Common Travel Mistakes & How To Avoid Them

TMPE58 - Travel mistakes
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Meggan: Hey everyone. And welcome back to the travel mug podcast. We're so happy that you're here as usual. We've been busy getting ready for this fun episode. We're gonna take some time to talk about some common travel mistakes, but rather than just sort of tell you like what not to do, we're also gonna make some suggestions on how you can maybe also avoid these mistakes.

Now, a bit of a disclaimer our suggestions to these mistakes are simply just that, suggestions. As always do your own research and make your own choices like about what's best for you and your travel plans. Don't come back to Jenn and I, and say, you told me to do this.

Jenn: Yeah. Don't, don't play us when things go wrong

Meggan: at the of the day. It's up to you. But before we dive into that Jenn, how have you been enjoying the sadly dwindling weeks and days of summer?

Jenn: I know it's going by so fast. Ugh, it's been good. I had my first like real beach day recently, like coming up to the end of August. That the water we went to beach Meadows, it was actually like pretty warm. And I got in three times, which

Meggan: that's exciting

Jenn: is crazy. But I decided to extend my summer by booking a lovely trip to Orlando.

Meggan: it's so exciting.

Jenn: It was the most quickly that I've ever booked a trip in my life. It was like four hours from texting my friend. I missed Disney um, to us actually booking our flights and our resort stay at Disney. So I am doing Halloween or end of October, but we're doing the Halloween party and stuff at Disney. We're staying on Disney property. My first trip to Disney, since the pandemic, usually we go yearly. This is a big thing. We're just doing a quick trip, like four and a half days. So I

Meggan: just the two of you or four of you?

Jenn: The two of us. Yeah, just me and my friends. Nice. We're leaving our husband's home. so well that we've done Disney before together. The four of us. In 2019, which just last time I was there. So yeah. I'll tell you, you all about it. When we get back, I'm excited.

Meggan: Well, I can't wait and I'm, I'm so seriously happy for you. Like it makes me feel like all is right in the world with you going back to Disney.

Jenn: Yay. I'm so excited. What have you been up to? How's the end of your Summer?

Meggan: things are good. We've just been enjoying some downtime. We actually were home last weekend, which felt like the first and we do have plans the next few weekends. We're actually labor day weekend going to get together with a couple that we met in the Dominican in early 2020 they're from Toronto. And it's funny, they had been planning to come to Halifax June of 2020. Haha. So precious. And then, so now finally in 2022 September, they're gonna make it, so we're gonna have supper with them and some drinks and I mean, I'm I'm looking forward to it. So, and really, and, and this is just for us and obviously for you with no kids going back to school, summer's a little different because it kind of just goes on until the cold weather gets here, really.

Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, summer I wear sandals until I can't wear ' em anymore.

Meggan: That's exactly right. All right. Let's get into some of these mistakes and suggestions on how not to make them, what do you got first?

Jenn: Let's do it. Okay. So the first one is booking too short of a connection, mostly talking about flying. This can also sort of apply to trains, I guess, flying.

Meggan: Yes.

Jenn: We talked about this in travel tip Tuesday a couple weeks ago. Flying is kind of a mess right now. And booking two tight of a connection. Really ruined your whole trip, but what is too tight of a connection?

Meggan: Do tell me,

Jenn: let's talk about it. So I went straight to the air Canada website for

Meggan: how dare you!

Jenn: Well I thought I should go to the source. For me personally, for the most part, I wouldn't do anything less than an hour. In general ever, but let, let me tell you what air Canada says. They have a list of recommended connection times, and it depends on the airport that you're flying through. Obviously, if it's within Canada, the recommended connection time is between 15 minutes. Which is in the thunderer bay airport. And I could totally see how that could work because it is one open room and it is like less than a hundred steps from one gate to another. So, okay. 15 minutes.

Meggan: Fair.

Jenn: um, Right now it is listed as 40 minutes in Toronto for like flying within Canada, connecting in Pearson. I would not do that.

Meggan: No, I don't believe that. I really don't believe that.

Jenn: No, that is not enough. So if you're going from Canada to the US... Um, So flying, like I'm going to do Halifax, Montreal or Orlando. The connection they list is between somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour and 15 minutes, I think for Montreal, it's listed as an hour which is what I have.

Meggan: Okay.

Jenn: And I am. Very stressed about it.

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: This was the only flight that we could do that wasn't through Pearson and I just absolutely refused to connect through Pearson at this time.

Meggan: But Jenn, I saw an article just yesterday and it said Pearson is now the second worst in the world. So they're no longer first. Come on.

Jenn: Good for them. I'm gonna go through Montreal.

I did apply. For nexus, which is a trusted traveler program, if you've never heard of it basically they do a background check on you and it gets you through customs and security quicker. I don't know if I'll get approved in time. I learned after I applied that you have to have an interview to get a nexus and they have paused interviews in Halifax.

Meggan: I knew that. Yeah.

Jenn: Yeah. So, and I thought maybe they'll do a virtual interview. They only do that if you're renewing, not applying for the first time. So unless I drive to Maine, I probably will not get my nexus.

Meggan: Now. Would your travel companion have one? Because really what would be the point

Jenn: she applied as well

Meggan: oh, I see. Okay.

Jenn: Yeah, we both applied for it. It, I honestly, it's 50 us dollars. It's good for five years. It's whatever, whenever we get to do the interview, it is what it is, but it was just something to keep in mind, if you have access to go to the us to do the interview, or if you're listening to this in the future and they finally start doing interviews again,

Meggan: right.

Jenn: It's a good thing to have. So the other thing about connections. Sit near the front of the plane because you can get off sooner. We paid to pre-select our seats, which is something I almost never do. But we, we prepaid to be closer to the front of the plane so that we get off sooner and don't stop for anything until you get through back to your, your next gate, because yeah, yeah.

Don't stop. Just keep going.

Meggan: Now, what about luggage? What would you say is a suggestion there?

Jenn: I mean, I don't don't check luggage if you don't have to, I think is good advice at this point for, for any type of connection. Um, But yeah, we are gonna do carry on cuz it's a short trip.. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm hoping it's not a travel fail episode, but I'm gonna be stressed about it until I'm on that plane to orlando.

Meggan: Well, I hope it all works out for you. I'm sure we will hear about it.

Jenn: Yes. All right. Tell me the next travel fail. Yeah.

Meggan: So another common mistake is underestimating the time required for travel between places or attraction. So like essentially overscheduling yourself. So it, when you're traveling somewhere new, likely somewhere you've wanted to go for a while with lots of things to see and do it can be a tendency to try to squeeze too much in. We get it. Jenn, I know you really get it. And we've talked about having done this in the past. You've done it in the past to your own detriment. You've talked about that before. Just sort of overscheduling a little bit too much, and it's something that can be one of the toughest things to manage. I find because you can overthink it. What if we're never here again? What if I don't get to do everything I plan to do? What if we spend too much time here and we don't get to go there, things will be essentially ruined. Um, It's a lot of stress. And I think for, for me, Peter has always said in advance, we can't do everything like, and I know it's such a simple statement, but it's helped me go. Okay. I have to maybe let some of this go because you, you ruin the rest of your time.

So first and foremost, a suggestion to sort of counteract this, unless you have a lot of time and can make it happen. You likely aren't gonna see everything you wanna see. So I think it's really important to find acceptance. I think, I think acceptance is the first step.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: And I think that acceptance should definitely come before you go.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: You know, when you're planning your itinerary, you're looking through all the things you wanna see and do that's when you need to sort of start getting real with yourself to say we can't do all this and enjoy ourselves. Secondly, use Google maps. Maybe stay closer to certain attractions, but at least measure out the time on Google maps between attractions, see what's feasible. And then if needed, make some of those hard choices. Okay, we can't do this and this, but let's just choose these two things. And it really sucks not to see everything, but if you're completely exhausted and you're stressed, just thinking about how you're gonna get to the next place. It can also ruin the time you're having. So honestly, it's, that's really kind of worse in my opinion than missing out because when you look back, you think I just spent that whole time stressed out. So I think those are some suggestions to sort of how you can counteract that and really come to terms with only seeing maybe certain things.

Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this is a really tough one. I find that I sometimes also underestimate how much time you spend in an attraction yeah, especially something like when we did like Edinburgh castle places like the tower of London, we totally underestimated how much time we would spend there. And so then it kind of like. If you have a quote unquote schedule, it kind of makes you off for like the rest of the day. And it might mean like we did the tower of London. We were there for like four hours. We missed doing the tower bridge, which was something I really wanted to do. Now, I will find myself back in London at some point. So I'm not

Meggan: sure

Jenn: as worried about it, but it, it sucks. Like overscheduling sucks. So the less of that you can. The best.

Meggan: Definitely. All right. What's next for common mistakes,

Jenn: right back to crossing borders. Not checking entry requirements to countries slash having an expired passport. So I think as Canadians, we actually take for granted that we can enter a lot of countries without visas or extra requirements, blah, blah, blah, some places are not like that.

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: It's not always the case though. Like if you're traveling to China, Japan, India, New Zealand there are visas or like electronic travel authorities that you need to apply for before you leave canada.

Meggan: Okay.

Jenn: So look for that because if you get there and you don't have it, you might be getting on the next flight back. And if I fly to New Zealand and they don't let me in I'm gonna be pissed.

Meggan: Oh, can you imagine, talk about. No, I just, I don't even wanna think about it.

Jenn: Let's not go there. So the government of Canada website has resources where you can search by destination and you'll see what's required to enter that country. I will link it in the show notes for anyone who wants to go look at that because it's it's good to double check most countries right now. Like. COVID and that sort of thing, that stuff is kind of going away. But there is kind of other requirements besides that. So yeah. Take, take a peak before you leave home.

Meggan: I mean, I think that's a great suggestion. Yeah.

Jenn: all right. Passports, make sure general rule, make sure that your passport's not expiring within six months of your return date home. Some countries require up to six months. Some it's three months. Some it's like, it just it's so random to me what it is. I think. That is also listed in the website that I'm linking the show notes for the destination thing. I'm pretty, pretty sure it is.

Meggan: Okay.

Jenn: So you'll be able to look there make sure your driver's license or other ID is not expired. This recently happened to a friend of mine. They got to the airport to fly to a Canadian destination and realized that their license had expired like two weeks before and didn't notice.

Meggan: No.

Jenn: And then they had to drive home. Luckily lived. Within like a 30 minute drive of the airport had to drive home, get their birth certificate and then drive back to the airport.

Meggan: Wow.

Jenn: Luckily they had gotten to the airport very early, so they could accomplish all of this before they got to their destination um,

Meggan: holy moly!

Jenn: Yes. And. And make sure the name on your ticket matches the name on the passport. Do not book flights under your married name if your passport is still under your maiden name, even if you have a marriage certificate, it's not enough. Also happen to a friend of mine recently. I don't think they listened to this podcast, but they should.

Meggan: In hindsight though, it'll not assist them.

Jenn: Thank you.

Meggan: But hope

Jenn: for inspiring this episode with your terrible mistakes and posting about it on facebook,

Meggan: what a sin. Those are some, and see that is some human error stuff that can be avoided.

Jenn: It can, and you know, I sort of did this when we were going on our honeymoon. I booked our honeymoon tickets under my married name, but I had time I had to apply for a whole new passport. My old one was expired. So when we booked our trip, I wasn't technically married yet. Booked it under my married name. And then right after I got married, like literally days after I got married, went to the DMV, changed my license and then applied for a whole new passport and I had months and it was fine. If I didn't do that correctly, it could have been a disaster.

Meggan: Right. And these days I know it's getting a little better, but in Canada it's taking people a really long time to get passports. So it's even more important to really be on top of that stuff. I'm gonna say like 12 months in advance.

Jenn: Yeah, for real.

Meggan: Mm-hmm

Jenn: all right. What's next.

Meggan: All right. Well, let's talk money. So a common mistake is having no local currency and only relying on credit cards, especially in more rural areas. In our everyday lives, a lot of people still carry a bit of cash on them, just in case. Case in point a few like a month ago, when Rogers went down all across the country, debit machines were down everywhere.

I'm sure that was helpful. I'm not one of those people, but kudos to people that are . And really, it should also be a rule of thumb when traveling. So I know it can seem counterproductive to be carrying a debit card, a credit card, and then have to get foreign currency. But here's why it's a good idea and like how to get the cash.

So in big cities, honestly, it's likely not gonna be an issue, but it could become an issue if you travel outside the big centers into more rural village or towns. So some will have debit or credit machines, of course, but likely you will come across places that don't. I know it was an odd situation for us in Switzerland.

We didn't have Swiss currency. It was fine. But then their debit and credit system was actually down. So we went to the grocery store. Luckily we had euros on us. They took the euros, but if we needed Swiss currency we would've been out of luck. And if we didn't have Euro. In cash form. We would've been out of luck and I would've been hungry.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: And like, no one wants that. So a suggestion really to counteract this is you can usually get cash locally. When you arrive at your destination from local bank machines, try to find one in an actual bank. That's probably gonna be your best bet. And remember, whenever you're getting cash out or paying with your debit credit, as an example, it asks you which currency always choose the local one.

Another failproof suggestion is to get cash at your local bank before leaving your home country. If you're going somewhere uncommon, that requires something like other than the pound, the Euro or American money, you might wanna go to your local bank in advance and actually order the cash because they don't keep like whatever they spend in Romania on hand.

Jenn: Right.

Meggan: so they actually have to order that in. So that will take some planning ahead. We definitely don't recommend changing our money at the airport as the rates are usually very unreasonable because they have you. And also if you choose a currency exchange company, so a, a booth, that's not a bank, let's say, check their rates and their fees. There's usually fine print posted because they often do not have your best interest in mind. We actually just watched a travel. Honest guide is the, is the name of the YouTube channel. And he talked all about currency exchange companies and how low their ratings are. So you could also check ratings of places before you utilize them. So really fail proof is getting it before you leave home.

Jenn: Yes. Yeah, that's what we usually do. Yeah. And even for the easier to get currency at a bank in my small town, they still had to order in my pounds before.

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: They, they had some, they just didn't have as much as I wanted.

Meggan: Wait. And last of the big time spenders, they didn't have all you needed.

Jenn: No. All right. Next fail slash mistake, shoe choices, bringing new shoes, mostly packing shoes is one of the hardest things for me. I spend like lot of time deliberating my shoe choices. um, And we all should know that wearing new shoes on a trip is a bad idea. Like blisters. Does anymore need to be said?

Meggan: No, no.

Jenn: I've also had shoes where I've only worn them for a short amount of time at like, had them for a long time, but only worn them in short durations.

Meggan: Right.

Jenn: And then worn them on a trip where I was walking in them for like 10 hours a day and getting very bad foot pain. Don't do that. So suggestions look at your activity choices you know, comes down to the type of trip you're taking beach vacay is totally different from hiking, right? Et cetera, decide which you need, make sure that they are worn in and comfortable. Also don't wear ones that are too worn in cuz I took my 10 year old Birkenstocks to Disney in I think 2017 or 2018 and they just completely fell apart one day.

Meggan: Oh no.

Jenn: Luckily I was waiting for the bus to take me back to my resort for that evening and I had a backup pair of Birkenstock, so everything was okay.

I very weirdly brought home my broken pair of Birkenstocks, because I was like really sad about them. And I just felt like they needed, I don't know, I guess the proper funeral in Canada I dunno why I brought them

Meggan: needed to return their bodies to the Homeland.

Jenn: I just couldn't put them in that hotel trash

Meggan: but it was hilarious.

Jenn: I couldn't do it

Meggan: poor little burkies

Jenn: I know. All right next.

Meggan: Bless their heart. Well, the next common mistake is one I'm very guilty of, and that is overpacking. So I. I am this common mistake in a human form. like, I am this mistake. So I love traveling obviously, but I'm gonna be very honest when I say that packing is my least favorite part about travel.

I know wah wah poor baby, but it gives me like a slight bit of anxiety as I lay out my suitcase. And then I have to ponder what I might wanna wear 11 days from that day. Like, I don't know. like the, I mean, that is my answer. I don't know. So if you are like me, here are a couple of suggestions and I mean, I guess these are suggestions I don't choose to follow apparently.

But like you can, if you'd like to, like, these are just some things that we've come up with, so travel, packing cubes. I've bought them. I mean, I'd like to be on the road to recovery, but I just choose not to use them. I felt like they took up too much space.

Jenn: Yeah. I'm I'm coming over and helping you pack next time.

Meggan: I think I need assistance. I, and it's no joke. and I just literally heard this the other day from Gabriel traveler. Who's one of the people we vloggers that we watch, he said when in doubt, leave it out. And do you need the third pair of like fancy shoes? The answers usually always no. Like I. I like a little rhyme, so I'm like, okay, I'll try to think of that. I do this one. Bring less pants than you need, meaning you don't need a new pair of pants every day and just rewear them. That one I have incorporated. Go me. Like you just mentioned footwear. So not only not bringing new shoes, but really be strategic with what you're wearing, like three pairs total. Should probably cover everything if you, I mean, really again, depends on the type of vacation, but it really doesn't probably need to be more than that unless you're going for a really, really long time. And then you still probably don't need them. Now this one, Peter tells me all the time. And again, I ignore him. Don't use the biggest suitcase you have or the biggest suitcase on the market. Like you're gonna end up packing to the size of your suitcase.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: So like, keep yourself in check by not using a giant one. Do your research on the weather conditions that are typical for that time of year. So you don't pack items you don't need for where you're going. You don't need a sweater in the Caribbean. Just tell yourself these things. And if you wanna bring like one, because in the evening when your sun burned, it might be a little coolish. Just bring one. I mean, Meggan really . Remember if you forgot anything by trying to downsize, not always, but likely you can pick up an item where you're headed.

And unless you're going to like literal Siberia, you probably can pick up an item. And maybe even there, I don't know. I've never been

Jenn: no.

Meggan: And then my final suggestion is to download our packing list from the show notes. I mean, let Jenn help you cuz it's obviously not me. And I think I should probably download it. So these are some suggestions I'm gonna take to heart. But I overpacked for my last Europe trip. And there were times where it made sense for us to make the walk to the car from maybe a bit of a distance away. And I literally hated myself every second of that walk, as I pulled all the things, it felt like I owned and I need to do better. And that's my future travel goal. Thank you. Okay. You heard it here. You heard it here first.

Jenn: I'll I'll be over next time you

Meggan: wonderful. I look forward to it.

Jenn: Perfect.

Meggan: What do you got?

Jenn: All right. Skipping insurance is our next mistake and I know, I know how tempting it can be to skip buying travel insurance. Cause most of the time things are pretty OK. And they don't need it, but. Exactly until you do and then when you do need it, you're like, thank God I bought that. I had a moment I'm not gonna lie to you after I booked that Disney trip, I was like, do I need travel insurance? And I was like, yeah, I need travel insurance. You big dummy. Yes. You do.

Meggan: What have we just lived through

Jenn: what? Yeah. Like where have you been? Okay. I went down an, I went down an insurance rabbit hole, so you don't have to.

Meggan: Wonderful,

Jenn: but. You actually, you kind of do have to, cause I'm gonna tell you to do your research and read the policy like a million times.

Meggan: Well, I mean, I think that makes good sense.

Jenn: Here we are. Okay. Make sure that the insurance covers what you need. I have been using Manulife cover me for Canadians. It is one of the only ones that covers COVID 19 related problems. So medical insurance, you may have medical through like group benefits packaged through work that might cover you.

Like I said, Manulife cover me is one of the only ones that'll cover COVID 19. So if you get COVID, you have to be fully vaccinated for them to cover it. Seems like a fair thing. Um, For any medical to be covered, a lot of the time you have to call your insurance first before you seek medical attention. So just make sure you do that. Preexisting conditions may, may not be covered depending what they are. Do your research regional. Definitely. It also might depend on your age as well. So the other thing, type of insurance trip interruption, and cancellation, so that reimburses you for prepaid non-refundable non-transferable portions of your trip when your trip is canceled or interrupted due to a quote unquote covered event.

Um, Right. Yeah. Could be a missed connection airplane thing. Sudden unforeseen illness, death of you or immediate family member or traveling member. Don't think about that. I thought this one was interesting. Getting pregnant after you've booked your trip. So you've booked your trip, then you found out you're pregnant and then you're due within nine weeks of your travel date.

Meggan: Oh, wow.

Jenn: Yes. Natural disasters. Not getting a visa issued to you due to no fault of your own. Getting things like jury duty. There's a whole bunch of other things. Read your policy.

Meggan: I think that, I think I, I've never done trip interruption cancellation. I think that sounds very reasonable. Yeah. And smart.

Jenn: The other type of insurance baggage loss damage or delay. So kind of important right now with all the things that are going on. It can cover a lost or stolen passport ID, birth certificate, travel visa, et cetera. It can cover clothing and toiletries, if your check luggage is lost or delayed more than 10 hours and covers replacements of lost or damage items, obviously restrictions apply yet again, read your policy. All of this information that I am telling you is from my policy, coming up with Manulife cover me. Not sponsored. I wish it was, but , this is what I'm using using here we are.

Meggan: So did Manulife cover me for Canadians cover all the things you just mentioned?

Jenn: Yes. I bought the all inclusive package. They have like just a medical and I can't remember what the other options I bought the all inclusive. So that is what's covered for me.

Meggan: Do you mind sharing the cost? Not to put you on the spot?

Jenn: Yeah, no. I mean, it was $150. So it, it, obviously the cost changes depending on the length of your trip. And it, I, they have, you have to put in your age and that sort of thing, so it can vary, but that's how much it costs me. And like, honestly, if I have to use it, obviously it's $150 well spent. And if I don't have to use it well, it's $150. Peace of mind.

Meggan: Exactly. Yeah. I mean, that's exactly it. I I like that. Okay, good. Good food for thought there.

Jenn: All right, let's go on to the next mistakes.

Meggan: All right. So completely trusting your GPS or completely trusting instructions from locals that you then don't consult your GPS for.

Jenn: Okay.

Meggan: Like you don't know where the old store was on the corner, cuz you're just new to the town.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: You know what I mean?

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: So I'm sure we've all heard horror stories of like people blindly trusting their GPSs and ending up in lakes or wanting to go to their hotel and somehow ending up in a cornfield.

And these are like true stories. And while most of them are funny, I mean, it can be dangerous at times to completely and blindly trust technology or the directions of other people. So if someone's nice enough to give you directions and you have access to a GPS, but it's like a local nuanced place that maybe your isn't telling you, I would still try to double check or vice versa, like you really need to have your wits about you. And if your GPS is telling you one way, you can ask a local double check with them just to reconfirm. That your GPS is not lying to you or that your maps in the GPS are old. That is possible as well.

If you're not using sort of your maps on your phone, but an external GPS, those could not be updated maps maybe. And we haven't had any major mishaps. We use GPS a lot, cuz we do a lot of road trips, but in Iceland we did follow the GPS. We took a wrong turn, not realizing it. It was almost night ish and we drove for about 25 or 30 extra minutes.

We finally really started to like, think this doesn't feel right as the scenery wasn't what we expected. So luckily, nothing bad come from it. We pulled over, did some recalculating and got back on track. Really. The only issue there is you lost some time. Right. And then in Switzerland, We did see a road sign that likely was telling us not to go that way. But we couldn't read it due to the language barrier. So off we went against our instincts, but the GPS was telling us to go that way. Right. And we weren't from there.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: So eventually the road just stopped. due to construction and then we had to make our way back out and then hope the GPS picked a different route.

Jenn: Right?

Meggan: Cause it kept telling us to turn around, turn around, turn around. Anyway, we did hear from other travelers about that same diversion and they did the same thing we did. So that made it hurt like a little bit less .

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: So really our suggestions with this one, if you haven't been somewhere before, it's gonna be tough, cuz of course you don't know, but just keep your wits about you. And really that is the biggest suggestion. If you know, you're supposed to be in a more populated area and somehow you're in a wooded area, you've likely taken a wrong turn. If you see road sign with Xs on it or what looks like do not enter. Maybe trust that even like, try to translate with your phone, if you have service. If something looks dangerous, even though the GPS is telling you to go there just don't like, it's a good balance of trusting technology, but also paying attention. So you don't, you know, like end up in a lake.

Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. I'm just, I mean, that's fair. That's totally fair. the only GPS Misha. We've had a, not really GPS mishaps, but. When we were in Cape Breton doing the Cabot trail, we had our GPS on and it kept telling us to drive down the ATV trail.

Meggan: Oh,

Jenn: we were like, no, , that's not, we don't think we're going to no.

And then once when I was in Minnesota with my best friend, it was like, you. Keep in the left lane and make a left and we did, and it took us to the airport and we're like, are you just trying to tell us to fly home? Like, what are you doing? We're driving back to Canada, not fly.

Meggan: Bizarre.

Jenn: It was very weird. All right. Next. Travel mistake not learning any of the local language maybe you should learn, do not enter

Meggan: maybe you're driving. It's a good, it's a fine suggestion.

Jenn: I think as English speakers, it can be very easy to overlook that not everywhere speaks English. Which. Yeah. Especially if you're used to traveling in Canada, the us, the UK, that sort of thing.

It's also pretty common for some other countries to translate for us on menus websites, except

Meggan: road signs,

Jenn: not road zones. Doesn't excuse us from not learning any of the local language. Take some time before you go, honestly, and learn maybe some common phrases. Hello, goodbye. Thank you. How to order in a restaurant is very helpful.

For us learning the words for like Ryan's food allergies. It's nice. And then you see it on a menu and you're like, oh no, not that.

Meggan: Can't go there.

Jenn: Yes. So just be courteous and try to learn. I mean, obviously you don't need to be fluent, but like, yeah, just a little bit.

Meggan: And I think too, even asking, learning the phrase, do you speak English in that language could also be really helpful.

Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. I found it really funny when we were in Paris. You know, we speak French. My husband speaks French much better than I do, but like we can carry on a conversation for the most part. And they would immediately switch to English and we're like, but.

But we're trying,

Meggan: we like to use it. and they're like, we don't wanna hear you try to talk like that.

Jenn: You and you're Canadian. I'm sure we have a very weird accent. But,

Meggan: oh, well you tried.

Jenn: We did. Yeah. All right. Last travel mistake.

Meggan: I know. And I think we've touched on this in like bits and pieces of other episodes, but I really do think it's worth mentioning again and that's choosing to eat only where tourists are eating and, or eating at only chain restaurants. Now. When you're traveling, creature comforts can be important. You're going new places. You're doing new things all the time. And when you're somewhere new and you totally sort of get overwhelmed a little bit, something that seems familiar seems good. But a common mistake people make though is eating exclusively, like either where tourists eat. And that doesn't mean it's chain restaurants, but it's sort of geared toward tourists or choosing those chains because they know it and recognize it. So our suggestion with this one is to get outside the tourist zone safely, of course. So you will find more authentic food and it's often less expensive food because again, it's for locals.

So that both of those sound great to me. And it can make you scary to try something new. Use the opportunity of travel to sort of expand those horizons, not only with sighting, but also authentic cuisine. I mean, sprinkle in some comfort food, some cheaper food, whether that includes the grocery store or chain food.

But in short, you know, you try some of the local stuff where locals eat and you won't regret it. And if you do, then we'd love to hear your travel story. if you end up regretting it and you're like, why did I listen to them? Well, kind of tell us about it. I mean, we'd love to hear a travel fail. We all know this. But honestly you probably get cheaper, more authentic stuff, but mix it up a little bit, I guess is all we're saying. That's what traveling's about.

Jenn: Yes. Love it. Love it. Love it. Yeah. That is it. For this week's episode of the travel month podcast. As always, thank you so much for tuning in being here with us. We love doing this show and we're just glad that you are here for the ride with us. You can support us by buying us a coffee. It's similar to Patreon, but it's not Patreon but you'll get access to extra content. If you'd like to leave us a review, that would be amazing. Five stars on apple podcast or Spotify. Share the show with the travel loving pal. That's how we get new friends and we love new friends. Yes. And on our social media, on our website, travel mug, podcast.com.

We're in all the places, we wanna hear about your travel mistakes. And yeah, we'll talk to you again very soon. Bye.