19 Travel Mistakes Not to Make
Traveling can be difficult, frustrating and even stressful if you ‘don’t know what you don’t know.’ As you
make plans for your travels this year, be careful to avoid making these 19 common mistakes – especially if you want to save time, money, hassle and stress.
1) Overspending on Your Travel – Save $$ by flying on Saturday, Tuesday and Wednesday and
make sure to sign up for the Top 20 deals on www.travelzoo.com.
2) Not Notifying Your Credit Card Company and Banks – Call them before you leave and let them
know your travel plans (or risk your cards being flagged for fraud when you’re abroad).
3) Being Afraid to Travel – Don’t let fear stop you from experiencing everything this amazing world
has to offer! There are wonderful people who will be there to help you on your journey.
4) Overlooking Travel Insurance – Compare what plans work best for you on insuremytrip.com
(make sure it covers medical/emergency evacuation as you never know what might arise).
5) Waiting to Travel (or Not Traveling) – Don’t wait too long as that ‘perfect time’ may never
come!
6) Not Being Culturally Aware – Learn some of the cultural do’s and don’ts before you arrive at
your destination to help you to connect with the locals and avoid embarrassing faux pas.
7) Not Finding Out What Holidays Coincide with Your Trip – Check out
www.qppstudio.net to discover the state, religious and traditional holidays of the
countries you plan to visit.
8) Visiting These Destinations – According to Fodors, you should avoid The Galapagos, Myanmar,
Honduras and Cuba in 2019.
9) Assuming Travel is Too Expensive – Sometimes those ‘dream destinations’ may not be so out of
reach. For example, I once found an African safari deal cheaper than spending a week at Disney
Animal Kingdom!
10) Neglecting to Take Health Precautions – Check out the www.cdc.gov website to see if you are
fully prepared – medical and health wise – before you depart on your overseas trip.
11) Not Packing Your… Patience, Flexibility, Sense of Humor, Adaptability and Risk-Taking
12) Only Staying in Hotels – We recommend checking out www.airbnb.com, www.hostelworld.com,
and www.homeaway.com for something unique and different (like even a villa or a castle).
13) Not Being In Sync With Travel Partners – Find out what your partner prefers – i.e. fast or
leisurely paced travel? getting up early or sleeping in? traveling independently or with a group?
14) Putting Yourself in Unsafe Situations – Trust your gut, splurge for safety, ask the hotel staff
areas to avoid, learn the local customs, and don’t drink too much (so you can keep your wits).
15) Ignoring Travel Warnings – Before you go visit https://travel.state.gov for precautions and
travel warnings for the places you are visiting. Also, sign up for their STEP program too.
16) Over Plan. Over Pack. Over Spend. – These can be avoided by doing some proper preparing,
planning and packing before you go! Check out our seminars to help you ‘travel like a pro.’
17) What Not To Do Abroad – Research the rules, regulations, customs and cultural etiquette.
18) Having Too High of Expectations – When things don’t go right or the weather doesn’t
cooperate on that dream trip, we can become very disappointed! Remember when you are
traveling you are still dealing with real life and things do happen – good and bad!
19) Not Calling Your Cell Phone Provider – Don’t forget to contact them BEFORE your trip to see
what settings your phone might need, how much international calls are and any data roaming
plans they have. You don’t want to come back to a phone bill of thousands of dollars while
using your phone overseas!
Looking for other travel tips? Check out our 50 Fun, Fabulous Travel Tips for Global Gals on
the Go here.
