Every traveler has their own collection of horror stories. Some are worse than others, I’m sure. Often horror stories involve things that just can’t be helped, avoided or prevented. Perhaps it’s why the phrase, “Go with the flow” came to be. But often, mistakes can be prevented and lessons can be learned in the process of these debacles. It’s one of the reasons I like to share my knowledge and experiences with other travelers and clients. It’s not to make me look like a giant ass {which frankly doesn’t take much some days}, but to help others learn from the very mistakes that I have made while traveling.
So, at the risk of embarrassing the heck out of myself – I’ll share some of my worst travel mistakes, so that you can take heed and avoid them. And please, no eyerolling, ‘I can’t believe she did thats’ or ‘I told you sos‘. I beg of you, have mercy.
1. Overpacking. No big surprise here. I am sure it has made everyone’s list at one time or another. The difference is, some people keep making the mistake. I only had to do this once, ok maybe twice, before I learned my lesson. Now I travel with a carry-on.
- If you’re a chronic overpacker, click here to see how I can help!
2. Lugging around huge guide books. There is nothing worse than weighing down your suitcase and daypack with tons of heavy guidebooks. That was so 1990. With all of the technology available these days you can use your iPhone, Blackberry or laptop to keep your travel info. And if you’re not a huge technology buff – keep your info in computer documents and print them out before you leave.
3. Driving in an unfamiliar city. I am a driver. I love to drive. Love the freedom of the open road and being able to go wherever I want, whenever I want. But I am smart enough to know that I wouldn’t advise driving in a large city like New York. But, why oh why wouldn’t I take my own advise when I thought it might be easier somehow to drive in say, Rome, where I’m not even close to being fluent in the language. MISTAKE.
4. Following a chock-full itinerary. Oh yes – the fifteen-cities-in-two-weeks-because-I’ll-probably-never-come-back-here-ever-again-trips. Eating on the run because you have too much to see and no time to slow down and enjoy a meal. Spending five minutes running through the Louvre to snap a photo of the Mona Lisa – just so you could prove you were there. Sound familiar? Well, I certainly wasn’t that bad. But, I’ve done my fair share of running around and trying to fit too much in. I’ve learned to slow down; I try to experience one or two areas completely and only plan one or two activities per day. It just feels better.
5. Not double and triple checking flight departure times. Isn’t it funny how the mind works? You get a certain time stuck in your brain. You are completely confident about said time, and you never, ever, second guess yourself. Until a few minutes past the point of no return – when you know that it is way too late for you to have any possible impact on that wrong time. I have made this unfortunate error and as I am recalling, it really wasn’t very funny at all.
6. Assuming my travel companion ‘took care of it’. “Did you stop the mail?” “Uh, no, I thought you were going to stop it!” “Did you pack the sunscreen?” “No, that was on your list!” If I had a dime for each one of these little incidents, I’d be a rich woman. I’ve tried to get better by sticking to lists, which certainly helps, but the only thing that works like a charm is travelling solo. No one else to rely on but me.
7. Always buying a travel pass. I used to snatch up every travel pass I could get my hands on, buying into the mentality that it must be a better value. After calculating the cost of the pass vs. what I would have actually spent outright for the portion I used, I realized that they are not always the best deal. Now I do my homework and decide whether it’s the best idea to buy one.
8. Succumbing to peer pressure. How many times have you traveled to a place and felt like you just had to see this or had to experience that, just because everyone else was telling you to. This museum, that attraction, bla bla bla. I guess I really never considered that people all have different tastes, likes and dislikes. At some point I wised up and decided to listen to my inner voice and only do the things that interest me, regardless of what others say. And vice-versa. Just because someone didn’t recommend an attraction, a restaurant or a museum, doesn’t mean I won’t try it. After all it’s my trip and my dime.
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