After over 60 years traveling I can't remember not one mistake. This is not because I am Einstein, but because I have a very simple formula:
I have never used a travel Agent. I always go straight directly to Airlines, Hotels, and Restaurants, and of course I always reconfirm all reservations. I do not travel by air in Europe, only by train, and whenever I can I make all reservations directly in any of the main train stations like Amsterdam. Of course I always check for Visas requirements, you never know when they change. No middle men, and of course no crappy AI.
I think the biggest mistake we have made is not doing adequate research on the crime levels. The safety not just of the city but individual neighborhoods wherever we go. New York is a great city, but you have to know where to go and we’re not to go and we’re from New York. I think another thing is checking out the health situation and make sure you’re up-to-date with all your vaccines. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen who are heading off the countries without getting the right shot. Part of it is the travel agency, but people who book it on their own may not do the proper research.
I think the last thing for us is finding a place that his age appropriate. Friend of mine just came back from Galapagos late 70s he slipped fell broke a bone in his back and was almost paralyzed. I think Eastwood said it best when he said a person has to know his limitations
You're so right about the crime and safety stuff. I'm currently in Cape Town, where you need to be highly aware of your surroundings at all times. There are neighborhoods known to be relatively safe and there are those you avoid at all costs. It's a shame, because this city is amazing, but the level of poverty and number of unemployed youth is off the charts.
I knew about the risks beforehand, but the reality is harsher than I thought. If you're in a car, smash and grab robberies are common at stop lights in certain areas, like the highway to and from the airport. Last week, a tourist who had just arrived was stabbed to death in a smash and grab robbery. Unfortunately, South Africa has huge societal problems and a massive divide between the haves and have nots.
A couple of years ago, I had a friend who was involved in a smash and grab in Lima, Peru. It was quick and violent. She was okay, but her purse was stolen. Window was closed, but door unlocked. If you resist, the violence gets much, much worse. Also, I lived in Trujillo, Peru in the north and crime patterns were reversed from the USA. The center city was safe enough, but when you'd go to the outer suburbs, there were many more violent assaults, etc. This throws people who come from different environments. So, it's important to read about the culture and don't rush into areas/situations in an impulsive way.
I’m sorry to have to add a third post but we are sitting here in Aruba and we noticed that they’re having a Hanukkah concert on the beach not far from where we’re staying, we thought yesterday wouldn’t that be nice to go there now? I won’t go after what happened in Australia you can do all the research you want, but if the government doesn’t protect you, you’re at risk. as long as they’re terrorist, you’re not safe. That’s why we took Australia off our list permanently.
My biggest mistake in 2025 was believing that the connections that Icelandair provided on flights would actually work. Just one hour for each of two plane changes, one in Iceland (had to go through customs and immigration!!!!), and the second one in Stockholm to get to Estonia. It was just the very best of luck that I made them, but it required running in both cases, and also having each flight leave a little late. Never doing that again!
There are flights of AA with only 35 minutes to run from one gate to other one. I NEVER allow the airlines to do the whole trip for me with changes. I do it myself giving 3 hours between flights, and if they are international flights at least 6 hours, but, if I have to change flights and airlines what I do -for example- from Miami to Frankfurt is to take a flight by midday or the afternoon to NYK, spend the night there before I go (sometimes with friends) to a nice restaurant, then the whole next day taking it slowly and early afternoon I go to the Airport to fly Singapore Airlines of course, not any american airline.
I'm a slow traveler and spend a month in each destination. The mistake I've made on this trip is assuming kitchens will have what I need for a comfortable stay, with all the tools and things I like to use at home. I like to cook at least half of meals while traveling.
Sadly, even if the listing says full kitchen, it doesn't mean it's fully equipped. So I end up buying things like kitchen shears, a decent non-stick pan, a good spatula and so on. I really need to do better research on my accomodations.
An expensive travel mistake I made last month: I didn't realize that you had only 15 days from your first deposit to buy travel insurance with the option to cancel for any reason. I learned that from one of your articles, and it was too late. I always buy travel insurance immediately, but this time the rental house was a great deal, so I purchased that first, and then I kept looking for airplane tickets. I'm still out over three months from my departure date, so I keep hoping to get cheaper domestic flight tickets closer to two months out. However, after reading your travel insurance article, now I'm afraid the insurance company will deny payment if I get sick because I have a preexisting condition. 😫
Whenever I put a down payment on a trip, I do always buy the insurance policy right away. Then, over time, as I add flights and extra excursions, day tours, and even extra days onto the trip, I add them to the insurance policy as I go. That way, it all ends up being covered for preexisting conditions. I only had a problem once, when a trip was canceled for non-participation about three weeks after I bought the insurance policy. I did appeal to the insurance company, saying there was no possibility of using the policy, as there was no longer a trip to insure. They were nice enough to cancel the policy and refund my money.
Great tip! Thank you very much! I had no idea you could keep adding to a policy. I thought you could only purchase it once you had paid for everything and knew the total cost of your entire vacation. Good to know! I won't make this mistake again!
I went to get my UK ETA about ten days before my flight. It was rejected. Why? My passport had expired the month before!! I’ve had a passport for over 50 years. I know to check my docs. Slap forehead!! Fortunately, I was able to get an emergency passport in time.
There was no special protection at the ceremony I just went to here in the U.S. That doesn't mean I will now move to another country or even another state.
If you ever do a cruise outside of the Caribbean or Alaska milk-runs, you learn about visa requirements very quickly. The cruise lines leave visas (passports too) strictly on the guests/passengers to obtain.
Last year I was on a trans-Pacific cruise from San Francisco to NZ and then Sydney. Everyone had to get their own NZ/Oz visas using the respective countries phone apps or they couldn’t get off the ship. The requirements were in the fine print of the bookings from the cruise line well before departure.
Yet three days before we got to the first NZ port, there was a long line at Guest Services asking the crew for help with getting the visas because people either “forgot” or couldn’t be bothered to get the necessary paperwork before they left home.
After over 60 years traveling I can't remember not one mistake. This is not because I am Einstein, but because I have a very simple formula:
I have never used a travel Agent. I always go straight directly to Airlines, Hotels, and Restaurants, and of course I always reconfirm all reservations. I do not travel by air in Europe, only by train, and whenever I can I make all reservations directly in any of the main train stations like Amsterdam. Of course I always check for Visas requirements, you never know when they change. No middle men, and of course no crappy AI.
In many areas, the star ⭐️ rating is based on facilities (like swimming pool, restaurant) not quality/service.
That's true.
I think the biggest mistake we have made is not doing adequate research on the crime levels. The safety not just of the city but individual neighborhoods wherever we go. New York is a great city, but you have to know where to go and we’re not to go and we’re from New York. I think another thing is checking out the health situation and make sure you’re up-to-date with all your vaccines. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve seen who are heading off the countries without getting the right shot. Part of it is the travel agency, but people who book it on their own may not do the proper research.
I think the last thing for us is finding a place that his age appropriate. Friend of mine just came back from Galapagos late 70s he slipped fell broke a bone in his back and was almost paralyzed. I think Eastwood said it best when he said a person has to know his limitations
You're so right about the crime and safety stuff. I'm currently in Cape Town, where you need to be highly aware of your surroundings at all times. There are neighborhoods known to be relatively safe and there are those you avoid at all costs. It's a shame, because this city is amazing, but the level of poverty and number of unemployed youth is off the charts.
I knew about the risks beforehand, but the reality is harsher than I thought. If you're in a car, smash and grab robberies are common at stop lights in certain areas, like the highway to and from the airport. Last week, a tourist who had just arrived was stabbed to death in a smash and grab robbery. Unfortunately, South Africa has huge societal problems and a massive divide between the haves and have nots.
Cape Town is a little dicey. We lived there for two months and found some parts of town to be very safe, others not at all.
A couple of years ago, I had a friend who was involved in a smash and grab in Lima, Peru. It was quick and violent. She was okay, but her purse was stolen. Window was closed, but door unlocked. If you resist, the violence gets much, much worse. Also, I lived in Trujillo, Peru in the north and crime patterns were reversed from the USA. The center city was safe enough, but when you'd go to the outer suburbs, there were many more violent assaults, etc. This throws people who come from different environments. So, it's important to read about the culture and don't rush into areas/situations in an impulsive way.
Maybe bring a few essentials with you?
I’m sorry to have to add a third post but we are sitting here in Aruba and we noticed that they’re having a Hanukkah concert on the beach not far from where we’re staying, we thought yesterday wouldn’t that be nice to go there now? I won’t go after what happened in Australia you can do all the research you want, but if the government doesn’t protect you, you’re at risk. as long as they’re terrorist, you’re not safe. That’s why we took Australia off our list permanently.
ب
My biggest mistake in 2025 was believing that the connections that Icelandair provided on flights would actually work. Just one hour for each of two plane changes, one in Iceland (had to go through customs and immigration!!!!), and the second one in Stockholm to get to Estonia. It was just the very best of luck that I made them, but it required running in both cases, and also having each flight leave a little late. Never doing that again!
There are flights of AA with only 35 minutes to run from one gate to other one. I NEVER allow the airlines to do the whole trip for me with changes. I do it myself giving 3 hours between flights, and if they are international flights at least 6 hours, but, if I have to change flights and airlines what I do -for example- from Miami to Frankfurt is to take a flight by midday or the afternoon to NYK, spend the night there before I go (sometimes with friends) to a nice restaurant, then the whole next day taking it slowly and early afternoon I go to the Airport to fly Singapore Airlines of course, not any american airline.
I don’t know maybe because 11 Jews got massacred on the beach today and it’s not safe and it’s very antisemitic these days
That's really tragic. I was just reading about it.
I'm a slow traveler and spend a month in each destination. The mistake I've made on this trip is assuming kitchens will have what I need for a comfortable stay, with all the tools and things I like to use at home. I like to cook at least half of meals while traveling.
Sadly, even if the listing says full kitchen, it doesn't mean it's fully equipped. So I end up buying things like kitchen shears, a decent non-stick pan, a good spatula and so on. I really need to do better research on my accomodations.
An expensive travel mistake I made last month: I didn't realize that you had only 15 days from your first deposit to buy travel insurance with the option to cancel for any reason. I learned that from one of your articles, and it was too late. I always buy travel insurance immediately, but this time the rental house was a great deal, so I purchased that first, and then I kept looking for airplane tickets. I'm still out over three months from my departure date, so I keep hoping to get cheaper domestic flight tickets closer to two months out. However, after reading your travel insurance article, now I'm afraid the insurance company will deny payment if I get sick because I have a preexisting condition. 😫
If you charge everything on your AMEX card, then it may cover the house up to $10,000. Total, you can always get a credit for the flights.
Great tip! Thank you very much!
Whenever I put a down payment on a trip, I do always buy the insurance policy right away. Then, over time, as I add flights and extra excursions, day tours, and even extra days onto the trip, I add them to the insurance policy as I go. That way, it all ends up being covered for preexisting conditions. I only had a problem once, when a trip was canceled for non-participation about three weeks after I bought the insurance policy. I did appeal to the insurance company, saying there was no possibility of using the policy, as there was no longer a trip to insure. They were nice enough to cancel the policy and refund my money.
Great tip! Thank you very much! I had no idea you could keep adding to a policy. I thought you could only purchase it once you had paid for everything and knew the total cost of your entire vacation. Good to know! I won't make this mistake again!
I went to get my UK ETA about ten days before my flight. It was rejected. Why? My passport had expired the month before!! I’ve had a passport for over 50 years. I know to check my docs. Slap forehead!! Fortunately, I was able to get an emergency passport in time.
Don’t go to Australia, Visa or not
Why not?
There was no special protection at the ceremony I just went to here in the U.S. That doesn't mean I will now move to another country or even another state.
If you ever do a cruise outside of the Caribbean or Alaska milk-runs, you learn about visa requirements very quickly. The cruise lines leave visas (passports too) strictly on the guests/passengers to obtain.
Last year I was on a trans-Pacific cruise from San Francisco to NZ and then Sydney. Everyone had to get their own NZ/Oz visas using the respective countries phone apps or they couldn’t get off the ship. The requirements were in the fine print of the bookings from the cruise line well before departure.
Yet three days before we got to the first NZ port, there was a long line at Guest Services asking the crew for help with getting the visas because people either “forgot” or couldn’t be bothered to get the necessary paperwork before they left home.