Traveling is a fun and eventful experience, but it's also a learning experience as well. When traveling to new places for the first time, it's impossible to have everything figured out and avoid mistakes. Making mistakes while traveling is something all travelers will experienced. Despite this, there are some mistakes that are avoidable, and I'm here to teach you how to avoid them.

Not Researching Before You Travel!

I can't stress enough how important it is to do research before you travel somewhere. When traveling on a budget, you want to make sure you can maximize that budget as much as possible. Doing a ton of research will help become more familiar with the area and sights that you are planning on visiting. It can let you know when you should buy tickets for things to save money, where the best places to eat are that won't break the bank, and even ways to avoid tourist fees. More than anything, research is to help you save time! Time is so important on a trip, and if not used carefully, can slip away from you. You want to be able to get to a destination and instantly know what you want to do and where to go. I've been in situations where I got to a city and just sat around for a few hours trying to figure out what to do. You should try to avoid this situation because it adds a lot of stress and pressure to your travel experience.

Not Knowing How to Use Public Transportation!

Public transportation is your best friend, especially when traveling in Europe. Public transportation is a cheap and reliable way to get around cities and even countries in an efficient manner. Learning how to use public transportation, especially in a foreign country, may seem intimidating, but I promise it is simple. Most forms of public transportation operate in the same way no matter what country or city you are in. There are always bus stops for buses, train stations for trains, and metro stops for trams and metros. You don't have to memorize routes in a city, but learning how to use them and accessing them is the most important. When I'm in a city, I tend to use google maps when wanting to utilize public transport to get somewhere. Once you put in your destination, google maps offers a few options on the way you would like to get there, like by train, bus, car and even walking. If you choose the train or bus option, it will tell you the exact bus or train you should take and guide you to those locations as well. Asking locals or people who work at your accommodation to help you navigate public transport is always another option as well, which brings me to my next point.

Not Asking For Help!

Don’t be afraid to ask for help while traveling. Asking for help or advice from locals or other travelers is always a reliable way of getting information. Whether it’s asking locals for recommendations where the best places to eat are, or asking how to get to a specific place in the city; asking locals is always reliable. Don’t be intimidated to ask people for help, or even afraid. In my experiences, most people are more than happy to help you with a problem or provide you with a recommendation. Locals often take pride in providing travelers with advice or recommendations for what to see or do in their city or area. While locals may not always be fond of tourists, they still want travelers to have genuine experience and leave with an accurate impression of that area. After all, it is their home and they want people to have a good perception of the area and the people who live there.

Holding a Place to Your Expectations!

One of the worst mistakes you can make while traveling is having specific expectations of an area or people. Expectations are false realities that you expect to experience or see while traveling somewhere and can often ruin your experience or impression of an area. It's not fair to an area or people of an area to live up to whatever false expectations, you as a tourist, might have for them. You are also doing yourself a disservice by having specific expectations of a place. These expectations often lead you to not seeing a place at its face value, and putting unnecessary pressure and stress on yourself. When traveling you should always open yourself up to any organic opportunities and experiences that a place offers, and avoid looking for manufactured experiences that you may have seen on social media.

Not Being Respectful of an Area!

You have to remember that when you travel, you are traveling to someone else's home. When you stay at someone's house you follow the rules and customs that they like to follow, and you should use this same mentality when traveling. When you travel to a new city or country, you have to remember that you are a guest in that area. You shouldn’t expect people of an area to cater to your wants and needs, because that will definitely not happen and you will soon become a nuisance. Always be aware that these places have people who live and work in these areas, and that you are intruding on their daily lives. Not being respectful of people's spaces and customs will quickly make you an inconvenience to them and have a negative effect on all parties involved. Having respect for people's home and customs will allow you to avoid any negative experiences with locals, but also allow them to have respect for you and potentially better your experience there.

Not Being Open to Experiencing Local Culture!

Being closed off to certain aspects of an area is a disservice to the area you are traveling, but to you as well. When traveling somewhere it's important to be open to all experiences and culture that a place has to offer. Part of traveling is about being adventurous, and you can't be adventurous by closing yourself off to things. One of my favorite things to do when traveling is indulging in the local experiences of an area. Whether this be trying local foods, drinking local wine or beer, or even exploring lesser known parts of a city or area. The local culture of an area can often be overshadowed by more touristy and social media options. Some of my favorite experiences while traveling have come from recommendations or interactions with locals of an area. You would be surprised how eager locals are to point you in the direction of a great restaurant or give you advice on where you should visit. They want you to have a natural experience true to their culture, and have you come away from the experience there with a fair assumption of who they are and represent, and not whatever superficial and surface level experience that tourists often seek out.