You know that particular feeling when the vacation is over. Suitcases zipped, souvenirs distributed, the taxi to the airport already ordered. The trip is done. The only thing left is the journey back — which is supposed to be the boring part. And then something happens. A taxi driver buys you warm bread and tea. A toy rabbit gets left on the train. An apartment gets turned into a cat adventure park while you’re gone.
These 13 travel and vacation return stories remind us that the last chapter of any trip is almost never the one you planned.
1.
We came back from vacation late at night, exhausted and dragging our suitcases. When we got to our floor, there was a huge cake, balloons, and a bag of disposable plates sitting right in front of our door. The note on the box said, “Happy housewarming, my dear!” It was definitely our apartment, but our housewarming had been 7 years earlier.
A few minutes later, a panicked woman came out of the elevator. Turns out the courier had mixed up the entrances: the surprise was meant for her daughter in the next building, in the same apartment number 68.
We helped carry everything over, and later she brought us a slice of cake “for emotional damages.” My kid said it was the best ending to a vacation.
2.
We came back from vacation late at night, exhausted and dragging our suitcases. When we got to our floor, there was a huge cake, balloons, and a bag of disposable plates sitting right in front of our door. The note on the box said, “Happy housewarming, my dear!” It was definitely our apartment, but our housewarming had been 7 years earlier.
A few minutes later, a panicked woman came out of the elevator. Turns out the courier had mixed up the entrances: the surprise was meant for her daughter in the next building, in the same apartment number 68.
We helped carry everything over, and later she brought us a slice of cake “for emotional damages.” My kid said it was the best ending to a vacation.
3.
We left the keys with our niece so she could feed the parrot and water the plants. We come back, and the apartment is sparkling: the floors are mopped, and there isn’t even a speck of dust on top of the cabinets.
My husband is impressed: “Now that’s a helper!” But I looked at that suspicious level of cleanliness and immediately knew there had been a party in the apartment. At her age, I cleaned the house the exact same way before my parents came home.
I didn’t ask any questions: the parrot was fed and happy, the flowers were fine, and our place had never been cleaner.
4.
Our last day in Istanbul. We got into a taxi to the airport. Our flight was in 2 hours, my husband had dozed off in the seat next to me, and I was looking out the window.
Then suddenly I realized we were going completely the wrong way — I already knew the route by heart. I looked at the driver in the mirror, he looked back at me and gave this sly little smile. I had just opened my mouth when he started explaining something in Turkish and pointing ahead.
My husband woke up. A minute later, the driver stopped by a small bakery, went inside, and came back with warm bread and 2 cups of tea. He set them in front of us, smiled, and said, “Breakfast. Free. Long road.”
We made it to the airport on time. That bread was tasted wonderfully.
5.
Left our hotel at 6:00 a.m. to drive over an hour to the airport. We get there and check in and they tell us our flight was cancelled. I pull up the app, absolutely nothing about the flight being even delayed, and I know it isn’t just not updating because when the check-in lady changed our flight it automatically updated.
She said it was cancelled because we were the only passengers. The next flight is at 8 p.m. We can’t check our bags until 4 (6 hours to go).
We have 6 bags, a stroller, 5 people, and a car seat. My son is a year old and already screaming to be put down. no nursing rooms outside of the terminal and we can’t go in until our bags are checked. We rented a SUV and already returned it.
In the end, my brother said he’d stay with the bags, and I took the baby to the aquarium. It turned into a long day, but it was still much better than sitting on an airport bench.
6.
We went away for 2 weeks and asked our neighbor to look after our cat. We came back in the evening, went to pick the cat up, and she came running toward us with 7 kittens toddling right behind her.
I nearly dropped my suitcase: before our trip, the vet had confirmed she wasn’t expecting kittens. The neighbor looked at us guiltily and said, “They’re not hers.”
It turned out she had found a box of kittens near the building and started bottle-feeding them. And our cat took the little ones in: she kept them warm, groomed them, and never left their side.
All seven later found homes, and the neighbor kept one for herself.
7.
I came back from vacation and realized that one of my wireless earbuds was missing. I opened the app to check its location and couldn’t believe my eyes: one earbud was right there with me, while the other was on the other side of the Atlantic.
Apparently, we had different ideas about when it was time to go home.My husband’s old friend stayed with us for 2 weeks while we were living in Japan. He was very smug and irritating; an instant ‘expert’ on Japan after a few days, Now one earbud lives with me, while the other is still traveling.
8.
My husband’s old friend stayed with us for 2 weeks while we were living in Japan. He was very smug and irritating; an instant ‘expert’ on Japan after a few days, when we had been living there for 2 years.
Finally, he left on a Friday. My husband and I had separate plans on Saturday. I returned in the afternoon to an unlocked door and the sound of the TV. I thought hubby had returned early. Nope. It was Old Friend — thinking we had gone for the weekend, he had broken into our apartment for an extra 2-night stay.
“You weren’t supposed to be here!” he protested — and he refused to leave until my husband came back home and told Old Pal personally that he had overstayed his welcome.
9.
We got back from vacation and were heading up to our floor when we could clearly smell paint coming from the apartment. My husband looked at me, and I looked at him. We opened the door: the entryway was a different color.
I froze, and my husband had no idea what was going on. It turned out my mother-in-law had stopped by to “check on the plants,” noticed a peeling wall, and decided we wouldn’t mind.
She bought paint, called some people she knew, they painted it, put the plant pots back in place, and she left. It was done neatly, of course: the wall is smooth, and my mother-in-law picked the color “with taste.”
It’s just that now we have a beige entryway instead of a white one. My husband says it’s actually better this way. I’m still thinking about it.
10.
At 19, I went to the seaside for the first time. Money was tight, and over the course of the trip I spent every last penny.
On the day I was supposed to leave, I arrived at the station and only then realized that my bus had left the day before.
At the ticket counter, they first told me the old ticket couldn’t be exchanged. So I knocked on the administration office door and honestly explained that I had mixed up the date and didn’t have enough money to buy a new ticket.
The employee helped process a refund and put me on the next bus at no extra charge.
11.
We were coming back from the seaside by train. The whole way, my 6-year-old daughter carried her favorite plush bunny with her: she fed it cookies, tucked it in by the window, and showed it the stations.
At home, we opened our suitcases — no bunny. My daughter burst into tears, and I called the train station, even though I wasn’t really expecting anything.
The next morning, I got a message from an unknown number. In the photo, our bunny was sitting in the conductors’ compartment in front of a glass of tea. The caption read: “Passenger found. Got a little mixed up about the station.”
2 days later, the train passed through our city again, and the conductor handed us the toy on the platform. My daughterWe just got home from an extended 5-day weekend. No one has been in our house and hugged the bunny and said, “Wow, it’s traveled more than us!”
12.
We just got home from an extended 5-day weekend. No one has been in our house and there’s wet dish towel and stuff in our sink. Looks like cut of radish.
We know that we left our sink clean, and any damp dish towel would be dry in 5 days. The strangest part: we hadn’t bought radishes in years.
We never did figure out who had been making themselves at home in our kitchen shortly before we got back.
13.
I was heading home after vacation on an intercity bus. At one of the stops, I got off to buy some water, and the bus left without me — but with my luggage. I ran and shouted, but it just kept driving away.
I called the dispatcher, then caught up with the bus by taxi and spent my last money on it. At the next stop, they started checking tickets, and I realized in sheer panic that I had dropped mine while frantically looking for my phone.
I had no money left for a new ticket. In the end, the passengers, completely on their own, chipped in the amount I needed. Thank you, kind people!