Travelers Who Got In Trouble Abroad Share Their Experiences

Traveling abroad is a marvelous adventure. There are so many opportunities to learn new things, try new foods, meet different people... and get into trouble. What adventure would be complete without a little bit of trouble? When traveling in a different country, with written laws and unspoken rules that can be very different from your home, it is much easier to make a mistake that will land you in hot water. People who choose to adventure abroad ought to become familiar with the laws of the places they intend to go, but even the best-prepared of travelers can still find themselves in trouble.

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35. Cambodian Scooter Bribe

Rented a scooter in Cambodia, got pulled for having the headlight on before 6 pm. I got taken into a room and was told why I was there, they then asked for my international driving license (which you don't actually need for a scooter) I lied and told him I lost it in Australia.

He started shaking his head and telling me this wasn't good...first the headlight issue and now no license...

This is when he asked if I wanted to do things the easy way or hard way, I said easy and he gave me a little speech about lights in Cambodia and then proceeded to ask me how much I thought the info about light in Cambodia was worth.

I paid him 10 bucks and went on my way.

When I landed in Nepal this German guy accused me of plotting to attack him while on the airplane. I was sitting a few rows behind him reading from a tablet. He told the police I had a laser pointer and insisted I was a criminal. He was hysterical. I was terrified in this new country and was put in a room while the police searched my bags for a laser pointer. An actual laser pointer. I had none. The guy turned out to be very mentally unstable and was sent away.

The airport police chief gave me his own phone number and told me to call him if I needed tourist recommendations.

I was in Tanzania doing research on the Maasai language. I was working in the city of Arusha, and my first trip I didn't have time to do anything fun like go out to any parks to see wildlife. I was alone, so I'd just talk to everyone. One night, I was coming back from the place that had reliable internet, when a young man struck up a conversation with me. We were walking down the road talking when I saw a hedgehog run across the road. I ran after it to get a picture--the only wildlife I'd seen (except a monkey from the train) was a hedgehog in a ditch. It was the one time I'd forgotten my camera, and I was determined to get a picture of one before leaving. Confused, the young man caught up with me standing disappointed by a black plastic bag that had blown across the street. I told him that I just wanted to get a picture of a hedgehog. He told me to meet him the next night (they're nocturnal)--he'd find out where they are commonly seen.

I assumed he didn't mean it (though in Tanzania if someone says they'll call you, they call. If they say "you should meet my family sometime", you go meet their family (even if you were strangers before you sat down at the same coffee stall). The next night I was returning from the same place, and my new friend was waiting.

He took me a bit south of the city to an abandoned or rundown school. We squeezed through the gate, but then a dog chased us out. Did we give up? No. He led me down a dusty street. We peered through the dusty grass in the light of my dim phone flashlight.

Suddenly we were illuminated in the blinding light of seven or eight armed police officers with powerful flashlights. In the dark, I hadn't realized we were trespassing in people's yards. Wide-eyed I explained in my best Swahili that I was just trying to take a picture of a hedgehog. One guy with an intimidating weapon screamed at me. It took me a second to translate, "I just saw one!" as he ran down the road and dove under a car. He shook his head--it was gone. The police talked briefly, too quickly for me to understand and then they were all fanning out with their flashlights. Some crawled on their hands and knees through the bushes and shrubs.

And damn if they didn't find one. Picture me on my knees in the dark in the dust surrounded by a semicircle of armed police officers. They used their feet to herd the hedgehog toward me so I could snap a picture. They realized their lights were scaring it, so they turned them off. My flash kept scaring it, so I never did get a good picture.

I was traveling across Kazakhstan for work. One thing I failed to notice on my visa/landing card was that after x number of days in-country, I had to go check in with immigration. Whoops.

So when I went to leave the country, the passport control official noted that there was no appropriate stamp, pointed this out to me, and eyeballed me like his life depended on it. While I was being coldly stared at, I was terrified, and I thought "Oh no, I'm going to spend a few nights in the cells before being fined and deported".

THANKFULLY he said, "In the future when you visit our country, you must comply with the law." and let me go. I apologized profusely and got on my flight out.

I haven't been back but certainly wouldn't rule it out. Just don't go during winter - Kazakhstan is pretty cold in November.

I got "pulled over" (a cop stood in the grass and waved his arms at me) in Negril, Jamaica for speeding. The limit was 20km/hr IIRC because we were driving through the resorts area and I was doing about 40km (everyone else was doing about 60). The officer walked up to me with his button up halfway undone with his chest hairs exposed (lol) and let me off with a warning. The entire time my girlfriend was yelling at me to drive away because she thought we were going to get shaken down

Two weeks into a seven-month backpacking trip around South America, my girlfriend got a severe ear infection when we were in Puerto Madryn in Argentina. The pain was so bad she could barely stand and said it felt like her head was about to explode.

Obviously, I knew I needed to get a doctor involved ASAP in case her eardrum ruptured, but I'd only been learning Spanish for two weeks at this point. I could about handle formal greetings but hadn't yet covered medical emergencies.

I sprinted from clinic to clinic, and using the Google Translate app eventually was able to find one that would take her in. After basically carrying here there, the doctor and I basically communicated using Google Translate, passing my phone back and forward as he asked questions and I answered them. It was weird at first but it worked well, the doctor was pretty cool about it (especially considering he was about to leave for the day when we rocked up).

He gave her a STRONG remedy and a prescription for antibiotics and sent us on our way. My girlfriend was out of it and went straight to sleep. I went into the kitchen and relaxed with a beverage.

I went once to Russia from Nice (France) by train with my then girlfriend. Obviously, there were frontier controls at Belarus, so we showed our passports with our transit visas (funny enough, we didn't need visas for Russia, but we did need them for Belarus). As none of the guards spoke any language other than Russian, they just gestured that everything was ok, and that was that.

We spent 2 weeks and a half in Moscow and St. Petersburg, using Airbnb. It was pretty good and I genuinely enjoyed the trip.

Then, when we were going back to France (by train again), we stopped again at Belarus for exit control, and it was like 2 am. We were in a 4 people cabin, and with us was a Russian lady and her daughter, she was very kind and we sorta chatted a bit (and then we realized that she had an awful experience with our country, won't give many details here). The thing is, when the guards saw our passports, asked for something in Russian again. The lady translated our "check-in documents" or something like that. It turns out that, when you're a foreigner in Russia, you have this sheet of paper that you should give to your hotel to be filled and then hand it back when exiting the country. Nobody told us that, and we were puzzled. The guard says "We're going to take your passports. I am going to talk with my superior".

Then, we spent a tense hour. The lady called her husband, who, as it turned out, worked with some Russian ministry and had something to do with migrations. She then grimly explained that the guards could detain us and send us back to Moscow in the middle of the night for not having the required documents. At that moment, we were livid, we had a flight to catch in France in 4 days or so (and the trip by train takes 2 days), we didn't have much money for a last minute flight and the prospect of being detained in Belarus wasn't a pretty one (later I discovered that Belarus is called "the last European dictatorship", so, there's that). I was already worried, my ex was very chill until I kinda explained the situation for her, and then she started to worry as well.

The guard came finally and handled our passports back. The lady asked "What happened? Is everything ok?" and the guy said "Well, my supervisor and I had a great day today, we're in a cheerful mood, so, we won't bother you. You're free to exit the country, have a nice night". We were relieved...

Months later, I found a colleague from Belarus who explained to me "Well, next time you slip a 20 Euros note in your passports, and problem solved". The more you know.

I was a research assistant in an ecology lab when I was 20. My lab group was flying from Seattle to our research site in the remote Canadian Arctic, with a stop in Edmonton to change planes. I'd driven across the Canadian border multiple times and just used my driver's license as ID. It never incurred to me that I'd need a passport when flying in. The immigration agent gave me this incredulous look and I could feel the shame rising to smother me. He just stared me down for several seconds, then hands my drivers license back and says "You do realize Canada is an independent country, right?" and let me continue. He seemed so defeated by my thoughtless American arrogance.

On the way home, a grad student volunteered at American customs inspection that she'd collected samples of an arctic poppy species that wasn't on her import permit. Like they would ever have known otherwise. She had to leave her samples behind.

The 90s were a more innocent time.

I was 18 visiting Spain from the US. I was with my Spanish friend who was only 17. I wanted to party because it was legal for me but not for my friend. I bought us some drinks and we started drinking them out on the street when suddenly the police showed up. They got in our faces but I couldn’t really understand what was going on so my friend had to translate.

They said something to the extent that I could be arrested or deported but instead of translating directly, my friend was telling me what was actually going to happen which was that they were going to make us pour them out and maybe write me a ticket that I’d never have to pay. So I’m just nodding dismissing everything and the police started yelling at him. So he turns to me and said, “They want me to make sure you know this is really serious and you can go to jail.”

I still wasn’t getting it so my friend then adds, “So look scared.” I then made this face like I was afraid I’d get in trouble and started acting really apologetic. The police got this satisfied look and kinda stared me down as I poured out our drinks. They then finally left us alone.

So I was in the US on Holiday, visiting my girlfriend at the time. I was using her parent's car when I got pulled over by the police as I drifted out of my lane as it was the first time I had driven on the other side of the road.

So in Australia, your car registration is all electronic and tied to the number plate, so it can be checked by the police on their computer and insurance isn't required so of course no need for an insurance certificate or proof of it.

Cops walks up to the window, asked me why did they think I was pulled over and for my licence, registration and insurance and I freeze, then quickly said to him "Let me just have a look" and without thinking about the fact he might be worried about weapon because 'murica, I whack open the center console...to be greeted by my girlfriend's mum's weapon which she had neglected to tell me about.

Well this is where everything went downhill, I instantly hear the sound of the officers weapon getting whipped out and him yelling at me to put my hands up, of course, I comply because what else do I do.

He calls for someone else and orders me out of the car, handcuffs me and sits me down on the curb while we wait for them to arrive. As I'm sitting there he asks me where my wallet is and grabs it from me, grabs my license only to notice that it's an Australian license and suddenly changes his tone.

Anyway, while we are waiting for the other cop to arrive, he asks me about why I'm visiting, what am I doing driving alone etc then asks for the vehicle owners phone number and such to call them.

Thankfully after a 15-minute call with my girlfriend's mum, they straightened out things with the fact that there was a weapon they had forgot to mention to me and just told me to pay a bit more attention while driving in the US so that I don't drift outside of the lane.

I was in Jerusalem waiting to take a tourist bus to Cairo. I had a single piece of luggage. I wasn't positive I was in the correct spot so I asked a woman nearby if this was the place for the bus. She didn't speak English but finally said "Cairo here" and smiled. I thanked her.

Less than a minute later a police car and motorcycle screeched to a halt right in front of me. The guy on the back of the motorcycle (with an weapon) jumped off and ran right at me. The other officers went to the woman. It happened so fast I just sat there as the officer approached me.

He asked for ID so I gave him my passport. He said, "You don't look like an American.". "Is that your bag?". Yes. "I'm going to search it." Fine. "What are you doing in Israel?" Here for a wedding. "Why did you talk to that woman?" Directions. "What did she say to you"? Not much.

Then he asked if I had any other ID. I pulled out my wallet and opened it. He saw my mini-police badge. "Oh, are you a cop" Yes. "Where?" Then I got out my additional ID which was a military reserve ID card. "Oh, you are a captain in the reserves". Yes. Suddenly we were buddies.

I asked, "Do you still want to search my bag"? He said, "Just put on a show like you're moving things around". Then he told me someone called in suspicious activity between you and that woman. I told him she didn't do anything either. He said, "Those people are always up to something".

I was in Russia, in one of their two main cities, doing my studies. I was a college-age male and American. One day, I'm walking around without my documents, but its like, late September and the police like to hang around the subway stations stopping young adult males and making sure they're not avoiding conscription. So I get stopped, and I speak a bit of Russian because I had been studying it for almost two years at that point, but that was my second mistake of the day! Despite my heavy American accent, the lack of passport plus my gender, age, and the fact I knew Russian got me a trip downtown to the local military recruiter's office. I assume I'm about to be conscripted into the military in mere moments, so I pay the guy a bribe and make a phone call to my flatmate and beg him to bring my passport down to the station. He shows up, they see my visa, I get released. That was fun...

A friend and I were visiting Krakow about a decade ago. We checked into our hostel (which was really nice) just around dinner time. The host at the hostel gave us some food recommendations and a map that wasn’t the best (had probably been photocopied hundreds of times), but we figured we could manage. We go and have a great meal and decide to head back to the hostel to rest up for the next day.

By this time, it was dark out and the streets were not very well lit, making the shoddy map even more difficult to read. I noticed what I think was a lit bus map not far down the street and suggested we check that out and at the very least use the light to read the one we had. So, we go over to it, at this point obviously lost tourists when two guys approached us. They were speaking what I’m assuming was Polish. I was pointing at the map and saying the name of the hostel in hopes they would be able to help us when all of a sudden one of the guys tackled my friend and a street brawl ensued. It didn’t seem like they wanted anything other than a scrap, but it was still scary looking back. When the fight was over neither my friend or I (or them I think) were seriously injured. I had a split eyebrow and my friend had a small chip in his tooth.

When we got to our feet, we just looked at each other like did that just happen? Some other local (I’m assuming) people came over and were able to speak a bit of English and asked if we were ok and I tried to explain the situation. They apologized and walked us to our hostel and said we’d be better off not contacting the police. We thanked them and parted ways.

When I was living in Barcelona, I got mugged outside my apartment, twice in one night. Sort of.

I lived just off the Ramblas, so it was tourist central, and I'm a small, pasty caucasian girl; I couldn't have looked more touristy if I tried. I'd been out partying in a nearby bar, I walked home, I put my key in the front door and felt someone grab me and start going through my pockets. Immediately, my mind started into a worst-case-scenario mode.

As soon as his grip loosened just a little bit, I ran. I didn't know what was going to happen to me, and so I took off down the street like I was trying out for the Olympics. Unfortunately, my dumb, inebriated self left my keys in the door. I was alone in a city I'd only just moved to, where I barely spoke the language, and I no longer had my purse. I called the police on the local number -- thanks, Spanish payphones -- and they directed me to the local station where I could file a report and explain the situation. It was about a twenty-minute walk there to be told that there wasn't really much they could do, but then I checked my pockets and found that I had no keys to my apartment. I distinctly remembered having them when I was grabbed, which meant that whoever grabbed me probably had them now. Which meant that the robber could be inside my flat.

This was a problem.

I was told that they'd send someone when they could and that I could wait there or meet them at the flat. I chose the latter (stupidly; my feet were killing me at this point, and I had massively soured on the whole walking-around-the-city-at-3AM thing). As I was waiting, another guy grabbed me. As I was trying to figure out what the Spanish for Jesus Christ, you did me already, go pick on someone else, I felt something slip into my pocket, and then the guy ran off down the street.

The guy returned my purse, minus the four-euros-and-fifty-something cents I had left in it, but including the cards and things. Turns out that this isn't particularly uncommon -- I discovered later -- the reason being that you're significantly less likely to call the police if your cards and driver's license and such are still safe. Why they put the wallet in my pocket rather than just throwing it at me, I have no idea, but it is what it is.

After about twenty minutes, with me both shaken and confused, the police arrived. My keys were still in the door, but that didn't mean that they weren't upstairs, so two very nice Spanish police officers took me upstairs and made sure that the flat was empty. I assume that they didn't feel like taking the risk of adding a breaking and entering charge if they were caught, but it was still a good long time before I felt entirely comfortable in the flat, and walking around town at night.

And that's how I was mugged and reverse-mugged in Spain.