Someone recently asked me what my biggest travel mistakes have been, and what I learned from them. I thought this was a very interesting question.

Here are the three things I said:

- Taking too much luggage, especially when traveling by train. We had a couple of miserable train experiences early in our European travels because we had more luggage than we could easily carry onto the train. (I've learned to limit what I bring, do handwashing, and to carry moderately-sized rolling bag and a backpack.)

- Planning a trip with several destinations that are far apart, which meant entire days spent getting from one location to another. On my first trip to Europe with two girlfriends, we spend 5 of our 14 days traveling from one big city to another. (I've learned to cluster destinations more closely together to limit travel time-- and to stay longer in fewer places.)

- Being too cheap and not spending money on an experience that would have been extremely special for us. I still regret not doing the gondola ride in Venice-- and spending way too much on a mediocre lunch on that same trip. (I've learned to save money on certain things that aren't that important to us and splurging on something that really matters.)

(I have made LOTS of other travel mistakes, but these were the three that came to mind first. )

What are the biggest travel mistakes others have made, and what have you learned from them?

Kathy

Traveling in college, with two girls who were best friends.

Half the trip they were friendly, I couldn't scale the wall of their friendship, and it was hell. Half the trip they fought, and they glared at each other from behind the wall of my intervention, and it was hell.

So people ask me if I mind traveling alone?

It's bliss.

So many come to mind.....

Our first trip to Europe, I discovered at the last minute that my husband and I each had extra room in our suitcases. So I made the brillant decision to pack everything into one large suitcase. I thought that would be great for me - which it was. However, my poor husband was stuck lugging that enormous, very heavy suitcase up stairs, onto trains, and everywhere in general. It's a wonder he ever wanted to take a return trip! I learned to take two small suitcases with small carry-ons so that they can be easily maneuvered.

This last fall in Switzerland, I didn't read the fine print or ask enough questions of the owners of the apartments we rented. They both ended up having stairs to climb. I have discovered in our trips that there are many more stairs in Europe - especially when you try to find a water closet in restaurants or cafes - so my knees really take a beating by the end of the trip. Adding stairs to climb to our apartments just adds insult to injury. I learned to really read the descriptions and even ask separate questions via email or phone to ensure that no stairs are involved in the apartments we rent.

Lastly, I try to do too much in the amount of time we have. I have mastered staying in a couple of places, but still want to rush around seeing as much as I possibly can at each destination. I research so much before our trips and have such a long list of things to see that I can never possibly see everything. I would like to say I have been able to change my behavior from the lessons learned, but I am still trying to pick out a few things and not kill myself trying to see everything.... Any suggestions of how to do this would be great.
Kathryn

Not checking when Easter was in 2001 when we went to Florence and Venice. That was our first trip to Italy and we were making reservations for places to stay as we traveled. I had to call every place in our 3 different guide books...and call back several times before I could find anything. The place in Florence was a true dump, but it was under a roof and the door locked and it had running water. The room in Venice was nice but I was extreme apprehensive by that time.

On a trip to Portland OR in 2000, I couldn't get the Friday return flight I wanted, so I took a Saturday reservation and asked to be put on a standby reservation for the Friday flight. The airline did not call me when it cleared and I didn't check the ticket closely enough when I got it. (Still were using paper tickets then!)

When I went to the airport on Saturday morning, they said "Your flight was yesterday." Even though I was high level elite member on that airline, this trip corresponded with spring break in Oregon and the earliest available flight back to Houston was on Tuesday.

I finally got a Sunday flight reservation out of Seattle and rented a car to get to Seattle to catch that flight.

Not starting soon enough in life...

james

Lucky me, James, I started at 23!

Biggest mistakes:

Traveling to a European country with a long-time acquaintance. I knew she was dependent but she was sure she wouldn't be dependent on this trip. It, um, didn't work out that way.

Deciding that my dear, now departed, husband should be the navigator--FOR ONCE-- on the one trip to France where we had an automatic car so that I could drive. He went by map inches rather than looking at mileage and, on the leg that he navigated, we had switched to regional maps. So, what he told me was going to be a couple of hours was in fact an all day trip. Made oh-so-much more pleasant by the fact that we had our 11 year old daughter in the car with us.


Staying at a place somewhere in France where we had gone for the Michelin-rated restaurant. That part was wonderful, but we spent the night there as well. Not so wonderful. I realized that you should probably never stay somewhere that Michelin listed as a restaurant "avec chambres". The bed was like a coffin, and there were trucks down-shifting outside our window all night.

Can't think of any others --- not so terrible, huh?

Waiting until the last minute to look for comfortable walking shoes - then choosing poorly. Nothing like foot pain while traveling!

Also, not bringing along a purse with a strap long enough to sling across your body like a mail bag. (Nothing like having your hands free!)

I also was way too cheap when choosing a rolling carry-on bag and the wheels broke off on the first trip. My travel companions, on the other hand, still laugh at the thought of me dragging this broken thing around Heathrow! And why I didn't just buy another better one on the spot and transfer my stuff over, I'll never know.

Traveling with the wrong person... a self appointed diva who warbled across Paris in heels and could only stomach California wine.

Booking a hotel only by the photos on the internet. We left in the middle of the night. Another hotel booking mistake... I booked more than one and thought I had canceled the one I didn't want. When I got the American Express bill I realized my mi$$take.

Stuffing a couple of bottles of Pimms into my suitcase at the last minute to get through security. My suitcase was sitting in a puddle on the baggage claim.

And of course... packing way to much!

When my son was 2, we were visiting family in Israel. At that time, you were supposed to reconfirm your return flight on ElAl airline 72 hours before takeoff. Well, we forgot. When we arrived to the airport to go home, at 11pm, we were "bumped" from our flight, and to make a long story short, didn't get back home til 36 hours later, sans luggage and with an overly-tired, screaming maniacal 2-year old. Big mistake.

This past October, on my flight out to Palm Springs, I struggled to lift my carry-on to the overhead bunkers. I must have strained my already weakened back, and two days later, my entire back went into major spasm, just before flying back home. I could hardly walk, let alone sit. Another big mistake.

On my first trip as an adult (19), I didn't allow enough time to break in my new shoes before I left the US. I had gotten the shoes professionally stretched a few days prior to departure, but it wasn't enough. I had heard that shoes stretch as you wear them, but I didn't grock that meant discomfort until that momentous day came. By the time the plane landed in London, I was hobbled by sore, bleeding toes. I went in search for a better pair of shoes, which turned out to involve a lot of walking b/c it was Sunday and most stores were closed. I did manage to find a comfortable pair of flat sandals that day which, when combined w/socks, got me through the rest of the tour in that cold autumn weather of the British Isles. The sandals lasted me for years after.

And did I mention I had had a plantars wart removed from a pinkie toe two weeks before?

I brought a rain coat on this same trip. It wasn't until I landed at Heathrow and put it on that I discovered it wasn't mine but my step-father's much larger one. I was about his hgt, but the coat was almost to my ankles, and the sleeves extended beyond my hands. Seeming negative turned into a positive: It was roomy enough to allow me to layer warm clothes underneath so I didn't completely freeze on that trip. And it had lots of handy inside pockets.

Thx to everyone who is posting their travel mistakes and helpful info.

My biggest mistakes have involved not being prepared to spend money to take advantage of experiences I know I would love - especially not doing a trip of the Jungfrau.
Also not spending the money on a Turkish carpet that I loved when in Istanbul (it seemed too expensive at the time, but I have regretted it for 20 years!)

In no particular order

Trusting a travel agent that I would have time to transfer at Heathrow.

Not buying things we saw and loved - largely cost but also getting item home. Only a few but we have regretted it since.

Packing way too much - I still don´t travel as light as some but am getting there

Trying to do too much in too little time

On our first big (5 week) European trip about ten years ago, we had two interesting days.

The first was a planned train travel day on August 1 from the Cinque Terre to the Luberon. So not only was it August 1 (we learned really fast, well, not so fast, it took us about 4 hours to really learn about August 1), but there were train problems in Sicily (we know about those, now too, in Europe, about "minor" labor problems), which meant several through trains going north through Italy just never got started.

We got up at 5am to catch one of those suddenly non-existent trains, but somehow got ourselves to Torino. And my first squat toilet on a day which wasn't a good day for one . . .

There, with the help of benevolent strangers, we canceled our reservations in the Luberon (plain couldn't get there at all), managed to get on an early evening train which would connect to a high speed to train to Paris. And our hotel could actually give us our previously reserved room 4 nights early, with a midnight check in. Over 20 hours. But Paris was great.

Second was a week later. The flight from de Gaulle to Heathrow was promised to connect with our flight to SFO. Flight left Paris late, made up time, but then sat on the tarmac at Heathrow for almost an hour, waiting to disembark. And we missed our flight to SFO. The kindness of airline folks got us on the last flight to the States, to LAX. And eventually home.

But that was part of one of our best European experiences, ever! Great adventures with happy endings!

Oh, the luggage thing of course. I now pack for a month+ trip in my laptop carrying case (sans the laptop!), and religiously NEVER carry a second pair of shoes. (Excepting the flippies for the bathroom!)

Being a cheapskate as others have said; You'll only regret what you didn't spend on, not what you saved 10 Euro on. That theme has echoed throughout almost 30 years of my journals, but I still never learn!

Cheers!
Alecto

I always seem to travel with too much luggage, but I have improved with time. Now I no longer have multiple bags that I can't carry, as I did when I was younger, but they're still pretty darn big.

When I was 20, I flew from Germany to Milan and onwards to the US. I didn't realize that I would be arriving in and departing from two different Milan airports. And yes, I had three suitcases I couldn't carry (I had been living in Europe in one place for 8 months, this wasn't casual travel!). Somehow I made it though on time.

Traveling with people with different travel styles, complainers or divas.

Losing my passport aboard a plane and arriving at the immigration window to find it wasn't in my purse. I was so clearly horrified that the officials were quite nice to me, and the passport was located in short order.

first, like james not starting early enough in life is a regret.
but besides the delay in my wonderful adventures,the worse regret i have is not taking a hot air balloon ride over the valley of kings- i know i will take this regret to my grave. and it wasn't even the cost- that's what gets me- it was because none of my family wanted to go with me! what a fool i was!
moral- go for it or you might just regret it for a very long time.

another mistake i made was booking a hotel in florence through the internet and putting the wrong expiration date of my credit card- the hotel gave our room away. not really so bad because the only room left in florence(it was a holiday there)was at the sofitel hotel which was wonderful!!
moral- every cloud has a silver lining!!

the most embarrassing mistake was on our second trip to rome. we stayed at this lovely little hotel down an alley a 5 minute stroll from piazza navona where we had previously stayed. because we were so smart, and had stayed there before, and knew our way around, we just gave no thought to anything and went out exploring. when we decided to return to the hotel,we had no idea the name of the hotel, or what the name of the street was. of course all our children had our itinarery, but that would have meant a phone call home and they probably wouldn't let us travel alone again!!
fortunately, italians are great and when we stopped to rest our tired feet and fill our empty bellies, our waiter brought out the phone book and helped us identify our hotel, then headed us toward the right alley!
moral- always take something with your hotel or apartment address on it-
moral #2 -thank god for all those just wonderful, caring italians

There are those mistakes that many of us have in common...too much luggage, trying to see too much, and not spending the money on those things which, although they seem too expensive and frivolous at the time, would be such a wonderful reminder of a great trip.

Then there was the time I packed my itinerary in my checked bag and of course it didn't arrive in Milan when I did. When the airline asked where they should send it when they found it, all I knew was some villa near Siena. After several (very expensive) phone calls back home, I was able to get the information. The bag didn't catch up to me until five days later which highlighted the other really dumb move...I had also packed the chargers for the camera and the phone in it.

I've never made this mistake again. Wish I could say the same about too much luggage, trying to see too much and being cheap.

Cathy

There are some really good stories here!

Here's another big mistake I made. In Sept 2004 during our long trip to Europe, we rented a cottage in Burgundy for a week after spending two weeks in Paris. The cottage was on the grounds of a chateau in a tiny village called Creancey.

Before we left on the trip, I got all the directions for each stage of our trip from ViaMichelin. I remember staying up very late one night printing these all off, because we didn't know if we would be able to print things once our trip began.

So three months later, we were making the drive from Paris to Creancey. I thought I had brought all the back-up info from the chateau owner, but had somehow forgotten to print the detailed directions that came with her e-mail. All we had was my ViaMichelin directions to the village. The chateau was Chateau de Creancey, so I just figured it would be very obvious once we got to the village of Creancey.

We arrived in the village and started looking around for a chateau. The village was actually kind of run down and didn't seem to be anywhere near the wine regions of Burgundy... not exactly what I had expected. We drove around the small village and the surrounding area for a good 30 minutes. We didn't have a cell phone, so there was no easy way to call the chateau, and the village was so small there was no one to ask or even a phone booth. We drove off in search of a larger village where we might find a phone. While trying to find a place to buy a phone card so we could use the pay phone, I realized that the postal code for Creancey in my ViaMichelin directions didn't match the postal code on my e-mail from the chateau owner.

It turned out there were TWO Creanceys in Burgundy, and we were in the wrong one. It was a good 1-1/2 hours drive to get to the right Creancey, which fortunately was all we had hoped.

I've always prided myself on being a very good navigator and we almost never get lost, but this time we got really messed up! Like the story above (about not having the info on the hotel), I learned how important it can be to pay attention to details.

Kathy

Fortunately no big mistakes but I can reiterate the importance of comfortable shoes. I harped on this to the nth degree on a trip with my younger daughter but who was the one that got blisters the first days in Italy?? Me. I failed to walk enough in my new sandals and did not bring a back up pair of something worn and "broken in". Believe me I ate crow and had to of all things borrow a pair of my daughter's tennis shoes until the blisters healed. Comfortable shoes are everything. This is a good thread Kathy. Thanks.

Barb Cabot

Not traveling more to other countries (other than Austria, Italy and Switzerland) when we lived in Garmisch, Germany for almost two years .

Leslie

Believing what I read on the web site without checking it out somewhere else. we went to all the way Pozzuoli to go on the Archeobus Flegrei and foudn out when we got there that it hadn't run in 2 years. Then we got lost in Pozzuoli trying to find a bus to Cumae, and getting back to the train station toi Naples. wasted a whole day.

Saving 60 euros on a different hotel near Termini because we were only staying one night and they advertised individually controled A/C, instead of staying at my tried and true place. I ended up being double billed for my one night and it took months to resolve it through my credit card co at the time (Capital one), and the A/c was only tepid anyway.

Not listening to my more experienced Slowtrav friends on my first trip to Italy. If I heard it once, I heard it a thousand times..."Take comfortable walking shoes, Brenda!"

Naive little me, I thought that buying a pair of Aerosoles at the Bay in Woodbine Shopping Center the moment before our flight left for Florence was what the good people here on the message board meant.

Not!
Blister city, within the first day of arriving in Florence. Couple that with the mother of all jet-lags and a total unfamiliarity with my surroundings, a cell phone that didn't work, no idea where the nearest payphone was...well, you get the picture! The saving grace was my son, staying in a hotel a few blocks from my apartment, saving my butt a thousand times.

I used to feel embarrassed when I thought about all of my mistakes on that trip. Now, a few years have gone by and a few trips are stashed under my belt, I now salute the courage it took to make that first trip on my own. YAY for me! Mistakes be damned, it was a glorious trip!

Maybe the mistakes we make only serve to make the trip more memorable and meaningful!

"Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from." ~ Al Franken
Brenda

Good point, Brenda. In many cases, the biggest mistake would be to not go at all!

The biggest mistake I can think of right now is my relatively recent train misadventure in Bavaria in November 2008.

The abbreviated version: I read my printed out ticket wrong, and missed the train. I bought a new ticket, and for some unknown reason, got off at the wrong town. I couldn't get another train to the town where I had booked a hotel, so I had to find one on the spot (which I did, by the train station). How did this happen? I think there were two reasons: 1) on a daytrip two days previously, my friend and I had been on a train which collided with someone who chose that method to kill himself. We were delayed for several hours, and I think that I was still distressed and distracted over this incident. 2) I had just finished an exhausting professional event, and was dozing on the train when I suddenly thought I had to get off. If I had been less tired, I doubt this would have happened. The silver lining was this: I ended up seeing an additional town, if only for an hour or so in the morning, and the hotel I had booked did not charge me for being a no-show. There's something to be said for inefficiency sometimes.

Not bring ENOUGH luggage. There are those who don't mind wearing the same clothing throughout a three week trip. There are those who don't mind washing their clothing in the bathroom sink at night and hanging it to dry overnight. There are those who don't have a problem with trying to dry out their clothing with a small hand dryer after rinsing it out in the sink. There are those who don't purchase anything to bring home with them. . . . I am not that person. I've tried to be that person but I then end up purchasing clothing because I run out or I purchase luggage because I need more space to pack things or I spend a fortune mailing boxes of stuff home to free up room in my suitcase.

Trying to travel the way others travel can be another mistake. We should use the motto 'know thyself' when planning a trip. We each have unique personalities, likes, and dislikes. Be accepting (and appreciative) of advice but at the end of the day remember that you want to enjoy your trip. Recognize that someone else's mode of travel might not work for you. We have had people tell us 'whatever you do, don't waste your time going to . . .'. Yet we go anyway and are entranced - a good reminder that we are all unique.

Trying to go too cheap with accommodations. I don't want nor need a palace for a bedroom - I mean, I'll be unconscious for most of the time I'm in there, so do I really need marble, silk curtains,and a frescoed ceiling? However, there is a balance to this. I can't count the number of times I went with the cheap apartment or hotel and ended up in a horrid area of town, sleeping in a bad bed, and not having a good night at all.

Travelling as if this if the 'one' trip. Many of us assume that we'll only visit a place once so we pack so much into our dream trip that we are constantly on the go. In the end we enjoy ourself but find that we're exhausted. No one knows for sure what lays ahead. We have found ourselves returning repeatedly to the places that tug at our hearts even though we assumed that we'd only be there once.

Dunno if this is a travel mistake purr-say, as it only involves two right-bankers going to the left bank of Paris…
Time: midnight, 1st January, 2000.
Place: soirée folle in my girlfriend's apartment next to, but with no view of, the Eiffel Tower.
What happened: Everyone rushed out to walk the 30-second walk to Champs de Mars to watch what became the legendary millennium fireworks of Paris.
What we did: I stayed in the apartment, to keep my claustrophobic hubby poo company. We felt rather foolish in the empty apartment as the deafening explosion sounds filled the room for half an hour.
My mistake: not having talked him, or bodily dragged, into walking that 100-meter walk to see the fireworks.
Lesson of my story: When you travel, be adventuresome, try everything, -- well, everything just this side of legal.

LOL, Jerry! I've got three cheap suitcases in my basement right now. All three purchased at weekly markets in various towns in Italy.

All three purchased because I didn't plan on bring stuff home.

By the fourth trip, I had learned my lesson. Now I pack a cloth duffle bag in the bottom of my suitcase. Then when it is time to return home, I fill it with all my clothes to check, and save my roll-on suitcase for my treasures.

I still only take one roll-on bag with enough clothes for one week, however. But we do have a hard and fast rule that we only select vacation rentals that have washing machines.

As far as regrets: I'm with everyone else on the purchases. I am determined that this next year I WILL NOT listen to my frugal husband. I WILL NOT second guess an impulse and fail to buy that item I fell in love with. I could go down a list of things I "wish I had bought".

By the way...If anyone is going to Galicia this year...could you bring me one of those wonderful little granite replicas of an horreo? You can find them in all the gift shops around Santiago or Fisterra. Oh, yes, and a St. James staff with the shell on it would be nice too.

Our biggest mistake happened on our tour of the villages of ancestors in Sicily. We were taking a train from Termini Imerese to Cefalu and got on the wrong train. I immediately went to sleep and it was an hour later that my spouse woke me and said that the conductor was just by and we were on the wrong train. We were somewhere well into the interior of Sicily. Just before the next stop the conductor came and got us and when the train stopped he got off with us. He then led us around the front of the train and across 2-3 tracks where he literally flagged down a train that was leaving the station. An hour later we were back in Termini Imerese. Our 45 minute trip to Cefalu turned out to be 4 hours and all of it on the slower regional stop everywhere trains. As a result of this we can now count to 100 in Italian and understand train numbers.

quote:

Originally posted by James Martin:
Not starting soon enough in life...
james

I so agree with this! I always thought I was happy just traveling in the U.S. But, after actually getting a taste of European travel, I was hooked. I was over 60 when this happened, of course, so that fact kind of limits the number of trips I will be able to ultimately take in my lifetime.

Like so many others, taking too much luggage when traveling by train is my main mistake. We had been on a cruise and then went to Lucca. We were planning to train to Florence but had way too much luggage to try to get on the train. The only alternative was to hire a taxi to make the trip. Can't remember how much it cost (I have blocked out that memory).

Nancy

Jerry,
Thank you so much for saying this! I'm with you! I don't pack light, I take what I need to feel comfortable and I look for apartments with a washer. I also take a stash of gluten-free foods because I have to eat GF. Until I find a source of the same kind of foods where I'm going, I gotta have some emergency rations. Those packages take up a bit of luggage space, for sure.

I tried to pack light once, and only once. I wore the same 2 pair of pants for 2 of my 3 week trip...can you imagine how s-i-c-k I was of wearing them? So, I bought another 2 pairs of cool pants in Venice, and felt a million times better wearing a change of habit, so to speak. Disclaimer: I don't have a huge wardrobe at home, but I do like wearing a variety of clothes, rather than the same things day after day.

For me, it was a mistake, trying to do what worked for others. It's great for those who travel this way and a part of me deeply envies people who can take a carry-on and nothing else. But, I'm not wired that way, and it wasn't great for me. So, now, I pack what I will need and deal with the extra bit of struggle while traveling. This works for some and not for others, so identify how you are and then do what you need to be comfortable...self-knowledge is the key.

Like Deborah, I also pack a nylon bag in my luggage and that holds all of my clothes for my flight home, and then my suitcase holds the purchases! YAY!!!

...and then there's the gorgeous ceramic platter that I fell in love with in Alessandra's shop, Il Girasole in Cortona. I didn't, and I so wish I had. Next time...

"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money." ~ Susan Heller
Brenda

Hi,
For me it was when I decided getting to Amsterdam because I had 8 hours connection. I just bought my train tickets, but somehow had taken the wrong train to downtown Amsterdam. After spending 40 minutes on the train, I realized I was on the wrong train. It takes about 20 minutes to get to downtown from the airport. I have to say the views were postcards with mills and flowers of dutch country. The controller said I was in the wrong train, and took me to the map on the wall. She didn't speak English nor French but only Dutch. In any case she explained that I would have to get off and get 2 stops back and then take the right train to downtown. One of the nicest memories finaly.

Driving in Sicily small towns and cities. We couldn't get out of Ortigia because of very narrow streets, restrictions and construction works. In old Cefalu the streets were so narrow, we almost damaged our bran new golf there. In Castellammare del golfo we couldn't reach our hotel and were stopped by police while taking the wrong direction on one street. Driving through Palermo: this was a nightmare as everybody moved fast and didn't respect lanes.

Ordering crude mussles instead of oysters at Cassis brasserie because I was so busy with the child, so I just got distracted when ordering my meal. The waiter asked at least 3 times what I wanted. Then when he left, I told my husband I just realized I ordered wrong. So, he went to catch le garcon and asked to replace mussles by oysters. It was funny because all the kitchen personnel was wondering and they were relieved when my husband confirmed oysters. The waiter made a joke when he served and we all just had a good laugh at it, since he couldn't believe that.

Taking the wrong shuttle at CDG and realizing we won't get out after 24 air plane delay because we got to the far end of the airport. Fortunately Air France personnel accepted to help us and called a bus for our group.

Not having enough personal items on a trip to Seattle. I completely forgot all personal items like tooth brush, paste, and hair brush, but the worst was the liquid for cleaning my glasses. I couldn't find any at the hotel store and I didn't have much time to go shopping. So, my glasses were very hard to clean. Also when we went to Spain I forgot the screen protection, and I purchsed a Delial #2 but it had such a nice smell that all the bees came to us while at the beach. Since, I always ensure we have personal items with us.

Eating too much on my trip to Seattle. I had too much fish and sea food which was excellent. When at the next meal I got my plate, I just lost conciousness because of quantity of food. So, my boss had to bring me back home in an emergency state. Now I look for places serving smaller portions, soup and salad or other lighter food, but I avoid places serving big plates.

Or one could miss one's flight and react like this .

I'm going to try that next time!
Wonder if it works?

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things." ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Brenda

Oh my gosh! She just went on and on! I wish I knew what she was saying.

Nancy

I think it was probably "I apologize for being late, and hope I didn't cause the flight attendants too much concern."

Dear lord - she almost blew the speakers on my lap top. That was one heck of a hissy fit!

Re; the hysterical woman clip: OMG!!!!!!!!
I have never seen a display of behaviour like that before, even from a child.
At least we know who she is ,so we can rebook when we see her in our line-up at an airport.

That was almost a perfect 10 performance. I was especially impressed with how she executed the flopping on the floor move. She needed a panel of two-year old judges to score her technique though.

Falling for the rogue cabbie in Rome even after being warned! Makes a good story, though!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TourMama,

Yes, that was one major hissy fit. I certainly have FELT like doing that!

Our biggest mistake was arriving in Paris for the first time ever, and not researching ahead of time what was going on that night. Turns out it was Blanche Noir, where ALL the museums are open all night and they are free! We took a cab to dinner (no idea how to do the metro, at that point) and barely made it there due to the incredible crush of people. Live bands, protests, all kinds of crazy fun people in the streets. What fun, and we just kept partying, first in the Marais then off to some club god knows where, I think near the Arc de Triomphe (pardon my bad spelling). Around 1:00AM and we were done in. Headed to the Metro and what a surprise, it had stopped running! We were at least 6 miles from the apartment at that point. We tried, for 3.5 hours, to get a cab and do you think there was a toilette open anywhere? At 2:00AM Paris was as crowded as mid day! We finally jumped in a private car- the driver taught at the Sorbonne and moonlighted as an illegal cab! Thank god we had written down the address of the apartment as we had no idea where it was. And the point about the shoes?? I had on the cutest pointy toed Italian slingbacks and boy, did I HATE those shoes that night!

Dio mio! That poor woman may have had quite a valid reason, but it reminded me of a flight on SouthWest airlines (they're always funny) when the attendent was reciting the safety guidelines and said,

"... and if you are seated next to a small child, or someone who is acting like a small child ..."



Cheers!
Alecto

quote:

Dio mio! That poor woman may have had quite a valid reason

Well, it is time for me to own up. I happen to know the language. This is what she said:
"WHAT? STIMULUS? PLAN??? I KNOW DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM DIDN'T PAN OUT BUT THIS JUST MEANS KEYNESIAN MARKET ECONOMY IS (INAUDIBLE BUT VERY LOUD). I'LL SHOW THAT SARTRE AND HIS L'ENFER C'EST L'AUTRUI BUSINESS. L'ETAT C'EST MOI. MADAME BOVARY C'EST MOI. L'ENFER C'EST MOI MOI MOI !!!"
Just kidding.
I do know the language, sigh. How o how I wish I could tell you she had some intelligent urgent problems, but she was just saying: "why don't you let me on the plane? why why why (wail)"
By then I frankly had to turn my speakers way down. I turned them up slightly a few minute later. She was still wailing: "this is not possible, not possible…"
Please don't make me listen to that again.

Americana! You have outdone yourself and earned a second red heart! Thank you for answering my unasked question -- "what the .... is she carrying on about?"

Judy

Judy, believe me, sometimes knowledge is not power. Knowledge is abject embarrassment.

One mistake turned out to be the perfect beginning of a trip to France. We flew into Paris and drove to Chablis for our first night. We were jet-lagged and not picking up the French well yet when the owner gave us complicated instructions about where to park to avoid the market the next day. Oops! Sunday we found our car surrounded by clothes vendors’ stalls. We abandoned our rushed itinerary, walked through the market, and bought food for a picnic lunch. This half-day of forced relaxation set the tone for a wonderful, relaxed three weeks in Burgundy and Arles.

A mistake I would like to shake: picking up informational brochures that are great references but are heavy. I'm stuck with either a heavy suitcase or a huge charge to mail a box home. I need Brochure Collectors Anonymous!

Hi Y'all,

Well seems like the more we travel the more we're exposed to mistakes. I'm no exception, missed a flight, for the wrong reason, got up too late. What a booboo. Instead of heading for Cairo and Frankfurt. I had to take a flight to Paris and then to Frankfurt. So this was not only super costly but time consuming as well.
Some countries have no tickets available at the airport, had to go back in town by cab and back.. Hassle city. Never again did I sleep late.

As for luggage and such, I'd rather miss some stuff than curse and lug around a suitcase(s) like as if I was moving with all my worldly possetions. Travel light and move fast says I.

What say ye.

Renting a house in the Dordogne then agreeing with my husband that it would be a nice chance to tootle down there from London via Calais in his lovingly restored Triumph Stag sports car.

1. The fabulous weather broke, big time, and we had monsoon like rain for the first part of the journey . We discovered that the part he had not lovingly restored was the windscreen wipers.

2. The Triumph Stag was a thing of beauty and famous mostly for overheating if you dared to drive it too fast(over 50mph), too far (over 50 miles) or stopped in traffic jams. We had to stop many times to let the thermostat needle go from 'Thar she blows!' to just scary.

3. I was 6 months pregnant at the time, which we somehow failed to notice, and a comfortable, airconditioned car (with windscreen wipers) that could actually get us there would have been the better choice. I had to stop many times.

4. Due to the aforementioned many, many stops we realised we were not going to make our carefully chosen overnight hotel in time. The sweet little hotel, run by two elderly and nervous sisters, that we eventually found in some unknown town was the perfect refuge - until we discovered that the rest of the rooms were taken by a large English Rugby team on tour, already quite drunk and demanding copious quantities of chips to be cooked. We pretended to be Dutch whilst they sang the night away until the police were called. At which point the lorries from the haulage park next to the hotel started their early morning revving.

And after the lovely holiday we had to drive all the way back.

Oh Panda - I had tears in my eyes when I read this - TOO funny! As one whose hubby had a beloved MG-TC convertible in our early years, it brought up all sorts of memories of discomfort and pain, even just in general non-vacation driving!

Judy

Panda, you are too funny! As a former owner of a beautiful but wholly unreliable red Fiat convertible, I can commiserate 100%. Although ours had a really handy mechanism which prevented overheating when we forgot to notice the temperature gauge -- it poured boiling water and steam all over the feet of the passenger. Fortunately we had about a nanosecond of warning time once we heard the psssss sound start, which was sometimes enough time for the passenger to get their feet out of harm's way. This overheating-prevention mechanism functioned not by releasing a buildup of heat, but by releasing so much steam that you couldn't see out, requiring the driver to pull over immediately. Though I did once or twice find myself unable to do so, being on the freeway or something, so the passenger would have to get the convertible top unlatched and down at 55 mph.

Perhaps that Fiat qualifies as my biggest travel mistake. Certainly it was my biggest car mistake. Don't even get me started about how the starter broke, and for two years I had to either push start it or hit it with a hammer, flagging down innocent passers by for help.

Well, this is an outstanding thread, and it's fun to see everyone's replies.

I have made many mistakes, and this is not my BIGGEST probably, but here it is...

I had a ticket to travel from Florence to Venice on the Eurostar. At the station, the train was late arriving, and the track number was not posted until the last minute. I rushed to get on the train, knowing it was late and might not be in the station long. The train was packed, and someone was sitting in my seat! I kindly informed them that it was my seat, and found out I was on the Eurostar to Rome instead of Venice.

The conductor was helpful, but the train was already going and it was nonstop to Rome.

Once in Rome, I had to purchase another ticket to Venice, and arrived about 7 hours later than I expected.

I try to balance between too much and not enough stuff. Not enough and you are doing laundry that takes days to dry, especially Italy, where we rent a house. Too much and it is a pain. I say- smaller wheelies, two, and if you have room, fill it! I have seen people take too little, and have nothing clean to wear after 4 days!