Travel: 10 Common Mistakes To Avoid While Travelling

No man is an island, just as everyone is prone to erring. Making mistakes is inevitable in travel and can happen to anyone, even experienced and long-time travellers. Many a time, making mistakes is part of the sources of learning and information that opens one’s eyes to doing things better.

However, some mistakes can be too costly to the extent that they will make the whole essence of the travelling and the time spent travelling miserable and unenjoyable, which is why you need not make them. They are numerous and mostly, people travelling to a particular place for the first time make are guilty. The most common of them are listed below, take your time to read them and you can avoid them on your next trip.

1. Not Researching Where You Are Going And Requirements: this is too important to be omitted. Like what are you going to do in a place if you do not have even the slightest information about the norms and culture of the people? In as much as people travel to learn these things, it is very salient that you do a little research about the location you are heading to. What if one’s not supposed to get there at night and your vehicle broke down and you wll not be able to make it there in the evening? So many ‘what-ifs’ and ‘how’ must be known. If you are travelling to another country, being turned away at a foreign checkpoint will be expensive, time-consuming, and possibly put an end to your trip because one thing was done wrongly or not done or not held. It is prerequisite that you find out the country’s visa requirements and other tips necessary to go in safely.
2. Overpacking: It’s tempting to want to wear your best outfits while you are away and to want to have different outfits for every occasion/outing. But do you think of you being free and not having too much to carry? Maybe not. Overpacking makes it difficult to haul your luggage around, especially as you do not know how tolerable those at checkpoints will be with luggage. You may get stuck with high baggage fees for accidentally exceeding the weight limit and you may end up filling your bag with unnecessaries that will at the end of the day, not be useful.
   So instead, pack your bag with the some of the bests that you need as you do not need to sacrifice your style because you do not want to overpack. Then, remember, you will buy things while you travel, and you can always do some laundry too.
3. Skipping Travel Insurance: this is mostly overlooked and underestimated by travellers. Life has become so meaningful that you do not need to bear the pain or costs of being involved in an accident, getting sick, losing your bags and luggage or other mishaps that may occur while you’re travelling. Some travel insurance covers cancellation fees so if you unexpectedly can’t make your trip, you won’t be out of your money. Won’t you be extremely pleased that you spent that small amount on an insurance policy and you are getting it back in bigger folds? Don’t forget to get one for your next travelling.
4. Exchanging Currencies At The Airport: If you are travelling to another country, this may simply be the best idea – exchanging at the airport as it is more authentic. But think of high rates and inflation and ensure you get it done before reaching the airport, and at/from a well-recongised exchanging organisation/individual too, to avoid being scammed. Life is a risk, don’t keep waiting for when the rates will decrease before exchaging, it may be highly inflated and you may regret not changing it earlier. Once it is a little bit decreased, go for it and be positive. And if it comes out lesser after exchanging, don’t regret, the worst might have happened.
5. Too Many Activities In One Trip: you cannot just see all at once, don’t try to visit all the places you have heard of in just one trip. This limits your opportunities, you will be too busy to find hidden gems or follow up on tips from locals, and the hassle of so much travel can be stressful. Slow down, get to know one country, village, town or place and your appetite will be whetted for a lifetime of similar adventures. Make sure you give yourself some time to relax and soak up the best of what each destination has to offer.
6. Underestimating Costs And Holding Less Resources: This can be very deadly, especially if you are travelling during peak periods (like Christmas, New Year, Festivals, etc.) when people travel more. Don’t ever get stranded on your trip, even if you are travelling on a low budget (read how to travel on a low budget and have great fun). Everything is going to cost more than you think it will, from the fares to the sachet of water you will buy. Endeavour to hold enough money that can sustain you for a whole month, if you are going for a week. You will not spend all but just for you to be on the safest side. Being stranded while travelling can be terrible, don’t be caught unawares.
7. Being Scared Of Locals: It’s hard when you first start out to spot the crooks from the friendly locals, especially as vices are turning out everywhere, but then, it can pay to trust them every now and then. This will help you make a lot more friends and they can be your travel guide. Many a time, they will point you to where to get the best, where to and not go. All you need to is study the people around you, even in your first one hour of arrival, and be open-minded, not to the extent of telling how much you brought to their locale though. Be wise and sensitive, yet open-minded.
8. Panicking/Anxiety: it is okay to be anxious, especially when one’s visiting a place for the first time or when one’s heard a lot of interesting things and it is time to see with one’s eyes. The worse thing is being over-anxious and then panicking. Don’t be too excited to forget the things that are important to know or take along. And if in the course of travelling things are going to go wrong, be calm. The train may not turn up on time, some amount of money might go missing from your wallet or you may be getting late for the flight. Getting upset or freaking out is only going to make it worse.
9. Wanting To Buy/Get All: You will surely get tempted to buy things as you walk into one of the travel shops just to get bananas and you end up seeing special travel shirts with breathable material, compression sacks, money belts, karabiners, hiking shoes and many more attractive things. If care is not taken, you may end up buying them and eventually regret, simply because you don’t need any of them. Focus on only the necessities you need, it is not all things that you should buy.
10. Being Too Stiff To Exploring: It’s great to having a guidebook or something to point you in the right direction and give you background information on the places you’re visiting. However, there are always more things to do than those listed in the guidebook or one’s being told. There’s more to the world than the bits listed in those pages. Do not be afraid to get lost adventuring. More reason you should be close to the locals, they can help you more than you can imagine.