Common Travel Nightmares and How To Deal With ‘Em

 Photo by: Bigstockphoto

Photo by: Bigstockphoto

Traveling is an enriching experience. Going places mean new adventuring, getting out of your comfort zone and discovering things about you and the world that you knew nothing about before. But getting there means dealing with queues, rude locals or irate tourists. Don’t let your wanderlust be dampened by bad experiences, we’ve listed down common travel nightmares and how you can deal with them:

My Passport is Missing!

This is probably the most terrifying of all travel nightmares, losing or misplacing your passport just as you are about to leave.

Each time you’re travelling anywhere, we recommend getting several photocopies of your passport just in case things like this happens. If say, you did lose your passport while in a foreign country, take a copy of your passport, and together with your driver license or any IDs you have with you, go to your national embassy, and ask for help. A rep of your country’s embassy is bound to help you sort out the problem but make sure you’ve got official documentations to move things along. Don’t forget to ask if you can get a replacement passport from your embassy if your passport cannot be found quickly enough.

 “Sorry, There’s No Record Of Your Reservation”

So you’ve travelled 4,000 miles to the destination of your dream. You’re tired, hungry and groggy from your trip so you head to your hotel with every intention of taking a quick nap. As you check in to your hotel, the receptionist reviews your booking, quizzically crosschecks their records and say, “there seems to be no record of your reservation.”

Resist the urge to go all Christian Bale on the receptionist because now’s the best time to show her a printout of your reservation. It’s probably just another reservation hiccup that can be sorted out with a printout of your reservation. You can also call your the hotline of the travel agency or booking site you used, it’s just one of those misunderstandings that helps keep you on your toes.

I Can’t Find My Wallet!

One of the most gut-wrenching travel nightmares out there is a lost wallet. But don’t panic, a lost wallet is a much easier problem to deal with than a lost passport. First, travel smart, bring along extra ATM cards before you leave for a vacation. Store your extra ATM cards separately from your wallet. Don’t carry all your stuff in a single bag because there’s always the risk of losing it and you don’t want to spend your vacation penniless, looking for a lost bag and sleeping on the streets.

Now, if say, you did lose your bag and there’s no way for you to access cash, bring your photocopy of your passport (you got one, right?) and have your relatives wire money to you via Western Union. You can use the photocopied passport as identification to redeem the cash. As soon as you arrive to your hotel, call all your credit card companies and cancel your accounts. Tell them what happened and make sure that people who may have taken your wallet maliciously won’t access your money illegally.