I came up with the idea of this blog post which will hopefully spiral out into a series of showing you the real story behind some of the travel photos I’ve taken over the years. This idea came from constantly seeing bloggers share beautiful, perfect photos that didn’t necessarily always show the reality of a country or what was really going on. We are surrounded by flawless photos, and lets face it, travel is very far from flawless most of the time.
To kick off this series, here are some photos that I have taken (or been in) over the last couple of years of traveling and the stories behind them that most people probably wouldn’t know unless you were there!
A Centipede in Nepal
This photo kills me every time I look at it as it turned out nothing like we anticipated. While in Nepal, watching a sunset, one of the girls on the tour I was on came up with this “creative” idea that she once saw on Instagram. I’m not really sure what she was going for, but it sure as hell didn’t turn out to be some cute Instagram-worthy photo. Instead, we ended up looking like a giant centipede. 😂
An awkward “spa” treatment in Jordan
This may seem like a normal photo of a girl covered in mud at the Dead Sea in Jordan, however, you don’t see the full story behind it. This to date is probably one of the most uncomfortable experiences I’ve had traveling solo. My hotel offered a shuttle to and from the Dead Sea and since I was the only one riding my shuttle, and it’s kind of strange for the people of Jordan to wrap their head around a woman traveling alone, my shuttle driver took it upon himself to “become my friend”.
He wouldn’t leave me alone the entire time I was on the beach, I know his intentions were just to be friendly but naturally as a solo female traveler you have your guard up. He then insisted in leading me down the beach to find the best magical mud to put on my body (a tradition when visiting the Dead Sea). Skeptical, and looking around to make sure someone saw me walk to the end of the beach with a stranger, I followed him. As he dug up some mud for me, he then began to assist me in rubbing it on my body. I felt so uncomfortable but despite me saying “thank you” and I was okay to do it alone, he continued to “help” me. I went turbo quick covering my entire body myself as fast as possible to beat him to it, then quickly floated out to the middle of the swimming area until he was gone. I mean, I guess I can thank him for at least taking this photo of me! 🙈
An unexpected photobomb in Cambodia
Okay, we’ve all been in a destination before where the giant tour buses pull up behind you of Chinese tourists and as you get swarmed, you wish you timed your arrival slightly better. This was the case with visiting the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. All day we were only about 10 minutes ahead of the hoards of Chinese tourists who would quickly turn a peaceful, beautiful experience into chaos.
This photo was a hilarious capture by my sister, she was trying to snap a picture of me in front of a door in the temple, and even though it was quite obvious someone was taking a photo (and no, I’m not someone to take hours in one spot in everyones way taking pictures), this guy decided it was appropriate to step in and rest his head against the entrance way. The ultimate photobomb, and for the record, he never moved so I never got my photo. 🤦
The unwanted friend in Morocco
This photo may look perfectly fine and beautiful, but what you can’t see is me actually hysterically laughing. As my new travel buddy and I were trying to take photos at the Spanish Mosque in Chefchaouen, Morocco, there was a gentleman that didn’t want to leave us alone. He followed us around as we explored, and then awkwardly sat beside us as we were trying to take photos (see below). We finally asked if he could move and we managed to get some good photos. Unfortunately for us, he then followed us all the way down the hill into town and we thought we would never lose him! 😂
These photos are only some of the funny stories I have hidden in my back pocket about my travel photos. I hope you like these stories, and found them as funny as me. Do you have some stories behind your travel photos that the average eye wouldn’t know? Share them with me on social media @TwirlTheGlobe! I’d love to see them.
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