The 10 funniest travel stories of the year

updated 9.04.2020

Sometimes travel just doesn’t go to plan. We’ve all been faced with bumps in the road – and often they become the moments that make your trip. On other occasions, there’s nothing you can do but sit back, laugh and go with the flow. Here are ten people who had to do just that…

1. The dad who tried to film a trip to Vegas, but just filmed his face

Irishman Joseph Griffin gained internet notoriety after he got confused operating his son’s GoPro. Instead of capturing his trip to Las Vegas, he managed to film nothing but close-ups of his face. “Perhaps a future in vlogging could await Mr Griffin”, The Telegraph joked, after his son uploaded the clip to YouTube.

2. The guy who drunkenly booked a trip to Rio

After a night out in Glasgow, 24-year-old Jamie Ather awoke to discover he’d booked a ticket to Rio. Instead of bemoaning his drunken mistake, he decided to create an amazing trip. The lesson? “Sometimes you’ve gotta just go with it”, say Buzzfeed.

Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo Beach and city at night

© Roger d'Olivere Mapp/Rough Guides

3. The man who found his doppelganger on Ryanair

Over 23,000 retweets attest to the fact that this chance meeting aboard a Ryanair flight nearly broke the internet. But not only were this uncannily similar pair seated together on the plane, The Guardian reports that they even later checked into the same hotel.

4. The football fans who ended up in the wrong Wales for the big game

If you need another reminder that relying on your satnav is a bad idea, this story is it. A group of Belgian football fans went more than 200 miles off-course on their way to a Euro qualifier, ending up in South Yorkshire rather than Cardiff.

Dragon on front of CIA (Cardiff International Arena), Cardiff Wales

© Paul Whitfield/Rough Guides

5. The person who diverted a flight with a “smelly poo”

It’s not often the phrase “smelly poo” appears in a BBC headline. But apparently it was just that which led to the diversion of a British Airways flight in March, causing it to turn around just 30 minutes into a flight from Heathrow to Dubai.

© underworld/Shutterstock

6. The groom-to-be who had his bachelor party crashed by Bill Murray

After spotting Bill Murray in a bar in Charleston, South Carolina, E.J. Rumpke’s friends decided he’d be the perfect special guest to deliver some advice to the groom-to-be. Although the star initially brushed them off, he later decided to crash the party to deliver some sage pre-wedding advice.

“Take that person and travel around the world”, the Globe and Mail reported him saying, “buy a plane ticket for the two of you to travel all around the world… And if when you come back to JFK… and you're still in love with that person, get married at the airport.”

7. The pilot who forgot to “remove cat before takeoff”

Seatbelts fastened. Doors to manual. Engines running. These are the pre-flight checks we’re all used to – but this pilot discovered he needed to make one more, managing to miss a crafty feline who decided to stowaway onboard. Luckily both cat and pilot landed safely, leading to this fantastic video.

8. The guy who broke up with his girlfriend… so took a stranger with the same name on holiday

Jordan Axani had a dream trip booked with his girlfriend, but unfortunately they called time on their relationship before they were due to set off. His solution? Find another Canadian girl with the same name to take with him. Romance didn’t blossom, according to The Daily Mail, but his story has a happy ending. The press coverage led to Marriott International providing them with rooms for the trip and gave Jordan a platform to start his charity, A Ticket Forward.

sunbed-couple-beach-shutterstock_1576001362

© ARTEM VOROPAI/Shutterstock

9. The guy who fell asleep waiting for a taxi in Munich and ended up in Switzerland

Tired, drunk and wanting somewhere to keep warm, Brit Jordan Adams decided to cosy up in the luggage hold of a coach while waiting for a taxi in Munich. Unfortunately, he dozed off, only to awake several hours later over the Swiss border – his passport, phone and money back on the other side.

© alexfan32/Shutterstock

10. The student who changed his name rather than paying to re-book his flight

Budget airlines like to catch you out with hidden fees wherever they can. Changing the details on a booking is no exception, as Adam Armstrong found out after his girlfriend’s step dad booked him under Adam West, the name he used as a joke on Facebook. His ingenious solution? Change his name by deed poll to avoid paying Ryanair’s £220 fee to alter the ticket.