Written by Chief Global Gal Brenda
On my last few trips I’ve experienced some situations that impacted the precious time I had on my vacation, and caused frustration and confusion (all of which could have been avoided by taking just a few minutes to “check, check and double-check” the details of my travel plans and itinerary). I’m sharing these in the hopes that you can learn from my mistakes…
- While in the Willamette wine region of Oregon, my husband and I were excited to visit a winery with an amazing view that our neighbors had recommended. I typed “Eagle’s View” into my GPS and off we went… Forty minutes later we arrived only to realize our mistake. We were supposed to be at “Hawk’s View” winery, which was in the opposite direction. We then had to spend another hour just to get to the right winery, meaning we lost out on precious wine-tasting time! Lesson Learned: Double-check the name of the place you’re wanting to go as some names are similar to others and can be easily mixed up!
While staying at a hotel in Shanghai, China, I asked the front desk how far the airport was from the hotel (and planned an early morning wake-up call and taxi reservation based on their response). But upon check-out, I pulled out my flight details only to discover that I needed to go to an airport that was different from the one I’d asked them about—and, of course it was further away! So, already running late the taxi driver then asked me in broken English which terminal I needed to go to—1 or 2—and unfortunately, I realized then that I had no idea, which caused us lots of stress! He literally guessed, and luckily for me he chose the right terminal! As they were so far apart, I most likely would have missed my flight (and connection) to Japan, too! (This did happen to me once in London when the taxi driver dropped me off at the wrong terminal, and by the time I got to the right one I had missed my flight to the US!) Lesson learned: Double-check your flight details and confirm beforehand WHICH airport, as well as the specific terminal, you need to go to.
When making a hotel reservation for an expo I was attending in Beijing, I chose to stay as close to the convention center as possible. You can imagine my surprise when I arrived and discovered that my hotel was connected to the wrong convention center. I had booked a hotel at the Beijing International Convention Center and not the China National Convention Center. I didn’t realize there were different convention centers, and in the end lost time and money. Lesson learned: Double -check the name of the venue or location where you need to stay before booking.
In all three cases, had I just asked myself a few more questions, double-checked the details, and taken a second look at my destination details and travel arrangements I would have saved myself lots of time, stress, and money. Plus, my travels would have gone more smoothly and I would have been able to avoid unnecessary frustration! Learn from my mistakes and remember to always double-check the details!
