crazy road trip

We’ll be back after this short break

Preparing...

Crazy Road Trip

It's time to put the paddle to the metal in Crazy Road Trip! In this high-speed driving game, you take control of a car that always drive forward. It's up to you to drive and drift it through the different stages and get to the other end in one piece. You can unlock 14 unique vehicles to drive around in - from monster trucks to race cars to even a toilet on wheels! If you think you're a real expert at drifting, try out Expert Mode! In this mode, you only get one life - so run into a single wall and it's game over. Only the very best drivers can finish all 30 levels on this mode. Let's hit the road!

How to play Crazy Road Trip?

• Use the A/D or the Left and Right arrow key to move!

Who created Crazy Road Trip?

Crazy Road Trip was created by Purrfect Games. This is their first game on Poki!

How can I play Crazy Road Trip for free?

You can play Crazy Road Trip for free on Poki.

Can I play Crazy Road Trip on mobile devices and desktop?

Crazy Road Trip can be played on your computer and mobile devices like phones and tablets.

• Racing Games
• Skill Games
• Driving Games
• Keyboard Games
• Drifting Games

RoadsideAmerica.com

Your Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions

Attraction:

Find Attractions and Oddities

Quirky patterns.

Trunkations

Roadside America's Blog

• Conspiracy Thinking and Bathroom Convenience
• The Cave Doctor

Field Reports

• Sight of the Week , April 22, 2024: World's Largest Cat
• Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center
• Bloodstained Tomb of Nina Craigmiles
• Roadside Sideshow Expo
• Easter Island Moai in America
• JFK's World Famous Twine Ball
• Gemini Giant: Space Age Muffler Man

More New Reports

Latest Visitor Tips

• Big White Shirt in White Dress Shirt Capital , Andalusia, Alabama
• Future Birthplace of James T. Kirk , Riverside, Iowa
• Wonder View Tower , Genoa, Colorado
• Giant Smilin' Sasquatch , Celina, Ohio
• Musical Highway , Tijeras, New Mexico
• Rosa Parks on Invisible Bus Seat , Montgomery, Alabama
• Seaside Heights Boardwalk Statues , Seaside Heights, New Jersey
• 18-Foot-High Dale Evans , Uvalde, Texas

More Visitor Tips

April 27, 2024

Save Cool Vacation Destinations! ... Try My Sights

Mobile Apps

Report an Offbeat Sight

Tell us about a new attraction or updated classic.

• Submit a Tip

Roll the dice .

Roadside Videos

Punk Rock Museum , Las Vegas, NV. Hanging out in the Punk Rock Museum instruments room with Canadian musicians K.J. and Grant.

Ask an Expert: Tim O'Brien on Quirky Maine , Bangor, ME. Q and A about the state with photographer-writer Tim O'Brien, a widely traveled guy with an eye for whimsy.

Truckhenge , Topeka, KS. Outsider artist's quip-filled tour of his sculptures and Stonehenge protest directed at local bureaucrats.

Miscellaneous

• Privacy Policy
• Terms and Conditions

Trip Planning Caution : RoadsideAmerica.com offers maps, directions and attraction details as a convenience, providing all information as is. Attraction status, hours and prices change without notice; call ahead!

Credits, Media/Business Inquiries © Copyright 1996-2024 Doug Kirby, Ken Smith, Mike Wilkins. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, copied or revised without written permission of the authors.

25 Crazy Travel Stories You Need To Read To Believe

Table of Contents

What is your craziest travel story?

That is exactly what I asked some of my favorite bloggers.

The result?

A list of 25   truly crazy travel stories you need to read to believe!

While this compilation has many funny travel stories, you’ll also find scary stories, wild road trip journeys, and outrageous anecdotes that will make your heartbeat quicken as you imagine yourself along for the ride. Honestly, some of the stories below might even make you tear up.

Like many of the best travel stories tend to do, they’ll certainly make you feel something, and will likely leave you with an important life lesson, as well.

Make some popcorn, grab a beverage, and settle in, as you’re about to travel around the world through short crazy travelogues!

Experience Travel #BeyondTheGuidebook [Free Personality Quiz]

Before we dive into some of the craziest travel stories you’ve ever heard, I want to invite you to take my free travel personality quiz .

This short and fun quiz helps you uncover your perfect type of trip based on your answers.

Not only that, but your results come with suggestions for unique trips you won’t find in your guidebook.

Once you get your results, feel free to share them on social media using the #BeyondTheGuidebook hashtag to keep sharing and discovering incredible journeys.

On that note, let’s dive into these great travel stories sharing truly shocking moments from the road.

Can You Believe These Crazy Travel Stories?

1. crazy encounters on the bus in south america.

My journal pages are filled with interesting short travel stories from riding the bus in South America .

One of these craziest experiences took place when I was riding from Cuzco to Lima in Peru.

Now, if you’ve ever ridden this windy bus leg, you know it’s almost impossible not at least feel a little ill. Honestly, if you’re only a bit queasy and not puking out the window, you’re lucky.

Somehow I actually didn’t feel that unwell, though at one point I did need to use the restroom. Luckily, this bus had a toilet in the back.

Or maybe that was unlucky, because as I walked down the aisle, a man stood in the center, blocking me.

“Perdóneme? Perdóneme?! Perdóneme??!!” I said, asking to be excused multiple times.

He didn’t budge. Instead, he stared at me with vacant eyes, almost like his soul had left his body.

As I stood there trying to pinpoint what was wrong with this man — and also how I could get him to move before I peed my pants — he proceeded to projectile vomit on the both of us.

On the plus side, he bent his head down at he did it so it mainly got on my shoes and pants and not my face…Yay?

This is one of the many funny crazy stories I have from this trip.

-Jessie from Jessie on a Journey

2. A crazy experience getting high in India

If you love short funny trip stories , then you won’t want to miss this next one:

In the humorous video above, I share about trying bhang lassi in Varanasi — and the very unexpected and wild night that ensued because of it.

By the way, if you’ve tried bhang lassi before, I’d love to know in the comments of the video if you had a similar experience.

Or is it just me?

Either way, this is one of my funniest travel stories from the road and one of the India travel stories I always love to share!

-Jessie of Jessie on a Journey

3. An ordeal in Madrid

One of my craziest travel experience stories happened when I was on a gap year in Grenoble, France, and mum and I were invited to Estepona, Spain, by a friend. We had three days of fun and on the fourth day were driven seven hours to Barajas Airport for our flight back to Lyon .

I’m a bookworm and once engrossed in a book, I’m truly lost. This got me in trouble when it was time to check-in and my bag had disappeared.

My bag…with my passport and film camera, gone!

We asked the people around us, but nobody saw anything.

Cue panic, frantic conversations in broken English, and gesticulations to find security to report.

We finally found airport security, filled out a form, and were told that most likely it was a cleaner that stole it when I was occupied as such theft was common there. There was nothing to be done but report it to the U.S. Embassy.

“What’s the embassy address, please?”

“I don’t know.”

Okay then. Looks like we’re in for a long weekend.

This was a Saturday evening.

Stranded in Madrid with not many Euros, my mum’s card only worked in France so we had no way of paying for a hotel until Monday. We dug up some coins to use a payphone to call our host in Estepona to explain the situation, ask for some Euros (to be repaid), and help with rescheduling departure.

Somehow, we got a taxi and had him take us to a cheap hotel which I’m sure was used for “alternative purposes.” Honestly, I felt that people thought that we were prostitutes — from their leers and us not having Euros to pay — since we were Black female travelers .

While there was definitely a language barrier when trying to request a room without putting a deposit down, we somehow got it.

We also asked for Western Union to receive Euros from our host, deciding that if I couldn’t get my passport on Monday, we’d insist on an emergency travel document. So, our host rescheduled tickets back to Lyon for Monday night.

I barely remember Madrid because of the stress; the language barrier, trying to find the U.S. Embassy, and having difficulty finding anybody willing to communicate with us.

Luckily, someone finally took pity on us and provided an information number to call. Thank goodness, because at this point we had little cash to get by until our wire transfer arrived.

On Monday morning, my mum and I got into a cab and gave the driver the address to the embassy. He recognized it immediately, and let us know that it was blocked and he couldn’t drop us at the gate.

This was confusing until we got there and saw these giant rock-like obstructions placed in a maze-like pattern on the walk towards the gate, and it wasn’t a straight walk either. I’m pretty sure we were being monitored via sniper rifles, which was incredibly nerve-wracking!

We reached the gates alive, asked for Consular Services, and headed in. I had no other details or documents to prove citizenship — it was 2002, so we didn’t have smartphones.

Luckily, the Universe and copious tears helped as I remembered I was a dual citizen and they could verify in their database from that. I wasn’t living in the U.S. at that point so double whammy.

I got a new passport in an hour after I cried that I couldn’t stay in Madrid and just wanted to return to France that day.

It probably helped that my mum scolded me again in their presence and they felt I’d suffered enough.

We had checked out and took our luggage to the embassy so they saw that we were serious about leaving. Thankfully, we made it to Lyon and caught a bus to Grenoble.

I’ve never been to Spain since then as that was a traumatic experience. I know it doesn’t represent the country as a whole, but it definitely soured my appeal for Madrid, at least.

– Ena from Musings and Adventures

4. A short travel story about a long way home

In March 2020 we were happily campervanning in Puglia — in the far south of Italy — when the Italian government announced a nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

We were traveling 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) in a straight line to our home in southern Poland, and we knew we either had to head there immediately or we would have to stay in Italy for an indefinite period.

We didn’t want to go through northern Italy, but a phone call told us that the Albanian ferry was not an option. For a moment we considered taking a boat from Rome to Spain, which was virus-free at the time. Fortunately, in retrospect, I had a feeling against this, and so we decided to make a beeline up the Italian motorways for home.

The Italian roads were deserted apart from heavy goods vehicles, and we crossed into Slovenia easily. We found a lovely little isolated farm on a hill and thought we would stay there for a week or so to self-isolate while this thing blew over.

The next day our host asked if we could leave as we had been in Italy and he was nervous about that.

News had come through that Poland would be closing its borders within days.

A straight road home through Hungary was already closed, so from the quaint rural idyll of Slovenia we turned north-west and joined the big Austrian autobahns, and now we wanted to head north-east to go back home through Slovakia.

From the Slovak border to our home it’s only a 400-kilometer (250-mile) drive. Unfortunately, the Slovakian border guards turned us away.

This border was already closed.

We headed west and tried the Czech border, and the same happened; this border was closed as well.

It looked like we were stuck in Austria, though there was one more option:

Drive around the Czech Republic and go through Poland through Germany — just an extra 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).

The Austrian – German border was easy to cross, but unfortunately, the long drive wasn’t kind to our van and approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the border the van broke down.

In all of this misery, we found a great car mechanic’s workshop. The diagnosis took only a few minutes, but waiting for the new part took an additional day.

Finally, on the eighth day of our trip, we were on our way home with a brand new driveshaft.

We arrived at the Polish border after queuing for a whole day on the roads. We felt so fortunate to be in our vehicle with all home conveniences, while so many others sat out the long day and evening with their families packed into small cars.

We crossed at exactly midnight.

And finally, home.

Talk about crazy road trip stories!

The Polish border guards had taken our address and contact details, and we spent the next fortnight after our 3,500-kilometer (2,175-mile) 10-day road trip in statutory home quarantine. Our quarantine was administered by a phone app and police visit to check if we were home and to bring us milk for coffee.

– Ania from The Travelling Twins  

5. Stuck in the Troodos Mountains

Our craziest travel story happened in Cyprus in 2015. We had booked an expensive spa day in the Troodos Mountains and after a wonderfully relaxing day where we had massages, facials, and the works we came to pay on our credit card.

After trying a few times and ascertaining we didn’t have enough cash to pay, we ended up leaving our passports as a guarantee to come back and pay the following day. After checking our online banking, we realized we had made the worst rookie mistake:

We hadn’t authorized the credit card to be used abroad. So, we ended up withdrawing the cash using our debit card and incurring foreign transaction fees that we were trying to avoid.

The following day we set off back up the mountain to pay our dues and retrieve our passports when nearing the top of the mountain our hire car came spluttering to a halt. We had checked the digital fuel gauge before setting off and had a quarter of a tank that now was empty.

We did the only thing we could think of and called a local guy we had been scuba diving with earlier that week to ask if he happened to know of a fuel station nearby.

After a quick Google he found that there was one two miles back down the mountain in a tiny village we had passed through. We managed to freewheel the car back down the winding mountain road to the village and into the fuel station…

…only to find it was closed because it was Sunday!

Now we were panicking, stuck halfway up a mountain with little to no cash, no passports and now no car when a lorry driver pulled into the station.

He came over to ask if we were okay and even though he didn’t understand much English he worked out our dilemma and pointed us to where the lorries fill up.

There was the option to pay at the pump!

Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers , as he helped us out with the pump and the machine, which was in Cypriot, and we thanked him profusely and continued on our way.

We arrived at the spa 10 minutes before they closed and were able to settle our bill and retrieve our passports.

– Steph from Book It Let’s Go

6. Experiencing the deepest earthquake ever recorded

We had no idea what was going on.

We had just completed an incredibly complicated set of instructions which led us to our Airbnb “cozy room” in Tokyo, and cozy it was indeed.

The whole bathroom was a kind of prefabricated pod — such as you might find on an airplane — and the bedroom was compact, to say the least.

I woke up with a white wine hangover from a wild celebratory night to a most unexpected sensation:

The whole room was swaying in a peculiar manner from side to side.

My friend Julie was up and screaming “what’s happening, what’s happening?” as if I had any clue. We had only just got there for heaven’s sake.

I was very woozy but my mind was working.

“I think it’s an earthquake,” I said calmly.

“What?!” she screamed.

I staggered out of bed and all I could think of doing was to Google “what to do in an earthquake.”

“Get underneath a table,” I read.

I looked ruefully at the very small table in the room.

Then I noticed a helpful “bedroom browser” laminated guide which was actually on the small table that I hadn’t noticed before.

The room stopped swaying and then started again lurching this time from side to side like a drunken sailor. The cups were shaking and I was feeling rather sick.

Sure enough, the bedroom browser had a section on what to do in an earthquake. It noted that all buildings in Tokyo were earthquake-proof, though if you were worried the door frames could protect you as they were all reinforced steel.

We didn’t feel particularly protected. Julie rushed downstairs to seek assistance, though she was met with a shrug from the old lady downstairs who simply replied that Japan sometimes shakes.

By now, I’d emailed our Airbnb hosts, who also noted that Japan sometimes had earthquakes, but that they were almost always small.

Well, the earthquake we experienced that night in the Shibuya District of Tokyo was the deepest ever recorded. It was 677 kilometers (421 miles) down, which is almost incomprehensible.

Although the epicenter was off the coast of the Ogasawara Islands, it shook the whole of Japan and the aftershocks were felt as far away as India and Nepal. The center of the earth actually bubbled up through the pavement in some places.

I was aghast that it got so little international attention. It didn’t cause a tsunami — the more shallow quakes actually do this — and no nuclear power plants were affected — but it was still a crazy experience.

– Elaine from Eccentric England

7. A scary travel story about a time I nearly drowned in Zimbabwe

This is one of the scariest travel stories I’ve ever shared and a truly crazy experience.

Wandering around Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, my travel companion and I saw a sign that read “Go whitewater rafting in the Zambezi.”

We figured, why not?

At the raft landing, a guy was giving instructions. I remember him saying, “Whatever you do, if the raft overturns, don’t let go of the rope.”

The safety equipment and the raft itself looked worn but we imagined that’s how frequently-used equipment should look.

We were not rafting experts, but one thing we knew for sure was that Level 6 rapids were only for extreme adventurers — not novices booking tours — everywhere in the world. Rapids go from Level 1 to Level 5 like a roller coaster in the water, but for tours, you never see a Level 6.

Once we were in the raft and rapidly rushing down the river, our guide, Banu, turned to me with a smile and noted we were going to experience Level 6 rapids. I was shocked and looked for a way to the shore, but it was too late. We were already about to encounter our first rushing rapid.

Whenever I think about the travel horror story that unfolded next, I see everything in slow motion:

The raft began to overturn. As I continued to hold on to the rope, I realized that the raft was tipping at such an angle that I must either release the rope or my arm was going to break. In that nanosecond, I calculated that I had a better chance of surviving with both arms than with one broken arm despite the guide’s warning to not let go.

We were immediately sucked into a whirlpool further and further into the dark water. I struggled toward the light above me thinking if I didn’t reach the surface within the next few seconds, I wasn’t going to make it.

At that moment, I had an overwhelming sense of disappointment that I was going to end my life then and there.

Suddenly I reached the surface but saw the raft too far away. I could hear another rapid coming and knew I couldn’t survive another drop without a raft.

One of the men that had been in the raft with me had also overturned but he managed to hold on to the rope. I could see in the distance he was debating whether to let go and reach for me to pull me in, risking his own safety, or to continue holding on like he was instructed.

He let go, reached me, and pulled me in.

We made it back safely. Later I found the guy who helped me and brought him and his wife a drink.

– Talek from Travels With Talek

8. A memorable train journey

Towards the end of my semester abroad in Florence , I decided to visit my friend from Brno. We agreed to meet in Vienna, so I purchased dirt-cheap tickets for a 12+ hour overnight train from Venice in coach.

I was self-assured by my ability to travel solo by then, so this didn’t phase me. But, within an hour of getting on the train, a man came to sit in my cabin across from me.

He was Indian, but I remember him so distinctly because he spoke German. And he was a very loud man.

About five hours in, my eyes were getting heavy. I noticed his fleeting glances, but I shrugged it off as curiosity. At 2am, it was hard not to drift to sleep.

Sometime past 3am, I was woken up. This man had moved across the cabin to sit in the seat immediately next to me. He was shaking my shoulder aggressively, demanding, “Massage? MASSAGE?’

“Ummm, excuse me?”

My heart started thudding like bricks. I tried to move cabins but was dismissed by the clearly exhausted conductor.

Miserably, I slumped back down in my seat, with Massage Man across from me for four more agonizing hours until we finally reached his stop. The entire way, I sat fighting back every urge to fall asleep as best as I possibly could.

I shook off the incident and had the time of my life that weekend. My friend and I visited Austria, the Czech Republic, and even Slovakia in just four days!

On my ride home, I was in a cabin full of businessmen. I sighed to myself, thank goodness.

But after a few short hours, they had disappeared, one by one. I was left, once again, alone in a cabin with not a man this time, but a boy. He was maybe 16, and he was crying.

My heart sunk. This was going to be another difficult ride.

What I learned was that this boy was Syrian. His family was nowhere to be found, but he had an uncle living outside of Venice that he was supposed to meet. He spoke virtually no English or Italian, and he was clearly distraught.

The first few hours were uncomfortable but I could feel him opening up, calming down.

We spent the final hour of our train ride playing Pictionary. I wrote every Italian phrase I thought might help him on a piece of paper and shoddily illustrated what each sentence meant, watching as he shook his head or nodded in understanding.

As the doors closed behind him at the train station in Venice and I made my way back to Florence, I watched him slowly disappear, paper clutched in hand. I remember the subtlest hint of a smile forming at the edge of his mouth, though there were still tears in his eyes.

You could say that moment was enough to exonerate the craziness that was Massage Man. And maybe it was. Because even though I was shaken up by the weekend’s series of events, the very next Friday I boarded a flight for yet another solo trip destined for Portugal .

And there have been countless solo trips since.

– Rachel from Rachel Off Duty

9. Handcuffed in Berlin

My crazy travel story involves a case of faulty handcuffs.

I was leading a student trip in Berlin a few years ago, and as we strolled along the banks of the Spree, we came across a number of pop-up stands selling World War II memorabilia.

Hats, badges, and bits of the demolished Berlin Wall crowded the tables. My students skipped over anything historical and went straight for a pair of metal handcuffs.

A student named Alex ended up buying them, putting them on with both hands held out in front of him. Unfortunately, immediately after posing for pictures he realized the key to open them didn’t work; it just kept turning in the hole.

The original seller was no help, he didn’t have a key that worked. Alex was stuck!

We walked a few blocks down to a bike shop, hoping that they might have a tool that would be helpful for opening handcuffs. The well-intended bike repairman took a stab at opening them with his wrench, but as we heard a click-click we realized he had actually made them tighter!

Time being of the essence for Alex’s slightly blue fingers.

We decided to head to Alexanderplatz where we knew there would be a policeman. No one offered to help us as we walked, and I later questioned what type of city Berlin was that no one stopped to question why there was a woman with a boy walking down the street in handcuffs at 3pm.

We finally found a good-humored policeman in Alexanderplatz and as he wearily looked at Alex’s bound hands I used my one semester of German to explain “Wir haben ein Problem.”

He laughed and took us to the police station where he came out with a terrifying tool that was finally able to cut off Alex’s handcuffs.

Hopefully, this is the only school trip I ever have to chaperone that involves handcuffs!

– Kristin from Growing Global Citizens

10. Crazy storms in Algonquin Park

Here’s a story about what not to do on a canoe trip.

I was part of a guided multi-day canoe trip in Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada — the largest Provincial Park in Ontario. It can be pretty remote in the interior.

With clear skies in the forecast, our group made a day trip from our camping site to a beautiful sandy beach. Beside the beach — up on a hill — sat a small wooden cabin which had been boarded up.

That afternoon, we swam and relaxed without a care in the world. But when it was time to leave, the wind had changed direction creating large waves that crashed into the beach. We now couldn’t launch the canoes from the beach without tipping. So, the group decided to wait it out.

While we were waiting, the sky became very dark and the clouds looked rippled. The wind began to kick up sand and create bigger swells that crashed the shore. Then the rain and lightning started — further away at first and then much closer.

It became apparent that this storm was coming right for us.

People started to panic. We couldn’t head for the trees because they were falling. We couldn’t head for the water because of the waves. We couldn’t stay on the beach because of the lightning. So, we were trapped, and the storm was getting worse.

In a split-second, we made a decision:

Someone pried a board off one of the cabin’s windows, smashed the glass with a rock, climbed inside, and opened the door for all of us to scramble inside. I will never forget running along the beach towards the cabin in wind and rain so disorientating we could hardly see.

Luckily, everyone — a few dozen people — got into the cabin safely. The group was soaked and some were in tears. Others just watched the storm in awe.

After the storm passed, it became too late in the day to leave the beach so everyone had to sleep in that cabin. Thinking we would be back at the campsites that evening, only one group had brought their food barrel so we all had to ration spoonfuls of a pasta dinner.

Early the next morning we canoed double the amount to make up for the lost time. We later found out that the storm system produced a tornado that had touched down in the area!

 – Eric from Ontario Away

11. The sailing trip turned drug-running operation in Indonesia

If you’re looking for crazy real stories, get ready for this one.

Our boat weighed anchor in a small bay off the beach of a small island that was part of the eastern islands in Indonesia, the ones located between Lombok and Flores.

The crew gathered us for a briefing of our stop and, unlike other stops, informed us that disembarking would not be optional. We would all leave the boat and partake in a hike to the center of the island to swim in a series of natural waterfall pools.

Despite the protests of a few passengers who were not up to a hike, we loaded into the small boats and were brought to shore.

Nobody was staying on the boat and nobody would be staying on the beach. Reaching the beach, I began to swing my leg over the side to leave the boat when several men stepped out from the tree line. It took me all of two seconds to realize they were holding guns.

I hesitated, along with the rest of my fellow travelers. Our eyes locking in an instant of terror.

“So, this is how this happens,” I thought, envisioning the headlines across western news:

“Travelers go missing in Indonesia” or “Travelers held for ransom in Indonesia.”

I knew how this could end.

We looked to our guides, who at the time looked chill and unphased by the men on the beach. They calmly told us to exit the boat, as this is where we would start the hike.

Unsure what other options we had, we all hopped onto the beach, gathered ourselves, and began following one of our guides into the jungle.

Tailing the rear of our group was one of the armed men. Trotting to the front, I asked our guide why there were men on the beach with guns, for one, and why we were being escorted by one on our “hike.”

He looked at me, smiled, and said, “He’s just here to make sure we don’t leave early.”

To the surprise of our whole group, 40 minutes of slogging along a jungle trail found us at the waterfall we had been promised.

Trying to relieve our anxiety, we all proceeded to spend the next 90 minutes swimming in the pools, exploring the area, and pretending that what we had just seen was a hallucination.

The anticipation was undeniable as the beach drew closer on our return. What would we see? Would this be the part where we were kidnapped? Shot?

My imagination was running wild as the trees opened up to the beach. Much to our surprise, we were brought directly to the small boats, while the armed beach men watched from the tree line.

Moving my camera to the side to get in the boat, they stepped slowly back into the trees, perhaps thinking I was attempting a photo opportunity. I’m not that stupid, but at least they didn’t overreact.

Boarding the main boat again, the crew acted as if nothing happened. They prepared lunch and chatted with us about the afternoon activities.

Of course, none of us could let it go.

That night, we made our way to the front of the boat to watch the sunset. It was at that point we all realized that the more than 100 large blue barrels that had been sitting in the space below us, were gone.

– Lina and David from Divergent Travelers

12. Robbed of everything on my solo trip to Europe

I have been a solo traveler for over six years, and the crazy travel story I’m about to share — which takes place on a two-plus-month solo trip through Europe — has been my worst experience so far.

Missing two busses in a row to Bruges, I decided to go to Brussels instead, arriving by an overnight Flixbus at Brussel-Noord station early in the morning.

Getting off the bus, I placed my bag down for a few seconds to put on my jacket. It probably took less than 30 seconds, but when I looked down to pick the laptop bag, it was gone!

In total shock, I thought of at least collecting my backpack from my bus first; however, when I walked to the other side of the bus where it had been stored, I realized in shock that it was also gone.

I had to be hallucinating. How was this possible?

I checked with the driver. He looked around, but of course, it was gone. What was even more startling was that he replied calmly that robbery was quite common there and then he left. I didn’t receive any contact number, let alone support from Flixbus.

So on just my fifth day in Europe, in less than two minutes, I had lost almost everything — 200+ Euros, my credit and debit cards, my clothes, and my laptop.

Being a full-time travel blogger , losing my laptop — my bread and butter — was a huge blow. I was alone in a new city with no one that I knew and nowhere to go. I will never forget the anxiety, anger, and fear as I sobbed.

Luckily I was wearing a sling bag, where I had kept my passport and mobile phone. After a while, I called people back home and found connections from friends about someone in the city.

He arrived and took me to the police station, and let me stay in his apartment until I sorted things.

After two days, I shopped for everything, gathered some courage, and continued the rest of my trip. It was a crazy experience indeed!

Reshma from The Solo Globetrotter

13. Accused of kidnapping in China

We took our first international family trip to Beijing when our son was five months old. Although we were nervous about the flight, we were also excited to explore the city and walk on the Great Wall of China.

During our time in Beijing, we had a lot of fun and were photographed a lot — which we expected, being two Black women with a biracial son. A woman even chased us down the street to ask if our son was Korean.

Overall, it was an interesting experience, but our story starts when we were departing Beijing.

While at the airport, we were waiting to go through security and were pulled aside for questioning. We were surprised and confused, especially as we were escorted to a small room with security with our baby.

When we got into the room we were suddenly hit with a barrage of questions:

Where was our son born?

Who is his father?

Did we have pictures of the birth?

Who carried the baby?

Could we prove he was our son?

I was shocked, as I considered that we were being accused of kidnapping.

How could we have kidnapped our own son when we received a Chinese visa and had no problems when we arrived?

Their questions didn’t make sense given the fact we provided all of the required documentation to receive the visa.

After getting over the initial shock, we showed pictures throughout my pregnancy, our son’s birth certificate, pictures taken immediately after his birth, our donor contract, and a statement from our fertility doctor.

Luckily, we had all of the documentation handy because we were going through the adoption process — to avoid things like this in the future.

Once they reviewed the documentation, they were satisfied that we did not kidnap our son and we boarded our flight back to San Diego.

– Corritta and Mea from It’s a Family Thing

14. An intimidating encounter in Venezuela

The first time I traveled abroad was to Venezuela. I was 24, incredibly naïve, and spoke no more Spanish than you’d find on a Taco Bell menu.

During my trip, I intended to fly from one part of the country to another for a couple of days. Thinking something along the lines of, “Well, I won’t be leaving the country,” I left my passport in the safe inside my room at the resort where I was temporarily living.

At the airport and in line to board my plane, an angry camouflage-adorned man with an automatic weapon as tall as me pulled me aside and loudly demanded to see my passport.

I tried explaining that I’d left it in my room — and what the hell did I need it for anyway since I wasn’t even leaving the country — and whatever else I thought would help.

The entire time he was yelling at me in Spanish, waving the hand that wasn’t hovering over the trigger, and getting angrier by the minute. This is also while my plane was boarding without me.

Just at the moment when I think I’m for sure about to get locked up abroad, a tiny elderly Venezuelan woman approaches and shoves herself between us.

She, apparently completely aware of what was going on, proceeded to yell back at the man whose gun was definitely larger than her. He yelled at her, she yelled back, she pointed at me, he pointed at me, they both yelled some more.

Before I knew it, the intimidating angry officer turned and left. She smiled timidly as I thanked her and walked away without a word.

I have no idea what they said to each other. I didn’t even know why the whole situation took place until I read the news a few days later.

As it turned out, my trip had coincided with the 2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum, an election in which Hugo Chavez sought to abolish presidential terms, therefore potentially becoming president of Venezuela forever.

This was also during a time of heightened tensions between Chavez and now former U.S. President George W. Bush — a time during which Chavez had accused Bush of sending Americans to Venezuela to tamper with the election.

Unbeknownst to me, I’d fallen right into this national suspicion. Chavez ended up losing that election, his first and only loss in his nine-year presidency, and a loss I had nothing to do with. I swear.

– Ashley from My Wanderlusty Life

15. When upsetting experiences turn into inspiring travel stories in Costa Rica

Driving on a rural dirt road in Costa Rica in Central America, we were miles from anywhere. We stopped along the road to snap a photo of the bright yellow Sloth Crossing sign when something moved in the yard of a run-down shack and startled me.

Suddenly, a spider monkey came running on the ground toward me, but just as quickly its head was jerked back when the tether it was chained to ran out, flipping it back onto its belly.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The small female was tethered to a clothesline by a tight collar around her neck. She looked into my eyes and seemed to plead for me to do something. Anything.

The house looked abandoned, we had no cell phone and felt helpless. We couldn’t risk trespassing and a confrontation with her captor. Though we knew it was illegal to hold monkeys in captivity, we were in a foreign country, with no one to turn to and just a few hours until we had to leave.

So we did the only thing we could think of:

Took photos of her captivity, noted the latitude and longitude of our location and the direction we’d taken from Puerto Viejo, and begged her forgiveness at having to leave.

As soon as we arrived at the airport the next morning, I emailed our friends at the Jaguar Rescue Center who had expertise in rescuing and rehabilitating monkeys. I was certain they could help.

After we got home, weeks passed with no word, until one day an email came from the owner Sandro, written in Italian.

He thanked me for our call for help. They’d followed my directions and found the monkey, still chained to her tether. After weeks of nourishment and care, they released her back into the jungle.

But then something even more amazing happened.

A female spider monkey they had released just weeks earlier, who’d been separated from a sibling and was always sad whenever she was left alone, came running from the jungle to embrace the new monkey being released.

It was the sibling she’d been separated from, and the two were finally reunited!

Sometimes just when you think there’s nothing you can do to change an impossible situation, the simple act of reaching out can make all the difference. This is truly one of the most amazing travel stories I’ve ever experienced.

– Lori from Travlinmad

16. Quarantined on an exotic island

My craziest travel story is also my most recent, a COVID-related misadventure that happened just before borders shut around the world.

The Philippines only had about 30 cases at this stage and had travel restrictions from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, but not Vietnam, where I was flying from.

On day three in the Philippines, one of my tour buddies had a slight fever at one of the mandatory temperature checks, which meant we had to head to a rural hospital for her to get checked before reaching our overnight stop in a small coastal town.

Hours later, she was taken to the main hospital on Palawan for further tests, and we continued to our overnight stop.

We finally made it to the tiny seaside town at 9pm — six hours behind schedule — where we were told by local authorities we weren’t allowed to set foot in the town due to health concerns.

After another two hours of sitting on the bus, it was decided last minute that until our friend got her results back, we were going into quarantine…

…on a private island, a short boat ride away!

We had 30 minutes to shower and pack a small bag of essentials before jumping onto a boat in the pitch black.

There was no power on the island except for a single light and no reception or showers. We slept in tents on the sand and spent the next day searching for turtles in the bay (we found one!), playing volleyball, and trying not to think about how long we’d be out there for.

Additionally, we consumed copious amounts of rum and sat around a bonfire at night sharing our craziest travel stories so far.

On the third day of being on the island, we headed out to a snorkel stop where our guide managed to get a spot of cell service. He was hoping for news on our tour mate, preparing for what we thought was the worst-case scenario, us being out there for 14 days.

What he didn’t expect to hear was that Manila was going into total lockdown in 36 hours and that we had to get back to the mainland, then the main city, then fly to Manila and all fly out of the country ASAP.

To break this down further, we had to get a boat to the mainland, then a bus to Puerto Princesa, and during the drive all 21 of us had to book flights from Puerto Princesa to Manila while every other tourist on the island was doing the same.

A bunch of us managed to get one of the first flights out at 7am, but others in the group missed out and spent the entire next day at the airport waiting for standby flights, finally being allowed onto one that landed at 11pm, an hour before Manila’s lockdown came into effect.

The following day we all had to book urgent flights back to our home countries, as Manila Airport was allowing foreigners to return home, but not to visit another destination. $2600 later, I was on a one-way flight to New Zealand, my home country where I haven’t lived for three years, to “move in” with my parents who I haven’t lived with in 10 years!

Absolutely.

But, was the island the coolest place in the world to be quarantined?

Oh, and my friend’s test came back negative, thank goodness!

– Alexx from Finding Alexx

17. From hell to heaven in Mumbai

Several years ago, I went to Mumbai to meet a friend booked into an Airbnb. Airbnb was still relatively new in India , so I knew I was taking a risk. But I never thought I would end up in the “chicken dungeon”!

The chicken dungeon was a large sub-basement room at the base of an apartment building; the only real window was a door to the tiny backyard filled with chickens wandering freely, squawking constantly, and making a mess.

Opening the door was unappealing, but keeping it shut plunged the room into dungeon-like darkness. It was a gloomy space and the only good thing about it was that my Facebook updates kept my friends entertained.

So after three days, I logged back into Airbnb and chose somewhere close by, but very different. I went to see it and when I walked through the door…

… it was like heaven.

The room was in a light-filled apartment, facing the Arabian Sea. Huge windows looked out to the shimmering waters; at sunset, I had a front-row view.

It was perfect, so I went back to the chicken dungeon, grabbed my things, and moved out. My friend arrived that day and I had to quickly change for the opening night of the Mumbai Film Festival.

First, we went to the opening ceremony, in a grand building that was still in the last stages of renovation. I had to go into a narrow hallway, still under construction, to find the women’s washroom.

At the first door I found, I gave a big push. It was the men’s room and Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan was coming out the door. I narrowly missed smacking him in the head, which would have been very bad as he was the emcee. It was my first “run in” with the Bollywood legend, widely considered the world’s number one movie star.

After the ceremony, we all went to the opening night party, which was at Antilia — the world’s most expensive house, with a cost of $2 billion USD to build.

In just one day, I went from the worst place I have ever stayed, the chicken dungeon, to the world’s most expensive house, an elaborate 27-story building in south Mumbai.

In India, everything is possible.

– Mariellen from Breathedreamgo

18. A knife fight on a bus

I looked down in disbelief at the big knife in my hand. I guess I had just been in my first “knife fight.”

After spending the most amazing time in a converted school bus in a Colorado village, I’d ridden the bus from Glenwood Springs to Denver in Colorado . I was keeping costs down on a two-month trip around the U.S.

The bus was completely full and as we clocked up the hours to Denver, the gentleman in the aisle seat opposite me started acting weirdly.

Initially friendly and chatty at the beginning of the ride, he started to get louder and more disturbed, smacking the chair in front of him. His Mountain Dew bottles — I later found out — were full of something that smelled like peach schnapps.

He hotboxed the only toilet on board, and coming back to his seat smelling of weed and booze.

He also started to get “friendly” with the girl in the seat next to him. I intently tried to mind my own business, being very British, slipping earphones in to listen to music, and gazing toward the front of the bus.

The man’s direct seat neighbor was tough, though. He started to stroke her leg suggestively, but she kept rebutting him, moving his hand off, and giving him a piece of her mind.

But then it happened far too fast, though his inebriated actions seemed so slow. A knife came out of a holster from his bag, and he was holding it at the woman’s throat, telling her to “stop being a b*tch.”

I don’t quite know what got into me.

My state of not wanting to get involved turned into a lurch across the bus. I held his hand back and then she managed to get the knife out and pass it to me. I had no idea what to do, but to pass it to the people behind me, and it made its way down the bus.

Strangely, he was so intoxicated he doesn’t seem to notice the loss.

We stopped in the next town for what the bus driver said would be a smoking break, but it was just a rouse. The chap got off, lit up his cigarette, and the driver drove off.

He was left in a vest top, in freezing November temperatures in the Colorado highlands. His jacket, wallet, phone, and bag were all next to me, still on the bus.

When we arrived in Denver, I packed up his belongings and tried to give them to the driver. He wouldn’t take them. I left them at the driver’s feet on Denver bus station pavement and finally got to walk away.

– Dave from Dave Chant

19. A funny travel story about Thai trotts and hornet hives

It was a crippling cramp that came from absolutely nowhere.

I doubled over with the pain but my friends were not in the least bit sympathetic to my cries. The bus we’d been waiting for in the searing Thai heat for the last two hours had just arrived and there was no way we were not going to get on it.

The pain in my stomach came in long, sweat-inducing waves and my dizziness raced along with the endless palm-fringed landscapes that passed our window. And then, thump, my stomach dropped like a rock from my ribcage to my ankles and it became apparent that I would need to find a bathroom – post haste.

Clambering my way to the driver, I presented him with a primal look of fear that seemed to transcend all communication barriers.

I darted off of the bus before it had even stopped and ran towards some small buildings up ahead. Two men in shirts and ties stood smoking in the doorway of what looked like an office – the local tourist office, I decided.

Distressed, I asked, “Toilet? Toilet? Bathroom! WC!” But they didn’t understand.

Desperate now, I put my charades skills to work and roleplayed a man pissing at a urinal, then pulling his trousers down and sitting on a toilet. My audience on the bus behind me continued to cheer me on, which bothered me only because it distracted the man from the matter at hand.

Finally, he waved his hand towards a corridor inside the office and nodded.

I ran inside like a headless chicken and opened the door, greeted by what I can only describe as a hole dug in the dirt. Not a moment too soon, just as I was about to be thrust into the air by the force of my own bowels, I assumed the position and relaxed into pure, unadulterated bliss.

I didn’t care that I could hear the bus pulling off.

I didn’t care that I had lost all dignity or that I’d probably never find my way home.

I didn’t even care that every corner of this blessed “bathroom” — which had one of the craziest toilets I’d ever seen — housed countless hornet nests the size of basketballs, in and out of which buzzed angry residents the size of blackbirds. They hovered around my face and ears and landed on my back, but I simply didn’t care.

I was so blissed out by the sense of relief that I surrendered to them entirely.

With a modicum of sensibility now restored, I wandered slowly like a drunk back into the office, where I found the man in the shirt and tie lying down on a sofa, watching TV. I waved and held my hands together to say thank you and he did the same as I hobbled towards the door.

And that’s when the true horror of it all came crashing down.

First I spotted a kitchen, then a few family photos dotted around the place on frilly little doilies. It wasn’t an office at all, but someone’s home that I had barged my way into like a marauding white devil, demanding to be escorted to a bathroom so that I could decimate it.

Back outside, the bus was, of course, nowhere to be seen. But my friends, to my dismay, were sitting at the side of the road with our bags and their thumbs in the air.

Seemingly moments later we were all crammed into the back of an old pick up truck, bouncing along dusty roads with a gang of farmworkers gawking at us.

My friends didn’t speak to me for days, but somehow it didn’t matter, for I had experienced the ultimate in Thai hospitality.

It really was amazing.

– Ben from Driftwood Journals

20. A very unusual CouchSurfing experience

I’ve always been a fan of the website Couchsurfing.com because it connects you with locals while traveling. Couchsurfing in Africa is my favorite because I’ve had unique experiences with my hosts.

I was staying at eco-hotel in Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda, which was a beautiful place to disconnect and experience the lake that inspired Wakanda from Black Panther. Yet, I yearned to immerse myself more into the local culture .

I looked for a Couchsurfing host who was from the lake and found a guy named Josh. He said he could pick me up at my hotel with his canoe and that I could spend a night at his home.

When Josh came to pick me up, I was surprised that his boat had no motor and only one paddle.

Josh started paddling, and naturally, we conversed about our lives. I thanked Josh numerous times for picking me up and finally asked what time he left his house to get me.

He told me 5am!

That meant the canoe trip would take four hours. I had no idea I’d be in a canoe for so long, venturing off to a random place with a person whom I met online.

During the canoe ride, it started to downpour, so we found the closest land and huddled under a tree until it passed. The whole situation was humorous to me since this was a truly unusual experience.

The boat ride was enjoyable, and I appreciated the slow pace.

After four hours, we finally made it to Josh’s home, and I immediately loved it. You could tell the home was built with love.

Josh’s house is far away from regular amenities like grocery stores, so it is essential to be self-efficient. There were lots of fruits and vegetable trees, and Josh even taught me how to make the infamous “ rolex ” that you’ll find as street food throughout Uganda.

Josh and I were similar ages, but our lives were quite different. He wakes up and decides what activity he will do to entertain himself, whether that is building something new on his dock, being social with friends in the village, or taking his canoe for a day-long trip to pick up a Couchsurfer.

– Kesi from Kesi To and Fro

21. Tsunami evacuation in Sri Lanka

It is rare that I get to bring my mum with me on my world travels, but when I do I always make sure they are experiences to remember. Although not always for the intended reasons.

“Never Again!”

On this occasion, she had just flown from the UK to meet me in Bangkok before a shorter haul flight to Sri Lanka the next morning.

She was in her late 60’s at the time and her verbal protest was about two days before she arrived into the mayhem of Sri Lanka tuk-tuks and traffic.

So she was more than relieved to set base on the southern coast at Ahangama — 3 kilometers (less than two miles) from the city of Galle, when we sat down to celebrate with food and drinks at our beachfront hotels.

But before our biryani had even arrived, a deafening siren sounded across the coastline as an 8.6-magnitude quake rocked the Indian Ocean. We were otherwise clueless at the time as everyone else was running in all directions, panicked, until I decided to get up and ask what’s going on.

By this time the hotel manager had already jumped in the back of a tuk-tuk and when I asked the only member of staff around on what to do he pointed to a tall red pole on the horizon and said to climb it. Fortunately, there was a big tour bus in the hotel who let us jump in the back with them as we joined the mass evacuation of the coastline.

After around 30 mins driving uphill, we were all welcomed by a betel chewing farmer who let us wait in his gardens until the warnings were eventually lifted and we returned to the hotel.

That night we barely slept through the aftershocks until the next morning when we escaped the coastline and I forced my mum back onto tuk-tuks and local buses through eight hours of travel to reach the scenic hill town of Ella.

– Allan from It’s Sometimes Sunny in Bangor

22. Getting scammed in New Delhi

If you love crazy short stories that also teach a lesson, here you go:

After nine years of dreaming of India, I had officially arrived in the infinitely chaotic and historical city of New Delhi.

After finally making our way through immigration, my partner Charles and I got right into making our first mistake — an epic travel fail that would shape the unfortunate events to come.

I stupidly decided to buy an Indian SIM Card. Not only was it overpriced, but I was told it wouldn’t activate for over four hours, which was far from ideal.

Nevertheless, I was still in my dream country and was thinking of all the delectable street food that would be up for tasting later that night.

Or so I thought.

Though I had opted to use our budget hotel’s pick up service, no one was there to greet us, and without cell service, making a call was out of the question.

So the metro it was. The metro ride itself went without issue. It was only once we wandered out of the underground station and found ourselves thrust into a gaggle of rickshaw drivers did our fate really set in.

Overwhelmed and a bit taken aback by the cacophony of scenes and sounds unfolding all around us, we easily slipped into our second mistake:

Hiring a rickshaw to take us to our hotel with no compass, maps, or cell service to speak of.

As I sat in the back of the rickshaw transfixed by Delhi life, we were suddenly brought up to a gate being guarded by two heavily armed men.

“Paharganj is very dangerous, you cannot enter without permission.”

Scared, naive, and of course lacking any means of communication, we agreed to be taken to this tourist agency.

The small, official-looking office was headed by an exceptionally suave young man who insisted that riots had shut down Paharganj, a budget-friendly neighborhood known to be frequented by backpackers.

The man proceeded to call our “hotel” where a man answered and reiterated that yes, in fact, the hotel and neighborhood were closed. As I pushed him to look up other budget-hotels in Delhi, the calls he made always had the same result that they were full or closed.

Soon we were left with an ultimatum:

Stay in a “safe” 5-star hotel or accept their offer of a private taxi driver to take us hundreds of miles north to Himachal Pradesh, a mountainous state we had planned to head to tomorrow.

Due to a combination of stress, jet lag, culture shock, being out of my comfort zone, and, of course, no way to check any of these claims or prices, we acquiesced. And so began our journey with Lali, a taxi driver they contracted to drive us for nearly a day straight on little to no sleep.

The next 24 hours were a whirlwind. Within an hour, Lali’s exceptionally jovial personality had come out. He procured us Indian hashish, fresh mangoes, and our first taste of real local cuisine.

All was well and good — until Lali nearly fell asleep at the wheel, that is. After insisting we stop for the night, we pulled off into the next motel we saw, a random establishment on the side of the highway.

Twenty-four hours and one near-crash in the foothills of the Himalayas later, we finally arrived, thankful our absolutely insane start to our Indian adventure was about to be traded in for the tranquility of the mountains.

It would take a week for us to truly come to terms with just how badly we’d been scammed.

We learned that the correct price for a taxi that distance was ⅓ of what we paid. Additionally, Paharganj never closed, wasn’t particularly unsafe, and all the phone calls made to the budget hotels were actually fake as the “employees” on the other end were in fact just players in the scam.

Though it might have started off on a very bad foot, the rest of our time in India was magical.

We even returned for a much longer trip the following year, this time armed with the knowledge that cell phone service — even if it’s roaming — and the use of Uber are two essentials for a successful Delhi experience.

– Samantha from International Detours

23. A crazy short story about a false alarm

Here is one of my most embarrassing travel stories :

I was staying in a five-star hotel in Malacca, Malaysia, with my boyfriend when suddenly we heard “gunshots” outside.

As a Pakistani, my boyfriend was instantly reminded of the infamous 2008 Mumbai Hotel Attack, in which a group of gunmen sieged a high-end hotel and killed scores of people. He wanted to cautiously check out the hotel lobby but when he moved the door lock, it made a strange sound that we had never heard before.

Scared for our lives, we locked ourselves inside the bathroom with all lights off. We tightly embraced each other and barely dared to move even a millimeter.

Things did not get any better when we realized the WiFi was turned off and there were steps near the door. In a great panic, I decided to contact my mother and tell her about the situation, while my boyfriend posted on Instagram.

After about three hours, the phone in our room rang. Not sure of what to expect, my boyfriend carefully left the bathroom to pick up the phone.

The minute while he was on the phone was perhaps the scariest time in my life. Who could have called us? Was it the receptionist telling us to stay inside or the attackers announcing our last hour?

My boyfriend came with a big grin on his face.

“Get out, everything is fine!” he told me, laughing.

It was the hotel lobby who called. They had heard about our panic and wanted to reassure us that everything was fine and the “gunshots” we heard were actually fireworks!

Relieved and embarrassed at the same time, I called my mother and told her about the false alarm.

In an even more embarrassed tone, she told me that she had contacted the Malaysian police from the other end of the world and that she now had to call them back because of our false alarm.

When I thought it could not get any worse, I turned back towards my boyfriend staring at his phone and saw yet the most embarrassed face ever. Among his Instagram followers were very well-connected people who in response to his posts had notified various Pakistani politicians as well as the embassies of three countries in Malaysia about the “terrorist attack on a Malacca hotel.”

Now it was my boyfriend’s job to explain the situation to his audience.

He went on an Instagram livestream to apologize for the false alarm; however, most of his followers believed he had just pulled a giant prank and never forgave him.

– Arabela from The Spicy Travel Girl

24. An encounter with an angry buffalo

I volunteered at a wildlife conservancy in Kenya with a small group of women, and we worked on a variety of projects there. We tracked and photographed endangered giraffes, collected wire snares to combat poaching, and set out to repair an animal hide.

There was a small building in the bush where you could observe animals without being seen; however, before we started to work on the building itself, we needed to clear a path to the little hut because it was covered in weeds and rocks.

Our group of four, along with two guides, hacked away at the thick overgrowth with machetes. One guide kept our vehicle close and another stayed far ahead of us as we worked.

Suddenly, I heard our guide up ahead screaming. I couldn’t make out what he was yelling, but my instincts told me to run. I raced as fast as I could back to our vehicle and swung open the back door.

I glanced up ahead:

A massive buffalo was stampeding towards us!

Jumping into the JEEP as quickly as possible, I slammed the door behind me. Our other guide was safely in the car — honking the horn repeatedly in an attempt to scare away the buffalo — and one of the women was safe in the passenger seat.

The mother-daughter duo in our group wasn’t far behind, and the daughter raced to one side of the car. Her mom jumped on the hood of the car to try to escape the buffalo.

Just as her daughter pulled her off the hood, the buffalo smashed its horns into the car.

The JEEP shook back and forth violently. The buffalo backed up and snorted heavily. The daughter pushed her mom into the front driver’s side door and I pulled the mom’s arms to get her into the car.

Once her mom was mostly inside, the daughter dropped and rolled underneath the car. Luckily, the buffalo walked to the opposite side of the vehicle at this point. The buffalo raged once again, slamming its horns into the side of the car. We shook back and forth as I stared into the buffalo’s eyes from inside the vehicle.

Every day, when we drove around the nature reserve, we typically saw large groups of buffalo grazing in the fields. They always watched us from a distance, and never seemed too threatening.

Sadly, this particular buffalo was injured and isolated from her group. When she heard us working in the thicket, she was angry and lashed out at us.

Thankfully, the buffalo eventually stopped attacking our car and wandered away on her own. But, one of our guides — the one that warned us — was still missing.

I was so grateful to be alive, but I was so worried about him. Did he warn us, just in time, before the buffalo killed him?

It took several more minutes, but he soon emerged from the bushes.

To escape the buffalo, he had jumped into a giant cactus tree. Although he had some cuts and scrapes, he was alive.

The preparedness of our guides and his screaming saved our lives. It really was a miracle that we all survived.

– Lauren from Justin Plus Lauren

25. File this under crazy hotel stories

One of our weirdest travel stories was during our trip to Assam.

Our train to Guwahati arrived 10 hours late. Instead of reaching at 10am in the morning, we reached at around 8:30pm at night. Once we were out of the railway station we started looking for hotels for the night.

We approached a few hotels but without any luck, likely because it was peak season at the time.

Finally, we went to a decent-looking hotel and got a small room. It was a sorry-looking room with a single bed, but we were supposed to stay only for the night and so we decided to take it.

It was quite late at night when we could hear some, err, “funny noises” coming from the room beside us. I looked at Agni with a “What have we gotten into?” expression. But we were so tired that we did not want to think about it and simply slept.

It was little after midnight when there was a lock at the door. We did not pay heed at first, but the knock was persistent and then we heard a voice from outside saying, “Open the door or we will break it. Police outside!”

Our sleep vanished in a jiffy and soon Agni opened the door. In came two police constables, who started asking various questions.

Huh? Why have the police come to the hotel?

I looked out and saw other policemen taking some people away.

They asked us various questions about our place of stay, where we were going, and many others.

For some reason, they were not ready to believe that we were married. The policemen looked skeptical and they took Agni away to another room for questioning while a female constable started asking me questions.

After about 15 minutes of interrogation, they wanted to see our marriage proof.

Quick note: This incident happened almost eight years back and India was still quite a conservative society then and did not approve of a girl and a boy staying together outside marriage.

We were not carrying our marriage certificate then; however, Facebook came to our rescue at that time. I went to Facebook and opened our marriage album that was full of photographs of our happy moments of marriage.

The lady constable somehow seemed to trust me.

Very soon, Agni was also brought in. The policemen talked among themselves and then told Agni very sternly, “If you are a family man, then you should book rooms in proper hotels.”

We seemed to have convinced them. Later, we realized that the hotel was a completely seedy one and dealt with a number of shady businesses. The next morning, we checked out of the hotel as soon as possible, vowing to never return to this place again.

Looking back now, we can add this to our list of funny vacation stories; however, at the time, we were a bit scared when the police came barging through the hotel door.

Nevertheless, we learned a valuable lesson that day – we should carry a copy of our marriage certificate everywhere to prove that we are married!

– Amrita and Agniswar from Tale of 2 Backpackers

Travel Insurance

The above crazy, funny, and scary travel stories offer solid reminders about the importance of getting travel insurance .

My go-to travel insurance company is SafetyWing , which offers a full suite of straightforward products to keep you safe on your trips.

Unlike most travel insurance companies, you don’t need to price compare plans and get quotes. You simply put where you’re going and for how long, and purchase.

One really unique feature:

SafetyWing includes limited coverage in your home country, too, as long as the visit isn’t for an appointment to treat an ailment that began on your trip.

So if you’re home and an accident happens, you have 30 days of at-home coverage (or 15 days in the USA) during every 90-day cycle.

Click here to learn more about SafetyWing .

Bonus Short Travel Stories

Love short travel stories ? Then check out:

17 True Short Adventure Travel Stories To Inspire Your Next Trip

23 Inspiring Travel Stories Sharing The Kindness Of Strangers

16 Short Funny Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud

38 Inspiring Travel Love Stories From The Road

21 Travel Horror Stories Sharing Scary Travel Experiences

8 Crazy NYC Subway Stories That Will Make You Hail A Cab

A Host’s Perspective: My Worst Airbnb Horror Stories

11 Epic Travel Fail Stories From The Road

18 Scary Travel Stories From Haunted Hotels To Creepy Cabins

Do you have any crazy travel stories to share?

Related posts:.

Hi, I’m Jessie on a journey!

I'm a conscious solo traveler on a mission to take you beyond the guidebook to inspire you to live your best life through travel. Come join me!

Want to live your best life through travel?

Subscribe for FREE access to my library of fun blogging worksheets and learn how to get paid to travel more!

Turn Your Travel Blog Into A Profitable Business

Subscribe to my email list to snag instant access to my library of workbooks, checklists, tutorials and other resources to help you earn more money -- and have more fun -- blogging. Oh, and it's totally FREE! :) //  Privacy Policy . 

Check your inbox for your welcome email + resource library password!

11 Comments

There are some really crazy stories in this list! My favourite is the one where the monkey gets rescued in Costa Rica and reunited with it’s sibling. We have a few crazy stories from before we had children – such as a trip to Goa where we somehow ended up dancing round a camp fire in the middle of the jungle with a couple of locals and a toothless musician!

I love everything about this post! What a cool, fun read. I really can’t believe some of these. Thank you for sharing these stories.

Ahh!!! Haha, I can relate to so many of these stories! Especially urgently needing a toilet in Southeast Asia + accidentally getting high (accidentally tripped in Gili T lolol). Travel is full of so many crazy, gross, scary, weird, awkward moments….but that’s part of what makes it so fun and interesting.

Love the reading these amazing and joyful travel stories. I really enjoy my traveling time. So amazing article for me. Thank you for sharing this article.

Nice blog with great post, Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing these travel stories with us,I found out by reading this article how much there is still to know and learn, There are good and bad people everywhere so we should travel very carefully, highly informative article,thank you

I love reading this blog, it is so nice

thanks for sharing this wonderful article am glad that it has always been my stress killer thank a lot dear

This is very beautiful, thanks for sharing such a great article with us.

Why is it travel bloggers don’t comprehend that most people loathe travel stories? It’s akin to hearing someone account a dream. And no, the rest of us aren’t jealous. We’re just bored of the one sided conversation incessant travelers have with themselves while we are present.

very perfect article thanks lot

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Protect Your Trip »

13 unusual roadside attractions across america.

You'll want to schedule a stop at these unconventional sites, found everywhere from Texas to Hawaii.

(Getty Images) |

Make room for these quirky attractions on your next road trip.

Salvation Mountain: Niland, California

Hole N" The Rock: Moab, Utah

(Getty Image) |

Carhenge: Alliance, Nebraska

Prada Marfa: Valentine, Texas

(Courtesy of North Dakota Department of Commerce-Tourism Division) |

Enchanted Highway: North Dakota

Dinosaur Kingdom II: Natural Bridge, Virginia

Cadillac Ranch: Amarillo, Texas

Winchester Mystery House: San Jose, California

Pineapple Garden Maze: Wahiawa, Hawaii

Bubblegum Alley: San Luis Obispo, California

Wall Drug Store: Wall, South Dakota

(Courtesy of Dog Bark Park Inn) |

Dog Bark Park Inn: Cottonwood, Idaho

(Richard Maack Photography | Courtesy of Flintstone Bedrock City)

Flintstones Bedrock City: Coconino County, Arizona

If you make a purchase from our site, we may earn a commission. This does not affect the quality or independence of our editorial content.

You May Also Like

Flight canceled or delayed what to do.

Amanda Norcross April 26, 2024

The Best Beach Hats

Megan Johnson and Sharael Kolberg April 26, 2024

The Best Florence Tours

John Rodwan April 25, 2024

The 9 Best Louisiana Swamp Tours of 2024

John Rodwan April 24, 2024

How Much Does a Cruise Cost?

Gwen Pratesi April 24, 2024

The Best Whale Watching in Cape Cod

Lyn Mettler April 24, 2024

Best Whale Watching Tours in Maine

Marisa Méndez April 23, 2024

The Best Wineries in Napa Valley

April 23, 2024

The Best East Coast Beaches

April 19, 2024

The Best Luggage Brands

Rachael Hood April 17, 2024

The Weirdest Roadside Attractions in the United States

There are many reasons solo travelers, couples, families, and adventures take road trips. Whether it’s to get away from it all, grow closer together, or see things you'd never see during everyday life, road trips bring you face-to-face with some of the most beautiful sights and weirdest things you’ll ever see. Here are 13 of the weirdest roadside attractions in the US. While road tripping, it’s often the undiscovered path that makes the most memorable moments on and off the road.

Mitchell Corn Palace, South Dakota

Any drive through the Midwest will bring you face-to-face with cornstalks taller than you can imagine. The Mitchell Corn Palace in South Dakota celebrates all things corn—starting with this prairie town in the middle of nowhere. This “palace” looks like something straight out of Russia, built in 1892 to showcase South Dakota’s bountiful harvests. Touring celebrities and one of the world’s largest bird feeders await road-trippers who visit.

One of the World’s Largest Rubber Band Balls, Florida

Many of us at some point have created a rubber band ball. Most of us lose interest after getting it to the size of a golf ball, but the Guinness World Records holder for World’s Largest Rubber Band Ball kept going, and kept going he did. Joel Waul’s rubber band ball measured in at 9,032 pounds in November 2008. More than 700,000 rubber bands were used coming in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Nicknamed “Megaton,” this 6’7” rubber band ball will leave you in awe during this pit stop—the ball can be found at Ripley's Believe It or Not! in Orlando .

One of the Largest Rubber Stamps, Ohio

If you’ve ever wielded a rubber stamp, you know how fun it can be to stamp things randomly in front of you. Now, imagine, standing up close and personal with a giant rubber stamp. In 1985, Standard Oil of Ohio commissioned the 28’ tall, 48’ long “free” rubber stamp from artist Claes Oldenburg. Located near downtown Cleveland's harbor, this sculpture is one of the largest rubber stamps in the world.

Hat 'n' Boots, Washington

In 1954, a gas station named Premium Tex south of Seattle hosted a 19’ tall, 44’ wide, bright cowboy hat. It covered the station’s offices and convenience store, while a pair of equally tall cowboy boots housed the men’s and women’s bathrooms. The goal of Premium Tex was simple—to create and open a western warehouse and destination. Alas, the gas station closed in 1988 before that happened and the local city council raised funds to preserve the giant cowboy boots and hat well into the future. The restoration of both was completed in 2010 and travelers now stand in awe at this road trip treasure in Oxbow Park, Seattle.

Jumbo Uncle Sam, Michigan

Uncle Sam is an iconic figure, coming to life in posters, literature, television, and more. There are several larger-than-life Uncle Sam statues across America, but the one on the Ohio/Michigan border might eclipse them all. This Uncle Sam figure originally came from Toledo, Ohio, and has been relocated along stretches of US 23 over the years to come to rest to its current location in Ottawa Lake. Whether you drive by this Uncle Sam or stop to stare up at its majesty, you’ll be left in patriotic awe after seeing it.

Ball of Twine, Kansas

There are wonders of the world, and then there are wonders of Kansas. If you’ve ever road tripped through Kansas, you may feel like there’s nothing much to do but get from point A to point B, but that’s not true! Ask anybody who lives in Kansas about the ball of twine, and they’ll talk your ear off. Started in 1953 by Frank Stoeber and his family, this ball of twine continued to grow over the years. Neighbors, visitors, and others around town helped contribute, and the tradition has continued throughout the years. At 17,400+ pounds and 40 feet in circumference, you won’t see twine the same after stopping to see this wonder of The Sunflower State.

The Groom Cross, Texas

Crosses are found across the US, and you’ll come across them in the oddest places. Drive along Texas long enough, and you’ll come across the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ or The Groom Cross as locals call it. At nineteen stories high, you’ll see this on a bright day from up to 20 miles away. Created from 2.5 million pounds of steel by an anonymous Texas millionaire, it’s free to the public to look up at from the road, pray at the base of, or drive past it. It lit up at night, so you’ll never miss this when road tripping.

One of the Largest Baskets, Ohio

Who doesn’t love baskets? Whether it’s of the picnic variety or simply storing things, everyone’s drawn to a cute wicker basket—and large ones, too! The largest one, to be exact. Situated in Newark, Ohio, you’ll find one of the world’s biggest baskets; the seven-story basket once served as Longaberger Basket Company headquarters. Many companies often create opulent, over the top icons to represent their brands. If you’re a fan of the oddities on the road, driving to one of the world’s largest baskets is a must.

Fiberglass Fish, Wisconsin

If you love fishing and road tripping, a stop at the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame is right up your alley. The fiberglass sculpture at this location is four stories tall and about as long as a Boeing 757. It’s a Muskie, a fearsome fish that’s both been a blessing and curse for freshwater fishers. Since the 1970s, this museum has kept track of freshwater fishing records across America. If you’re in Wisconsin and you love fishing, consider a stop to stare into the face of a sculpture so large, if it were alive, it could swallow a bus.

Tower of Filing Cabinets, Vermont

The biggest oddities on the road are the things that make us stop and say, “why?” The tower of filing cabinets on the road in Vermont is that sort of road trip oddity. Located off Route 7 on Shelburne Street, between Foster Street and Pine Street in Burlington, you can’t miss these towing, rusty filing cabinets. Created by local artist Bren Alvarez in 2002; the project is meant to highlight the years of paperwork that accumulated from a failed project to build a beltway in the area. This is most likely a weird sight for travelers in Vermont who have no clue what they’re looking at. That type of stop makes for the best road trip story.

One of the Largest Teapots, West Virginia

If you’ve traveled through West Virginia and stopped at a gas station or convenience store, you may have noticed a plethora of postcards with the “world’s largest teapot”. At approximately 14 feet high, this teapot was built as a keg for a root beer company. It changed hands several times over the decades, and it underwent a major restoration in the 1990s. Depending on what side of the river in the state's Northern Panhandle, you can see the teapot lit up at night like a beacon to travelers looking for a little levity on their road trip.

One of the Largest Rubik's Cubes, Tennessee

The world’s largest Rubik’s Cube stood at the entrance of the 1982 Knoxville World’s Fair. Weighing in at 1,200 pounds and standing more than 10 feet high, this Rubik’s Cube wasn’t something someone could solve on their own. Over the course of the World’s Fair, the colors and patterns on the cube changed throughout the day. Once the fair was over, the city had no clue what to do with the Rubik’s Cube, and it fell into disrepair. Once exposed by local journalists, the city worked to repair and restore the cube to its former glory and was moved indoors for the 2007 Knoxville World’s Fair. This is a sight to see for travelers, even if it once again fell into bad shape with no word on whether it’ll be repaired again.

Gnome Chomsky, New York

Garden gnomes either make you smile or cringe. No matter how creative, tacky, or scary they may be, you’ve no doubt come across them on your travels. But you may not have come across this 2006 project called “Gnome on the Grange.” Celebrating the local farming community in New York at Kelder’s Farm, the giant gnome can be seen from the road—standing at 15’ tall, it’s hard to miss! At one time, Gnome on the Range held the title of Guinness World Record for Tallest Concrete Gnome.

The 12 Best Comfortable Women’s Boots, Tested and Reviewed

The 10 Best Long-Distance Cycling Trails in the United States

The Best Small Town in Every State

Science Says This Is the Perfect U.S. Road Trip

The Ultimate Road Trip Playlist According to Travelers, Editors, and Spotify

7 Must-See Stops Along the Lewis and Clark Trail

The Best Beach in Every State

The Spookiest Road Trips in the United States

The Best Staycation in Every State

The Best Places to Eat Lobster in Maine

The Best Fall Getaways for Families

The Overseas Highway: Miami to Key West

The Ultimate East Coast Beach Road Trip

Great Summer Family Trips in the USA

The Best Day Trips From Lexington, Kentucky

New England's 10 Most Iconic Outdoor Landmarks

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Sweepstakes
• Travel Tips

Strange Roadside Attractions From Every State

In addition to wide-open prairie, twisting coastal highways, and sun kissed mountain ranges, the United States has its fair share of oddities—really, really odd oddities, as it turns out. What better way to spend a road trip than discovering how bizarre our country (and some of its inhabitants) is?

Alabama: Unclaimed Baggage Center

Known to many as the “land of lost luggage,” this stop in Scottsboro, Alabama sees about one million visitors from around the world every year. Covering more than a city block, visitors can purchase literally any item that has been packed in a suitcase that was never claimed by its owner or left on an airplane. It’s the only lost luggage store in the United States.

Alaska: Igloo City

This tourist attraction—located in Cantwell, Alaska—is especially odd because it never actually opened for business. The four-story, concrete hotel, (circa 1970) remains unfinished to this day because it failed to meet building codes. But tourists sure do love to pay it a visit—it can even be seen from airplanes cruising at a lofty 30,000 feet in the air.

Arizona: The Thing

Creators of the hit movie “The Thing” take roadside advertisement to the next level along Interstate 10. The stretch of endless highway is lined not only by dry desert for miles, but with billboards advertising the mysterious “Thing” at exit 312.

Arkansas: Christ of the Ozarks

Interestingly enough, this larger-than-life monumental Jesus is actually known for sort-of resembling a milk carton.

California: Salvation Mountain

Located in Nilan, California—not too far from Slab City—lays a mini mountain, covered in paintings of colorful biblical messages like “God is Love.” The late Leonard King who lived on Salvation Mountain and continuously painted his messages on it from 1985 until the early 2000s created the man-made mountain.

Colorado: UFO Watchtower

Finding a weird, alien-themed road stop is usually within a stone’s throw when it comes to the American Southwest. But the UFO Watchtower is pretty out-there. Finding herself in the middle of what many believers think to be a hub of galactic activity, Judy Messoline decided to turn her ranch into a campground with a UFO watchtower, which is open to the public.

Connecticut: Cushing Brain Collection

“Check out that diseased brain collection” is definitely not something you hear often. But around Yale’s medical school library in New Haven, Connecticut, it might be. Donated to Yale in 1939 in the name of Dr. Harvey Cushing, this collection of brains ridden with tumors and disease definitely earns a spot on the list.

Delaware: Miles the Monster

Think “The Hulk”—except stone grey, angular, and with glowing red eyes.

Florida: Airstream Ranch

Nothing says “America” like a good old, standing car formation that vaguely resembles Stonehenge. This collection of eight classic Airstreams alongside I-4, between Tampa and Orlando, looks more like the RVs were sent rocketing down from space, straight into the ground.

Georgia: Georgia Guidestones

“Let these be guidestones to an age of reason,” reads from the tablet in the front of the Georgia Guidestones. This structure—a monument made up of several 19-foot granite stones, commissioned by an anonymous man in 1979—offers 10 post-apocalyptic messages of guidance, written in eight different languages. The perfect thing for a bit of light reading.

Hawaii: World’s Longest Plant Maze

If you have time to pay a visit to the Dole Plantation in Wahiawa, Hawaii, you’ll want to stop by the world’s biggest botanical maze—made up of 14,000 colorful Hawaiian plants, all in the shape of a giant pineapple.

Idaho: World’s Biggest Beagle (Dog Bark Park Inn)

Here in Cottonwood, Idaho, you can visit the world’s biggest beagle—and sleep in it, too!

Illinois: Gold Pyramid House

This six-story, 17,000-square-foot private home in Wadsworth, Illinois is plated in gold—and it’s surrounded by a moat.

Indiana: Roofless Church

At the nondenominational Roofless Church in New Harmony, Indiana, all are welcome to pray under cover of the sky, next to a domed structure. It also serves as a popular wedding destination.

Iowa: The Hobo Museum

Since it opened in 1980, the Hobo Museum has come a long way in preserving the legacy of hoboes. It exists within an old converted town theater, and serves as an archive of all things created by hoboes of America (music, photographs, art, and more).

Kansas: The World’s Largest Collection of Smallest Versions of Largest Things

The creator of this mobile collection of roadside attractions (which is, in fact, a roadside attraction in itself) does just what you would think: When Erika Nelson hears news of a “World’s Largest” roadside item, she visits it for photo documentation and creates a tiny replica out of various materials.

Kentucky: Dinosaur World

When you spot the giant, larger-than-life T-Rex off of I-65, you know you’re close to Dinosaur World. Visitors will find massive, life-sized dinosaur replicas scattered throughout this park as they take a prehistoric stroll.

Louisiana: The Gates of Guinee

If you’re looking for the gates to the voodoo underworld, Guinee, look no further than the French Quarter. It is believed that seven gates are scattered around the city.

Maine: International Cryptozoology Museum

This unique museum unveils artifacts related to the study of hidden or unknown animals. Established by crypto-zoologist Loren Coleman, the museum is home to a collection of “cryptid” specimens—think Yetis, Bigfoot, sea serpents, and the like.

Maryland: Ouija Board Headstone

It’s only fitting that the man who patented the Ouija Board, Elijah Bond, has a headstone that resembles exactly what he created.

Massachusetts: The Witch House of Salem

This is the last standing structure in Salem with direct ties to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

Michigan: Hell, Michigan

With a slogan like “Go to Hell…Michigan,” how could you not be curious? Established in 1838, this little town officially became “Hell” after the first settler began to pay farmers for their grain with whiskey.

Minnesota: Spoonbridge and Cherry

Located in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, this larger-than-life spoon provides a large dose of whimsy, with an even larger cherry on top. During the winter, when the spoon is covered in snow, the sculpture looks like a massive ice cream sundae.

Mississippi: Touch the Hand of Elvis

This bronze sculpture was created in Elvis’s hometown, Tupelo. Fans will often reach up to touch the hands of the King.

Missouri: Nuclear Waste Adventure Trail

Despite how it looks from the outside, this man-made mountain—just south of Weldon Spring, Missouri—encapsulates the remnants of the largest explosives factory in America, as well as a Cold War-era uranium refinery. Now, you can take a stroll over the 54-acre expanse of 1.48 million cubic yards of covered-up PCBs, mercury, asbestos, TNT, radioactive uranium, and radium.

Montana: Garden of One Thousand Buddhas

Surround yourself with more Buddhas than you’ve (probably) ever encountered in this international center for peace.

Nebraska: Carhenge

There’s something about vintage cars arranged in Stonehenge-like formations that really resonates with the American population. Carhenge, in Alliance, Nebraska, was created by Jim Reinders as a tribute to his father.

Nevada: The Clown Motel

Located on a stretch of the Nevada desert—right next to a century-old miner’s graveyard—sits the oh-so inviting Clown Motel. What about a motel decorated with dozens of smiling, glassy-eyed clowns in a desert doesn’t sound appealing? That being said, all are welcome.

New Hampshire: Yankee Siege Catapult

If there’s one thing that the good people of Greenfield, New Hampshire love to do in the fall, it’s launching enormous pumpkins into the sky with this massive catapult (which actually resembles a giant medieval weapon). As of 2010, unfortunately, the Yankee Siege Catapult is out of commission—but it sure is cool to look at.

New Jersey: Lucy the Elephant

Located in Margate, New Jersey, Lucy the Elephant just might be the coolest thing in the state. What’s not to love about a 134-year-old, 90-ton, 65-foot elephant made of tin and wood? You can even go inside the structure through a small spiral staircase to peruse a museum focused on the history of her creation.

New Mexico: World’s largest pistachio

It’s safe to say that this larger-than-life pistachio is one of the more unique “World’s Largest” items found in the U.S. It’s only fitting that this giant nut is located near Pistachio Land. The giant pistachio stands 30-feet tall and is pretty realistic—but don’t be fooled. It’s concrete.

New York: World’s Smallest Church

The Cross Island Chapel (or chapel-ette, perhaps?) in Oneida, New York, is tiny . The small structure has enough room to accommodate a bride, groom, and minister—but don’t worry, the church is in the middle of a pond, so the wedding party can anchor on a boat nearby.

North Carolina: The last Shell Oil Clamshell station

In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, you can ogle the last standing Shell Oil Clamshell station, from an era when Shell thought that selling gas from seashell-shaped stations was a good idea. Turns out, the clamshell shape doesn’t lend itself to much other than a clam. The station was abandoned in the 1950s.

North Dakota: Enchanted Highway Sculptures

Driving through the open, flat prairie of North Dakota can be monotonous—but things start to get exciting along highway 21 (now the Enchanted Highway ) when heading toward the small town of Regent. From giant metal deer and geese frozen in mid-flight to an alarmingly large grasshopper, Gary Greff made sure that no traveler would find themselves bored while driving down the enchanted highway.

Ohio: Frozen Cleveland Lighthouse

Ever wondered what an empty lighthouse covered in hundreds of layers of ice looks like? Search no further than the Frozen Cleveland Lighthouse to discover this beautiful natural ice sculpture.

Oklahoma: Totem Pole Park

In 1938, local artist Ed Galloway began creating the first of 11 concrete totem poles, one of which became the world’s largest concrete totem pole, standing at 90 -eet. The structures eventually covered the expanse of 14 acres in what is now a public folk art garden and park.

Oregon: Octopus Tree of Oregon

The reason behind the octopus-shape of this wild Spruce tree in Tillamook, Oregon is a complete mystery. People have speculated that it was natural forces, and others attribute it to Native Americans, who some believe shaped the tree’s cage-like structure. Either way, it’s cool to look at—be warned: there are no octopus here.

Pennsylvania: Shoe House

A very wealthy shoe-enthusiast built this boot-shaped house in 1948. Once serving as an over-the-top advertisement for Haines Shoe Company, the giant boot is now open for tours.

Rhode Island: The Big Blue Bug

Located in plain site right along I-95, road-trippers don’t even need to stop for the experience that is the Big Blue Bug. The bug serves as a mascot for Big Blue Bug Solutions, and welcomes all who pass through Providence.

South Carolina: South of the Border

Advertisements leading up to this road side experience off of I-95 include signs that say things like, “You never sausage a place!” The stop offers restaurants, gas stations, a motel, and an amusement park. Its mascot—a giant sombrero-wearing caricature of a Mexican man—is known to be politically incorrect, but is impossible to miss while crossing the border from North Carolina to South Carolina.

South Dakota: Wall Drug

Wall Drug is the epitome of tourist traps and weird America, boasting over 80 years of inviting travelers in with giant billboards advertising kitschy attractions, restaurants, and stores (think giant dinosaur, life-size cowboy statues, western wear, and Wild West-style apothecary shoppe). One of the biggest draws? Free ice water.

Tennessee: Peabody Memphis Duck March

The Peabody Memphis Hotel Duck March began in 1933 and is now a famous tradition at this iconic Tennessee hotel. Everyday at 11am and 5pm, five North America mallards march (read: waddle) up a red carpet at the hotel lobby fountain to pay a visit to hotel guests.

Texas: Prada Marfa store

Two Berlin-based artists, Elmgreen and Dragset, created this permanent sculpture installation located along U.S. 90 near Valentine, Texas in 2005. The idea was that the sculpture would resemble a real Prada store—but in the middle of the dessert, with the hopes that it would eventually deteriorate into the Earth. To discourage vandals from stealing the expensive products, all bags are bottomless and all shoes are right-footed.

Utah: Hole in the Rock

There’s a 5,000-square-foot home carved directly into a rock along Highway 191 in Utah—and all visitors are welcome.

Vermont: Ben and Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard

Here, you can pay your respects to the ice cream flavors that just couldn’t make it to the shelf.

Virginia: Foamhenge

In Natural Bridge, Virginia, there is a full-sized replica of Stonehenge, made entirely out of styrofoam. So if you can’t make it to England, fear not. Foamhenge is here.

Washington: Wild Metal Horses Monument

Above the Columbia River, a majestic stampede of 15 wild metal horses runs along a ridge in Vantage, Washington, as a memorial to the horses that once inhabited the area.

West Virginia: Mothman Statue

In Point Pleasant, West Virginia, the legend of Mothman lives on as a giant red-eyed sculpture.

Wisconsin: Chatty Belle, World’s Largest Talking Cow

Built for the World’s Fair in Neillsville, Wisconsin, The World’s Largest Talking Cow used to be able to tell visitors about fun Wisconsin dairy facts. Unfortunately, Chatty Belle’s voice box no longer operates correctly.

Wyoming: Fossil Cabin

With a sign outside the building that says “Believe it or not,” this tourist attraction is hard to miss. Built way back in 1932, this roadside cabin was constructed from real dinosaur bones, found at the nearby Como Bluff just outside of Medicine Bow, Wyoming.

Home › Blog › 17 Crazy Smart Must-Have Road Trip Tips and Hacks

17 Crazy Smart Must-Have Road Trip Tips and Hacks

By Christine Jerry

Published Apr 04, 2024

Traveling for the holidays or enjoying family vacation? Road trips with kids can get crazy. Use these must-have sanity-saving road trip tips!  We have found the must-have genius road trip tips to make car travel around town and long road trips with kids so much easier – and even fun!

If you’ve been a regular here at One Crazy House, I’m sure you’ve become accustomed to our lists of hacks.  Our goal with providing hacks and helpful tips is to help make it just a little easier for you.

Road Trip Tips To Make Traveling With Kids Fun

With the busiest travel days ahead of us, we figured it’s time to get prepared with a few road trip tips. As any parent who has ever ventured on a long road trip can tell you, road trips with kids can be a challenge – unless you use these tips!

1. Stay Organized with Front Doormats

Getting mud in the floor, or crumbs or all. the. things. is one of the things that both decreases the cleanliness of the vehicle, but also decreases the value! But, typical car floor mats don’t always fit or offer the coverage AND STYLE that we know you want!

Outdoor-front doormats to the rescue! They are easy to cut with a utility knife and you have custom and stylish car mats, that truly work to contain the mess.

2. Make Sections with Shower Curtain Rods

Another genius tip we have to help you make the most of your trunk space is to use bins, totes, and a tension shower curtain rod to help make “sections” in your trunk. 

This part of your car becomes usable when it’s not a pile of items bouncing around.  Put the items you need occasionally towards the back of your trunk, and keep the easy-to-access space up front for things you need to grab quickly.

3. Plan Your Road Trip Like a Prep Pro

No matter where your road trip is taking you, preparation can make it stress-free and adventurous.  I love using a planning guide and this camping planner can help guide you through the process even if you never spend one night in a tent! The $7 spent on the Camping planner  is well worth it!!  Your sanity is worth it!!

3. Get Your Car Inspected

This is SO important. Nothing can derail your road trip plan faster than an unexpected mishap. Although we don’t have control over everything, we have to do our best to take preventative measures.

Before you hit the road and pack the car, make sure to get your tires checked and your vehicle inspected. You don’t need any surprises along the way if you can avoid them. There are many tire shops that are willing to do an inspection for free, so there’s no excuse not to take this preventative measure.

If the worst happens and you DO need some car repairs, you may be able to take care of them yourself! Here are 11 easy car repairs that you can do on your own .

4. Plan for Seasonal Conditions

This is particularly true if you’re traveling in the winter! You’ll want these winter car hack tips if you have to deal with snow. If you are like me and don’t deal with winter often, these hacks are essentials!

5. Pass the Time with Post-it Notes

Write down specific times on Post-it Notes stick them on the dash just below the clock. When the clock displays each time written down, give the kids a surprise. It will give them something to look forward to at regular intervals.

6. Get Crafty to Keep Toddlers Busy

This next idea from Kids Activities Blog would be PERFECT for toddlers since they are completely obsessed with clips and zippers. Check out their tutorial for this DIY Clipping Toy. Your kids will stay busy with clip after clip…

7. Save Tons on Eating Out

Eating out along the way can be very expensive, especially if you have the whole family in tow. Thankfully, meal prep for the road doesn’t need to be hard!

A good cooler will get you a long way on your meal planning goals. Fill it with bottles of water, and healthy snack foods such as:

• hardboiled eggs
• cheese sticks
• baby carrots and/or cucumbers
• pre-packaged containers of hummus
• deli meat or shredded chicken
• juice boxes
• water bottles

Then, in a separate bin, keep food items that do not need to be chilled. I like to pre-package everything into small ziplock bags so all I need to do during the trap is pass them out to everyone. I put:

• homemade trail mix
• tortillas (these are great for a quick meal – just fill them with hummus and shredded chicken and cheese from your cooler!)
• protein bars

I try to keep our food within the car fairly healthy and lower in sugar. It only takes a few hours with hyped-up children trapped in the car to clean up my diet! 

Pssst…don’t forget the napkins and eating utensils and an extra supply of wet wipes.

8. Buy a Car Trash Can – or Two!

I seriously did not realize how life-changing a simple car trash can would be for us! This is one of my favorite road trip tips! I recommend getting 1-2 smaller trash cans that can fit plastic grocery bags as the liner or use a cereal container. Whenever you stop for gas or to eat, simply grab the bag and toss it in the trash.

9. Turn Any Mug into a Spill-Proof One

We’re somehow always running out of travel mugs – thankfully, this simple hack will let you turn any cup into a spill-proof one!

10. Stretch Your Dollar

Get better gas mileage by using your cruise control feature and making sure your tires are inflated at the optimal PSI. I know it’s tempting to get to your destination faster, but keeping a steady pace will save you from filling up more frequently.

11. Use Cupcake Liners to Keep the Cupholders Clean

This is one of my favorite car hacks of all time for cup holders. If you always end a road trip with sticky cupholders (bleh!), this is one of the road trip tips just for you! Line your cupholders with silicone cupcake liners . Once they get gross, simply take them out and wash them before putting them right back!

12. Make a DIY Car Sick Bag

Got a child (or adult!) who gets car sick? Make a car sick kit by gathering up plastic bags, Dramamine, an electrolyte drink, some saltines, and disinfectant. Keep them at the ready…just in case!

5 More Car Trip Tips to Try

• Love this idea to stock up on shower caddies for the car from Grey House Harbor . An inexpensive shower caddy with a suction cup can be placed on the car window and act as an extra holding spot for toys and snacks. Genius!
• Anyone who has road tripped with kids knows that the backseat is guaranteed to be filled with crumbs by the time you get home.  With this fun road trip hack from Lemon Lime Adventures , this problem in solved! Wrap duct tape sticky side out around your kids’ feet and let them play footsies to see who can pick up the most crumbs!
• Keep your kids unplugged and entertained in the car with a printed sheet of license plates from each state from Living Well Mom . Once they have found it on the road, they can check it off and keep searching for the rest!
• I love this idea from A Girl and a Glue Gun ! Use a tackle box to put together a portable emergency kit that can join you on all your road trip adventures.
• I love this smart solution from HGTV that uses a shower caddy to hold food and snacks.

I hope you found a few helpful ideas for your next family road trip. No matter what chaos may occur, remember you’re making memories and that’s the most important thing.

For more travel tips, make sure to check out our Traveling Tips to Make Your Next Trip a Breeze , it’s full of incredible tips and tricks you’ll definitely want.

They might not always seem fun at the time, but they will always be memorable. Happy travels!

You Might Also Like

13 Best Ways to Stay Cool When You Don’t Have a Pool

15 Brilliant Uses For Your Old, Recycled Towels

16 Shoe Hacks Every Girl Needs to Know

How To Clean Hair Brushes (The Easy Way)

Genius Ideas Travel Tricks & Tips

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

FEATURED BY

©2024 DIY House Hacks - One Crazy House. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy • Cookie Policy • Disclosure Policy • Powered by CultivateWP .

2016 Sides Family Road Trip

Our 5,500-mile RV journey through the American West

The monster planning task is almost done! I’ve marked about 100 things to see/do over the course of our 30-day drive covering ~5,400 miles. – the flights to/from Seattle are booked – overnight reservations are confirmed at nearly 2 dozen different places – equipment has been arriving by mail at the RV (kitchenware, grill, outdoor chairs, etc.). I can hardly believe it….

I used a website called RoadTrippers.com to map the route.  Since they have a limit of 60 waypoints per map, I had to use two “trips” to cover the whole route. I made the trips public, so you can interact with the map, get details on each of the waypoints, see what days we’re scheduled to be where, and everything.

Click the images below to go to the website and get the interactive map.

Oh! I made a consolidated itinerary to print and keep with me in the cockpit. At a glance, it’ll tell me what’s next, how far away it is, and what time we need to leave in order to make it to that night’s overnight reservation. If we don’t make it, we’ll have to find a new campground or, more likely: a place to park and sleep (a rest stop, a store parking lot, or the side of the road somewhere).

For Sale (Already)!

Our chariot is already listed for sale on the Seattle Craig’s List … before we’ve seen it, much less even ridden in it!

Packing Day

All Packed up!

It’s just after midnight, and everyone’s bags are packed and everything on the “To Do” list has been done.

Actually, the bags have been packed for a while, but I left “draining & unplugging the hot tub” as the very last task on the list, so you can guess where I’ve been in the interim.  What a beautiful night out there…! I sure needed it, too, because I’ll confess to some last minute nerves. As far as the rest of the family is concerned, how fun or interesting will they find this trip?

I know what my first goal is. I want to avoid dragging the side of the RV against the edge of the garage as I pull it out of storage. Maybe you’ll excuse me any accident after that, though?

Anyway, the point of this post was supposed to be about our luggage. I researched the airline’s policy, and I see that they’ll charge us $100 for each bag after the first, and for all bags over 49 pounds. I calculated bag weights by using the bathroom scale to compare my weight holding each bag to my weight without, so that I could redistribute weight among bags to get them all under 50 pounds each.  I did notice some excess weight even on the “without a bag” measurement, but that’s only because of my heroism: in the last few weeks, I’ve somehow managed to single-handedly eat all the last bits of leftovers and under-appreciated items from the backs of the refrigerator and the freezer.

Bags. As you might guess: Cheryl’s bag was both over-stuffed and overweight (by about 10 pounds). No, that’s not because of heavy things like a hairdryer and an iron. She felt those were important enough to put in her carry on. Hey, if she want’s to carry all that weight around the airports, and endure the looks from TSA, who am I to argue? Anyway, we redistributed to get her bag within the weight limit.

JT & Sean are apparently wearing the same clothes for 5 weeks, with an occasional underwear change. So they filled their bags with whatever else they thought might be useful: stuffed animals, an extra pair of dirty sneakers, flashlights, a first aid kit, and their Camelback backpacks from Mor Mor.

Carry-ons? If you know us at all, stop and think a moment and see if you can guess what everyone’s carry-on bags contain.  Have you made your guesses? Let’s see if you’re correct. Here’s what each carry-on contained: • Dad : easy one: the family laptop and all the trip paperwork ( itinerary , reservation confirmations, etc.) • Mom : 5 pairs of shoes, a hair brush, and a cowboy hat that (worn only once, when she tried it on before purchasing it 2 years ago at the Big E).  Oh – when I saw it, I added my cowboy hat on top of it. • Sean : his summer reading book and as much of Mom’s overflow clothes that could fit without ripping the zipper. Note: I was initially transferring Cheryl’s smallest possible items so the poor guy could actually still tote his carry-on. When I realized what it would do to an 11 year old boy if the zipper opened and a wad of ladies undergarments came tumbling out, I put her dresses in there instead. That’s safer, right? • JT : XBOX. Nothing else. Really. Just his XBOX.

Well… I’m already laughing, so I guess it’s a good start to the trip. Now let’s see if we hit our first deadline: departing the house by 8am.

Hotel Xbox 

We made it to Dullas airport. The coolest thing about this place is that there are charging stations everywhere. I wonder if we can plug in the Xbox at the hotel in Seattle tonight? I just watched some ESO guides on YouTube and now I know how to get better weapons and armor for my Skyrim character.

At the airport 

​​We arrived at the airport in an uber driven by our neighbor, and got on a 55 minute flight to Washington DC. We are now waiting in the airport for 3 hours until our next flight to Seattle. We will stay at a hotel and get the RV tomorrow. 

Only good thing about flying ? BEST BURGER EVER!!!!!! 

Seattle suppose to be a city? ?

It’s cold but one good thing came out of it 

This is home for five weeks 

13 Narrow (And Bendy) Roads In Ireland

By Author Keith O'Hara

Posted on Last updated: December 30, 2023

I reland’s home to many a lovely, albeit mental, road.

From narrow stretches of tarmac that hug cliffs, to bendy ones that snake through mountains, our little island has its fair share of unique roads.

These roads can cause mayhem for people driving in Ireland for the first time , but they’re an absolute joy for those that are comfortable behind the wheel.

Below, you’ll find a guide to 13 of the craziest and bendiest roads that you’ll encounter as you road trip around Ireland .

13. Mamore Gap (Donegal)

Photo by Paul Shiels/shutterstock.com

If you explore the magnificent Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal the chances are that you’ll find yourself at Mamore Gap at one point or another.

The road here is bendy, but it shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for most.  At 250m above sea level, Mamore Gap offers stunning views of the Fanad Peninsula, Lough Swilly and a good chunk of North Inishowen.

The road here is pretty narrow so hopefully it goes without saying that you should slow down and take it nice and handy.

12. The Slea Head Drive (Kerry)

Photo by Lukasz Pajor/shutterstock.com

The Slea Head Drive in Kerry is a beautiful stretch of road that’s up there with the most scenic drives in Ireland.

Now, personally I’ve never found this road in any way troublesome, but I’ve talked to  many tourists that have lost their shi*t (slang for freaked out) while driving it.

Sure, there are sections of Slea Head that are pretty narrow and you’ll need to pull in and let a car pass you but, for the most part, it’s grand.

The real fun begins if you meet a tour bus head on at a section of road like the one in the photo above…

11. The Sheep’s Head Drive (Cork)

Photo by Phil Darby/Shutterstock.com

The Sheep’s Head Peninsula near Bantry is arguably one of the most underexplored corners of Ireland.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of walkers that bask in the brilliance of the peninsulas unspoiled scenery and landscape, but many people visiting Ireland Cork tend to pass it by.

If you can, get your arse to Sheep’s Head on your next visit. As you spin around the peninsula you’ll encounter many a narrow bendy road.

Don’t let this put you off, however – you’ll be treated to mighty views throughout your drive or cycle.

10. The Torr Head Scenic Route (Antrim)

Photo via Google Maps

For those among us that like taking ‘alternative routes’ and that aren’t scared of driving along a very narrow road, this one’s for you.

The ‘alternative route’ to Ballycastle in Antrim is called the Torr Head Scenic Drive . It clings to the coast and takes you along narrow roads and up steep hills way above the sea.

The route will take you to Torr Head (you can see Scotland from here on a clear day), on to Murlough Bay and along many a narrow and bendy road towards Ballycastle.

I drove this route 2 years ago on a foggy day and it was a disaster. Visibility was terrible and I could barely see a foot in front of me. One to avoid when visibility is poor!

9. The Sally Gap (mainly the stretch that climbs to Lough Tay)

Photo by Dariusz I/Shutterstock.com

Next up is the ever-so-slightly narrow road that leads up to and alongside Lough Tay in Wicklow . For the most part, those of you that do the Sally Gap Drive shouldn’t  really  have any issue.

Sure, the road is narrow at times and you have to drive at a steep incline for a bit, but if you take it at a steady pace you’ll be grand.

This road is dangerous for other reasons – it tends to be one of the go-to drives for people visiting Ireland that have just rented a car… many of whom will have never driven here before…

I’ve driven this route 20+ times over the years and I’ve seen my fair share of rentals with scrapes and missing wing mirrors. A road to avoid if there’s ice or snow.

8. Corkscrew Hill (Clare)

Photos courtesy Clare County Council via Failte Ireland

Roads don’t get much bendier than Corkscrew Hill (it’s all in the name), a stretch of road between Ballyvaughan and Lisdoonvarna in Clare.

The road, similar to Healy Pass below, was designed as part of a famine relief scheme many moons ago.

You won’t have much hassle driving along this one, although I can’t imagine how you’d get around it during ice or snow.

7. Ballaghbeama Gap (Kerry)

Photo by Joe Dunckley/Shutterstock.com

Ah, Ballaghbeama Gap – one of my favourite stretches of road in Ireland. Ballaghbeama Gap is a narrow and bendy road in Kerry, a stone’s throw from Kenmare. 

Ballaghbeama is one of those places that has the ability to make you feel like you’re the last person left on earth.

I’ve done this drive three times over the years and the max number of cars that I’ve met was 4. 

In fact, you’ll probably meet more sheep than people. The road here is narrow (very, in places) but it’s handy enough to find places to pull in when required.

6. The Glengesh Pass (Donegal)

Photo by Lukassek/shutterstock.com

The road at the Glengesh Pass  meanders through the almost endless sloping mountainous terrain that connects Glencolmcille to Ardara.

The road here is easy to drive but, as you can see above, it has its fair share of twists and turns.

As you’re approaching Glengesh from the Glencolmcille side, you’ll come across a little van selling coffee, with a bench close by. Stop off here and you’ll get some great views of the valley.

5. The Road From Horn Head to Dunfanaghy (Donegal)

If you read our guide to 19 of the best hikes in Ireland , you’ll be familiar with Horn Head. It’s here that you’ll find a brilliant walk that offers stunning coastal views.

There’s a lovely stretch of road that leads from Horn Head down to the village of Dunfanaghy in County Donegal.

As you can see from the grainy photo above, the road here is pretty damn narrow in places. It’d be no more ideal to meet someone head-on on the stretch of road above.

Don’t let this put you off visiting, however. I’ve been here many times and it’s a brilliant scenic drive with plenty of incredible coastal views throughout. 

4. Brow Head (Cork)

Photo © The Irish Road Trip

The road up to Brow Head in West Cork is one of the narrowest and most beautiful stretches of road that I’ve ever driven on.

I’ve driven it in horrendous weather (above) and I’ve driven it when the sun was beaming down, and it’s just incredible. 

The road here is as narrow as it looks in the photo above. Drive this one nice and slowly and be prepared to reverse all the way back up or down, if needed, as there’s nowhere to pull in. 

At the top of the hill, you’ll find a little bit of parking (enough for 3 to 4 cars) and some amazing views to soak up.

3. The Healy Pass (Cork)

The road at Healy Pass was constructed in 1847 during the famine as part of a relief scheme and it’s easily the bendiest in Ireland.

It looks like a bit like a giant snake from above, slithering its way through the two highest summits in the Caha mountain range.

Healy Pass is a corner of Ireland that looks like time passed it by and forgot all about it, leaving it untouched and unspoiled – magic.

Although the road here is narrow, you don’t tend to meet many other people driving along it, so you shouldn’t have too much hassle.

2. The Atlantic Drive (Achill Island)

As far as I know (don’t quote me on this) the road to Keem Bay is known as the Atlantic Drive.

This is a mighty drive that offers endless views along with plenty of places to stop to stretch the legs and head for a ramble.

It’s not hard to see from the photo above why we’ve included this drive… the road here is insanely windy at one point.

I’ve driven this road many times over the years. It might look a bit mental from above, but it’s grand once you take your time and drive slowly.

1. Conor Pass (Kerry)

Conor Pass runs from Dingle out towards Brandon Bay and Castlegregory and is one of the highest mountain passes in Ireland, standing at a whopping 410 m above sea level.

The tight, narrow road here snakes alongside the mountain and weaves its way along sharp cliff faces on one side and an enormous drop to the other.

The road at Conor Pass can be intimidating for even the most experienced driver. Especially when the weather is bad and there are several cars trying to get through.

What roads have we missed?

Have you encountered another crazy road during your time in Ireland?

Let me know in the comments below!

Keith O’Hara has lived in Ireland for 35 years and has spent most of the last 10 creating what is now The Irish Road Trip guide. Over the years, the website has published thousands of meticulously researched Ireland travel guides, welcoming 30 million+ visitors along the way. In 2022, the Irish Road Trip team published the world’s largest collection of Irish Road Trip itineraries . Keith lives in Dublin with his dog Toby and finds writing in the 3rd person minus craic altogether.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Monday 27th of June 2022

ballaghbeama pass trust me on it its good. Aghavannagh to glenmalure is mighty im a cyclist but imagine these would be quite a drive. most roads in west wicklow often have stopages from cars not fitting past each other

Wednesday 26th of January 2022

The Hidden Sky Road near Boris isn't particularly scarey in car, but it's great to walk or cycle. There aren't many places where you can see County Kilkenny and, just round the corner, County Carlow stretch away from you.

Friday 24th of September 2021

A friend said there were no real height issues for drivers like me (who can't do heights/cliffs/Z bends/tight edges) between Kenmare and Glengarriff. An hour later I was almost sick with horror, stuck on a terrifying mountain route with no way off or back. It was so nauseating I had an asthma attack on reaching safety and had to find a doctor. Completely unsuitable road for anyone who has height/vertigo issues...same thing happened in France when the Talloires tourist office said the lakeside road to Annecy was fine to drive. It was very, very far from fine. People who don't have vertigo have no idea how heights/cliffs/edges affect those who do.

Frances Aggarwal

Sunday 8th of August 2021

Don't attempt the Priests Leap (Bantry to Kenmare) in a campervan, RV or towing a caravan. This road is not signposted at one end and you may find yourself accidentally on it. Its single track, very narrow, extremely steep, with sheer drops. We accidently found ourselves on it in a campervan. There are no passing places. At times we felt as if our wheels were hanging over the edge. Beautiful views, really beautiful Exhilarating if you are a calm driver. We fortunately didn't meet any other vehicles or we would have had to reverse. The other side had warnings re not taking up large vehicles.

Andy Morrow

Thursday 29th of October 2020

Atlantic drive in Donegal, Carrigart around the headland to Downings.

South Dakota Road Trip – 7 Stops You Don’t Want To Miss

South Dakota. Driving east on I-90, the state seems pretty boring and flat. Then just before you hit the Wyoming border, BOOM! You got Rapid City, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and the Black Hills! Our opinion quickly changed about a South Dakota road trip. Here is our recommendation for an epic South Dakota Family Vacation!

If you have even more time look to add this road trip into a National Park road trip and continue on the adventure!!

Table of Contents

South Dakota Road Trip Route

The Badlands

The Badlands are awesome! They are so beautiful and unlike landscapes you would normally see in the United States. It is so weird how they aren’t there and then all of a sudden you drive into the park and there are these amazing formations everywhere. It’s like you’re on another planet!

When we went, it was hot. Like hot with a capital H. O. T!! They say that happens in the Badlands and it is usually warmer than other areas. It must have to do with the ground and how it reflects or absorbs the heat (I don’t really know what I am talking about), but just believe me when I say it gets HOT! Like regularly 100+ in the summer.

Hiking In The Badlands

There are some really cool hiking areas, like the Notch Trails, so be prepared by bringing water and not going too far down a trail without having water with you. Plus if you are going to be climbing, make sure your kids have Keens or running shoes on. We had regular flip flop sandals and we were slipping all over the place.

There are lots of opportunities to get out and climb and see some amazing views! Even though it is hot, you can still look for wildlife like prairie dogs. It was too hot for our kids and I don’t blame them.

We spent a lot of time in our car driving around and checking things out. Then we would jump out of the car to check out a cool spot for 5 minutes then jump right back in the car. You can drive Badlands Loop Road for a great look at the north part of the Badlands.

They do have a nice air conditioned visitor center with a museum, an opportunity to get your Junior Ranger badge, and even get a Badlands tattoo!

I would expect nothing less from a place called the Badlands! If you are continuing your trip east from the Badlands, check out Falls Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Learn more about boondocking in Badlands National Park . This is another area with few places to stay. So if you’re looking for a lot of vacation home, hotel, or campground options during your South Dakota family vacation, you’ll probably have to look farther out.

Nomad View – There is an epic camping spot you can stay at right outside the park. It is on BLM land so it is free but there are no hookups and it can get crazy windy. But the views are amazing! If you are interested in staying here and boondocking check out our post for tips on boondocking.

We weren’t sure what to expect of a city in South Dakota that’s near Sturgis and Deadwood, but we were pleasantly surprised by how cool the downtown area was! If Rapid City isn’t on your list of places to visit on your South Dakota road trip, it should be.

They have an awesome square in the city that has a stage for music, a large open grassy area, and a splash pad for kids. The square is also surrounded with restaurants and shops. We ate down the street at the Firehouse Brewing Company . It was a great family friendly restaurant with a nice outdoor eating area and the kids all left with fireman hats. Score!

After dinner we walked down the street and hung out in the square, played tag on the grass, danced on the stage, and of course got soaked in the splash pad. When it gets dark you can keep playing in the colorful lights that go on display making it look like the water is changing colors.

They also have amazing murals on the outside walls of the buildings and statues on the street corners throughout the downtown area. I am sure the city has even more to offer, but our kids were happy and content in the square so we just hung out there.

Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway

Even though it’s an hour driving west of Rapid City, Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway is a gorgeous 20 mile drive through the Black Hills of South Dakota . With vertical cliffs and high walls, some of the canyons only get 1 hour of sunlight a day. This drive should make your list of things to do on your South Dakota road trip!

Dinosaur Park

**Temporarily closed. Reopening in May 2024 hopefully!

This is a free park at the top of Rapid City where the kids can climb around on dinosaurs. There is also an amazing view of the city from here.

The Dinosaur park has a gift shop/concession area. I think it is worth a stop if you are in the area!

Where to stay

Vacation home.

Luxurious Purle House – Renovated historic home located just 5 minutes from all the downtown shops and restaurants. Take a walk or ride your bike!

Staybridge Suites Rapid City – Rushmore – Located in Rapid City just miles away from downtown, the Rushmore Mall, and museums, this hotel offers a swimming pool and is pet friendly.

The Rushmore Hotel & Suites – Just a 10 minute walk from downtown, the Rushmore Hotel is a great location to stay in Rapid City. It also has a martini lounge with live music on the weekends.

Bear Country

We almost didn’t go. We had just been to Yellowstone and we had seen multiple bears out in the wild. However, I read a few reviews and they were really good, so we decided to give it a try. I am really glad we did. It was really cool!

You drive in, pay, and then follow a road through the park which takes you right into the habitat of each of the animals. They had wolves, mountain lions, bears, and more! I mean Oh My!

When we got to the bears, we couldn’t believe how many there were. There had to be over 20 bears and they were right there next to your car. They were very clear about how you HAD to keep your windows closed at all times and I see why!

When you were done driving through, you pulled over in a parking lot and walked around to check out all the baby animals. There were the cutest bear cubs, baby foxes, and so many more adorable baby animals.

We highly recommend making this one of your stops on your South Dakota road trip! We have mixed feeling about zoos and animals in captivity. Especially since being at Yellowstone. But I have to say that the animals all looked well fed and happy.

**Open seasonally!!

Custer State Park

Custer State Park covers 71,000 miles and is South Dakota’s largest state park. While you are here we recommend you visit the Black Hills, Needles Highway, Sylvan Lake and do the Wildlife Loop Road.

If you are looking for a unique adventure check out this hot air balloon trip over the Black Hills and Custer State Park!

Check out all the details below:

Black Hills

We were really impressed with the Black Hills National Forest area which includes Custer State Park and the stops we list below. There are so many great things to do in the Black Hills .

Iron Mountain Road

We drove this beautiful 17 mile road which consists of 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 tunnels, and some of the best scenery in South Dakota! As you drive, you go through these super tight square cut-outs in the mountains. A couple of them give you an amazing view of Mount Rushmore. If you have a high zoom lens for your camera, bring it with you because you can get some amazing pictures!

Norbeck Overlook

We stopped at Norbeck Overlook on the Iron Mountain Road and the kids did some impromptu rock scrambling. Then we continued driving.

When driving through, make sure the vehicle you have isn’t too tall or wide for some of the tunnels on the drive. There are literally square cut-outs in the rock that only a single car can fit through. Consult the all-knowing Google if you have a wide car or a dually truck. This was one of the coolest drives we have been on and is definitely a must on a South Dakota family vacation.

Needles Highway

Another must-see is Needles Highway. Seriously do it! You drive up to the top of the mountain and see these needle-like formations. They were really cool and looked like something out of the Lord of the Rings. Precious!

Once you reach the top you drive through this tight tunnel. It is a bit nerve wrecking but also really cool!

Sylvan Lake

At the top is Sylvan Lake. We brought our blow up paddle boards and got out to do some paddle boarding and to hang out by the lake. There is a beach area here as well but it was pretty busy so we opted to set up on the grass across the lake from the beach. It was perfect for paddle boarding.

You can also hike around Sylvan Lake for a nice easy walk.

Sunday Gulch Trail

An awesome 4 mile loop trail that is marked as Hard on All Trails . We did it clockwise which meant that we climbed up and out of the gulch at the end which was super fun. I would not want to go counter clockwise and climb down into the gulch first. It is hard but well worth it!

Wildlife Loop Road

We have done this drive a couple times and we have heard that you could see a lot of animals. Unfortunately we only saw a few our first time. It was a nice drive but after being at Yellowstone , it just couldn’t compare.

The second time we saw a huge herd of Bison. We were hoping to see the burrows but we never did. After seeing the bison (close by where we started) we didn’t see anything else and it was a somewhat long and boring drive . . . I guess it just depends on what animals are out.

If you are in the area, we still recommend you stop. It was really pretty and we know people who have had the burrows actually stick their heads in the window of your car! If you want to know more check out this post: Things do in Custer State Park .

Vacation Homes

The Wandering Goat – A 3-acre getaway provides a nice place to relax on the 3-sided porch to take in all the beautiful views after a day at Custer State Park.

Cozy Creekside Cottage – This cottage is a little off the beaten path but only a short drive to Custer State Park. The outside deck area has a grill and a gas fireplace.

Hidden Lake Campground and Resort – About a 45 minute drive from Custer State Park, Hidden Lake Campground is situated on a lake. Go canoeing, kayaking, or fishing during your stay.

Larsson’s Crooked Creek Resort – Located 2 miles south of Hill City, South Dakota this campground has 84 RV sites, 15 cabins, a 14-room lodge, and12 Presidential Creek Side Sites. Amenities include a barn with music and kids movies and an on-site café and bakery.

There are very few places to stay in this area so just be aware as you’re planning your South Dakota family vacation.

Mount Rushmore

I have mixed feelings about Mount Rushmore National Memorial . I mean it is a mountain with faces carved out of it . . . But it is one of those places that you can’t not do on a South Dakota road trip. I don’t know if it is the National Park setup that makes it that way or if it is just the awe of what they were capable of doing to the rock and how cool and detailed the faces are.

If you have never been, you should go. There is a museum area, a video, restaurant, and concessions. Plus your kids can get a Junior Ranger badge (check, homeschooling done for the day!).

We stayed late to see the lighting of Mount Rushmore. I wouldn’t recommend you do that. We thought there would be a light display or fireworks or something. Nope, they literally just put a spot light on the mountain, and prior to that, they talked for about 20 minutes. If your kids are older, they would enjoy the talk and presentation beforehand. With younger kids, they couldn’t have cared less. So we spent the majority of the time trying to keep them quiet.

Then when the light show was done, we sprinted for the car so we didn’t get stuck in the parking garage! So, if you are going to stay, you would want to watch/listen from as far back as possible so you can be the first one out. A trick Clark Griswold taught me 🙂

You don’t have to pay for getting into Mount Rushmore (this was a stipulation by the designer or something) but you do have to pay to park. Sneaky sneaky.

If you are looking for a tour so you don’t have to do the planning check out this Rapid City: Private Black Hills Monument Full Day Tour.

The Carriage House at McDonald Mountain Ranch – Although this is only a 1 bedroom cabin, it does have 2 bathrooms, 2 levels, and would be great for a quick stay. Offers a washer/dryer and is just a short drive from Mount Rushmore.

Keystone Escape w/ Amazing Mt Rushmore View – The porch views from this escape are breathtaking. This 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom cabin would be great for a family looking to explore Mount Rushmore.

Baymont by Wyndham Keystone Near Mt. Rushmore – Located in Keystone, South Dakota, this hotel is less than 2 miles from Mount Rushmore. Black Hills National Forest is only 12 miles away.

Ramada by Wyndham Keystone Near Mt Rushmore – Just minutes away from Mount Rushmore, this option offers an indoor heated pool, hot tub, gift shop, and fireplaces in the guest rooms.

If you are looking for more parks nearby, Wind Cave National Park is about a 30 minute scenic drive south of Custer State Park. If you have extra time, this stop would be a great addition to your South Dakota family vacation.

South Dakota has a lot to offer and you could either make it a quick stop as part of a longer road trip or you could stay in Rapid City for the week and spend a good day or two at each of the locations we mentioned.

We spent a week there and know there is a ton more to do, like the 1880 train in Keystone, South Dakota. Let us know in the comments of other places you have been to in South Dakota. I’m sure we’ll be back!

Also if you like this area we recommend checking out these other great posts for family vacations and road trips!

Things to do with kids in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Road Trip With Kids: 11 Tips To Make It Enjoyable For Everyone

Florida Keys Road Trip: 29 Amazing Places To Visit [Map Included]

Florida Road Trip: 31 Amazing Places You Won’t Want To Miss

6 Epic National Park Road Trip Ideas [Maps Included]

37 Stops For The Best Cross Country Road Trip [Map Included]

Utah Road Trip: All 5 Utah National Parks & More [Map Included]

26 Oregon Coast Road Trip Stops You Don’t Want To Miss

Pin this post:

• Recent Posts

• Riding The East Fork Transit In Denali National Park - April 22, 2024
• Visiting Denali National Park With Kids - April 22, 2024
• How To Make Your RV Feel More Like Home – 5 RV Remodel Examples - April 16, 2024

DISCLOSURE : This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

9 thoughts on “South Dakota Road Trip – 7 Stops You Don’t Want To Miss”

My kids are grown now – the youngest graduates from college this year but 5 years ago we took an epic out west road trip and included South Dakota in our trip. We went to several of the places that you went to including Custer State Park. But for us we saw so many animals there : coyote, prairie dogs, pronghorns, wild burros and a buffalo traffic jam. Then at Yellowstone – one moose and a few scattered buffalo. Go figure! My kids so loved this trip that my oldest – who is 27 – went back to SD this summer and did the Black Hills and Badlands on his own.

That is so funny! We saw HUNDREDS of buffalo in Yellowstone and several grizzlies, then in Custer, we did see the prairie dogs, but that was pretty much it. Like you said, go figure! That is very cool your oldest went back there. That means he really enjoyed the trip you took before 🙂 Great job!

• Pingback: Crazy Family Adventure Visit A National Park: Best. Vacation. Ever. - Crazy Family Adventure

I am in the planning stages of this road trip. How long were you in the Rapid City/Badlands/Custer area? Where did you stay? Looking forward to your response.

We were in Rapid City for only a few days. We stayed at 3 Flags RV park.

This is wonderful, thank you! I’m wondering about your accommodations – did you move around, stay somewhere and use it as a home base for day trips? Other? Thank you so much!

We stayed at an RV park just outside of Rapid City. That offered a good base camp to everything in the area.

Thanks for the details…. very helpful for me since I am in charge to plan for a road trip to SD. How many days total is this itinerary?

Great! I would say a week would be good! But you could do it less time or more time. We usually prefer not to be rushed.

Comments are closed.

170 Best Road Trip Quotes: Quirky, Funny and Deep

Packed for Life contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of these links, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. See my Disclosure policy for more info.

Road trips are a great way to spend time with family or friends, see new places, and take in the great outdoors. They also provide plenty of opportunity for funny and memorable quotes. Whether you’re packing up your car for a trip this weekend or just reminiscing on times gone by, we’ve rounded up the 170 best road trip quotes – some funny, some deep, some inspirational – all perfect for sharing with those you love. In preparation for your next long drive!

Table of Contents

What Is A Road Trip Quote ?

A road trip quote is a short, catchy phrase that captures the feeling of a journey or adventure. It’s fun to come up with your own and share them with friends on social media sites like Instagram.

Quotes about journeys and traveling can be both whimsical and profound, making them the perfect thing to ponder as you prep for your next adventure and then hit the open road. Below you’ll fund some of our favorite quotes about road trips and travel to get you inspired for your next journey!

Why Are Road Trip Quotes So Popular ?

 Road trip quotes are popular because they evoke a sense of nostalgia for the open road. They also serve as little reminders to appreciate the journey, not just the destination.

Disclosure: Please note that this post contains affiliate links. If you click one of the links and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you . Thank you!  See full disclosure and disclaimer policy  here .

Best Quotes on Road Trips – Quirky, Funny, Deep

What is it about  jumping into your car and hitting the open road  that can invoke feelings of excitement, joy and freedom?

Maybe it’s the endless possibilities for gorgeous views, adventures, and the company of friends and family.

Maybe it’s the chance to let the winds blow you where they may, taking the next fork in the road, getting lost and found.

Maybe it’s the wind blowing through your hair, the snack stops along the way, and a new place to lay your head each night or three.

In honor of all that is the open road, here are the best quotes on road trips and captions about the road and journeys . We hope they inspire your next vacation, or epic road trip across the country.

Short Road Trip Quotes

Family road trip quotes, funny road trip quotes.

• Road Trip Quotes for Instagram

Inspirational Road Trip Quotes

• Long Drive Quotes
• Road Trip Quotes Love & Couple Quotes
• Road Trip Quotes with Friends

Heading down the open road can be liberating. It can help you, your family and friends leave worries behind and focus on the short or long journey ahead. Here are a few inspiring short road trip quotes to get you in the spirit:

• “ Life is a journey, not a destination ” – often attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien , in Fellowship of the Ring
• “All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.” – J.R.R. Tolkien , in Fellowship of the Ring
• “We do not take a trip, a trip takes us.” – John Steinbeck
• “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Caroll Alice in Wonderland

• “Roads were made for journeys, not destinations .” – Confucious
• “There’s always a way if you’re not in a hurry.” – Paul Theroux
• “Two roads diverged in a wood and I … I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost
• “I take to the open road, healthy, free, the world before me.” – Walt Whitman, ‘Song Of The Open Road’.
• “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag
• ” Life is a Highway, I want to ride it all night long.” – Tom Cochrane
• “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” – Helen Keller
• “The journey is my home. “ – Muriel Rukeyser
• “Still, round the corner, there may wait, a new road or a secret gate.”  – J. R. R. Tolkien
• “Travel far enough you meet yourself.” – David Mitchell
• “You may not find a path, but you’ll find a way.” – Tom Wolfe
• “Look at life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.” – Byrd Baggett
• “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” – Anita Desai

👉 You may also like 150 Fun Questions for a Road Trip. Avoid boredom & awkward silences

We love a good family road trip, to a National Park, or a day trip down the highway. Family road trips are measured in mile markers, conversations, new sites, endless snacks, and the occasional sibling fight or two. Here are a few family road trip quotes to inspire your next road trip adventure and celebrate the wild stuff that happens in this wonderful world of ours:

• “ May your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from home. ” —  Trenton Lee Stewart
• “Traveling with children isn’t going on a vacation. It’s more like entering into a war zone and your hostages are the kids.” – Erma Bombeck
• “A road trip is a way for the whole family to spend time together and annoy each other in interesting and new places.” – Tom Lichtenheld

• “As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen.” – A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
• “Traveling with young children is the perfect time to discover that your children are people.” – Pico Lyer
• “ There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million. ” – Walt Streightiff
• “ And that’s the wonderful thing about family travel. It provides you with experiences that will remain locked forever in the scar tissue of your mind .” – Dave Berry
• “The family that travels together, stays together.” – Unknown
• “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” – Dr Seuss
• “There are no perfect parents and there are no perfect children, but there are plenty of perfect moments along the way.”  – Dave Willis

•  “Every day we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.” 

– Unknown

• “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”  – Anthony Bourdain
• “Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.” – Leigh Hunt
• “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
• “The only thing worse than starting something and failing…. is not starting something.” – Seth Godin
• “Because the greatest part of a road trip isn’t arriving at your destination. It’s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.”  – Emma Chase
• “ You can be writing every day. When you go on a road trip, the trip itself becomes part of the story. ” – Steve Rushin
• “Kids don’t remember their best day of television.”  – Unknown
• “When you travel with your children you are giving them something that can never be taken away … experience, exposure and a way of life.” – Pamela T. Chandler
• “Two of the greatest gifts we can give our children, roots and wings” – Hodding Carter

Funny Family Road Trip Quotes

Family road trips can be amazing, and a disaster, and then there are those special or funny moments that make it all worth it. Here are some family road road trip quotes that are funny and poignant.

• Parent’s don’t really go on holidays. They just look after their kids in a different country for a while.” – Unknown
• “Family trips are the perfect time to create memories that your kids will someday try to erase.” – Dave Barry
• “In 1903 the Wright brothers invented airplanes because in 1902 they took a road trip across the country with their family.” – Bill Engvall
• “ Going on a road trip with kids. Need about 5 outfits, packed 25 just in case. ” – Unknown
• Happiness is a family road trip, with a loud playlist. – Unknown
• “You can’t find the right roads when the streets are paved.” – Bob Marley
• “Sometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take.” – Angela N. Blount
• “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.” – Babs Hoffman
• “You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.” – Franklin P. Jones
• “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” – George Burns
• “It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy… Let’s go exploring! “ – Calvin & Hobbes
• “When you choose to collect experiences rather than things, you will never run out of storage space.” – Unknown

Looking for family friendly road trip destinations? Take a look at:

• The Ultimate 7 Day Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon Road Trip
• Boston to Acadia National Park Road trip
• Best USA Winter Wonderland Destinations
• Big Sur Road Trip Itinerary and Tips
• California Bucket List

Taking the scenic route in good company can lead you on daring adventures, quiet moments or disasterous but funny after the fact events. Often in the same trip. Here is a list of our favourite road trip sayings and quotes as well as funny road trip captions:

• “Well, we’re not in the middle of nowhere, but we can see it from here.” – ‘Thelma & Louise ‘
• “I don’t know where I’m going from here but I promise it won’t be boring.” – David Bowie
• “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine, it’s lethal.”  – Paulo Coelho
• “Road trips require a couple of things: A well-balanced diet of caffeine, salt and sugar and excellent selection of tunes—oh, and directions.”   Jenn McKinlay, Books Can Be Deceiving
• “Get your motor runnin’, Head out on the highway, Lookin’ for adventure…” – Steppenwolf, ‘ Born To Be Wild ‘.
• ” I have found out that there ain’t a no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them. ” – Mark Twain
• “Buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” – Unknown
• “My life is a constant quest to find the best parking spot. – Unknown
• “It’s not the size of your gas tank that matters, it’s how much is in there when you need it.” – Unknown

• “I’m not lost. I know exactly where I am.” – Confused driver
• “A tourist is a fellow who drives thousands of miles so he can be photographed standing in front of his car.” – Émile Genest
• “Driving is boring,” Rabbit pontificates, “but it’s what we do. Most of American life is driving somewhere and then driving back wondering why the hell you went.” –  John Updike
• “Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways? Just to be silly! ” – George Carlin
• “Sometimes all you need is a great friend and a tank of gas.”  –  Thelma and Louise
• “Road Trips: Because they’re cheaper than therapy.”  – Unknown
• “Have you noticed that anyone going slower than you is an idiot and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?”   – George Carlin
• “When traveling with someone, take large doses of patience and tolerance with your morning coffee.” – Helen Hayes
• “Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason!” – Jerry Seinfeld
• “The inside of the old Camaro smelled like asphalt and desire, gasoline and dreams.” – Maggie Stiefvater

Road Trip Captions Funny

• “Map out your future – but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.” – Jon Bon Jovi
• “If you’re on a road trip, you need driving music.” –   Edgar Wright
• “I just go with the flow, I follow the yellow brick road. I don’t know where it’s going to lead me, but I follow it.” – Grace Jones
• “I’m so hungry I could eat a sandwich from a gas station.”   -Chevy Chase
• “Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, and scorn in the one ahead.”  -Mac McCleary
• “Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn’t block traffic.” – Dan Rather
• “It doesn’t matter how old you get, buying snacks for a road trip should always look like an unsupervised 9 year old was given $100.”  – Unknown
• “Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save fuel, take your next trip in Kilometers.” – George Carlin
• “You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said ‘Parking Fine.”  – Tommy Cooper
• “I don’t drive fast, I drive YOUNG.” – Musawir Masood
• “Technically speaking, you drive like a rabid chicken who has hijacked a tractor.”  – Sarah Rees Brennan
• “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck

Road Trip Quotes for Instagram (Captions and Puns)

On your next roar trip, don’t let those moments fall through the cracks. Pull out your phone, capture those moments, and grab these road trip instagram quotes, captions and puns to share.

• Been driving all day. I need a  brake !
• I love road trips, but all the driving is  tire -ing!
• Get Miata here!
• I’d go the extra mile for you.
• Are we there yet? How far is that?!?
• Turns out I need a day off, a dirt road and snacks.
• Wanderlust & highway dust.
• Road trips are measured in moments, not mile markers.
• Nowhere, but everywhere all at the same time.
• There are no wrong turns, only new adventures.
• Making memories, one mile at a time.
• Windows down, music up, snacks out.
• Road trips are the best therapy.
• The open road is seductive.
• Life is a highway.
• Road less travelled.
• The trip becomes the story.
• My mood is a long drive, loud music & coffee on repeat
• All I want for Christmas is the open road, wind in my hair & good friends.
• Detours are life’s way of keeping you on track.

The open road can provide inspiration to find yourself, contemplate life in beautiful sunsets, mountain ranges and inspire epic road trip books like “ On the Road” by Jack Kerouac.

• “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.” – Douglas Adams
• ” A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. ” -John Steinbeck
• “ I will not follow where the path may lead, but I will go where there is no path, and I will leave a trail. ” -Muriel Strode, from the poem “ Wind-Wafted Wild Flowers ”
• “ Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller. ” -Ibn Battuta ,  from The Travels of Ibn Battutah
• “Because the greatest part of a road trip isn’t arriving at your destination. It’s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.” – Emma Chase, from Tamed
• “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch , from   Conversations with God
• “I love road trips. You get into this Zen rhythm; throw the sense of time out the window.” – Miriam Toews
• “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey”   – Babs Hoffman 
• All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber
• “A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.” – Helen Keller
• “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations .” – Zig Ziglar
• “If you make the mistake of looking back too much, you aren’t focused enough on the road in front of you.” – Brad Paisley
• “Look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.” – Tom Stoppard
• “I wonder why it is that when I plan a route too carefully, it goes to pieces, whereas if I blunder along in blissful ignorance aimed in a fancied direction I get through with no trouble.” – John Steinbeck
• “There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it.”  – Charlotte Eriksson
• “You steer down lightless highways, and you invent a destination because movement is key.” – Nic Pizzolatto
• “Road trips are the gateway to curiosity, freedom and a belly full of snacks.” – Donna – Packed for Life

Long Drive Captions

Sometimes the best way to see a place is on a long road trip. Whether you’re taking a road trip to your favorite vacation spot or planning travelling across country in an RV, here are our top long drive quotes and long drive captions:

• “Map out your future, but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.”   – Jon Bon Jovi
• “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu
• “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” – J.R.R Tolkien
•  “Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.” – Jack Kerouac
• “When you come to a fork in the road; take it.”   – Yogi Berra
• “No road is long with good company.” – Turkish Proverb
• “The freedom of the open road is seductive, serendipitous and absolutely liberating” – Aaron Lauritsen
• “There is nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.”  – Jack Kerouac
• “Road trips aren’t measured by mile markers, but by moments.” – Unknown
• “No one you have been and no place you have gone ever leaves you. The new parts of you simply jump in the car and go along for the rest of the ride. The success of your journey and your destination all depends on who’s driving.” – Bruce Springsteen
• “There is something about the momentum of travel that makes you want to just keep moving, to never stop.”  – Bill Bryson
• “On the road again, Goin’ places that I’ve never been, Seein’ things that I may never see again, And I can’t wait to get on the road again.”  – Willie Nelson

Grab some Road Trip tips for easier, more budget friendly vacations:

• Easy Road Trip Meals and pro tips
• Ultimate Road Trip Snacks
• Road Trip Packing Lists
• 13 Money Saving tips for frugal family road trips (not just for families!)

Road Trip Quotes With Love & Couple Travel Quotes

The open road is a place to start fresh, expand your horizons and find an adventure. Road tripping with your honey can make a memorable journey. Solo adventures can be freeing and invite introspection and self love. Both can lead you on beautiful paths of discovery. Here are our top road trip quotes with love and about love on the open road:

• “A road trip is always better with someone you love.” – Unknown
• A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck
• “I love you more than a car can hold. I love you more than the miles between us.” – Unknown
• “Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.” – Lewis Carroll
• “And the purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
• “I can speak to my soul only when the two of us are off exploring deserts or cities or mountains or roads.”  – Paulo Coelho
• “If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”  – African Proverb
• “Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.”  – Leigh Hunt

• “Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and sometimes in the middle of nowhere you find yourself.”  – Unknown
• “Love is the food of life, travel is the dessert.” – Unknown
• “People never forget two things, their first love and their first day in New York City.” – Unknown
• “Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, “I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station.” – Lisa St. Aubin de Teran
• “What we find in a soulmate is not something wild to tame, but something wild to run with.” – Robert Brault
• “I would like to travel the world with you twice. Once, to see the world. Twice to see the way you see the world.” – Unknown

Road Trip Quotes With Friends

What could be better when seeking new adventures and making travel memories than with friends. A journey is better when you have someone to share it with. Plus it provides opportunities to grow closer, and make your friendship stringer.

Here are a few of the best travel quotes with friends.

• “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”  – Tim Cahill
• “Happiness [is] only real when shared.” – Christopher McCandles
• “Some roads aren’t meant to be travelled alone.”   – Chinese Proverb
• “Life was meant for great adventures and close friends ” – Unknown

• In life, it’s not where you go – it’s who you travel with.” – Charles M. Schulz
• “We are all travelers in the wilderness of the world and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
• “ Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” –  Anais Nin
• “One of the great things about travel is that you find out how many good, kind people there are.”  – Edith Wharton
• “Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.”  – Izaak Walton
• “We all start as strangers.”  –  Unknown
• “Just grab a friend and take a ride, together upon the open road.” –  The Goofy Movie
• “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Lewis Carroll,
• “A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.” – Maya Angelou
• “There is an unspoken bond you create with the friends you travel with.” – Kristen Sarah
• “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.” – William Butler Yeats
• “Best friends are people hard to find, difficult to be, and impossible to live without. They are the people you get along with so easily in the journey called life.” – Khushi Parwal
• “The struggles we endure today will be the ‘good old days’ we laugh about tomorrow.”  – Aaron Lauritsen
• “A true best friend may get you into trouble, but they will always be there to pull you out of it too.”  – Kaylee Stepkoski
• “The more I traveled, the more I realized fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine
• “If you want to go fast go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb
• “Getting to know new people and gaining new friends is one of life’s greatest pleasures. So, conquer your fears and get out there.” – Tony Clark
• “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”   – Anais Nin
• “I get a friend to travel with me… I need somebody to bring me back to who I am. It’s hard to be alone.”   – Leonardo DiCaprio
• “The fastest way to make a friend for life is to travel with a stranger.” – Christina Pfeiffer
• “Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” – Oprah Winfrey

Road Tripping Quotes for Everyone

I hope this quotes about road trips have inspired you to explore the open road, enjoy some laughs and fun with family and friends.

Road trips can inspire so many things, curiosity, exploration, poems, epic stories.

If you love road trips, check out our road trip travel tips, and destinations:

•  Useful, fun, and practical gifts for RV Lovers
• 4 Day complete family friendly itinerary in Acadia National Park
• Detailed   Zion National Park Guide   on where to stay, not to miss activities, and fun itineraries
• Plan your next trip to Niagara Falls, with our How to Plan a Trip to Niagara Falls guide.

Donna Garrison is the founder of Packed for Life, an ever curious traveler with a passion for making memories with her family. With a unique perspective on travelling on a budget gathered over 30 years, 20 countries and 5 continents she gives families the tools & resources they need to experience the joys of travelling more for less through practical solutions. She helps over 20,000 families a month plan & take the family travel, camping and road trip adventures of their dreams in Canada, the USA and around the world. Contact her at: Donna [at] packedforlife.com

Similar Posts

Zion With Kids: 10 Tips to Avoid The Heat And Crowds

Zion is a spectacular National Park in the USA to…

25 Easy Road Trip Activities for Toddlers & Preschoolers

Road tripping with kids? The thought of entertaining  toddlers and…

Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon: Ultimate 7 Day Road Trip Itinerary (2024)

The Grand Circle is a popular place to plan a…

No More “Are We There Yet?”: Road Trip Activity Pack Kids Will Love

Ready for a summer full of adventures with your kids?…

105+ Easy Road Trip Meals & Snacks: Best Road Trip Food

Road trips are exciting adventures to take with your friends,…

Bryce Canyon in One Day (What NOT to Miss!)

Bryce Canyon, Utah is a gorgeous area of the United…

Privacy Overview

Sharing is caring.

Help spread the word. You're awesome for doing it!

Wide Open Spaces Road Trip in North Dakota

W hat is your first impression when you think of North Dakota? Mine was that it was flat prairie land and empty with nothing to see or do. Boy, oh boy, was I ever wrong.

Instead, North Dakota proved to be unexpected, surprising, and legendary.

By the time we were ready to head home, I was crushing HARD on North Dakota.

During part of our road trip in North Dakota adventure, we drove from Minot to Bottineau to Devils Lake, all small towns located in the rural north-central part of the state.

Along the way, we discovered hidden gems, stunning vistas, fun roadside attractions, and the peace and tranquility that you only find in wide-open spaces.

TRAVEL TIP: Visit the North Dakota Sunflower map to see where you’ll find sunflower fields and the percentage of bloom. Note that not all fields are listed on the map but its a good way to guarantee a sighting,

Plan on spending four days and three nights on this part of a road trip in North Dakota.  You just might be surprised on all the things there are to do in North Dakota.

This post is brought to you in partnership with North Dakota Tourism .

ROAD TRIP IN NORTH DAKOTA FROM MINOT –> BOTTINEAU –> DEVILS LAKE

Road trip in north dakota day 1: minot, nd.

Driving to Minot you’ll pass endless rolling farm fields and depending on the direction you arrive at Minot you’ll also pass along Lake Sakakawea which feels like it goes on for miles providing a great view as you drive to Minot. 

Arriving in Minot explore their strong Scandinavian heritage at the Scandinavian Heritage Park. Here you’ll visit 5 countries without ever leaving the state.

The park has representative items from each of the different countries. The Dala Horse and Gol Stave Church were my favorites.

You’ll also want to visit downtown and photograph the fabulous murals and shop at the boutiques. 

We didn’t make it to the zoo, but we heard it’s fantastic so if you have the time make your way to the zoo for a couple of hours. 

SCANDINAVIAN HERITAGE PARK

There are 16 points of interest at the Scandinavian Heritage Park. You can pick up a guidebook in the visitors center that discusses each of the points.

After leaving the visitors center be sure to make the map plaza your first stop. Here you’ll see the 5 countries represented with their capitals marked.

We may currently be grounded but this gives us a chance to visit some other countries from the U.S.

Be sure to explore the Sigdal House, the Stabbur (which is Norway’s version of a barn, and when I have a farm I totally want to build one!), the Sauna, and the Gol Stave Church. 

Normally the buildings will be unlocked and you can go in and explore, but that is subject to change.

There is also a 30′ tall Dala Horse, which might just be the tallest Dala Horse in the U.S. and makes for a fun photo. 

This is also a great area to have a picnic so feel free to order your lunch to go and bring it to the park.

DOWNTOWN MURALS

Pick up a map at the Visitors Center and go on a scavenger hunt to find all the murals in downtown Minot. Some are up high, most are in alleys, some are in plain sight.

There are around 20 murals downtown, but you’ll want to look up for some and be aware that the Magic City mural is on a garage door so if you’re struggling to find it the door may be up and hidden from sight.

We were fortunate to be there shortly after the newest mural was unveiled to the public.

We had a lot of fun finding and photographing the murals. My faves…the angel wings and batman. 

Be sure to shop and support local businesses while downtown.

If you can only go to one store go to Mainstream Boutique. We LOVED it and we may have bought some new clothes.

WHAT TO DO IN MINOT ND | SUGGESTED MINOT ITINERARY

• Lunch at Badlands Restaurant and Grill, outdoor seating available.
• Visit Scandinavian Heritage Park
• Find and photograph the Downtown Minot Murals
• Shop boutiques, do not miss Mainstream Minot.
• Grab a beer at Atypical OR, if you’re up for an adventure text 701-401-2105 to solve a riddle to visit Saul’s, the local speakeasy (HIGHLY recommend Saul’s, an added bonus…it’s haunted)
• Dinner at Elevation at the Minot Country Club. Note, if you decide to sit on the patio be aware that the club pool is located at one end of the patio and it’s usually full of kids having a good time.
• Overnight at Staybridge Suites
• Breakfast and/or coffee at Minot’s Daily Bread
• If time, visit the Roosevelt Park Zoo
• Leave for Bottineau by Noon

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK IN MINOT

• Breakfast –Minot Daily Bread
• Lunch — Badlands Restaurant and Grill
• Dinner — Elevation
• Snack — Cookies For You
• Cocktails — Saul’s
• Brewery — Atypical Brewery

ROAD TRIP IN NORTH DAKOTA DAY 2: BOTTINEAU, ND

Located just south of the Canadian border, Bottineau offers excellent roadside attractions, open spaces, Lake Metigoshe State Park, and the International Peace Gardens. 

On the drive to Bottineau, we passed endless farm fields including my favorite, sunflower fields!!!

Driving along rural roads gives one plenty of time to think, dream, and not worry about the chaos that usually surrounds our daily lives. 

The north-central part of North Dakota makes keeping a social distance so very easy. Lots of open spaces and not many people.

We hardly bumped into other people at any of the roadside attractions or parks which we loved!

So very easy to find the peace and tranquility we so badly craved.

While you are in this part of the state you absolutely MUST visit the International Peace Gardens. During our visit, we only bumped into one other couple and passed a few others in the conservatory. 

BOTTINEAU ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS

• Tommy the Turtle
• W’eel Turtle
• Sunflower Mural
• Mystical Horizons
• Geographical Center of North America located in Rugby, see this on your way to/from Devils Lake

Love Roadside Attractions? Be sure to pick up a Roadside Attractions coloring book !

INTERNATIONAL PEACE GARDENS

Straddling the border of the U.S. and Canada you’ll find the International Peace Gardens. While there you can drive the Canadian Loop and the U.S. Loop. 

The Canadian side is a nice, mostly wooded, drive dotted with lakes along the way. The U.S. loop has a Game Warden Museum, the International Music Camp, and an auditorium. 

In the middle, between the two loops, there is plenty of parking to go explore the flower gardens, including a formal garden, the peace chapel, the conservatory with one of the largest cactus and succulents displays, and you absolutely MUST stand with one foot in Canada and one foot in the U.S.

Tips for visiting the gardens —

• Bring your passport if you have one. You will have to go through border control when you leave the gardens. However, others went and only had a driver’s license and had no issues passing back across the border. If you are just bringing your state-issued i.d. I would also bring a copy of your birth certificate. I’d rather be over-prepared when crossing borders because I’m paranoid.
• Be sure to fill up with gas in Bottineau. There are no services immediately outside the gardens. 
• Pack a picnic and drinks. The cafe at the gardens is currently closed.

KAYAK LAKE METIGOSHE STATE PARK

When you pull into Lake Metigoshe State Park ask the park ranger at the gate if there are any kayaks available to rent. They don’t take reservations so be prepared that they could all be out on the water, but most likely one will be available.

Once inside the park drive to the top of the hill and park on the left and then make your way down a hill on the opposite side of the parking area to the kayak/ canoe launch area.

Note, pit toilets are available and they are big enough to change into water sport clothes if needed.

The park has kayak launch assists to get you in and out of the water so you don’t need to worry about getting your feet wet. I love these and if they didn’t cost so much I would buy one for the family cottage. 

We kayaked the School Section Lake in a double kayak. There are no motorized boats on this lake which makes it perfect for new paddlers.

However, if you want to paddle Lake Metigoshe there is a short portage through the woods to the lake.

I prefer lakes with limited motorized boats because there is more chance of spotting wildlife.

Speaking of, as we were kayaking we heard a little chirp off to our left, and when we looked there was an adorable muskrat swimming next to our kayak.

I quickly fumbled with my phone and was able to grab an ok photo.

We will forever be those geeks that love watching animals in the wild.

Being out on the water provides a sense of calm and is one of my favorite ways to relax.

WHAT TO DO IN BOTTINEAU ND | SUGGESTED BOTTINEAU ITINERARY

• Kayak at Lake Metigoshe State Park
• Lunch at Metigoshe Drive-In or A-Frame Bar & Grill. Note that the drive-in only accepts cash and the wait can be long. However, you can call in your order prior to arriving so you don’t have to wait as long. When we visited the wait was 60 minutes. 
• Visit the roadside attractions listed above
• If time allows, head over to J. Clark Salyer Wildlife Refuge or hike to the top of Butte Saint Paul
• Dinner at Marie’s in downtown Bottineau
• Overnight at Cobblestone Inn

DAY 3 – SUGGESTED MORNING ITINERARY PRIOR TO HEADING TO DEVILS LAKE 

• Breakfast at Family Bakery & Restaurant
• Depart for International Peace Gardens
• After visiting the gardens drive to Devils Lake, along the way be sure to stop in Rugby at the Geographical Center of North America

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK IN BOTTINEAU

• Breakfast — Family Bakery & Restaurant
• Lunch — A-Frame Bar & Grill OR Metigoshe Drive-In
• Dinner — Marie’s
• Ice Cream — Pride Dairy, the last small town creamery in North Dakota
• Cocktails — Marie’s 
• Coffee –Rx Coffee

ROAD TRIP IN NORTH DAKOTA DAY 3: DEVILS LAKE, ND

Start the morning at the International Peace Gardens and then make your way to Devils Lake. (See suggested Day 3-morning itinerary above)

Devils Lake is famous for fishing and hunting and those are the main reason people flock to the region. 

During our visit we watched numerous fishing boats bob in the water while shore fisherman stood elbow to elbow trying for the biggest catch. I can only imagine the fishing stories happening on the shores.

But what do you do if you don’t fish or have a boat?

Well, you do like us and spot wildlife, hike and go shopping in downtown Devils Lake where there are 20 national historic registered buildings built between 1885 and 1914.

Oh, and if luck is on your side there will be a performance happening at Fort Totten Little Theater. We were there for a performance of Rock of Ages which was being performed at a local park!! 

It was a fun performance to watch and a great way to spend the evening outdoors in Devils Lake.

We made sure to wear our masks and keep a distance from others.

Most people were in their family groups and taking care to keep a distance from others.

WHAT TO DO IN DEVILS LAKE | SUGGESTED DEVILS LAKE ITINERARY

• Late lunch at Proz Lakeside
• Enjoy some beach time at Proz’s
• Explore downtown Devils Lake for boutique shopping and a self-guided historic architecture tour OR
• Hike, Fish or Beach at Grahams Island State Park
• Pre-dinner cocktails at Bobbers Bar at Woodland Marina
• Dinner at The Ranch Steakhouse or Charros & Tequila
• Overnight at Holiday Inn Express

WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK IN DEVILS LAKE

• Breakfast — Dunn Brothers Coffee or Old Main Street Cafe
• Lunch — Mr & Mrs J’s or Proz Lakeside
• Dinner — The Ranch Steakhouse or Charras & Tequila
• Coffee — Dunn Coffee or Liquid Bean
• Snack — Devils Lake Donuts (NOTE: Devils Lake Donuts sells out quickly, get up early and be there by 7a to grab a donut)
• Cocktails — Bobbers Bar at Woodland Marina

DAY 4: WILDLIFE & HEAD HOME  

Get up early and head over to White Horse Hill National Wildlife Game Preserve to see Buffalo, Elk, and Prairie Dogs.

Be sure to climb the stairs to the epic viewing platform. Yes, it’s a lot of steps, 193 to be exact but totally worth it. 

After you leave the game preserve head back into Devils Lake and grab breakfast at Dunn Brothers Coffee or Old Main Street Cafe before heading home.

This is a blissful road trip and a relaxing way to enjoy the peace and tranquility that legendary North Dakota provides. 

Empty roads, wide-open spaces, and the ease of social distancing while enjoying the hidden gems of north-central North Dakota. 

More Trip Ideas:

Don’t Miss These Things To Do In Rapid City, SD

One Day in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota

Enjoying Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD

Pin Road Trip In North Dakota To Pinterest