. And somewhere out there, experts are trying to make airline food taste good.

Tell us: What’s your favorite L.A. campground?

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In late November, I prepared myself for one of the most common pastimes of any nature-loving Californian.

I got up early and trekked a dozen steps over to my laptop, where I quickly logged onto Recreation.gov to secure a campsite near Yosemite National Park — for Memorial Day weekend. It’s the kind of vacation that requires you to book it six months in advance, when coveted camping spots become available.

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May 30, 2024

This is the reality of camping in beautiful California. It requires intense planning, often far in advance.

Luckily for those of us in L.A. County, many of the campgrounds in Angeles National Forest are first-come, first-served. That means that if you hop in your car on a Friday afternoon with your cooler, tent and camping gear, there’s probably an empty campsite waiting for you.

I recently featured nine of about 30 such campgrounds we have to choose from in L.A. County. I’d love to hear about your favorite spot. Maybe I included it in my list. Maybe you’re thankful I didn’t. Maybe, just maybe, you’re willing to share in the form below.

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Storms Snarl Memorial Day Travel After at Least 23 Killed

The weather disrupted flights at airports from Atlanta to Boston on Monday after powerful winds and rain battered towns across the South over the weekend.

Severe Storms and Tornadoes Cause Destruction in Several States

Severe weather hit several parts of the united states over the weekend, killing more than 20 people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power..

[NO SPEECH]

By Katie Benner and Ernesto Londoño

Follow our updated coverage of Tuesday’s severe weather here .

Severe weather stretching across the Midwest and East Coast on Monday disrupted plans for millions of Americans trying to make it home after a busy weekend that was expected to break records for Memorial Day travel. The disruptions followed storms and tornadoes that killed at least 23 people in the South and left hundreds of thousands without power.

Flights at airports from Atlanta to Boston experienced ground delays and stops as severe weather, including heavy rain and potentially damaging wind and hail, moved into much of the Eastern United States on Monday afternoon and evening.

Parts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were under severe storm watches through late Monday, and a tornado watch was issued for an area from northern Maryland through eastern North Carolina, including Washington, D.C. Heat and more thunderstorms were forecast for Texas and the Southern Plains on Tuesday, including possible hail and strong winds.

Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said that they had worked with the airlines to plan for the expected weather disruptions over the Memorial Day weekend. On Friday, 2.9 million people were screened at U.S. airports , the Transportation Security Administration said — a single-day record.

By midday on Monday, La Guardia Airport in New York City had reported average ground delays of 100 minutes. Flights were also delayed at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest in the world. And ground stops and major delays were reported or expected at airports in Chicago, Virginia, Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and Cleveland because of the storms, according to the F.A.A.

In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency on Monday morning after four people were killed over the weekend. On Monday afternoon, Gov. Beshear announced a fifth storm-related death in the state, a person who died from a heart attack while cutting fallen trees. More than 150,000 customers in the state were without power at midday after damaging winds.

Elsewhere, a tornado left at least seven people dead in North Texas, including two children ages 2 and 5. Eight people were killed in Arkansas, and two died in Oklahoma as severe storms swept through the region, flattening hundreds of buildings and blowing away homes. And severe thunderstorms in Virginia resulted in at least one fatality, officials said.

Share of customers without power

Thousands of others in the South and the Midwest were without power on Monday, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us .

Later on Monday, severe thunderstorms were expected from Texas to New York, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said . Flash flooding was possible from Maryland to the Catskill Mountains in New York, the Weather Service said , and tornadoes were possible in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Forecast risk of severe storms for Monday

The system was the latest to pummel the region over the past few days. Five people were killed and part of a city was obliterated in Iowa last week after a powerful tornado hit.

President Biden issued a statement of condolence to those affected by the storms, and he thanked emergency responders for their work.

“Jill and I are praying for those who tragically lost their lives as a result of devastating tornadoes that tore through Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma, leveling entire communities and leaving a path of destruction in their wake,” Mr. Biden said.

Mr. Biden said that the federal government was “ready to provide support as needed.” He noted that the Memorial Day holiday storms came just weeks after counties in the Midwest and South were recovering from severe weather.

On Sunday, severe thunderstorms in Howell County, Mo., produced hail the size of baseballs and tornadoes that downed trees and damaged homes near the town of Mountain View, said Kelsey Angle, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Springfield.

In Kentucky, Governor Beshear deployed the National Guard to help state forestry workers clear downed trees and dangerous debris. He activated the state’s price-gouging statute to prevent price increases on necessary supplies, and said he believed that the state would qualify for public assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Emergency workers have reported high water, fallen trees and other dangerous conditions in about a third of Kentucky’s 120 counties, mostly in the western part of the state, Jim Gray, the Kentucky transportation secretary, said at a news conference. The storms also impacted nearly 100 state highways.

In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott s igned a severe weather disaster declaration that covered 106 counties. Officials estimate that nearly 100 people were injured over the weekend, more than 200 homes were destroyed and over 220 buildings were damaged.

Johnny Diaz and Mike Ives contributed reporting.

Katie Benner is a correspondent writing primarily about large institutions that shape American life. More about Katie Benner

Ernesto Londoño is a Times reporter based in Minnesota, covering news in the Midwest and drug use and counternarcotics policy. More about Ernesto Londoño

Should I book a cruise online? Here's what to know.

• Travelers can book cruises online through the cruise line or third-party sites.
• Booking online offers convenience, but there can be some drawbacks.
• Travelers who need help with their booking may have to contact the cruise line or third-party site.

Travelers can buy almost anything they need for a cruise online, from flip-flops to sunscreen to the trip itself.

Many travelers book cruises through travel agents, but that’s not necessarily the right move for everyone. “Some people don't want to deal with people,” said Joanna Kuther, a New York City-based travel agent and owner of Port Side Travel Consultants. “They want to go online. They don't want to have one conversation.”

But with seemingly endless search results and websites vying for prospective guests’ attention in ads, the experience can be overwhelming. And while booking online offers convenience, there can be some drawbacks. 

What are the best websites to book a cruise online?

When booking online, Kuther recommended going directly through the cruise line – if you know which one you want to sail with.

Travelers can easily browse itineraries, the line’s ships and their layouts, and other add-ons and promotions offered. If customers reserve other aspects of their trip, like flights, directly through the line, they will also have greater protection in the event of disruptions.

Cruise booking tips: There's more to it than picking your travel dates

“So if there's a cancellation or a delay, it's their job to get you to that ship,” Kuther said. “That's their commitment.” However, she noted that travelers may not have as many choices as when booking their flights themselves. (Cruise lines often have in-house vacation planners who are familiar with the brand.)

Travelers can book cruises via third-party sites as well and may be able to find deals doing so. Booking.com introduced a cruise option late last year, allowing travelers to book sailings, flights and hotels in one place. Other sites like Expedia and Orbitz also offer the category, and there are cruise-specific sites as well like Cruisebound.com and Cruise.com.

Those can also offer a comprehensive way to see what cruises are out there. Brandon O. Smith, who runs the YouTube channel The Weekend Cruiser , said Vacations To Go’s search function is particularly good. Many travelers also like Costco Travel because it’s “kind of built into their ecosystem,” he added.

Travelers booking through online travel agencies may have to pay fees that cruise lines do not charge, however, Smith said.

What if I need help with my booking?

Customers who book online on their own may have to contact the cruise line or third-party site when they have questions or issues, and the customer representative’s familiarity with the kind of trip they’re taking might vary. “And I think that's one of the big shortcomings,” Smith said.

Some travelers who have used third-party booking sites have had to jump through hoops to get help when their plans have gone awry.

Should first-time cruisers book a cruise online?

There is a wide range of lines and ships that cater to different types of vacations.

( click here for USA TODAY’s cruise line guide).

Smith recommended new cruisers work with a travel agent who can help them determine what kind of voyage is right for them. “Word of mouth is a great way to find people, and finding people who know your style of cruising,” he said. “So, if you're a family of five, you want to find somebody that's familiar with looking for larger families.”

If a traveler is looking for highly personalized advice, he said, “You're not going to get that through an online booking tool.”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

The Key Points at the top of this article were created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and reviewed by a journalist before publication. No other parts of the article were generated using AI. Learn more .

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