Heading out on your first backpacking adventure can be daunting – but here are some of the most common travel mistakes you’ll make – and how to avoid them!
Gearing yourself up to go travelling for the first time can be daunting. Whether you’re backpacking for a year or just for a few months that first adventure is a whirlwind of emotions and planning.
And yes you are going to mess up a few things – it’s only natural!
I can give you a heads up on a few common mistakes I’ve seen heaps of first time travellers make so you can hopefully avoid them and streamline the stress out of travelling…and yes I’m guilty of making a lot of them myself!
10 Mistakes Every First Time Traveller Will Make (And How To Avoid Them!)
Contents
Taking Too Much Stuff
Even now I have this problem! Figuring out what to take and what to leave behind is a nightmare – but what if XXXX happens, how about XXXX?!
It’s stressful simplifying your life into a single backpack!
The old saying goes “lay all out your stuff out on the bed and halve it” ….and it works!
The worse thing though is if you’re heading through a variety of climates – sure it might be swelteringly hot in Asia but New Zealand will have snow by the time we get there.
The best advice on this I can offer is remember you can always buy new stuff on the road and offload some old stuff.
Those Chang beer t-shirts and hippy pants you’ve spent the last 5 months sweating into can be ditched and you can buy a nice waterproof coat to fill the gap!
I’m still guilty of trying to over pack now, it’s a hard habit to break. You’ve got to be ruthless! Trust me you might pack 10 t-shirts but you’ll probably only wear 5.
If you REALLY have to pack heaps of stuff I’m sure you’ll soon get tired of lugging it around and you can always lighten the load by donating clothes to charity shops en-route.
[Tweet “”lay all out your stuff out on the bed and halve it””]
Not Saving Enough
The other half of the saying after halving your clothes is to double your money!
Many people underestimate how much travelling can cost – especially when you’re budgeting in flights and travel insurance too, so do some solid research. Check out my posts on how much to budget for a month in Thailand and how much to budget for a month in Australia for some ideas on how much costs can vary.
My best advice on this is to budget around £1,000 a month – as it tends to even out across countries.
The worst thing you can do is leave quickly and suddenly realise you don’t have enough dollar behind you – worrying about money will wreck your trip.
So even if it means delaying your planned departure date it’ll be worth it in the end!
[Tweet “”budget around £1,000 a month – as it tends to even out across countries””]
Not Researching Costs
Along with the budgeting research make sure you have a rough idea of how much things like taxis, hostels and food should cost you.
That way you hit the ground running and wont end up paying £40 for an airport taxi when you could’ve bartered to £20 or even got the shared shuttle for £10!
The same goes for hostels too, do you really want to book that £80 hotel when there’s an epic hostel with heaps going on for £8?!
Planning Too Much
Ok so I’ve told you to do some planning to avoid some mistakes and save some money – but on the flip side you can over plan!
Dont land somewhere and have the next 3 months of your travels planned out day by day, where’s the fun in that!
Make sure you have a rough idea of where you’re heading but enough flexibility to embrace opportunity. Who knows you might bump into an incredible girl in Byron Bay and find yourself on a flight to San Francisco a couple of weeks later?! ;)
[Tweet “”don’t land somewhere and have the next 3 months of your travels planned out day by day””]
…Or Too Little!
If you haven’t over planned the extreme you might fall into is to land in a place with NO plans. That’s just as disastrous, especially if you’re only just starting out on your travels!
I always have a few things in mind for each place – whether is some restaurants, places to stay or a couple of day trips.
Suddenly landing in a new place with no idea on where to stay or what to do is the worst way to start any adventure!
It’s also important to make sure you know what the deal is with visas too. Some airlines wont let you on without onward flights (I’ve experienced this first hand with Bali and Singapore!) but also make sure you know if you can get a visa on arrival or places if you’ll need something like the ESTA visa for the USA and have to apply before travelling.
Along with this comes the length of stay (usually in days, which includes the day of arrival!) and many countries such as Thailand will impose hefty fines if you overstay and in some cases you can even get banned from re entering for a certain period of time!
Travelling Too Fast
This is a personal pet peeve of mine! I’ve met people who have travelled to 40 countries…sounds good hey?
But then you learn they did that in like 2 months and all I can think is “well you cant have really travelled them much if you’ve blasted through them that quickly“!
This isn’t a race guys, nor is it about collecting passport stamps! The whole point of travel is to embrace the country, the culture, the food, the experiences.
3 days in a country doesn’t count, so get over yourself!
My advice is always that it’s better to spend more time exploring less places than rushing simply for the sake of saying you’ve been there.
….so yeah – take your time and really enjoy everywhere, you’ll avoid backpacker burnout too…travel slow, travel far!
[Tweet “”the whole point of travel is to embrace the country, the culture, the food, the experiences””]
Underestimating Distances
Maps can be pretty deceiving sometimes and I’ve met a lot of people who have massively underestimated the distances between places – both actually distance but also travel time.
Australia is a prime example.
The amount of times I’ve heard “I’ll spend 2 days on the Whitsundays and then start my dive course in Cairns the next day” or something similar is insane.
That’s like 2 days of travel time if you bus it!
Before you set plans into stone do some research, ask some people. A mistake here can really mess up your trip and feel you left totally drained and stressed out.
Waiting Too Late For Jabs
When it comes to travelling it’s always good to keep some boring stuff in mind too, especially insurance and vaccines. It might not be the most exciting stuff to deal with but it’ll certainly make life easier.
As soon as you know where you’re going book an appointment with your GP or travel nurse and let them know where you’re heading.
Some places you might not need anything, some you’ll need a heap of needles to be stuck in you – it all depends on location and your personal medical history.
The main thing to keep in mind here is that some vaccines – like rabies – need a course of jabs across a few weeks.
So basically the earlier you get started, the less stressful it’ll be. Don’t leave it to the last minute!
The same goes for getting any travel medication you need. Make sure you’re you know if you need to get malaria tablets for any part of your trip and do research into any other issues your itinerary might involve like Zika virus or dengue fever, that you might need to plan stuff for.
It’s boring – but being on top of these important things will certainly make your travel much safer and ultimately more enjoyable!
[Tweet “”when it comes to travelling it’s always good to keep some boring stuff in mind too””]
Worrying About The Small Stuff
Worrying about travelling is totally normal – it’s part of the fear and excitement that well all love about travel so much.
The unknown is daunting but don’t let it get to you too much else you’ll be stressing out before you even get on the plane!
This is especially true about solo travel – I get heaps of emails about “will I meet people”, “is it safe”, “what if blah blah blah happens”.
Breathe guys!
Check out some of my posts like “The Truth About Being A Solo Backpacker”, “How To Meet People When Travelling Solo“, “10 Myths Of Backpacker Travel” or Erins “10 Common Fears About Solo Female Travel”, hopefully they’ll help put your mind to rest about some of the worries you’re having!
Not Finding Out For Yourself
When you’re on the road for the first time you’ll be chatting to heaps of new people, hearing about where they’ve been, where they’re going and of course sharing where you want to go to as well.
But in every hostel travel conversation there’s always one person who thinks they know everything and are now a walking talking Lonely Planet.
They’re usually this self righteous people who are trying to find themselves or after a culturally immersive experience, or try to avoid the tourists.
Think the dude with dreads of the second Inbetweener movie!
[Tweet “”there’s always one person who thinks they know everything””]In short they’re stuck up their own ass and will judge every part of your itinerary, look down at their nose at your newbie backpacker status and scoff when you say you want to head to the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan.
The worst thing you can do is take everyones advice on face value. If you want to go party the night away on a beach, go do it. If you want to follow the normal East Coast trail down Australia go nuts.
At the end of the day this is your adventure, your money and your life – so if you want to do something don’t let anyone else’s judgement stop you!
I’ve been back to Indonesia numerous times and I simply find myself surfing for the most part rather than exploring. Sure I could have found some incredible experiences and hidden gems whilst I was out there.
But do you know what? I love surfing and if I want to spend a month based in Kuta taking day trips to surf breaks that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
My life. My rules!
Now I’m not saying don’t listen, just take everything with a pinch of salt.
Everyone has their own style, agenda, passions – so by all means take their opinion into account, but don’t let others dictate your trip or make you feel bad about your plans.
[Tweet “”at the end of the day this is your adventure, your money and your life””]
The bottom line with all of these common mistakes is be prepared!
Do your research, chat to people and give yourself plenty of time to get everything in order.
…but the most important thing you need to remember to do is to enjoy every part of it – the fun and adventure starts at the planning stage!
Any hints and tips you’ve picked up for first time backpackers?
Share the love in the comments!
Love this! Only 10 weeks to go until my RTW trip as a newbie backpacker!
Great advice as always, the Inbetweeners “Ben” comment made me laughed out loud at work!
Yeeewwwww what’s the plan Julie?
hahahaha yeah I enjoyed my little inbetweeners rant ;)
I’ve quit my job and planned a whole year travelling starting in South America for 3 months hitting up the Inca trial and Rio Carnvial. Over to NZ via LA and Fiji, then about 4 months in Aus doing the east coast. Finally onto Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam… We leave in 10 weeks!
Your blog has been my salvation and I really hope that we bump into you at some point!!!
Yeeewwwwww that sounds like an epic trip Julie – congrats! Let me know if you need any help booking anything :)
We could well cross paths at some point so keep me posted!
Great article! Off to Australia in a few months for a year and will no doubt read this article again just to make sure I have everything covered! Really good blog!
No worries Craig, glad it helped out! Where are you heading first in Oz? Make sure you hit up Yamba and Byron Bay!
The best advice is to definitely not make too many plans. I love the feeling of not knowing where I’m heading next!
It’s terrifying and liberating at the same time hey Francesca?!
This made me laugh!
The distance thing is totally true especially in Australia!
glad you enjoyed it Carla! Yeah Australia is HUGE hey?!
Great Article Chris! Every traveler needs that advice before planning their tips specially saving, planning, research and all. I really enjoy your blog and surely remember your points for my next trip!!!
Hey Sophie, gad my advice should be of some help!
I start my first backpacking trip to New Zealand next week, and I’m gone for a year.
This made me feel so much better about everything that’s been going through my head!!
Especially the over packing part. New Zealand climate is much different from the prairies in Canada I’ve been so worried about unexpected situations.
Now I know I’m not the only one…. And should probably take the extra 15 shirts out of my pack ^_^
Hey Kat, stoked to hear you’re heading to NZ and that the post helped! I loved NZ and I’m sure you will do too! Let me know if you need any help!
I am going on my first backpacking experience next march – Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Hong Kong for 6 months.. What recommendations would you give me for packing? I have no idea where to even begin to start!!
Hey Jess,
Stoked to hear about your plans – sounds like an epic adventure you have there! Packing wise keep in mind if you’re doing NZ at the end of your trip it’ll be a bit colder than Asia! The old saying goes take half the clothes and twice the money…and it’s a solid plan!haha!
Really helpful post, and pretty original too!
There’s nothing worse than hearing a backpacker claim they visited a certain country when really they only hopped across the border to the capital city, then back!
hahahaha annoying hey – there’s always one in every hostel ;)
Totally guilty of: packing to much, planned to much, and traveled too fast!
hahahaha we’ve all been stung by all of them I think ;)
This has been so helpful! Love how down to earth you are! I’ve done a bit of traveling but am starting to plan my first solo backpacking trip. I want to spend 2-3 months volunteering in thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam then head to iceland, scandinavia, the uk, spain, portugal and morocco!! 12 months total :) so nervous but super excited!
Yeeeewwww that sounds like an epic adventure Morghan – let me know how you get on! Glad the post helped you out!
Hi Chris,
Wonderfully informative post! Really helping out a lot. I couldn’t help but notice in your gear photo three clear boxes of business cards. What are these for? Thanks dude!
Hey Josh – glad it helped! The business cards are for my blog and a couple of other sites and businesses I run :)
Just found your blog. It’s our dream to do something like this, we are currently living in Taiwan and getting bogged down in work day in and day out. We want to cut it all loose and hit the road! I look forward to diving into all the information you have available here. Our contract is up in February, so the plan is to get it all rolling to be ready then!
Stoked you like the blog guys – I was in Taiwan last year actually! What are your plans for Feb then?
Cool stuff man! I always seem to forget at least one or two things you mentioned in your list…and now I’m going to write them down and make sure I don’t for my next trip to Bali – coming up soon! Thanks for sharing. Do you live in Australia or just hanging there for a bit??
Completely agree! I’ve travelled way too fast through Canada and it was over like a whirlwind! Halving your clothes and doubling your money are great tips! Thanks
Glad you agree Jade – any other tips you’d share?
Aah loving this, so true all of it. It’s all about finding the right balance between too much and not enough stuff/planning/time/money etc etc. I feel like a newbie again, gotta fit stuff for 2 ppl in the backpack this time around and one of us are still in nappies… wish me luck lol
Wow sounds like you have an awesome adventure planned Maria – good luck backpacking with the little one in tow!
ONG so true^^
Now that I travelled a lot I do not do all those mistakes but when I read the article I am like “ahah true I did this!” ;)
I just created a travel blog (http://mcfollowsthesun.com) and my goal is to give tips to people so thanks for inspiring me!
I coudnt agree more.
Love the blog mate!
Great post Chris….. I have done these mistakes for my first trip to Canada(That was my very first long trip). This post is really helpful for me. Thank you so much Chris for sharing this post.
Great list Chris. Found myself in this article, especially the “Taking Too Much” and “Planning Too Much” stuff.
Chris,
Excellent post and especially liked your spew on budgeting for travel. I can tell you it’s REALLY REALLY easy to spend money, but’s its hard to save money especially when you want to buy souvenirs.
I try not to buy a lot, so I purposely bring a small backpack so I all I need is my camera and essentials
Safe travels mate!
Best,
Chris
Travel budgeting is SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT! Thanks so much for this helpful post! keep up the great work
Stoked it helped you out Bella :)
These advice were really useful..I made the mistake’s you have mentioned them and I would surely keep them in mind for my next time travel !!
I agree, quality not quantity! Ive seen 5 countries THOROUGHLY. haha. id rather know them well then experience them fleetingly
Such a nicer, more relaxed way to travel too hey?
Thank you for all of your tips :-D
Before I travel I make sure that my Travel Insurance is updated, I got my jabs done and my accommodations all approved. I honestly do not plan whenever I visit a place I just go there and then there I will try and ask for the best go to places in the area.
This is such an informative post. I have to agree that you shouldn’t travel too fast because you cannot enjoy the culture and specialties of the place if you literally just jump off from one country to another.
Glad you agree Mikhaela! Where are you heading on your next adventure?
Hi Chris,
Brilliant piece that lists critical issues. I must say that the smallest mistake can ruin your entire travel plan. Good guide and reminder. Glad that you noted.
Great blog on travel. Thanks for the tips!
These tips are definitely very useful for the first time travelers, especially the planning part… People usually plan a lot during their trips but overplanning is not good.
I have been traveling for 3 years, I’ve travelled by bicycle, by motorcycle, by van and by backpack and the one thing I could never learn is PACKING! Every single time I start packing with this line repeating on my mind: “Only the things that you need, only the ones you really need, only… you… need…” But at the first packing it turns out something like moving out. Then I had to halve for few times and at the end I only have a small backpack. Thanks to my survival mind who thinks we need everything we have, it took me more than 4 hours to pack my stuff. :) But at least, it is funny :)
hahahaha good to see it’s not just me that overpacks sometimes Melke…it never seems to get any easier hey?!
I did most of the mistakes mentioned here ;)
It’s tempting, on that first daunting trip away, to get everything locked in – every hostel, every transfer, every breakfast, lunch and dinner. That way you don’t have to worry about anything, right? But you’ll soon come to realise that it pays to have some flexibility