Travel bloggers

The funniest holiday stories from the Travel at 60 community

Jun 05, 2017

The Travel at 60 community (yes, including you!) are a fun, adventurous and intrepid bunch who love to travel. So, we thought there are bound to be some funny travel experiences out there worth sharing. We asked and you delivered – here are some of the funniest things that have happened to members of the Travel at 60 community while on holiday.

1. Libby and her exciting bus ride

“I decided to sit at the very back of a bus with my backpack on. The driver balked at a roundabout and hit the brakes. I bounced onto the floor and slid the whole length of the bus, coming to a stop beside him. Thankfully we were the only folk on the bus at 5.30am and he was still laughing when we arrived at our stop.”

2. Rosalie and a fire drill gone wrong

“I went on a bus trip to Melbourne sharing a room with a friend. On the last night at a hotel in Canberra, just as we were getting into bed, the fire alarm sounded. We grabbed our handbags and started off down the fire escape with other guests. Beth whispered ‘I haven’t got any knickers on’ and I said ‘I haven’t either, don’t worry about it’. After standing out in the the cold for an hour we decided it was a false alarm and went back to our rooms. The next day, the bus driver was talking about the events of the previous night and told the whole bus, ‘Yes, and I understand two ladies went outside without their knickers!’ There was much laughter and then even more laughter when we said ‘it wasn’t us!’”

3. Jean and the laundry mix-up

“In Italy while we had nine weeks on the road it came time to do some washing. I put the washing into a laundromat the staff said it would be ready the next morning. We picked it up at 7am then hit the road. We drove 500km that day only to find out we had no underwear in any of the bags. We could not stop laughing. Every time we looked at one another we said keep an eye out for the next stop to shop for undies. Oh the joys of travel.”

4. Rosemary and a long-distance call

“My husband and I got separated in St Ives, England, with only me having our mobile phone. He rang our daughter in Australia on a payphone and asked her to ring me on the mobile to make sure I headed to where the bus was leaving from in half an hour from then. It has given us many laughs since then with us returning a few years later to visit St Ives again just so we could do it together that time.”

5. Gwenda and her luggage mishap

“I got to Dublin and I could see my bag on the carousel with a big tear in one corner. On show for all to see was my undies. I said a prayer that they didn’t fall out before I retrieved my bag.”

6. Pam Fraser and some concerned hotel staff

“My best girlfriend and I were on a bus tour in New Zealand and spending our third and last night out in beautiful Queenstown. My friend is completely deaf, so on tour she nominated me as her ears. I always sleep soundly while she struggles to sleep, so the routine was for me to set the alarm, rise first, shower and then tap her to wake her up. This particular morning we both rose as usual, packed our bags, put them outside the door, locked up, handed key cards in at the hotel desk and went to the dinning room for breakfast. We thought it funny that the room looked deserted but we stayed and enjoyed the view. We thought it was unusual when several different kitchen staff started coming out of the kitchen and asked us if we were alright. We smiled and said we were there for breakfast. After 30 minutes, a very offical-looking male in a suit appeared and again we were asked if we were ok. When we said again we were waiting for breakfast, he then said,’It’s 90 minutes to breakfast, would you like to come with me?’. We both looked at our watches together to realise I had set the alarm three hours early! We had trouble living that one down with the rest of the group as the tour guide had been asked by the manager (who was alerted by concerned kitchen staff) if we had dementia! Many good laughs were had by all! I cannot believe neither of us checked the time earlier. We were only 60 and continued travelling seven continents safely after that episode!”

7. Janeen and her stranger husband

“We were wandering around the sports memorabilia section before the auction on board a cruise ship and I lost sight of my husband. I caught sight of him out of the corner of my eye and walked over to him. I moved in close, put my arm through his and just about had my head on his shoulder when I thought something didn’t seem right. It wasn’t – I was cuddling up to someone else’s husband. Luckily he and his wife took it very well and we all had a great laugh. The poor man and I even met up again and had our picture taken at the champagne waterfall.”

8. Claire and the lemon grove

“I got lost at the Vatican. Was not funny at the time but it has given my group lots of laughs for years. Now I have to take a leg rope with me everywhere I go. In Sorrento we finally had a two-night stay so we could do washing. A big gust if wind blew our neighbours washing off the balcony and they had to get a ladder to retrieve the knickers from the lemon grove next door.”