The 8 most common mistakes travelers make and how to avoid them

Missed your response and got stuck at the way station? Went to the airport and found that your passport has expired? Found a cheap hotel far from the city center and spent a lot of money on taxis and tickets? Here are some helpful tips to avoid the most common travel mishaps in the future.

1. Did you calculate the time between flights correctly?
It is not only the low price of a ticket that makes its purchase successful. If you are going to your destination on a connecting flight, you need to be very careful about the time you have left between the two flights, especially if you have to pick up your bag and check in again at the stopover. One and a half to two hours is fine for the whole process, but also to avoid stressing about a possible slight delay of the first flight. Of course, if you're flying with the same airline or with airlines that share common codes, these are usually calculated. The long wait at airports, however, is not in your favor either. Because, if you have saved 30 euros on the ticket and stayed in the intermediate station for five or more hours, then you are still lost: you will consume more and more in the expensive shops of the airport, but you will also have wasted your time trapped in a space that most cases are very far from the city center.
2. When does your passport expire?
A classic mistake that even the most experienced travelers make. You bought tickets, booked a hotel or apartment - most people do this more than a month before the trip - but also take a look at your travel documents. Because if you're traveling outside the EU, your passport is your most valuable document. And if you don't have it, you can't go anywhere. The process of issuing or renewing it is relatively easy and fast, but in no case is it done from one moment to the next. It also entails a cost that you have to calculate, because, these days, 100 euros is not too much for anyone.
3. How close to the center is your hotel?
You travel to a big city and the central hotel costs, for example, 20 euros more per day than a cheaper one in a suburb. And you book the second one. Neat accommodation, at a good price. So far. So here you go. at your destination and realize that the nicest hotel you have booked is two trains or half an hour away from the center by bus in the morning and a 15-20 euro taxi in the evening. Financial disaster. And a waste of time. So do your research. Especially if you intend to experience the night life of the city you will visit. And if hotels seem expensive to you, there is now the very popular solution of cheaper rental apartments. If of course you are not a night type, it is not a problem to stay a little further and quieter. You decide!
4. Will you manage to see all the sights of the city in one day?
Relax! Traveling abroad is for filling up with new images, knowledge and experiences, but we don't have to come back exhausted. Big cities like London, Rome and Paris take days - if you want to see their countless attractions and museums - and if there is not enough time, they need a schedule. And just as you can't hold two watermelons in one armpit, so you can't see the Vatican, the Colosseum and the Forum of Rome in one day. It's an exaggeration. And if you try, the fatigue of this day will probably be your strongest memory. Make a choice of the points you want to see most, plan visits to nearby attractions and... give the city a chance. Wander through squares without big names and tour neighborhoods that belong only to their residents. It's a good opportunity to see your destination with a different eye!