Traveling, according to them, is the one and only thing you purchase to end up richer. It is a feeling that I have grown to adore, although it took me more twists and turns and not every one of them was accompanied by beautiful landscapes and peace. It was also characterized by face palm failed attempts, panic attacks and short lessons learned. These errors are not blemishes; in the great tapestry of my wanderings they are the ones that have given substance, profundity to what I have seen. They have turned me into a more feeling, knowledgeable, and arguably more complete traveller. I hand carried too much luggage and had to pay the real cost when I got them weighed. I have been the culturally challenged tourist. I had made my plans and carefully laid down itinerary and then the weirdest news of the first strike came in. I have also experienced the pain of avoidable costs which could have bought me another week of fun. It is not a travel saga of failed experience, but a travel blueprint crafted in experience. These are the top ten most important things I have come to regret in all my trips, and more importantly, you can avoid these things and travel smarter the first time around.
The first big solo adventure was to Southeast Asia, a six weeks trip I have planned the hell out of over months. I was quite inexperienced, which proved my backpack; which was a gigantic 70-liter nightmare, loaded with a just-in-case gear of every possible situation imaginable. I owned mountain hiking boots that I never hiked in, fancy dress that I have never worn at a dinner and medical supplies enough to fill a small clinic. The reality? I hauled that monster through thronged urban streets, overloaded buses, and paid excess luggage every time there was a cheap airline. It was a drag, both in the real and in the figurative sense, both a drag on my way, and a constant reminder of my amateurism. The majority of the just in case items never saw the daylight. I would wear the same limited comfy outfits almost on a rotational basis and ended up being able to purchase anything I lacked at a fraction of the energy I spent lugging it all about. This is where you need to adopt the saying: light is right and travel long. Put out all you think you will need; then take half away. Choose a backpack or the size of a suitcase so you can carry it. This is not only cost-saving (or saving you the checked baggage expenses and the torture of waiting at the carousel), but it also provides you with the freedom of movement like never before. What you need is clothes that are versatile, lightweight and dry fast, and have a color scheme that allows mixing and matching. Keep in mind; you can purchase most of the items you expect to see at your destination unless you are venturing to a really remote place.
My spreadsheet was a masterpiece for a two weeks visit to Italy. Each hour was pre-programmed, as one visited a museum in the morning, had a dinner booked in the evening, and similar cities were joined with a specific order train schedules. I did not want to miss any of it. What ensued was a flash of train stops, etaped through museums and a sense of continually lagging behind. This was when everything went wrong when a local festival on a minor Tuscan town closed down the major road. My bus to the train station that was due at a perfect time did not show up. I also missed my fast train to Rome and this culminated into my hotel room check-in and an early evening tour that was booked. Something so magical as the unexpected festival was going on right in my face, but I was so busy with my next point on the list that I did not see it at all. There is a self imposed clock to go and my mind was racing against it as I sat there, physically. Serendipity is essential to have room in advancing new knowledge. A list of the attractions and activities you want to see and do is good, just don t plan each second. Schedules in leisure. Find one big activity that you would do on a daily basis and leave the rest of the day spaced out. These are some of the most memorable times when one can travel, since it is not in the plans, you may end up taking a random detour somewhere, or coming across a hidden cafe, or even just sitting somewhere in the park and people watching. Travel is not something that can be checked off the list, it is supposed to be enjoyed.
I have long thought of travel insurance as a pain that I need to check off. I would purchase the lowest rate policy possible that I would not even read the coverage. In another instance, I contracted a terrible case of altitude sickness as I was visiting Peru, and had to pay a visit to the local clinic and take medication. It was not much of a crisis, but the invoice was some hundreds of dollars. Having shown up home, and making my claim there, I was turned back. I researched deeply into the policies only to find that claiming illness because of heights above 3,000 meters was not covered, unless I had taken an additional cover termed as adventure sports. I had wasted probably fifty dollars with a cheaper policy leaving me several hundred dollars out of pocket. It was a very harsh lesson of how it is indeed vital to know what it is you are actually paying. Before you purchase your travel insurance carefully read the policy. Read what the coverage entails and not only the price. Is it applicable to the activities that you intend to do (such as skiing, scuba diving or even trekking at high-altitudes)? What are the coverage limits of the trip cancellation, baggage loss, and medical emergencies? Learn about the deductible the sum you need to spend out of pocket before the insurance comes into effect. The best investment that you should make to rest your mind is a comprehensive policy.
I was once an addict to Wi-Fi. Airport lounges, cafes, train stations, you name it, and I used the free connection; sometimes on the fly checking my bank account, booking the next hostel, or entering credit card details without even thinking of it. At the end of a tiring long day in Prague and having worked in different free networks, I saw some tiny charges on my online bank account which I did not recognize. It came to panic. I needed to call my bank right away, cancel my card and have an emergency cash transfer sent without even a second to lose, it was a stressful and time-consuming event. I cannot be 100 percent sure that it was caused by unsecured Wi-Fi but I learned a great lesson by going through the escapade about digital security on the road. You are expected to consider using public Wi-Fi like they have an eye on you all the time. Never use a sensitive system such as your bank or make any password on an unsecured connection. You should use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) in case it is a must. VPN will encrypt your connection to the internet, and a secure tunnel is formed over the internet which is closer to the Internet than a hacker. They are cheap, convenient to use on both cell phone and laptop and they are the key to any traveling nowadays.
The first time that I visited Japan, I had zero knowledge about the etiquette of the place. I shouted in the perfectly silent trains, attempted to give the cashier cash instead of using the tray left open, and was simply ignorant of social situations around me. Nobody ever said anything rude to me but I was well aware of the quiet and even not so quiet disapproval. The most embarrassing one was when I visited a traditional restaurant and forgot to leave my shoes outside and walked over the tatami mats with my squalid sneakers. The employees were very friendly and insistent on setting me straight and the shame I felt sharp. I found myself thinking that I was not only a dumb tourist, I actually was being disrespectful. Even a small research pays off. Take an hour, or two, before leaving to a different country and educate yourself on the major rules of the land, and cultural protocols. What are the greetings, food and dress code customs in religious sites? Is it tipping required? There is nothing wrong with picking up a handful of simple expressions such as a local greeting, thank you, and excuse me that come in handy in case of an emergency. More so, it is a sign of respect that is valued by the locals.
Arrival in a new land is thrilling, and most likely, the first thing that people require is the local currency. There were several times when I first went to the currency exchange booth at the arrival lounge. I understood that the rates were not so good, and I appreciated convenience. Only a few minutes later, when I passed an ATM, did it occur to me that that designated convenience on its part was costing me a lot. Airports have a long record of being among the worst places to make currency exchange and they are also expensive in commissions charged. During one travel to London, I realized that almost 15 percent of the value of my money had been lost within one misguided deal. Already I had wasted a days food and activities before I had even made it through the airport. One of the most efficient methods of getting local cash is by making use of your debit card inside an official bank ATM as you arrive. This will offer you an excellent exchange rate compared to the rates in any currency exchange bureau. Before travelling, you must alert your bank about your destinations so that you can travel in case your card is active and to know the percentages that they charge. It is also prudent to obtain a card on a bank that has low foreign ATMs charges or no charges at all. Take out bigger sums of money more rarely to reduce fixed costs of transactions.
Another promoter of an unfortunate situation that occurred during that very same trip, when my card was close to being compromised, was that I failed to notify my bank that I was going to travel even before I got out of the house. Therefore, when I attempted to pay through my backup card on an ATM after deactivating the original card, the payment was declined instantly. It was put on a fraud alert, as well as froze the card. So there I stood in a strange city with my main card canceled and my secondary card even more useless. It required a sumptuous international phone call and a 24 hour waiting time before the card was unblocked. It is a minor omission that placed me in a rather vulnerable position. Before you leave it is of the utmost importance that you inform your bank and credit card companies about traveling dates and locations. This is easy to do online on the bank portal or via your mobile app here. This is the easiest thing you can do to make sure that your international transactions are not flagged as possible fraud by their fraud detection systems and result in your account being frozen.
My whole life I was under the impression that as long as I carry my debit card with me then I am safe. I found out the fault of this logic in a small beautiful town along the Adriatic coast in Croatia. The town was cash-based than I expected and the only ATM was off the hook in two days. I had enough money to pay my room but nearly nothing to eat or the ticket of the ferry I had to use to leave the next day. I carried my card and it was practically useless. I had a sleepless night eating sparingly and hoping that ATM would be operable next day. Fortunately, it was, and the case has shown that I was unprepared. You do not have to work with one source of income. The savvy traveler does not put all the cash in one place. Take along a primary debit card, a secondary credit card (in a different bag to your regular wallet) and some reasonable quantity of emergency dollars or Euros, as, in most countries of the world, you can exchange them near anywhere. That will help so that no matter what happens, you somehow have a backup plan (be that an ATM not working, a lost wallet in a drunken stumble, or a shop that won t take cards) you can always find an alternative.
I was originally afraid of street food after several years. I was bothered by the stories of travelers about stomach bugs and followed a very rigid diet of safe restaurant food. In Bangkok, a city famous for its street food, I would go past roaring satay stalls and fragrant noodle kiosks with growling belly and walk to one of the typical tourist restaurants. What I was missing was the epitome of the city cuisine culture. I met a local one evening and he persuaded me to give a Pad Thai and packed busy cart a go.
They say that travel is the only thing that you buy which makes you richer. It is a feeling that I have grown to appreciate but my path to this discovery was not one that was devoid of spectacular views and contented happiness. It was also accompanied by face-palm, neck-wringing stupidities, outright panicked fits, and a succession of painful lessons. These cameos fit in the great tapestry of my wanderings, not as blots but as the stitches which have made so much richness and insight. They have turned me into a more informed, know-how-and eventually more satisfied traveler. I have ended up overpacking and literally shelled out the money on overweight fees. I owned culturally unsound foreigner. I experienced my well-thought-out timetable go crumbling down with the first surprise train strike. And I have experienced the sting of the avoidable costs which would have paid for another week of fun. This is not an account of travel disasters but it is an experience-based roadmap. The following casts the most serious errors that I have committed on my trips and, more noteworthy, how you can avoid these errors and travel smarter on your very first trip.
My biggest celebratory solo trip is to Southeast Asia, which I spent six weeks preparing to make. My pack told all of the story about my lack of experience – a monster, 70-liter beast, with a backup item just in case of every possible situation. I had boots to go hiking in mountains I never visited, a fancy dress to wear to a dinner I never visited and enough medical supplies to open a small clinic. The reality? I carried that monster through the busy streets of the city in the steaming heat, pushed it onto the buses during rush hours, and had to pay extra to its weight on every low-cost airliner. It was a deadweight at any rate, a drag on my progress, a everlasting reminder of my amateurism. The majority of the items that were purchased as just in case never saw the day of light. I had to wear a few comfortable things in a loop and could have purchased whatever I did not have under a quarter of the effort it took to pack it all. You are encouraged to follow the mantra of: packing the least and travelling the farther. Pack all that you think you require and repack half of it. Replace the large-sized travelling bag with a carry-on sized one, should it be possible. Not only does this save you the expense of checking your baggage and then wasting hours at the carousel but, also, it provides you with immeasurable freedom of movement. When selecting clothing, choose clothes that are adaptable, lightweight and fast drying with a complementary color scheme that can be worn together. Keep in mind that you can purchase nearly anything that you might require at your destination; because well, you are not going somewhere particularly remote.
I had a spreadsheet work of art when I visited Italy on a two-week trip. They allocated every minute with a visit to the museum at 7 a.m. and a dinner reservation at 9 p.m., and the train table was more precise with the connection of two cities. I was intent on being there and now getting all of it. The effect was a frenzy of trainstations, quick visits to museums and being always late. It all went wrong when a local festival in a small town in Tuscany blocked the main road in the city. My bus to train station never came at the right time. I missed a fast train to Rome, and this created a domino effect on my check in hotel and a planned evening tour, that was also pre-booked. I was so preoccupied with the things of my agenda, that I totally overlooked the miracle of the surprise festival that was taking place right in front of me. I was there physically but mentally I was in a desperate race to beat with a timer that only I had set. It is also important to allow serendipity. It is fantastic that you are prepared with a number of things that you want to visit and experience but do not be timetabled on a minute basis. Spend time off. Have a single major activity within a day and allow your day to go its own way. The guru of unplanned detours, unexpected discoveries of some secluded cafe or just sitting somewhere and gazing at people passing by are probably the most prolific travel memories. Travelling is not a list that must be crossed out; it is a story that must be lived.
I spent years looking at travel insurance as a box that has to be checked, which gets on my nerves. I would have purchased the cheapest policy availed with no reading under the cover. I contracted a raucous case of altitude sickness during a trip to Peru, during which I had to visit a local clinic and take some drugs. It was not a big emergency, but the bill was in a few hundreds of dollars. By the time I made my claim on getting home it was turned down. I pawed through the policy details and found only that I was denied any claims of illnesses occurring above altitudes of 3,000 meters without having purchased a certain add-on to the policy, termed donkey, specifically to cover altitude related illnesses. I had saved about fifty dollars purchasing a cheaper policy only to be left without a few hundred dollars. It was quite a lesson on how you should know what you actually pay for. Before purchasing any travel insurance, make sure to read the policy already. Do not only pay attention to the price, but, look at the coverage outlines. Does it cover what you intend to do (such as skiing, scuba diving, or in fact, even hiking at high altitude)? How much does it give coverage in case of medical emergency, cancelation and lost baggage? Know the concept of a deductible a limit of how much you are expected to cough up before insurance covers that. An all inclusive policy is one of the greatest investment that you can afford in terms of peace of mind.
I was once an addict to the free wireless internet. Airport terminals, cafes, train stations, even restrooms, I was on free connection, in case even though I had to verify my bank account, book new hostel or give his credit card number access without thinking twice. I started being charged in my online bank statement a few little charges that I did not recognise then I realised that I had used a great number of free networks in Prague during a long day. A panic was taking place. Then, it was necessary to call my bank, cancel my card, and organize the transfer of the emergency money, and this process was quite time-consuming and stressful. Although I cannot be absolutely sure that it was because of unsecured Wi-Fi, the incident provided me with a useful lesson regarding online safety when traveling. You must consider using the public Wi-Fi like when someone is always behind you. Do not access banking information or even passwords in an unsecure network. Secure it with a Virtual Private Network (VPN) when you have to. The problem is that a VPN encrypts your internet connection to make it have a secure tunnel to pass all your data, which is much more difficult to break by hackers. They are cost effective, suitable to operate both on your phone and on your laptop and they are a must have to any 21st century traveller.
My first trip to Japan was back when I knew nothing about how to be in Japan. I would speak loudly on the absolutely quiet trains, attempt to give cash directly to cashier rather than using tray offered, and on the whole do not pay much attention to less obvious social rules in the surroundings. I did not get treated rudely but I could read the subtle, or not so subtle disapproval. The most cringe-worthy experience of all was when I went to a traditional restaurant and did not manage to remove my shoes, making a trip over the tatami mats with my dirty sneakers on it. The people were extremely kind and stern in telling me off, and the humiliation that happened to me was very sharp. Instead, I acknowledged that I was not only a naive touristic person, but I was an inconsiderate one. The smallest research makes a mile. Take one to two hours before visiting a new nation to research on the simple cultural standards and decorum. How do they speak, eat and dress at religious areas? Is it expected to tip the door men? It is always good to know immaterial phrases like hello, thank you, and excuse me in the local language since people will like that you have some respect towards them by learning their language.
Coming to a new country is a thrilling experience and you most of the time require the local currency. There were a number of occasions when my first point of call was the currency exchange desk at the arrivals hall. I was aware of the fact that the rates were not that good, but I appreciated the convenience. Only after passing a special ATM several minutes later, I understood how much that convenience was costing to me. Airport exchange rates are notorious and they usually have high commissions. An experience in London on one of my vacation trips showed that I had issued almost 15 percent of the value of my money in one stroke and poor decision-making. It was that food and activities of a day wasted just because I had not yet left the airport. Upon arrival, the best option is to go to the official bank automated teller machine and use your debit card. You will get much higher exchange rates than afforded in any currency exchange bureau. Contact your bank to update them of your intent to travel in advance to make sure that your card is operational and to find out how much they charge in terms of foreign transactions. It would also be advisable to go to a bank that has either zero or minimal foreign ATM charges. Make dexterous withdrawals of large sums of cash at an extended frequency to reduce fixed costs of transactions.
Another important mistake that I made on that trip where my card was also almost compromised was that I did not notify my bank that I was traveling. Therefore, even when I attempted using my backup card through ATM after canceling the previous card, the transaction was rejected straight away. An alert on fraud on my account was reported and my card was put under freeze. I was in a strange city with my main card being canceled and my second card being dead to rights. After a frustrating, costly international phone call and a 24 hour wait the card was unblocked. It was a very shortsighted mistake as far as I was concerned because it put me at a disadvantaged position. Before travelling, you should never forget to inform your banks and credit card companies about the dates you will travel and where to. This is readily done through the online portal or the mobile app in most banks. This straightforward measure will make sure that their fraud-detection systems do not confuse your legitimate overseas transactions with a suspicious activity and you will not experience the horror of having your account blocked.
I had worked long enough on the assumption that as long as I had my debit card, I am financially secure. I caught a sense of how incorrect this reasoning was when I was in a small picturesque town in Croatia. The town was more cash operated than I had expected and the available ATM was out of service in two days. I had barely sufficient money to pay my room, and hardly any to pay for my food or the ticket of the ferry, with which, in the morning, I must depart. I had my card, but it was practically not usable. That was a nightmare night when I was barely feeding on the little that I possessed and wishing that when I wake up tomorrow, the machine will be working. Fortunately, that was, and the incident helped me realize how unprepared I am. You can not simply depend on one source of money. The wise traveler creates a medication against inflation. Take a mix of a primary debit card, an alternate credit card (carried in a different bag to your regular wallet), and some sensible level of emergency money in US dollars or Euros since they are accepted by most regions in the world when exchanged. Either you have a broken ATM, a lost wallet or a shop that does not accept card payment, but with this three pronged system in place, you will have an alternative at all times.
