10 classic travel mistakes that you can easily avoid

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The smallest things can wreck your trip, whether you’re on a holiday, a business trip or a religious pilgrimage. We’ve put together ten common travel problems, many of which will be all too familiar to many of you, and we’re going to tell you how to overcome them.

1. YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU’LL NEED IT!

People like to look good even on the road. But let’s be totally honest: how many times have you returned from abroad and stared at that extra pair of shoes and wondered why you thought you’d need a fourth pair for a beach holiday? Over packing is the most common travel mistake people make, so travel light and sensibly.

2. THE CITY CENTRE IS WHERE!?!

Oh, the poor unassuming traveller landing at London-Luton and thinking, as any reasonable person would, that an airport with “London” in the title would be somewhere near London. Unfortunately, due to some bizarre aeronautical logic, there are airports around the world with names of cities they are nowhere near. “London-Luton” and “Milan-Bergamo” are two such culprits: London-Luton is over 50 miles from the London city centre! In a local taxi, that fare starts at an eye-watering $80. Don’t get caught out; always check the distance from airport to city centre.

3. MEAT, PLEASE!

Some of us are especially beholden to our preferred diets. For instance, one of the first questions about destinations I’m asked by Muslim travellers is, “Can you get halal food there?” By this, they actually mean, “Can I get my meat fix there?” If my response is in the negative, they instantly dismiss the place. The prospect of a few days without meat seems to plunge many Muslims into panic. Muslim travellers who turn their backs on amazing holiday destinations for this reason are foolish, to say the least. I for one am happy to survive on amok (fish) curry for a week if it means I get to see Cambodia!

4. PASSPORT VALIDITY

A common and serious travel mistake is to assume that if a passport is valid for the duration of your trip, it is valid for entry to the country you are holidaying in. Most countries require that it be valid for several months after you leave the country, sometimes up to six months, and if it isn’t, you will be refused entry. Don’t ruin your summer; check the entry requirements and leave enough time to renew a passport if necessary.

5. DATA MOANING

From apps to social media accounts, many things on our phones automatically download stuff without us knowing, unless we manually switch certain features off. If you don’t, that first post-holiday bill is not going to be a pleasant experience. Be smart and either manually turn off international data roaming or ask your service provider to do so.

6. THE BATHROOM ISSUE

We've all been there, rushing to the toilet after a lengthy flight and several questionable meals in more time zones than you care to remember only to have the initial relief replaced by panic: there’s nothing to wash with, and the shower head won’t reach either! Avoid this embarrassing scenario by getting yourself some flushable toilet wipes. Small, compact and guaranteed to save you that desperate hunt for an empty water bottle!

7. WHERE’S MY MEDICINE?

Have you ever tried to sign “anti-diarrhoea tablets” to a Vietnamese pharmacist? No? Then you either have a great stomach for foreign food or never forget your travel medication. For the rest of us, a dodgy curry on the road becomes even less fun when we’re trying to communicate our embarrassing condition to a foreigner in the hope that they diagnose it correctly! It’s simple; just carry your travel meds.

8. NOT SO SMARTPHONE

Having your confirmation details, maps, important emails, text messages, boarding pass, and contactless pay option on your device is great and, in theory, even sensible. However, after three hours laughing at your friends’ Snapchat and Facebook posts to kill time at the airport, the last thing you want is to arrive at the boarding gate with a dead phone and no printed boarding pass back-up. Smartphones are great. We get that. But you should have a Plan B in case Plan A screams “2%” at totally the wrong time.

9. YOU ARE MUSAFIR

This one is for our Muslim friends. Muslim travellers are blessed: daily obligations are either suspended or eased, and hosts are obligated to look after you as “musafir”. Except some Muslims forget this while on the road and make their lives unnecessarily difficult. Take advantage of your rights! Shorten your daily prayers, and if it is Ramadan, don’t fast; there should be no guilt, and if a Muslim wants to host you for free because you are musafir, embrace this wonderful tradition and enjoy it!

10. FEARING THE TRAVEL ADVICE

Official government travel advice is usually aimed at the uber-adventurous, ultra-intrepid and occasionally stupid, who tend to wander into unchartered and remote territories ‘cos it’s, you know, cool. So if your government reports “isolated incidents”, don’t let that put you off a destination. Heed the advice, but remember that every country has its problems, and unless your government is advising against “all but essential travel” to a region, you should be fine.

(This article is written by Tharik Hussain. Tharik is a freelance British Muslim travel writer, journalist, broadcaster and photographer specialising in the Muslim stories of Europe. Hussain’s first ever radio documentary, America’s Mosques; A Story of Integration, has been declared one of the world’s best radio documentaries for 2016. All his work can be viewed at www.tharikhussain.co.uk)

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