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My List of Travel Regrets

written by robin

We all have those moments during life when we look back and think – "Wow, I would have done that one differently if I had to do it again."  And there is always the ever popular "Hindsight is 20/20 vision".

Those concepts can be most certainly be applied to travel.  

Here is a list things I coulda, woulda or shoulda done differently.  And therefore, I regret.

I regret having that extra glass of wine at Polidor in Paris, which led me to run through the Cluny Museum at record speed.  Feeling a little dizzy I burst through the doors out onto the garden and parked it on a bench where I lay down to sleep it off.

Once I made the ever-popular mistake of taking way too many pieces of luggage on my first trip to Italy. Only once.  

And on a related note- I regret not taking a water taxi from the airport to our hotel in Venice.  Instead we took the Alilaguna, which dropped us at St. Mark's Square with the aforementioned heavy bags. By the time I hauled the luggage over the second footbridge, I was already cursing in Italian and was ready to kill someone.

I regret not booking aisle seats on an airplane sooner. You get another half seat if you spill into the aisle.

I regret driving in Rome without a map.  Scratch that- I regret driving in Rome. Period.

I regret making a typo on the names when purchasing airline tickets which resulted in a $1500 duplicate charge to my credit card.  I let my Credit Union duke it out with CheapTickets. And on a lighter note, I learned not to book with CheapTickets again. The whole transaction left me less than thrilled!

I regret not tightening the top on my bottled water as I climbed the steps of the bell tower in Florence. The water leaked in my backpack with my 300 page Italy guidebook.  One waterlogged guidebook weighing in at ten lbs and expanding to five times its normal size later- I learned NOT to take guidebooks with me.

I regret fearing to travel to foreign countries, not being fluent in the language.

I regret not taking more than two years of French in high school.

I regret believing the copy on the website of a B&B in Newport that said they were just a short walk away from the harbor.  If a short walk constitutes about a half-mile, uphill- than that's my bad.

I regret not traveling solo sooner.

I regret not double-checking my flight departure time on the airline tickets for a return flight from Paris, thereby missing my flight home, which lead to arguments, added fees, sleeping at a hotel close to the airport and just a general nightmare.

I regret signing up for the "Free Timeshare Presentation for a Free Dinner" sham in Florida. The dinner wasn't worth the 3 hours of my life and vacation that I'll never get back!

I regret ever thinking that trying to make the three hour drive from Positano to Rome in a rental car early in the morning, the same morning as our flight left at 10:00 am, was a good idea.  It really wasn't. 

After spending four plus boring hours on the flattest, least scenic part of Canada on the way to Old Quebec City and Montreal, I regret not flying.  Next time- I'll take to the skies.

I regret not doing a drive by of Pisa.  We were so close, but veered to Chiantishire instead.  We should have just driven by for a view and a picture of the leaning tower.

But, what I regret most- is not going sooner.

What are some of your travel regrets?  You know you have 'em!  Share in the comments!
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