Mistakes I Keep Making
Travel Mistakes and I'm Still Fumbling Around Europe
No matter how many countries I've been to, how many times I've travelled, how travel smart I've become, I still keep making the same mistakes. I've always known I'm stubborn, but my lack of ability to learn from them is going beyond stubborn. I guess you can always teach an old dog (or mid twenties dog) new tricks. And they're not huge mistakes. I've never missed a flight. I've never forgotten anything major. But they're enough for me to ask myself "have you learned your lesson yet?" Maybe one day...Early morning anything
I always book the earliest flight, earliest train to spend the whole day in a city. But an 8am flight means leaving by 5:30am to get there on time. Yeah, ewww is right? Instead I should be booking 11am flights to get there reasonable enough but not too late. But no, as I'm writing this I have an 8am flight next week, plus three weekends full of 8am trains. I guess this habit just won't change. |
| Too much time, guess it's selfie time in Bruges |
Arriving too early
For airports I would rather be safe than sorry. Especially when it involves taking public transportation to get there. I refuse to be pressed for time. But for trains I show up way to early. Even when I get to Normandy I'm at the train station at least 30 minutes more than I need to. And it's worse in other countries. For trains that run every hour, I really should show up just 15 minutes in advance, and if I miss the train, there's always another. But nope, good thing I like people watching so much!Over packing
My mom would disagree with me, but I still over pack. I remember being amazed that my grandma could spend two weeks in Italy with just a backpack. Now I get it. I still bring too many pairs of pants and there's always a jacket that I didn't wear. So this summer, I'm going to try really hard to not over pack, not that I can for five weeks of travel, but I refuse to bring anything that I won't use. |
| Lets not forget this out of breath selfie after power walking up the damn hill Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany |
Forgetting about my knee
In my mind, I'm incredibly fit. But unfortunately my body cannot keep up with my mind. As I'm writing this my knee is throbbing because I decided to live by the no pain no gain rule and walk all throughout Bruges and Ghent. Oops. My body just isn't up to par with what I want to do and I forget that. Not that I regret any of my decisions. I'm quite proud of power walking up the Bavarian mountains or to the Prague castle to save money. I just need to remember to take it easy in between if I'd like to make it back to the US not in crutches.Not telling people where I am
My poor parents. I tell them the day before that I'm leaving to go somewhere and don't even tell them where I'm staying. I know it's travel safety 101 to always tell people where you are, but I just forget. But this summer I plan on doing differently since I will be taking my cousin with me. This time they'll have all flight info and reservation confirmation, I promise. Sorry mom and papa!Not taking public transportation
Haha this may be something that I never learn. Why take a taxi when theres the metro, and why take the metro when you can walk. It always comes down to saving money and seeing as much as possible. Well it does save time but not cartilage. With others I take public transportation out of courtesy of them. But left to my own devices and I'll end up walking everywhere. |
| Should have taken the tram up the hill Prague |
Planning too much
I always go in with a huge list. And I know all the travel bloggers say drop the guidebook, but I really don't like missing something, who knows when I'll be back next! But then I have this giant list and never finish it and I feel obligated to pack my days full in order to get it done. I'm trying to wean back but it's still not perfect.Not planning ahead
There are some things, especially during high season, that involve waiting in line for long amounts of time. And I never prebook any kind of museum, so I waste a lot of time in line. So for this summer, I'm going to do it. I'm not about to wait hours to see a damn statue.So as you can see, my mistakes aren't huge. But as a seasoned traveler, I really wish that I would stop making them. But I'd rather fumble my way around than not travel at all.
