5 Travel Mistakes I Have Made and How to Avoid Them
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Storytime! I've made plenty of mistakes throughout my travels. It's okay to make mistakes, but here are a few you can learn from and try to avoid.
Summary
Not Properly Researching – Cinque Terre, Italy
Not Checking the Weather – Sequoia National Park, California
Over Planning and Being Stubborn – Southern Coast, Iceland
Not Backing Up Your Photos and Videos – Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Iceland
Not Stopping for Gas – Ireland
Not Properly Researching
Cinque Terre, Italy
During the summer of 2019, I visited Italy on a group travel trip with EF Ultimate Break. As we made our way down to Florence from Milan, we stopped at Cinque Terre for the day. Whether you know where this location was or not, almost everyone is familiar with the photo above. (Not my photo, but read on to find out why.)
You have either seen it while scrolling through Instagram or even as one of your old preset desktop backgrounds.
Here is where you go to get “the photo.”
Here is where I was.
Fast forward another train ride later, relaxing on Monterosso Beach, I looked over to my travel mates and asked when we were getting to “that spot.” They looked at me and said, “we were just there!” Definitely a face palm moment.
Traveling spontaneously and experiencing the unexpected is an exciting part of travel but for those must-see places, make sure you do your bit of research to avoid missing it. And, if you do find yourself in Manarola, make sure to walk all the way up!
Not Checking the Weather
Sequoia National Park – California, USA
2020 forced me to slow down and explore my own country, which I have surprisingly seen very little of beforehand. I went to California twice. The first time I visited it was late summer. Peak wildfire season but the weather was pretty good that day. We went to Sequoia National Park and were in awe of the giant redwood trees. I just had to go back. A couple of months later I was back for a west coast road trip and I made sure to squeeze in a stop to see those gorgeous trees again.
Sadly, we never made it.
Okay, that sounds way more dramatic than it really was. Well, coming from Los Angeles, I didn’t even think to check the weather for snow! When we pulled up to the entrance gate we were informed that it snowed the night before and if we planned on visiting the redwood trees that day we needed tire chains and that we could rent them from the nearby town. I know I am from the northeast, but I have never put chains on my tires before. The next two hours were spent renting chains, trying to absorb as much as we could from a how-to video on the wall, driving and failing.
We drove the winding road through Sequoia National Park leading up to the trees and got as far as we could before the point where chains were required. Tried and failed to put them on along with many other cars at one of the scenic lookouts. We did go a little farther with just our regular tires before deciding that it was too dangerous, along with again another line of cars with the same idea.
It is a good idea to always check the weather or possible notices before leaving to go anywhere. If you do find yourself in a situation like mine, there are plenty of ways to make the best of the situation, and safely.
Funny side story, there was a UPS truck up there making a delivery! That’s dedication.
Over Planning and Being Stubborn
Southern Coast, Iceland
My second time in Iceland I went on a weekend road trip with two of my friends. We explored the south coast and saw as much as we could. Iceland was the end of my first, self-planned, backpacking trip around England, Ireland, and Iceland. I visited Iceland earlier that year on another, my first, EF Ultimate Break group trip. I was so excited to show my friends all the amazing places I saw and have been nonstop talking about.
Due to that excitement, I may have overplanned the day.
We spent the day visiting geysers and waterfalls and stocked up on snacks at the local grocery store before making our way up to the glacier. However, in late October, the sun starts to go down on the earlier side and we were stuck driving in the dark. My stubbornness pushed us to our next stop, but it was too dark.
When planning your daily itinerary, you should leave plenty of time for spontaneous adventures and time adjustments. Looking back, it might have been the right call to turn back and be okay with what we did get to see that day but then we also wouldn’t have had our unexpected adventure. This leads me to my next story…
Not Backing Up Your Photos and Videos
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Iceland
After arriving at a very dark glacier and not being able to see anything we figured we would press on. Only 45 minutes up the road is Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, an outlet of water where pieces that break off from the surrounding glacier collect before the current pushes them out to the sea. Depending on the tide, along with many other factors, the lagoon can be filled with ice or completely empty.
Of course, the area was just as dark as the previous location but as we drove in the headlights of our car illuminated some of the ice in the lagoon and I was so excited. We got out of the car and stood at the water’s edge just listening to the sound of the ice cracking.
I got the idea to run back to the car and get my camera. I propped it up on a nearby sign and attempted to do a long exposure so we could see what we were actually standing in front of. The number of icebergs floating in the lagoon was mind blowing. We were ecstatic! We spent the next half hour doing timed long exposure shots of the three of us standing in front of the sea of glacier ice.
Sounds amazing, right? What mistake could possibly happen?
Well, we were at the end of an almost two-week trip, and I got relaxed about backing up my photos. I told myself I would do it when I got home. Well, I didn’t. A couple of weeks later, I formatted my memory card and lost all of the photos. Always have a way to back up any photos or videos you take, whether it is to a cloud-based program or a physical hard drive. Ideally, it would be a combination of the two!
Not Stopping For Gas
Ireland
This one may seem like a no brainer but where I live there are four gas stations at the end of my street.. all on the same corner. So, you can imagine how easy it is for me to get gas when I need it and how I develop the bad habit of letting my gas tank get too low.
This isn’t the best when you are road tripping through somewhere a little more remote.
I was road tripping through Ireland with a friend and that afternoon we left Galway heading towards the coastline. The sight to see when visiting the western side of Ireland is the Cliffs of Moher. We decided to head to Doolin to take the ferry and see the cliffs from below first. Afterward, the plan was to head to the visitor center and see them from above, the most popular view.
The road is narrow with lots of hills. I had about a quarter of a tank of gas and decided to worry about gas when we got closer to the entrance. We were driving up a hill when the car shut off on us! I let the car roll back down and tried a couple more times, but the car couldn’t make it up the hill. I think the hill was moving the gas inside the tank, causing the car to think it was out of gas. Since the sun was about to set there was no way we could turn around to the last gas station and still have time to reach the cliffs before dark. Allotting time in your daily itinerary for smaller things as simple as getting gas can help with having a smoother day and making it to everything on your plan.
Don’t worry, I finally got to see the Cliffs of Moher on another trip out and recommend seeing them to anyone that find’s themselves on the west side of Ireland.
As you can see I have learned a lot over the years. Especially during that first backpacking trip! At the time I may have been kicking myself, but mishaps only add to the adventure and now I have fun stories to tell!
Hi, I’m Karen!Travel Blogger & Photographer + Founder of The Everyday Adventure
Here I share travel tips, packing guides, planning help, and photography from many different parts of the world. I help other working 9-5 adventurers get out into the world and see as much as they can with the little time they have available.
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