11 Most Hilarious Things People Have Overheard From Naive Travelers

If there’s a universal language we all speak, it’s the language of laughter, often triggered by everyday scenarios. Traveling ripples this hilarious wave more than anything. Nothing tickles our funny bones more than the innocent, sometimes naive comments of those who have not yet fully mastered the art of exploring the globe. Some of these funny remarks are exposed in an online travel forum and here are the craziest ones.

1. Why Don’t You Just Go to the ATM?

One forum respondent talked about being on a trip with a group, and one of them was worried about running out of money for souvenirs. The other friend, genuinely bewildered, innocently suggested, “Why don’t you just go to the ATM and get more money?” Throughout the rest of the trip, they fondly mimicked this statement in a Valley girl accent, using it as a light-hearted joke whenever conversations turned towards spending.

2. Do You Know Who I Am?

“I’m not paying for a VISA! What are they going to do? Send me back?” quotes the first-holiday gaffe witness. “I have a passport, and that’s all I need!” If you are traveling in new countries, doing the five minutes of research required to know entry regulations is worthwhile.

3. Bear de Parfum

An Alaskan resident jokes about his mom visiting from Florida and joining him on a mountain hike. “I said, ‘Take my bear spray,’ and she replied, ‘Does that stuff really work?'” explains the poster. “I immediately knew what was happening, and I said, ‘It works like pepper spray, Mom, not like bug spray.'” Good thing he said something!

4. Driving to Hawaii

Someone in the thread recalls a moment as a kid when her mom asked a friend she bumped into at the grocery store about her trip to Hawaii. “My mom asked her what airline she was flying on; she replied that she wasn’t flying,” explains the writer. My mom said, ‘Oh, are you taking a cruise or something?’ And she said, ‘No, we’re driving.'” She thought Hawaii was attached to California?

5. I’m in Exit

An Austrian contributor reveals a funny gaffe they heard on a train in Italy after a young lady boarded their carriage. As the train arrived, the youngster was talking on her phone to a friend, who had asked where she was. The Austrian continues, “She proceeds to look out the window to find the sign with the name of the city, finds it, and confidently says: “I’m in Uscita!'” They had to inform the poor girl she was in Bolzano: uscita means Exit in Italian.

6. Going One Way

Germans find it amusing when tourists marvel that there are so many streets named Einbahnstrasse German cities. “Once encountered two very lost American tourists in Cologne trying to find their car,” recalls one commenter. “But this is Einbahnstrasse! We definitely parked it in Einbahnstraße!” he jokes, mimicking the poor couple. What they didn’t know was Einbahnstrasse means one-way street!

7. Canada Is Large

An Irish friend visited a couple in Toronto after they met while in Egypt. However, the Irishman’s time and distance calculations were slightly off when he proclaimed he would be fly-fishing in British Columbia the next day. “And he was taking the bus there,” explains the amused Canuck. “It’s four days across Canada, my man. You are most definitely not salmon fishing in B.C. tomorrow.”

8. Academically Speaking

The next traveler’s “first flight with a teen girlfriend” started with confusion when she read the time on the back of the ticket. “Flight was booked to depart at 17:00,” says the man. “She called me the day before in a panic that the ticket ‘has a made-up time stamp.'” Moreover, his partner didn’t believe his 24-hour clock explanation. He comments, “I found out later she’d called the local library, fire department, police, and department of public works to verify I was telling the truth.”

9. Antarctic Gift Shop

A contributor recounts a report she found in a scientific research journal that detailed an expedition from “McMurdo Station in Antarctica” to a remote western ice sheet. Here, the group would encounter some spartan living arrangements, which wouldn’t deter one passenger. “This lady on the plane asked if the gift store would still be open when we got there,” reports the commenter. There’s always one.

10. Tuscan Entitlement

An observer who enjoyed a holiday in Cinque Terre, Italy, overheard a newly married American couple over dinner. The new bride, in a “Valley tone,” was upset they couldn’t brunch in Tuscany the next day. “We just came from Tuscany; it’s just a region of Italy,” explained the poor groom, perhaps feeling regret for not testing his wife’s geography skills earlier. “Yeah, but I just really want to have brunch in Tuscany,” moaned his wife.

11. Can the Whales Swim Under the Island?

A hilarious post comes from a snorkel tour operator on Maui who recounts some of the funniest questions he heard. Is that Japan?” asked one tourist as they pointed to another Hawaiian island about 10 miles away. This nugget is followed by the excellent “Can the whales swim under the island?” and “Are turtles birds?” I have decided to print a T-shirt with this last philosophical caption. What is the funniest travel comment you’ve ever heard?

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Men Would Do These 11 Projects for a Living If Money Didn’t Matter

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But Why? The Rich Manage to Ruin These 11 Things We Once Loved

There’s been a sentiment floating around online recently; some kind of frustration as popular things we once loved seem to lose their sparkle. It’s as though once-enjoyed treasures that held a place in our hearts have been unpacked, dissected, and redefined by the rich and powerful in a way that feels far removed from their once humble origins. In the raw, unfiltered world of internet forums, passionate dialogues of ordinary people have brought light to this trend. But Why? The Rich Manage to Ruin These 11 Things We Once Loved

12 Awkward and Embarrassing Moments That Made Travelers Wish They Were Back Home

Sinking in chairs out of embarrassment and folding into ourselves due to awkward experiences are sensations we all experience at least once throughout our life span. I would argue it is better to experience these feelings in foreign countries where we are less likely to run into those individuals again than in our home towns. However, these individuals may disagree. 12 Awkward and Embarrassing Moments That Made Travelers Wish They Were Back Home

Wondering Where to Move? Here are America’s Top 11 Dream States

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