Travel bloggers inspire us with their Instagram accounts and their adventure stories on their blogs. They show us spectacular videos and offer us travel tips for unforgettable journeys. But thanks to their experiences they also offer us the funniest stories about the epic failures they have experienced as travelers. We have interviewed 5 top travel bloggers about their mistakes and setbacks, so we make sure they never happen to us!

TRAVEL TIPS AND BLOGGER EXPERIENCES

The story of A Little Adrift has happened to many, though, and it is one of the most chilling one: running out of money in a foreign country. This is extremely stressful, especially if we are traveling alone. Take a look at her tips for international travels.

1) HOW DOES THAILAND’S ATM WORK? THE STORY OF A LITTLE ADRIFT

You would think the first time I allowed an ATM to eat my debit card that I would have learned my lesson, but this is an epic fail I have done twice, in two different parts of the world: Mexico and Thailand.

In many countries, ATMs release your debit card before spitting out your withdrawn cash. In some, however, your cash comes out first – and if you accidentally walk away without your card, the ATM will eat the card for your safety.

It’s a nice feature… unless you’re in a foreign country without any cash. In both cases, I immediately called my bank, which was incredibly accommodating in sending me a new card and averting my crisis. After the second time, I also always carry a backup debit card from a secondary bank, just in case!

About:

Shannon O’Donnell has been around the world for more than 10 years and has been named Traveler of the Year at National Geographic. Get lost among her travel tips on A Little Adrift before you go to sleep and you’ll have amazing dreams. Check out her Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Meandering nature on a road trip in a hipster caravan in Scandinavia seems like a travel blogger’s dream. But the dream can turn into nightmare if the caravan breaks down in the middle of nowhere. This is how the story of the couple behind Capture the Atlas started. Take a look at their travel tips for international road trips.

2) THE DREAM TRIP IN A CARAVAN: THE STORY OF CAPTURE THE ATLAS

On our first RV trip, we wanted to tour across the Lofoten Islands fjords in search of the Northern Lights of Norway. When I first saw that old campervan in the rental office, I thought it wouldn’t make the whole trip, and I was right. The second day, after doing the 400 km that separate Lofoten from Tromso, there was no way to start the caravan, so we called the rental company quite upset to tell them the camper was too old to be rented.

When we were towed, we found out that the camper van, despite being old, used diesel, and if it was broken it would totally be our fault as we had put Gasoline taking for granted such an old model wouldn’t use Diesel.

We were literally between a rock and a hard place. If gasoline had reached the pistons, there would be no way to repair it and also, we would lose the deposit and our trip would have ended. In the waiting room, we hold-up for the technician to come out to give us the good news. Our camper was ready to continue with our Lofoten Photo Tour. From then, every time we rent a car, we ask 50 times the type of fuel it uses!

About:

Ascen and Dan are the couple behind Capture The Atlas that have inspired their followers with their tips on sustainable travel. They capture the beauty of nature in each of their stories and pictures. Find inspiration and her travel tips on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and their blog. 

Even the most adventurous know that there are things that need to be planned in advance, and one of the most common failures in traveling is forgetting to check on your passport and Visa requirements. For many travelers the task ends just by making sure you have your passport on you. But you shouldn’t stop here, as the immigration rules of every country can vary significantly. Don’t believe it? take a look at the following epic travel mistake:

3) PASSPORT REQUIREMENTS ARE INTRICATE: THE STORY OF MONKEYS AND MOUNTAINS ADVENTURE TRAVEL

It should go without saying that your passport needs to be valid. Having said that, I do know several people who’ve tried to get on a flight with an expired passport and were then denied boarding. But another issue that travellers aren’t aware of is making sure that your passport is valid for long enough. Let’s jump into my story:

A couple of years ago I was planning a trip to Sri Lanka and decided to go to India afterwards. As I was filling out the visa for India, I realized that my passport needed to be valid for six months in order to be allowed entry. Mine was only valid for 5 months and 22 days! As I didn’t have time to renew my passport before finalizing my travel plans, India didn’t happen.

There are surprisingly a number of countries that require your passport to be valid for 6 months, so check in advance.

About:

Laurel started giving travel tips for pleasure on her blog until she found out she had so many people to help, so she set up her own travel agency. While still traveling. She better than anyone else knows how to combine adventure with comfort. Check out her adventures on her blog, on Instagram, on Facebook, on Twitter and on Pinterest.

Some mistakes start before actually traveling. And this is why planning carefully the trip is essential even if we choose to travel in a spontaneous way. The following story explains us why we need to do some research before hitting the road:

4) A BEAUTIFUL SMILE IS NOT ONLY FOR INSTAGRAM: THE STORY OF TARA

My experience is about making sure you get a dental check up a couple of weeks before you travel. On two separate occasions I’ve failed to do this and I’ve ended up in agony while travelling.

I went to Prague to celebrate my birthday at the Christmas markets and after one day I couldn’t eat anything. Even opening my mouth to the cold air hurt. I spent the whole trip wincing and visiting pharmacies for painkillers. If it had been a longer trip I would have had to visit a dentist in Prague. But luckily it was a short trip so I could visit a dentist at home.

Then recently, in the Maldives, I cracked my tooth and had to chew on the other side of my mouth for the entire trip. Again, I was lucky enough to be heading home a few days later. But if I was on a 6 month backpacking trip I would have ended up in a dentist’s office in a foreign land where I don’t know the procedures or charges etc.

All of this could have been avoided by getting a check up a couple of weeks before the trip and if any issues were present they could have been fixed before travelling. Trust me, you don’t want toothache ruining your trip.

About:

Tara has grown up between New Zealand’s natural paradises and the Irish mountains. With such an environment, she is an authentic hunter of natural treasures and does not hesitate to use technology to make her travel trips more attractive. If you want to know what is trendy and cool, make sure you check her channels. Check her blog, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

People say success in love means being lucky enough to find the right person at the right time. Many travel bloggers give us the same speech as a travel tip before starting an adventure: make sure the time is adequate when planning a new adventure, especially when it comes to the weather….

5) IS THIS THE RIGHT TIME TO TRAVEL? THE STORY OF NOMADasaurus Adventure Travel Blog

Even though we’ve been travelling the world almost non-stop for 10 years, we still make mistakes, and one of the most common ones is not doing enough research on places before we arrive.

This often means we either miss out on unique attractions that are a bit off the beaten path, or sometimes travel to areas in the wrong season, meaning a lot of the things we want to do may be closed. Best way to sort them out? Do your research before booking a trip!

About:

Alesha Bradford and Jarryd Salem are authentic nomads who have made the world their home. Their blog has become viral precisely because of their itinerant lifestyle and documentation of all his experiences. You will not find travel tips of cities in their channels, but a compendium of experiences that will make you realize that everything is possible. Check them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and their blog.

What is your funniest travel mistake? Drop us a line here or on our social media channels.