This blog post was updated on November 2, 2018.
Travel is often looked at in rose-colored glasses. Once you actually start traveling, you know the rose-colored glasses are bound to come off at some point. It could be bed bugs at the hotel or food poisoning in Prague.
No matter what disasters befall on a vacation, the traveler can feel as though their money wasn’t well spent. An opportunity was wasted.
Having had a few disaster vacations myself and travel scenarios I would rather not relive, I have found ways to avoid those problems that can ruin a vacation.
If you too have been inflicted with the bad vacation, you can turn it around next time, rest easy.
Control Your Sleeping Situation—Staying with friends might sound like a great way to save money, but you could find yourself in vacation hell when you are stuck in a home in the middle of nowhere, filled with lots and lots of cats. Bad vacations start to turn sour when you aren’t getting proper sleep. I once arrived to an au pair job in Italy to find my bedroom would be a hallway. Needless to say, I left after two days of no sleep. If your sleeping situation is keeping you up at night, you are headed for a disaster vacation. Make sure you find an accommodation situation you are 100% comfortable with or face sleepless nights. Doing a little extra research before booking cheap hotels can go a long way in making your vacation memorable for the right reasons.
Have Your Own Transportation—Sometimes renting a car is the best way to avoid a disaster vacation. If you are making complicated travel plans, involving hopping on and off trains, buses and hovercrafts, you might want to simplify the matter and have your own set of wheels. If you stay with friends or find yourself in need of getting away on your own vacation, you can. If you have some sort of transportation worked out, you can always get out of a disaster vacation.
Consider Weather Before Booking Trips—While many like to say you can’t control the weather, your local meteorologist might disagree when it comes to travel. Before you decide to head for the Caribbean during hurricane season, have a look at local highs and lows in the area before clicking purchase. Even just for short vacations, don’t forget to look up the weather before you pack. There is nothing worse than packing for sunny California only to find rain and lots of it. If you are cold and cranky, your travel experience is teetering on the disastrous side.
Don’t Travel With Nervy People—If your best friend drives you crazy at home, a vacation will only escalate those feelings. A once in a lifetime vacation not the time to try and reconnect in a foreign land. Then again, you might decide to go somewhere and think you need a buddy. You grab the first person that wants to go and yet you don’t really know them. Who you travel with can determine a good or bad travel experience. Nervy people who never let you have a say in where to eat or what to see might not be the best people to travel with, or your best friends. Don’t be afraid to go alone if your travel partner options are less than desirable.
Come Prepared For Thieves—If you don’t want a thief to ruin your traveling time, money belts and extra cautious behavior should go in to your suitcase. While you can’t avoid crime completely as you travel, if you never let your guard down, chances are you won’t fall victim to petty theft abroad.
Keep Calm and Carry-On—This is not just a saying on a poster produced by the British government for carrying on during World War II. This phrase should follow you on those disastrous travels in more ways than one. If you do carry-on luggage on those long flights, you will arrive with your bags guaranteed. If you don’t, you might find yourself in Cairo without clean underwear. Suddenly you are not so happy to be there. By avoiding extra fees for checked luggage, carrying-on can also ensure that your cheap flights stay cheap.
Flickr: edkohler
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How do you avoid disaster vacations?
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