Short Funny Travel Stories – Expelliarmus and the Wrong Island

Short Funny Travel Stories

Once when I was traveling through… We are collecting the greatest Funny Travel Stories from the road. Travelers sent us their funniest travel stories when backpacking the world, one laughter at a time!

A good travel story usually includes a big laughter, and that means something has gone terribly wrong and ended up a better way it was supposed to. Or didn’t it?

For more fun stories, take a look on the stories on Netflix and Chill in hostels

Books on Travel Stories

We had a look: there are many beautiful books out there highlighting wonderful travel stories and tails.

Many experienced backpackers claim it is important that you can laugh about and with yourself. And we agree.

Travel plans are not supposed to be working out in every single way.

It adds the flexible part to the travel experience. In fact, it is one of the main experiences when traveling. And when something goes wrong, and a funny travel stories is the result, you will always have a great story to tell.

Read all those great stories around the world. You can instantly share them as well if you enjoy them!

We love funny travel stories! This is why we created this collection of funny travel stories, sent to us by travelers and bloggers all around the world. From wild animals, priests, funny coffee, sand-boarding and more!

Find all 180+ short travel stories here.

Have a good laugh

Coffee Experience With A Cute Sense Of Humor

My days must be started with a cup of coffee. Otherwise, it might be a total mistake and I would feel very depressed for the whole day. As a coffee addict, wherever I go and travel I would love to taste local coffee, and it has become one of my obsessions, to taste different coffee from around the world, enjoying the aroma, acidity, flavor and the packaging. Yes, I mean, I love the way they serve the coffee. Some places have a uniqueness and brilliant way on their coffee culture.

One day in Krabi, Thailand,- while waiting for the rain stopped, I sat at the café facing to the sea and ordered a cup of coffee milk. Some minutes later, what they served on my table, really… really crack me up.  Coffee with milk means coffee plus milk, even funnier, attendant milk in a baby bottle. Well, okay, I’ll take this as a humor as long as it doesn’t serve with human milk… ha ha, Oh please NO !!!

Welcome to the Land of Smiles 🙂

Coffee Experience With A Cute Sense Of Humor

EXPELLIARMUS – Beach Soccer in Lagos, Portugal

“I was with 3 friends in Costa d’Oiro (Lagos, Portugal), and we were playing beach soccer with some students. We said the last goal decides the winner. We were running in a counter-attack, and my best friend was running all by himself towards our empty goal. As I would have never ever reached him, I just yelled from behind “EXPELLIARMUS“ – this Disarming Charm from Harry Potter.

He was laughing so hard that he fell over and actually missed the goal. We lost in the end anyway, but this was by far the funniest moment.“

Read: 17 Solo Travel Stories – From Fears, Lonelyness and the best time of the Life!

EXPELLIARMUS - Beach Soccer in Lagos, Portugal

Chickens, Goats, and Abba – the bizarre bus through Ethiopia

I always use public transport; I believe it is the best way of getting to know a country. On route from Lake Wenchi to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia I had not only the bumpiest journey of my life but also the most bizarre.

Chickens casually strolling around nibbling on my toes, two goats strapped on the roof, people sitting on my lap meanwhile the driver also acted as a DJ playing only ABBA tunes for 3 hours. Loved it.

Chickens, Goats, and Abba - the bizarre bus through Ethiopia

Once in Sayulita, Mexico, I told my Life Story to Paco the Dog

Two margaritas, some shots of the bartender’s prized tequila, two veggie tacos, now time to make it back to my tent on the beach.  The day was spent surfing the mild waves of Sayulita, Mexico. My new best friend was a dog I named Paco who waited for me at the door of the bar and yes he liked that leftover veggie taco, there was no saving it for morning, he was insistent.

That night, I found myself telling my life story to Paco. I know he knew what I was talking about, I could tell by the way he looked at me with his big brown eyes.  Next morning he was gone, that afternoon I would find him sitting next to a couple giving them that look of understanding as they sipped on their margaritas talking to him and feeding him chips and guacamole. Had a good laugh.

– – –

Heading to Sayulita? Discover the 3 best hostels in Sayulita here.

Just an hour drive from here, there are also the best hostels in Puerto Vallarta to discover.

🧘 Yoga in Mexico: We wrote a detailed guide on cool yoga retreats in Mexico

Once in Sayulita, Mexico, I told my Life Story to Paco the Dog

Monkeys in Costa Rica — Is this monkey a Psychologist?

Day 5 of my Costa Rican trip and I had yet to see a monkey.

I was pretty disappointed… I had heard so much about the monkeys!  We had a rainforest hike scheduled, and I was convinced that today was the day! Throughout the hike, the monkeys taunted me with their howling, but I still couldn’t see them.

As we neared the end of the hike on a hanging bridge, I started to accept that an animal encounter wasn’t in the cards. Then there they were…a large branch with several monkeys hung over us. They were chasing each other, jumping between branches, and for a long moment, two monkeys were directly above me.

One of the monkeys even sat there looking at me, scratching his head as if he was trying to figure me out. It was awesome to see them in their natural surroundings and an experience I’ll never forget.

Read: guide to the best hostels in Costa Rica

This Short Travel Story comes from John, an engineer, avid traveler, and a loving husband, living in San Joaquin Valley of California.

Scratching his Head and trying to figure me out - Monkeys in Costa Rica

My first Songkran – The biggest Waterfight in the World

One day last year our friends asked us if we would like to meet them in Thailand (we live in Germany) and without hesitation we said “yes!”

The timing was perfect, and we planned the trip around Songkran, a.k.a. the Thai New Year. Songkran is an experience that is so difficult to describe. Imagine being part of the world’s largest water fight, streets packed full of people at all hours, pouring buckets of water on each other and everyone armed with water guns!

Needless to say, my husband, our friends and I relived our childhoods running around Bangkok shooting people with our water guns and remaining drenched day and night. Simply put, it was a BLAST!

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

Me against the Rest: The biggest Waterfight in the World

We learned our lesson in Seville’s bull ring

It was whilst standing staring at the golden sand of the bull ring in the city of Seville, Spain that our sun burnt legs decided that they had had enough for the day and gave up on us.

The remainder of our tour of the site was an informative half hour of agony. The day before we had decided to spend the day sunbathing on a deserted island near Faro, Portugal, and as it was windy we had forgone all sun protection.

The result was clear when we awoke the next day transformed into two lobsters. However, we only had one full day in Seville and were determined to make the most of it.

The beauty of the Alcázar and grandeur of the Cathedral served as a tonic for the pain, not to mention the amazing tapas! It was only towards the end of the day at the bull ring that we were reminded how foolish we had been.  Top tip for Seville: Remember your Sun Cream!

Travelling to Seville and Spain? Then read our guides:

We learned our lesson in Seville's bull ring

Tinos, Mykonos – what does it matter?

After 6 hours on a ferry from Athens to Mykonos, my best friend and I got off the ferry to realize our bus that was supposed to get us wasn’t there. Confused, we walked around to no avail.

We approached an old Greek man and asked: “Mykonos?” He replied: “Oxi, Tinos.

We. messed. up.

What do we do? Thank God for Greek police officers! They were SO helpful. They sent us to a nearby travel office, and we were told to take the night ferry to Mykonos. Okay, so what do we do for the afternoon? Food! We went to Palaia Pallada and had the BEST, most authentic Greek food with the sweetest waiters! We then visited Panagia of Tinos. Time to go! But wait, they wouldn’t let us on the ferry because our ticket was for the morning trip. After begging, we got on, and off to Mykonos…again.

– – –

5 Star Hostels on the Greek Islands

The Greek islands are a popular travel destination. A paradise for beach lovers, foodies, and cultural explorer. Thanks to the 5 Star Hostels in Greece, there is no compromise anymore. You can stay at the most outstanding Hostels in the world PLUS paradise-like destinations.

The Caveland Santorini is a former winery with a swimming pool and a huge courtyard. And not just that. Here you will actually sleep in caves. Those caves were used to store the wine, plus they were common housing throughout Santorini and the Greek islands.

The famous island of Rhodes is the home of STAY Hostel Rhodes. The STAY Hostel is a full designer hostel with an own in-house bar, bunk-less dorms, and a warm, traditional-modern design. The bar is the soul of the hostel. After a long day exploring Rhodes, you can come back home, and walk with your beach sandy feet to the bar. Did anyone say Cocktail? Make also sure you check out our secret tips for Rhodes, so you can get some insider tips for the island.

Tinos, Mykonos - what does it matter?

I yelled at the Thai Monkeys, but they did not speak Italian

While traveling across Thailand, we arrived in Lopburi, a small city with archaeological sites and monkeys. They are everywhere: in the streets, on the trees, trying to enter the houses and waiting at the platform for the next train to arrive. They are cute, but they are definitely too many.

One day we were walking to the hostel with our bag stuffed with teas and amazing Thai snacks when someone ripped it off… no, it wasn’t someone, it was a monkey showing us its teeth! Suddenly a monkey-gang gathered and shared our food: one took a bottle, one had the snacks. I recall saying loud: “Give food back to me, rude monkeys! ” while Ale was trying to explain to me that monkeys are NOT supposed to speak or understand Italian.

I yelled at the Thai Monkeys, but they did not speak Italian

Taxi driver need 3 things: good breaks, good horn, good luck!

One of my all-time favorite countries to travel in is India. If you have ever been, you know that this is one of the craziest countries in the world to drive in.

The streets are crowded, the cars share the road with cows, camels, horses, dogs, bicycles, huge trailers, tuk-tuks, buses and pretty much everything that moves.

The rules: there are no rules. They use their horn for pretty much everything and if you want to drive past someone you just honk your horn and drive around. When we took taxis in the northern parts of the country, I saw my life flash before my eyes every five minutes.

In New Delhi, we had an awesome taxi-driver that drove us around the city for a couple of days. In the world’s second most populous city, you have to be pretty crazy to become a taxi driver. At least that is what we thought sitting in the backseat of his taxi listening to AR Rahman, the Mozart of Madras blasting through the broken speakers whilst dodging cars and cows.

I ask him: “so what makes a good taxi driver in Delhi?

He says: “a good taxi driver needs three things; good breaks, good horn and good luck!

Laughing and smiling after he gave us his words of wisdom, he continued to drive us safely through the streets of New Delhi.

– – –

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

Taxi driver need 3 things: good breaks, good horn, good luck!

We are 100% Independent: Some links on Hostelgeeks are so-called affiliate links. If you decide to book through these links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your support allows us to keep producing high-quality, independent content free of influence from hostels or external advertisers. Learn more here. 🙏

✏️ Read our Editorial Guidelines

Our Favorite Travel Resources 2024

👏 Booking Hostels: Always find better deals for Hostels on Hostelz.com. They compare prices from Hostelworld and Booking.com.

✈️ Cheap Flights: The first websites we always check are Skyscanner and Google Flights.

🤒 Travel Insurance Simplified: We always go either with Safetywing and Hey Mondo.

🤓 Smart Travel Tools you need to know: Find a list of our favorite travel tools.

Get your Smart Packing List (Free Printable): Knowing what to pack and what not to pack is key. Get our ultimate list of smart items to bring on your trip.

Download your Free PDF Packing List

Best Hostel Packing List