The Women’s Travel Group shares 5 common dangerous travel mistakes.
Five dangerous all too common travel mistakes and how to avoid them. These can ruin any trip so read on and learn from the veterans.
Bringing only one ATM card. An ATM machine can fail. After all it is a piece of machinery. And an ATM can be out of cash, not uncommon in rural areas or in less developed countries. Our group was in Senegal when one woman had her ATM card eaten by the machine. Fortunately we had time to wait for the bank manager to return. She had to open the machine and retrieve the card. Our traveler was using a credit union card that was not valid overseas.
Not checking your that passport is current. Or that has 6 months left from your last day overseas! If you renew a passport and ask for the old one back, the old one usually has a hole stamped in the corner. If you travel with an expired passport, a few things can happen. a/ the airline will turn you away or b/ the airline will be sloppy and not notice. In the case of the latter, immigration overseas will reject you on arrival. Your only recourse is to show a photo of the good passport picture page and visa if required. They might give you 24 or 48 hours to renew at a local consulate or embassy. They might put you on a plane home. Or worse, they can detain you. Travel insurance will NOT pay for additional expenses.
Putting your cash in one place. We recommend dividing up cash into several bags or other containers. Then secure them in different places and be careful on the plane and through TSA. Once in the hotel, lock your cash in the safe. Only carry what you need for the day + only one credit card. If you lose cash on a trip, travel insurance will not refund you, fyi. Remove the cash and other items in your hotel safe the night before departure. An electronic lock can freeze and you might not have time for the engineer.
Not taking the hotel’s card or address with you. If you are a confident traveler, you can still get lost, especially if tired. Without full details about a hotel, you can be stranded. Here are various ways to keep this information: hotel business card, copy of your itinerary, screen shot of a map with your hotel on it, hotel phone number in your telephone contacts. Take note of a landmark before you leave the hotel. Write it down. Say it to yourself 10 times.
Not paying attention to local traffic rules. In countries with left side driving, this is especially critical. However in right side driving areas, you can still be hurt if you do not pay attention to local pedestrian rules. Example: in many countries the car has the right of way, not the pedestrian. Let cars go before you, even if you think you have a stop sign or crosswalk on your side. Wait for the driver to wave you on or follow locals in a crowd.
Travel with The Women’s Travel Group and we will assist you so that you make no mistakes. You are with professional travel experts.
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