Five Mistakes People Make When Traveling

Traveling is one of the great modern conveniences that we’ve come to enjoy over the years. Now, more than ever, people can make journeys across wide expanses to see entire countries and cultures that their ancestors never would have laid eyes on in a lifetime. However, the red tape and complications of stepping out of one nation and laying foot in another can be stressful. A lack of planning might turn what could have been an experience into a nightmare. Here are five tips that will help you avoid the most common mistakes people make. Plus it will keep the boring and taxing aspects of international travel to a minimum.

Travel Essentials

Five mistakes people make when traveling are:

  1. Not having a SIM card/checking your phone plan
  2. Not notifying your credit card company
  3. Not having travel insurance
  4. Not having the right visa requirements
  5. Having too much planned and booked

Get A SIM Card or Check Your Phone Plan!

If you’ve ever gone somewhere and your phone service suddenly goes out as you’re trying to look up something critical, it’s usually pretty annoying. Imagine if you went to an entirely different country, not having any impression of the local layout or even language, and this happened? It’s more than an annoyance, it’s downright scary. Make sure if you travel, you find out what countries and areas your phone plan covers. If they don’t cover the country, you should get a SIM card for your phone that will let it function where you are.

Let Your Credit Card Company Know You’re Heading Out

Most countries will accept a lot of American issued credit cards these days. But, if you use it while your credit card company believes you’re still only going as far as buying a soda from the break room vending machine, they might just lock it up for fear of theft. It’s a good thing they do this because you don’t want anyone getting a hold of your card or information and using it as they please. However, it can ruin your entire vacation if it you forget to notify them you are going abroad. While having your credit card locked can be reversed, the process can take several business days. This is especially painful if it happens on or right before a weekend. So, just take a few minutes to call the number on your card, talk to a rep, and notify them.

Get Travel Insurance!

Pinching every penny is something some travelers take too literally, and it can get you into some tight situations when it comes to something as important as traveler’s insurance. Cases recently of Americans getting sick and requiring medical attention overseas haven’t been usual. In almost every situation it can land the people with a bill that’s difficult to pay off. Or worst, it might even create a complication or two in getting discharged from the medical facility. Just buy traveler’s insurance! It’s not very expensive and it ensures that if anything should happen to you, you’ll know that you’ll be looked after.

Make Sure Your Visa and Travel Permissions are Correct

Passport

What could be worse than paying hundreds or even thousands for your ticket abroad, spending thirteen hours on flights, and wait upwards of an hour and a half to get through customs, only to be denied at the gate because of an oversight on your visa! Many countries have pretty lax requirements when it comes to US or UK travel visas. In fact, many only require a passport. However, you better check and double-check before you leave that you have all the proper documents needed to travel to the country you are going to!

Having TOO Much Planned!

It’s great to have a plan! In fact, planning your activities is the best way to get the most out of your trip! But one mistake people frequently make is to put a hectic schedule crammed with far TOO MUCH to do. You lose sight of other things that you can stumble upon with a more relaxed schedule. In trying to keep yourself on schedule, you’ll only wind up wearing yourself out and putting too much stress on your mind. It’s best to just fill each day with a single ‘must-do’ activity. Then have a list of things nearby the big must-do activity that you can easily get to when you feel up to it, and enjoy the moment.

You can turn any trip into an ordeal if you don’t prepare for it, or over-prepare. Just make sure that you always have the stuff that can only be achieved at home out of the way. That will make for a nice, easygoing itinerary moving forward.

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Hello to Our Travel Blog

We hope you find this travel blog interesting and useful. We will give tips on how to travel safely and how to get the most out of traveling. We will usually give you ideas on how to save money while traveling but sometimes we will also talk about how to travel top shelf. Kind of like the old TV show, Homes of the Rich and Famous. While we are at it, we will give you tips about the best things to see at certain destinations.

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The pandemic is making travel even more interesting. It might be a while before you can really make use of this site. We will probably add some posts on how to travel safely and minimize the risk of getting infected.

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