7 Travel Mistakes I often commit and end up regretting
Have you ever traveled somewhere, had a blast but because of one tiny detail you ended up with a kind of bittersweet memory of the trip? Or even if you don’t remember exactly what the actual cause of your frustration was, but still know there was something off at one point during your travels? Well I have made some mistakes during my trips, which I wanted to enumerate to you, and to myself mainly, thinking maybe if I written them down and hit the publish button, I’ll see them more clearly and maybe stop doing them..
#1. Traveling for only a short period of time at once
The longest I have traveled at once is 10 days. I think that that’s pretty sad, considering that in these 10 days I’ve visited 8 Italian cities. It was a school trip, we had a travel guide with us, and in order to see as much as we could, we had to rush from one place to another…Something which I absolutely despise. I like to take my time, although sometimes I’m called too slow, I always prefer visiting something in my own pace, or not at all! So in the future, I’d like to stay more in one place in order to explore it in its full self!
#2. Trying to do as many activities as I possible can during a short period of time
This isn’t always a bad thing (I think..). I just happen to be one of those people who don’t like to stay at the beach all day trying to get a tan. I like to do stuff, because I easily get bored just laying next to the sea and staring at it. When we were in Greece this year, we stayed 7 days out of which 4 were made up of trips we went on, and 1 of the remaining three days was actually only half a day (the day of our arrival). There was nothing wrong with that, I had the most amazing experiences, but I came back extremely tired. Some people go on holiday for some R&R. When I go on holiday, I come back even more tired than when I left.
#3. Very little interaction with locals
I blame this on #1. Because of the short-short period of time that we usually travel in, we don’t really get to know the people and culture that surrounds us and that makes me sad. This is just another great reason for my motivation of traveling for a longer period of time in the future.
#4. Hesitation on trying local cuisine
Oh boy, this is bad, I know.. Since I was a child I have been very choosy when it comes to  food. I don’t eat everything, and am very picky of what I actually eat. It’s a personal fault and it has put up a barrier in me which is very hard to take down. I think this is the mistake I so desperately want to make right regarding my travels, because it has been a real minus-point when it comes to local gastronomy.
#5. Not bringing enough money
This is always a problem. Whenever we go somewhere, we don’t take much money with us, so we don’t spend all our money at once. Which is okay, because it’s always nice to come home to some cash in your piggy bank, but not so nice when I think about the fact that we always come home with close to zero money. If something ever happened (I’m talking about health issues here) and we had to buy some medication urgently, we just simply wouldn’t have any money with us. Pretty irresponsible, huh? I’m trying to correct this by putting money on credit cards in case of emergencies.
photo via Pinterest
#6. Buying stupid souvenirs
Yes, girls shop. You might say that girls shop even more when they’re on holiday. Well I sure do, but the thing is, it’s rarely for me. I always buy some little tokens for everyone starting with friends, roommates, family, sometimes even the dog! (yes, I know it’s serious..) But over time I’ve realized that they are just as happy with some sand, hand-picked rocks and seashells or a photo I’ve made of the place, so I’m done with sending a fortune on such things.
#7. Not traveling enough to shorter distances
I have to admit that our budget has a big say in where and when we travel. We sometimes have the money and don’t go anywhere because we put it away for some bigger travel plans which mostly involves visiting other countries. WRONG! We barely know our own country. We have barely traveled i it, even though we are situated near to its center, and all three Carpathians (meaning the Eastern, Southern and Western Carpathians) are at only a 2-3 hours’ drive. We’re planning to change it this year and travel intensely in Romania.
So tell me, do you have any travel regrets you’d like to share? Have you committed any of my faults?
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I am guilty of all of them, besides #4, I always jump at any opportunity to try local food. Seriously though, reading this I may have easily thought that I wrote this and forgot about it, haha 😀 I don’t regret (much) #1 and @2, sure I’d love to travel more often and stay in each place more days, but with limited annual leave days, I do my best to make the most of my time. 😉