Everyone makes mistakes while traveling, no matter whether they're a newbie or a seasoned traveler. But some travel mishaps are more cringe-worthy than others. Travel lovers on an online forum share their stories of dumb mistakes they made while abroad.
1. Oh No You Diesel
In the U.S., cars rarely use diesel. But that's a different story abroad, which one traveler discovered a little too late. He put regular petrol in a diesel rental car and paid the price. “The car started breaking down, so we called for a tow. This was the middle of the night, so they had to wake up the mechanic. He was not happy,” he writes.
2. Taxi Scam
This woman traveled to Paris for the first time when she was eighteen and was so excited to get off the plane and go to her hotel. When she got to the taxi, he said he didn't know where her hotel was, and the woman grew concerned. It took hours for him to get there finally, and when they arrived, the fee was immense. But instead of detecting this common taxi scam, the naive eighteen-year-old thanked the driver for trying so hard to find her hotel. The truth is, he knew exactly where it was from the get-go.
3. Poor Planning
If you don't spend enough time researching your travel destination, you might regret it. One commenter who traveled to Brussels without much thought wished they had looked into the timing of their trip a little more. The day they arrived was a holiday, so nothing was open in the city. “I spent the evening drinking beer from the hostel vending machine,” they say.
4. Wrong Train
Make sure you read every sign before you hop on a long train ride. One respondent tells a story about when they vacationed in Paris and took a day trip to Brussels. At the end of the day, they got on the wrong train and ended up in Antwerp with no luggage and no hotel reservation. They ended up paying a ton of money to get a last-minute hotel room, and the stress put everyone on edge.
5. Secure Your Keys
Losing your car keys is one thing, but losing the keys to your rental car while you're on vacation can be an utter disaster. One user says they lost their place during a hike in Yosemite, derailing the trip. After hours of walking the trails and searching, they found the keys. But if they hadn't, they would have had to pay a hefty fee after paying for an expensive cab ride.
6. Cities Sometimes Have Multiple Airports
Big cities like Washington D.C. and London have more than one major airport. It's essential to know this while planning your travels to make sure you don't miss any flights. Unfortunately for one respondent, they didn't realize London has more than one international airport, and they arrived at the wrong one just in time for their flight. They had to purchase new tickets to get home.
7. Passport Security
Keeping your passport in a safe place is essential on your travels to ensure that you can get back into the U.S. Plus if someone steals your passport or its information, they could use it against you. One father wasn't careful when he snapped photos of his kids' passports to send to them as backup for an upcoming trip, and he accidentally sent them to the wrong number. Luckily, nothing bad happened, but if the person on the other phone had a sinister intent, the situation could have ended in shambles.
8. Upside Down Map
Many of us like to celebrate on our travels by enjoying a few adult beverages. But sometimes, getting tipsy can derail your plans and cause you to make avoidable mistakes. One commenter traveling in Krakow had a few too many. On the way back to the hotel, he sloppily pulled out his phone and entered in the directions but couldn't figure out how to get back. Eventually, he realized he was holding his phone upside down, so the map was backward.
9. Forgotten in the Taxi
Whenever you exit a taxi, train, or plane, always make sure you have all of your belongings with you. Many travelers on the thread share experiences of forgetting essential items in a taxi, like their cell phone, wallet, or passport. Some people manage to get their stuff back, but the stress and the effort are extremely draining. Some people never got their belongings back and struggled to find a way to return home if it was their passport that they left behind.
10. Border Crossing
Remember to bring your passport when you cross over the U.S. border into Mexico. One respondent made the mistake of wandering through San Diego into Tijuana at eighteen without a passport. “I got into Mexico just fine, but getting back into the U.S. wasn't quite so easy,” they state.
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Source: Reddit.
