So when I first started traveling back in 2010 I made a lot of mistakes a lot
of rookie mistake
so hopefully in this video you will learn from my mistakes. So these are my
rookie travel mistakes for you guys and gals not to make when you are starting
on your trips and travels
these are all the mistakes so I personally done and learn from
let's get started. First off packing to much. That is like number one tip that most
people do is they bring too much stuff and then you got to carry all this stuff
with you and you have all this extra stuff that you're not even going to use
or wear and it's just going to weight, weighting you down
Not packing the right shoes. Shoes are so important because you walk a lot when
you travel you do a lot of activities. When you travel to really make sure you
are planning the right shoes you need running shoes you need hiking shoes do
you need like sandals
do you need like evening shoes trust me blisters and sore feet are the bane of
the travelers existence because then you don't want to travel anymore you don't
walk anymore
that would suck it really does suck. Not planning out your laundry days
laundry is a thing not properly planning where you're going to do laundry in your
travels is a big rookie mistake
suddenly you find that you are out of everything clean and you really need to
do laundry but your place that you're staying at might not have laundry
facilities or it might be super super expensive where they charge you like
current item
so really make sure that you're on the lookout for your combination and if they
have water facilities and really try and plan that more in advance and ahead of
time so you never get stuck with dirty underwear. Forgetting your power cord
your chargers plugged in because you are currently charging up the batteries on
the electronics are charging the batteries on your phone
happens all the time, all the time to rookie travelers. A lot of the hotels and
hostels you stay at
probably have a spare phone charger or spare camera battery charger from
previous travelers that have left theirs in the hotel room. If you ask
the front desk
I promise you they probably have a spare set of them because it happens all the
time so don't forget these. It's important
Over scheduling is a huge rookie mistake because people want to do everything
granted I understand because you were in this foreign country that don't know if
you're ever going to visit again you want to see and do everything
however if you try and see and do everything every day on your travels
you are going to be exhausted you are going to wear yourself out and you're
not going to enjoy it as much
trust me. And also it leads you up for failure so something falls through or if
something takes longer than you thought it would, or of you get stuck in traffic
then there's no like buffer zone, there's no time off
Invest in a watch or just get a watch
there's a lot of cheap watches you can find and vendors around the world but
telling the time and knowing what time it is is very very crucial
it's a big rookie mistake to not know the time and also just to rely on your
phone all the time because you don't always want to be whipping out your
phone and checking it when you want to check the time especially when you're
traveling and you might be juggling a lot of stuff and you don't want to or if
you're just going to sketchy area you don't want to like flash your phone
around
you're going to be running on a lot of timelines regardless of how your travel
schedule is. There is going to be buses or planes or trains or hotel check-in
times for showtimes there's gonna be a lot of things that are going to require
knowing the time. Data.
Data for your cellular device. Have a plan for it whether that be you putting on a
data plan when you're at home
so before you go you got data so you know that you can access the internet
went abroad or buying a sim card in a local country and knowing that again you
have access and make a sure your phone is unlocked before you do that because data
is like the most amazing thing when you travel when you have data
the world is open to you and everything is great and good and and things can get
solved then you have a problem you can solve it
trust me you live in the age where you can have data everywhere in the world
so please figure out how you can access that, or deal with that or if you
aren't going to buy data or put a data plan on know your Wi-Fi plan
what I mean is always be looking for a wi-fi I always been looking for a wi-fi
Make sure wherever you're staying has good Wi-Fi. I've always pick a restaurant
and accommodations that have Wi-Fi
always always always and this is regardless if you have data on your
phone or not or if you're just doing it on Wi-Fi have traveled a lot with just
using Wi-Fi. Amazing Wi-Fi is everywhere in the world it's getting better and
better
but there's a lot of accessibility everywhere that you go
but I always make sure that we're eating I'm staying
I have Wi-Fi and I'll make sure I test it out before I sit down if I'm eating
at a restaurant
I will sit there well ask for the Wi-Fi and i'll test it out and make sure it
works before I sit down and order because sometimes they say they have
Wi-Fi and they do not have Wi-Fi is important we like Wi-Fi. One of
the biggest mistakes as a rookie traveler is drinking out a lot and
spending a lot of money on those nights out now I'm not saying you shouldn't go
out or drink or party
I'm saying is being very very cautious of how much money you spend at night and
try to pre drink because booze are probably really really cheap in the
country you're in
I guarantee you going to l a local supermarket and buying a bottle of wine
or buying some hard liquor and mixing some drinks
it's going to be a lot cheaper and will save you
in the long run a general traveling than just buying drinks when you get to a
place. Not understanding tipping etiquette if you're American used to
tipping
I think it's like twenty percent it's what you tip on almost everything
I don't know how that came about but you tip for almost everything around the
world there are lots of places that you don't tip at all. Yet Americans like
to tip and sometimes very touristy places in these countries will put on
tips will ask for tips so request tips and make you feel like it's a custom
sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. There is like so many different rules in
regards to tipping one of the biggest rookie mistakes is, one, not checking your
bill for tips sometimes in the touristy parts they add in a tip in your bail
without you noticing it
I know sneaky, sneaky. The other thing is not knowing what percentage to tip
because sometimes five percent is like great if you had an amazing meal
five ten percent is like wow yes thank you so much
it's not required it's only if they went above and beyond
there's a lot of different rules in regards to tipping etiquette
so research it and now it's before you go. Short connection times when you are
traveling when you are booking your flights that you are going through
customs or you're entering another country you are going to be entering
that country's customs and sometimes you might even need to do a second line of
security
this takes time so make sure that you have an adequate amount of connection
time I like to allow domestic no less than an hour connecting time
international so when you're entering another country in your connection two
hours at a minimum because custom blinds can become crazy and I know people
miss flights
I'm not miss why is that crazy about this but I've almost missed flights
it's a rookie mistake don't do it. Thinking you're going to save money by
flying into a cheaper airport not checking how much or how long or how
even to get from the airport to your combination
when you arrive at a destination this is screwed me over many times as they even
an experienced traveler
for example Panama City $35 us to get from the airport to my connection
there was a dollar bus. A dollar fifty for a bus
public bus actually the coach public bus to get from the airport to downtown
that's a big difference from thirty-five dollars to dollar-fifty. Not checking the
train or bus or metro schedules before you embark on your day
if you were venturing out anywhere in the city and you're going to be taking
public transportation
they run on a schedule and you do not want to find yourself stranded in a place
because you missed the last bus back, sometimes buses end really early
there's been several cities like when I was in Valparaíso the last bus back was
at seven pm, 7 p.m., when I want to go visit there i want to make sure that i
was on that last bus back so i actually pre purchase the ticket so unlike coach
buses you can do that you can like pre purchase your tickets but make sure you
know when the last trains are when the buses back our and have that written
down or at least written like in your memory bank
so you're not stranded. Not comparing public transportation to private
transportation when looking for transportation around places a lot of
times when you're traveling you're getting to places there are multiple
options to get there
there is a private way where you can hire a shuttle or private man
or there is a public transportation way which is like local buses
make sure you know the difference between the two, what's the better option
what's the cheaper option there is generally multiple options so research
that because there have been many times as a rookie that i have taken the
private transportation to get there and paid an extraordinarily large amount for
like not just a slightly more comfier seat then the public way that takes me a
little bit longer but it keeps and heaps and heaps cheaper
taxis I
a taxi i mean taxis negotiating with your taxi driver beforehand or watching
the meter
it's one of the two. Sometimes it's better to negotiate as flat right and
sometimes it's better to take the meter but make sure you're watching the meter
at this is something that generally the accommodation staff so wherever you're
staying
they'll know what's the best way to go but taxis are like the biggest rip off
in the travel game. Not calling your bank before him and notifying them that you
were going to be other country especially if you are just starting with
your travel adventures and your bank's not used to you spending money in foreign
countries now ATMs are the best way to withdraw money went abroad not using
currency exchanges ATMs secured ATMs so make sure that your bank knows that you
are traveling to these foreign countries and you tell them when what country is
what dates you're going to be gone so they don't shut off your cards which
happens a lot to fellow travelers and to myself
this happens because your bank bless its heart is just trying to prevent your
money from being stolen
it has good intentions but sometimes you just need your money
so notify your bank. Exchanging large amounts of money or just carring large
amounts of money
you don't really ever want to have a lot of money on you. Trust me
you can access your money ATMs are all over the world
you don't need to be carrying huge wads of cash on you
this is what it just set you up for a whole lot of failure of losing we're
getting your money stolen, that's a lot of money to juggle. Only, only take out
what you need for the whatever period of time here and if you're in countries for
small periods of time or larger periods of time. Not having enough small change
that's right small change is key and king, key and King everywhere in the world
maybe they don't always use coins they actually use small bills most places but
ATMs are going to give you big bills
everywhere you go there giving you a big bills bills are really hard for most
vendors to take especially if you're not traveling in your traveling in smaller
places or less developed places so making sure you're always changing out
and getting the smallest bills possible and changing those larger bills when you
have the opportunity to change those large bills so that means like using
large bills in restaurants or places or shopping malls places that that are a
little bit bigger that can accept it so that you can have that small change for
things like bus tokens or tips or vendors like market vendors that only
take cash
you want to have small bills lots of small change. Eating at the expensive
doors restaurants they're just really expensive tourist restaurant they're
always like two times the price of the local restaurants. Big rookie mistake
we usually find the tourists restaurants near the tourist destinations
you will be able to tell the tourist restaurant when you see it try to avoid
those. Eating the foods you are used to versus the local foods you are in
foreign countries you're going to gravitate to like your comfort foods
foods you're used to
Don't do that, because one, that's probably why you're going to get food
poisoning
maybe you are used to pizza and pasta at home but in that country is not used to
making pizza and pasta maybe their dish is like curry
they're not going to know how to make that properly they're not going to know
the food safety with it and they might not have the ingredients
super fresh so you can get an old ingredients versus the local foods that
generally are really well sourced, they know how to make it because they've been
making it forever, thats their food
you're less likely to get sick by it and also you get to try new food which is
awesome. Unrealistic expectations about your physical fitness
you might think you are really fit and you can go all day walking and you'll
come to realize that
yes travel wears you out a lot more than you think it does mentally and
physically so don't push yourself too crazy when you were out and abroad
because you're not gonna enjoy yourself into
it can just meet you into a whole lot of problems obviously go out and try two
things but just be realistic about your expectations so don't get like to crazy
Hyping
things up too much. This is something i did when i first started traveling is a
hyped destinations because i wanted to go there so bad i was like this
oh my god this is my dreams my travel I'm so excited to be your Great Wall of
China hyping it up and you get there and sometimes things don't always live up to
the expectations you are expecting it because people like the internet is full
of these beautiful photoshop photos of these destinations you like wow this
could be so magical and sometimes when you get there you're like okay it's
awesome
it's cool but you can be slightly disappointed and you never want to be
slightly disappointed
one of the reasons why I don't like to plan, i don't personally like the plan too
much because i don't want to have all these like hyped up expectations of
these destinations are places because I want to be pleasantly surprised so
you're just starting out
don't hype things up in your brain to do much it goes you feel really
disappointed when they don't work out your way and when things don't go as
planned. Making sure you leave room for socializing and making friends
this is like if you're especially if you are solo traveling, make friends
socialize make time to do that trust me it will make your experience of travel
so much more rich you will get to hear other people's stories and it's oh my
god seriously like on the best part to travel so make sure you leave time for
that you're not just like running around taking photos and sightseeing everything
meet some people have some conversations sit down and grab a beer and last forgetting
Forgetting to say yes. Yes yes yes yes yes
you need to learn to become a yes person especially when you first start traveling
are a bit scary so you might be saying no to things so you might be like I
don't know what that out oh that's not a good opportunity, but the more you learn
to become comfortable with yourself and the more you learn to start saying yes
to opportunities and situations
obviously that the situation so you're not like putting yourself and like
something that's dangerous
but the more you see yes to things, the more enriching your travel experience
will become and you'll start to surprise yourself and all these really amazing
things that you get up to
and the stories and the people and the experiences that you'll meet if you just
didn't say
yes you just said no. So thank you so much for watching this video I hope you
have learned lots lots of worky travel advice for beginners
just starting out on the travel journey and and if you have started on the
travel journey and you've been doing this for
I don't know maybe a year or less let me know is there anything that you've
learned as a rookie traveler that you would dot yourself you've learned while
traveling, down below in the comments I want to hear them because those i'm
really curious because I've been traveling for so long now so rookie like
certain things I just comes naturally to me
but yeah so. That's it thanks for watching this video don't forget to
subscribe to my youtube channel for more tips and more advice and I will see all
your beautiful faces and a few more days with another video, bye