14 People Reveal Wild Travel Experiences That Still Haunt Them

We travel to create unforgettable memories and share quality time with the people we love. While most trips are remembered for the good moments, some stand out for much stranger reasons. These travelers didn’t return with souvenirs, but with mysterious stories that continue to haunt them, even years later.

• During a trip to the Caribbean, my wife and I went snorkeling to explore the sea creatures. She felt very uncomfortable diving and ended up staying on the boat all day. We couldn’t return early because there were other people on board. Of course, my wife was upset. But the next day, the true horror began — she woke up with swollen lips, covered in cold sores from spending the entire previous day under the harsh sun. Despite all the other unforgettable moments from the vacation, this unpleasant experience stayed with her.

• My family and I took a trip to Italy and stayed in this charming but slightly creepy historic hotel. We took tons of photos the whole time, mostly on my son’s camera. When we got back home and looked through the photos, there was one we definitely didn’t take.
  It was a blurry photo taken in the middle of the night. The room looked exactly like the one we stayed in, but the angle was strange, like it was taken from the upper corner of the ceiling where a security camera might be.
  We checked the timestamp. It was taken at 3:03 AM on our second night, the same night my husband said he had a lucid dream. At the time, we thought it was just that, a weird dream. But now...I’m not so sure.
• Family trip to Niagara Falls when I was about 13. We rented a house for the weekend that was walking distance from the falls, 2 storeys that the family rents out separately, but no one was on the other floor. We start hearing noises, someone walking around, toilet flushing, doors opening and closing, really creepy stuff.
  Turns out a family member was living in the attic, and they chose not to tell us. © desertrat113 / Reddit
• My mom was in China visiting her family when she got a phone call from a number she didn’t recognize. She picked it up and didn’t recognize the voice and asked who the person was. The person pretended to be a friend of my uncle (I’ll call him Bob). My mom was suspicious so she didn’t really talk to Bob so she just hung up.
  Fast-forward to when my mom arrived at her hotel. She got a call from the phone in the hotel room, and she picked it up, and it was Bob. She was kind of freaked out because she didn’t say anything about where she was staying. And Bob told her to meet him at a restaurant that was really far. She didn’t go, and she checked into another hotel. © honey-butter-chips / Reddit
• I was on an overnight train and had a window seat. A man across the aisle just stared at me, nonstop, for hours. Didn’t blink much, didn’t say anything, just watched. Even when I pretended to sleep, I could feel it.
  Eventually I asked if he was okay. He just smiled and said, “You look like her.” Never said who, and I didn't dare to ask.

• My flight was delayed, so I had to spend the night at a hotel. It was almost midnight when I checked in. When I entered the room, I turned on the lights and walked over to the bed. To my surprise, someone was already in it.
  I screamed, because the guy was staring blankly at the ceiling. He didn’t move or react at all. I ran to the front desk and told them. They looked confused and came up to check.
  But when we opened the door again, the room was empty. The bed was still made like no one had touched it. They gave me a new room, but I barely slept. I still have no idea what I saw.
• Once I stayed at a JW Marriott, and as the front desk clerk was checking me in, suddenly she had a bright smile and was like, "Ah yes, hello, Mr. Tracuivel! We have your suite ready on the top floor, with window view of the ocean, of course." "Wow, awesome!"
  "Of course, Mr. Tracuivel. And of course this badge will also give you free entry to the massage spa and champagne bar."
  "Wow, really? What a great hotel!"
  "Absolutely! And I've already reserved the conference room for your business meeting, as you requested."
  "Wait, wut?"
  It turned out there were two Tracuivels with the same name staying at the same time, and the clerk thought I was the other super important Tracuivel who got Executive Member this and Gold Premium that and so on, but by the time she realized the error, she'd already assigned me the room. And instead of redoing it, she just let me have the ocean view suite for my economy room rate, for which I again thanked her. A true princess, she was.
  I didn't get to have any of that fancy spa stuff, though. © Tracuivel / Reddit
• I was staying at a budget hotel for work. Around 6 a.m., I woke up to someone knocking on the door, saying, “Room service!” I hadn’t ordered anything. I looked through the peephole, no cart, no uniform, just a guy in a hoodie. I didn’t answer.
  He stood there for a full minute, then walked away. I told the front desk later. They said no one from staff had been up there.

• Traveled to Virginia for a conference at a mid-range hotel, signed in and spent the first night alone. I was a 20-year-old girl at the time. My (platonic male) friend stayed in my room with me the second night.
  I wake up around 2 am and see a strange man in my room. My friend wakes up and sees him too. He stutters and says that he was just dropping off some towels and must have made a mistake. Didn't report it at the time because I would have felt bad if the poor guy got fired over an honest mistake, but I wish I had. © throwaway_today_hay1 / Reddit
• When I was 4 or 5, my parents & I stayed in a Motel 6 somewhere in Arizona. In the middle of the night, we hear a bunch of screaming & doors slamming & people running down the hallways. As we're all waking up, it also feels kind of like it's raining in the room - only the rain is moving.
  My dad throws on the lights & the ceiling is crawling with tiny ladybugs. And they are falling off the ceiling, so the beds & carpet are also covered in tiny ladybugs. And apparently ours was not the only room affected. © Unknown author / Reddit
• In 2016, I was 53 and traveling alone through small towns. I stayed at this old inn that felt a little off. At around 2:30 a.m., I heard footsteps in the hallway. They stopped right outside my door and didn’t move.
  I looked, no one was there. But the floor was wet, like someone had just been standing there after walking in the rain. It hadn’t rained.
  The next morning, I told the front desk. The woman just said, “We don’t use that room unless we have to.” I left right after.

• I once stayed in a budget hotel during a road trip. Around 2 AM, the front desk called and said there was “an issue with my payment” and asked me to come down. I was half-asleep, but something felt off, so I said I’d check in the morning.
  Turns out, no one from the front desk had called me. The police later told me this was a known scam in the area, someone tries to lure guests out of their rooms late at night by pretending to be hotel staff, and then robs them. Still gives me chills thinking about what could’ve happened if I’d gone downstairs.
• I came back into my camp from cooking/cleaning/taking a dump, and found an individual digging around in my tent and gear. I quietly watched the person from a bit away while they rummaged around, eventually leaving while taking nothing. Packed up all my stuff and hiked through in the dark.
  There are zero good things that could come from someone else looking through your gear in the middle of the woods as nighttime approaches. Don't know what they wanted, don't want to find out. © 732 / Reddit
• On vacation, lying with my husband on the hotel beach, a girl in a thong approaches and asks him, "Could you lift me up in your arms for a photo?" My husband nervously glances at me and refuses. I’m left there, stunned, trying to figure out what kind of photo she could want. I tell him we probably misunderstood her, and maybe she just had an innocent request. The idea for the photo might even have been fun. But a minute later, she’s sitting on a smiling Turkish man’s shoulders, “catching the sun.” Pure art, I guess.

Be sure to check out our other compilation of vacation stories that left people with truly unforgettable memories.