Travelling and packing mistakes!

I'm sure we have had our mishaps when we packed up the wrong things and made embarrassing mistakes when we traveled before. How about you guys list your laughable mistakes here!

So one time when I was 9 or 10, my parents went to Singapore and we got our rental car. My dad forgot that Singapore drives on the left and he ended up driving on the right by mistake and caused a huge traffic jam that luckily didn't make the news.

Also, the first time I went to Australia was several years back. I forgot the seasons were flipped since Australia is in the southern hemisphere so I packed mainly shorts and tanks in July. When I got there, it was freezing. So I had to stay mainly indoors and I had to borrow my cousin's long-sleeved shirts and sweats.

 

Do you have relatives in Singapore?

 

Last year I left school for winter break and had packed myself a turkey sandwich and a banana to take on the plane. Only problem is I left it on the kitchen counter and found it when I got back two weeks later. I didn't know turkey sandwiches could turn some of those colors! Luckily it was in a sealed Ziploc bag so I didn't have to call in the hazmat team.

 

No, we went there to see sights like regular tourists. We didn't really think about the driving part since we thought that Singapore drives on the right like most countries.

 

My dad did the same, or rather, opposite, thing while we were in the US.

 

I went to a college weekend once at a bible college. The one thing I forgot to pack was a blanket. I spent a chilly night in the dorm sleeping under my jacket and a borrowed Star Wars blanket. Who knew Oklahoma was that cold in April?

 

That's not a good thing. For some reason, over the last few months, locally, we've had that problem somewhat regularly near a certain freeway interchange. Always on a Saturday night.

 

Ewww. Old turkey can get really weird looking.

When my brother came to visit us from Oregon last Christmas he told us he had gone shopping and wasn't sure if he had brought in a raw chicken her got. No one had a key to his car, and that chicken was in there for a over a week. I can't imagine the smell. He says it eventually went away, though.

 

I forgot that Lapland is always cold, and even in summer you need a coat. I lived, but it surprised me that in summer it's still going to be less than 10 degrees Celsius north of Rovaniemi.

I've also been ridiculously confused and embarrassed when I was in Helsinki for a summer and I wasn't sure if it was three in the morning or three in the afternoon. It turned out it was three in the morning.

Even worse, I was really confused when the price of a bag of potatoes was written as €4,50. It took me a while to remember that in decimals "." and "," are reversed in a lot of Europe.

 

Not a traveling mistake but a fashion mistake (according to some). I went to Disney World with my family 7 years ago and I bought a pair of Crocs for all the walking we would do. Best $30 I ever spent. The mistake? To this day, I still wear my beat up 7-year-old, back strap missing Crocs, to the chagrin of many a people.

 

I travel a decent amount for work, I've done it all. forgotten socks, underwear, toothbrush, soap, hair gel (the worst! I'm very picky!).

My biggest mistake is packing to much. My coworkers that I travel with almost never check a bag, I always have to. I have no idea how they do it! Most of my travel for work is 5-6 days at a pop. I love clothes, and my coworkers always give me crap for it :lol:

I am an avid runner so I have to bring extra shoes, and clothes for that.

 

I usually pack like I'm leaving the planet.

I haven't really done anything to list here, but my sister left $100 in a safe in Disney World. She also left her phone in the hotel room in L.A. I scour the entire room top to bottom (taking the cups and soap with me) so I never have left anything behind.

I do have a friend who (unfortunately) always leaves with MORE then he showed up with. His extra item? The page in the free hotel Bibles that lists Leviticus' passage on homosexuality. He tears it out whenever he stays at a hotel or motel. I don't approve since it isn't his Bible to deface, but I do think that people won't really be missing anything important by not having Leviticus in their hotel Bible...

 

Not my own, but when my mum got married in Vegas she forgot her wedding dress back home in England and had to buy another out there. Quite an important item to forget haha.

 

Biggest mistake I've made?
I tried to call and draw the attention of a waiter in England by raising my hand,
Apparently things aren't done there like they're done here in Africa xD

Damn cultural differences Haha

 

I sometimes forget underwear. Earlier this year, I had to pop into a H&M in Berlin when visiting a friend for the weekend. Most recently, I didn't bring enough underwear with me to South America and had to make a few visits to an underwear store in Buenos Aires.

 

My family was invited by two other families to accompany them to the beach one winter (yes, you read that right) when I was around 15 years old. It was more my mother's fault, but I didn't pack enough clothes. When she saw my duffel bag, she said I packed too many clothes and made me leave a good bit of it home (she told me to just re-wear some stuff on the last day). On the second day of the trip, I absolutely ruined one of my outfits by spilling a lot of food on it, so I had to wear the same stupid green tracksuit outfit for the remaining two days. :dry:

There was also one time where I was on an orchestra field trip to Tennessee, and I left my favorite pair of pajamas in the hotel room and didn't realize it until we were already halfway back home. ;_;

 

ROFL Agreed!

---------- Post added 17th Dec 2013 at 02:51 PM ----------

LOL In California, we actually do that here.

 

When I went to Germany recently with a fraction of my family, we forgot about the time difference and almost missed out flight back hahahah :')

 

I over pack. Period.

The only thing that usually needs laundry attention if gone a week or two is underwear and socks. You can't over pack underwear.

 

That last part is awesome! :lol: