The Dumbest Travel Mistakes That Travelers Make

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  • The back of a woman sitting on her suitcase while at the beach
  • What’s the dumbest travel mistake you’ve made?

    I want to hear your stories to make myself feel better. Today I made MY worst travel mistake after a decade of traveling, including planning complicated trips for 10+ people.
  • Was attending a wedding on Vancouver island this weekend (beautiful!) which required taking multiple ferries. On our return trip now and did not realize Nanaimo has two harbors. Showed up to the main (wrong) harbor, only to realize the harbor we needed to be at was 30 minutes south. Pulled up right as our ferry was leaving and may now miss our flight.
  • creakysofa My dad yelled at me that we must wait and eat free breakfast at the hotel. Turns out the hotel shuttle was a bus that stopped at tons of other hotels. Not just straight from ours to the airport.
  • We arrived late and the airline said we could rebook in a week, or book another airline. $3000 for free breakfast.
  • gummibearhawk I once missed a flight while sitting at the bar outside the gate. Wasn't even drinking that much. Just misjudged the time it would take me to get there and what time they'd close.
  • MileageAddict Many years ago (pre-Uber and pre-Google Maps days) I arrived at the Frankfurt train station on a rainy night and hopped into a taxi and gave the driver the name of the hotel where I had booked a room. He started banging on the steering wheel and cursing. It
  • turned out the hotel was across the street from the station. Since I was assigned to his taxi at the stand, he was required to take me. Yes, I gave him a generous tip.
  • A man looks at a brochure while standing in the street, surrounded by other people
  • timeonmyhandz Typical business travel talking on the phone heading toward the airport. Drove to remote parking parked in my usual space, caught the bus over to the terminal. Went through up to security presented my boarding pass and they told me I was at the wrong Airport. That was at Midway, flight was out of O'Hare.
  • sanmateomary Got pickpocketed because I believed the person who told me that a bird had just crapped on my back and here let me help you clean it off. It was my first day in Buenos Aires, and I hadn't finished reading the guide book yet, which describes that exact scam later in the book.
  • prhodiann 1. Left my passport in a hotel 200 miles from the border; noticed at the border. 2. Ate not properly cooked goat stew to be polite. Wow, paid for that later. 3. Allowed auto-fill to complete a form booking flights with my address instead of my name.
  • 4. Heard of a place where solo travellers got mugged. Arranged to go with a friend, but fell out with them on the way there and separated. Got mugged about 5 mins later.
  • 5. Went to one of the best cities in the world with neither a guidebook nor advice; spent most of the day wandering around lost in residential areas. Refused to return for years because it was 'boring'.
  • LatinoComedian I mean, I'm not going to admit anything, but if you are in a rush, you could accidentally book a business trip to Montpelier, VT versus Montpellier, FR.
  • A woman takes a selfie with the Trevi Fountain behind her
  • AbFende I brought an EU adapter to Switzerland, I spent about 30 minutes at a cafe confused as to why I couldn't plug my phone charger in... that's when I learned the hard way Switzerland was different. I later found an overpriced gift shop that had the right one.
  • Skyccord Showed up to mainland China with no money and no ATM debit card. Went in my pocket and thought I was being punked. Credit cards were not accepted in most places and didn't have a pin number for any cash advances.
  • hamsterdanceonrepeat My embassy said I could fly to the US visa free so I did zero paperwork. Found out I didn't need a visa but I needed an ESTA Missed my flight.
  • schweffrey Slept on a Spanish beach with all bags, pre flight after a big night out. Woke up with barely a pair of boxers left to wear. Robbed blind!
  • slyseekr Booked a train from Amsterdam to London on Oct 11. Got to the train station and saw my ticket was 11/10, didn't stop. and think, thought I was SOL and panic-booked another ticket, which also came out 11/10. Double dumba moment for me.
  • NCR1985 Italy, Naples. Arrived at the Napoli Centrale Station and needed to go to the UNA Hotel. Sat in a taxi for 20 minutes. Arrived at Hotel and could see the station from the front door.
  • Davethephotoguy I purchased brand new Doc Marten boots that hadn't been broken in yet and wore them on a trip to Rome. My friends, this is when I learned that tennis shoes are an absolute MUST when you have an itinerary that requires spending 90% of your time.
  • walking. I had blisters. So. Many. Blisters. Big ones. Never will I make that mistake again. I purchased a good pair of tennis shoes for a trip to Japan. Used those same shoes in France, Portugal, England and Scotland. Not a single blister. Good footwear matters.

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