Dad Can't Believe Mistake He Made on 'Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip'

A video of a dad's comical mishap while using a GoPro camera to document an epic trip to Dubai has left TikTok users in stitches.

The clip was shared by his daughter Emma Worth (@emmavanworth), 31, who is based in Amsterdam, the Dutch capital, and works as an associate creative director at an advertising agency.

The video, captured on March 30 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai, has had nearly 40,000 views since it was posted on July 10.

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A message overlaid on the clip says: "POV [point of view]: Your dad recorded his whole holiday to Dubai with your mum the wrong way around."

The entirety of the footage shows the dad staring outward from what appears to be the balcony of the hotel room, with his eyes scanning the cityscape, completely unaware that the camera is facing the wrong way.

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Worth told Newsweek: "This was my dad's first time using a GoPro, in fact—he borrowed it from his work friend specifically to capture all the amazing moments from their holiday."

"When he watched through all the footage on his computer back in England, he couldn't believe what he had done," she said.

The recent TikTok post comes as travel is set to reach "record highs" this year, with global tourism spending expected to reach U.S. $2 trillion, according to a December 2023 survey by Euromonitor International, the market research firm.

Jet-setters say they'll cut down on other areas of personal spending to prioritize leisure travel this year, according to a global survey of over 10,000 travelers across nine countries, conducted by Ipsos and the Hilton hotel group.

'Mortified and Embarrassed'

According to Worth, her parents were on a big trip for her mom's 50th birthday and they stopped in Dubai for four days before they went to the Maldives. "This is just one of many clips that he recorded the wrong way around from that holiday," she noted.

Worth said her dad's "excuse" for the mistake was that the camera was in a waterproof case with a handle and "both front and back of case looked virtually the same."

With there being no playback feature on the GoPro, it wasn't until he got home from their trip that he saw the footage after uploading it onto his computer.

The daughter said: "At first, he was mortified and embarrassed, but soon saw the funny side and he was mostly laughing because the footage is just so funny to watch back since it's all just minutes of selfies of himself.

"But, of course, he was also gutted that he'd traveled all that way for a once-in-a-lifetime trip and then didn't have any videos to look back on for memories," she added.

Her father had intended to capture the skyline and "all the amazing and beautiful buildings around the hotel," with the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, being "the one he wanted to film the most," according to Worth.

He did manage to at least get a picture of the view he was supposed to be filming using his phone, she said.

TikTok users were floored by the unfortunate mistake highlighted in the clip.

Gergana Alexandrova said, "Hilarious...Love it", and charlotte said, "Just love this so much."

Claire noted, "this is brilliant" and K A T H E R I N E wrote, "Oh bless him."

Firstnamecrap said: "I'd treasure this forever."

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