4 Travel Nightmares & How to Tame Them

Three-quarters of people who travel the world for the sake of cultural encounters, eco-tourism, or pure adventure and thrills are women. Now, that’s a startling statistic, and it can be an encouragement for women thinking of getting their feet wet in the international travel scene but who haven’t quite made the leap.

On the other hand, increased travel means increased risk. The best way to conquer your travel fears is to face them head-on, think ahead of time what you would do were situation A or situation B to occur.

Here are four “travel nightmares” that you hope and pray will never happen to you – but if they do, you’ll want to know what to do about instead of just panicking or having your vacation (or worse) ruined.

You Miss Your Flight

You get stuck in traffic on the way to the airport and arrive with only 20 minutes till your flight leaves. You rush as fast as you can through the entry process and down to your gate – but alas, it’s too late. You’ve missed your flight! Now what?

First of all, talk to the airline staff immediately and tell them what happened. It varies from airline to airline what happens, but oftentimes, you can get a replacement flight for free or at a price much smaller than a full new ticket if you ask politely. A frequent flier account may help here.

Also, if the flight was missed due to bad weather or something that was the airline’s fault – so that you missed your connecting flight, you will be taken care of. Not only a new flight for free but a free hotel stay is often in the package.

You Lose Your Passport

After arriving in your destination country, you suddenly realize that you’ve lost your passport. How are you going to board the plane come time for your return flight? Or what if you are caught without your passport and jailed or deported?

Don’t panic. First of all, report the fact you’ve lost your passport to local police; then, get an emergency appointment scheduled at your embassy. You fill out a lost passport form, after which, you will be issued a temporary replacement passport. Also, use your driver’s license and other forms of ID – and if you made a photocopy of your passport before you lost it, keep that handy as well!

Plumbing Problems Abroad

Let’s say you visit Melbourne, Australia. You might be a foodie, love Melbourne’s legendary shopping scene, or plan on skiing in the nearby Victorian Alps. But suddenly you have leaking pipes, backed up sewage, clogged toilets, and drains – emergency level plumbing problems that demand quick attention.

Looking for a plumber Melbourne with 24/7 emergency contact and services? Lucky for you, there are plumbers ready and waiting to rush to your aid. You can find them online or in the local phone book.

Jet Lag That Lags

Jet lag, that ill effect of crossing multiple time zones in rapid succession and being rendered out of sync with the local sleep-wake habits, is a real problem for world travelers. And if you don’t nip it in the bud, it can drag on for days and eat up much of your precious vacationing time.

Good ways to counter or prevent jet lag include: setting your watch to the destination time as soon as you get on the plane, never sleep upon arrival if it’s still light out, and getting plenty of sunshine (to reset your circadian rhythms.)

There are many other travel woes we could mention too, like losing your wallet or having your luggage not arrive where/when you do – but there are solutions to all of these too. No need to shrink from travel and adventure out of fear of calamity. Research ahead of time so you will be prepared even for the worst-case scenario.

Photo: Pexels

Contributed posts are advertisements written by third parties who have paid Woman Around Town for publication.