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

[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.

+1 and also ice in your drinks.

[Anonymous]

In Bora Bora the resorts are on their own little islands and it’s a bit of a production to leave. Make sure you pick a resort with good food or you spend the majority of your vacation eating crap.

[Anonymous]

For some unknown reason, most showers over baths in France don't have a door or curtain. I don't know what they enjoy water spraying all over the floor.

[Anonymous]

Didn’t know that when driving a rental car in Italy, the car doesn’t automatically come with some sort of EZ pass or license plate sensor that allows you to go through the toll lanes on the highway. You need to get a ticket when you enter the highway — somehow we ended up entering the highway via an EZ pass lane, then we couldn’t exit because we hadn’t taken a ticket! And the toll machine didn’t take credit cards, so we were scrambling for Euros to feed it. Had to pay the full amount for the route since there was no way to tell where we’d entered. Oops!

[Anonymous]

Do a quick google search about toilets where you're going. I remember getting toilet paper like wax paper in some countries, holes in the floor with places for your feet in others, and then in Greece the plumbing wouldn't support any flushed tp, so it went in a trash can. Not sure if this has changed, but it would be nice to know ahead of time and always carry tissues if you are a woman.

[Anonymous]

In Spain, Italy and maybe more, keep toilet money on you at all times

[Anonymous]

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

Monkeys are your enemy. Proceed accordingly.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn’t have any power outages on the Amalfi Coast, you can take a ferry straight from Naples to the Amalfi Coast and if you are thinking of Positano as needing to carry your luggage there are porters at the ferryport who will take care of that for you.

Easiest place to stay on the coast is Sorrento, accessible by train. And we had no power outages, there for three days. Took a ferry to see other towns. Definitely harder with little kids and strollers since getting to the ferry in Sorrento involved a huge flight of stairs.

We loved our last Sorrento trip, but those ferry steps are NO JOKE. If we go back next year with our baby as planned, I am definitely paying a bunch for a cab to pick me up at the bottom. DH and the bigger kids can hoof it up those steps.

[Anonymous]

You have to pay for all those little appetizers they bring you in Portugal, so if you don't want them, say "Não, obrigado" quickly and wave then away before you get stuck.

[Anonymous]

Going up The Eiffel Tower isn't worth the hassle.

Glacier national park is enormous. Stay in the park.

Play Airlines may have the smallest seats ever. At least pay to upgrade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I honeymooned in thailand, arguably my tiniest most gorgeous self after working hard for the wedding, and trying to shop was horrifying. "Sorry, no plus size" and I was like a size 6

Wow that’s awful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We didn’t have any power outages on the Amalfi Coast, you can take a ferry straight from Naples to the Amalfi Coast and if you are thinking of Positano as needing to carry your luggage there are porters at the ferryport who will take care of that for you.

Easiest place to stay on the coast is Sorrento, accessible by train. And we had no power outages, there for three days. Took a ferry to see other towns. Definitely harder with little kids and strollers since getting to the ferry in Sorrento involved a huge flight of stairs.

We loved our last Sorrento trip, but those ferry steps are NO JOKE. If we go back next year with our baby as planned, I am definitely paying a bunch for a cab to pick me up at the bottom. DH and the bigger kids can hoof it up those steps.

Santorini is the same way. I think people should go when they are young! It’s going to be impossible for a lot of older people to do the steps everywhere.

Another trip for Greece is make sure you arrange all transfers ahead of time from the ports. We had to take a private taxi from the port to the Santorini airport and had no time. Our ferry was delayed over an hour and we had to pay $225 to go 15 min but we had no choice but to use the taxis there. Major scam but no time for other options and not worth missing and international flights. Even the ATM at the ferry port is a joke! $30 withdrawal fee. We loved greece though, totally worth it but Santorini is not for kids. Shopping was fabulous there in the boutiques- great dresses and handmade sandals and a lot of pretty jewelry options.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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!