Lest you think that our adventures are all sunshine & roses I am here to assure you that they are not.
Not all sunshine & roses – they’re tulips.
There’s a saying that “mistakes are just lessons you haven’t learned yet” so allow me to school you with a few travel mistakes we’ve made in the past. Perhaps you can learn the easy way. It seems if your last name is Russo that you are destined to learn the hard way. Just ask my boys.
There are 2 main categories of mistakes with several examples noted under each category.
Mistakes before you leave:
- We had planned on camping for a night or two when on our epic Historic Route 1 road trip. We packed the camping gear and never used it because we were unaware that you had to make reservations at least 48 hrs in advance. (North Carolina)
- We had to travel an additional 75 mile stretch to find accommodations because we didn’t realize that we would be running into The Masters Golf Tournament. (Augusta, GA)
Augusta, GA
3. This one happened to a friend of ours: the keys to the suitcase were left at home and not discovered until their arrival at the airport hotel.
4. We almost missed a flight twice: a. Don left his photo ID home and homeland security detained him. (Dulles) b. We were passing the time between layovers by having a few ‘beverages’ and did not realize our connection was leaving from another terminal. (Dallas)
This is what I was drinking in Dallas.
5. We didn’t check the weight restrictions for carry on luggage at an overseas airport and I had to check my bag unexpectedly incurring a checked luggage fee. (Vienna) My sister now carries a travel size luggage scale because the same thing happened to her.
Me & Wolfie in Vienna
Mistakes after you arrive:
- Not having enough respect for time zone changes: a. We had a late cross country flight that landed us in Reno, NV at 11:00 p.m. By the time we acquired our rental car and drove the 1 ½ hrs to Lake Tahoe we were exhausted. b. Due to the exhaustion and the fact that there were 5 of us travelling we did not realize that my luggage was missing until the next morning at about 11:00 am after we woke up. (This is why I now always try to carry on my luggage.)
Tahoe
c. We planned a trip to Hawaii in a single day with 2 lay overs. We were delayed out of LAX because we had to get off the plane due to mechanical issues causing us not to arrive in Hawaii until much later than we had anticipated. ( Now you can fly non stop out of Dulles-not an option at the time we went)
hiking in hawaii
d. After an overnight flight we arrived in Ireland at 8:00 am. We couldn’t check into our villa until 3:00pm. Although exhausted and preferring to take a nap we decided to tour some local castle ruins.
castle ruins in Ireland
2. Generalized poor planning:
a. We meandered on our drive from Las Vegas to Zion National Park stopping along the way to look at stupid stuff and get picnic supplies. When we got to Zion we didn’t get to spend as much time there as we had planned because of the wasted time. (my fault)
zen in zion
b. Not noticing that there were no lights in the parking lots at Grand Canyon National Park. I had insisted on staying to see the sunset having no clue that we wouldn’t be able to get back to our car because we would not be able to find the parking lot let alone the vehicle. (Of course I had a flashlight. . . in the car we couldn’t find)
c. Instead of properly storing our camping supplies we got hammered and left them out. It poured that night and everything got soaked.
On this night we got soaked camping along the Cape Fear river.
3. Generalized poor decision making:
a. Stopping at a roadside market in Vidalia, GA and purchasing a large amount of various types of onions that had literally just come out of the ground. The stench in the car was almost overwhelming and we couldn’t wrap them in plastic because they had to ‘freshen’.
Vidalia onions:
taste great, smell bad
b. Deciding to order and consume food you don’t normally eat while driving along historic Route 66 from Arizona to Las Vegas and suffering the consequences.
c. Not heeding the words of your native Irish driver to avoid the potcheen. (Irish moonshine)
Before the potcheen on the beach in Ireland
By no means is this a comprehensive list of the travel mistakes we’ve made just consider it a representative sample. Remember, it’s only a mistake if you don’t learn something from it. I can honestly say that with the exception of the alcohol related instances, we have learned our lessons. Will you?
Follow