Holiday mishaps – from forgetting your children’s toy to making fashion faux pas

Holidays are a time to relax and reset, yet the pressure to pack up our lives for a week in the sun or on the slopes can mean we make some extraordinary mistakes. Booking.com, the global leader in connecting people with the most incredible places to stay, has conducted a research among over 18,000 travellers from 25 countries worldwide on the mistakes travellers did most often during the first 24 hours of the trip. The top 2 mistakes are forgetting to pack the essentials and making fashion faux-pas on the trip.

Packing everything but the essentials

Forgetting things on holiday makes it harder to relax yet is pretty common, as nearly four in 10 travellers (36%), said this is a big worry for them in the first 24 hours away.

One of the top five most forgotten items on holiday is a child’s favourite cuddly toy/comforter (81%).

For those not travelling with children, contact details for people they’re meeting when they arrive was the second most forgotten item (78%), followed by accommodation booking information/travel itinerary (76%), car hire details (74%) and currency (72%).

Tips from Booking.com:

• Make a checklist of your essentials and go through it before leaving your home.

• Take advantage of mobile app and email to retrieve contact details and booking confirmations.

Fashion faux pas

Packing the right clothes is key to making a good first impression when away from home as well as achieving holiday peace of mind and creating impressive Instagram shots. Yet in the first 24 hours of a trip we’re guilty of not being properly prepared when it comes to clothing options. Among the 65% who admit to having made a fashion faux pas, the top mistakes are:

1. Wearing the wrong type of shoes (36%)
2. Wearing too many layers (26%)
3. Not wearing a hat and burning the head (25%)
4. Not wearing enough layers (24%)
5. Wearing a souvenir t-shirt (22%)

Tips from Booking.com:

• Always check the weather forecast of your destination

• Always bring a light jacket, shawl and sunglasses with you because it can be used in almost every kind of weather.

• Leave some space of your luggage empty for emergency shopping (and of course souvenirs!)

Find time between your packed schedule to go through your check list and clothing option before taking off. Because when your trip gets it right in the first 24 hours, the rest are just the memorable time of your life!