r/TravelMistakes

Currently sitting near this beautiful lake writing this post.

A few days ago I posted about taking my mum to Italy, seeing Lake Como and hopefully doing a road trip through Switzerland. I ended up bringing my sister and her three year old too, so there are four of us.

Anyway, it all went wrong pretty much immediately lol.

First our Ryanair flight was massively delayed. Like really delayed. By the time we finally got to Italy I was already exhausted.

Then we went to collect the rental car and I found out my driving licence had expired. Completely my mistake. idk how I managed not to notice it before coming here, but obviously they wouldn’t give me the car.

I was genuinely so upset. I’d spent hundreds and hundreds of pounds on this trip and the whole plan revolved around having a car and driving through northern Italy and Switzerland.

My mum also likes a very particular type of holiday. She loves quiet places, remote houses in the mountains, nice views, that sort of thing. She’s not really into little city apartments where you open the balcony and you’re surrounded by other buildings. Hotels aren’t really her thing either. So without a car, staying in the sort of places she actually enjoys suddenly became really difficult.

We ended up getting the train to Domodossola with all our luggage and a three year old. It felt like the longest journey ever. By the time we arrived everyone was tired and I was honestly just completely disheartened.

Then I checked the weather.

Rain. Thunderstorms. More rain. Pretty much everywhere around us and across the parts of Switzerland I was looking at.

tbh that finished me off 😂

I spoke to my mum about trying to carry on using trains, but between the weather, not having the car, struggling to find accommodation we actually liked and moving around with luggage and a three year old, it just didn’t feel like the holiday we’d planned anymore.

So last night I was completely fed up and thought screw it, let’s just cut our losses. I booked flights back to London for tomorrow.

And then today happened.

We decided to come to Stresa on Lake Maggiore and omg, it’s actually lovely.

And yes, everyone who warned me on my original post that Italy would be HOT in August was completely right. It is HOT 😂

But we went swimming in the lake and it was honestly one of the nicest parts of the trip. I came out feeling completely cool and refreshed and suddenly didn’t care about the heat anymore. My mum went swimming too and absolutely loved it.
And now I’m sitting here thinking why tf did I book those flights home 😭

For the first time since we got here, today actually felt like the holiday I imagined.

Now I keep checking the weather forecast and, ridiculously, I’m actually hoping it rains after we leave so I can convince myself I made the right decision 😂

If northern Italy and Switzerland suddenly get a week of glorious sunshine after I fly home tomorrow, I genuinely don’t want to know.

Anyway, lesson learned. Check your bloody driving licence before going on a road trip. And maybe don’t book flights home when you’re exhausted, angry and sitting in Domodossola thinking your entire holiday is ruined.

So this is from My Varanasi leg, still slightly annoyed but also weirdly impressed

day one i get to the ghats at like 5am for the whole sunrise boat ride thing everyone says you HAVE to do. immediately swarmed by boat guys, i pick one, agree on a price of 300 rupees for like an hour, feel very proud of myself for negotiating like a real adult

get in the boat. rower is this kid, maybe 13 14, doesn't say much, rows me around, it's genuinely beautiful, im having a moment watching the sun come up over the ghats, feeling very cultured and enlightened

then he starts talking. asks where im from, how long im traveling, the usual. very sweet. then casually goes "you want to see aarti ceremony spot up close? very good view, i take you, only if you want" and i said sure why not

we go further down, he stops the boat right in front of this whole setup, and THEN goes "you want flowers for ganga maa? bring good luck for your travels" and produces a little diya flower boat thing from literally nowhere like a magician

i already got cow'd in pushkar a week before this so alarm bells are going off but also. we're in the middle of the ganges. in his boat. i am not exactly in a position of leverage here

buy the diya. it's 100 rupees. fine whatever, it's actually a nice moment, i light it, send it off, feel spiritual again

THEN as we're heading back he goes, very casually, not even looking at me, "also boat ride is 300 for one person, but you sat one hour 45 min, so 500 more" and i was like WE AGREED ON 300 and this child just shrugs and goes "sun was very beautiful no? worth it" AND KEPT ROWING SLOWLY. slowest boat in the history of the ganges. daring me to argue with a minor about pricing while stranded on a river

i paid him the 500. i want to be very clear i was defeated by a person who cannot legally drive a car

told the hostel owner later who just laughed for a solid 20 seconds and said "yes they all do this, the kids are worse than the adults, they know tourists won't fight a child" which. fair. deeply fair

anyway 0/10 do not recommend negotiating boat prices with children who have home field advantage on a holy river, they will win, they know they will win, they've probably been doing this since age 8

still cried a little at the aarti ceremony that night though, worth every rupee tbh, scammed and moved, a Varanasi special.

I have travelled to more than 60 countries, and unfortunately, I have never experienced anything quite like Albania.

This is purely based on my personal experience, but I found the interactions with people here to be noticeably less friendly than in other countries I have visited. On several occasions, people were quite rude or aggressive. I lost count of how many times people cut in line at supermarkets or became frustrated and started shouting because I couldn’t understand Albanian.

For example, a truck hit my car while it was parked. Instead of apologising, the driver became very aggressive and started yelling at me, claiming that my perfectly parked car was in his way. I had to call the police, who eventually resolved the situation. The driver continued to behave aggressively and even threatened me until the police arrived.

There were also two occasions at petrol stations where staff became upset and started shouting because I didn’t understand Albanian. I experienced similar situations with a barber who didn’t accept cards, at the beach when my child was running too close to someone’s chairs, and even when simply asking people for directions.

The traffic has probably been the most difficult part of the experience. Driving often feels extremely aggressive, with constant honking and people driving far above the speed limit. If the limit is 40 km/h, it can feel like everyone else is driving at 100+. I found it particularly stressful when simply trying to follow the posted speed limits.

Of course, I realise that a few negative experiences don’t represent an entire country or its people, and I’m sure many visitors have very different experiences. But after visiting more than 60 countries, Albania is unfortunately the only country I have visited that I genuinely regret visiting.

Yesterday, I was at Universal Studios theme park. They said "keep your bag by your feet". I verbalized "wait, that's stupid, this is a high-speed roller coaster. Can't I put it on the side or something?" They said no. I complied. Guess what flew out of my bag? My phone. With the wallet attatchment that has my ID and debit card.

They made me wait the entire day. 12 hours at the theme park. Just to say they couldn't find it. They reassured me "we have a special team that comes at midnight, we'll email you by morning". I check my email on my laptop. Nothing. I called them with the hotel phone. Not found somehow. I check the location on Google. Still at the theme park.

Now I'm at the airport. Orlando to Seattle. My plane leaves in 7 hours. I have absolutely nothing but my expired passport, this (brand new) laptop, and some merchendise. I have no idea how I'm gonna buy food or even get home. I can't access ANYTHING. I log into any single financial app or account on my laptop and on every single one of them - "verify with phone!" Im gonna be hanging out at the airport for the next 7 hours. It's the only thing I can even do.

This is such BS. Screw Universal. Their movies are crap anyway. "Guys look, the little funny yellow kid said 'BANANA!' for the 26th time! Pure comedy!" The Harry Potter movies are a joke.

Anyway, I'm gonna land in Seattle where my car sits in the parking garage. I live 3 hours from Seattle. I have no clue how I'm gonna drive home. I can't pay for a night at a hotel because I don't have any access to anything financial at all.

TL;DR: My phone fell out of my bag during a roller coaster. It's a wallet-phone with everything. I have to fly home today without an ID or debit card or anything but the laptop I'm typing this with.

1. Rome 🇮🇹 : fake gladiators, rigged taxi meters, inflated bills

2. Barcelona 🇪🇸 : pickpockets on Las Ramblas & the metro

3. Paris 🇫🇷 : gold ring trick, fake petitions, friendship bracelets

4. Bangkok 🇹🇭 : “palace is closed” gem shop scam, tuk-tuk tricks

5. Bali 🇮🇩 : fake scooter damage claims, currency short-changing

6. Prague 🇨🇿 : sketchy currency exchanges, no-price menus

📍 save this before your next trip

Hi everyone!
I'm based in Guadalajara, and I wanted to open up a space to help out anyone with questions about travel health, whether it's pre-trip preparation, staying healthy on the road, or post-travel symptoms (hello, traveler's diarrhea or strange bug bites!).

Travel medicine can be confusing—figuring out which vaccines you actually need, malaria prophylaxis, altitude sickness, or food safety can be overwhelming.
Feel free to drop your questions in the comments or send me a DM if you prefer privacy.

(Just a quick note for context: I do run private consultations both online and in-person here in GDL, and I have vaccines available if anyone needs them, but my main goal here is just to share info and help people stay safe on their trips!)

Off to Sri Lanka shortly and as our flight arrives late at night I thought I didn’t want to be mucking around finding an ATM at the airport while our driver waits for us, so thought I’d get a bit of local currency before we go to tide us over.

I’ve got a Wise card and have been moving money across to my LKR wallet, but this was just a stopgap measure for the first few days (accommodation, food, safari etc).

Apparently LKR is not a currency Australia Post offers, so I went into my local Travelex and ordered A$600 worth of LKR.

Once I got home though and had time to do some sums, I realised what they were selling me in LKR for nearly $620 was actually only worth around $480 at the Wise conversion rate (which I know is an online rate, so obviously going to be slightly better than a high street rate) - I was expecting a commission of about $20-$50, but $140 on a $600 transaction just seems like daylight robbery!

Went in and cancelled the deal this morning and will take our chances at the airport ATMs.

Am I being unreasonable, or are Travelex just incredibly shonky? (To be fair, they let me cancel and refunded my money, no issue). I also do understand buying/selling spreads but 180 instead of 235 seems excessive!

I honestly have to ask: do you people actually want tourism?
I started my trip from Greece, and from the moment I entered Montenegro, I have been shocked by how rude and unwelcoming people have been. With very few exceptions, I have experienced almost zero basic human courtesy. People stare at you, give you dirty looks, mock you because you’re a tourist, and generally make you feel like you’re bothering them just by being there.
And the language situation makes it even worse. I understand that not everyone speaks English, but when you approach someone in English and they clearly understand what you’re asking, responding entirely in their own language instead of even trying to communicate is incredibly rude. In Greece, which is a country that depends heavily on tourism and is known for hospitality, we would never deliberately treat tourists like that.
Then there’s the driving.
On our very first day, we were stopped in a village and fined because we were driving 55 km/h in a 40 km/h zone. They had a radar. Fine, we were speeding, so technically we were breaking the law.
But here’s what pissed me off: locals were flying past us at ridiculous speeds. The police would signal to them and let them go, while we, the tourists, got stopped and fined.
And this isn’t just one incident. The driving here is absolutely insane. People drive aggressively and dangerously. They won’t let you merge even when you have the right of way. They will literally drive toward you and squeeze you into the side of the road, even when there is a cliff next to you. People drive extremely fast, but that doesn’t mean they are good drivers. Quite the opposite. I’ve seen so many terrible driving decisions and so many accidents during this trip.
And instead of dealing with the people driving like maniacs, the police seem much more interested in dealing with tourists.
Then, in Kotor, we were stopped again.
I had rented a scooter from a local rental company, and the person who rented it to me had failed to provide the proper vehicle documents. That was his mistake, not mine. Yet suddenly we’re the ones dealing with the police, and they were about to fine us.
The local guy who rented me the scooter was literally begging the police officer not to fine us because he knew the situation was his fault.
Then we were told that my Greek driver’s license was not considered valid for the vehicle because apparently the rules regarding international licenses had changed in the middle of the tourist season.
If that’s true, fine — laws are laws. But how the hell is a tourist supposed to know that a regulation has suddenly changed in the middle of the season? And why is the rental company allowed to give me a vehicle without making sure that I have the documents and license requirements sorted out?
So seriously: what the fuck is going on?
Do you not want tourists?
Do you not want people coming here and spending money?
Do you not realize that tourism is literally one of the main reasons people come to Montenegro in the first place?
I have traveled to a lot of countries. I’ve experienced different cultures, different languages, different levels of development, and I’ve had bad experiences in some places. That’s normal.
But I have genuinely never experienced this level of hostility and lack of basic hospitality as a tourist.
We’re coming here, spending our money, staying in your hotels, eating at your restaurants, renting your cars and scooters, visiting your attractions — and yet somehow we are treated like we’re an inconvenience.
And before someone says, “Not everyone in Montenegro is like this” — I know. I literally said that there have been a few exceptions. I’m talking about the repeated pattern I’ve experienced throughout this trip.
Maybe I’m just extremely unlucky. Maybe I happened to encounter the worst people in the country.
But based on my experience so far, I cannot recommend Montenegro to other travelers.
If you’re planning a trip here, honestly, I’d reconsider. There are plenty of other countries in the region where you can spend your money and actually feel welcome.
I came here expecting to have a great holiday.
Instead, I’ve spent a huge part of the trip wondering why people seem so determined to make tourists feel unwelcome.Police is the worst I’ve seen everyone breaks the law and you try to ticket tourists for funny reasons.Locals are acting like cave men zero civilization zero manners and you want to enter Europe?Experience 0/10 and I visited the country with open mind and hope.

Budapest, Hungary — A Travel Lesson I Didn’t Expect

“ChatGPT, where should I travel alone?”

I remember asking that question almost casually. I wanted somewhere exciting, somewhere I could walk around alone without feeling completely alone. Budapest came up as one of the obvious answers.

Maybe it was because I had been influenced by George Ezra’s Budapest. Maybe it was the name itself. Maybe it was the idea of wandering through a European city with no itinerary and nobody waiting for me.

Whatever the reason, Budapest became the destination.

And, looking back, it gave me one of the strangest travel lessons I have ever had.

I have travelled through thirteen countries, and I thought I had developed a reasonable instinct for people, cities and situations. But Budapest taught me something I hadn’t expected to learn from a robbery:

sometimes the story of being robbed is not simply about what was taken. It is about what happens afterwards.

⸻

My First Hostel

Budapest was also my first proper hostel experience.

I had booked Avenue Hostel near Oktogon, and everything about the trip felt new. I was travelling alone, which meant every decision was mine. No friend was going to tell me, “Mate, that’s probably a bad idea.”

That freedom is one of the best things about solo travel.

It is also one of the most dangerous.

One of the activities I had found online was a cruise on the Danube with unlimited Prosecco. Around £20 sounded like ridiculous value to me.

So, naturally, I booked it.

I arrived around 10 p.m. There was a huge queue — probably fifty people — and I was standing outside smoking a cigarette.

Then I noticed a chair.

It looked like the sort of chair that belonged to a member of staff. Nobody was sitting on it, so I sat down.

I remember thinking:

If you carry yourself with enough confidence, you can get away with almost anything.

Obviously, there is a difference between confidence and entitlement. But that night I was in holiday mode, and my confidence was running ahead of my common sense.

Eventually, we boarded.

And that was when Budapest really began.

⸻

The Polish Gang

Travelling alone can sometimes feel like being the odd piece of a puzzle.

You arrive somewhere, everyone already seems to have their people, and you wonder where you fit.

Then, occasionally, strangers simply make space for you.

I met a group of Polish travellers, and they did exactly that.

They welcomed me into their group as though I had been there from the beginning. There were six of us, and suddenly I wasn’t really travelling alone anymore.

That is one thing I have noticed across my travels: borders are often much stronger on maps than they are between people.

The Polish group didn’t care that I was travelling alone. They just brought me in.

One of them, Amelia, became my unofficial camerawoman for the evening.

I had decided to create a ridiculous little drinking challenge for myself.

One video would begin with:

“This is my first drink.”

And another would eventually declare:

“This is my last drink.”

The problem was that there were quite a few drinks between those two statements.

The Prosecco started flowing.

We drank, laughed, refilled glasses and tried to keep track of the challenge. Somewhere in the middle of all of this, one of my Polish friends proposed to his girlfriend.

She said yes.

The entire atmosphere went through the roof.

It was one of those travel moments that you couldn’t have planned.

⸻

Budapest After Dark

When the cruise ended, we walked through Budapest singing Polish songs.

Six slightly drunk tourists walking through the streets of a European capital, singing loudly in a language I couldn’t understand.

It probably wasn’t the most sophisticated cultural exchange Budapest had ever witnessed.

But something surprising happened.

People smiled.

Some people looked at us strangely. Others seemed entertained. Nobody seemed particularly bothered.

Eventually, we ran out of alcohol.

So I volunteered to find some.

I disappeared into a shop and returned with Jägermeister.

The group celebrated my return as though I had returned from a military mission.

We sat down somewhere on the streets and had a few more shots.

By midnight, our group of six had become five.

I had consumed a very respectable amount of alcohol.

Then came the final video.

“This is my last drink.”

Famous last words.

I said goodbye to my Polish friends and decided to walk towards the tram.

Except I never made it to the tram.

⸻

The Bench

At some point, I realised that walking was no longer a realistic option.

So I found a wooden bench.

I remember thinking that Budapest felt safe.

I remember thinking that I could sleep for an hour or two and then continue.

That decision is probably the most important part of this entire story.

Because when you are travelling alone, your biggest security risk is sometimes not the city. It’s your own judgement.

I fell asleep.

For roughly two hours.

When I woke up, I immediately noticed something wasn’t right.

My phone was gone.

Then I looked down.

My socks were gone too.

My shoes, however, were still there — placed neatly back on my feet, with the laces tied.

For some reason, that detail made the whole situation almost comical.

Someone had apparently robbed me while I was unconscious, taken my phone and socks, put my shoes back on, tied the laces, and walked away.

I was devastated.

The phone wasn’t just a phone.

When you’re travelling alone, your phone is your map, translator, bank, camera, ticket holder, communication device and emergency contact.

It is basically your oxygen tank.

And I had just lost mine.

⸻

The Walk Back

I started walking towards the hostel.

It took around an hour.

I didn’t know exactly where I was going, so I stopped and asked people for directions.

And, once again, strangers helped me.

Nobody knew my situation. They didn’t need to.

They just pointed me in the right direction.

I eventually made it back to Avenue Hostel and slept for several hours.

When I woke up, it felt as though the Empire State Building had been dropped onto my head.

I took a long breath.

Panic would not bring the phone back.

So I started thinking.

What can I actually do?

I borrowed a phone from another hostel guest and called my number.

It rang.

Someone answered.

I couldn’t believe it.

The person who had my phone was actually talking to me.

He said he wanted money for it.

Twenty thousand forints was initially mentioned — roughly £30–£40 depending on the exchange rate.

At that moment, I didn’t care.

I just wanted my phone back.

The hostel staff helped me communicate because there was a language barrier.

Eventually, the person agreed to come to my location.

⸻

The Thief

He arrived on an old e-bike.

He didn’t look like some movie villain.

He looked like a man who was having a difficult life.

He appeared unwell and possibly intoxicated, and there was something about his appearance that made me realise that whatever had happened to me was probably not the most important problem in his life.

He had my phone.

I had expected an aggressive confrontation.

Instead, the conversation became strangely human.

He explained something about his situation.

He said he needed money for food and water.

And then something unexpected happened.

He didn’t demand the huge amount of money that had initially been mentioned.

He was willing to take a much smaller amount.

I gave him the money.

And he gave me my phone.

I walked away feeling something I hadn’t expected to feel after being robbed.

Relief.

But also gratitude.

Not gratitude for being robbed, obviously.

Gratitude that I had my phone back.

And, strangely, a little sympathy for the person standing in front of me.

⸻

Was It an “Ethical” Robbery?

This is where the story gets complicated.

I don’t want to romanticise theft.

Stealing someone’s property is still stealing. Being robbed is frightening, especially when you’re alone in a foreign country.

But compared with some experiences I had heard about — and compared with what I personally imagined might happen in London or some other cities I had travelled through — this incident had an unusually strange ending.

The person who stole my phone came back.

He answered when I called.

He negotiated.

He met me face-to-face.

He returned the phone.

And, in the end, he asked for enough money to get something to eat and drink.

Was that ethical?

No.

But was there something strangely human about the way it ended?

Absolutely.

And that distinction matters.

I don’t think you can use one incident to declare that Budapest’s thieves are “more ethical” than thieves in London, India or anywhere else. Criminal behaviour varies enormously between individuals, and every city has good people and bad people.

But the incident changed my perception of what a robbery could look like.

It wasn’t the cinematic version where the criminal disappears and you never see your possessions again.

It was almost like an ugly transaction between two people, with the final part ending in a bizarre compromise.

⸻

The Real Lesson Wasn’t About Budapest

The obvious lesson is:

Don’t drink yourself unconscious and sleep on a public bench with your phone in your pocket.

I feel that one doesn’t need much explanation.

But there was another lesson.

Before that night, I had thought of travel safety mainly in terms of dangerous places.

Afterwards, I started thinking more about dangerous situations.

A perfectly safe city can become unsafe when you are:

\* alone,
\* heavily intoxicated,
\* asleep in public,
\* carrying your passport and phone,
\* unfamiliar with the area,
\* and unable to communicate easily.

The location is only one variable.

Your condition matters too.

I had spent years travelling and developing confidence. But confidence can become carelessness surprisingly quickly.

The same confidence that helped me walk past a queue at the cruise and sit on the “staff chair” was probably part of the reason I convinced myself that sleeping alone on a public bench was fine.

⸻

Thirteen Countries Later

I’ve travelled to thirteen countries, and every country has taught me something different.

Some lessons came from monuments.

Some came from food.

Some came from friendships.

Some came from getting lost.

Budapest taught me something through a robbery.

And perhaps that is why I remember it so clearly.

I went to Budapest because of a song.

I went onto a boat expecting unlimited Prosecco.

I met a group of Polish strangers who treated me like a friend.

I watched someone get engaged.

I wandered through the streets singing songs I didn’t understand.

I drank too much Jägermeister.

I slept on a wooden bench.

Someone stole my phone and my socks.

And then, unbelievably, the thief brought my phone back.

When I think about that night now, I don’t remember Budapest as the city where I was robbed.

I remember it as the city where even the person who robbed me ended up reminding me that people are more complicated than the labels we give them.

A thief can do something wrong and still be human.

A tourist can make terrible decisions and still learn from them.

A city can contain danger and kindness on the same street.

And sometimes the strangest travel stories are the ones that leave you with no simple villain and no simple hero.

Just a phone.

A pair of stolen socks.

A very questionable amount of Jägermeister.

And a lesson I will probably remember for the rest of my life.

Mark Twain once said that "travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness." Was he right? Consider the cases of two travelers: Theodore Roosevelt and Malcolm X.

Magic Iceland Travel kept $468 from my family. I contacted the company two days before the excursion because I was concerned about the tendering process and the weather and the gentleman I spoke to said that it is highly unlikely that anything would go wrong. Fast forward to the morning of the excursion, and our port was canceled due to weather. I immediately contacted magic Iceland travel, and was told that they would not refund any of my money. I spoke to many other cruise passengers and every single one of them got refunded from different companies. I just want to spread the word that magic Iceland travel will not give you any sympathy for a missed poor and will keep every penny of your money.

I’m considering staying off social media during an upcoming vacation—not only avoiding posting, but also avoiding the habit of scrolling whenever I have unstructured time.
Ironically, vacations can contain quite a bit of downtime: sitting in an airport, resting in a hotel, waiting for dinner, spending a quiet afternoon on a ship, or simply feeling momentarily bored. My automatic response is often to pick up my phone and start scrolling. But then part of the vacation begins to feel exactly like being at home.
I’m not trying to reject technology. I’ll still take photographs, use maps, listen to things and read books on my Kindle. I’m more interested in distinguishing technology that supports the trip from social media that pulls my attention away from it.
For anyone who has tried this, did staying away from social media make you more present, rested or observant? What did you naturally begin doing with those empty moments instead—reading, walking, journaling, talking, people-watching or simply allowing yourself to be bored?
Did it make the trip feel longer or more memorable? And did you set a firm rule, such as no social media at all, or simply limit it to a short period each day?

I went away with a introvert that was border line alcoholic.

He hated on me for leaving him out on the first trip (because i knew he would be difficult).

so bit the bullet and invited him along the following year for friendship sake only to realize i made a terrible mistake day 2 into Munich.

He Proceeded to drink from mid day and conviced my travel mate to join him.

to the point they couldn't even go out at night as they where too intoxicated. then would dictate the trip I had planned all year. Questioning everything i had planned, and persuade the others to go along with him and just drink at bars and do what he felt like (he hated clubs).

best part was at the end of the trip he would say "next trip mikey can.. " where I stopped him and replied "what next trip". didn't speak to him after the holiday and never looked back.

what's yours?