Waking up early, bags packed, and excited to catch a flight to your next big adventure. Arriving in a new city, soaking in the vibrant atmosphere. Finally stepping into a spacious hotel room with a breathtaking beach view. All the ingredients for a dream vacation, right?
But just because you’ve planned every detail doesn’t mean the universe is on your side. Suddenly, your plane is delayed by seven hours, the charming cityscape doesn’t look quite like the photos, and that “beach view” turns out to be a noisy construction site.
These unlucky travelers know this feeling all too well, and they’ve captured their unexpected vacation fails to share with the world. Some are funny, others are heartbreaking, and a few are downright shocking. Scroll down and see for yourself!
#1 Paris CDG Airport. Someone Will Have A Bad Day
Image credits: 4lphaZed
#2 Drove Quite Awhile To Be Able To See This Waterfall
Image credits: bobert_the_wise
#3 This Is The One Thing I Am Most Worried About Before Getting On A Plane
Image credits: Addian4
#4 My Trip In Mexico Is Great So Far
Image credits: Everet_dead
#5 These Tourists In Hawaii Took A Wrong Turn
Image credits: pandabatron
#6 I Traveled About 1500 Miles To See Fenway Park For The First Time. Here Was My View
Image credits: rcoberle_54
#7 My Uncle’s Suitcase After His Flight
Image credits: an0nym0ose
#8 Our Trip To The Petting Zoo Did Not Go As Planned
Image credits: bwaxse
#9 Google Maps Didnt Tell Me About This After A 2 Hour Drive
Image credits: wambamwombat
#10 2 Weeks Ago My Youngest Daughter Broke Her Leg 1 Week Before Our Holiday. Yesterday I Broke My Own Leg (On Holiday). Poor Sis And Mom
Image credits: Ruud1983
#11 Includes A “Private Balcony.” Is Just A View Of The Wall Of The Next Building
Image credits: Jagokoz
#12 Lesson Learned- Don’t Trust Just Any Tourist To Take Your Photo
Image credits: batmanfantasy
#13 This Is How The Luggage Containing My Playstation Arrived
Image credits: Yamoyek
#14 Staying At A Hotel After I Got A New Tattoo And This Happened
Image credits: SpencerL1997
#15 My Vacation In Rio And Seeing The Cristo
Image credits: OwnedYou
#16 My Trip To Bali (Nusa Penida Island). Expectations vs. Reality
Image credits: DollarAkshay
#17 Road Trip To See The Lighthouse
Image credits: ragin_brainer
#18 Half Way To The Road Trip In Sicily, The Tire Just Exploded Out Of Nowhere. Happened Exactly 12 Hours After I Had Food Poisoning The Night Before
Image credits: ken0746
#19 I Broke Two Bottles Of Sangster’s Rum Cream While Boarding The Plane
Image credits: Loitering4daCulture
#20 The Hotel I Booked Weeks Ahead Didn’t Have A Room For Us When We Checked In. Gave Us A Sofa Bed In A Conference Room
Image credits: Llebanna
#21 Went To A Mountain Peak With A Magnificent View… But Choose The Wrong Day
Image credits: srlandand
#22 Went On Vacation On Our Family’s Boat… This Is My Attempt At Taking A Shower
Image credits: imgur.com
#23 A Stray Golf Ball Hit Our Windshield On The Way To The Beach And We Are On Vacation
Image credits: sacredkin
#24 The Aftermath Of A Shredded Radiator Hose
Image credits: whitewaterlibrarian
#25 I Recently Went To Hawaii And Got A Gnarly Sunburn As Seen Here. Ended Up Getting A Case Of “Hell’s Itch”, Which Was Genuinely The Worst Pain I’ve Ever Experienced, And That’s Saying A Lot
Image credits: dragonxmother
#26 Tire Exploded On The Highway 20 Minutes After Leaving The House For Our Week Long Family Vacation
Image credits: Warning-Known
#27 On My Honeymoon In Hawaii And Turns Out I Got Ringworm From The Armrest On The Plane
Image credits: SokkaStyle
#28 I Drove 4 Hours (One Way) To See Radium Springs, One Of The State Of Georgia’s Natural Wonders . . . After A Heavy Rainfall
Image credits: Don_Quixotel
#29 Airbnb Wasn’t What We Were Expecting
Image credits: pokemon-collector
#30 Living/Working In Hawaii, Took A Break To Travel. I Don’t Travel A Lot, But When I Do, Everything Is Under Construction
Image credits: harriealexis07
#31 Went To Visit The Beautiful Blauer See In Germany
Image credits: barbamara
#32 Hiked Two Hours To Set Up A Picnic, Returned To This
Image credits: Jaminator97
#33 I Drove 1000+ Miles To See The Eclipse
Like millions of others in American today, I took time off work and drove over 1000 miles to see the eclipse, only to have it spoiled by mother nature. Oh well. ??That’s life.
Image credits: Gnarly_Sarley
#34 Up At 3 30am And Hiked About 4hrs To See This Beautiful View
Image credits: Grand_Area
#35 We Visited Mount Rushmore During A Controlled Burn
Image credits: chezznul
#36 First A Romantic Gondola Ride. Just A Bit Of Traffic
Image credits: phillynotfunny
#37 First Night After A 12 Hour Drive To Belgium
Image credits: thetommyboy99
#38 Wanted A Special Mountain Lake Nye With The Wife, Even Upgraded To The Room With A View
Image credits: f_me_blue
#39 The Day Has Finally Come, My “Window” Seat After 20+ Years Of Travelling
Image credits: naeads
#40 Tire Went Through My Windshield On The Interstate
Image credits: kaopectate
#41 First Day Of Vacation
Image credits: anan_qwert
#42 The Day Started Off Amazing
Image credits: devoncone
#43 A Green Tea Bath Was The Only Option After Being Brutally Sunburned In Australia, Then Having To Sit For 19 Hours On An Airplane Coming Back To The States
Image credits: Splizzy29
#44 I Was On My Way Down The Tallest Mountain In The UK And This Happened
Image credits: randompolicy
#45 09:42am. 40 Minutes Into The Flight. Beginning Of The Well Deserved Holiday. Passanger Next To Me Knocks Over Her Beer Going All Over Me
Image credits: TuckingFypoz
#46 4 Hours Into A 13 Hour Road Trip To My Family’s 3 Week Vacation Of The Year And I Just Realized That In The Rush To Leave I Forgot To Bring Any Other Shoes With Me
Image credits: carrs-for-life-32
#47 Just Got To LA For A Vacation And This Is The View From Our Room. (Oh And The AC Is Out In The Entire Building)
Image credits: Ok-Hat9079
#48 What A Lovely Start To Our Vacation
Image credits: CiciCuriosity
#49 Fiancee Forgot She Was Wearing Slippers To The Airport Before A Week Long Vacation
Image credits: SimonSaysGoGo
#50 Well This Is A Great Fathers Day. Great Way To End One Of The Busiest Holidays. Full Evacuation
Image credits: Rexbmo
#51 Two Hours Into My Road Trip In The Middle Of Nowhere I Opened My Case To This
Image credits: EggCakes27
#52 I Was Supposed To Go On A 9 And A Half-Hour Long Road Trip Today
Image credits: CountBlossom
#53 Go Swimming In Halong Bay (Vietnam) The Tour Guide Said (Without A Jellyfish Disclaimer)
Image credits: billygreggreg
#54 Taking A Picture With My GF In Berlin, When Out Of Nowhere
Image credits: icecoldbd
#55 When You Ask A Stranger To Take A Photo
Image credits: arden_cho
#56 A Llama Photobombed My Machupicchu Pic
Image credits: Gishu
#57 American Airlines Flight From Portugal To Pennsylvania. I Was Supposed To Be On That Flight
Image credits: Jalopy_Junkie
#58 This Is The Result When I Ask My Boyfriend To Take A Picture. Can’t Stop Laughing
Image credits: bobbyklootwijk
#59 Went On Vacation And
Went two states away for a weekend trip, were checking out of the hotel to find this. All 4 wheels stolen in the hotel parking lot. Of COURSE the hotel doesn’t have cameras in the parking lot. Can’t get it towed because it doesn’t have wheels to get on the damn truck.
Image credits: jules_144
#60 A Beach Day That Turned Into Me Tripping On A Rock And Falling Down The Sand Dune
Image credits: MaddieGehring
#61 Where My GPS Indicates The Train Station Is Supposed To Be
Image credits: FlowerPotage
#62 “99 Taxi” Driver Texted During The Whole Trip (Almost Two Hours)
Image credits: reddit.com
#63 This Family Taking Up An Entire Sightseeing Platform So Nobody Else Can Take Photos. A Lot Of People Missed Out On Great Photos And Views Because These People Wanted It For Themselves
Image credits: Jonno_FTW
#64 I Have To Travel To Another City Asap And This F***er Decided To Park Its Car Right In Front Of My Garage. It Has Been 45 Minutes And This Is Not The First Time This Is Happening. Still Waiting For The Tow Truck
Image credits: Hrokle
#65 Came To The Beach On Vacation For A Week
Image credits: iskippedlegdae
#66 The Lighting Is Really Cool Babe You’ll Love This
Image credits: babecanyoutakemypic
#67 When The “Coffee Tour” Decides To Skip The Coffee Tour And We Blow A Tire (Spare Tire Was More Bald Than The Tires On The Rest Of The Car)
Image credits: tonyadduci
#68 When You Finally Make It To Your Destination And Your Room Is Still Being Cleaned
Image credits: thebatmilf
#69 Bikini Derp Photobomb
Image credits: nomdeweb
#70 This Happened Last Year, Flying Back From Vacation. They Told Us Our Suitcase Must Have Fallen Off The Transport Truck. Everything Inside Was Gone, Yet They Managed To Retrieve The Bag
Image credits: CatchyUrchin
#71 Got Food Poisoning On Holiday, Now I Can’t Leave The Room
Image credits: Any-Mix9358
#72 The Result Of Placing Your Hand On The Handrail Of The Moving Walkway In Terminal 5 Of Jfk Airport
Image credits: TriTri14
#73 What You Think Visiting Antelope Canyon Will Be Like vs. What It Is Actually Like
Image credits: bananaloutay
#74 Loved My First Trip To Japan. I’m Too Tall For Japan
Image credits: allkindsofmamba
#75 A Person Took A Photo For Us And Cropped Our Faces
Image credits: jenithegreat
#76 I’m On My Honeymoon
Had sushi for dinner last night at the all-inclusive resort my new husband and I are staying at. 1am rolls around and I’m throwing up like crazy, then it’s dry heaving for another hour. We call the resort doctor, he takes my temperature and listens to my belly with a big “oh no” face, so guess who gets to go to a clinic in a foreign land (we’re in the Dominican Republic)? Me!!
I have a bacterial infection in my guts! My white blood cell count is bananas! We get to spend $4000 upfront cuz I need to be hospitalized! Weeeeeeee!
Get Travelers insurance, be better than me. Don’t know what the resort will do but it sounds like they’re willing to work with us.
Image credits: Sufficient_Tarot
#77 First Vacation I’ve Had All Year And Work Won’t Stop Texting Me… Should I Send It?
Image credits: twentysomething3
#78 My Son Found Sea Shells On His First Trip To The Beach. I Didn’t Have The Heart To Tell Him
Image credits: ShadyDingo
#79 Came To Greece For A Relaxing Holiday In The Sun. It’s Rained For 5 Days Straight And I Leave Tomorrow
Image credits: AreyouaUFO
#80 They Made Me Check My Duffle Bag. Found It Like This At Baggage Claim
Image credits: smells_like_sunshine
#81 Air Canada Messed Up My Bag (But At Least I Got Photos ??)
Image credits: peepeehead1542
#82 On The Way Home From Vacation. Still 4h Away From Home
I think there was something Small in. After a short break I discussed with my wife if in exactly this tire I a bit less pressure than in the other. She said I was exaggerating again. So we decided, I‘ll drive to the next fuel station and check the pressure of all tires. Luckily I drive carefully. Also the other people reacted really good, and let me drove to the breakdown lane. Changing a tire by yourself is prohibited on a French Autoroute. So I‘ve been ripped if from roadside assistance. I had to pay almost 300€ for driving the car myself 1.3km (less than 1 mile) to the next exit.
Image credits: Ollie_Dee
#83 When You Find A Screw In Youre Tire 8 Hours Before You Were Supposed To Go On A 14 Hour Trip
Image credits: angryitguyonreddit
#84 Broke My Foot With A Week Left On My Vacation
Image credits: 1angrypanda
#85 First Day Of Vacation
Unfortunately there was someone right behind us and I couldn’t stop it time. Lucky for us the deer jumped and hit mostly glass so no airbags! But it did take out the cargo rack and sunroof and ended up being over 14k in repairs!
Image credits: scottydznknow
#86 Cruising The Mountains In Hawaii On A Scooter… Until They Broke Down And We Couldn’t Make It All The Way Up
Image credits: reginapetrav
#87 Air China Destroyed My Wife’s Suitcase (Beijing To New Zealand)
Image credits: detectivechubbs
#88 Dropped One Of My Wireless Earbuds On The Train Tracks All Of 10 Minutes Into The 3 Hour Trip
Image credits: lostinthesauceband
#89 Took This Photo Of The Beautiful Sunrise At Our Bed And Breakfast, Years Ago, During Our Honeymoon. I Didn’t Look At It Closely And Sent To All Of Our Family. Nothing Says “Welcome To The Family” Like A Photo Such As This
Image credits: narlycharley
#90 Cot Mismanagement
My wife with our mismanaged evening time cot construction during a 2-week trip thru the Grand Canyon. We’re in our 70’s & we were f**king exhausted at this point. Can’t sleep in the sand cuz red ants.
Image credits: Cyberspree
#91 My Phone Fell Out Of My Pocket On My Flight To Tokyo Last Week (Going For Vacation). The Moving Of The Seat Crushed It
Image credits: stenzeroni
#92 My GF Put Her Makeup Set In Her Luggage
Image credits: herr_weich
#93 My Wife’s Wedding Ring Is Impossible To Get And I Know Exactly Where It Is
Image credits: Strange-Ad5999
#94 I’ve Travelled The World In This Hat & We’ve Finally Parted Ways Due To A Gust Of Wind On The London Underground
Image credits: RangerLongTorpedo
#95 Just Wanted To Enjoy My Vacation
Went on a trip for almost 2 weeks. Started to feel sick 5 days ago and just thought I was dehydrated. Came to the hospital to be told I have a severe uti, kidney infection, and sepsis. My flight home was supposed to be tomorrow. I have no idea when I’ll be able to go home.
Image credits: jen12617
#96 Went To Vacation. This Happened On The First Day
Image credits: rickydrama
#97 Missed Our Flight
Image credits: jennsabatino
#98 Things Don’t Always Go As Planned When Traveling
First, we got surprised by snow on our long-planned tour in the Rainbow mountains around Cusco and therefore, had to cancel our hike and return to Sicuani spontaneously. Later on the way to the border between Peru and Bolivia, the van's motor that was supposed to take a few locals and us to Puno, broke down in the middle of nowhere. In such situations, you only have two options: get upset or take the mishaps of the day with humor. Have you ever had such a travel day where everything just went wrong?
Image credits: vickiviaja
#99 Day 1 Of Our Once In A Lifetime Trip To A Resort In Maui. Nearly Sliced His Finger Off In A Door And Can’t Go Swimming For The Rest Of The Trip
Image credits: Shizzletit
#100 TSA Cut A Perfectly Circular Hole In My Sweater
Image credits: Osama_BanLlama
#101 Throwback To When I Booked A Room With A Mountain View At A Hotel In Denver
Image credits: oliviaislove
#102 You Break Your Arm In A Foreign Country, Suffer Through A Journey Home Where Airport Security In Two Different Countries Both Bash Around Your Cast In Case It’s Concealing Weapons
And finally get home to English speaking doctors who finally give you a pain pill.
Image credits: kimponyclub
#103 Well Crafted Beach Photobomb
Image credits: reddiholix
#104 My Wife And I Got Covid On Our Honeymoon
Image credits: SCStressDisorder
#105 Hakone Shrine In Japan, On Instagram vs. Reality
Image credits: alexandrab_
#106 Saw This On My Vacation In Amsterdam
Image credits: MsBarklez
#107 We Spent 2 1/2 Hours On Our First Anniversary Climbing Pen Y Fan, All For This View
Image credits: J_Bear
#108 Was About To Go On A Road Trip With My Friend During My Few Days Off… The Airbag Warning Signal Came On Right As We Were Ready To Go
Image credits: Chris_Schneider