Traveling to new places is amazing.
It’s an adventure, and exciting, and new, and scary, all at the same time.
And if you love to travel, you probably know that it can also be hard.
You get to a brand new place, maybe you don’t speak the language. You’re tired from the plane/train/car ride. And now you’re ready for the fun part.
But wait just a minute.
Before you head straight for the most popular sights, take a minute to make sure you’re not making any travel mistakes that could potentially ruin your trip!
Goodness knows that we’ve had our fair share of travel mistakes (and probably other people’s fair share too 😛 ) so we decided to make a list of the top 10 Travel Mistakes we’ve experienced and ways you can avoid them!
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Travel Mistakes to Avoid
1) Over-packing
I can’t even count the number of times I’ve seen tourists hauling their 50lb monster-sized luggage off the airport baggage claim – as we quickly pass by with our tiny carry-on **facepalm**
Now picture this: you take the metro/bus/public transportation from the airport to your hotel – since you know how to travel and avoid taxis at all cost 😉 – and have to walk another few blocks to actually get to your hotel from the station.
You’re trying to get your wifi or data plan connected in this new place to use the GPS and you’re already lost.
Would you rather have one tiny bag to keep track of or the entire contents of your closet? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
And I know some of you may be saying “But I need all of those things!” And I feel you – I was the same way once. But stop to ask yourself – how much will that extra make up bag really help me on this trip?
- Remember: The more you pack = the more you have to carry.
- Also remember: The more you pack = the more things you can lose.
Another added bonus of packing light is less fees in baggage from the airline! We only ever take carry-ons with us and have saved so much $ because of this!
And if you need some extra help on getting started, we’ve written an entire post on How To Pack Light right here. Go read it, print it out, and staple it to your luggage while you’re packing. Because this travel faux pas has the power to make or break your trip!
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2) Running out of battery: phones & camera
Think about how frustrating it is when your phone runs out of charge while you’re at home or at the grocery store. I know when that happens to me I instantly feel naked.
It’s so much worse when you travel because we depend on our phones for GPS, social media, travel calendar, and to take quick selfies.
Last year when we were in Venice, we accidentally ran out of battery on our phones by leaving the roaming on when we weren’t using it. Ughhhh.
We were walking around the city and every.single.street looked the same. Needless to say it took forever to make our way back to the hotel, even after asking for directions.
Since then we make sure to take a few of these portable chargers with us (and to keep them charged) just in case we run out of battery. It has saved us more than a few times and prevented us from wandering around aimlessly.
The same applies to cameras. We always bring at least one spare camera battery with us just in case. If we forget to charge that one battery the night before, then we know we have an extra and don’t worry about not getting the photos we want – we just change the battery and keep it moving.
Keep the battery charged for amazing photo ops!
3) Jetlag
So I know what you’re thinking – jetlag is just a part of flying. But it doesn’t have to be.
There are a few things that we always do to prevent jetlag when we travel and have noticed a big difference if we forget to do these.
- Fasting on long flights. This can help reset your body’s inner clock and avoid feeling exhausted when you arrive. And you save money by not having that
super expensive microwavedplane food 😛 Just make sure to eat at the normal meal times when you get there! - Taking night time flights. We usually travel at night, leaving at around 10 pm and getting to our destination in the morning. This helps us to keep the same sleep cycle (kind of) that we would have had at home.
- Keep some toiletries in your travel bag for when you get off the flight. I always make sure to have facial wipes, toothbrush and toothpaste, a small perfume bottle, and some mascara. Just pop into the restroom before you get off the flight to “get ready” and you’ll feel refreshed and set to go.
- Drink lots of water! Seriously this is one of the most important things to do, keep hydrated. Skip the alcohol and coffee and stick to water. You’ll thank me later!
4) Not having a travel budget
We used to be so guilty of this. We would always say to ourselves “We’re on vacation, let’s live a little.” Or “We’ll figure it out when we get back home.”
The problem is that when you get back home you have A LOT to figure out as far as finances go. Sound familiar?
Now we always, always make and stick to our travel budget.
And I know this sounds like no fun, but I can promise you that it’s a lot better than cleaning up a mess after your trip and having to pay back the money that you already spent.
We budget for travel during our planning and try to pay off all hotels, car rentals, and flights. We also try to put aside a bit of cash for food, activities, and other last minute items. Or at least have a set amount of how much we want to spend on each.
This has seriously helped us to enjoy our trips so much more and not worry about the added expenses when we get back home.
5) Standing in lines
Think about this…
Would you rather stand in line for an hour to see the Statue of David? Or skip the line, see the Statue and spend the extra time having pasta in Florence, Italy?
It’s a no brainer, right?
You would be surprised by the number of things that you can pay for in advance. Things like museum entrances, pre-planned activities such as boat rentals, etc.
Not only do you get in faster, but you don’t have to worry about something being sold out.
Always, always, always remember to purchase tickets in advance and save the extra time to do things you really love! This is one of the many travel tips that will make your life easier!
Travel more with a full time job!
Travel planning is hard. But it doesn’t have to be. Get access to our free travel resource library to start crossing things off your bucket list!
IT ONLY TAKES 5 SECONDS!
6) Not checking the weather
Yes, it is common sense sometimes.
Miami in the summer will be hot. And Iceland in the winter will be cold.
But do yourself a favor and look at the average temperatures (and general weather conditions) for the month and destination you’re traveling to.
I cannot tell you how often we’ve actually made this mistake – and ended up buying extra gloves/scarf/coat when we get to our destination.
Money down the drain.
So do yourself the favor, and add this to your TO DO list before you head for the airport. You (and your wallet) will thank me later!
7) Booking your hotel first
Just because you’re going to a new place doesn’t mean you’ll want to do everything that the new place has to offer.
So why would you book your hotel before knowing what you’re planning to do in that place? That doesn’t make sense to me.
We always wait until the last step in our travel planning to book our hotels so that we have a general idea of which part of the city we want to be in. It would totally stink to find out that you booked your hotel at Point A, and all the things you want to see and do are near Point Z.
8) Taking the important stuff with you
You already know that when you travel you’ll need your driver’s license, passport, visa, etc. And depending where you’re going you might also be taking out some cash to walk around with.
Now, I’m all for keeping track of your important documents, but my recommendation is to leave your passport, visa, extra cash in the hotel room safe.
You probably don’t need those super important things every single day of your trip, and it’s so easy to misplace them if they’re in your purse.
In some instances, however, someone may ask for a passport, ID, whatever. Obviously you don’t want to go back to the hotel to get it, so here’s my tip:
Before you travel take a photocopy or picture of all the important things you’re bringing with you. This includes your ID, passport, credit cards, etc. If ever you lose something (like we have done several times) having the information saved will come in handy!
9) Not leaving space for souvenirs
When we travel, we often forgo the souvenirs and opt to bring back something edible – or drinkable 😉 – instead. You can read more on this in our 15 Travel Tips to Make Your Life Easier post.
But if you’ve decided to bring back gifts for family, or for yourself, you’ll want to make sure you have enough space in your luggage. If not, you’ll end up paying for extra baggage fees – which nobody wants to do.
A good way to do this is to weigh your bag before you travel.
This way you know that your bag is under-weight and has space for a few extra things. We use a portable luggage scale on all our trips to make sure our carry on isn’t overweight.
10) Assuming everyone speaks your language
This applies to languages, customs, and cultures.
After all, the reason you’re traveling is to see the world and learn new things, right?
So before your trip, try to learn a few words in the native language, as well as some of the local customs. Just life we learned some new Italian words for our Italy road trip!
This will save you some weird looks from the locals and might even make you a few friends.
And of course, you’ll want to know what’s considered appropriate where you’re going….
For example, in Morocco, the locals eat and touch food only with their right hand.
This is because they habitually use their left hand for cleaning the not-so-clean body parts – if you know what I mean 😛
Knowing these types of customs before hand will help you blend in and look less like a tourist.
Personally I love learning about new cultures and make it a point to talk to locals about how they do things. To us, this is one of the differences between being a tourist or being a traveler.
But just remember…..
Making mistakes is good!
I know we have personally made the mistakes on this list more than once.
And now we have some hilarious stories to tell – even if they weren’t funny at the time.
And we’ve learned so much from our travels, which is the point of traveling, no?
So to quote Albert Einstein, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
Hopefully this post will help you to avoid some major travel mistakes. But just remember, if (and when) you do make some mistakes, you’ll have some great stories to tell after!
Happy travels!
– Veronica
Travel more with a full time job!
Travel planning is hard. But it doesn’t have to be. Get access to our free travel resource library to start crossing things off your bucket list!
IT ONLY TAKES 5 SECONDS!
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Gracias excelentes ideas, porque cometemos muchos errores cuando viajamos.
Me alegro que te gusto el post!