Crazy Travel Stories You'll Think We Made Up

Okay, real talk. The more we travel, the more I notice a very specific pattern. The wild, embarrassing, what-just-happened moments? They almost always happen to me. Jake mostly gets to stand there, laugh, and occasionally rescue me. So in the spirit of laughing at ourselves, here are a few of our favorite stories from the road. I promise we did not make these up.

The honeymoon ring that floated away

Not even 48 hours into being married, Jake and I were in St. Lucia at a resort full of honeymooners. I was so excited to finally be on this trip with my husband. We waded out into the ocean, and I felt my wedding ring slip clean off my finger.

I know, I know, you are not supposed to wear your ring in the water. But every single honeymooner at that resort was wearing theirs, because none of us could stop staring at them. I felt all the color drain out of my face. I just looked at Jake and said nothing. He took one look at me and said, "What's wrong?" I told him the ring had floated off my finger.

Jake instantly became a certified scuba diver. He went under and started searching. I was so convinced the tide had taken it. Thirty minutes later, he found it sitting in the sand, reflecting the sun. That ring went straight into the safe, and I have never, ever worn it on vacation again.

The wetsuit Dutch oven in Bermuda

Back then, I was genuinely terrified of being underwater. In Bermuda, Jake and I got the chance to try helmet diving. You wear a big helmet with an oxygen hose attached, swim down about 30 feet, and get to see the fish and feel what breathing underwater is like before ever trying scuba.

Everything was great until it wasn't. Our guide had a video camera and decided to chuck a huge chunk of fish right at my face. A giant fish from the depths of the ocean came rocketing up to grab it off the top of my helmet, and it startled me so badly that I farted.

Here is the thing I did not know about wetsuits. When you fart in a wetsuit, that fart is not going anywhere until it finds an exit. Mine eventually found one at my neckline, which turned my helmet into the worst Dutch oven of my entire life. I did it to myself. Jake laughed so hard I thought he was going to drown.

The lion that marked his territory (on us)

We flew down to Florida to experience a behind the scenes tour of an animal sanctuary, and got the chance to feed a tiger and a lion up close, separated from the lion by a fenced gate. As the guide was talking, the lion stood up, wandered over, turned his back to us, and started backing up toward the fence.

Jake and I were watching, slightly confused about what we were seeing. Then the lion lifted his tail and absolutely soaked us, marking his territory. So that day we did not just see a lion. We smelled one. We tasted one. We were one.

Locked in a hostel in Iceland

On our second trip to Iceland, we wanted to pack in more adventures and spend less on lodging, so we leaned into hostels. The hostels in Iceland are honestly amazing, almost more like little bed and breakfasts. This particular one was attached to a campground and the room did not have a bathroom, so you had to walk to the community building.

I needed to go, badly. I walked up to our door and it would not open. It felt locked from the outside. Full panic mode set in, because I was about a minute away from peeing my pants inside the hostel room. Jake and I both started yanking at the door and at one point I knocked and yelled, "Help!" Eventually we realized the doorknobs in Iceland sometimes work differently from American ones. There was a trick to it. We were never locked in. We were just two very confused Americans.

If you are heading to Iceland and want to skip the mistakes we have already made, we put every restaurant, hostel, hidden spot, and excursion we have personally vetted across three trips into our interactive guide. You can grab it here.

Via ferrata, canyoneering, and getting carried out of Utah

Last one for today, because honestly we have so many. In Utah, Jake and I booked a day of canyoneering and a via ferrata. If you have never done a via ferrata, it is essentially a route bolted into a cliff with steel cables and iron rungs you clip into as you climb. Strenuous, exposed, but absolutely beautiful.

That day we rappelled down seven different waterfalls and then climbed out on the via ferrata. By the end, we had a short 15 minute uphill hike back to the cabin. That is when I started tunnel-visioning and seeing stars. The guide told me very calmly that the tree cover was too thick for any kind of helicopter rescue here, so I would have to keep moving. Cool, cool, no pressure.

I pushed through the elevation sickness and pure exhaustion until about four minutes from the end, when my body just stopped. Jake picked me up, put me on his back, and carried me the rest of the way out. I passed out on his back. To this day I am so grateful he did that. Lesson learned. Hydrate more than you think you need to, and respect elevation.

The pattern

If you look back at this list, you will notice the pattern. The ring, the wetsuit, the lion, the door, the elevation sickness. Jake walks away unscathed every time. I am clearly out here taking one for the team so the stories have a punchline.

Hang around long enough and you will probably get to witness the next one in real time. We have a feeling there are plenty more coming. Follow along on Instagram @the.ventureseekers so you do not miss it.

-Brittany, The Venture Seekers