15 People Reveal Their Most Expensive Travel Mistakes (So You Don't Make Them)

Blue Velvet
October 20, 2021 303 votes 45 voters
List Rules
Vote up the worst mistakes you would hate to make while traveling.

Travel can be a little bit scary, mostly when you are the one who actually has to pay for it. So it's no surprise that people have nightmares about making expensive vacation mistakes. For these people, those nightmares became a reality. Read this list and make sure you don't make the same mistakes the next time you take a trip!

  • 1
    34 VOTES

    Put Money In Shoes And Forgot The Shoes

    From Redditor u/tuna-piano:

    I hide $50 in each shoe under the foam sole, so in the event that everything else gets lost/taken, I at least have $100 left to get out of most situations.

    I left those shoes at a hostel and didn't realize until I was far, far away.

    34 votes
  • 2
    28 VOTES

    Didn't Do The Research Before Booking A Flight

    From Redditor u/lapelirojapeligrosa:

    I was going to Vietnam with a friend of mine and I asked her if we needed visas, as she's been before. She said no, and I didn't think anything more of it.

    Somehow I'd forgotten she's Korean and, while Koreans don't need a visa to travel to Vietnam, Americans like me do. She ended up going by herself, and I was out the cost of a plane ticket. The dumbest mistake I've made while traveling, but I definitely learned a lesson.

    28 votes
  • 3
    28 VOTES

    Accidental Property Damage

    From Redditor u/ChubbyAngmo:

    I got really drunk, decided to come back to the hotel room, and lay down in the shower. My butt cheek blocked the drain, and I fell asleep. Hours later, I awoke to find the whole floor of the hotel had been flooded. €1,000 and a stern reprimand.

    28 votes
  • 4
    26 VOTES

    Followed People Back To A Clip Joint

    From Redditor u/CitizenTed:

    Got taken by a clip joint in Budapest.

    Two women greet my buddy and me. I don't like it but he insists we go with them.

    They take us to a clip joint. Now I really don't like the scene. My buddy overrules me, tells me not to worry.

    The bill for four beers and eight cocktails appears: $700.

    We've been clipped.

    I am forced to an ATM to withdraw the cash. I pay.

    My buddy afterward argues we should split the cost and he gives me $350. I'm still out... $350 and very angry at him.

    26 votes
  • 5
    23 VOTES

    Didn't Validate The Vaporetto Ticket

    From Redditor u/MsMandrakeRoot:

    I didn't validate my ticket before getting onto the Vaporetto in Venice and was immediately slapped with a 60 euro fine. Validate your ticket!!

    23 votes
  • 6
    21 VOTES

    Bought A Travel Van That Needed Repairs

    From Redditor u/HappyPnt:

    I bought a van with a ton of rust, and instead of taking my welder's advice and cutting my losses, I continued to build it out for travel anyway. I probably put somewhere around $10,000 into the van, repairs, and upgrades. Traveled and lived in it for about five months and eventually sold it for $300 after I got sick of repairing everything.

    I'm incredibly grateful I got to go on that trip and that part I don't regret, but I should've either kept the van... to save... money or get a better van as a base so I would've been willing to keep it.

    21 votes