Real Travellers' Stories That Will Fill Your Soul With Wanderlust

We asked YOU to tell us your inspiring travel stories, your #MeetTheWorld moments, and you did not disappoint! If you have a story to tell, please send it to us HERE! And now for a few of our favourites…

The Kindness of Strangers

“A couple of weeks ago, two girls we knew forgot to take cash with them to pay their way up to Rainbow Mountain just outside of Cusco, Peru. I gladly gave them the 20 Soles, because surely one day I would also be stuck in a situation like that. Two weeks later, my wife and I were in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil. We were crossing into Puerto Iguacu, Argentina, where we were going to catch a bus to Buenos Aires. Because of traffic at the crossing we missed the bus by two hours! To make matters worse, I had just spent the last Real I had back in Foz, but I figured I’d just hit up the ATM at the bus terminal.
When we arrived, I was told the entire town’s internet service was down! No paying for anything with a bank card, no ATM, no bus, no hostel, not a single Peso on hand, hungry, tired, thirsty and stressed to the max!  I found a nearby hostel that let us stay and simply took my word on my ability to pay. I even had some beers on credit – necessary after the day we had!
Luckily things quickly turned around. We met a group of 11 Argentinians travelling independently who had all just met each other recently. They were grilling a typical asado (BBQ) and having some great red wine. We ate like kings, danced and laughed all night thanks to the generosity of total strangers who took us in with open arms and big smiles. When they heard our tale they smiled and said it was all going to be okay, and they weren’t kidding.”
Submitted by David Rodriguez.

Lost In Translation

“I was a volunteer English teacher in a rural area of Vietnam when one day a couple of students asked me to “come dessert!” I hadn’t had ice cream in weeks, so I was keen. We boarded a very crowded bus, which should have been flag number one as we lived in such a small town. We normally ride bikes or walk everywhere, but this time we rode forty minutes out of town to a Russian resort town. I was under the impression we were going to a rather fancy dessert restaurant. Nope.
Half an hour later, the horizon had changed entirely from tropics, to full blown sand dunes. We got off the bus, and I asked my friend to explain again what we were doing. “Dessert” she said, pointing to the mighty sand dunes. Oh dear!  “It’s pronounced desert!” i replied, laughing. It was a great day though – we rode ostriches!”
Submitted by @thecassandrachronicals

New Country, New Friend

“One afternoon in Croatia I asked a random person in the hostel if they wanted to grab some food with me. We ended up exploring Dubrovnik, looking for all things Game of Thrones. We went our different ways and ended up meeting again in Iceland! We both somehow started and ended our trip in the same place at the same time.”
Submitted by @cassandrasodyssey

Spontaneous Adventures

“Two years ago myself and several friends were sitting around talking about adventure travel when one of us posited: “What if we chartered a sailboat and sailed around the Aegean islands of Greece for a summer, I hear there is also great rock climbing out there that we could explore?” The idea seemed too good to be possible, and a mile outside of our skill level as none of us knew how to sail and we had very little climbing skills to speak of.
I am now writing this from our chartered sailboat on Ios, Greece, with about a week left in a six week bareboat charter that has taken us all around the Aegean. It has been everything and so much more than I could have imagined. After the charter several of us will be going up to the north of Greece to explore the refugee camps with a contact we have made since being here. We hope to do a fundraiser for the refugees when we return home to California later this summer.
To me this trip has been about following your dreams even when they seem too good to be true.”
Submitted by @tylerdrogin

Peaks and Valleys

“I fell in love with Chapada Diamantina, Brazil, back in 201. Sadly. my father was sick and couldn’t go with us. On top of Morro do Castelo, at Vale do Pati, I found myself actually crying because of the overwhelming beauty! I swore I would take my father there one day, and thankfully, last year I was able to go with him. It was one of the best feelings of my life!!”
Submitted by Caroline L.

Friends in random places

“One of the people I miss the most from my travels is David, originally from California (if I remember correctly). He was working in Sweden and one day he just decided to grab his bike and travel across Europe. We met him for the first time in Sarajevo, and he took us to visit the city. We found a very cosy cafe hidden in the middle of the mountains, and an abandoned Olympic track. He was a proper tour guide!
Then, because of our crazy lives, we met him again in Belgrade where we went for a couple drinks with a Russian friend. When we said bye in Serbia, we thought we would never see him again, but we met him AGAIN in Sofia! This time we went for a free walking tour around the city where we tasted local Bulgarian food. We had dinner at a local place with an American girl and a guy from Iran, all from the same hostel. That goodbye hug was one of the most painful farewells of the whole trip. David is an amazing person! We miss him so much. “
Submitted by Nahuel Diaz

Adventure Notes

“Me and my mate Dave had just got back from free diving with whale sharks in a town called Oslob, on Cebu in The Philippines. We got back to the beach situated hostel at about noon and ordered a cold beer right away. As we excitedly chatted about the whale sharks, we realised that everyone in the hostel was there for the same reason. We started chatting to a couple who had just got back from the same trip, as we were recounting our experience 2 more American girls came over and joined in. After a few beers in the bar, we moved down a stunning pagoda out into the sea and took a dip in the sea.
We could see lots of other travellers and guessed from their hand gestures that they all too had been swimming with the sharks. I walked up to the bar invited everyone down and wrote ‘Party down at the pagoda, all welcome, going to be a fun day/night’ on beer mats and post-it notes. We left these on the walls and dorm rooms, so that people would see. Throughout the day dozens of people, from all across the world, joined us. We had a speaker system set up and the Filipino barman was keeping us well stocked with beers
The day turned into night, a bonfire was lit on the beach and we all played cards, shared stories and just had a bloody good night. The night ended with a pool party, before we all went our separate ways. One of the best days of my life”
Submitted by Neil Warburton
Got an inspiring travel story that we need to hear? Leave it in the comments below or tell us HERE and you could be featured in our next chapter!
For more inspiration, check out our posts on the wanderlust gene, and the most inspiring backpackers to follow!