Travel can bring with it interesting surprises. You may encounter a food you’ve never heard of before, or see a landmark you had no idea existed. Or, in the case of TikTok user Kaiyum (@kaiyumr1), you might find an American car with American license plates — on the opposite side of the world.
In a video with over 1.9 million views as of Sunday, TikTok user Kaiyum expresses his disbelief at the discovery of a car with Florida license plates in the Hungarian capital of Budapest.
“Explain to me how the fuck you got here,” he says in the video. “You’re from Florida! This is Budapest!”
@kaiyumr1 i am in absolute disbelief
♬ original sound – Kaiyum
As commenters noted, there are a few possible reasons why one might find a car with American plates far outside the U.S.
“US soldiers based in europe can take their car with them as far as I know,” wrote one user.
This is true. While there are numerous restrictions on the practice, military members can, in fact, bring their car over with them if desired.
Americans can also simply bring their cars with them while they travel and drive for a limited time using their American plates. However, doing so requires a fee payment and authorization from the country into which you’re bringing the car.
That said, doing so is probably unnecessary in a place like Budapest given the city’s expansive, low-cost public transit.
Given the relative ease with which Americans can bring their cars abroad, it’s not too uncommon to see American cars abroad, as many commenters were quick to point out.
“There is a car in Székesfehérvár [Hungary] with North Carolina plates too,” a user said.
“Bro I saw a New Jersey license plate in Romania,” claimed another.
“SAME question to a car from Texas that I saw the other day in SALZBURG [Austria]!” exclaimed a third.
We’ve reached out to Kaiyum via TikTok comment.
Update 10:46am CT, Apr. 2: In an Instagram direct message exchange with the Daily Dot, Kaiyum continued to share his surprise about the discovery.
“[It was] completely a one-off,” he wrote. “I look at like every single license plate on the road to see the country and I have honestly seen no other American license plates…I’ve been in Europe for a month now and it’s the first one I’ve seen through 8 countries.”
That said, he was surprised by the video’s popularity.
“It was a shitty video for my snapchat story,” he added. “My friend suggested I put it on TikTok…This is my second time going viral, it’s just kinda funny receiving all this media attention for it.”
