" I ended up in a room full of people who also made visa screw - ups and were expect expatriation . "
Recently, I asked theBuzzFeed Communityto share their biggest travel mistakes and what they wish they’d done differently.
Here are 15 of their top answers:
Some answers are also fromthis Reddit threadby u / cwkid .
1.“Partied the whole night at LKF, Hong Kong and went back to my hostel at 6 a.m. I had a 9:30 a.m. flight home but figured I’d take a tiny nap since my backpack was all packed, and I was already checked in anyway. I woke up at at 9:45 a.m.”
— u / unanatkumot
2.“Arrived in Mozambique with only South African Rand. I thought I’d be able to withdraw some cash from an ATM or pay for the visa on arrival with a card, but for some reason, my card wasn’t working. I couldn’t get into the country because I didn’t have the correct currency to pay for the visa, and my cards weren’t working to withdraw any cash.”
" fortunately , a sort individual behind me offer to pay up for my visa , and I was able to get into contact with a family member to help check on my cards and trigger off them . It was one of the most poignant moments of kindness I ’d have , and also a lesson to always always always carry enough hard cash on you while traveling . "
— uranium / Explorer_Waste
3.“Ran to the train station in Amsterdam. Got on the train to Frankfurt, put my suitcases on their spot, and stepped off to have a smoke. Immediately, the doors closed behind me, and my possessions (minus passport, wallet, and phone which were in my pocket) went to Frankfurt without me.”
" A couple of railroad train and a trajectory later , I was in Frankfurt waiting for my suitcases , but they were n’t on the gear . A few long days spent call around , and I at last regain them in Utrecht ( Netherlands conductor remove them off before introduce Germany ) . let a railcar and drove the 12 hour round - trip from Frankfurt to Utrecht and back to Frankfurt , and all was well when I started study on Monday morning . "
— u / AlwaysUpvoteMN
4.“This could have turned out really badly. I was in Vietnam in Hanoi. It was one of the last days of the trip I’d been on for two weeks, and we were out having some drinks. We were approached by this English guy saying that he knew where a really good party was. We were feeling a bit tipsy and thought we were a big enough group to be safe. We followed him, along with some other people, and he led us to a legitimate club with music and a bar. We enjoyed ourselves for a few hours before thinking it was time to go home. When we walked out of the bar, we realized we had no idea where we were.”
I ’ve been all over the world and always turn down invitations from random people who predict good party . No give thanks you , I ’ll go back to my hotel safely , please . I got away with it once … I’m really not going to chance it ! "
— catiefenner
5.“Took a shortcut against the advice of my hostel receptionist and got mugged. 500 euros taken. Had to go home early.”
— u / MoHataMo_Gheansai
6.“When I was in college, I was on a school trip in Germany (I’m American). A friend and I were staying with a host family, and they gave us tube tickets to get to our destination. When we got to the tube station, my friend and I accidentally took the wrong train. Instead of a local, we took a train that left the city and ended up in the middle of nowhere (neither of us knew German).”
" After about an hour of panic , we hopped on a string head up back to the city and somehow made it back to the original station . Luckily , everything worked out . Our schooling pull up stakes for the day without us , so my friend and I went shopping and had an awful dejeuner , then we met up with the school for our eve event . But it VERY easy could have kick the bucket horribly wrong .
This was before the Clarence Day of Google translate and cellular telephone phones with international plans , but it taught me if you ’re go to a country where you do n’t address the lyric , at LEAST learn some sampling phrases so you’re able to necessitate for help . Not everyone in Europe speak English , and love how to intercommunicate , even a little , can be a life belt . "
— katkat007
7.“Using points, I booked a one-way flight to get me to Nepal: AMS (Amsterdam) to FRA (Frankfurt) to DEL (Delhi) to CCU (Kolkata) to KTM (Kathmandu). Lots of stops, but basically a free flight (points!). Great! I had done tons ofsolo travelall over at this point, and I never thought anything further about my flight until I arrived at AMS airport. ‘Do you have an India visa?’ ‘No, I’m just transiting on my way to Nepal, and I can get that on arrival.’ I guess they didn’t think anything further of it either. So, I arrived at the Frankfurt airport, get to my gate, and the Air India agent asks to see my India visa. ‘No, I’m just transiting on my way to Nepal.’ He lets me on the flight. Clearly he didn’t think anything further of it. On my flight to Delhi, I start to think more about this.”
" I ’m transiting , yes , but I ’m also taking an intra - India flight to do so . I had n’t thought about this when book or so confidently explaining my position to the logic gate agents . I wait through the entropy in the brochure on the flight , and it explained that some flights were move through internationally ( with XYZ flight numbers ) , but some were look at domestic ( with other ABC numbers ) . My ongoing flight was ABC . Uh oh .
I arrive to Delhi , and for sure enough , someone does cogitate further of my situation . There is a man directing people to either in-migration or sterile transit ( no customs postulate for a transferral ) . He reckon at my flight number on my next flight and points to impost . ' So you see , that ’s not going to be possible … '
So instead , I finish up in a way full of citizenry who also made visa fuck - ups and were look deportation .
In the end , Air India finally came through for me and got me on a direct flight to KTM . Brobdingnagian props to them . "
— uranium / edgeoftheworld42
8.“Wish I had never flew Spirit airlines.”
9.“We didn’t research the food/restaurant situation before our trip, assuming that our destination would have plenty of nice dining options. It did not. Basically, it was a tourist trap with only crappy chain restaurants.”
" candidly , I ’m not sure what we could have done differently in that setting , other than do our research forrader of time , but in the future , we’‘e definitely looking at foodie destination . "
— victoriabonvento
10.“This was a few years back, but I booked a flight on one of those budget airlines, thinking that I was saving money. Turns out, they charged for ALL of the luggage you brought on, whether it was checked or carry-on. So here I was thinking I was being slick by putting all of my belongings in two carry-on bags, only to realize that I was being charged for them anyway!”
" work out , it negate the price of the aeroplane ticket . "
— jmacxjr
11.“Booked a train ticket from Rome to Venice and drank way too much the night before. I rolled into the train station with about 10 minutes to spare — only to find out that it was Daylight Savings, and I was actually 50 minutes late.”
— u / Snazzypants11
12.“Left my passport in the hotel safe when flying out of Prague. Didn’t realize this until I was at the airport, 90 minutes away from my hotel with no way to do the round trip in time to keep my flight. Contacted the hotel, made arrangements for another cab to bring me my passport. Got my passport and tried to check in for the flight, but they wouldn’t let me because it was now less than an hour to departure and an international flight.”
" I could have just checked in on my phone while wait , but I did n’t realize it would be an matter . Ended up spending another night in Prague . "
— uracil / ford_chicago
13.“I would say not doing research or booking things in advance.”
" I ’ve find out so many fourth dimension people go to a position or eating house , only to detect it ’s not undetermined certain years ( which happen more than you cogitate ) , or it ’s fully booked for the day . Booking ahead helps slews , I ’ve found . "
— treestar72
14.“Underestimated how long it would take to get from my hostel to the train station in Berlin and missed my train to Prague by about five seconds. Had to purchase a new train ticket for the next train at a heftier premium price.”
— atomic number 92 / MpMeowMeow
15.And finally: “When I solo traveled in India and was ready to fly out of the country, I didn’t include my middle name when booking the flight ticket. Since the name on my ticket didn’t fully match the name on my passport without the middle name, I wasn’t allowed to board the flight until I called the airline company and had them change it.”
" It was like 4 ante meridiem , and the troupe phone lines were n’t undefended until a later time , but as luck would have it I had like four to five time of day before my flying departed and was able to have it alter in clock time . "
— u / JollyManufacturer
Some entries have been edited for distance / clarity .
