Backpackers Reveal Their Wildest Stories

Traveling is one of the top items on many people’s bucket lists. Whether it’s exploring your own country or jet-setting to new territory altogether, there are so many majestic places around the globe. To have a successful trip, people will usually prepare all the details ahead of time so that their travel plans will be flawless.

The only problem with traveling somewhere new is that things can come up that put a wrench into your plans. Once you start adding in unique foods, new languages, and unusual modes of transportation, your plans can go from fabulous to a flop. And when you’re away from home, handling these challenges can go from “no problem” to “oh no” very quickly.

The good news is that at least you usually get a pretty good story out of a flopped vacation or fumbled trip! Here are some of the best travel stories: the good, the bad, and everything in between.

Russian Mobster

My wife and I took the overnight train from St Petersburg to Moscow in 2010. We had to share our sleeper room with a Russian guy who spoke no English and looked like a mobster. He acknowledged us, sat down, and said something in Russian. As soon as he realized we weren’t Russian and were visiting his country, he ordered a bottle of brandy and three glasses from the stewardess….

We sat drinking it and communicated using anything but a language for about three hours. When the brandy had dried up and bedtime was upon us, he took off his trousers to reveal a black pair of tight underpants that had a tiger’s face on the crotch. He climbed to the top bunk and fell asleep. Absolute legend of a guy. Reddit User: Toaster_Boaster

Marry Me?

I accidentally became engaged to a local in Vietnam. I was exploring this little village and stopped at a restaurant for a beer. A guy comes up and starts talking to me in very broken English. Within 5 minutes, he asks, “You married?” I say no, so he then says, “You marry me?” with a big goofy grin on his face….

I assumed he was joking because we’d known each other for 5 minutes, so I said yes. He was not joking. He immediately began yelling something in Vietnamese, then grabbed my hand and started waving it around in the air. Within minutes we were surrounded by dozens of people who were all cheering and smiling and shaking my hand….

He then took me to his house to introduce me to my future in-laws. I broke that poor boy’s heart when I left for another city the next day. Reddit User: quailgirl

Hold on to Your Pizza

First time getting mugged; it was for my pizza. Mid last year, I went traveling for the first time overseas, and alone, so all was exciting as an Australian. My first story takes place in Las Vegas. I was staying at a hostel and made good friends with this English girl. I’ll call her ‘Emma.’

One morning, after a big night out the day before, we were both hungover and craving pizza. We asked the owner of the place where the best place to get pizza was, he told us, and it would be an approx. 20 minute walk to the joint. So Emma and I embarked on a long, hungover walk for pizza in 45-degree heat….

We get there, wait 25 minutes, and finally get the pizzas. I got a small/medium pepperoni, and Emma got an extra-large mixed one. We decide to eat it once we got back to the hostel, so once again, the 20-minute walk home. Just as we were like 50 meters from it, middle of casual conversation, pizza under my arm, someone runs up and grabs my pizza….

Thinking it was someone from the hostel, I turn to face the person: not a hostel stayer, a complete random trying to steal my pizza. We have a tug-of-war with the box, pizza is flying everywhere, and I just let go and let the female thief run off with the remaining three slices, across the main road, and towards a motel. For a brief moment, I considered chasing after her….

Out of everything I could possibly say to this random girl, I get as Australian as I’ve ever gotten and shouted at her, “KEEP RUNNING YOU MOLE!” Mole is a derogatory term for an Australian woman. So there I stood, pizza-less in Las Vegas, and my friend Emma was scared silly. Laughs ensued once we got back to the hostel, and Emma gave me half of her pizza. Reddit User: beeanchor13

Try Not to Miss Your Stop

I was riding a train to go to the eastern coast of Taiwan to my next couchsurfer host when I met a bunch of Taiwanese lifelong military members who gave me beers and tried to talk to me in Chinese and very broken English. After a few beers, I was pretty drunk (I weigh about 58k), and they started telling me that I should get off at their stop instead of mine….

I agreed to, and I found myself at a shrimp fishing house with Jager and more beers. I blacked out and woke up the next day because one of the Taiwanese guys’ daughter was taking a picture of me passed out on her living room couch. The guy then took me to a waterfall and we went skinny dipping, then he took me to the train station so I could meet up with my next host. It was great, though. Reddit User: bean9045

Border Security Is the Worst

Back in 2006, a friend and I decided it was high time we go to Transnistria, a small, Russian-speaking breakaway part of Moldova right next to Ukraine. So here we are, riding the train to Bucharest, then a bus to Chisinau, and finally on a local minibus to Tiraspol. The trip between Chisinau and Tiraspol is pretty short, but because this civil war never really ended, there are plenty of military checkpoints on the road with heavily-armed militias or Russian “peacekeepers….”

We finally arrive at what appears to be a border post and, as the only two foreigners, are quickly escorted out of the bus to a little interrogation room. Well, the interrogation was pretty short: an 18-year-old conscript is looking through our bags and asks the usual “do you carry drugs or weapons” when an officer storms in, points at us, and says, “you, ten euros; you, ten euros….”

And leaves. At that point, there is an awkward silence on our part, but the guy is already gone, and the kid, who obviously did not speak English, kept rummaging through our bags. He then reaches a Toblerone bar I had brought along and looks at me. I point at it and say, “It’s yours.”

He then slips the bar into his sleeve, at which point I turn to my friend and say, “I believe it is time to leave.” We take our bags, walk quietly to the bus, and move on to our destination. I did not see the officer on the way out, which I think was a good thing. Reddit User: menchon

If It Looks Sketchy, Don’t Eat It

Leaving Rome heading to Venice by train with my buddy. Before we board, we get some cheap pizza and beer and enjoy the sun sitting by the Spanish Steps. Life’s good. For now. One hour after boarding, the first symptoms hit. Stomach pains. Feeling feverish. Feel like puking but can’t. Two hours after boarding, I lock myself in the train toilets. Puke the life out of me. And what looks like mushrooms. Thank god, it must be over….

Nope. Arrival in Venice. It’s late. There’s snow everywhere. Puked two more times on the train. Feeling like garbage. I can barely walk by now and feel like dying. We go to find our hostel. We get lost because, well, Venice. Can’t take it. Drop my backpack, fall on my knees, and puke my guts out in the Grand Canal, under the eyes of countless outraged tourists on a romantic dinner out. Buddy is laughing and takes pictures. Great friend….

We make it to the hostel, somehow. Spend the worst night of my life there. Proceed to puke a couple more times over the next day. Food tastes like pain and misery. Can’t eat for the next three days, buddy forces me to. Recover by the time we move on to Florence. Venice is lovely, though. Reddit User: ellipsis9210

Watch Your Drinks

I was backpacking in Australia with a friend. Needless to say, he drank a bit too much goon, and I could never have imagined what happened next. He wet himself on the top bunk while the two people underneath were busy going at it. They described it as coming down like a waterfall….

An angry Irishman woke him up to tell him, and he just casually said you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, then went back to sleep in his own fluid. I was horrified on his behalf. Reddit User: [redacted]

A Dingo Did What?

I was camping in the outback in Australia with my buddy last summer (their winter); he took the tent, and I slept in a swag bag because I’d never seen so many shooting stars in my life and it really was quite beautiful. So it’s about three in the morning, and I start hearing a howling from the hills around the campsite, like wolves howling at the moon kind of howling….

So I shout to my buddy and ask him what’s making the noise. He informs me that there are dingoes around here. Well, what would the odds be that they’d actually come into the campsite, right? Around half an hour later, I feel something weird sniffing around my feet; I slowly reach for the head torch I had in my pocket and shine it on my feet. There’s a dingo sniffing around my swag, so I tell it to run off and leave me alone….

The dingo kept coming back with its dingo buddies, and apparently, all through the night, my friend could hear me muttering swear words at them, telling them to go away. I asked a ranger the next morning if I was ever in any danger, and he said no, they’ve just got a bit used to humans over the past couple of years and don’t have too much fear anymore.

But I’m pretty sure one of the jerks stole a sock that was drying on the bonnet of the car, so I was a bit peeved about that. I wonder if the Australian high commission would reimburse me the cost of a nice pair of hiking socks? Reddit User: draw4kicks

Free Beer for All

Six friends and I were on a backpacking trip around Europe after graduating from college. While we were stopped in Munich, we decided that we needed to see a brewery. The Spaten brewery happened to be the closest to our hostel, so we just walked on over. An older gentleman answered our knock on the door, and we asked him about going on a tour….

He didn’t quite understand what we were asking and thought that we had scheduled a tour that he wasn’t prepared for. He apologized profusely and brought all six of us up to the private top floor of the brewery (not quite a skyscraper, but a really tall building near downtown). It turns out they had moved an old bierhaus to the top floor; it had a full bar, hot pretzels, and amazing views of the city!

Up there, we met a guy who spoke English, and we figured out what had happened and that it was a big misunderstanding. Instead of telling us we needed to leave, he poured us all a beer, gave us food, and told us to stay as long as we liked. It was completely random and so amazing how nice people can be sometimes. Spaten gained six lifelong customers that day. Reddit User: Tdc10731

Daredevil Tricks

I was backpacking around Europe with my girlfriend, and we were on the train from Krakow, Poland. Just as the train set off, we realized it was the wrong one and that we had to get off. It ended up with us opening the door (it was an old train with a manual handle, no electronics) and jumping out onto the platform as it was traveling at a fast run….

I grabbed her bag and made sure she got off before the train sped up. Turns out, it does make you feel a little like Indiana Jones. Reddit User: Captain_Comedown

These Nuts

I was hiking with some friends in New Mexico on a scout camping trip. Most of the people left on a day hike to sightsee, but I was somewhat tired and getting elevation sickness. After they left, I took a nap, but before they got back in time, I was alone at the site….

There were between 5-10 chipmunks running around our campsite. I built a small fort where I could sit on top of a ledge. I dropped a bear bag below and put some nuts in it. Within a few minutes, I caught myself a chipmunk in a bear bag. (Don’t worry, I let it go after.) Reddit User: [redacted]

Ah! Spiders

I was hiking in the rainforest on the Brazilian/Argentinian border near Iguazu Falls with one of my best friends. It was a stunning landscape, and we were having a great time until I heard a shriek come from behind me. My friend had wanted to take a picture of something slightly off the path and walked directly into a spiderweb.

This wasn’t just any spiderweb, it was about six feet tall and spanned between two large trees across a 4-foot distance. Her entire body was coated in its web. We all laughed at her and cleaned her off…and luckily never saw the spider that went with it. Reddit User: [redacted]

Watch Your Noodles

I was on a train in Paris about wintertime last year. Me and my friend were on our way to meet some people down at the Moulin Rouge. I was eating a cup of noodles with a fork I’d liberated from the hostel. Then, this lovely gent stands up to leave the train, sort of half bows with his head down and hands together, and ever so gently takes my noodles from me….

He says ‘merci’ a couple of times and departs the train. I wasn’t even mad; it was beautiful. The way he took them was just great; it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I don’t know why it just felt awesome. Reddit User: alldaysharkboy

What Happens in Bangkok

I saw some crazy stuff, but nothing can beat the story of a guy I was traveling with for a while. He met a 32-year-old Australian woman on the sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. He ended up drinking a lot with her & her buddy to celebrate her birthday….

At one point, they went into the “hallway” of the train and started shagging her from behind, standing up, with her head out of the window (her idea). Later, a monk came into the carriage and just walked over to them and started smoking a cigarette out the window. The girl said to carry on, and apparently, they did. Afterward, the monk blessed a cigarette and gave it to them….

I know it’s true, as I met her randomly a few weeks later, and she was telling the same story. Plus, she’s an absolute nutcase (meth-head according to a friend of hers we met the night we met her and then spent a few days with later on), and he’s a male whore. Personally, I saw a dog smoking a cigarette in Bangkok. Reddit User: ignoramusaurus

Sunday Is the Day of the Lord

I was walking by myself one beautiful Sunday morning along the road from Struga (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), along Lake Ohrid to the Albanian border, when I caught up to two old women walking the same direction on the otherwise completely empty road. I nodded a greeting, not expecting them to speak English, but to my surprise, they did, as one had a son working as an engineer in Australia….

They asked me where I was going. I said Albania, and they said they were going to “cheeses.” My first thought was, this being Sunday, they were going to a market. Then I realized wait, it’s Sunday…they’re going to “Jesus.” I asked, and they said yes they are…then, in the most grandmotherly way possible, they added, “…Aren’t you?”

I’m not religious, but when a sweet old woman guilts you like that, you can’t say no. So I went with them to a beautiful old but small Orthodox church and ended up sitting through the mass. I had no idea what anyone was saying, and no, I didn’t convert, but it was a cool experience. Reddit User: gizry

Space Cakes

Was leaving (escaping) Amsterdam after a 4-day smoke binge. My train to Berlin was leaving in an hour, so I thought I’d have one final smoke before leaving. The coffee shop had a ‘special’: 7 guilders for a coffee and ‘space cake.’ I had one. I felt a slight buzz and decided to have another….

The waitress asked if I was sure, but I insisted. I walked back to the train station and was walking to my train when the space cake kicked in. It was like getting hit in the back of the head with a mallet. I was SO STONED. I successfully managed to get on my train and then passed out….

I have vague recollections of showing my Eurail pass and passport. I woke up about 12 hours later with a conductor violently shaking me…still completely stoned out of my head. I stumbled out of the Berlin train station and went directly to the first hotel I saw, threw down my CC, and passed out in my room for another 12 hours. I woke up and checked everything. All my stuff was safe, and I was fine….

I decided to check out Berlin but noticed all these Swiss flags everywhere. I asked the man at the front desk, “Excuse me, sir, but am I in Berlin?” Blank stare. “No, you are in Basil, Switzerland.” Never did make it to Berlin, but Switzerland was nice. Reddit User: [redacted]

Avoid the Alleyways

I was in Athens last year, and it was our last day there with nothing else to see. We were being told to stay out of dark alleyways because of crackheads and whatnot. At the time, there were a lot of protests going on, so sometimes you could hear them in the distance. So we were walking and heard all this music, singing, and yelling coming through this alley….

So we ended up following it all the way through and came out between this old apartment building and the metro. All the music was coming from the building, and a window was open, so we decided to throw some rocks through the window to ask to come up. Thinking back on it, that could have been bad, but it worked out well!

A guy looked out the window with a handlebar mustache and said something in Greek, and we yelled, “Can we come up? It sounds fun in there.” Then he gave us a smile and said, “Ohhh, Americans! Yes, yes, come up, my friends.” When we got in there, all the rooms of this apartment building were converted into recording studios with all different bands playing….

We ended up hanging out there for about two hours. We didn’t understand them too well, and they also didn’t understand us, but we all knew the music, so it worked out. Walked through a dark alley in Athens to discover a pretty cool band. 9/10 would do again. Reddit User: Oh_MyGoshJosh

It’s Always Best to be Polite

I was in Rome when the pope died. Luckily I had already booked a hostel months prior. The place was crawling with kids fresh off the trains from Poland and planes from Brazil. I made my way to my hostel from the train station with ease and checked in. I was chilling in the lounge of the hostel before going to meet my friend somewhere for dinner.

I am on one of the computers shooting my dad an email when this cute girl sits down next to me. I say, “Hi, I’m FutureWaves, where are you from?” She tells me she’s from CT. I, being from CT, think, “Yeah, bonding time!” I ask her where in CT. She responds with Fairfield County. I go, “Oh, The Gold Coast….”

She all of a sudden looks angry, stares me down, and proceeds to tell me she isn’t rich, and I shouldn’t assume all people from Fairfield County are rich. I, probably with a dumbfounded look on my face, try to apologize as she gets up and promptly leaves with several of her very good-looking friends. I went out to dinner, had a great time, and was in bed early because I had to catch a 10:00 train to the coast.

I’m staying in a ten-person dorm room and have yet to see who my roommates for the night are. Flash forward to 2am, when a loud group of clearly drunk girls comes barging into the room. I just want to sleep. Well, wouldn’t you know, it’s the same girl and her friends that thought I was such a jerk earlier in the day….

Only now, in their drunken stupor, they don’t notice I’m awake and proceed to pretty much strip completely naked as they get ready for bed. I’m chuckling to myself as the Fairfield girl prances around singing and dancing in just panties. A few minutes go by, and most of the girls have settled into their bunks when one of them says, “Hey, it’s so hot in here. Can someone open the window?”

I, being right next to a window, sit up, push the window open, and say, “Goodnight.” The dead silence in that room after I spoke was one of the funniest moments of my life. All thanks to backpacking. Reddit User: FutureWaves

Always Ask About the Sword Policy

At a hostel in Amsterdam, we stayed in a room for 8. We ended up chummy with the other two couples in there and had fun sharing stories for a while one night. As we were chatting and getting ready for bed, a guy came in to take one of the other beds remaining, sat down, and PULLED OUT A GIANT SWORD.

He just sat down on the cot, took it out, laid it on his lap, and sat there silently. We also went silent for a second because we didn’t know if he was serious. We tried to say hi and be friendly. He ignored us and just sat there with his sword….

We were all tired, but we were sort of eyeing each other like we didn’t want to sleep. The guy just put his sword beside him on the bed and went to sleep. The next morning, we asked the desk about their sword policy. They allow them. Reddit User: Vedmedyk

Highlands Highway

 

We passed through the “Highlands Highway,” one of the most dangerous roads in the world. I received bird-of-paradise feathers as a gift while eating pig, ferns, and sweet potatoes with the natives. Reddit User: alanairwaves

Diarrhea Off a Ferry

I watched the owner of the hostel I was at get beat to a pulp by 3 angry tricycle drivers. I bailed a random Irishman out of Filipino jail after he was caught accidentally peeing on one of their motorcycles. I led a terrible rendition of “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band after coming down with some homesickness at a local reggae bar.

I had diarrhea off the edge of a boat for the entire duration of a 6-hour ferry ride (don’t eat the street meat). Reddit User: [redacted]

Auschwitz

We go and spend the entire day at Auschwitz. That night, we are waiting on the bus and there is an old man sitting there. He greets me and his eyes are red from crying. He is American. He tells me he fought in WWII and helped liberate other death camps. He has lived in Poland for 8 years and made the decision to visit Auschwitz to try and understand why it happened.

For two years, he has made the bus ride from Oschwiem, but he does not have the courage to go inside. Reddit User: Baroliche

 The Cat

Not a travel story, but it does involve a backpack. I was going to school one day and my backpack felt unusually heavy. I just assumed I had a textbook in there that I had forgotten about, so I left it be. I got to class and opened the bag up and inside was my cat, who had been experimenting with new sleeping spots.

My classmates looked on in confusion as I pulled my cat out and placed him on the floor. Talk about letting the cat out of the bag. Reddit User: CannibalFruit

A New Semi Driver

Was hitch-hiking in far northwest Australia and got a lift from a guy in a semi. A few hours in, he says he’s pretty tired and asks me if I want to drive. I was a teenager, didn’t even have a license. I said no, but a little while later, I noticed him nodding off at 130kmh carrying 37 tonne, so I said okay.

He showed me how to work the gearbox, waited till I got up to speed, then clambered back into the sleeper for the next four hours. Reddit User: [redacted]

You Need a Map

I was 3 days into a 5-day loop in the North Cascades along part of the Pacific Crest Trail. There had been a lot of flooding that spring, and a bridge had washed out on the trail we meant to take. There was a fork in the trail with something about the towns

Somebody had posted a note saying something along the lines of “we hiked for an hour along this route and never got to the town.” Below that was a response: “It’s 50 miles. You need a MAP.” Reddit User: Rock_You_HardPlace

Larry the Cable Guy

A few years ago, I was backpacking on the Appalachian Trail with my dad and brother, and we decided to stop for lunch, but as we were getting our little stove out, a bear came out of the woods and started walking towards us. We proceeded to bang pans together to scare her off.  We started cooking lunch when Larry the Cable Guy and his family passed by us on horseback.

We talked for a while, then warned them about the bears up the trail and went our separate ways. Reddit User: DrumpKing

Beef Stew Bomb

I was backpacking with co-workers in West Virginia, and we set up camp in the dark after a long hike in. We got a fire going and proceeded to mix up some purple drank. We were having a great time, until one of the guys wanted to heat up some dinner by putting a can of beef stew in the fire, unopened.

The grenade went off, and it blew out the fire. Everyone was hit with stew shrapnel, and just at that moment, it started raining. Fun times! Reddit User: [redacted]

Friend Missing

I was backpacking in Japan with one of my close friends. One night, I ended up running around screaming, searching for my friend, who had just vanished on a pitch black beach with no trace. I freaked out but eventually went to sleep in hopes to find him in the morning.

The next morning, I saw him sleeping about 5 meters from where I spent the time yelling and searching. He had not had any alcohol or taken drugs, he is just the heaviest sleeper. Reddit User: ibleuble

 Snickers

Hiking in the backcountry in southeast Alaska with 10 other students as a part of an undergrad summer program. One of our instructors carried Snickers in his pack, and used them to barter with the students. I bartered for a Snickers in exchange for buying two ice cream cones when we got back into town. Saved the Snickers until around day 17.

Some of the students tried to pressure me to share it. Almost broke out into a fistfight with one of the girls over a Snickers!” Reddit User: Radiant_Aurora

Human Trafficking

I had been wandering around and was looking for some sort of vending machine since I hadn’t eaten in a while. I had circled the entire station, when suddenly, a homeless man appeared, asking for change. Unfortunately, being a compassionate and stupid 19-year-old girl, I gave him the change I had. He immediately took a vinyl/thick sack, threw it over my head, and started pulling me with him.

I was in shock and couldn’t bring myself to fight back. Fortunately, one of the smokers saw this happen and rescued me. Reddit User: [redacted]

Rattlesnake Bites

I went backpacking at a well-known Boy Scout destination in New Mexico. It was a really awesome trip, but it was fraught with various types of danger, one of them being a rattlesnake. I was pretty much terrified of getting bitten, being up in the mountains with no way to get medical attention for hours.

Then this guy in the other group, super casually, is like “Oh yeah! I got bit like 2 days ago spent a night in the hospital and now I’m back.” Super casual. Reddit User: mrbdog46

Trapped Inside

I was in Salzburg backpacking across Europe with a friend. Said friend and I got really drunk, then went back to our hostel. When the door to our room closed, it slammed and woke everyone up. Slammed so hard that the handle from the inside fell off. Little did we know, we were essentially stuck inside until someone on the other side of the door let us out.

My friend had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, as one does after drinking about 2 liters of beer. He couldn’t get out, so he started banging on the door and woke everyone up again…everyone except anyone that could let him out. Then, in his drunken state, he decided to pee on the floor. I then yelled at him because everyone was awake and watching him pee.

His response? “I have to pee!” 6am hits and he has to go again, so he tries to knock again, but no one lets him out. He then pees out of our 2nd story window. Needless to say, we left that hostel early. Europe is a hell of a drug. Reddit User: [redacted]

I Can’t Hear You!

So me and a friend are in a hostel in Monteverde, Costa Rica. After a long day of activity and traveling around to get to Monteverde, we were drained and tired. We made a delicious typical Costa Rican meal with some other lovely backpackers who were at the hostel at the time.

That night, I was the last one to leave the balcony that overlooked the rain forest (a truly beautiful site). It started becoming extremely windy, so I went to my shared room. Little did I know that I was sharing this room with a deaf couple and my traveling buddy (who happens to be a very very deep sleeper). They locked the door on the inside, and I kept knocking for about 20 minutes to no avail.

That night I slept in the main room, which was separated from the balcony by a poorly installed sliding glass door. It was extremely windy and cold, and the only thing I had to cover me that night was the big bean bag chairs. It was worth it for the story. Reddit User: [redacted]

The Flowery Backpack

Me and my boyfriend were in Australia. I was really tired, and I asked him to carry my backpack, which was pink, purple, and covered in flowers. He happily took it off me, and we went to queue up to get on a ferry. This guy with his young kid comes up to my boyfriend and says, “You’re awesome.”

“It’s people like you that help me teach my son that it’s ok to like flowers and stuff when you’re a bloke,” he continued. “Good on ya mate!” It is now my boyfriend’s backpack. Reddit User: Hollywhirl

The Cow Room

My dad and I went to Iceland when I was 13 years old. We were hiking in the middle of nowhere when my dad spotted a building. We went inside and found out that this was an ice cream place. To my dismay, that place was filled with customers, even though I saw no roads or cars outside. I ordered ice cream and sat down at a table right next to the wall.

I had that certain feeling that someone was staring at me, so naturally, I turned to the wall to see a cow looking right at me. The wall was a glass panel that separated the restaurant from the “cow room.” The waiter gave us our ice cream, and it was the best thing I have ever eaten. Let’s just say it was extremely fresh. Reddit User: Geno_77

The Serial Killer

Hiking alone at dusk doing a five-mile loop in the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles. I see another lone hiker approaching from the opposite direction. As he gets closer, I suddenly realize I know this person: it’s the guy who played Jame Gumb, aka Buffalo Bill, in Silence of the Lambs. We get within three feet of each other.

He looks at me. He sees the lightning bolt of recognition hit my face. His sad and resigned expression back said it all: “Yes, I’m him. No, I’m not really a serial killer.” I walked briskly by him anyway and didn’t look back until I was a good 100 yards down the trail. Reddit User: Figgywithit

In His Birthday Suit

An old as dirt nudist hiker showed up during my trip. No shoes. No flip flops. Just his pack, a hat, and a pair of trekking poles. Ran into him while I was day hiking one of rockiest, nastiest sections of the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. He was super friendly, very talkative, and completely ignored any and all questions about his lack of clothing.

We walked together while he talked on and on for a few miles before I turned back and he carried on. “Lefty,” if you’re still out on the trails, stay weird. Reddit User: Mister_Mortician

Witchcraft?

I lived in a national park by myself for three months. Several times, when I was going back to my trailer for the day, I would hear music like a music box or an ice cream truck. It was always loud and sounded like it was coming from somewhere over my head. One day, I decided to look for the source, so I followed the dirt road past my trailer.

The music continued; I couldn’t tell if I was getting closer or not. I had my eyes on the trees and looked down just in time to avoid stepping on a snake. I scrambled back, but it didn’t move. I realized it was dead, and it wasn’t alone: there were half a dozen dead copperheads stretched out in the road, looking in the same direction.

I went back to get my car because I couldn’t bring myself to step over them, but by the time I got my keys, the music had stopped and I didn’t hear it again. Reddit User: ms-cnidaria

Disturbing the Ritual

I was backpacking in New Hampshire and camped out for the night after a day hike. I wandered off from our fire to go to the bathroom real quick and, in doing so, accidentally stumbled upon a circle etched into the ground with tuning forks surrounding the circle standing up straight….

It looked like a creepy ritual circle, and it bugged me out, so I booked it back to the group. It was a campsite called Thirteen Falls; it’s a pretty cool area and a really easy hike. Reddit User: ITS_A_BADTIME_BOB