Rookie Traveler Mistakes You Must Avoid At All Costs

Traveling is a pleasant experience. It is a beautiful opportunity to visit new places, interact with new people and experience a whole new world that has never been known to you. However, there are many occasions when people have ruined their traveling experiences due to specific mistakes that could have been easily avoided.

As such, it pays to know about the common travel mistakes people usually fall for so that you can avoid them and have the most memorable travels every time you venture out. Below are what we believe to be some of the rookie travel mistakes, and which must be avoided if you want to treat yourself to have a glorious travel.

Ignoring the essential travel documents

For you to travel to any foreign country, there are certain essential travel documents you must have, with the major ones being the passport, travel vaccine documents, and visa. Most people are never keen on these. For the majority, once they have a passport, they think they are set to travel. Some even forget to renew passport until it is very late and end up missing the trip or just having a bad experience from the word go. It is always important to find out all the types of travel documents you need and be sure to have them in good time so that you are not inconvenienced in any manner.

Overpacking

Packing clothes fit for every possible occasion may be tempting. This is a big mistake that will not just bring you a lot of inconveniences, but also cost you a lot of money regarding excess luggage fees if you end up with a hefty bag. Your guideline to packing for a trip should be based on the nature of your itinerary as well as the weather in your destination. You don’t have to bring your heavy jumpers when you are going to East Africa or Asia. Be sure to pack only the items you will need so that you travel light.

Failure to check your cell phone plan

Most people have always come back from trips to find colossal cellphone bills waiting for them. This is because they failed to check their plans and instead stayed on the roaming plans of their service providers back at home. To avoid such an inconvenience, always turn off your cellphone data before you board the plane and keep it in the airplane mode, as this will still allow you to access the Wi-Fi. If you must use data, don’t use the options provided by your carrier back at home. Instead, think about buying an international data plan, or simply buy a local sim in your destination and use the plans they have to provide. These will be way cheaper than using roaming services.

Exchanging currency at the airport

Another huge mistake most travelers make is to change their currencies upon arrival at the airport. What you should know is that the exchange rates at the airports are very expensive and you may lose a lot of money if you exchange your currency at the airport. If you need the foreign currency, the best thing you should do is place an order with your credit union or bank or simply go to ATMs for your day to day withdrawals. Another option would be to use the forex bureaus outside the airport.

Failing to book enough time before flights

The flight conditions during travels can be very unpredictable. In case of a delay, you may have to reroute to an unfamiliar airport to catch a connecting flight, and if you are pressed for time, there are high chances of you missing the flight. To be safe, you should have adequate time between flights so that in the event of a delay, you will have ample time to catch up and not miss the flight.

Failing to inform your credit card company that you are out of the country

With an increase in cybercrimes, credit card companies require that you inform them when you leave the country and intend to use their cards. This is important so that your card is not suspended when you transact with it out of the country due to suspected fraud. It can be so inconveniencing not to be able to use your credit card simply because a transaction was flagged by the card company, thinking that it was being used for fraud. Always ensure that your credit card company knows when you are traveling out.

Traveling without travel insurance

It is sad at this time and age that some people still think that travel insurance is not essential. Such usually come to the rude realization when they lose stuff, face flight cancellations or have to come back home due to an emergency. Travel insurance is to insulate you should you run into inconveniences during your trip. Ensure to save time and a lot of money by taking travel insurance to cover you for the entire duration of your trip.

Having too many activities in on trip

When you have too many activities packed in one trip, you will limit the opportunities you have. You may end up being too busy to get the most of your travel since you will be in a perpetual hurry to run to the next site. In this manner, you will not just end up stressed, but also you will miss certain gems you could have discovered if you had taken time to explore in more details. Remember, you can always renew passport and make another trip, but make every trip count.

Being careless with your valuables

If you come from a country where everyone has a nice personality and would never think about stealing your stuff, don’t think everywhere in the world is like that. For instance, if you renew passport, you will want to have it until its next renewal date, and as such, you must keep it safe. Not only your passport but losing any of your valuables will be very upsetting, especially if you had ignored the importance of travel insurance.