When I said I was checking in, he seemed immediately flustered and started calling rooms. He apologized if someone answered. It took me a couple of seconds to realize he had no idea who was in which room, and he was calling rooms at 4 AM to see what was empty. He finally located an empty room and gave me the key. I went to the room, closed the door, and hoped to get about two hours of sleep before my morning meeting. Realizing what he had done, I thought I’d be smart and take my phone off the hook before I went to sleep.
At 5 AM, someone was trying to get into my room. Apparently, he still couldn’t figure out who wasn’t answering and who was busy. I found out the next morning that the person who tried to get into my room went back to the front desk and was told there were no more rooms. The desk clerk offered him the sofa in the lobby for an hour or two if he wanted to sleep there.
9. The Miscounted Passenger: A Desert Tour’s Oversight
In Morocco, I joined a guided desert tour with 12 others. I went behind a dune for a bathroom break—maybe 4 minutes. When I came back, the caravan was gone. No guide, no tire tracks. I waited an hour under the sun, trying to conserve water. Finally, a local herder found me and gave me a ride to the nearest outpost. Turns out the guide did a miscount and didn’t even realize I was missing until dinner.
10. The Boat That Ran Out of Fuel: An Italian Excursion Gone Wrong
We rented a small boat off the coast of Italy. The rental guy gave us a short demo and told us we were good to go for 4 hours. About 90 minutes in, the engine sputtered and died—we were out of fuel.
We were 2 miles from shore with no paddles, no radio, and spotty cell signal. Turns out the guy reused leftover fuel from earlier trips and didn’t refill. A passing fisherman spotted us and towed us in. The rental place gave us a “discount” instead of an apology.
