We all love to believe in the Fairy Godmother, the Tooth fairy, and that Santa, loaded with presents, fits down a chimney. Still, nothing could be further from the truth—as are the misconceptions around travel that are put out there in blogs, snippets, and long justifying articles that are totally fake or outrageously enhanced. Many originate from one small truthful incident that is regaled again and again, like Chinese whispers, the story becomes distorted: street food makes you sick, cruise ships will wait for you, it's expensive to visit Japan, or you should book flights on a particular day of the week.
Below are some travel white lies that need to be busted:
Travel is dangerous—keep your wits about you at all times, especially when traveling solo, and do some homework about your destination on your government travel website. Warnings about a country are there for a reason, and your travel insurance will not cover you if your government has deemed the destination a 'no-go' place. Travel itself is no more dangerous than most things you do in your daily life at home.
You should be a Visa mastermind—no one can know everything about every visa for every country, as they vary considerably and can change at a moment's notice. Do not rely on gossip from other travelers; always research your country's government travel website and that of your destination. Beware of merely searching the internet for a country's visa, as scam sites would love to run off with your visa fees.
Allow 90 minutes between connecting flights—sometimes this is enough time, but it depends on numerous factors; the size of the airport, the late arrival of your incoming plane, whether you are swapping a domestic airport for an international airport, and the distance between them. Or having to collect luggage and go through customs when transferring from international to domestic or vice versa, plus how busy the airport is at any given time of the day or night. Let alone if you have to queue at the toilets, as you have an aversion to using an airplane loo. There is no standard time, and each journey should take into consideration all of the above if you don’t wish to miss out on boarding your next flight.
Checking in late for your flight means your luggage will be off first—this is definitely an old wives' tale! The only way to ensure that your luggage comes off first is to fly at the pointy end of the plane (business or first class). Some airlines offer priority baggage, but whether or not this works is questionable.
Duty-free shopping saves money—the only goods where it's possible to save money are alcohol and tobacco (heavily taxed), while most other items can be bought for around the same price when on sale in your home country. It's also a question of how much you want to carry around. Once upon a time, duty-free shopping was a bargain paradise, but not so much now.
You don’t need travel insurance—biggest lie ever! If you can't afford travel insurance, then don't travel. If the whole deal on travel insurance is too expensive, forgo the luggage insurance but never travel overseas without health insurance. It only takes one incident of sickness or an accident to happen and you will be thankful that you have it. Overseas medical expenses can be horrendously expensive, or if in a third-world country with little or no medical resources available you need to know that you can have a medivac home. It’s not worth taking the risk that nothing will happen to you.
Travel expands your mind—this depends on whether you have an open mind to begin with. For the open-minded individual, travel opens your mind to the world around you and the different cultures you may encounter. But, for the closed-minded person, it could reinforce preconceived prejudices and beliefs about certain races, cultures, or countries.
It’s not worth having a stopover—it depends on whether you don't mind being squished into a sardine can for hours at a time or if you would like to stretch your legs for longer than just the time at an airport. If flying at the pointy swish end of the plane and time poor, then maybe it's not worth stopping over anywhere. But, for the majority in economy on a long-haul flight, having a stopover is a blessing. As a bonus it allows you to sample one more destination.
There are so many falsehoods about travel that can be off-putting, whether about a particular destination, the culture shock you may experience, or simply that a country is deemed to be too expensive. Don't believe the misinformation put out into cyberspace before doing your own research or involving a travel agent to do it for you.
Gail Palethorpe, a self proclaimed Australian gypsy, is a freelance writer, photographer and eternal traveller. Check out her website Gail Palethorpe Photography and her Shutterstock profile.
