Mistakes, I’ve Made a Few (2020 Review)

Part of our goal in establishing this website was to help other travelers – whether first-timers or long-term globetrotters – avoid some of the mistakes that we’ve made in our travels. While not all problems can be eliminated, the more seamless you make your journey, the more likely you are to be able to remember the highs and forget the lows. Developing the site has also forced us to think critically about our own practices, and to work to control the things that we can control.

Nevertheless, we still made (and witnessed) some mistakes in 2020. Some but not all of them were caused or compounded by the global pandemic. We also avoided a few potential problems by being exceptionally vigilant or overprepared.

Here are a few of the lessons I learned or relearned: 

Book Directly

We’re always looking for the most economical airfares we can find, and often different vendors will have the exact same itinerary for different amounts. If that difference is substantial, it may make sense to use a bargain aggregator. If it’s minor, however, it may not be worth a few dollars. We bought an international itinerary through an outfit that I’d never heard of because it was $24 cheaper than going through the airline itself. When that itinerary had to be changed, through nobody’s fault, I could not get the seller to respond to messages sent to their site or their email address. I waited on hold for 90 minutes with their customer service before getting unceremoniously cut off. If you’re going to use an aggregator, go with one of the big names like Orbitz, Expedia or Travelocity. 

Pay Attention

After over two dozen trips through Mazatlan, you’d think I’d know some of the baggage policies, especially when it comes to what’s allowed through security. I’d even posted a picture of their “tower of prohibited items” on this website, and it showed a fishing rod. Nevertheless, I was surprised when Mexican security officials would not let me take my cased travel rods onto the plane. Fortunately, I had enough time and the proper case to go back and check the tube, but it led me to pay more attention going forward, and to trust that “prohibitions” are not just “suggestions.” 

Bug Off

Prior to November, we’d only been to El Salto in the late fall one time, but during that trip we’d been chewed up pretty good by the no-see-ums. With that in mind, we brought insect repellent, but didn’t start using it religiously until we were a few days into the trip. That was too late for my ankles, which were just finally recovering from a September 2019 trip to the Amazon where I’d made the same mistake. A tube of repellent doesn’t take up much space and it may (literally) save your life. Bring it. Use it. Reapply it.

Be a Wimp

Everyone wants to be the tough guy who doesn’t need help or suffer from everything, but the best way to ruin a trip for your friends and family is get sick or injured. Either they’ll be forced to cut their fun short, or else they’ll have to watch you suffer. We weren’t sure if it would be rough in Guatemala, or if we’d get seasick. We hadn’t had that issue before, but with three days on the ocean any loss of time (or lunch) could mess up the vacation. Accordingly, we all wore scopolamine patches. On the first two days it was essentially glass calm, and we probably looked like dorks unnecessarily. On Day Three, however, when the seas got big, none of us suffered at all, and we were able to stay out all day and add to our sailfish totals. We might’ve been fine without them, but it cost a $10 copay to be sure. 

Pack Rods Properly

Fortunately, this wasn’t my mistake, but the importance of packing a rod tube carefully and deliberately was reemphasized on our November trip to El Salto. Two members of our group opened their tubes upon arrival to find that some of their expensive rods had been broken – one rod for one friend and three for the other. There are certainly no guarantees when it comes to anything related to luggage, but I’m sure if they’d followed my past advice on how to pack their gear safely they would have substantially minimized their chances of loss.