This page is dedicated to lessons learned from traveling in the hopes that I don’t make them again. I update it per Trip Report. The overarching lesson is Stick to the Plan.
2024
TPOL Won’t Visit All 50 States And That’s OK
- Don’t risk missing a connection when I have a business event the next day. My flight from SJU to MIA was delayed and I would not have made it to Vegas in time (AA SJU-MIA-LAS: Borracho in Business (First)).
- Don’t drink and fly if you can’t lie flat (AA SJU-MIA-LAS: Borracho in Business (First)).
2023
- Leave Duty Free wine behind instead of checking in a bag. I wasted time in the immigration line and on an airport bench instead of the lovely Fiji Airways Business Class Lounge (Travel Lesson: Leave the Duty-Free Wine Behind).
- 2 days per island where there is an attraction on each island. I could not see the blowholes and Le Sua Oceane Trench because they are located on separate islands and I was only in Samoa for 2 nights (I Blew It: Missing Blowholes in Samoa And Tuna in America).
- Hit the TCC Country When You Can. I should have gone to America Samoa when I was in Samoa. Now, I have to go all the way back to the South Pacific. (I Blew It: Missing Blowholes in Samoa And Tuna in America).
- Don’t redeem high-value stay-certs before those of lower value. I used a 40k Marriott stay cert instead of a 35k that I could have saved for a 55k redemption as Marriott allows 15k to be stacked in conjunction with a stay cert. (Marriott Stay Certs: Let Me Warn Or Remind You Again).
- TPOL’s rule is to stay a maximum of 3 nights but preferably two nights in any city. Four nights in Tenerife is an eternity (Guns & Butter: Tenerife Travel Guide (Disappointed Edition)
- Don’t book island hopper flights last second. Don’t have international connections that depend on getting from island A to island B (Stuck on Deserted Island? TPOL’s Trouble in Cabo Verde)
- Don’t book a flight at 6:15 AM if you’re having a friend reunion the night before (Travel Lesson Lisbon: Friend Reunion Led to Missed Flight).
2022
- Put the formal name of the airport in a rideshare app and use a landmark instead of the ‘my location’ feature (see Medellin: Wrong Airport, Bad Uber Location, What’s Next?
- Gamble and buy tickets in advance at retail. You can always sell them if you don’t go. Wait till the day of the event when you are there to minimize the price gouging (see The Guide to Buying Tickets for the World Cup And Other Big Events).
- Leave the night of the meeting and strive to arrive the same day (see Wyndham JFK Airport: One Lie After Another)
- Don’t assume that there isn’t early check-in (see 13.5 Hours in JFK: Wait, There Was Early Check-in?).
- Do your visa application well in advance (see Vietnam E-Visa Not Processed: Another TPOL Duck Up?).
- Don’t let tickets go unused! (see Another Error: Why Didn’t I Reschedule BKK to HAN?)
Rum Rum Trip Caribbean Castaway
- Don’t bring triple the clothes just because it’s a shorter trip (see What to Pack: Take 1/4 of the Clothes, 1/2 the Money)
- How much to eat & drink (see A Holiday of Healthy, Tipsy, & on Budget? Basically Impossible).
- Positioning flights: Arriving too early can be too early. Going the night before is a waste of points. (see JFK: Too Early to Check-In)
- Don’t order wine by the glass(es) (reference Hunter’s Inn, Guns & Butter: Lithuania Travel Guide & reference Delayed Flight=More Food, Guns & Butter: Tallinn, Estonia Travel Guide).
2021
- The perfectly packed suitcase becomes a pain to pack when jumping from one hotel to another, one country to another (see Pack a Spillover Bag).
- Order at least a medium deep dish pizza, well-done crust (see Post Lockdown Dream Fulfilled? Deep Dish Pizza in Chicago).
- Register and activate your Priority Pass before travel (see Priority Pass Registration: Remember Not to Forget)
- Use Skype for toll-free calls (see TPOL’s Tip: Use Skype for 800 #s Abroad).
- Pay for bags in advance or avoid discount carriers (see Viva Air Colombia: Discount Carriers & Baggage Fees)
- Buy wine on your final stop only (see Guns & Butter: Ribera Del Duero, Madrid Travel Guide (Vino Edition)).
- Buy souvenirs when you see them (reference futbol scarfs, see Guns & Butter: Conwy, Wales Travel Guide)
- Don’t Dilly Dally on the Way to the hotel. Restaurants were closed upon late-night arrival in Milan (see Late Night Bite in Milan).
- Don’t bring any workout equipment (see No More Mobile Gym No Matter What)
- Don’t Book Open-Ended Itineraries (Punxsutawney TPOL: Travel Lessons).
2019
- Be careful taking selfies. Death is closer than you think (see Beware of Selfie Death!).
- Don’t travel during the rainy season. Fog almost ruined Tiger’s Nest Finding Happiness: Tiger’s Nest (Bhutan Day 5).
- Don’t repeat leisure activities in more than one country (see Total Consciousness: Golfing in Bhutan vs Rip-off Alert: Golfing in the Himalayas.)
- Don’t plan activities for the morning of departure (see Guns & Butter: Kathmandu Travel Guide (Bargaining Edition). Going to Monkey Temple worked but had I done it the day before, I may have been able to avoid the endless delay at the airport (see Nepal Domestic Flight Misery).
- Fund your Charles Schwab card 4 business days before travel.
- Quadruple check visa situation even if in transit.
2018
#NoCollusion, No Albania for TPOL
- Don’t travel to Israel while Iraqi and expect a smooth entrance or exit (see Detained in Israel? Check The Back of Your Passport & “You Leave Only with Passport!” Detained in Tel Aviv Again).
- Print your boarding pass ahead of time (see Wizz Air Terminal 1 Tel Aviv: Scammed at The Bus Station).
- Don’t let your Priority Pass access lapse (see Churning Cards?).
- Stay close to the nightlife in obscure countries that don’t have Uber (see Folie Marine Albania: Party Like A Rockstar, BYOD & Bollanos Hotel Albanian Riviera: Wait, Where Am I? ).
- Stick to the plan! (see Make Corfu Greek Again! How Tourism Ruined an Island)
- “Brand Hotel + Name of City” Doesn’t Equal Near City Centre (see Four Points Ljubljana: Not Near the Centre & Radisson Lisbon: No Thank You).
- Don’t underestimate the time needed in transit (see Connecting in Madrid? Pack Extra Time, Connecting in Madrid: Pack Extra Time Part II, & Lost in Airports: Can’t You Read the Signs?).
