Summer Travel: Navigating the Tourist Trap Minefield
Or how to protect your mental health this summer.
Summer is already at its peak, Europe is already overcrowded, popular destinations are booming with tourists, 40 degrees are the norm, and we've certainly entered the best season for scams.
With this in mind, I've prepared some tips and tricks in this edition that might save your mental health if you plan to travel this summer.
Better safe than sorry
As you know, I am a huge fan of Airbnb, but as much as I love this platform, I am also aware of its limitations. One of those is that you can book properties that don't exist. If you're wondering how it's pretty simple. A few summers ago, some friends were planning a visit to a small, beautiful Transylvanian village. They booked the accommodation but didn't receive any message from the host. When they arrived, they tried reaching out to the host by calling her to see how they could check-in. After countless calls, the host replied and said that the listing had not been available for some years, but she forgot to delete it from Airbnb :)) - as if it's a row in an Excel file that you just happen to forget to delete :))
Anyhow, this is just one example, and I'm sure almost everyone knows somebody who has had an experience like this. So, my kind advice is to contact the property before booking and ask about availability, internet, or whatever you feel like, just to make sure the property exists and the host is willing to accommodate you. Another thing you can do is double-check the property on multiple websites just to make sure it's not a ghost accommodation.
Would you rather be hungry for the rest of your day or eat crappy food?
Usually, when you travel during summer, you're already trying to reach 20,000 steps per day, visit as much as you can, deal with heat and crowds, and other unexpected things. So the last thing you wish for is to have an unpleasant experience when it comes to eating out.
There are countries like Greece where even if you choose a random place to eat without further research, it can't be that bad. But there are other countries where tourist scams are everywhere, mostly near the most popular tourist attractions. So if you don't want to bother researching for the perfect restaurant, try at least to avoid places that are extremely close to popular attractions to not get disappointed.
Spending money doesn't always bring happiness
Visiting museums or other attractions can be challenging during the high season. Booking in advance or researching beforehand about all the places you want to visit might be the best option out there. I know that a lot of countries have different types of tourist cards that are usually based on volume - 'you can visit countless places for only 50 Euro'.
This might be useful for some of you, but during summer when you'll probably struggle to find availability at a lot of these popular places, my advice is to be honest with yourself and check very carefully how many places you can visit in a day. Because if you have time and find availability for 3 spots out of those countless places, you might save some money by booking them separately.
I've always promoted a more 'just be' culture in terms of traveling, but this approach might not work for someone visiting a new location for the first time since FOMO might hit hard. So if you don't want to have a stressful city break or vacation, plan it accordingly because during summer you won't be the only one thinking about visiting that certain spot, and the reality on the ground might be very disappointing compared to expectations.
I think you've heard at least once about 'the Ionian pearl' Ksamil beach in Albania - honestly, a very stunning beach in general. During summer, this stunning beach might become your worst nightmare if you seek serenity and peace since it's extra crowded, and this is just a single case out of countless destinations that have the same pattern of total transformation during summer.
That being said, I hope you enjoy your summer holidays, and meanwhile, I've prepared some beautiful long-term accommodations for winter that you can check out.
Nomad Listing's Recommendations
Winter in sunny Portugal || 1 November- 30 November || 1150 Euro ||
Winter by the beach in Spain || 1 November- 30 November || 1232 Euro ||
Cozy winter in France || 1 November- 30 November || 751 Euro ||
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See you next time, fellow nomad!
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