Travel Myth Busting

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Busting those Myths About Traveling

This may sound naive of me, but I really don't understand why people don't travel more often. I understand that it may seem like an unnecessary expense for some where I find it worth every penny. And I understand that traveling with kids is hard, or that taking time off of work is hard, but we get vacation days for a reason, right? And while traveling in certain parts of the world is expensive, not all travel is. Some people have very legitimate reasons, so I won't judge, but if you have the desire to travel, just do it. Because a lot of the time, what is holding you back is a myth.


Advance booking - sometimes booking this in advance is a must, like going to Europe in the summertime. That just seems to get more expensive by the day. But if you're booking a weekend trip somewhere during the off season, you don't need to book in advance. I've booked flights a week in advance before for a very low cost. So if you want to book a last minute weekend trip, go for it.

Pickpocketing - there's a myth out there that you will have money stolen from you. But if you use common sense, it really doesn't happen often. Just avoid distractions, keep all your items close to you, and don't let anyone push you around. Of course there are things like money belts, but pulling money out of your pants is not the best of experiences, and they don't even protect you from all the scams. Instead just use good judgement and brush yourself up on some pickpocketing knowledge.

It's expensive - it's really not if you know to look for deals and take advantage of all the discounts and memberships around you. There are some trips out there that cost less than the price of an iPhone. Imagine that. Instead of upgrading your phone you can travel! Now I don't know about you, but I'll choose the vacation over the phone. But there are ways of saving money, such as flying budget airlines, staying in B&Bs, and using public transportation. Traveling has turned out to be a lot less expensive than I ever imagined.

You need to speak another language - lets see, how many times has my French helped me in my travels, aside for traveling in France? Zero times. Yes speaking another language has not helped me at all. Sure I'm more likely to understand Italian and Spanish because both are Latin based like French, but really, I manage to communicate without speaking another language. Part of it is because so many tourist destinations actually speak English. So don't let your language skills hold you back.

Parc Monceau, Paris

You need a cellphone - using your cellphone abroad is actually really expensive, and not really an expense that you need. What will you be using it for, to keep in touch with friends and family back home? There's FaceTime, Skype, and emails that are free to use as long as you have wifi. Sure you won't have that instant connection that you're used to, but sometimes its good to disconnect. And with your internet connection, you can use it to plan your trip. So you really don't need that phone.

Its dangerous for women - this is the one that really gets under my skin. The media just amplifies this anytime a woman is attacked while on vacation, claiming that she was alone and therefore attacked. Let me stop you there for a minute media, its not her fault because she was alone, it was the attackers fault, end of story. We live in a culture that teaches us not to get raped instead of teaching people not to rape. So unfortunately us women need to always be on the lookout, but does that mean we should not travel at all? No! Sure I've had a few moments where it got sketchy, but I'm not about to hang up the towel on travel all together. Instead I'll be my stubborn self and keep doing it to prove all those doubters wrong. Tell me I can't do something and I'll prove you wrong. So women, get out there and prove there doubters and the media wrong!

You need experience for solo travel - as long as you have some ounce of common sense and are a quick learner, solo travel is not that hard. Yes I traveled when I was young, but my parents handled everything for me. I never booked anything, I never planned anything by myself before. In some ways I just jumped in and went all in. I did research and asked for advice, but I just decided to sink or swim. And its definitely doable. So why not try it?