What NOT To Do: Attention Errors


These mistakes travel bloggers make talk about mistakes made around language barriers and cultural misunderstandings. This is a four-part series in collaboration with fellow travel bloggers.

(Follow the links at the end to read about lodging disasters, medical misadventures, language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and my biggest travel mistakes.)

Tourist mistakes are easy to make, but you don't have to be a victim. Build your travel tips from these travel fails!

There’s Another Train?

A story from: A Mary Road

This common travel mistake happened when my boyfriend’s parents finally came to visit him after much persuasion. After they booked the flight, my boyfriend and I started planning and making sure everything will be smooth. Simply, we just want it to be as perfect (or less hassle as possible) since we are both travelers who are doing it for a long time now, we want to impress them and show that we know our field.

Our first stop was Krakow in Poland. But since the flight directly to Krakow was a little too much, we decided to fly to Warsaw then take the bus for 5 Euro which takes about 4 hours. Which was not bad they said. So, we sat down on our seats and settled down. I looked out of the window and saw the local train just pulling on the the station, that’s when I questioned myself if the train goes to Krakow from Warsaw. I checked my phone right away and in just 2-minutes, I found out that there is indeed a train from Warsaw to Krakow. To topped the shock I just had, I also found out that it’s only a 2-hour ride for the same price we paid for the bus!

I was sitting next to my boyfriend and begged him to not tell them since it was my idea to take the bus and it’s the first time I’ve met them. He said it’s fine and the journey is only 4-hours, it can’t be that bad. He was wrong.

There was construction along the way forcing vehicles to shared two lanes, there was even a car accident resulting in heavy traffic. All in all, the journey of 4-hours turned into 6!

My boyfriend swore that it will be our little secret. But what annoys me more is how it slipped my mind to check the train. I remember us planning the 14-day trip carefully for hours double checking our plans to make sure everything is in place.

One of my travel mistakes to avoid is also a common travel mistake: not doing enough research before a trip. Not researching enough will lead to many travel frustrations. For example, if you don't do enough research on the different options for travelling from point A to point B, you may take a train that takes 4 hours longer than a different train. This is just one of the many mistakes travel bloggers make, and it's also my rookie travel mistake.

If only I would have known that the train across from us would have saved us 4 hours… Sigh… Definitely one of the biggest travel problems I’ve experienced so far!


Two Tickets, One Name

A story from: Paid Surveys Fanatic

The stupidest and most annoying travel mistake to avoid is booking two plane tickets in the same name – when one was meant to be for my girlfriend!

Initially, I had just booked a flight for me as she wasn’t coming. Later, when she decided to come, I booked a second ticket. I mustn’t have been concentrating properly as when the booking came through to my email, I noticed that it was in my name instead of hers!

It was for a random airline in South America and I seemed unable to reach anyone via the phone or email. We had to wait until we got to the country and then visit the airline offices to change it.

It was a crazy big deal. We were in that city for a week visiting every day to get it changed. It somewhat ruined our time there and it really made no sense why we had to keep going in and why it was so hard. Thankfully, it paid off and eventually we both had our own tickets!

All I can say is, don’t get the name on your plane tickets wrong!!!

Some of the easiest mistakes to avoid while traveling are not checking reservation details. These may seem like rookie travel mistakes, yet even the most experienced traveler can mess this up. Be sure to double check your reservation details to avoid these mistakes when flying.

Not checking flight reservation details = many horrible travel frustrations.


Isolated with Two Toddlers

A story from: Melbourne Family

One of my biggest travel problems I have ever experienced was when I booked a hotel stay for the wrong date. It was an overnight transit in Malaysia on the way elsewhere and we turned up at our hotel only to realize I had booked the wrong dates! Naturally, they were full and we had to look elsewhere.

We had no idea where to go and ended up hopping in a cab and asking them to help us find something. The airport is quite isolated and it took a couple of hours to find a hotel with space which was incredibly stressful thanks to travelling with two toddlers and arriving late at night. The place wasn’t really ideal but at least we got some sleep before returning to the airport the next morning.

I now quadruple check everything!

There are some mistakes travel bloggers make, despite all good intentions. Messing up travel dates sounds like such a rookie travel mistake to make, yet it's easy to do. These common travel mistakes can be avoided by quadruple checking everything when preparing for a trip. This will also hopefully reduce your travel frustrations. Lodging issues are often the biggest travel problems we face.

You only need to mess up travel dates once to learn to quadruple check EVERYTHING!


Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls

A story from: Coddiwomp

Some particularly memorable travel frustrations occurred when I was in Cambodia last year. My girlfriend and I were in the east of the country, in a place called Ban Lung, at the time. Unfortunately the issues were entirely of our (my) making.

Essentially we scooted our way down so many backroads (while trying to find a waterfall) that we got totally lost. We ended up in the middle of nowhere. I mean, we literally had no idea where we were.

We eventually came to a little village, where a dozen people or so were relaxing in hammocks around their homes. Lost as we were, we decided to stop and ask for directions. But as I approached the people, they looked at me, stopped what they were doing, and promptly ran away screaming! I was taken aback! It was both hilarious and bizarre. No one’s ever ran away from me before!

Not finding any help from the village we eventually retraced our steps and found our way. But there was more to come. Throughout this entire process my girlfriend had been driving. On the way home it was my turn.

I wasn’t very good. The terrain was just horrible: potholed, rugged, ridged and generally not very conducive to driving. I was hot, sweaty and totally out of my depth. Not to mention that the scooter definitely wasn’t designed for the off-roading we were doing.

Scooting down a particularly muddy bit I promptly slowed down too much, got (literally) stuck in the mud. And we fell off. In front of more locals. It was highly embarrassing. I walked around with mud on me for the rest of the day.

Getting lost is one of the biggest travel frustrations. Road trip planning is important when you're in a new location and not able to easily communicate with locals. If you don't properly plan for an off-roading excursion, you will experience travel mistakes and miscommunications.

I don’t think getting lost and stuck in the mud was what TLC had in mind when singing “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls”…


Sun Rise No Show

A story from: Temples and Treehouses

My friend and I were in Siem Reap and we wanted to watch the sun rise over the temples of Angkor Wat. We asked our tuk tuk driver if he could take us to see it the following morning, and he gave us two options: book through our hotel and pay $28, or sneak out of the hotel at 4am pretending we were going for a walk, meet our driver where he would be hiding behind a bush, and pay $18. We picked the second option.

The only problem was that it was Khmer New Year. Our driver got drunk (he cheerfully informed us later) and didn’t show.

In a panic, we begged the hotel’s night receptionist to get us to Angkor Wat before sunrise. He enlisted the help of a security guard whose shift was ending. Unfortunately, the security guard in question had clearly never driven a tuk tuk before, and had no idea where Angkor Wat actually was — so we jerked around the city, frequently stopping to ask for directions, for quite some time.

By the time we got to Angkor Wat we’d missed the sunrise. But it didn’t matter because there actually wasn’t a sunrise — the sky was covered in gloomy grey clouds. Majestic Angkor Wat looked far from its best, and there were so many tourists crowding around us with selfie sticks that it would have been impossible to get a good look anyway. Let’s just say my photos did not make it to Instagram that day!

There's no bigger travel frustrations than not being able to get to where you're trying to go. This beautiful picture of Angkor Wat is what I wish the view could have been that day. Mistakes to avoid while traveling are often associated with lack of attention to detail or miscommunications.

If only this was the view of Angkor Wat that day…


Which Rail?

A story from: McCool Travel

One of my many travel frustrations happened when I spent two months in Europe one summer, and decided to buy a 6 week Eurail pass and a 2 week BritRail pass.

I went to England for six weeks, bounced around for a week, and then decided to go to Ireland… and WHOOPS. I found out Ireland uses Eurail NOT BritRail.

I totally missed my chance to visit my ancestral homeland.

Lesson learned: Read the country lists on rail passes VERY carefully, or else you will waste your money and be very disappointed.

Many mistakes travel bloggers make can be attributed to not double checking reservation details. Even though travel bloggers are experienced travelers, that doesn't mean that we are thorough travelers. We experience travel frustrations just like the rest of the world. We make common travel mistakes and rookie travel mistakes all the time.

Not checking ticket details = not getting to visit ancestral homeland.


Goodbye Backpack!

A story from: Stingy Nomads

My biggest travel frustration ever was losing my backpack with all my clothes and gear in the middle of nowhere in Patagonia, Chile. We hitchhiked for three months through the country and our experience was fantastic until that day.

The car that picked us up was a pickup truck loaded with all sort of stuff; stove, tables, chairs etc. – a Chilean family from Santiago was going on a long summer holiday somewhere in the south of Patagonia. We were very happy when they stopped, it was raining and quite chilly, we just wanted to get a ride as soon as possible. We tossed our backpacks on the back and jumped inside. Our ride was a lot of fun, and after 3 hours we arrived at our destination, the town of Coyhaique.

We got out of the car, looked under the cover on the back and saw only my husband’s backpack there. It took us about 5 minutes to start believing that my backpack was gone – it must have fallen out of the truck on the way and we didn’t notice it. Luckily all my documents and gadgets were with me in my small backpack!

We were heading to Torres del Paine and were planning to do a long hike there, plus a couple of treks on the way – I needed new gear and clothes. We bought most of the stuff in local second-hand shops. The family that gave us a ride was so upset because of our loss that they gave us their sleeping bag. It was very nice though the bag was gigantic, It took a lot of space in my new backpack.

Mistakes to avoid while traveling: losing your belongings! Especially if they have irreplaceable items in them. Losing your backpack with all of your gear is a huge travel frustration. Luckily, most items can be replaced. Just make sure you don't lose your passport, that is one huge travel mistake to avoid.

Goodbye, trusty backpack! How you will be missed…


Sticky Sunburn

A story from: Allison’s Artwork

One of my rookie travel mistakes happened when I was 16, and in Hawaii for the first time. I couldn’t wait to learn how to surf, but knew with my blonde hair and fair skin I probably couldn’t spend the amount of time in the water learning what I needed to learn without my skin being scorched!

However, I did spend 6 hours on the surfboard — and you guessed it, ended up with almost 3rd degree burns on my shoulders. The blisters were so bad, I couldn’t stand to have anything touch them.

Of course, we were scheduled to head back to the mainland USA the next day, so I bravely put on a sundress and off we went to the airport.

I was so uncomfortable in the seat, everything seemed to “stick” to my blisters, so I had to actually lean forward in my seat. To say the least, I was NOT looking forward to the 8 hour trip!

As soon as we were in the air, the flight attendant came around with a tray of 24 small glasses of papaya juice — and suddenly — while she was standing right next to me — you guessed it — we hit some air turbulence — and ALL 24 glasses of juice went on top of my blistered shoulders.

They were SO STICKY! I got up in total disbelief and went to the bathroom and couldn’t even bear to touch my blisters — so I just went back to my seat and spent the rest of the flight in complete misery!

Mistakes to avoid while traveling, and specifically surfing, are not wearing enough SPF. Sunburns can be a huge downer of what should have been a fun trip. This common travel mistake can happen to anyone. These are mistakes travel bloggers make as well as rookie travel mistakes.

Surfing is all fun and games until you start to blister…


Monkey See, Monkey Do

A story from: Winging the World

I realized when I came eye to eye with the monkey that I had made a terrible, rookie travel mistake.

Entering Prang Sam Yot Temple had been easy. We simply said hello to the guard, paid our entrance fee and walked in. ”˜Look at all the monkeys!’ I cooed. Ever since I was a kid, monkeys were my favorite animals and I couldn’t wait to meet them. Unfortunately, I had done no research at all.

Within seconds of entering the grounds, curious monkeys began creeping over. Petting them was initially endearing until they started roughly climbing up my legs. As I stood there stroking the bold Macaque who had just ascended my torso, I felt another’s claws sink into my skin.

Now with two monkeys sitting on my shoulders, I was delighted to see a baby one clambering up my shirt. He was so cute! As I stood there cuddling the little one, my eyes met those of a very large female. She held my gaze for a second before baring her teeth and launching herself at my head. As I turned on my heel to run, the other monkeys pulled at my hair and peed on my clothes.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t escape the clutches of Mummy Monkey and was now engaged in full-on warfare with all of the baby’s extended family. In total there were 8 monkeys climbing on me, all trying to kill each other and take me with them in the process. I lurched around frantically as the monkeys attempted to rip their offspring from my shirt. The grabbing tactic being deployed on my torso was failing to defeat me so some clever monkeys decided to use my ponytail as a lasso instead, probably attempting to scalp me.

What I learnt from this ordeal was two things: firstly, monkeys are evil creatures. Secondly, do not under any circumstances, make eye contact with them. This gesture is challenging and will provoke a reaction so severe you will think you’ve woken up in Planet of the Apes. Always do your research when it comes to animal interaction especially in the wild. Needless to say, monkeys are no longer favorite animals.

One of my biggest mistakes to avoid while traveling is not researching enough. If I had researched monkeys more before this trip, I would have avoided these travel frustrations. Travel mistakes and miscommunications can all be easily avoided with research. Most common travel mistakes can be avoided with research.

Seems cute and harmless… WRONG!


Airport Security on Strike

A story from: Sarah Sees the World

In July last year I was travelling around Europe with my best friend. On the morning of our departure from Barcelona we believed we had hours to spare before our early afternoon flight to Luxembourg and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the bakery under our hotel while we casually planned how we’d get to the airport.

We suddenly realized we were cutting things a bit fine and quickly headed for the train station. Unfortunately, we got lost finding the entrance to the station and arrived too late to board our planned train to the airport. The next one was 30 minutes later, which would be pushing it for our check-in time, but we reasoned it was a safer and cheaper bet than heading back out to the street and finding a taxi to take us to the airport instead.

We ran into Barcelona airport 90 minutes before our flight time, desperately looking for the departures board so that we could get to our check in counter as fast as possible. But our flight wasn’t on the board. We were in the wrong terminal.

Time passed ridiculously slowly as we waited for the bus which runs between the terminals, squeezed our way on and finally reached the correct terminal. Only to find SIGNIFICANT lines for security.

What we weren’t aware of was that security personnel were striking at the airport. They had been for days and apparently it was all over the media. Why had the hotel not warned us? We would have left our hotel much much earlier!

We’d checked in online for our flight, but we had a bag to check so we went to the check-in desk. My bag was checked in for the flight showing that (somehow) we’d arrived in enough time to catch the flight under normal circumstances.

Due to the security staff strikes, the massive security line progressed extremely slowly and we were not allowed to cut in, being told by staff to stay where we were until the flight had departed but we were unlikely to make it.

After standing in the queue for over an hour we made it through security just after midday and ran for the gate. Unfortunately the doors had closed for the 12:20 pm departure and we were declined boarding.

Our checked bags did make the flight and took off without us. They were subsequently lost by the airline for four days. This resulted in us having to find an alternative route to Luxembourg with only the clothes on our back and the items in our hand luggage. All in all it was an epic travel fail.

Some of the biggest travel problems and most common travel mistakes have to do with time, specifically the lack of. If only we had given ourselves more time to get to the airport that day, we would have avoided these travel frustrations and not made these mistakes when flying. What rookie travel mistakes.

If only this was what the airport was like that day… Sigh…


Out of Money in Cuba

A story from: Downbubble

Our biggest travel problems involved being under prepared for the Cuba money situation on our trip there – specifically we didn’t do a lot of research and certainly none that applied to Australians. In Australia, MasterCard dominates our banking situation and we expect to be able to use card to pay EVERYWHERE! And so it came to be that we arrived in Havana with no cash and 5 MasterCards between 3 people.

We were unable to get money out at the airport ATM with MasterCard. Luckily a lovely fellow Aussie gave us a lift to our accommodations and $40CUC. We weren’t able to get any money out once in Havana city either as it was a Sunday and all banks were closed.

The next day we discovered that only one bank would take MasterCard. But it closed due to a power outage just as we arrived there. We were forced to move into the Hotel Nacional to live in luxurious penury – able to at least feed ourselves from the hotels restaurants on an ever growing bill to be paid when they were again able to process mastercards – they couldn’t that day either due to an internet outage.

The bank also had the same internet outage issue for the next 2 days and so it wasn’t until day 4 of our Cuba trip that we finally got some cash in our hands!

Common travel mistakes are not researching enough before a trip and not taking or budgeting enough money. Not having enough money leads to many travel frustrations, and it's a common travel mistake we all make. Our biggest travel problems come from not researching or planning enough. Make sure to take enough money, so you're not left with just a few coins like this picture.

Take half the clothes and twice the money! Ha…ha…ha…

For more travel mishaps from travel bloggers, check out Lodging Disasters, Medical Misadventures, Language Barriers and Cultural Misunderstandings, or My Personal Travel Mishaps.