In winter 2016, I took my first international trip to Japan (First Solo Trip – Tokyo, Japan and First Solo Trip – Minakami & Kyoto, Japan) and South Korea. By myself. Despite it being one of my favorite trips, I spent too much money and spent 3 hours looking for my Airbnb that had been right in my face the whole time :facepalm:
Read on to learn about these mistakes and how you can prevent yourself from making these same international travel blunders.
1. Not using a flight deal.
At the time, I didn’t know anything about flight deals. I knew exactly where I wanted to go and when, and booked my flights accordingly. Now, I know better! To get the best deals, sometimes, you have to be patient, and flexible. The majority of the trips I book are based on the flight deals available from my home airport. Anytime I book a flight to a destination that’s not associated with a flight deal, it can cost at least $200 USD extra than if I would have waited for a flight deal.
2. Didn’t check the visa requirements for entering the countries.
I had my passport and figured that was all I needed. Wrong! Before you even book your flight, research the passport and visa requirements for the country you want to visit. These requirements differ from country to country and the requirements even differ based on your citizenship. You may be required to apply for and obtain a visa before your travel. This can take several weeks.
Also, make sure that you read about visa requirements from an official government website. I had no problems entering or leaving Japan and South Korea, because as a U.S. citizen, I was granted a visa upon entry. However, people have been turned away from entering a country because they did not meet the proper visa requirements.
3. Lack of internet service/no international data plan.
I assumed that I could use my phone anywhere in the world. That was incredibly wrong. What I didn’t know was that I needed to call my service provider (in advance) to add the ability to use my phone internationally. So, I ended up in Japan with no way to use the internet. The Travel Japan Wi-Fi app was on my phone, but didn’t work. And I couldn’t get wifi anywhere.
Before you travel, make sure you are able to send texts, make calls, and access the internet on your phone. Buying a pocket wifi, purchasing an international SIM card, or updating your phone plan to include international usage are some options. You don’t want to be caught half-way across the world with no way to contact your family or friends to let them know that you made it safely, or your Airbnb host to let them know that you’re lost…..
4. Not asking for more detail in the Airbnb description or not having the Airbnb host meet me.
There were a lot of firsts with this trip, and that included using Airbnb. The host gave me the bare minimum instructions for finding their apartment. “It’s in a tall brown building.” The first time I read that, I thought that maybe there could be a lot of brown buildings in Tokyo, but I figured I’d find it with no problem.
I should have trusted my gut (the gut always knows!) and either asked the Airbnb host to be more descriptive and send pictures, or asked them to meet me so that we can walk to the apartment together. Since I didn’t have internet access, I couldn’t contact the host, either. I eventually made it to the apartment, after 3 hours of searching for a tall brown building, in a neighborhood full of tall brown buildings.
5. Arriving at my destination in the middle of the night.
Everything is harder to see in the dark and any “minor issues” you experience while traveling are magnified at night. If you plan to take a car directly to your hotel, then arriving at night isn’t much of a problem. But if you like doing things the hard way, like me apparently, you might run into some trouble.
I landed at Incheon airport (right outside of Seoul, South Korea) sometime after midnight local time. The subway had stopped running, so I took the bus. The bus driver was super helpful and let me know the bus stop I needed, but once I got off the bus, I didn’t know what to do next. My directions were based on signs and landmarks, which I couldn’t see, because it was so dark and the area wasn’t well lit. Someone in a nearby cafe helped me to my hotel, thank goodness. The next morning I was able to find the signs and landmarks that I had needed the night before with no problem!
To say that I was an inexperienced traveler, is an understatement. But I had to start somewhere, right?
