What Would I Do Differently?
Well first and foremost, I would’ve kept a tighter grip on my cell phone when I was on the Tube in London. They say hindsight is twenty-twenty and looking back, I can see that I had become complacent and less observant of my surroundings. I was busy looking at a subway map with my phone in one pocket and the power bank in another…visibly connected by a cable. I was a pick pocket’s dream victim. This was my last real day of travel and for the first time on my trip, I was with someone and let my guard down - not an excuse, just an explanation.
Flight Times
I would put more thought process into planning flights…mainly times of departure and distance of the airports from the city (hotel). I regret a couple of my flight choices…mainly the departure times. My flight leaving Nairobi for Istanbul was scheduled for 3:35 am. The day before I had left the hotel for my safari at 5 am, travelled several hours each way and then chilled at the hotel for about an hour before my driver picked me up early from the hotel. I think I ended up at the airport around 10:30 pm and the flight didn’t ended up leaving until 5:00 am, 90 minutes late. Other than hour or so that I napped in the truck on the way back to the hotel from the safari, I’d been up over 24 hours.
The second flight faux pas, was my flight leaving Istanbul, which left at 6:50 am. I didn’t realize that it was a 45-minute drive to the airport and would basically need to leave the hotel at just after 3 am. I had also had another full day of exploring the day before, so I had very little sleep. This being said, I survived, but I will think about those extra factors in the future.
Hotels
I think that this is the one category that I wouldn’t really change anything. I may have been able to save a bit more if I had looked on different sites for booking, but I am a devoted Booking dot com user. I used it for booking every hotel on this trip, but I researched every hotel on several sites to read the reviews. Being able to keep all my reservations in one place, and also getting Genius rewards made it worth the convenience.
Ground Transportation
I had a couple of issues with transportation from the airport into the city. In Santiago, I wasn’t wearing glasses when I paid for the taxi and ended up paying 10x more than I should have paid. Thankfully my credit card reimbursed me, but I should’ve known better. I was in a rush to catch the Hop On Hop Off bus that was about to leave that I didn’t take the time to get my glasses and look at what I was I was actually paying.
In Dubai, I booked a Grab car to take me from the airport to the Frame and the Burj Khalifa and then back to the airport. The driver asked me if I wanted a tour around the city and he took me to several other places so I could get some great pictures for my vlog. It was initially around $45 CAD when I booked it in the app and it ended up being $146 CAD. Did I get ripped off? Probably. Did I have a great time and see sites and get pictures of places that I wouldn’t have if I had just done my two places? Definitely. I had an awesome tour and great conversion as I watched the sun rise over the city for my first ever visit to the Middle East...it was worth it the extra and I even gave a tip above the and beyond the fare. The driver helped when Burj Khalifa security had issue with me being there so early in the morning, and also held my GoPro when I was taking pics with my iPhone. I probably could’ve arranged a cheaper tour if I had planned ahead, but I only thought that I wanted to see the Frame and Burj Khalifa.
Most of my City Passes came with day passes for local transit, or I got Hop On Hop Off bus passes. In Istanbul and Prague, I walked everywhere, even though I had transit passes. This is mainly because I planned my hotels near where I wanted to visit the city’s attractions. Again, I may have paid extra, but it was nice to have it as a backup. In Berlin, I got both the Hop On and a transit pass which I found worked quite well for seeing certain attractions, but I probably could’ve survived with just a transit pass as I also walked quite a bit between attractions.
In Dubai, I booked a Grab car to take me from the airport to the Frame and the Burj Khalifa and then back to the airport. The driver asked me if I wanted a tour around the city and he took me to several other places so I could get some great pictures for my vlog. It was initially around $45 CAD when I booked it in the app and it ended up being $146 CAD. Did I get ripped off? Probably. Did I have a great time and see sites and get pictures of places that I wouldn’t have if I had just done my two places? Definitely. I had an awesome tour and great conversion as I watched the sun rise over the city for my first ever visit to the Middle East...it was worth it the extra and I even gave a tip above the and beyond the fare. The driver helped when Burj Khalifa security had issue with me being there so early in the morning, and also held my GoPro when I was taking pics with my iPhone. I probably could’ve arranged a cheaper tour if I had planned ahead, but I only thought that I wanted to see the Frame and Burj Khalifa.
Most of my City Passes came with day passes for local transit, or I got Hop On Hop Off bus passes. In Istanbul and Prague, I walked everywhere, even though I had transit passes. This is mainly because I planned my hotels near where I wanted to visit the city’s attractions. Again, I may have paid extra, but it was nice to have it as a backup. In Berlin, I got both the Hop On and a transit pass which I found worked quite well for seeing certain attractions, but I probably could’ve survived with just a transit pass as I also walked quite a bit between attractions.
Packing
I definitely packed more than I needed and by the end of my trip, my backpack and travel vest were bursting at the seams…weighing in at 45 pounds combined at the end of my trip. I overpacked in several categories…clothing/apparel, electronics, and accessories.
Clothing/Apparel
I wore my flip flops on the plane (yes I know that I risked having to walk through security with bare feet…and I did have to at a couple of airports)…and I also packed a pair of running shoes that ended up staying in my backpack the whole trip. There was only one time on my whole trip that having runners would be helpful and that was at Taronga Zoo for the Tree Walk, but with it being a very windy day, it wasn’t something that we regretted not doing. It wasn’t until I’d locked my bag in the airport locker that I realized that I should’ve switched into my runners. So for the almost 200km that I walked on the trip, I was in my Temu thong flip flops that cost me approximately $15 CAD. I used to swear by my Columbia flip flops that had almost hiking-boot tread, but they stopped making them so I found something a deal for 2 pair for $30 that had great tread and I love them. Thankfully my runners didn’t take up that much room (mesh runners with awesome tread that didn’t take up too much room…also from Temu), but honestly, I prefer my flip flops whenever possible.
As far as my clothing went, I never wore my windbreaker - I kept it in my stuffable neck pillow and it took up very little room so I’m not sure that I regret bringing it, but I think that if I didn’t have the pillow, that a jacket that packed into a small pouch would be a better option. I also had a couple of one-use rain ponchos that I brought, but never used…I’ve since seen what they are like and won’t be bringing them on future trips - I will possibly bring a rain jacket that fits into it’s own pouch so I can kill two birds with one stone. I brought three long-sleeved shirts (two that were very thin and one that was a bit thicker), I could’ve probably stuck with one of the thinner long-sleeved shirts and just used my hoodie if the weather was cooler…it was never that cold on my trip so that was a bit of wasted space. I also should’ve only packed one pair of pants (technically, just brought the pair that I wore on my flights)…I guess that a backup pair of pants is probably a good idea (just in case) but if you add up all of the “just in case” things, you will have taken up valuable, limited space.
As far as my clothing went, I never wore my windbreaker - I kept it in my stuffable neck pillow and it took up very little room so I’m not sure that I regret bringing it, but I think that if I didn’t have the pillow, that a jacket that packed into a small pouch would be a better option. I also had a couple of one-use rain ponchos that I brought, but never used…I’ve since seen what they are like and won’t be bringing them on future trips - I will possibly bring a rain jacket that fits into it’s own pouch so I can kill two birds with one stone. I brought three long-sleeved shirts (two that were very thin and one that was a bit thicker), I could’ve probably stuck with one of the thinner long-sleeved shirts and just used my hoodie if the weather was cooler…it was never that cold on my trip so that was a bit of wasted space. I also should’ve only packed one pair of pants (technically, just brought the pair that I wore on my flights)…I guess that a backup pair of pants is probably a good idea (just in case) but if you add up all of the “just in case” things, you will have taken up valuable, limited space.
Electronics
I brought my 13” PC laptop, iPad Pro, iPhone and for cameras, I had my GoPro and Insta360. I may have packed too much…especially when you consider the weight of it all. I needed my laptop in case I had to remote into my work computer (doesn’t seem to work on my iPad), but rarely used it, if at all. I also barely used my Insta360. I had only just bought it and really hadn’t learned how to use it effectively…just using my GoPro was difficult enough. This was my first trip that I tried vlogging and found that I couldn’t work both the Insta and GoPro as well as being able to take pictures on my phone.
I had several power banks with me…one that was MagSafe (5K mAh), two that were 5K mAh and one that was 20K mAh (this one allowed me to charge two devices while I charged the power bank). This was before airlines started cracking down on the total watt hours that each device can have and also the total for all power banks.
All in all, other than bringing my laptop and Insta, I think I packed quite well and don’t really regret taking what I did. In future, I hope to be able to better sort out my electronics so that they don’t take up as much space or weight allowance as my current configuration.
I had several power banks with me…one that was MagSafe (5K mAh), two that were 5K mAh and one that was 20K mAh (this one allowed me to charge two devices while I charged the power bank). This was before airlines started cracking down on the total watt hours that each device can have and also the total for all power banks.
All in all, other than bringing my laptop and Insta, I think I packed quite well and don’t really regret taking what I did. In future, I hope to be able to better sort out my electronics so that they don’t take up as much space or weight allowance as my current configuration.
Accessories
I regret bringing quite a bit in this category and am constantly trying to work on this for future travels. I took a ridiculous number of accessories for my cameras…I had several selfie sticks, including the 3m Insta360 invisible stick…I never used it and it took up precious space as it only fit on the diagonal in my backpack. I also brought too many GoPro accessories that I never used. As I said before, this was my first vlogged trip and I wanted to be prepared for everything…I had a bag full of attachments, mounts, microphones and pretty much every stupid accessory that I could bring. I seem to bring the same items on all of my trips and never use them. In future, I plan to take a closer look at multi-purpose accessories…selfie poles & mounts that work all of my cameras/phones.
I wish that I had organized the accessories that I did use, better. I had a cord case and various small bags, but I found that I couldn't easily access what I needed...especially while I was flying. I believe I brought a Bluetooth adapter to connect my AirPods to the IFE, but never got around to figuring it out...I also was constantly looking for my corded earphones. I may need to tweak my organization for future trips.
Although I loved my travel vest, I was constantly searching the multiple pockets, looking for things. It also was very heavy as I tried to spread out the excessive weight of everything that I was carrying. It was important for me to wear that vest on this trip as it was my father's and he had passed away less than two weeks before I left on my trip. I was able to bring him around the world with me...taking him to places that he'd never made it to.
I wish that I had organized the accessories that I did use, better. I had a cord case and various small bags, but I found that I couldn't easily access what I needed...especially while I was flying. I believe I brought a Bluetooth adapter to connect my AirPods to the IFE, but never got around to figuring it out...I also was constantly looking for my corded earphones. I may need to tweak my organization for future trips.
Although I loved my travel vest, I was constantly searching the multiple pockets, looking for things. It also was very heavy as I tried to spread out the excessive weight of everything that I was carrying. It was important for me to wear that vest on this trip as it was my father's and he had passed away less than two weeks before I left on my trip. I was able to bring him around the world with me...taking him to places that he'd never made it to.
Final Thoughts
I brought too much...plain and simple. By the end, I wasn't even able to fit chocolates into my backpack without them being squished together into one delightful Belgian chocolate ball of goodness. I would've liked to have more room to bring back souvenirs, but I was able to satisfy my daughter's keychain collection and a bunch of pins for my collection. Going forward, I will try to pack better...honest.
I want to say that I will also try to plan my flights better, but I have since planned several trips and haven't exactly picked the best flights lol. It's more in the timing than the cost at least.
I don't regret any of the places that I visited, I may not visit some of them again, but I am glad that I visited where I did. Travelling is a learning curve...the more you travel, the more you learn.
I want to say that I will also try to plan my flights better, but I have since planned several trips and haven't exactly picked the best flights lol. It's more in the timing than the cost at least.
I don't regret any of the places that I visited, I may not visit some of them again, but I am glad that I visited where I did. Travelling is a learning curve...the more you travel, the more you learn.