Americans Make Expensive "Tourist Mistake" by Unknowingly Ordering $500 Pasta on a French Boat Trip

If any time can be definitively labeled as "treat yo' self" time, it's when you're on vacation. With all of your responsibilities and obligations miles and miles away from you, there's no better time than to splurge and really reward yourself with something nice. That being said, it's also never a bad idea to spend wisely. You want to know what you're buying, and more importantly, what you're spending.

That's the harsh but fair lesson that one group of vacationers learned on TikTok. While on a boat party during their vacation in Europe, a pair of travel vloggers called "The travel twins" (@thevacationtwins) inadvertently ordered a serving of lobster pasta that ended up costing over $500.

The travel twins are no strangers to sharing all kinds of vacation glamour shots and exploits as they and their friends tour exotic locations in Europe and North America. They can often be seen traveling through beautiful locales, accompanied by a group of friends.

You'd think they'd be used to spending exorbitant amounts of money on travel expenses alone, but one of their most recent expenditures had given them pause. In a TikTok posted on Sept. 26, 2023, they showed off one of the most expensive menu orders they might have ever gotten.

They ordered "lobster pasta." "Lobster pasta" usually refers to pasta with bits of lobster in it. What the travel twins ended up dining on, however, was more like huge amounts of lobster with some pasta sprinkled on top.

According to OP in the comments, the only other legitimate ingredient was cherry tomatoes.

The final price tag? Over 500 euros. That comes out to approximately $528 USD. Shockingly, that price point only seemed to cover the food itself, considering that it was served on a paper platter.

Even for "treat yo' self" time, that's a lot of money. The meal was even split among friends, though it was reportedly paid for by a friend before they realized what the price actually was. That's got to be one heck of a bill to split on Venmo.

To make this overly-expensive meal even more awkward, folks in the comments began sharing their own experiences with ordering similar meals. Many of them claim to have gotten the same order of lobster pasta on their own vacations or in their own neighborhoods for far less than what OP spent.

"I got the same meal on a catamaran in Santorini for 150 euros ($158.60 USD). Y'all were robbed," one person claims.

Another person even said that the same meal is available in Mexico for only $15.

Other people tried to provide travel tips to avoid being jumpscared by a price tag in the future. One user posited asking for the price upfront before ordering, which is solid advice for any tourist.

We're not here to say there's any wrong way to treat yourself on vacation. But if you're gonna splurge, just know what you're paying first.