You would think that after almost a decade of travels, I would be a travel pro.
I’m no amateur, but I wouldn’t consider myself a master in the art either. I still make costly mistakes.
Stupid ones.
I recently went on a 20-month long trip around the world to every continent and made a ton of mistakes regarding expenses. I do learn from my mishaps, but then I go ahead and make new unforeseen ones. It’s like a never-ending cycle. I also learned a lot of neat ways to save money during these adventures that I will highlight on a future post.
Always remember this: There is no such thing as a perfect way to travel adventurously around the world. That’s what makes it an adventure.
With that said, during my recent trip I jotted down all of the costly mistakes I made while traveling along with tips on how I could have prevented it. I hope my blunders set an example of budget mistakes you can avoid on your next adventure.
Missed my flight from Dubai to Tajikistan because I didn’t have a visa. -$400
United Emirate Airlines wouldn’t let me board my flight to Tajikistan because I didn’t apply for a proper visa to enter the country. I guess I missed the part about having to apply for a visa in advance. Whoops.
This almost happened again for my Brazil tourist visa. Thankfully, there was a Brazilian embassy in Cape Town, where I was situated at the time. Dodged that bullet!
Always, always remember to check the visa conditions for a country far in advance. In Tajikistan’s case, US citizens need to apply for one in advance and pick it up at the airport.
Went to the wrong bus station by accident in Germany. -$25
I needed to get to Cologne, but I went to the wrong freaking bus station. You should have seen me wandering around trying to find my bus that didn’t exist. I later checked the reservation email on my phone and found the address to the correct bus station listed at the bottom of the email.
I had to catch a more expensive train to another bus station, to catch the connecting bus I already booked prior.
Do read your email reservations carefully. Many travel reservations will have the direct address of where you need to be.
Ignored flight alert from South Africa Airways. -$340
This was pure procrastination on my part. While walking across Spain, I received an email alert from South Africa Airways that my credit card didn’t go through for my flight to Johannesburg in a few months and that I needed to contact them soon. I ignored it, thinking I would get to it later. Well, I ignored it for too long!
When I later tried to rebook the flight, my original departure was filled up. Thus, I had to book a new, more expensive ticket on an earlier date than I planned for.
Don’t put things like this off or it may deter your travels. If you get an alert from an airline saying to contact them immediately, then do it immediately!
This is me kissing my hard-earned cash goodbye!
Took an Uber to the wrong terminal in Mumbai. -$10
This is another example of not carefully reading my email reservations. It clearly stated to go to Terminal A on the bottom of the ticket. I didn’t see it until my driver dropped me of at Terminal B and I was wondering why I couldn’t find my airline. No problem. I ‘ll just walk to Terminal A.
Sounds simple enough if Terminal A wasn’t all the way on the other freakin’ side of the giant airport. I had to catch a taxi to get there.
Another case of reading your email reservations carefully. For flight reservations, check and see if there is any text imprint about which terminal you should depart from.
Accidentally stuck the wrong Aussie note into a ticket machine. -$30
I just landed in Melbourne from Tasmania. I needed to catch a train into the city. I went to the ticket machine to load up my Myki card (the cards locals use to get around on public transportation) and instead of putting in a smaller note, I accidentally stuck in a $50 note and I couldn’t get it back! There was no way I was going to be using this card all that much unfortunately. I used only about $20 of it. I gave my Myki card away to a backpacker I met in India who was on his way to Melbourne.
This I could have EASILY avoided if I just paid attention to what the heck I was doing. To be fair, it was an Australian note, which I wasn’t used to. Not a great excuse, I know.
Familiarize yourself with foreign currency. It can be confusing.
I have cheap friends. -$30
During my birthday in Nepal, my friends were so broke that I bought THEM drinks.
I’ll be honest. I didn’t want to be the only drunk one…That’s just no fun.
Don’t have cheap friends.
Dropped new iPhone into ugly water in Fiji. -$1,100
This was my biggest budget blunder I made during my trip and it happened fairly early into it.
I had my new iPhone I just bought a few months ago slung around my neck in a waterproof shell. I stood on the top of a cliff on a gloomy day, ready to rope swing into a pond of poopy looking water. I knew darn well that the day was unfit for recording any awesome footage, but so I went anyway. I rope-swung into the poop water and as I fell in the air, my iPhone came loose around my neck and landed into the water as I plunged into it. I quickly surfaced to try to retrieve it, but the water was so brown and 15 meters deep. I couldn’t see nor even attempt to get it.
It was still early into my trip. I needed to have a phone and more importantly, I needed my music. I had to buy a new iPhone in Suva, Fiji’s capital which costed me way more than it did at home in the States.
I still kick myself for that one.
Don’t be a dingus like I was. Sometimes it’s not worth risking your expensive gadgets. Think about it first. I knew perfectly well that there was no need to have my phone with me that day. My gut told me to leave it behind, but no. I just had to show off.
Wasted Airbnb’s in South Africa. -$300
I left too much in the hands in one my travel buddies. I left it to him to book our Airbnb’s in South Africa and boy did he splurge. The accommodation’s looked stunning…but perhaps too stunning and way too big for just three of us. I knew this from the get go. We would spend most of the time out and about and wouldn’t be able to properly utilize our accommodations. Now if it were a larger group of us to split the costs, then yes, I’d be all for it. The other third traveler in this group and I were fine with being in hostels, which turned out to be a lot more fun.
To be fair, my friend did ask us for our permission and thoughts before he booked them. My gut was telling me to say no because it would be pointless, but I let it be. My own fault for not speaking up.
His budget was only for South Africa. My budget was for the whole world.
If someone in your travel group is being too extra and wants you to be extra too, then let them know because we all have different budgets.
There’s no doubt this pricey place was amazing. But we were barely there and it was way too big for just three people.
Bought wrong type of visa in Zambia and Zimbabwe. -$30
Victoria Falls is claimed by both Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa. A buddy and I went to Zimbabwe to visit the falls, not realizing that the fun part of the falls was on the Zambia side. By fun part, I mean swimming in a pool on the edge of the waterfall. We couldn’t miss this so we repaid for another visa to get us back into Zambia and then back to Zimbabwe. Then we had to cross back into Zambia the next day to catch a flight. I never crossed a border so much in such a short amount of time.
Once again, pay attention to visa requirements and also do your research when booking excursions on your own. Being that Victoria Falls was in both countries, we should have checked which side had access to the pools.
Total Amount Wasted (in USD) = Approximately $2,265+
Ouch.
I put the “+” because I’ve made a ton of smaller scale mistakes, among these bigger budget blunders. Like accidentally using my non-travel credit card on a foreign purchase resulting in foreign transaction fees, getting ripped off while bargaining, etc.
Heed my advice and avoid my mistakes well for your own adventures! If you made any costly blunders on your own and would like to share, then please do!
For more posts like these and everything related to ADVENTURE TRAVEL, please subscribe by clicking the Follow button on this page and also follow along on Instagram and Facebook! I’d love to hear from you! 🙂
First and foremost, I’m always hungry in general. I just like to eat all the food. However, the urge to eat increases tenfold whenever I’m outside of the States. But why? What is it about traveling that leaves me hungrier and overtime…h-angrier. I’m always on the lookout for some grub and therefore more money I have to fork over. Being from the USA with our entirely unnecessary portion sizes and unlimited free coke refills is part of the problem.
I don’t care what anyone says, McDonald’s has the most perfect fries on Earth. Throw in a classic Big Mac and an Oreo McFlurry and I’ve got myself a meal! McDonald’s is the fast food of all fast food chains that you can find in many parts of the world in the most convenient, cleverly placed locations. I love it so much but I do feel guilty whenever I am in a foreign McDonald’s, when I know I should be exploring and tasting new and different foods. It’s just that sometimes, I’m not in the mood to test my luck and with McDonald’s always nearby, I always know what I’m going to get. It’s just so damn convenient…and complete utter crap for you.
As a toddler, when I found out those delicious tuna fish sandwiches my grandma gave me for lunch every other day was ACTUAL TUNA FISH, I just about lost it. How dare she? I never liked seafood since that fateful day and never gave it a fair shot until recently. I would always make it known so no one would dare try to serve me anything that came out of the sea. Fish are ugly creatures. Shrimp are ugly too. So are crabs and lobsters and mussels and all of that! I can’t be eating those. I’ve been to many seafaring countries where seafood dominates the local delicacies, but I would always opt out and try other things…like a cheese burger or pizza. Shame on me because I’ve been told that I’m really missing out on some high quality nourishment.
If you ask my friends at home, they’d tell you that I don’t drink very often. But whenever I’m traveling, I have no car to drive and no job to report to in the morning (unless I’m teaching), so let’s go nuts! Whenever I’m out having a good time and start feeling the drinks, I usually get a little too generous and start treating my traveling comrades to rounds on rounds on rounds. The results? A freakin’ awesome night, but a sad empty wallet the next morning.
I never knew altitude sickness was a thing until I was in Peru. Incredibly naive at the time, I sprinted to the top of Machu Picchu and did it without any water in my possession. I started to feel weird, like something horrible was about to happen to me. My first case of the altitude. My next and most horrible case ever was during a hike on Mount Kilimanjaro, when I suffered from altitude sickness during summit day. I felt it again next during a hike on Guatemala up one of their many volcanoes. I love the hikes but am forever fearful of the altitude getting to me. What baffles me the most is that people who aren’t as fit as I am didn’t have as much trouble as I did.
By far my biggest hindrance while traveling…or my whole life in general. I haven’t found the proper way to battle this and I’ve tried almost everything. I’ve used Dramamine and other similar motion tablets numerous times and they do work, but they knock me out almost instantly. I still feel bad for my poor European and Costa Rican friends who drove me to amazing places, only to have me sleeping the entire way. I make for a lousy passenger and I usually feel groggier than shit when I do wake up. Don’t get me started with boats; they are the worst offender.
My God, I HATE being stuck in tourist groups, especially ones with lots of fanny packs and little kids. Get. Me. Out! I once abandoned an insanely slow group in Machu Picchu and did my own thing exploring and taking neat photos which was way more enjoyable. Granted I didn’t really learn anything while I was there, but that’s what Wikipedia is for later. I try not to do touristy group things but sometimes it’s unavoidable. If I can just run and explore freely on my own (in a respectable manner of course) my world would be a much better place.
Jet lag is something that has always taken me a long time to adjust to, seemingly more so than most travelers I’ve come across. My jet lag after a series of flights from California to the Netherlands was particularly the worst. It took me two weeks. I repeat, TWO WEEKS to adjust. My friends there who hosted me were eager to show me around as soon as I got there when really all I wanted to do was sleep. In London, I passed out until 4:00pm once while visiting another friend. In Guatemala, after flying halfway around the world, I was so out of it that I had no idea what day or what time it was when I woke up there. Jet lag isn’t the easiest thing to get over and really bogs down my day. Does anyone else take as long to get over lag as I do?
The Adventure Born 