You’ve booked the flights, the excitement is real, and you’re already picturing yourself somewhere warmer with a cold drink in hand. Good. But the fastest way to dent a great trip isn’t bad luck. It’s a handful of small, avoidable mistakes that catch out first-timers and seasoned travellers alike, usually the same ones, over and over.
This post is my running list of the things I’d tell a mate not to do before they fly. Some are about money, some about safety, a couple are just about not being the tourist everyone rolls their eyes at. I’ve made a fair few of these mistakes myself, which is exactly why they’re on here.
None of it is meant to scare you off. Travel is brilliant, and the odds are heavily in favour of a smooth trip. Think of this as the stuff I wish someone had drilled into me earlier, saving me a lost afternoon at a police station in one city and an eye-watering phone bill after another. Right, let’s get into it.
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Things Tourists Should Never Do While Travelling: Quick Facts
1. Never skip travel insurance to save a few quid
I’ll start with the one people ignore most, and the one that costs them worst. Travel insurance feels like money down the drain right up until the moment it isn’t. A broken ankle on a hike, a burst appendix, a stolen bag with your laptop in it. Any of those can turn into a bill that dwarfs the price of the trip.
The maths is brutal in some places. A serious medical event in the United States, a helicopter rescue in the Alps, a hospital stay in Southeast Asia followed by a medical flight home. We’re talking tens of thousands of pounds. Set against that, a policy costing roughly £20 to £50 (about $27 to $67 / €24 to €58) for a couple of weeks looks less like an expense and more like the smartest fiver-a-day you’ll spend.
Don’t just grab the cheapest either. Check the medical limit, the excess, and that it actually covers what you’re doing. Skiing, diving and hiking above a certain altitude are often extras. If you’re comparing options, my guide to getting travel insurance that actually pays out walks through what to look for, and you can compare travel insurance plans in a few minutes.
While you’re sorting the safety-net stuff, save the local emergency number in your phone. It sounds obvious. In a panic, nobody remembers to Google it.
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| Where you are | Emergency number | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Anywhere in the EU | 112 | Works across every EU country, often even with no signal or no SIM |
| UK | 999 | 112 also connects you here |
| USA and Canada | 911 | Same number for police, fire and ambulance |
| Australia | 000 | 112 works from most mobiles too |
| New Zealand | 111 | Simple and well signposted |
| Not sure? | Try 112 | It’s the closest thing to a global mobile fallback |
2. Never assume your passport is good to go
Your passport being “in date” is not the same as your passport being valid for travel. This trips up more people than you’d believe, and there is nothing worse than being turned away at check-in for a document you thought was fine.
Two things catch travellers out. First, that six-month rule I mentioned: plenty of countries want your passport valid for at least six months after the day you arrive, not the day you booked. Second, blank pages. Some border officials still stamp, and a handful of countries insist on two or more empty pages or they’ll refuse entry.
Check your expiry date the moment you start planning, not the week before. Passport renewals can take longer than you’d hope during busy periods, and paying for a fast-track service to rescue a trip is a miserable way to spend money you didn’t need to.
3. Never wing the entry requirements
Visas, travel permits, vaccination proof, onward-ticket rules. This is the boring admin that quietly decides if your trip happens at all. And it changes, so what a friend did two years ago might not apply to you now.
Europe is a good example of why you can’t run on autopilot. The old passport-stamp routine has been swapped for a biometric entry system that logs your face and fingerprints at the border, and a separate online travel permit is being rolled out for visa-free visitors. If you’re heading that way, my breakdown of the cost of a Schengen entry visa and the new rules is worth a read.
The safest habit is to check the official requirements for your exact passport and destination before you book, then again before you fly. Our entry requirement checker pulls the current picture together, and some visas genuinely take weeks, so leaving it late can cost you the whole trip.
4. Never drink the tap water without checking first
This one is pure prevention. In some countries the tap water is grand, and buying bottled all week is a waste of money and a heap of plastic. In others, one unlucky glass or a rogue ice cube can flatten you for days. The trick is knowing which is which before you take a sip.
The table below is a rough guide, not gospel. Water quality varies by city, by season and sometimes by the specific building you’re staying in, so ask your host or hotel if you’re unsure. When in doubt, a decent filter bottle pays for itself fast and cuts the plastic mountain at the same time.
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| Region | Tap water, generally | Smart move |
|---|---|---|
| UK, Ireland, most of Western Europe | Usually fine | Drink freely, carry a refill bottle |
| USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand | Usually fine | Same, though the taste can vary |
| Parts of Southern and Eastern Europe | Often fine, sometimes iffy | Ask locally, or filter to be safe |
| Mexico, much of Central and South America | Risky in many spots | Stick to sealed or filtered, skip the ice |
| Much of South and Southeast Asia | Risky | Sealed, boiled or filtered only |
| Much of Africa and parts of the Middle East | Varies, often risky | Check for your exact spot, filter to be safe |
5. Never flash your valuables like a walking ATM
Most trips pass without a whiff of trouble, but the easiest way to invite it is to look like an easy mark. Big camera swinging round your neck, phone on the cafe table, wallet stuffed and visible, expensive watch on show. Pickpockets and bag-snatchers are professionals, and they read body language for a living.
The fix is dull and effective. Keep your phone in a zipped pocket, not on the table. Carry a cross-body bag that sits in front of you in crowds. Split your cash and cards, so a lost bag doesn’t wipe you out. And keep a backup card somewhere separate, in case one gets blocked or nicked.
- Crowded transport, markets and famous attractions are prime hunting grounds, so tighten up there.
- If someone tries to distract you, that’s often the whole point. Hold your bag and keep moving.
- Looking mildly like you know where you’re going does more for your safety than any gadget.
Gear we actually travel with
Passport holders, packing cubes, travel wallets. Stuff that earns its place in the bag.
Browse the shop6. Never get stung on money and exchange
This is where people quietly haemorrhage cash without ever noticing. Airport currency booths give some of the worst rates you’ll find anywhere. Then there’s dynamic currency conversion, that helpful-sounding prompt at a card machine or ATM asking if you’d like to pay in pounds instead of the local currency. Say yes and you’ll usually get a rubbish rate baked in. Always choose the local currency.
A fee-free travel card like Wise or Revolut sorts most of this. You get a fair exchange rate, low or no fees, and you’re not carting a wad of cash around. Pull out a bit of local money for your first day, from a proper bank ATM rather than one of those standalone machines in tourist zones that love a sneaky charge. My travel money and planning resources cover the setup, and the budget calculator gives you a realistic daily number before you go.
7. Never assume your phone will just work abroad
The classic. You land, you switch off aeroplane mode, and your phone happily latches onto a foreign network at roaming rates you didn’t check. Outside your home region, that can sting. I’ve seen people rack up a nasty bill just from a maps app quietly updating in the background.
Sort your data before you fly. An eSIM is the easy answer these days: you download a local data plan onto your phone, it kicks in when you land, and you’re not hunting for a physical SIM in a shop you can’t find. Plans often start at just a few pounds for a useful chunk of data, which beats a surprise roaming charge of £6 or more a day (about $8 / €7) many times over. I use one on nearly every trip now. You can grab an eSIM for your destination in a couple of minutes, and if you’re Europe-bound, my pick of the best eSIMs for Europe saves you the guesswork.
8. Never turn up to a sacred site dressed wrong
Temples, mosques, churches and shrines are living places of worship, not photo backdrops. Rocking up in a vest and shorts to somewhere that expects covered shoulders and knees is a quick way to get turned away at the door, or worse, to cause genuine offence to people who are actually there to pray.
Dress codes vary, but the safe default across most of the world is shoulders and knees covered, and shoes off where asked. A light scarf in your day bag is the single most useful thing you can carry, since it doubles as a shoulder cover, a head covering and a bit of sun protection. Some sites loan or hire sarongs at the entrance, but don’t bank on it.
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| Type of site | Cover up | Also watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Churches (Italy, Spain and beyond) | Shoulders and knees | Hats off inside, quiet during services |
| Mosques | Shoulders, knees, hair for women | Shoes off, avoid prayer times as a visitor |
| Buddhist and Hindu temples (Thailand, Bali, India) | Shoulders and knees | Shoes off, never point your feet at a statue |
| Synagogues | Modest dress | Men often cover their heads, follow the signs |
9. Never jump in the first unofficial taxi you see
Arrivals halls are where tired travellers make dodgy decisions. A friendly bloke offers you a lift, quotes a price that sounds fine, and forty minutes later you’ve paid two or three times the going rate for a scenic detour. Unmetered airport taxis and the touts who work the exits are a well-worn racket in a lot of cities.
Have your plan sorted before you land. Know if you want the official taxi rank, a licensed app like the local ride-hailing option, or a transfer booked in advance. Booking an airport transfer ahead of time means a named driver, a fixed price and a sign with your name on it, which after a long-haul flight is honestly a small joy. If you do take a taxi, insist on the meter or agree the fare before you get in, never after.
10. Never overpack "just in case"
Everyone does it once. You pack for every hypothetical weather event and social occasion, then spend the whole trip dragging a suitcase you can barely lift up stairs, over cobbles and onto trains. The wardrobe you imagined never happens. You wear the same four things and hate the rest for taking up space.
Pack for the trip you’re actually taking. Lay everything out, then remove a third of it, honestly. A capsule of mix-and-match clothes, layers instead of bulk, and shoes you can walk in all day will carry you further than a case full of maybes. And leave a little room for the stuff you’ll inevitably buy.
- Going carry-on only dodges baggage fees, which budget airlines love to spring at the gate for £45 to £75 (about $60 to $100 / €52 to €87).
- Roll or pack in cubes, it genuinely fits more and creases less.
- One versatile jacket beats three single-use ones every time.
11. Never assume the etiquette matches home
Manners are local. What’s polite in one country reads as rude in another, and vice versa. Tipping is the obvious one: standard and expected in the United States, actively unwelcome in Japan, somewhere in between across much of Europe. Get it wrong and you either look tight or, oddly, cause offence by tipping at all.
Beyond tipping, it’s the small stuff. Learning “hello,” “please” and “thank you” in the local language is a tiny effort that lands warmly almost everywhere. Loud phone calls, jumping queues, over-familiar photos of strangers, hard bargaining where prices are fixed. Read the room, watch what locals do, and lean towards a bit more reserve than you’d use at home.
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| Where | Restaurants | Taxis and porters |
|---|---|---|
| USA | 15 to 20% is expected, not optional | Round up, a dollar or two for the porter |
| UK and Ireland | Around 10% if service isn’t included | Not expected, rounding up is plenty |
| Most of Europe | Round up or 5 to 10% | A little loose change is fine |
| Japan and South Korea | No tipping, it can cause confusion | Same, a polite thank you is the tip |
| Much of Southeast Asia | Not traditional, increasingly appreciated | Rounding up is welcome |
12. Never point your camera at everything and everyone
Your camera can land you in real bother if you’re careless with it. Photographing military sites, border crossings, airports, police and some government buildings is restricted or flat-out banned in plenty of countries, and officials do not treat “I’m just a tourist” as a defence.
People deserve the same care. Sticking a lens in a stranger’s face, especially children, without a smile and a nod first is just rude, and in some cultures it’s a serious no. Ask before you shoot portraits, respect a no, and be doubly thoughtful at places of worship, ceremonies and anywhere marked with a no-photos sign. A good photo is never worth someone’s dignity.
13. Never feed, ride or grab the wildlife for a photo
That elephant ride, the tiger selfie, the monkey you fancy hand-feeding for a cute clip. It’s easy to treat animals as part of the entertainment, but a lot of these encounters sit on real cruelty behind the scenes, and some are genuinely dangerous to you as well.
Feeding wild animals makes them aggressive and reliant on tourists, and a monkey bite abroad can mean a very unfun course of jabs. If you want to see animals, choose ethical, well-reviewed operators and genuine sanctuaries over anywhere that lets you ride, hug or pose with wildlife. Booking reputable, vetted tours and experiences is an easy way to steer clear of the grim stuff, and my guide to sustainable travel digs into how to spot the difference.
14. Never assume local laws work like they do at home
Ignorance of the law is not a defence anywhere, and some rules abroad will genuinely surprise you. Things that are legal, normal or barely noticed at home can carry real fines or worse elsewhere, and playing dumb at the airport won’t get you far.
A few that catch tourists out:
- Singapore doesn’t sell chewing gum and importing it to sell is banned, while dropping litter or spitting gum out can land you a hefty fine that runs into the hundreds.
- Jaywalking is fined in parts of the USA, Germany, Australia and elsewhere, even on an empty street.
- Drinking or being drunk in public is restricted or illegal in a fair few places, and drug laws in parts of Asia and the Middle East are severe, with zero tolerance.
- Vaping is banned or restricted in a growing number of countries, sometimes with fines just for carrying one.
- Public displays of affection and revealing clothing are frowned on, or policed, in more conservative regions.
The habit that saves you is simple: spend ten minutes reading up on the local laws and customs for your specific destination before you go. If something does go sideways while you’re away, our travel problems hub is a good place to start sorting it.
Small print: Prescription medication is another sneaky one. A few common medicines at home are controlled or banned elsewhere, so carry them in the original packaging with a copy of the prescription.
15. Never plan every single minute (or leave it all to chance)
The last one is about balance, and it cuts both ways. Over-plan and you’ll spend the trip running to a timetable, ticking boxes instead of enjoying the place, wrecked by day three. Under-plan and you’ll waste half your mornings working out logistics when you should be out exploring.
The sweet spot is a loose skeleton. Book your first and last nights, pin down anything that sells out or needs timed entry, and leave real gaps for wandering, resting and the tip a local gives you that turns out to be the best thing you do all trip. Some of my favourite travel memories were never on any plan. Give yourself the room to find them.
Plan the trip, skip the mistakes
Knowing what not to do is half the battle. The other half is putting a proper plan together, and that’s where I can help. Rough out your route, sort your budget, and check your entry requirements with our free tools over in the how to plan a trip hub. Get the boring bits right, and the fun bits look after themselves.
FAQs
What are the biggest mistakes tourists make abroad?
The most common ones are skipping travel insurance, ignoring entry and passport rules, drinking unsafe tap water, and getting stung on money through airport exchange booths or dodgy taxis. Nearly all of them are avoidable with a little prep before you fly.
Is tap water safe to drink around the world?
It depends entirely on where you are. It’s usually fine across the UK, Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and often risky across much of Asia, Latin America, Africa and parts of the Middle East. Always check for your exact destination, and remember ice counts too.
Do I really need travel insurance for a short trip?
Yes. A single medical emergency abroad can cost far more than the whole holiday, and short trips carry the same risks as long ones. Cover for a week or two is often only around £20 to £50 (roughly $27 to $67 / €24 to €58), which is tiny next to the bill it saves you from.
What should you never wear when visiting temples or churches?
Avoid anything that leaves your shoulders or knees bare, and be ready to remove your shoes where asked. A light scarf is the easiest fix, doubling as a shoulder or head cover, and some sites loan or hire cover-ups at the entrance, though you shouldn’t rely on it.
How can I avoid taxi scams from the airport?
Plan your ride before you land, use the official rank, a licensed ride-hailing app, or a pre-booked transfer, and never take a lift from a tout who approaches you. If you do use a taxi, insist on the meter or agree the price before you get in.
Travel Hubs
Recommended Websites and Resources:
- Flights: Find the best deals on Trip.com
- Hotels: Best rates on Booking.com · Best hostels on HostelWorld · Ratings and bargains on TripAdvisor
- Apartments: Affordable rentals on VRBO
- Car hire: Best prices on RentalCars.com
- Travel insurance: EKTA for worldwide cover · AirHelp for flight delay compensation
- Activities: Tours and skip-the-line tickets on GetYourGuide · Instant mobile tickets on Tiqets
- Trains: Most affordable trains on Trainline · Rail passes on Rail Europe
- Travel eSIMs: Use your mobile phone anywhere worldwide with Airalo
- Need more help planning your trip? Visit our Resources Page to see all the companies we trust and use for our travels
