Things you wish people explained to you before you went to (insert vacation destination)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t put Spanish moss on your head. It’s full of bugs.

You really needed to be told this? Trying to be cute I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That monkeys at Siam Reap are not cute and need to be avoided.

That the heat and humidity in Vietnam is so much worse than DC. Wear lightweight clothes.

That umbrellas don't work in Scotland. Bring a hooded rain jacket.

If you are traveling in a country where you can't drink the water, keep your mouth closed in the shower too.

Agree with all of these. Also, in a country where you can’t drink the tap water, you also shouldn’t brush your teeth with the tap water (because you’re lazy/thinking “oh it’s not that much water!”) Same with washing fruit. Do not ask me how I know.

Or asking for a drink w ice in it! Don’t do it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Skiing out west is much much tougher than skiing in the east. Until a few years ago, I’d only skied in New England and New York. I’m an intermediate skier. All I ever heard was, oh you would love skiing out west, the powder is fantastic and so much easier and more fun to ski than the ice in the east, etc etc. So I planned a trip to Utah.

Turns out, the trails are so much harder out there, much steeper and bumpier, not nearly as much grooming - a blue out there is definitely equivalent to a black on the east coast, and frankly, probably harder than a lot of black trails in the east. The resorts are huge and the trails go on forever (a good thing, yes!) but you have to pay close attention to trail signs (trails wind here there and everywhere, cross cross with other trails, it can get very confusing) because you can easily end up at the top of a trail that’s above your ability level with no alternative way down (and you know why I know that). Also it’s hard to ski powder if you don’t have experience! Several years into ski trips out west and I’m now much more comfortable out there but it was not at all the slam dunk at the beginning I’d been led to believe it would be.

If in Colorado you’ve got the altitude to contend with. It alone is no joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:-Amsterdam: you need to have your physical passport on you to rent a car, at least where we went.

-Don’t shave before going in the Dead Sea

-No clothing or shoes will fit you in Japan if you are bigger than a size small so make sure you pack what you need.

Punyus sells plus size in Japan.

[Anonymous]

If you fly to Hong Kong and then cross the border into China, make sure you get Chinese money beforehand. Banks in China will not do a currency exchange for a non-account holder and ATMs won’t let you make a withdrawal from a US bank account and get yuan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you fly to Hong Kong and then cross the border into China, make sure you get Chinese money beforehand. Banks in China will not do a currency exchange for a non-account holder and ATMs won’t let you make a withdrawal from a US bank account and get yuan.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that you can’t use US credit cards or ATMs with vendors either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Monkeys are never, ever cute, from Gibraltar to India to China to South Africa.

Monkeys are your enemy. Proceed accordingly.

So true! Gibraltar monkeys were so bold! Ain’t nothing cute about having one land in your head! All I could think of was a diseased little nail scratching my skin.

Aghhhhh! A dozen rock ape babies jumped on me at the same time. Literally thought i was going to die

[Anonymous]

“Iceland is the third windiest place on Earth, and hardly anyone lives in the first two.” —The promotional Iceland video playing on the seat back when we boarded our flight to Iceland.

I’d packed based on temps; hadn’t factored in wind chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Iceland is the third windiest place on Earth, and hardly anyone lives in the first two.” —The promotional Iceland video playing on the seat back when we boarded our flight to Iceland.

I’d packed based on temps; hadn’t factored in wind chill.

I was there last October. Vik and Black Sand beach were super windy. Reykjavík and surrounding areas weren't too bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you fly to Hong Kong and then cross the border into China, make sure you get Chinese money beforehand. Banks in China will not do a currency exchange for a non-account holder and ATMs won’t let you make a withdrawal from a US bank account and get yuan.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that you can’t use US credit cards or ATMs with vendors either.

Alipay is the solution for this in China.

https://www.reddit.com/r/chinalife/s/3rZtSYqGu2

And for ATMs that work with US debit cards, Bank of China or ICBC ATMs will work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That monkeys at Siam Reap are not cute and need to be avoided.

That the heat and humidity in Vietnam is so much worse than DC. Wear lightweight clothes.

That umbrellas don't work in Scotland. Bring a hooded rain jacket.

If you are traveling in a country where you can't drink the water, keep your mouth closed in the shower too.

Agree with all of these. Also, in a country where you can’t drink the tap water, you also shouldn’t brush your teeth with the tap water (because you’re lazy/thinking “oh it’s not that much water!”) Same with washing fruit. Do not ask me how I know.

Or asking for a drink w ice in it! Don’t do it!

Or drink any fresh juice. There’s water in there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish someone said the Grand Canyon is not kid friendly and pretty dangerous and it’s not that impressive in my opinion. I loved the arches at Utah but something about our Grabd Canyon trip was a bust.

Dangerous, how so? Thanks!

NP- A misstep on a trail and you are dead. You sit on a ledge and lose balance? You could be dead. It is a very dangerous place for small kids, you could not let a 2yo out of your sight for 2 seconds without them being at risk near the rim. I have vertigo so stayed on the paved biked trail and went viewpoint to viewpoint that way. I disagree about it not being impressive though, it is breathtaking, but the hiking is inherently dangerous.

NP. By “kid” friendly I was assuming the kid was at least ES age. Who the heck takes a 2yo to a cliff??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish someone said the Grand Canyon is not kid friendly and pretty dangerous and it’s not that impressive in my opinion. I loved the arches at Utah but something about our Grabd Canyon trip was a bust.

Dangerous, how so? Thanks!

NP- A misstep on a trail and you are dead. You sit on a ledge and lose balance? You could be dead. It is a very dangerous place for small kids, you could not let a 2yo out of your sight for 2 seconds without them being at risk near the rim. I have vertigo so stayed on the paved biked trail and went viewpoint to viewpoint that way. I disagree about it not being impressive though, it is breathtaking, but the hiking is inherently dangerous.

NP. By “kid” friendly I was assuming the kid was at least ES age. Who the heck takes a 2yo to a cliff??

We went on a hike at Muir Woods in California and I was terrified the entire time that my 11 year old was going to trip on something and tumble down a steep ravine. I will never do that hike again with a kid, heck I was nervous myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish someone said the Grand Canyon is not kid friendly and pretty dangerous and it’s not that impressive in my opinion. I loved the arches at Utah but something about our Grabd Canyon trip was a bust.

Dangerous, how so? Thanks!

NP- A misstep on a trail and you are dead. You sit on a ledge and lose balance? You could be dead. It is a very dangerous place for small kids, you could not let a 2yo out of your sight for 2 seconds without them being at risk near the rim. I have vertigo so stayed on the paved biked trail and went viewpoint to viewpoint that way. I disagree about it not being impressive though, it is breathtaking, but the hiking is inherently dangerous.

This. A dear friend fell to her death in GC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish someone said the Grand Canyon is not kid friendly and pretty dangerous and it’s not that impressive in my opinion. I loved the arches at Utah but something about our Grabd Canyon trip was a bust.

Dangerous, how so? Thanks!

NP- A misstep on a trail and you are dead. You sit on a ledge and lose balance? You could be dead. It is a very dangerous place for small kids, you could not let a 2yo out of your sight for 2 seconds without them being at risk near the rim. I have vertigo so stayed on the paved biked trail and went viewpoint to viewpoint that way. I disagree about it not being impressive though, it is breathtaking, but the hiking is inherently dangerous.

NP. By “kid” friendly I was assuming the kid was at least ES age. Who the heck takes a 2yo to a cliff??

We went on a hike at Muir Woods in California and I was terrified the entire time that my 11 year old was going to trip on something and tumble down a steep ravine. I will never do that hike again with a kid, heck I was nervous myself.

Fwiw, the main trail at Muir Woods is a flat paved path with a small creek, no ravine, so totally safe for kids.