Traveling is one of the most fun things to do, especially when you overlook the spending part, but a little mistake can make it more challenging than it should be. Even travelers with a lot of experience can make mistakes that leave them stuck, so don’t feel bad if you’ve had your share of them. Here are some of the dumbest travel mistakes ever made.
Arriving at The Airport One Day Early
Imagine arriving at the airport 24 hours before your scheduled flight departure time. The person who made this error was fortunate enough to have their friends with them, so they stayed overnight. Otherwise, they would have had to return home and go through the check-in process again the following day.
Giving Your Wallet To A Stranger
Being drunk is one thing, but giving your wallet to a stranger when drunk is the next level. When you wake up and realize you are stranded because it is gone, you’ll probably spend the rest of your trip relying on your friends and using their cash.
Booking a Bus Instead of a Train
It’s easy to overlook things when booking, like if you’re booking a bus instead of a train. We usually have an idea of what we’re booking, but a little double-checking on the booking site can save you from booking the wrong vehicle.
Leaving All Cash and IDs in a Safe
Spoiler alert: leaving all your cash and IDs in your hotel safe and going out with only one credit card is a bad idea. You’ll probably have to ride back and discover that no one takes your card in that place and that no bank there can give you a cash advance. Or maybe you’ll end up paying $80 for $30.
No Extra Underwear (When Hiking)
Someone was on a weeklong hiking trip to the Grand Canyon in college and forgot to pack a pair of underwear. They developed such a nasty rash on the scrotum that they ended up in the doctor’s office.
Not Checking Weather
There’s a story about someone who booked a trip to Istanbul in December, assuming it would be warm because it was in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. They hadn’t checked the weather predictions. If they did, they would have packed winter clothes as it was snowing when they arrived. We’re pretty sure they’re not the only ones.
Leaving All Your Money in Your Wallet
Wallets going missing is nothing new. Keep more of your cash in your bag or maybe your hotel. If you keep all your cash in your wallet and it goes missing, you may end up having the most stressful day of your life.
Carry Raw Meat Home
After agreeing to transport raw meat home from some acquaintances in Dhaka, someone who was ill and unable to ask many questions decided to proceed with it. It leaked blood inside their luggage so much that even customs officials were reluctant to deal with it.
A Bus in the Wrong Direction
Getting to the bus station and just saying “to the airport” is no way to go. This is because a city or state may have more than one airport, and the one you have in mind may differ from what the bus driver is headed to. You may just get halfway to the airport and realize you are going to the wrong airport.
Booking a Hotel in the Wrong Country
We know several multinational hotels retain the same name across borders. Look out for the country when booking, or you’ll arrive at the hotel you pictured but won’t get the services you paid for.
Not Collecting Receipts
Sometime in Cancun, friends paid for a bus excursion ticket from a street peddler. The brochure looked great and was a relatively inexpensive round-trip for everything, so they decided to go. They paid the guy in cash, and he gave them this shady-looking card with a map that said to meet them the next day in the parking lot behind this random grocery store. The whole setup felt sketchy, but the trip happened. Just be careful with such arrangements.
Not Researching Prices
After spending an entire month in London and never once venturing outside the city, someone who now admits he was “a dumb 20-year-old American” realized the ease of train travel there. The only day trip they had looked into was a coach tour bus to Stonehenge, which was heavily priced.
Booking Inflexible Rentals
Imagine booking a rental car for the wrong day. It happened to someone, and the rental company was utterly inflexible, so they ended up paying $500+ twice for a 4-day rental. They discovered a cab to and from their destination when they no longer needed one. Guess what the cost was?—about $150!
Booking Wrong Accommodation
Friends traveled to two cities for a week and needed two accommodations, one for each town. One mistakenly booked the same apartment twice and didn’t notice until a week before the trip. Well, he had his fair share of tears. It was costly (no refund). Pay more attention when booking more than one accommodation at once.
Taking Son’s Passport
After taking his son’s passport instead of theirs, someone drove 3 hours to Chicago for a flight to Cuba the following day. Thank God he had a friend who went and got his own from the house and met him halfway. He returned to Chicago at 2:00 am and made the 6:30 am flight.
