Travellers dished on the embarrassing things they'd overheard people say. Photo / 123RF
Travellers dished on the embarrassing things they'd overheard people say. Photo / 123RF
Thousands of people have shared the funniest thing they’ve heard an inexperienced traveller say, as part of a social media call-out about embarrassing anecdotes.
In July, a traveller asked members of a Reddit page dedicated to travel to share humorous things they’ve overheard.
“What is the funniest thing you’ve heard an inexperienced traveller say?” the poster asked, before sharing their own story.
“I was working in study abroad, and American university students were doing a semester overseas. This one girl said she booked her flight to arrive a few days early to Costa Rica so that she could have time to get over the jet lag. She was not going to be leaving her same time zone.”
The person clarified that they didn’t want to ‘bash’ these people, but share moments people have been unintentionally funny.
More families are booking international travel for the school summer holidays this year, according to data from Webjet. Photo / 123rf
More than 2,800 people commented on the post with stories.
Unsurprisingly, many funny comments related to time zones, language differences and other travel-specific mistakes.
“I had a friend visit me (in Germany) and she asked why so many towns were called ‘Ausfahrt’. She had a good laugh when I told her that’s the German word for exit,” one person wrote.
Another shared a phone call they overheard between their boss and his panicked daughter, who was staying at a hotel in Florida and worried she would miss her flight.
“He asked her what time the flight was. She said, ‘It’s at 11.’ He said, ‘Honey, it’s eight. You have plenty of time to get to the airport’. She responded, ‘You don’t understand, Dad, checkout isn’t until 11!’”
Meanwhile, one person admitted their partner’s father had not realised there were bathrooms on planes.
“He must have been terrified prior to boarding,” they added.
Speaking of boarding, one person recounted the time a traveller complained to airport staff that they wouldn’t pay for a visa because they had a passport. “What are they going to do? Send me back?” the man allegedly said. “He was in fact, turned back,” the commenter added.
The WestJet traveller shared his two-hour adventure on TikTok. Photo / 123rf
New environments also bring opportunities for silly comments, as some people revealed.
At a hotel in the ski town of Breckinridge, Colorado, a hotel employee revealed a funny comment made by a guest after she had checked in. “Lady told me she was going to her room to get out of the altitude.”
In Africa, travellers were just as clueless at times.
“Someone asked if they kept the animals separate so they didn’t each eat other. On safari. In Etosha National Park. In Namibia. Not the zoo, mate,” one person wrote.
Across the ditch, many people shared tourists’ lack of awareness about how big Australia was, and how few roads there are through the middle of it.
“My uncle’s story, but someone from the UK asked him where he could buy a map that had all the roads on it because his didn’t show them all. This was in Australia in the ‘80s, and yes, his map did show them all, there just aren’t many through the middle.”
The true vastness of the Outback can be surprising for foreigners. Photo / Tourism NT / Tourism Australia
Animal know-how also tripped up a traveller in Alaska.
“My mom (overall, a very smart lady) was visiting me in Alaska from Florida, going for a hike, and I said, ‘Take my bear spray’, and she replied, ‘Does that stuff really work?’
Realising what was happening, the commenter said they quickly clarified it worked like pepper spray, not like bug spray. “She was just like, ‘Oh, good thing you said something’.”
During a scientific research expedition to Antarctica, another person had also had to educate a visitor, but about the lack of shopping opportunities.
“We were flying from McMurdo Station in Antarctica to a remote field camp on the west Antarctic ice sheet (think - no road access, everyone sleeping in tents, and having to shovel ice to be melted for showers). This lady on the plane asked if the gift store would still be open when we got there,” they wrote.
Meanwhile, in Dubrovnik, a movie fan revealed how little they knew about historic buildings.
“I overheard a guy in Dubrovnik asking a tour guide about how long it took to build the old town for the Game of Thrones set,” one person said. “Only a few hundred years or so,” another user quipped back.
Accepting things were a little different abroad was also a key theme. One person said they were “blown away” by American tourists who demand foreigners convert prices into USD at markets or shops.
“When they get the price, they ask, ‘Is that in US?’ Why on earth would it be in US?” they commented, adding that they have seen Americans assume prices given in Canada are USD.
