Don’t Make These 11 Travel Mistakes

After a lifetime of travel, you might think that I don’t make mistakes. You would be wrong! Amazingly, I continue to make travel mistakes but at least I only make them once!

Here are 10 mistakes I’ve made in the past. I am describing them in the hope of preventing you from making them.  

Travel Mistake #1 – Not Packing a Sun Hat for the Caribbean

This is not a big problem as you can always buy a hat on the ship or in port. That is what I’ve done many times. The problem is that I now own over 12 sun hats and am running out of space to store them.

Travel Mistake # 2. Buying a Sun Hat That is Not Packable and Having to Carry It Both Ways on the Airplane

This is a real inconvenience to keep track of a sun hat in the airport and taxi. I now only buy sun hats that are packable and the problem is solved. Watch “My Fun Sun Hats” video here.

Travel Mistake # 3 – Scheduling a Caribbean Cruise in September

I’ve done this more than once because the fares are generally cheaper in September. There is a good reason for this. Hurricanes tend to strike the Caribbean in September. One time in September, we were booked on a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. We could not get a flight out of North Carolina because a hurricane was heading this way. We missed that cruise.  I never scheduled another one for September.

Travel Mistake # 4 – Trusting Decaf Coffee to Be Decaf on a Cruise Ship

I am very sensitive to caffeine. I never drink a caffeinated beverage after 3 pm or I will be awake all night. I can’t tell you how many times I have ordered decaf coffee at dinner on a cruise and it turned out to be caffeine. One time I was awake the entire night until a breakfast restaurant opened at 7 am. Only after eating a meal was I able to get some sleep the next morning. I never again ordered coffee at dinner. I don’t know if they forget my order is for decaf and it is an honest mistake or if they figure I will never know the difference. I do know the difference, but not until after I drink it!

Travel Mistake # 5 – Not Bringing a Travel Pillow on a Flight to Europe

Not only will a travel pillow help me sleep on an overnight flight but it will help me nap in the airport if there is a flight delay. Since you never know if a flight will be delayed, I now never leave home without a travel pillow. I attach it to the outside of my carry-on bag so it is readily available.

 I originally used the blow-up type of pillow but they always deflated during the flight. I now buy the ones sold in the airport.

Travel Mistake # 6 – Grabbing an Expired Passport Instead of the Current One

Yes. This actually happened. I had two identical-looking passports in my lockbox and I grabbed the wrong one. When I checked in at the airport desk, the agent told me my passport was expired. Since we were an hour away from our home, I could not go back and get the current one. We missed the flight to Europe and had to take a later flight.

Now I rip the cover off an expired passport so there is no chance I will grab it by mistake.

Travel Mistake # 7 – Not Packing Enough Cool Clothing for the Caribbean

I often pack clothing for the temperature of the city I am traveling from rather than the one I am going to.

For instance, when it is freezing cold in North Carolina and I am packing for the Caribbean I sometimes pack a light pullover sweater because I am cold and can’t remember what it feels like to be hot. Or I might pack long sleeve tee shirts instead of short sleeve ones. As you can imagine, those items remain in the cabin for the length of the cruise.

Travel Mistake #8 – Packing Medications in Checked Luggage

Yes, I know they warn us over and over not to do this but on a trip to Europe, my husband did exactly that. He packed two weeks of life-sustaining medications in his checked luggage and only had a few days’ worth with him. The bags got lost and we had no idea if or when they would arrive at the hotel we were staying in Berlin. The riverboat was leaving the next morning and I know we would have had an impossible task to try to replace the medications in Germany. The riverboat left and we flew back home. The bags arrived just before we flew home but there was nothing I could do at that point.

Travel Mistake # 9 – Booking an Air Connection at an Airport on the Other Side of the City

I used to make all our travel arrangements myself online. On one trip, we had a connection at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. I dislike this airport because it is so hard to find anything. We were looking for the gate for our connecting flight. It turned out I had accidentally chosen an itinerary that connected at a different airport. That airport was far away. We were advised that the best and cheapest way to get there was by city bus. It was awful moving the luggage on that crowded bus.

Never again. I now use a travel agent and everything is so much easier.

Travel Mistake # 10- Not Having a Jacket or Heavy Sweater on a Transatlantic Flight.

A sweater will keep you warm on the plane and cool evenings.

The temperature on an aircraft seems cooler at night. It can be a very long night if you don’t have a jacket or thick sweater to throw over yourself to sleep. I packed my jacket once in my checked bag and was miserable for the entire flight. I had trouble sleeping at all. Those thin airline blankets just don’t do the job. Now I always have a thick jacket on the flight with me.

Travel Mistake # 11 – Not Having Cell Service While Traveling Internationally

I can’t begin to tell you the stress this caused me when my husband packed his medication in bags that got lost. I had to arrange travel back home and did not have international cell service. The tour guide, who should have been helping me, disappeared, but that is another story.

The easiest way to use your American phone in Europe is to add an international data plan to your current mobile service — every major carrier lets you do this. Simply call them up or go online and they’ll gladly upgrade your account to work with European carriers they have service agreements with.

And Finally…

I would like to think that I have made all the travel mistakes that I can but I know there are more out there just waiting for me. Still, after 50 years of travel, I think I have improved.

I hope my mistakes will help prevent you from making them. Let me know in the comments what travel mistakes you have made so maybe I won’t make them too!