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How To Avoid Common Mistakes Women Make On Vacation

July 17, 2021

Did you do your vacation wrong?

Vacation is supposed to be fun! You arrive happy and leave even happier!

Not you? You arrived happy, but now you’re leaving miserable!

What happened?

I’ll tell you what happened, you probably made one of the most common mistakes women make while we are on vacation! Sometimes it could be because we are too nice, or maybe we get stuck baby sitting someone in a grumpy mood, or maybe it was just bad weather and there was no backup plan. Whatever happened, use these tips to make sure it never happens again and you can take a better vacation ASAP!

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Mistake: You didn’t do what you went there to do…

Why didn’t you go see that bioluminescent bay? Why didn’t you try ackee and saltfish like you wanted to? What happened to that excursion to the Mayan Ruins? How did you forget the whole reason for going to that location in the first place?

It’s easy to get distracted or lazy on vacation. You meet all kinds of fun people and start joining them in their adventures. The lure of the downtime is seductive too. Before you know it, vacation is ending and you haven’t done anything! You got wrapped up doing what other people wanted to do.

Or the opposite happens, and you’re running around doing so much stuff that you forget to sit still and enjoy the hotel you payed good money to be at!

Solution…

Try scheduling what you really want to do in advance. (It’s also cheaper to schedule it online ahead of time.) This way, no matter how lazy you feel that day, you are committed to doing what you went there for. If you do at least one thing on your to-do list, you will feel more satisfied than if you don’t do anything at all. The reverse is true as well. Make sure you schedule in some down time to enjoy the property you’re staying at as well.

Mistake: You got stuck with Debbie Downer…

You got stuck with the person in the group trip that’s not a good time. She just wanted to follow you around all day and talk about her jerk of an ex boyfriend for twelve hours straight every day. You felt bad for her so you listened.

Then, she started talking about how fat she looks in a bikini. Then, how she can’t eat any of the food at the resort because it will make her bloated. Then, she keeps talking about the other girls behind their backs.

Then…

No!

Bad! You are on vacation! This is YOUR FUN trip! Go have FUN.

Let her sulk on her own. You have better things to do and that’s OK! You have to be nice to everyone back home, but this is vacation. Run away and do what you want to do!

Solution…

Don’t be afraid to separate from the group (or even your partner). If they take an excursion and you don’t want to go, it’s OK to say no. They may give you a hard time about it, but wouldn’t you rather just chill instead of listen to a Debbie Downer? Or, take a dip in the pool instead of eat dirt on a dirt buggy tour where you know your crazy uncle is going to keep ramming the back of your car till you get a headache.

Start saying No to other people and say Yes to what you want to do. Leave the Debbie Downer to the other girl who complains and they can complain about life together and leave your uncle’s antics to one of the guys on the trip who wants to ram dirt bikes too. Stop being too nice!

Mistake: You let bad weather ruin your trip…

Crappy weather happens and now you aren’t going to get that tan you wanted! The wind is blowing too much and now you can’t take the boat out. It keeps raining and there’s too much mud to hike. When will the rain ever stop? What a waste of money!

Solution…

Guess what, crap happens. Find something else to do! There’s most likely a museum that will blow your mind right down the street. There’s a restaurant that looks out over the mountains that only the locals know about – so go there for the view. It must look really cool in the rain.

There’s always options. Ask around and see what the locals suggest.

A lot of times on vacation we get roped into what all the travel companies suggest for you to do that are tourist traps. There’s so many other things to go do and see that don’t require a lot of money or a sunny day. Go explore, go to the spa, or go dance in the rain. Whatever you do, you’ll always remember even those unplanned for moments. Plus, would you rather be sitting in the rain at home or somewhere exotic?

That’s how one of my friends convinced me to go on a trip. He was like, would you rather be sitting in snow in Ohio or walking in snow through Amsterdam? Yeah… Amsterdam it was.

Mistake: You don’t feel good and you just want to sulk…

Maybe, you are all excited for vacation and go in with an adventure mindset, but then the extreme heat or the extreme cold gets to you. You kept trying to go do things but you feel faint from the heat with dehydration. You want to learn to ski but you couldn’t get over the fact your boots had a hole in them and kept giving you wet feet. You didn’t get to enjoy what you wanted to do and now you have the sniffles or are exhausted.

Or, we start our period!

Solution…

Change your mindset. There’s no reason to stress out and try to do everything when you physically can’t. Same being said if you eat something that doesn’t agree with you. If you have your “lady time,” maybe take your nap outside on the deck or keep the window open and read a book until that pain reliever kicks in. You can still enjoy the weather in some way.

Take the day to relax and listen to your body! There’s always tomorrow.

Instead, go to the pool and cool off or hang out at the lodge and warm up. You can have just as much fun doing something else. Just don’t sit around sulking!

“Sulking” is one of the biggest mistakes women make on vacation!

Mistake: You got sunburnt…

The swim up bar at the pool was so cool you just couldn’t resist staying there all day… With your back to the sun. With no sunscreen. With no base tan. Now, you’re fried and can’t go back there for the rest of the trip!

One road trip to Panama City Beach, we all fell asleep on the beach while we waited for our camp site to open. We were all exhausted from the drive and too tired to put sunscreen on. A couple hours wouldn’t hurt right?

WRONG.

I burned the crap out of my legs – to the point that I couldn’t wear pants – and it was freezing at night at the camp site. I didn’t let it ruin the trip, but I definitely was in pain the whole trip.

I made the same mistake again years later. In this pic, I’m so red I almost look purple!

Solution…

Wear sunscreen! Those swim up bars are as dangerous as those slopes. One is your back, the other is your face. No one wants to burn and then be in pain the rest of the trip. And then there’s all the peeling when you get home.

Yuck.

I use SPF Chapstick on my face to keep the delicate areas of my face (especially my nose) from burning. It works well because it’s waterproof! Remember that the swim up pool often has shade for the front of you but not the back! So constantly re-apply your sunscreen and work up a tolerance to the sun.

The swim up bar will still be there tomorrow! And, if you’re having a fun time, just move to the shade or use a cover-up to cover your back and shoulders. You can even just use a towel.

Just don’t trust your alcohol brain that tells you it will be fine to just burn.

Mistake: You didn’t meet any new people. …

You went on a week long trip with your sister and didn’t talk to anyone else the whole trip. By day three you were getting on each other’s nerves, and by day four you were not talking. You ended up getting into a fight over family drama and now you both threatened that you aren’t talking again till Christmas!

This is an extreme circumstance, but think about how many arguments you see on vacation. Maybe they could have been prevented, if they would have just had some fun and hung out with some other people – so they didn’t get on each other’s nerves so much.

Solution…

Meet people and socialize (especially with the locals)! One of the best things about vacation is meeting new people and experiencing new cultures. (Think of city cultures too! New York City culture versus Miami culture. They are totally different vibes but equally as fun to experience.) Some people are locals and others are fellow vacationers. Either way, generally everyone is usually in a pretty good mood while they are on vacation. They are happy to be off work and away from their worries.

It keeps you from getting bored with who you are on vacation with and it also keeps the conversation topics light and airy. You may talk about the weather or how many drinks you can carry back from the swim up bar, but it will help keep topics like family drama out of your mouth – especially when you are in front of other people.

That being said, stay away from people who look like drama. The last thing you want to do is be getting into other people’s drama they brought on vacation.

Here’s some helpful hints for shy travelers on how to meet people while on vacation!

Mistake: You stopped buying souvenirs because you ran out of room…

You bought a bunch of souvenirs for your new nieces and nephews, but now you can’t buy anything for yourself. You have no room in your bag! You priced up the luggage they have there at the resort, but it was all hundreds of dollars!

You never know when you will be back to a location so I always say buy it when you see it, because it may not be there by the time you go back! But, with no room, so much for that hand crafted local artwork you were going to buy for your dining room!

Solution…

Pack an extra fold up bag for souvenirs! Just in case. They have the ones that expand which are my favorite to bring. They sell them for $1 at most stores. Some call them grocery bags, others call them totes.

Unless it’s Spirit or another budget airline, generally you are allowed one personal item and a carry on, so use the bag as your carry on. Put all of your souvenirs in your luggage and whatever doesn’t fit in your carry on bag. Or, if your souvenirs are fragile put them in the carry on bag. You get my point.

There’s no need to buy an expensive bag on vacation (you will never use again) just because you ran out of room. I say just assume you will run out of room and bring it from home just in case.

Mistake: You didn’t eat anything…

You didn’t eat before you left for your excursion and now you’re hungry. What? They don’t serve food? You didn’t eat before you went to the airport, now nothing is open and your flight is three hours! Or, you started drinking poolside and now it’s dinner time and you feel lightheaded.

Ladies, just trust me on this one. Don’t make this big mistake women always make!

This is what happens! Haha Ok, well this is what happens to me.

Solution…

Just eat something! Anything! Even if it’s just a bagel or banana, you need to put something in your stomach before you start your adventures. Or, pack some snacks.

Alcohol is not a meal. Yes, even the pina coladas that may fill you up, are not a real meal. Make sure you eat, especially, before you go on an excursion. You never know when your next meal will be. You also never know how much food is going to cost. You may be headed somewhere the only food options are expensive or do not even exist as an option!

I went on an excursion in Turks and Caicos where they only served us alcohol and the included meal was conch ceviche. We were out on the water for about 3 hours, so I was startinggggg when we got off the boat. I definitely should have eaten beforehand!

A full belly will also insure no hangry-ness.

Mistake: You didn’t get a vacation on your vacation…

Your whole vacation was go go go. You saw everything you wanted to see. Your camera roll is full, but your feet need to be soaked! You’re more exhausted now than when you arrived. Why didn’t you get any rest and relaxation in?

Solution…

When I first land somewhere like Vegas, I’m so excited to be in the high energy that I want to start going as soon as I get there. I don’t slow down until the last day. When I go to somewhere like Dominican Republic, I’m so excited for the weather that I only want to sit, take in the sun, and dip in the pool.

Make sure you take the time one day to relax and enjoy living in the moment. Sure, it’s fun to see everything a destination has to offer, but remember you are on vacation. You need some time to chillax so you don’t need a vacation from your vacation.

Live in the moment!

Mistake: You went straight back to work…

You planned it so your flight arrived right before you needed to be at work. Great!

But…

Your flight got delayed and now you are two hours late to work. On top of that, there was a baby crying on the plane so you didn’t get any sleep and now you have to go straight to work and lug your luggage around for the rest of the day.

Solution…

Think about how much time you need to recover. If it’s a big city like Vegas or NYC where you know you will be running around like crazy, you will probably need a day to recover. Plan nothing for that day and just absorb the awesomeness that you experienced on vacation.

No one wants to go directly back to work after vacation, unless you are me who pushes vacation to the last minute, but I don’t work until 5pm so a 10am arrival time allows me plenty of time to nap before I go back to work even if I get delayed.

I wanted to make this post to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes I and my friends have made in the past. Those were the major mistakes I could think of. I’m sure there are more but if you stay away from these main ones, you’ll have a much better vacation!

In Case You Didn’t Get My Reference…