Triphap - Funny Travel Stories and Travel Horror Stories

When I was a senior in high school, two of my best friends and I decided to go to Italy for spring break instead of the general beach trip that most of the other kids in our year were taking.

One of my friend's older sister came with us as a chaperone (a 21-year-old chaperone). The four of us spent 3 days in Rome, took a train to Florence for another 3 days, another train to Venice for 3 more. At the end of our stay in Venice, the plan was to take a flight from Venice back to Rome for one more night and day, and then to fly back to the states. The flight was only going to be about 30 euros a piece, which seemed a pretty great deal.

We were staying in a hotel in a small town called Mestre, outside of Venice itself for cost reasons. 5:30 in the morning, we go to the bus stop that will take us to the airport. The bus, due at 6:00, was still conspicuously absent at 6:30. Our flight was scheduled for 9am, so, worried, we go back to our hotel and call a cab. The cab comes... read more >>

It was early Summer, 2009. We had been talking about going to New York City since our senior year of high school in 2007. We fell out of touch during our first years of college but came back together with the promise of this wonderful trip. Amanda had been to NYC twice already but it was to be my first time. We had to drive the two hours to Cleveland to catch our flight (tickets were cheaper). The ride was fairly uneventful but for our excitement. We were there early and had fun milling about the airport. Finally our gate opened. We boarded and all was well. We landed happily in Philadelphia for our connecting flight to NYC. That’s when we saw it. The Wright Brothers plane. The thing was small and looked like it had seen many long winters. Once inside the tin can we began to really get scared. I could literally see through the back wall. The seats were crappy and it was extremely loud. Amanda grabbed my arm with a look of terror I have only seen twice (the other time on a state fair swinging boat ride). And we were off into the sky.... read more >>

I was traveling from Washington, D.C. to Rio de Janeiro Brazil and had to change planes at JFK Airport in New York. I had a business meeting the moment I landed so I was dressed very professionally in a business skirt suit. I had my luggage with me because I was changing from a domestic flight to an international flight and had to transfer my own bags. As I stood at the ticket counter, I looked beside me and Robert DeNiro was checking in on the flight. At that moment, Mr. DeNiro turned and looked at me and smiled. Did I mention I'm a HUGE fan of Mr. DeNiro's? Well, when he laid that beautiful, sexy smile on me, I was so smitten that I took a step backward and bumped into my large suitcase. The force of the bump literally knocked me off my feet. I fell backwards over my suitcase, heels thrown like ninja knives in different directions and legs flying akimbo giving Mr. DeNiro a bird's eye view of my unmentionables. I was horrified. I lay on the airport floor, spread eagle, praying that death would come swiftly. I opened my eyes to find Mr. DeNiro standing... read more >>

Do you know what happens when you ask for a band-aid in an airport? It’s an easy question, and one that should have a simple answer. But let me tell you what happened when I asked it at the Seattle airport.

A few years ago my Grandmother decided that while she wanted to go visit family for the holidays, she would only go if I flew with her. No problem, I love Mamaw and was going anyways. When we landed in Seattle things were crazy getting off of the plane and Mamaw ended up falling in the jet way. She was fine, but she skinned up the palm of her hand pretty badly.

We covered it with a napkin and made our way to the bathroom. By the time we got to the sink blood was dripping down into the water. The wound was shallow, just the top layer of skin, but it covered most of the lower part of her palm. It quickly became apparent that we would need some kind of bandage before we could get back on another plane.

So I went to the ticketing counter and asked where I... read more >>

Growing up my summers were always spent flying to Alaska to spend time with my family. With a flight that long it is natural that some trips would be better than others, but there is one (my first trip post 9/11) that will forever stand out in my mind as being the worst trip ever taken.

It all started when my sister called to see if I could fly up earlier than we had planned. She had just found out that she was going to have to have knee surgery in a few days, and I had just finished my finals for the semester. No problem! She changed the dates and I got packed.

My flight left early on Friday and I was excited about the trip. Jess’s surgery wasn’t until Monday, which gave me a few days to hang out with family before I started playing nursemaid. But even as excited as I was, things went down hill right off the bat. In fact, I think that the only way to make sense of the chaos that ensued is to break it down by day.

Friday: Day 1

Ticket pulled by... read more >>

I got a phone call from a client who was frantic to get home. I was a reservations agent for 6 years and in the travel and tourism industry for a total of 17 years, so I had grown very accustomed to clients calling in a panic. This particular client had purchased an airline ticket from us to fly roundtrip from Washington, D.C., to Buffalo, New York and back. He was however, calling from Toronto, Canada. At the time, I worked as a government agent – responsible for making official travel arrangements for travelers on official government business for the Federal Government. I asked my traveler why he was calling me from Toronto. The flight he was traveling on was a "direct" flight which meant the flight made a stop en route to its final destination. His flight was a flight terminating in Canada and only stopping in Buffalo to let passengers off and on. He should have gotten off in Buffalo. Apparently, according to my passenger, he had taken a valium pill because of his dislike for flying and had SLEPT through the layover in Buffalo. When he awoke, the plane was in Canada. I asked him how... read more >>

Cancun, Mexico is a beautiful place for a sunny Caribbean vacation, but for the uninitiated, getting there can be something of an adventure.

First of all, Cancun's airport is something between a 7/11 convenience store, a Macy's department store, and a shopping mall. High-end cosmetics and sunglasses are stuffed in next to cigarettes and candy, just inches from security checkpoints. But that's not the half of it.

On my honeymoon, friends of my wife's had warned me to beware of the army of taxi drivers, luggage carriers, and van operators who would approach us as we exited the airport, asking where we were going, offering to take us there, offering to carry our luggage. They were emphatic. "Just say no to anyone who talks to you," they advised. "They don't work for the hotel or the airport."

Having exited Cancun's customs depot and going on our way out of the airport, my wife and I were cautious. We were looking for the one particular person who we were told would be holding a sign with our names on it.

Of course, leaving the airport doors, we were immediately swamped by dozens upon dozens of the "friendly helpers" we'd been... read more >>

Growing up my summers were always spent flying to Alaska to spend time with my family. With a flight that long it is natural that some trips would be better than others, but there is one (my first trip post 9/11) that will forever stand out in my mind as being the worst trip ever taken.

It all started when my sister called to see if I could fly up earlier than we had planned. She had just found out that she was going to have to have knee surgery in a few days, and I had just finished my finals for the semester. No problem! She changed the dates and I got packed.

My flight left early on Friday and I was excited about the trip. Jess’s surgery wasn’t until Monday, which gave me a few days to hang out with family before I started playing nursemaid. But even as excited as I was, things went down hill right off the bat. In fact, I think that the only way to make sense of the chaos that ensued is to break it down by day.

Friday: Day 1

Ticket pulled by... read more >>

The summer after my 16th birthday my sister was due to deliver her first baby, and I was so excited that I just couldn’t take it. The only problem was that my Mom had flown up a few weeks before school let out to be with her, and my Dad couldn’t leave the business during the busy season. Translation: if I wanted to see the baby, then I was flying up on my own. All the way from Knoxville, TN to Anchorage, AK!

And I wasn’t bothered by it. After all, it’s not like this was my first trip. So my Dad took me to the airport and signed me up as an unaccompanied minor. He knew that I could handle it, but wanted to just make sure than someone would be checking on me.

Everything went great until I hit Chicago, wind, rain, hail, all of the makings of one crazy storm in the exact location that I needed to fly out of. So at roughly 2:00am Delta canceled the flight. I quickly made my way to the ticket counter to schedule my flight for the next day only... read more >>