My dad is an avid traveler, and has thankfully always brought my mom, brother, and myself along for the–sometimes very long, ride. Together we’ve traveled to 25 countries and counting! With that many trips, we were bound to run into just about every kind of travel headache. We’ve had lost luggage, missed connections, broken suitcases, been at the wrong airport, etc., etc. Here is a list of the 6 most common travel mistakes my friends and family have made:1. Not traveling somewhere because you don’t speak the native languageYou would be amazed at how easy it is to get around most places by just speaking English. If you are going to a popular tourist destination, like Rome or Paris, you will have no trouble finding people who can speak English with you. And even if you are traveling to a lesser-known area, you will be able to come up with creative ways to communicate to non-English speakers. In China, all of the menus had pictures of the food that we were able to point at to order. When we were in Russia, we tried to buy a bottle of water at a local farmers market, and the woman behind the counter spoke no English. We ended up pointing to the bottle of water and laying down all of our Russian money on the counter, and she took whatever the water of bottle cost. (No news on how much we actually paid for that bottle of water….)2. Not packing a spare outfit in your carry-onOh boy, we’ve made this mistake. On our first big trip to Italy, all of our luggage was lost for 3 days. It was July and 95 degrees. Wearing the same shirt for 3 days, and washing your underwear out in the hotel sink is not exactly fun. Save yourself the headache and pack a spare outfit and underwear in your carry-on. 3. Not considering local culture and customsWhen we were in Turkey, we planned on visiting the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, more commonly referred to as the Blue Mosque. Information online stated that while the mosque was a popular tourist attraction, it was still a place of worship and appropriate attire should be worn on your visit. Appropriate attire was defined as having your shoulders and knees covered. My family was prepared for the dress code, but literally hundreds of others were not, and had to don a large blue blanket around themselves during their tours. Be prepared, and if you aren’t sure about customs, you can always ask your hotel’s concierge.4. Not telling your bank and credit card company you are travelingDo not be like me. I studied abroad in London one summer in college, and forgot to tell my bank that I was going to be overseas. I had used all of the pounds I picked up at the airport and was trying to use my debit card to withdrawal money from an ATM. Fraud Alert. And to make matters worse the cellphone I bought to call back home kept running out of minutes when I was on the phone with the bank trying to convince them my card wasn’t stolen. So there I was in the middle of Covet Garden with no money or working credit cards. It took several hours to straighten the mess out. #lessonlearned Call your bank before you leave.5. Not packing a jacketI don’t care if you are going to Fiji in July, pack a jacket. You never know how cold your hotel or airplane is going to be. You can also use it to cover up from the rain if you get caught in an unexpected storm. 6. Not taking photocopies of your passportWhenever you travel you should take copies of your passport with you and store them in a different location than your passport. If you get pick-pocketed and lose your passport, you want to be able to convince the US embassy that you’re a US citizen. My friends were in Lebanon during political unrest, when their passports were stolen. They had copies at the hotel and were able to quickly tell the US embassy they weer citizens and get a flight home.What other travel headaches have you experienced? Comment below–we’d love to hear from you!
