Funniest thing

Tell us about the funniest thing that happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Include your full mailing address. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged. 

This month’s winner is JAMES A. THORSON of Buffalo Grove, IL:

By 1982, my wife and I had not done much international travel yet, nor were we very familiar with foreign environments. That year, we took...

CONTINUE READING »

This month’s winner is MICHAEL BRANDT of El Dorado Hills, California:

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Bahamian waters, and there was a hypnotic spell about being on the open sea. I decided to walk on the cruise ship’s track, located on Deck 11. The track was one-tenth of a mile around, so 10 loops made a mile. It was a nicely laid-out track, freshly painted blue and located on the upper deck, overlooking the pool. 

I tracked my mileage using my iPhone’s GPS. In a short time, I found that, even at the age of 75, I had walked faster than a running...

CONTINUE READING »

This month’s winner is ROBYN RISHE of Monterey Park, California:

On a trip years ago, I arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to find that the lock on my suitcase had been broken, although everything inside was just as I had packed it. After checking into my hotel, my priority was to buy a new lock.  

I found a small hardware store and walked in. The shopkeeper was a middle-aged gentleman. In my vocabulary-challenged-but-flawlessly-pronounced Spanish, I said to him, “I’m sorry. I don’t speak Spanish and I don’t know the word, but I need to buy...

CONTINUE READING »

This month’s winner is JOYCE BUNDGAARD of Denver, Colorado:

 

On a trip to Japan, I met a wonderful woman and we became friends, while I practiced my Japanese and she, her English.

She was telling me about her daughter’s new boyfriend. They were a happy young couple who had found love because they were both avid vegetarians.

I asked her, “How did they meet?”

She coyly answered, “No meat. Vegetarians.”

Tell us about the funniest thing that happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no...

CONTINUE READING »

This month’s winner is ROD SMITH of Oskaloosa, Kansas:

My wife and I visited Victoria Falls in 2012. After I did the bungee jump from the bridge that spans the Zambezi River between Zimbabwe and Zambia, we went to the outdoor Bridge Café for lunch.

We sat down at a table, the only patrons, and ordered hamburgers and fries. When the waitress brought our lunch, she took out a slingshot and walked over to the railing. My wife whispered to me, “What do you think she’s doing?” So I went over and asked. 

The waitress said, “I want to make...

CONTINUE READING »

This month’s winner is ED SCHLENK of Marshalltown, Iowa:

Many years ago, when I was a young man traveling through India, I decided to visit the nearby kingdom of Sikkim. Sikkim was later absorbed by India, but in those days the small Himalayan nation maintained an air of mystery. For me, it promised to be a Shangri-la hidden in the mountains. 

I was in Darjeeling at the time and learned that the only way I could travel to Sikkim’s capital, Gangtok, was by hiring a taxi. Being young and on a tight budget, I was lucky to find two other travelers who wanted to...

CONTINUE READING »

This month’s winner is EDWARD PUSATERI of Chicago, Illinois:

I took my first cruise in November 2016. It was a Mediterranean cruise, with a crew that was always eager to be of help. 

At one point, I wanted to know the local time, so when I saw two crew members talking, I decided to ask them. Smiling and pleasant, as always, they told me the time. 

I also wanted to know if we would be passing through different time zones. I asked, “Will the time remain the same for the entire cruise?”

They looked at each other. Their smiles drained...

CONTINUE READING »

This month’s winners are CHUCK and ELIZABETH JOHNSON of Lees Summit, MO:

About 10 years ago my wife and I were waiting in the Cancún, Mexico, airport for our flight home to the US and we spent some time in the duty-free store. An American woman with bright clothes and carefully coiffed hair walked up to the sales clerk. In a strong Texas accent, she asked, “How many bottles of tequila can we take back to the US?”

The clerk answered, “Two liters.”  

She then asked, “OK, how many bottles can we take back to Texas?”

CONTINUE READING »