The Simple Mistake That Wrecked My Vacation Before It Began (And How To Avoid It)
Plus, some fun news about a newly-launched project has long been in the works
Hi there, my friend.
It happened a few years back, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. My wife, son and I will never, ever forget that day.
We were at the airport, excited to begin a dream family vacation to Spain. Barcelona, Madrid, soccer, sangria... we couldn't wait.
But we never got on the plane. They wouldn't let us even go through security, even though our passports were valid and would be for the entire trip.
What we learned, however, is that that isn't good enough. Spain requires all passports to valid for at least 90 days past your arrival date. Mine was. My wife's was. My son's was not.
After a not-so-brief moment of pondering leaving him with the grandparents while we tour Spain, we thought better of it. After all, he was a middle schooler. It was our fault, not his.
I wrote about it for Business Insider after the incident occurred. My troubles sparked coverage in Southern Living and this passport services site, too.
The big takeaway
Make absolutely, positively sure that your passports are valid for at least six months after your scheduled arrival date. Not all countries require that much time, but it is definitely better to be safe than sorry.
The earlier you check, the better. The last thing you want to have to do before a flight is scramble to update your passport. I’d suggest checking your passport expiration date before you even finalize the purchase of your airfare.
It may also be worth considering travel insurance. Many travel credit cards offer travel insurance (here are some that do) so check with your card issuer to see what’s offered. Just know that offerings can vary widely from issuer to issuer and even card to card, and those offerings may not be sufficient for your needs. If that’s the case, consider looking for travel insurance from a third party.
What’s your biggest travel mess?
As much as we love travel and as transformative as it can be, anyone who has done much of it knows, without question, that it can be a major pain in the butt, too. Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy, but sometimes the bad stuff just can’t be avoided.
I’d love to hear your travel stories. Have you ever made a huge mistake that wrecked a trip? Perhaps you’ve had something happen to you that ruined a big vacation. Share your story below — and be sure to let us know what you learned from the whole thing.
Lastly… Check out this new podcast!
I’m excited to share this with you. In my job at LendingTree, we’ve been working for months on launching our first podcast, and it is finally here!
The first episode is linked below, and there are four more to come. We’ll be releasing them every other week over the next few months. I’m on all five episodes with my LendingTree friends Sarah and Nancy, and in this first episode, we tackle budgeting — walking through the various ways that it can be done and the pros and cons of each.
Sounds pretty dry, right? I promise you it isn’t. We keep it light and laugh a lot because we know that the last thing anyone needs is another bland podcast about money.
In this first episode, Sarah, Nancy and I all get pretty personal when talking about our own financial lives, in ways that I think many listeners will be able to relate to.
Listen, like and subscribe — and please share your thoughts with me. I’d love to hear them.
Until next time!
Matt
